Week in Review

This week has been pure madness.  Getting used to football season and taking care of things mostly alone as had a toll on me.  We have completely been out of our routine this week.  I'm lucky to see Madison every day at lunch but really our time together does not start until I get home from work at 5:40 and sadly this week we have had to nurse quickly and jump in the car and run mad errands every day so our together time has been non-existent.  This of course is not good for her or me.  Last night may have taken the cake and really put a exclamation mark on the week.

Last night was supper club with a couple of my favorite ladies.  It was so great to catch up and just hang out.  Madison loved being with the girls and did not want to go to bed and miss any of the fun so she stayed up pretty late.  Once the girls had left for the night I put Madison down to bed and she was out! However it was only 5 minutes later that there is pounding on our front door.  Brent goes to answer and it is a neighbor that lives on the street behind us, who announces "your backyard is on fire, I've called the fire department!".  Brent goes running outside, grabs the hose and starts watering down our yard and fence.  The transformer behind our house had caught fire and had set the tree limbs surrounding it on fire as well!  With as hot as it has been here in Dallas we were both pretty concerned about the fire spreading quickly or catching our fence on fire with all of the embers falling.  Luckily after about 5-10 minutes the transformer blew and took the fire with it leaving only a few smaller branches burning that Brent put out quickly.  It was gone before the fire department even arrived, which took something like 15-20 minutes!! Glad it wasn't my kitchen! 

I think the best part of the night may have come when I called the electric company to let them know our street was without power.

Me: I need to report a power outage
Operator: What is wrong
Me: A transformer blew and our street is without power, actually the transformer is on fire in our backyard
Operator: Name Please

REALLY! I'm glad that statement didn't catch her off guard or anything! I'm still laughing about that!

However they did have it fixed and power back on within an hour of me calling! So go them!

Just a few pictures to recap our week.

Loving bath time.

MMMM love my fist.

Starting to enjoy tummy time.



Poor baby was out of routine and so tired.



M and NannyLu

Watching a little Cinderella.

[This post should have gone live Friday.  Oops!]

God Listens

I have the most amazing family in the whole wide world.  When they say it takes a village to raise a child it is not a lie- it might not be necessary but it definitely helps.  When I first found out our due date I felt good that Madison would be almost 5 months old when she had to attend day care or MDO and not have to go any earlier, but the closer we got to the end of summer the more I did not feel comfortable with the situation.  My mom even offered to keep her since she can work from home most days, but I knew that would be a challenge since her job keeps her pretty busy.  This morning my youngest sister called to let me know that she registered all of her classes for the evenings and on Saturday so that she could keep Madison during the weekdays at our house! Are you kidding me?? I am so amazingly blessed. I just could not wrap my head around day care.  I know that for most working moms that is there only option, but if I could avoid it I would! My prayers were truly answered.  God listens when you talk to him, you might not always see those answers clear as day, but every once in awhile you hear them loudly.

Little Booger

Madison is really starting to figure out she controls her own actions.

Last night was exhausting for me, just a lot going on and little sleep.  Typically Madison goes down around 8 and afterwards I pick up around the house and get ready for the next day, but last night was another story.  Little toot did not want to fall asleep so by 9 I just put her down in her crib with her blanket and planned to let her "talk" or "play" herself to sleep and I crawled into bed really early.  I laid there listening to her "talk" over the monitor and I just smiled because it warms my heart.  After awhile the talking went away and I figured she was sleep, so I snuck in there to check on her one last time.  I find her wide awake and on the opposite side of the bed with her head pushed into the corner smiling away.  She has discovered how to use her legs to kick her way around.  She would even place her feet on top of the crib bumpers and really push off.  She thought it was really funny and she was very proud of herself.

Then today after lunch I put her down for a nap like I do every day before heading back to work and when I went to check on her before walking out the door she had her "lovee" over her face and as I pulled it off she smiled and started laughing.  She thought she was really cute, however it made me so much more nervous and I informed my sister to keep a strict watch over her as I do not like that blanket on her face.  In retrospect I should probably just remove the "loveee" from her crib, but she just loves to fall asleep with it.  I do however have the baby angel care monitor on and it makes me feel a little bit better even if it does give off a few false alarms.

Our little toot

Side note: my crib might look dangerous to others with the loose blankets and crib bumpers.  No judgement please. :)

Growing Quickly

Madison is growing so quickly.  In the past two weeks she has really started moving her arms more, and as of this week starting to grab at things a little more deliberately.

 She has also started on rice cereal and loving it.  It is the messiest moment of every day, but she is really getting used to eating with a spoon.  We are giving her 2 tablespoons every evening about an hour after she nurses at 6.



MMMMMMM



She does not like it when all of the bites are gone.

It is so much fun to watch her try new things.  You can see her processing all of the new knowledge and know that she is trying so hard to figure it all out.

This weekend we decided it was time to move her into her nursery for good.  I've wondered in the past four months when I would be ready to make this move, because I just could not get myself comfortable with it.  I really like having her close by and to be able to just look at her whenever I want to make sure she is okay.  This makes me laugh because before she was born I thought I would have no problem with it and didn't see what the big deal was. 

But this past weekend it just felt like it was the right time for me and her.  She is doing great.  Friday and Saturday night she did wonderful sleeping through the night, but Sunday and Monday night was a different story.  She woke up around midnight, 3:30, and 6 both nights only to nurse and go right back to sleep.  Last night I nursed at her midnight awakening since it had been about 4 hours, but at her 3:30 awakening i just picked her up, gave her a passy and rocked for 3 minutes and she was back out.  Hopefully we can wean away from the waking up.



1st night in her room.



It's Football Time

Football is officially back in full swing in our house! Meetings and evening camps all of this week and then
2-A- Days start next week.  This year I'm not only a football widow, but a football single mother.  I have mixed emotions about the whole thing.  I am very proud to be a coach's wife and I support him 100% in his chosen career.  However, Brent's very first year of coaching was difficult.  I had to learn the schedule, learn to keep my self occupied, get used to dinners alone, not seeing him for almost a week straight, but by year two it was easier.  It still wasn't a blast, but I knew what to expect and had a new home to fill my time.  Now we have a baby and I feel like it will be another year of learning how to handle it all.   It's not just the idea of doing everything alone, but I also feel bad for Madison and Brent because they will go almost 4 months without spending much time together.  This is one of the reasons I'm so grateful Brent was able to be home with her for almost two months even though I know it was not long enough for him.

This is how I found the 3 of them at lunch one day.  I guess they all played too hard.

Typically our summers are filled with "honey do's" for Brent- fix that, update this, but with him staying home with the baby this list has basically been placed on hold.  But now with only a few weekends left with us both home the chores must be done! I have a list a mile long and it's time to start marking things off.  

Now if we only had the fall weather to go along with all of the football meetings and practices life would be that much sweeter.  It’s our 20th something day of temperatures over 100!

4 Month Photos

We took some 4 month photos and I'm just 2 weeks late posting them!   Our sweet girl is getting so big.

She was my shopping buddy today.  I have a feeling we will be doing a lot of that once the daddy goes back to Saturday practices. 

A Year Ago Today

1 year ago today I was finally able to tell Brent we were having a baby! I found out the day before our Anniversary, but Brent had already left town for a football meeting and I refused to tell him I was pregnant with our first child over the phone.  So for two days I patiently anxiously waited for him to get home.  I had decided I needed a fun way to break the news so I had one of my best friends Kristin ship me a Razorback onesie from Arkansas and I wrapped it up to hand him as an additional "anniversary" present.  I think he thought I was crazy that I needed the little video recorder to see his reaction to this gift.  Pretty sure he had no clue what was coming, because even when he opened it I had to help him out.

Madison even gave us the best Anniversary present ever last night! She went back to sleeping through the night.  For the past month she has been waking up twice, once around midnight and the other around 5 to 6.  It was slowly killing me, but last night she went down at 9 and she did not wake up until 9 this morning! Thank you baby girl for a full nights rest!  Hopefully we are back to always sleeping through the night!

Happy 3 Years to My Amazing Hubby

3 years ago today I married the most amazing man ever.  The past three years have been filled with the most wonderful things, buying a house (and a remodel), our puppy dog, wonderful trips and now a baby girl.  I am so very blessed.  I even woke up to a homemade pancake breakfast today!  Hard to believe we first started dating when I was 15! Our relationship is almost 12 years in the making. Crazy!


2005 TKE Formal





2007




July 19, 2008




July 19, 2008



Love you baby!

Our Weekend in Video

Madison is officially rolling over from tummy to back! I caught her mid roll on camera this weekend.  We spent our weekend gearing up for Brent to go back to Football.  We have so many projects to get accomplished before then so I know we are both worn out, but it feels so great to have these things off our plate and complete.

I hope everyone has a great work week.  Monday's are always the hardest for me. :(

Week in Phone Pictures

Our week in iPhone pictures.

We loving having our lunch talks.

Bella loves her baby pool.

Love my baby.

Best Gals.

I leave the room for 2 seconds and Bella babysits.

Our crops: sunflowers and pumpkins.  Neither planted intentionally.

Happy Friday!!

How the Times Have Changed

My four month old has an iPhone. 

Yes, you heard me correctly.  Last week Brent and I decided it was time to update our iPhones to the 4, meaning we now have two older iPhones just sitting around.  This actually really works out because my baby loves her sound machine, it will instantly calm her down and I am still keeping track of all of her feedings and diapers.  So now no matter who she is with they can track her diapers and feedings and all I have to do is sync it to my phone at the end of the day. 

How the times have changed.  I didn’t have a cell phone until I was 16 and even then I had to beg my parents for it.  I can only imagine what things will be like when Madison is 16.

[side note- it is not actually an activated line if that sounds any better.]

A Blessing

Monday was an emotionally hard day.  After a long weekend of Madison not feeling well and not acting like herself I was really hoping that Monday would bring her old self back.  By 7 in the evening it was not looking promising.  After reading some books and playing on the floor she was being calm so I busted out the Nikon to see if I could get a few pictures and then she starts to smile and talk to me.  My heart melted.  I was starting to feel so bad for her- she was acting so sad I couldn't handle much more of it and this was a true blessing.  I think it was her way of saying "Mom, I don't feel so hot, but I'm still in here."

It was 6 minutes long, but I cut it down. :) Maybe it will bring a little cheer to your day.

Happy 4 Months Baby Girl

July 8th you turned 4 months old! I can't believe it was 4 months ago I first got to hold you!

We had your 4 month check up on Friday and everything is looking good. 

• Your weight is a little low, but nothing concerning: 11 lbs 5 1//2 ounces (10%) and 23.75" long (25%). 
• Your personality is really starting to shine!
• You want to be sitting up always (not on your own though), so you love the bumbo seat.
• You still hate tummy time, but you are propping yourself up with your arms and lifting that head high. 
• Any day now and I'm pretty sure you are going to flip from your tummy to your back.
• Your doctor and us are both a little concerned that you are not batting for toys- but I think all will be okay and one day when something really interests you then you will reach for it
• You still love bath time and glad to say you are not crying when we get you out anymore!
• Your doctor told us we can start trying rice cereal with your milk and see how it goes! I'm excited to see you try something new.
• You have always loved the Bella Bear, but 2 nights ago you actually put your hand over on her head twice!

Sadly you did not handle your shots well at all- cranky, slight fever, and just not your normal, happy go lucky self this weekend- needless to say we did not get to take your 4 month pictures yet; I'm hoping for a happy evening baby and maybe we can go outside for some evening light.  We will also be changing your shot schedule so that you do not get as many at one time again.  I felt awful that you did not feel good.

We love you so much baby girl and are beyond joyful that you joined our happy little family!  You have truly completed our lives.

A Teenager Again

We live in an older home (1958) and I love it! Even if we won the lottery I would just pay off the mortgage and live happily.  I have spent the last 3 years making our house into a home and I think doing a great job, but the only thing I can not update are our original hardwood floors- and I wouldn't if I could- they are beautiful but NOISY! Every time I put Madison down to sleep I "sneak" out of the room on tiptoes trying not to wake her.  Since she is still sleeping in the pack n play in our bedroom at night I feel like I am constantly walking slowly and trying to avoid squeaky spots.  I know it is probably best for her to hear them and get used to the noise, however since she is already waking up twice during the night right now I think I will continue sneaking.

Napping in her room

I feel like a teenager sneaking around the house at night trying not to wake mom and dad and all for the sake of a few hours to pickup around the house and wind down from the day.

Feeling Deflated

Let me start this post off with saying I know how blessed I am and every night I go to bed I ask God to watch over my family and to keep us safe.  I then thank him for all of the blessings in my life including my amazing husband and wonderful healthy daughter as well as the Bella Bear.  However, even with all those amazing things you can't help but just have a bad day. 

It was hard going back to work after having 3 days off with my family, especially Madison so when I got home from work last night all I wanted was a big smile and some giggles from her.  Well she wasn't having it, even if I was holding her she would turn to her daddy and smile at him and "talk" but not for the mommy.  Yes she is only 4 months old and is not intentionally ignoring me, however in my irrational working mom mind I couldn't help but think she was upset with me for leaving her all day.  Then the small things just mounted on top of that: my teeth hurt (who knows why) so it made talking and smiling to her that much harder, she had 2 meltdowns at bedtime so Brent had to cook dinner and God Bless him it was great, but it wasn't what I had intended to cook.  It was just one of those days where I felt like my self worth came down to making a living and nursing.  Yes this all sounds so pitiful- woe is me.  But some days you just have a bad day.  One of the biggest challenges for me now is balancing the working life with the mommy life and some days are just easier than others.

A Fun Weekend With Family

Thursday afternoon we decided last minute to pack up and make a trip down to Houston to visit Brent's mom (Madison's Nama).  Madison did great in the car; sleeping the whole way there and back.  Although, she was not her normal cheerful self the whole weekend. There were a few meltdowns- I'm thinking it was an upset stomach, because we had an explosive bath incident.  The joys of motherhood.  However I'm also thinking some of the fussiness was being out of her routine.  This baby loves her schedule especially when it comes to nap time and bed time.  We did a lot of running around in Houston and I think this messed her up.

I just love these tootsies.

Bella decided to become a cat over the weekend.

She slept under the bed all weekend.  She is a little weird some days.



I just love this new onesie from Gap.



Madison has developed a new love for her blankets, especially her pink loveee her Mimi made her.  She will just bring them up to her face and attempt to suck on them or rub them.

Madison with her Nama.

New PJs.

Monday morning we said goodbye to Nama and headed back home.  We had such a great time visiting and it always goes by so quickly.  In fact we had planned to leave Sunday afternoon, but extended it one more night because everyone was having a great time.

Once back in Dallas we headed over to my parent's house to celebrate the fourth.  This may have been a little over kill for baby girl, because she lost it.  I finally put her down to sleep in my parent's bed and there she stayed until we left.  We had planned to go to the fireworks but after this we knew it was best to skip this year.  I was feeling a little guilty that she was not feeling well.

Have you ever played SceneIt?  Well this game is loved by my family but it has been known to cause some major fights so we quit playing it for a few years.  I'm happy to say we brought it back and it was a peaceful evening.  I really enjoy this time with my family.  Being the oldest of the kids its getting harder to see everyone getting older as well.  I'm not ready for the day to come that we are not all in the same city and hanging out.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Happy 4th of July

We have had a long but fun weekend with family!  Happy to be home! Happy 4th everyone!

Our Week in Instagram

I typically have my Nikon within arms reach, but sometimes the iPhone camera really comes in handy.

We love bath time!



So very tired momma

New Outfit

Please let me up on the bed. Please Please!

Finally a nap!

Madison goes to Work

Where is Madison?