FINALLY, something blog worthy!

Even before my Mom went into the hospital, there was nothing going on really blog worthy. Hence the long hiatus. I have just been too tired and lazy, and well there weren't a lot of HUGE changes with Maddie.

But this weekend was our annual Halloween camping trip. No, I am not crazy and we did not camp. However, we did go out and visit, and enjoy the festivities.

This video of Maddie, I was a little late on, but as DJ was walking her over to "trick and treat" to us, he was giving her her candy bucket and for some reason she wanted nothing to do with it! It was so funny to me how she swatted it away from him! (sorry that I sound so obnoxious on the video)



This next one I just thought was super cute cause I love the babbling and her walking around with that tail!



And some Pictures.

The lion and the monkey in the Parade.




Silly Monkey Face!

I didn't think much about this picture at the time it was taken. You can't see my Mom's face and Maddie's is all scrunched up. But now, it is my absolute favorite picture of the two of them. Why? I like to see my Mom in her usual perch on the couch that now-a-days feels very empty. I remember this day and how she snatched Maddie out of my arms to give her these kisses. This totally shows the way my family is with our babies. You KISS them and KISS them and KISS them, so hard, even if it makes them uncomfortable and cry. Because they are just so KISSABLE and they are only like that for so long. So this is just one of many of Maddie's squished faces from the long meaningful kisses from Grandma Pam.

My Favorite Pic from this week.

Yes, I should be in bed. But who can sleep right after eating Taco Bell? lol

Here is my favorite picture from this past week. And why you ask is it my favorite? Well, aside from it being taken on the beach, I think it showcases the complete Maddie. Her sweetness with a touch of a devilish side that makes her the person I love more than words.

Hello there Strangers!

I am back from our vaca and just quickly came on to read the blogs of my blogging friends who I have missed out on all week! I wasn't planning to post anything, but DJ is out getting us some dinner- yes I realize it is really late for dinner. But that is what happens when you are traveling and just want to get home (that and the fact that Maddie screamed her head off the last hour of the trip home- so no stopping somewhere even just to pick something up). Then you get home and things have to be unpacked before you can think to stop to eat. Anyhow, so yes, I am about to eat Taco Bell at 10:45 at night, and it isn't even because I have been out drinking.

Anyhow, my real reason for posting (no, it wasn't for the above babble) is that when I came on, I noticed that my counter had dropped since I was last on from the 90s to the 80s!!! AND, the real exciting part is that instead of feeling freaked out about it, I got SUPER EXCITED! The baby and I did a lot of bonding this week. AND, we even figured out a name to boot. But I am not sure if we are sharing it yet.... so it won't come out tonight, if it does at all before he makes his first appearance in this world. (Oh, who am I kidding, I can't keep a secret.) I am sure I will tell eventually... but for now mum is the word.

Updates

Well, we had a great weekend camping this past weekend.

My nephew and niece went with us, and Maddie loved having them at her beck and call all weekend! I loved her having them at her beck and call. haha. It was seriously a very relaxing trip, and even my friends with toddlers noticed how nice it was to have two older kids around to help entertain the little ones.

I haven't updated in a while and I feel like there is so much to say. I am sure I will forget half of it.

I am getting ready for Maddie's birthday party. It is cupcake themed, and of course I plan to do way too much and make it a crazy celebration. Cause that is what I do best.

Maddies Favs:

Her cousins Al and Chelsea. All of camping Thursday and Friday she didn't want to have anything to do with her Mommy, it was all about Al and Chels.

Being bratty/sassy and laughing about it.

Chasing Aunt Michele's cat all over her house and saying "Meow"

Scrambled Eggs, Blueberry Pancakes, Popsicles, and Mandarin Oranges.

New things:

Mooing like a cow- and it is so funny cause she uses this deep mooing sound.

saying YUMMM when she eats things like yogurt and applesauce. This all started on Father's Day when Nanny fed her some dessert. When Nanny would give her a taste of the chocolate part she would say "Yummm" and when she just had some whip cream without the chocolate, no "yumm". LOL, she IS her Mother's Daughter. After that she did "yumm" for lots of things.

She says Alex and Chelsea. Alex is very easy to make out, Chelsea, I can only make out when She is looking directly at Chelsea and I know what she means.

The sign for More, now means "I want". So basically if she wants up, she does the sign, if she wants down, she does the sign, if she wants water, she does the sign for more. If she is hungry she does the sign for more. It is quite interesting to try to decipher what it is that she wants at any given time.

She is officially off of Formula. She is drinking all whole milk. I ran out of formula and I had already started mixing it so she would be ready this weekend... and If I bought more, since we get the two huge cans from Cost-co, it would have taken months to be done with the cans. So, I decided not to buy any more.


I know there are more new things, but it is hard to keep up. It seems like in the past two weeks she has become a toddler. The only thing she is missing is the walking. So, for now, I just leave you with some pictures from this weekend!


Watching a movie the first night in the camper with Chelsea and Drew



The next Morning. She was SOOO happy to see Chelsea and Alex when they woke up in the beds across from us. She screeched and laughed and clapped her hands.



Maddie and Alex. I had to put this one in there cause Aunt Jen made fun of her hair saying it looked like a comb over. Lol.



Maddie and her BFF Hanna. They are almost 3 months apart, and they loved being in the double stroller together.



When the kids went off to play on their bikes they had to have the two way radios. Maddie loved hearing from them throughout the day.




Alex took Maddie for a walk at dark to put her to sleep, and this is how she came back to the camp site. Lol.



All the kids watching Scott fillet a fish.



All the camping kids, 2008




My daughter this afternoon....

Maddie and Mommy goofing off in the camper

I am up now and don't really feel tired... I know I will regret this tomorrow.

Here is a video of Maddie and I being silly. She loved being in the camper bed and crawling around. I wish I would have gotten her first reaction on video. She giggled and squealed the first 5 minutes of being in there.

CAMPING JOURNAL: Sterling State Park, Monroe Michigan

Note: When DJ and I went to General RV to get a replacement for our outdoor shower, I saw this super cool journal. It was a camping journal and basically had you track the location, dates, weather, who camped with you, etc. The book was SUPER cool and I wanted to get it right away for Maddie. I thought it would be $15.00 max. No, it was $25!!! In my old days, I would have snatched it up anyhow... but nowadays not so much. Not to mention the replacement piece for the shower was $80.00 and I had just bought over $100 worth of maternity clothes that day. SO, I put the journal back against all my fun/memory creating Mommy judgment. (especially, since I would have had to buy 2, one for new baby b. and therefore lay down not just $25- but $50 for these journals.) SO, I decided to keep track on here Camping Journals similar to what you would in the printed journal. I do plan to research online these journals hoping I can find them at a better price. I love technology... but there is just something about having the handwritten journal that I think will make this priceless for my kids. I also, think it would be a great thing to do with them each night before the head off to bed in the camper, so they can record who was with them, and the fun they had that day.

So, with that said... here is my version of Maddie's Camping Journal!

Dates: Friday June 6th- Sunday June 8th, 2008

Weather: HOT HOT HOT. The temps were low 90s on Friday, with lots of direct sun. Saturday it was mid-high 80s. It was humid!


Who we went with: Jen and Bryan and their dogs Montana and Dakota.


My favorite memories: Maddie realized on the car ride there that the camper made the ride a bit bumpy and if she said "ahhhhhh" it made her voice rattle. Thank goodness this was a short ride. ;)

Maddie LOVED playing inside the camper with all the screens down. She had a blast. She woke up at 6:30 every morning!!! Probably cause the sun was super bright in the camper... and I think she was excited to get a start on the day. Thank goodness for laptops and Einstein Videos :)- Mom and Dad played those so they could sleep in a bit more.

WAITING PATIENTLY WHILE MOM AND DAD SET UP CAMP. (THE BITER BISQUIT REALLY HELPED HER BE PATIENT, LOL)



ENJOYING THE VIEW OF LAKE ERIE SATURDAY MORNING



YUM! EGGS AND BANANAS



THE GAZEBO BLEW OVER MADDIES HEAD, WHICH SHE THOUGHT WAS HILARIOUS, BY THE TIME I GOT THE CAMERA THOUGH SHE WAS TRYING TO PULL IT OFF HER.

Oh Where Oh Where has my blogging gone?

I am so bad. It has been almost a month since I last blogged about the adventures of Maddie and Me. I promised I would keep up on this. I probably will more once I return to work. That is sad I know. And that is one of the things that annoys me about returning to work while Maddie is a baby. That I am not always very busy at work. Which is usually a good thing, but now, that is precious time. So instead of trying to make my day go by quickly by finding things to do on the internet, I could be spending that time with Maddie. Ah, I could go on and on for hours about all of my worries about returning to work. But, I don't want to end up bawling for hours, so I will end the work talk here.

Maddie and I have spent the past few days at home playing photo shoot.... Mommy bought a new pair of shoes, err, I mean a camera! I am so excited. My biggest issue with my Kodak Easy Share (ha ha) is that it does not take pictures fast enough. I would miss out on all the best shots waiting for my camera to prep to take the next picture. Also, the zoom wasn't very good, and close ups always turned out blurry. The first day I got it, Maddie and I spent every one of her "wake" times playing photoshoot. During her afternoon wake time, she was grunting at me the whole time. At first I thought she was going number 2, but soon realized she was annoyed with the big black thing in her face! BUT, I am already taking such great pictures with my new camera. I love it!!

Here are a couple of my favs:





This past weekend, we went Halloween camping!! It was lots of fun. I cannot wait for next year!! Maddie will really enjoy herself then. I took the camera but didn't really get too many good shots. My favorite one (really the only good one) is of my friend's daughter in her Lions Cheerleader costume. And below is also one of Maddie in her costume.




Edited for clarification: By saying none of the other pictures were good, I didn't mean the pics of my other friends were bad. I just meant this pic of Haley was the closest to a professional looking shot. Don't want any hurt feelings!! Hee Hee!

Maddie meets that Fam, and attends her first Tigers game!

So Sunday was my family reunion. It turned out to be a cold day, but it still was a very good time! Most of my family saw Maddie for the first time, and they all thought she was a doll. (Well, she is...)

Maddie slept a lot, but when she was awake, she was generous with the smiles, which made my baby-lovin' family very happy. My Aunt Shirley even taught her how to stick out her tongue. Thanks Aunt Shirley!

Last night, Maddie attended her first Tigers game at Comerica Park. Her and Daddy walked the bases after the game. Can you believe that Mom forgot the camera!!! That is right. I forgot it for the Reunion too. I bring it on every other non-eventful trip. But the important ones, I forget. Our friends brought their camera, so they are going to share the pictures with me. We got some good ones. I did get one of DJ and Maddie on his camera phone.

DJ wore Maddie in the carrier, and let's just say the fans loved it. He got lots of glances, and he was certain all of the chicks wanted him! Lol. Maddie was so content, she slept through the whole game until I finally took her out of the carrier to be fed. I didn't want her to go too long without eating and have a meltdown on the way home. Plus, I needed to put a long sleeve shirt on her. In typical Michigan weather, the night cooled down a bit. Once she was up, she was looking around wide-eyed and was cooing and smiling. She loved the bright lights of the park, and the roar of the crowd didn't bother her a bit. She was actually awake the whole time she walked the bases. Overall it was a fun night. I am glad we took her.

This weekend we are going camping with Jen and Bryan and Ed and Marcy. Oh Boy. I hope the weather is good! I am sick of the heat already. S'mores here I come....

Maddie's first camping trip

We took Maddie to Sugarloaf for her first camping trip on her 1 month birthday. She LOVED the outdoors, which is a good thing, or we would have had to give her up for adoption!! Overall, it was a fun and pretty easy trip. The first night a pretty big storm blew through. Maddie loved the drumming of the rain on the canvas above our bed. It was so loud at certain times that I thought she was going to freak out any minute. But instead, it lured her into a deep sleep. I made a mental note to myself to get a CD of rain. The next two days were nice (a bit hot) but we went on several walks and Maddie took lots of naps (perfect camping pastime). Aunt Michele, Chelsea and Brian came for the day on Saturday. The entire weekend didn't go by uneventful however. Mommy, Maddie, and Daddy spent Saturday night in the ER. The left side of Maddie's face swelled and was all red. We weren't sure what happened. Maddie didn't seem to have any pain or discomfort. But it looked just awful. It is still to this day not really diagnosed. But all in all it was a good trip.