To my Daddy...

Dear Daddy,

On our first Father's Day together, I want you to know you will be the first man I ever fall in love with. The first whose attention I will seek. The first who I will rely on to protect me. The first I will turn to in moments of sadness. The first I will compare all men to. You are my hero and I love you more than any words could ever say!

Love Always,

Maddie

Mother's Day 2010

Beautiful floers from my love

Lunch with Yaya and Tamra

All I wanted was a relaxing day at the pool and...

A new tattoo!!!!

The greatest blessing in my life is being my daughter's mother. I could not, would not change her in any way. She is beautiful, spirited, inquisitive, friendly, joyous...all at just the beginning of her life. I imagine her blossoming in all these ways through the years. I see her smiling at everyone she meets with a warmth that is genuine. I can just imagine her petting every animal she walks by. She will always be a good friend, I would think....a good listener, a sympathetic shoulder. I believe she, like her mother, will be unable to hear a beat and not move some part of her body to it. She may, also like her mother, have some sass, but never with the intent of being hurtful. And like her father, she will love unconditionally and shower those she cares for with affection. I can truly see all of this. I know she will make mistakes. I am certain she will break hearts and have hers broken too. There will be difficult times. But I, for some reason, imagine her as happy. Not the kind of happiness that is fleeting with a new purchase or spurning from the approval of others, but an inherent joy that emanates from her. She possesses it already. She smiles when the wind its her face, she laughs at the sound of others' laughter, she closes her eyes in calm to soak up the sun. She is my child. I could not imagine a life without her. She makes me see the world differently, myself differently. The insecure side of me that says, "I had nothing to do with her personality, she was just born that way" has given way to the side that thinks maybe all of the smiles I have given her, all of the love and affection, the time spent bonding and building a relationship, maybe I had a hand in who she has and will become. My life's goal is to help her become a strong, loving, joyous and confident woman. I am honored to be her mother. I pray one day she will feel as blessed to be my daughter.

PASGHETTI!!

I thought it might be fun to give Maddie a spoon and some spaghetti-os and see how much of a mess she can make! I underestimated her. I figured she may be a bit delicate with it since she had never done such a thing before. Maybe even a little grossed out. Uh...no. She went insane. It was like a presence overtook her and my sweet baby turned into something out of a science fiction movie. She was giggling this borderline evil giggle and proceeded to fling, rub, smash it everywhere. On her tray, on the floor, her body, her barely-there hair, me. What was I thinking??

I then decide to toss her immediately into the tub. Have you ever seen orange water? I have. It was so disgusting! As I'm pulling her out, I see another color. It's...floating...what is...OH MY...she has pooped in the tub!! Officially the grossest day as a parent I can recall thus far. Buuuut...she had a blast! I helped her with her hand-eye coordination (that's my justification, anyway) and allowed her to express herself, um, artistically. Buying any of this? Let's be real. I just wanted to see what she'd do for my own twisted amusement. She sure showed me!!

Brusha, brusha, brusha...

Practicing good oral hygeine! ;)

So many teeth already!

She's so independent, she insists on doing it herself!


Watching and learning (Heaven help her if she has a mouth full of teeth like mommy!)

Ooooooowwwwwww!!!!!

In our quest to prove to the masses our bald baby is, in fact, NOT a boy (as if the pink carseat and dresses weren't enough...), we decided to have Maddie's ears pierced. Poor thing. I felt awful. I mean, shots are a necessity...for her well-being. This was just a selfish desire for her to have the girl's rite-of-passage, to put cute earrings in her sweet little lobes. I, of course, made Garret hold her so I could be the hero and swoop her up to smother her with kisses after the torture. So as she is screaming bloody murder through the mall, I felt so horrible. I cried. Seriously. Then, as quickly as the blood-curdling scream began, it was over. And in the place of porcelain skin were two beautiful, sparkly little diamonds. Instant femininity. Let's see if anyone calls her a boy now.

Maddie's first Easter!

Another "first" down! We had a great Easter...lots of fun, family, and as per the usual, food. The festivities began with a little "photo shoot" Monique and I did for the girls in their Easter dresses. Maddie did great...except the fact that I kept having to take the Easter grass from her basket out of her mouth! Then we went to a fun little Egg Hunt event in Monique's neighborhood. Maddie found her first egg...ok, mommy might have helped juuuust a little. She just kind of stared at it like, "Now what??". Easter morning, we gave Maddie her first basket while making her wear these ridiculous bunny ears (hey, why not get away with it while she's still too young to fight back??). Since she's clearly not ready for a basket-full of candy, we got things like finger puppets, a book, snacks, a toothbrush, a stuffed lamb. She promptly put it all her mouth, so a few photos later, it was out of her reach. We did brunch at Uncle Greg's (I made quiches...not bad, if I say so myself) and then to Monique's for Honey Baked Ham. DELISH. It was a great day, all around. Beautiful weather, great food and family=perfection.

Sick baby, tired mommy.

So Maddie is sick. For real sick. Not just a little sniffle (like a couple weeks ago), but high temperature, whiny,not sleeping...real sick. I feel so bad for the little munckin. She wants to be constantly held, is generally unhappy about, well, everything. I feel so bad for my little clingy baby...she's usually so independent and happy but she now just wants to be held and is so sad. She has such a high-pitched voice as it is, that all this whining is satrting to sould like a dolphin calling expedition. I swear she's going to be an opera singer one day...Soprano, of course. And love her as I do, I feel the need to gouge out my eardrums with a sharp pencil in order to stay patient with her Flipper-speak. I have to remind myself she doesn't feel good. Hopefully the Pediatrician will give us some answers today...and they better not say "It's just Viral...let it run its course" or "She's just teething". Makes me crazy. It goes against the fix-it nature of my mommy ways. Poor Mads....

UPDATE: So several visits to the Pediatrician later, Maddie ended up having Pneumonia!!, an ear infection AND a urine infection. Yes, ALL at once. The doctor explained that bacteria begins somewhere and rests wherever it does and apparently, it RESTED all over my poor baby! She had a fever of 102-104 for an entire week!! Two rounds of antibiotic injections and two oral antibiotics later, she is back to.her sweet self. Thank God...we were really starting to worry. I hadn't seen her smile in days! We have to have a follow-up this week but hopefully everything will be just fine! Sheesh....