Happy First Birthday Maddex!!!

Wow....I cannot believe a year has already past. A friend of mine once said, (well, posted on FaceBook) "If you want to see your life fast forward, have a kid." It's SO true. This has been the fastest, best, happiest, most fulfilling year of my life. It's so hard to believe that his tiny babe...

Has turned into this...

What a magnificent year it has been! My precious girl, you are all and more than I could have ever asked for. You are the sweetest girl I know, always crawling over to give me a hug or a snuggle. You melt my heart with your smile or the way you lay your head on my shoulder. You make the sweetest faces at me and your daddy - like you are trying to figure us out and take us in.

You are also the silliest girl that I know. You make the absolute greatest faces! Whether you are sticking out your tongue (typical), scrunching up your nose and lips, or making some other random face, you never cease to make me laugh. It's obvious that you take joy in making us laugh because you will repeat those faces to get a reaction out of us. You love tumbling around on the couch, hanging upside down, and dancing around with mama.

You are such a trooper. You have survived TWO surgeries in your first year. Thankfully, they were simple, quick routines. You made it through like a champ...we are so, so proud of you!

You love doing your tricks...when we ask "Where's the light?" you always point up at it. You LOVE pointing at things and are sure to let us know where you want to go with that little pointer finger. You love clapping (especially when we say YAAAYYYYY). You've been waving for months and it's still a great trick to show off! You love to grab things and then give them to us - especially when we ask "What you got?" You are also really good at hide & go seek (Where's Maddex?)...you usually put your hands on the side of your face or on your head. It's so cute and makes me laugh EVERY time. You always take off your socks & your shoes if you can. My favorite is when you say "love you" - or in Maddex language - "uhh oooooh". It is a sweet sound that I could never tire of hearing.

For the first few months of your life, you were a daddy's girl. You loved your mama, but you had googoo eyes for that handsome daddy of yours. I'm not sure when things changed, but you have become mama's girl through and through! And I am savoring each of those cuddles and snuggles because I know that soon you will return to being daddy's girl.

You are such a sensitive sweetheart. When you get fussed at, your feelings are immediately hurt. I hope this desire to stay out of trouble follows you for a long, long time! You are always quickly cheered up with some hugs and kisses though.

We have made so many great memories with you this year!

Your first LSU game.

A trip to Mobile to visit your MawMaw & PawPaw Rogers's house for the last time.

Your first Christmas (and Thanksgiving, Easter, 4th of July...).

Your first foods (you love fruit, rice & gravy, & bread).

First time in the swimming pool.

First trip to the zoo.

My sweet Maddex girl, you are the most precious gift the Lord has ever blessed me with. I am so thankful to Him for giving me such a sweet, loving baby girl. I love the baby girl that you are now, and I know I will love the toddler that you turn in to over the next year. Thank you for being mommy's sweet girl. I love you with all of my heart!!!

Maddex's First LSU Game

We took Maddex out to tiger country on Saturday for her first LSU game. The day began, as all good days should, with a nap! Once she woke, we headed out to campus. We loaded the stroller with jackets and blankets in case it was cold in the stadium. We quickly found a parking spot and got to walking. When we made it to the tailgate, we had a lovely rest with some toys and friends. Next, we left the tailgate to go visit with Grandpa for a little bit. We made our way back for some delicious jambalaya and watched the team & band arrive. Here's mom & Maddex at the tailgate...

Mad started to get restless, so we made a trip down to Mike's cage and to see the Shaq statue. Then, we headed into the stadium. We locked up the stroller and made it in for the beginning of the game. Maddex immediately started clapping, looking around, and grinning! She loved it!

She loved looking at the other kids & did great for the first half of the game! We filled her with food and puffs. She even had a diaper change laid across our laps!

At half time, we headed out and made the long trek home. We bundled Mad in a blanket and she fell asleep on the walk. By the time we got home, she was more than ready for bed! I pronounce the trip a success, BUT I'm not sure if we'll do it again in the near future!

Teeth

So, Maddex's new hobby is growing teeth. Unfortunately for me, this hobby includes hours of screaming at night! Well, maybe not hours, but it sure feels that way! The time change has not helped things either. And I was finally getting a good night's sleep! Thankfully, the Lord always gives me the energy I need to get through the next day no matter what the night holds. And how could I ever be upset with THIS face??

I know that's a repeat picture, but it's so darn CUTE!

Other hobbies:

• Waving
• Saying "ba ba ba" and "da da da"
• Army crawling
• Pulling toys out of the toy basket
• Eating puffs (only if fed to me)
• Making kissy lips
• Pulling off my socks
• Jumping in my "jenny" or "circus chair"
• Standing

9 month check-up

Mad went in to see the lovely Dr. Barrient for her 9 month check-up. She weighed in at 18 lbs. 8 oz. and 28 inches. She's measuring just over the 50th percentile.

Everything looked great and she took her shots like a champ! She got some puffs as a treat on the way home. Happy 9 month birthday to my baby girl!!!

Check out those teeth :) They are awfully cute, BUT she has chosen to scream all night (well for an hour and a half or 2...) when she sprouts a new one. Please tell me she won't do this for EVERY tooth. Makes for a very pitiful baby & momma!

On another note, my husband took care of the baby while I went to a meeting, unloaded the dishwasher, cooked me dinner, and cleaned the oven. With a husband like that and a beautiful baby girl, I am one blessed woman!

I'm baaaaaack!

Well, it's been quite a while! I've wandered through the deserts of parenthood to make my way back to the blogging world. Much has happened since my last post 16 months ago. I shall document it with pictures. Let's begin with February 7th...they day we brought sweet Maddex into this crazy world!

Ready to have that baby! 14 hours later...

Maddex Elizabeth Crain entered the world! Nothing's been the same since. Our sweet girl loves to laugh, play, get kisses, wave, and jump! Some of my favorite pictures of her...

Hard to believe my sweet baby girl will be 9 months tomorrow. She is such a precious blessing!!

Happy Sonogram Day!

Today's our first sonogram! SOOOO excited to see Baby C!!! One more hour!

Will update later this afternoon - maybe with a pic! Not sure if I can figure that out though!

8 Weeks!

So today marks baby C's 8 week birthday. He/she has now graduated from an embryo to a fetus! We are already anxiously awaiting baby's arrival and it's hard to believe we have 32 weeks left to go! I'm sure it will go by quickly, but so far it seems pretty slow! I guess in a way I'm ready for school to start because I am sure that will help time pass. But, I am thankful that summer school is over and I can spend as much time on the couch as I'd like. I managed to do one school assignment, vacuum, dishes, and a load of clothes today. Of course I still fit in a good 3 hour nap this afternoon ;)

Mitch has been more wonderful than I could have expected. The few times I felt a need for a certain type of food, he's run out to get it for me! Yesterday I went to Sam's & Albertson's to do some grocery shopping, but still had a pretty long Wal-Mart list. I was quite pooped after those two stops, so he volunteered to go to Wal-Mart for me which he hates doing. He said he wanted to make sure he got used to doing things that I may not be able to do in the future. So sweet :) He's been telling me he loves me & the baby. I tear up thinking about what a great daddy he's going to be!

I've been feeling okay lately. I was pretty exhausted after working all day at summer school the first few days of this week. I've been thankful for downtime the last couple of days to rest. My queasiness/nausea isn't too bad & I'm ready for it to be non-existent! I've obviously been sleepy the past few days - hence my long nap today! I've had a headache off and on today. It's in my right temple where I normally get headaches, but it hasn't been near as bad as usual. I've just tried to ride it out and rest without taking any meds and it hasn't been too bad. Tylenol is okay to take, so if it gets too bad I'll take a couple.

On another note, I am SO unmotivated when it comes to school. This was a pregnancy symptom I did not see coming. I guess when I think about this baby on the way, I'd rather be resting, reading, and daydreaming than doing schoolwork. I'm trying to make my way through, but at this point I just want to finish. I've managed all A's so far, but if I end up with a couple of B's, it won't be the end of me.

I've been looking at some bedding and furniture online and did not realize this was going to be such a difficult decision! I'm sure we'll wait until we find out baby C's gender before we make any final decisions. I'd like some bedding that is fairly neutral. For the furniture, I'd like 2 main pieces: a crib & a dresser/changing table with a hutch on top. Those seem to be pretty expensive, but it's one piece that encompasses three (a changing table, dresser, bookshelf). I'm not sold on that piece yet because it might make the room seem kind of empty with only two pieces of furniture. We'll just have to see how things play out!

Well I'm off to figure out dinner for my baby daddy! :)