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Family Picture from our photo shoot in July!

Well it's been quite a year for the Puryear family! Our  poor blog was one of the first to be neglected.  However, with the change of seasons will bring a new change in routine. The girls are simply hilarious lately. Their words and  expressions. Their actions. Their strong wills and desires. So, with the help of Dan, I will be updating more regularly and trying to capture the girls quotes and actions!

Before we begin,  I want to sum up 2012 and 2013 in a few sentences: Olivia turned 3, and we way over did Christmas this year!  After the holidays we hibernated for January and most if February. Celebrated the Ravens Super Bowl victory.  Had a freak spring snow storm in March and the girls loved the snow! Renovated the Garden Ridge kitchen and then put the house on the market, and after exactly 8 weeks on the marker we had a full price offer.  Went house hunting and narrowed our search to three. When it came time to make the decision, one more house came in the market Dad thought we should check out.  We liked it, although knew it needed updates. Push came to shove and we put in an offer.   It was accepted on July 4th! End of July we left for an unbelievable two week beach vacation with our Keuka family and then my own family in OBX and then Myrtle Beach. Finally got back and packed up the house, started back to school, celebrated Madelyn's 2nd birthday, settled on our townhouse, closed on Autumn View, moved.   Two trucks, four movers, plus Jean Puryear, and ten hours later, we were in the new house.   Keep in mind this was the weekend before our students came back to school!  To wrap up our year long recap, we hosted Laura's 30th birthday party a week after we moved in, and a month later we hosted Madelyn's 2nd Birthday with friends and family.  Phew!  That was more than a few sentences and yes...the run on sentences pretty much sum up the pace of our year.  If you are interested in other events from the year, check out the Piscasa Web link and see our year in pictures!

Quick Update on our Girls

 Olivia is now 3 and will be 4 in 4 weeks!  She is a spunky, challenging, smart, and passionate little girl!  She seems to be a leader and does not really like to do what other kids tell her.  We often hear her say, "Madelyn come on remember we did this..." then expects her to come and play.  She is kind to others and we often see her giving hugs to her friends at preschool.  However, she has my stubborn streak and my anger.  I see a lot of myself in her and I have really tried to take a deep breath before reacting to her.  Her favorite toys are puzzles, our iPad, books, and the playing house.  Livy Loo had a little adjustment period to the move and staring preschool, but things have really calmed down and she has been an angel lately!

Madelyn Faith!  She started walking and quickly started running to keep up with her "Libia".  The youngest in our family and certainly will not be ignored.  She took a little more time to start talking and within the last month really started to put sentences together.  When in new situations she is more shy and resreved, but once she gets comfortable, watch out!  Content to play by herself, follow her sister around, read book after book, she loves Ariel, the little mermaid and "Minnie Mouse Clubhouse"  Her personality was very laid back and we see a lot of Dan in her!  She has brought more joy than we can imagine in our lives.

Back to the present day and the point of this update.  I want to be more proactive about updating because this is really a memory for my girls, you readers just get to experience our life with us!

Words of Wisdom with Olivia and Madelyn:

Sunday September 29th- While cutting her toe nails I mention to Olivia, "your poor little pinky nail is hardly there."  Her priceless reply was, "That is the way God made me.  That is why I sit down to pee and not stand up that is how God made me."

Monday September 30th- Madelyn was throwing a fit at the table because we buckled her into her chair, needless to say, she was very upset.  I said Madelyn are you feeling better, as her cries begin to subside.  Her reply, "No, still crying."  Then cries harder.

I cannot remember what Olivia said yesterday but here is a great memory!  We receive an array of magazine addressed to the previous owner.  The latest one to arrive was a Halloween magazine, filled with all kinds of odd decorations.  Olivia sat at the kitchen table and laugh and giggled at half of the items in that magazine.  She and I sat there for at least 15 minutes giggling and turning back to look at the pictures again.  These are the moments I never want to forget!  

Tuesday October 1st:  
Forgotten already!   However, there was a great moment after dinner when the girls were playing with the Fairy Minnie toy together.   Both girls were running around "flying Minnie" and both singing a song, in their own worlds.  It was fabulous to see them happily playing together!

Madelyn's Milestones

Mad-Madelyn at 10.5 months

Once again, updating this blog becomes more and more challenging as our lives become busier and busier!  I figured we had all the time in the world this summer and I would be doing a blog entry once a month, which is my goal, but oh my the longest summer in history has slipped away!  Madelyn has recently earned a new nickname of Mad-Madelyn! She is into everything, pulling up and cruising all over the place, crawling up the stairs, and trying to keep up with Olivia.  Olivia tries to call her Mad-Madelyn and it comes out Mad-Mad!  She has really come into her ow and is about three weeks from turning one year old!  I thought it would be appropriate to review all her major milestones this year!  Plus there just might be a quiz at her first birthday party, so pay close attention! hehe

God Bless Madelyn

Our second little angel! She wore the same dress as Olivia!

On February 19th, her six month birthday, with our family and friends surrounding us, we celebrated the baptism of Madelyn Faith.  At the time Madelyn was going though a stranger danger phase and would cry whenever anyone she did not know held her.  We were a bit worried she would start crying when Pastor Matt took her to baptize her.  However, it was completely fine and she did not even cry when the holy water was placed on her head! Following the event, we arrived at my parents house to have brunch with close family and friends! Little secret about hosting this brunch, I did not reinvent the wheel.  For Olivia's Baptism I typed up the menu and had it saved on my computer.  SOOOO, I just printed it out and went from there.  I do not think anyone noticed!  Olivia was fascinated for many weeks after the event and would randomly approach Madelyn and "baptize" her!  She would put her hand on her head three times and say something (I could never really tell).  It was quite adorable and it think it is save to say Madelyn is extremely blessed! Over all the day was a success and we were more blessed to have my best friend Denise down from NY for the occasion. 

Teething, Drooling, and Chomping

In March just before all the teeth started appearing.

You can kind of see all her teeth in his picture!

Madelyn has seven teeth at 11 months!  (No I She cut her first tooth on St. Patrick's Day in March at 7 months old.  Since then she has been popping them out one after another!  The first one to arrive was the top left, followed a week later by the top right.  Then her bottom two teeth cut through on the last day of school at 8.5 months.  Next to arrive on Fourth of July was the bottom left, followed by the top left, and we noticed on vacation last week in Ocean City, the bottom right.  I feel bad for her, but she has fared pretty well.  She loves to chew on her Sophie the Giraffe as well as this set of teething keys.  Things are constantly in her mouth, especially her fingers. Like her sister, she enjoys that Soothie pacifier because she can get her fingers into it and really into her mouth.  Other than sprouting teeth left and right, she has not had too many side effects.  She continues to eat well and sleep fine. 

Moving, Scooting,  Grooving

Are you looking at me!?

 Madelyn was born being able to hold up her head and hold weight on her legs.  She continues to amaze us with her strength.  As far as milestones, she began roll successfully around five months, she was able to sit on her own shortly after six months, and around 7.5 months (beginning of April) began the scoot!  We knew this day would come but we were hoping for later.  She mastered crawling at about 8/8.5 (in May) months and finally started to pull herself up at 9 months (in June).  Her latest trick is cruising all over with her walker and on the table, couch, chairs, whatever she can balance herself on.  At 11 months (in July) she loves walking holding our hands, which is quite a back breaker, but we will do it for her!  She has not yet stood on her own or taken steps, but I am sure she is not far from that milestone!  We do have to be aware of where she is in the house, because she loves to climb the steps.  We usually follow behind her, but the other day  I was making dinner, Dan was on the computer upstairs.  Olivia decided to find out what Dan was doing, and when I came into the living room I could not find either one.  Olivia was upstairs with Dan and Madelyn was halfway up the stairs!  She turned to look at me and just laughed and let out a screech!  Oh boy...we need to keep an eye on her!

Kisses, Waves, and Claps

Waving to mommy!

I do not remember when she started waving and clapping to be honest, but it was in the Spring time.  Olivia would cheer for her all the time and one day she just started clapping back.  When she did her face lit up and  Olivia was super excited too!  It was a very cute moment.  She is also very cute about waving.  Again, that was something that just started and it really shows her personality.  She will just be hanging out playing and suddenly just wave to us.  Someone might be holding her and she will want the attention of another person, so she starts waving at them. It is such a simple gesture, but so adorable!

The funniest thing until recently, Madelyn would only give me kisses.  I would hold her and say,  "give mommy kisses" she would lean in towards me with her mouth open and give me a "kiss."  Dan would do the same thing and ask her to give him a kiss.  She would turn her head a not give him one!  It was hilarious, for me, not Dan!  Most recently, she started giving kisses with her tongue sticking out!  She will give Dan and Olivia one, but it is like a lean in and try not to get touched with her tongue! LOL

Out and Around the Town

Goofy kids! 

We are quite the busy family and enjoy take the girls to the hot spots in Baltimore.  Our two favorites are the zoo and aquarium.  We have family memberships to each and visit quite frequently.  Madelyn first visited the zoo when she was less than a month old!  We had not given her a bottle yet, so I remember having to nurse her in the picnic area with a cover on! That was a first for me!  We visited the zoo again in the Spring and again this summer.  She can see the animals and enjoys petting the goats.  It will not be long and she will be running around with Olivia to all the places!

Checking out the bubble tubes at Aquarium 

Our second favorite spot is the aquarium!  We went in the Winter around Valentine's Day and she enjoyed her self.  This summer went we went she was much more aware of the fish.  In fact, when we were at the dolphin area, she actually was freaked out.  We went up close to the tank because two dolphins were right at the edge.  Olivia was fascinated, but Madelyn started crying really hard.  It was then I realized she had noticed the two dolphins as well and was not sure about them!  I walked away and she was fine.  It was very  strange, but to here I am sure they were huge creature!

Another place we love to visit and Madelyn can enjoy more each time is Storyville. Her first trip was with the Evan's family and we have the best picture of her and Addie on a black bear rocking horse thing.  When we visited this summer she had a blast keeping up with Olivia.  They spend a good half an hour in the grocery story area and played together so nicely!

Restaurants are another place Madelyn has visited this year.  Usually it would be Chick Fila or Chipolte and we were in and out quickly.  The first restaurant we actually sat down at as a family was Unos.  Again, we were with the Evans family!  Dan and I were kinda nervous with two kids, but they were angels and it was a very positive experience.  We have since had "sit down" meals at other places too!

Checking out the waves on the boat 

Another Beach Baby is what we asked for and we got it!  Madelyn has been to the beach before at Thanksgiving and Christmas times, but her first official trip to the beach was Memorial Day weekend.  Her first dip in the Atlantic was fabulous and besides putting sand in her mouth and trying to drink the water it was a great day at the beach. We were back at the beach right after school was out and this time in addition to the beach, visited Asseateague Island.  Where we swam in the bay with the "baby waves” and saw quite a few ponies, which was hard for Madelyn to see but Olivia loved them!  Madelyn also had her first boat ride.  I think she had fun, but the life jacket made it hard for her to move.  She also had her first taste of crabs!  She got some Old Bay seasoning in her mouth and it the poor thing’s face turned all red!

We returned to the beach again in July for another week of excitement.  Madelyn rode in the boat again and loved it this time!  She was able to stand up and hold onto the side and would just open her mouth and scream into the wind!  This week at the beach was more challenging for Dan and I as she was into everything, crawling all over the sand and at the blanket and at the shore.  She loved splashing in the water, knocking down the sand castles, and digging in the sand.  Of course much of it went into her mouth, but what can you d? 

Madelyn also had her first trip to New York this summer.  My mom, Grandma Mary Lou, Olivia, and I had a girls weekend up to NY for family reunion.  The six hour ride lasted eight, but both girls were troopers!  The weekend went by fast and they were awesome!  We met some new cousins and had so much fun playing on the swing set at the picnic!  I know my grandma had a blast and it was so rewarding to see the smile on her face! 

Our next road trip will start on Sunday and that will be to Lake Lure, in North Carolina.  This week will be spend with the Hart family and should be a change of pace with hiking
.and other adventures!
In Sickness and in Health

Madelyn in December giving her a neb treatment

In July, at least the mask fit better on her face!

What a happy baby girl we have!  It is very hard to tell if she is tired or sick because honestly she just goes with the flow and rarely cries.  Although she is way overtired from our vacation last week and has cried/fussed more this week than all summer, but we are on the road to rest! Anyway, she has had quite a few ear infections this year.  We had the December to Remember with the double ear infection and RSV issues, which required a neb treatments.  Another huge ear infection in January and then again in April.  She was very healthy until just before Fourth of July.  We had no idea she was even sick, but when she woke up one morning she had goop in both her eyes.  A trip to the doctor revealed double ear infection and pink eye in both eyes!  She was put on antibiotics and after the pink eye was passed to Olivia, we moved on.  The following weekend she started coughing and after we returned to the doctor a week later.  The antibiotics were doing nothing and as Dr. Lancaster says, "wow that is impressively bad."  So basically the meds were doing nothing for the poor thing and the infection moved down to her lungs and she was wheezing again. Back on the neb! This week when we returned to the doctor to make sure the ear infection was cleared up, Dr. Lancaster mention she wanted Madelyn to be checked out  by a pediatric pulmonary specialist to rule out any other issues because of her ear infections and the wheezing she gets in her lungs.  Since Dan has his backwards issue, she just wants to rule out or become aware of any issues Madelyn may or may not have.  So stay turned for the update!  Overall, she is a happy, healthy child and whatever this doctor tells us we will move forward with more information!  

Sharing a Room

They do like to cuddle in each other's cribs!

Oh My!  Oh My!  Madelyn has been all over the room upstairs in our house...of course she started in our room in the bassinet, then she moved from the bassinet to the rock n play sleeper thing next to our bed, then back to the basinet, followed by a stint in the office in the pack n play because she outgrew the bassinet.  Next, we moved her into the crib in the girl's room in January.  This is when she was sick and we were sleep training, she would cry out at night and wake up Olivia, so after about two weeks we decided it was not working.  Back into the office she went, this time we moved the crib and Madelyn until she was sleeping better at night and not waking up Olivia. Around Spring Break time in April, we moved Madelyn back into the room with Olivia.  The first night was interesting.  Madelyn was almost asleep as we brought Olivia into the room for bed.  No less than five minutes later, they were both screaming to each other across the room.  This lasted for about an hour and they both finally feel asleep!  I figured she needed a barrier, so she could not see Olivia, so I hung a sheet over her crib and that worked until she could pull herself up.  

Most nights we are successful if Madelyn is asleep before we put Olivia to bed.  I have grown frustrated lately because Olivia will start singing or yelling Madelyn's name and wake her up.  Then the two of them will start yelling and giggling back and forth to each other.  Madelyn gets her revenge in the mornings though because she usually wakes up earlier than Olivia and will stand up in the crib, yelling to Madelyn.  The past few weeks it is funny to hear Olivia talking to Madelyn and get her going.  They both like to jump on the bed and you will hear Olivia say to her, "jump Madelyn jump!"  We have to find the humor in the situation.  In all honesty, I am not sure this arrangement is working and Dan has said he is willing to rearrange the furniture.  They are just so young and on different sleep schedules, I think separating them will make it easier for them to get the sleep they need.  However, they are having a blast together in that room!  Madelyn loves her sister and laughs at whatever she is doing!  I guess we will wait to see what happens….stay tuned!  


The first year with Madelyn has been quite a challenge, but has brought us so much joy!  She is blossoming into such a silly, sweet, determined little girl! We love her with all of our hearts and cannot image what our life was like before her!  So, here's to another exciting year filled with new challenges!   

Olivia and Madelyn's Tit for Tat

-Just a little note: This blog entry has been in the works for three months now.  It is amazing how much can change in the life of a baby in just a few weeks.  So as you read this understand that I had to cut it off at some point, or I would be constantly revising! 

A January afternoon we took this picture in their new shirts!

I can hardly believe how much our family has changed since our last update!  Olivia is now 28 months (almost 2.5 years) and Madelyn is almost 7.5 months!  Lil Miss Madelyn has come so far in the past two months.  The combination of starting daycare, the RSV virus, Christmas and New Year, plus the adjustment to the crib, another ear infection and her feeding schedule all out of whack, she was at her limit by the end of January!  We have really worked with Miss Sharon to get her eating and sleeping habits balanced. She is now a much happier and adjusted baby.  Olivia continues to thrive, speak more clearly and in complete sentences, and is developing quite an imagination.   So here are the highlights of the fun new things the girls are doing based on a game we play, "Tit for Tat."

Eating

Loving the cereal! 

Madelyn has started solid foods.  She had her first taste of cereal around her five month birthday, and at six months we started introducing Gerber foods.  We started with green beans, and she hated them!  I thought her awful face was due to the fact she had never eaten them before, but as we tried other foods, I realized that she does not like green beans.  So far she has tasted, bananas, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, and pears.  We have also tried peas, but she really hates all food that is green!  However, she wants whatever is in our hands, so she will eat green beans and peas.  I guess she hates that baby food; can't blame her! 

Prunes all over her face!

It has taken quite a bit of adjustment to get her bottle schedule set during the day.  It seems she is not really into nursing before we leave in the morning, but will be starving by 8:45/9:00.  So I nurse her a little bit at 7:00, and then she will have a six ounce bottle around 9:00 along with her cereal.  She eats a Gerber food around 11:30 and takes another six ounce bottle at 12:15ish.  Miss Sharon gives her a last six ounce bottle around 3:00.  We had to play with the timing on her second Gerber food at night because she LOVES the food and would eat and then not want to nurse at 6:00.  Lately, it works best to give cereal at 5:00/5:15 and then nurse at 6:00/6:15.  Naturally, we compare what Olivia did to what Madelyn is doing.  We tried to force Madelyn into a schedule of eating that Olivia fell into and that was part of the problem with the food.  We always have to remember they are individuals, and they have their own unique schedules.  Lesson leaned, and Madelyn is more like her mother, who needs little meals all day long!

Olivia eating some cereal, just like Madelyn

Olivia on the other hand, continues to be a great eater, happily eating  just about anything we give to her.  Her recent favorites include, mac and cheese, rice and black beans, and hot dogs (we give her the turkey ones).   If she had her way, she would eat lollipops all day long.  In her head, lollipops include the actual lollipop, and any other candy or chocolate!  Miss Sharon has a candy bowl and when I come to pick up Olivia the first thing she says to me is, "Mommy, I want a lollipop!"  Miss Sharon just laughs!  It is fun to give her treats every now and then, but we continue to give her a healthy diet of protein, fruits and veggies.  Of course we really cannot sneak any food or snacks anymore.  As soon as she sees us eating something, she will say, "I want some of that."  If you ignore her, then she will repeat herself and open her mouth wide, indicating she wants to see what is in our mouths! So she is really helping out the diet because she is always watching!

She can use a cup and we usually give her one to use at home, but she is two and loves to play games, putting her utensils in the cup and stirring her milk, or her favorite is to put food in the milk.  There are days I can't deal and I know that we should not, but we give her a sippy cup to drink from. Just last week we decided that we are over the sippy cups, and we got Miss Sharon on board, so as of the end of March, she is totally drinking out of cups.  

Sleeping

Every morning the girls cuddle in one of their cribs! It is such a cute routine!

Miss Olivia goes to bed around 7:00 and sleeps until 6:30/7:00 each morning.  We have our little bedtime routine of books, songs, and prayers.  We really enjoy this time of day with her because she is cuddly and usually calm.  Since the time change it has been lighter out when she goes to bed.  Often we hear her singing to herself before she settles down.   

Olivia pretending she is asleep with her bottle!

Olivia still takes a two hour nap starting between 12:00 and 1:00, depending on the day.  Every once in a while at Miss Sharon's house we arrive and learn she has not napped because she has climbed out of the pack 'n play, or she slept an hour before calling out to Miss Sharon and singing.  The best nap story at Miss Sharon's is when Olivia completely stripped down to her diaper and then climbed out, calling out to Miss Sharon, "I'm a naked baby!"  When we arrived to pick her up at the end of the day she was running around with no shirt on!  Miss Sharon just laughed at her.  Needless to say she went to bed early that night!  She is still not ready to drop that nap. 

Waking up after her morning nap!

Madelyn, Madelyn!  We learned with Olivia that "sleep promotes sleep" and we followed the same pattern.  Madelyn nurses around 6:15 and lately she has been falling asleep while nursing.  If she does not fall asleep while nursing, then we do books and prayers before we put her down in the crib.  She is a good sleeper and sleeps until about 6:30/6:45.  We usually do not go in and get her until 7:00ish, and she is happy to roll around in the crib and coo to herself.   I enjoy the extra sleep on the weekends :).  She also takes a morning nap around 9:15/9:30 and it can range from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending.  We have worked it so that she also goes down about the same time as Olivia.  We will hold one of them up so they can go down together.  Having them on the same schedule for the nap is great to get things done on the weekend! 

Madelyn is a restless sleeper though.  She is all over the crib and is rolling onto her stomach in the middle of the night.  She will wake herself up and cry out for a few minutes while she tries to get comfortable.  She loves to sleep on her side, and it is so cute to see her  cuddle peacefully with her blanket!  Overall, she has followed in her sister’s footsteps and is a good little sleeper!

Playing

Madelyn started sitting around six months and she is a much happier kid! She really likes to see what is going on around her. She loved laying on her playmat and would lay there content for quite a while, but Dan and I were happy to put that away (it was a hard toy to store in our house)!  At seven months her favorite toys include any of the Lamaze toys, especially her Puppy, the Sophie Teething Giraffe, her jumper, the ring stacker, and a colorful elephant stacker toy with crunchy textures. She is very content to sit with toys around her and watch Olivia, Hurley, and the other people in the room. When she is tired of sitting, she will fall forward and lay on her belly.  Overall, she is content with a few toys and watching the world go by! 

Rocking out with Elmo!

Olivia on the other hand is a typical toddler, who is constantly running, singing, dancing, and playing!  She has two speeds, fast and faster!  Her most favorite toy is her play kitchen.  The kitchen will keep her busy for quite a bit.  It is fun to hear her “talk” in the kitchen, she makes food, coffee, and bakes cupcakes!  She also loves her little play table and baby high chair, so she will set the table and feed the baby at the same time!  So adorable.  Her other favorites include books and puzzles.  We have quite a few wooden puzzles, and we have one actual puzzle with 24 pieces.  She likes us to sit with her, but she can almost do that puzzle on her own! It is a Minnie and Mickey puzzle, so she will start with Mickey’s body and move to Minnie.  Dan has really taught her how to do the puzzle and it is funny to hear her talk it out!  She continues to love watching her shows.  Miss Sharon checked out The Curious George Movie from the library and she enjoys that so much.  She will laugh out loud at several places.  Of course the only time she watches TV is when we are putting Madelyn to bed and that is about 20 minutes, so she watches the same 20/25 minutes of the movie every night!  Finally, she is enthusiastic about playing outside too!  She has a tricycle and has begun to understand how to pedal it!  She can go down our little sidewalk and just needs a push to get going up it.  The first time she actually pedaled was a few weeks ago, and she was so excited, arms waving, cheering, “Hooray I did it!”  It was a memory I will keep with me!

Moving

Olivia climbing our fence out back.  It makes me so nervous!

Olivia has two speeds, fast and faster!  She loves to run and be chased. She runs around the island at Miss Sharon’s, she runs around our dining room table, she runs up and down the hill in the back of our house, she runs away from us (this new development is NOT our favorite), and she runs all around the neighborhood on our “walks.”  The amount of energy this child has is unbelievable! 

When I first caught her starting to move!

At 7.5 moths, Madelyn is a rolling, scooting, rocking lil thing!  We realize we should not compare kids, but we figured since Olivia was content sitting, surrounded by toys, we would be on easy street with Madelyn until this summer.  Boy, were we ever wrong! She has started by rolling all over the place.  We first noticed that at night she would end up on her stomach, sleeping.   We soon realized that we cannot leave her on anything with out watching her!  A few weeks ago, she rolled off the dresser/changing table.  She fell pretty hard, but luckily did not have any marks!  It was my fault, I bent down to answer a question from Olivia, and then I see Madelyn falling, in slow motion, out of the corner of my eye.   My heart broke that day and I felt awful, but hopefully no permanent damage was caused!  We have learned to be cautious of our bed too.  No falls from that yet! On a funnier note, Olivia was laughing so hard at Madelyn a few weeks ago!  I was changing Olivia’s diaper and Madelyn was on the floor playing around.  Suddenly she let out a screech and we looked, she had moved herself backwards under her dresser!  The only thing sticking out from the dresser was her head. Olivia and I were cracking up so hard.  She was stuck under the dresser and could not move.  Of course, Olivia had to reenact it and crawl under the dresser too.  We laughed so hard that night! 

Talking

 Olivia is talking non-stop now a days!  She has been talking in complete sentences for a few months now.  It is amazing how suddenly she is a little parrot and will often repeat things.  We have learned to filter what we say.

Here are the most recent top five sayings

1. “Look at me, I am…” (dancing, running, signing, jumping-you name it we are looking)!
2. “I can’t do...”  As in she wants to do something.  She will want you to sit and play with her and she says, “I can’t play with you.”
3. “Hi buddy” (to Hurley) “Hi Sweetie” (to Madelyn) and That's my ..." (Hurley, Madelyn, pooh, mommy, daddy, anything and everything is hers)!
4. "That's better."  She will be playing, putting toys in the bathtub, cleaning up her toys, giving Madelyn a toy, fixing the carpet that Hurley messed up, the list is endless... she'll say, “that’s better.” 
5. "Are you sad?  You happy now?"  She is really big on emotions.  She understands what being sad is and understands happy.  She is struggling to understand frustrating and mad.  Everything to her is funny.  Especially when she does something we don’t want her to.   When she does something to make us upset, like throwing her plate down at dinner because she did not want that plate(that is not a typical night though), she will look at us a few minutes later and ask, "Are you happy now?"  It is adorable and is hard not to laugh! 

My newest favorite is "Guys"  If Dan and I are doing something together or we are all in the same room she will say something to use like, "Guys, who put this here?"   It makes Dan and I crack up!  Then she will start laughing with us and I know she does not understand what we are laughing at!

Madelyn on the other hand is probably going to give Olivia a run for her money!  Madelyn is a screecher!  She will be playing, get excited, and just let out this scream!  She sees one of us, especially Olivia, and her face lights up as she screams and giggles.  She is babbling away too.  She says, mamamama, dadada, lalalalala, etc.  It is very fun.  My most favorite noise of her's is her giggle.  Playing in her car seat, she will let out this little giggle that melts your heart.  It is just so adorable! 

Our life is insanely busy with the two of these beautiful, lovable girls, and it is apparent by our lack of dedication to this blog update.  However, we are able to smile each day, give endless hugs and kisses, and enjoy the love of these girls!  As the school year comes to a close, we will certainly have more time to write more this summer.  So keep checking back for updates! 

January Sleeping Issues--Again, Seriously!?

At least they like to cuddle!

I don’t know what it is about January and my kids, but man oh man, when they are babies they do not like to sleep at all during this month!  I don’t know if it is because we are coming off the high and craziness of the Holiday season, or we just run them so ragged they are overtired, but we struggled with Madelyn’s sleeping this month.  I think back to two years ago in January 2010 with Olivia and it was rough.  She became overtired because we did not follow the sleep schedule over the holidays, a schedule we were unaware at the time we had established.  So this year I was determined to keep things normal over the holidays and consistent.  The sickness threw us for a loop, but we were getting back into a groove by the end of the month.  At this point Madelyn was still in her pack-n-play in the office and Olivia was in her crib in the shared room. 

Over the Christmas break we start with sleep training by letting her cry for five minutes before we rushed in to replace the pacifier or swaddle her up again.  This progressed pretty well and for three nights in a row at the end of break, she slept through the night…like really through the night!  6:15-6:30!  Go Madelyn Go!  So we decided that she was probably done eating at night and we could begin step two of sleep training.  We were not going to replace the pacifier anymore and let her start self-soothing.  She cried for a while on Friday in early January and then for the next four nights we did not hear from her again.  Another victory!  This was way easier than Olivia.  Time to make the move from the pack n play into her crib and with Olivia.  The first two/three nights were rough.  She cried on and off for quite a while before settling herself down and falling back to sleep.  Poor Olivia!  I felt bad for her to be at ground zero of the crying!  Madelyn continue improve though.  The only downside was she was awake, talking in her crib around 5:45/6:00.  Not a huge deal I will take that, if she continued to sleep through the night.  Her talking in the crib did wake up Olivia, so her new wake up time this month was 6:15 versus her old 7:00 time, again not the end of the world. 

For about a week things calmed down.  Then Madelyn started crying during the night again.  We figured it was because of a cold, again.  She was all congesting and Olivia was coughing too.  To Dr. Lancaster we go, finding out both girls had ear infections.  Back to Giant for more antibiotics, only to find out we needed a different card for our prescriptions, so back home, and then back out to Giant.   This was a really fun afternoon.

The antibiotics helped both girls and sleep improved again.  Then another night the next weekend, Madelyn finds her pacifier in the middle of the night and fussed for the next hour.  She got her fingers stuck in the pacifier and as she would get it in her mouth and fall back to sleep, relaxing her hand, it would pull the pacifier out of her mouth.  I went in against my better judgment, and helped her get her fingers out of the pacifier.  She finally went back to sleep for good that night.  The next few nights we would sneak into her room and grab the pacifier out of the crib when it would fall out of her mouth.  It kinda helped, but she would wake up and cry for about 20 minutes at night.  Our daycare women, Miss Sharon, suggested we just get rid of the pacifier, if we were going though all this trouble.  She can put herself to sleep and is a good self-soother.  It was really cute because when we arrived back to her house at the end of the day last Friday, she was excited to report Madelyn did not use the pacifier all day!  She took two naps and only fussed for a few minutes!  We were equally as thrilled and packed up all the pacifiers and put them away, so Olivia could not be the helpful other sister and put it in her mouth!  Friday night—success!  Saturday night, not so great, she cried on and off for 45 minutes in the middle of the night.  When she woke up her diaper was huge, so I thought maybe it was uncomfortable for her.  The same crying happened again on Sunday night.  Convinced something was wrong, I took her to the doctors to be sure her ear infection has cleared up.  It did.  And Dr. Lancaster explained she is going to bed so early, she might be crying because she is hungry.  The new plan was to feed her in the middle of the night again and see how that went.  Frustrated, and feeling like a  awful mom because I am not feeding her when/if she is hungry, for the rest of the week I have gotten up and fed her.  I play a game with myself now.  How fast will she eat and get back to bed.  Things are better, but we still feel like Madelyn will have to do another night or two of crying it out and it would not be fair for Olivia.  We made the choice to move her crib into the office until she is fully sleeping peacefully all night long! 

 I do not know what is going on in the month of January with my two girls, but I for the second time as a mother, I am glad to see this month come to an end!  As I write this blog entry, I am realizing we lack consistency in our sleep approach.  We can only move forward now and hope to get this girl sleeping better soon! 

A December to Remember!

Merry Christmas!  Puryear Family 2011

Madelyn's first Christmas was a memorable one for sure, but leading up to the actual Christmas celebration was a little...insane!  She is quite the happy four and a half month old baby now, but it was a rough go of it during December.  Olivia continues to thrive as well, talking up a storm and making us laugh on a daily basis!  Before I get ahead of myself, lets recap Thanksgiving!

Breakfast time with the girls

The Wittman Family, Jill, Steve, Emma, and Ava, were visiting the Beach for Thanksgiving this year, and we of course had to make the trip to celebrate with them and the other Puryears!  Besides leaving something at home and having to head back, causing Madelyn to scream the last 25 minutes of the trip because she was starving, the ride down was quite pleasant.  We had a great time catching up with the family, eating lots of yummy food, and even got to spend time outside.  The Wambolt family, Scott, Carol, Brayden, and Blake, also came down on Friday and all six grandchildren played together.  Olivia had so much fun with the cousins, and it was great to watch them all playing together.  We have great memories of that weekend, and I just love when all the cousins get together.  Thank goodness my in-laws built a big enough house to hold us all! 

We tried to get all the cousins in one place at one time!

The Thanksgiving break was enjoyable, but it was time to really get into a groove!  I was finished with Maternity Leave right before Thanksgiving, and only worked two, three day weeks.  However, it was time to work full five days weeks and get Miss Madelyn and Olivia adjusted to daycare full time.  Olivia loves Miss Sharon, our daycare woman, so she was not really my worry.  Madelyn seems to be very alert and aware of where she is and therefore, usually has a rough time sleeping in new places.  I was worried she would not sleep at Miss Sharon's and we would be dealing with an over tired, cranky baby.  However, she slept!  Even on her second day at daycare, she gave Miss Sharon BIG smiles. I feel confident both girls are in the right place, and we feel blessed to have Miss Sharon in our lives.  The transition back was pretty smooth for everyone, but just after our the first full week back, the tides turned and the waters became pretty rough! 

Olivia had a runny nose and a little cough after Thanksgiving, but we did not think too much about it. She seemed to have recovered by the middle of the week and when we received a call about being the Holy Family in our churches theatrical performance of Walk to Bethlehem, the first weekend in December, we thought it would be an experience for Madelyn to play Baby Jesus and Olivia was a sheep.  The night was pretty chilly and we bundled up for our performance!  My mom, Julie, was the narrator of our scene and Tyler was a Shepard.  Olivia just loved preforming for the groups of people!  She would say, "hello people" and then she would tell them which way they were to go after my mom was done narrating the scene.  Madelyn on the other hand was a warm and cozy Baby Jesus and slept in my arms for most of the time!  We arrived home late that evening and both girls were exhausted!  I nursed Madelyn and was hoping she would sleep through the night because she ate two hours later than usual.  However, I was severely wrong!  She usually wakes up once in the night to nurse and then goes right back to sleep. However, she decided to wake up at midnight, then two o'clock, and then four o'clock, and finally six o'clock!  It was pretty crazy and uncharacteristic of her.   Dan and I attributed to the fact she was overtired and went to bed late.  Then Sunday night the same type of situation.  She was awake about the same amount of times on Sunday night, and she was starting to cough.  We figured since she was outside on Saturday night, she probably had Olivia's cold...great!   The other thing that changed on Sunday was she would only nurse on one side.  Monday night brought the same result and she even refused to nurse.  I figured she was exhausted and she had enough to eat, but I was wrong.  Around 10:00 pm she started crying and it lasted for more than five minutes, so we went in and realized she was all stuffed up.  I immediately took her into the shower to break up some of her congestion and then at 11:00 I nursed her again, and figured we would be good for the night.  Not so, at 3:30 am she was awake again and Dan went in to calm her down.  Then she was awake again at 6:00.  With only five hours of sleep, we decide something was wrong, and we needed to call the doctor!  On Tuesday we had our first visit to Dr. Lancaster and she diagnosed Madelyn with a type of respiratory virus and the start of an ear infection, which explains why she was awake each night and would not nurse!   Dr. Lancaster instructed us to start a nebulizer treatment with her twice a day and she was on antibiotics too.

Neb Treatments :(

The next two weeks were rough.  Madelyn refused to nurse, and the nebulizer treatments were agonizing!  I started pumping full time and she would only take a bottle.  This was emotionally rough on me, but we pushed forward.  On Monday, less than a week after we had been to the doctors, Madelyn's entire body broke out in a rash and she hardly slept that night, again!  Tuesday December 13th, Olivia had a dentist appointment and we decided to keep Madelyn home too, hoping for a doctor's appointment.   Two bits of news happened on this day.  First Olivia's upper right tooth needed to be pulled in order to preserve her adult tooth, and Madelyn had an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin.  It seemed that a fall that Olivia took in the Spring, which chipped her left front tooth, had an impact on the right tooth too!  We also discovered that Madelyn's ear infection was healed, but she had a reaction to the medicine. Whether she is allergic is still to be determined, but for now she will no longer receive amoxicillen medicine!  At this point, ten days before Christmas we started to heal, and boy was it a LONG few weeks!  However, the joy that Olivia had on Christmas morning melted our hearts and made the rough seas of December worth all of the struggles!

Christmas Morning, chillin in bed!

Christmas was an amazing event this year!  We were finally all healthy and happy! On Christmas Eve, the girls and I spent the day at my parent's house because Dan went with Laura to the Ravens game.  We did our traditional appetizers and were able to make it to two different church services, the children's service and the 7 pm service.  By 7:00, both girls were exhausted, but we pushed our luck and it worked out fine.  Olivia spent the sermon playing with my iPhone and Madelyn slept the whole time.  After the services we had several people compliment us on the girls behavior, but my favorite was, "wow she is two and knows how to use an iPhone!? My mom can't even turn it on!"  Aw the joys of technology!

The Puryear Christmas 2011

Christmas morning was equally as memorable!  Olivia and Madelyn awoke to a new play kitchen, the best present ever, in front of the tree!  Madelyn had fun playing with her new Pooh toy and Olivia hardly noticed there were other presents under the tree!  It was so enjoyable, and Olivia kept saying, "Santa brought me kitchen!  Thanks Santa!"  It melted our hearts and it was so much fun that she understood Santa!  So our morning was relaxing and it was wonderful being a family of four!  Then after nap we went to my parents for more family time.  We had quite an extended family event with greatest and one of her friends from Heartlands, and of course the newlyweds, and Kym had a friend celebrating too.  It was quite a bit of people and made the day jolly!

After Christmas we headed to Ocean City to continue our Christmas celebrations at the Puryear's!  The first night, we decided to try to do an all you can eat crab leg dinner with both girls, Laura, and Jean and Lee.  I am happy to report it was a success!  Olivia had fun eating the crabs for quite a while and even the dinner we ordered her.  Madelyn was a bit cranky and finally fell asleep in my arms.  This worked to my benefit because the whole table was offering pieces of crab meat and I did not have to work as hard for my meal :)  Thanks Madelyn.  We were there for about 2 hours and when we left all of our bellies were full and we did not cause a scene in the restaurant!  The next few days were relaxing.  We celebrated Christmas, ate lots of great food, and played lots of games.  It was just what our family needed after our crazy December sickness.  This week we also had very successful nights of sleep with Madelyn and she started sleeping through the night!  However, this did not last...more to come on that issue! 

Addie, Olivia, and Madelyn, ringing in the New Year

Finally we headed home and we celebrated New Years Eve with our traditional group of friends, Monica and Rob, and Courtney, Kris, and Addie.   We had a great night with appetizers and old time games.  The girls all headed to bed and the fun began!  Our lives have changed so drastically in the past two years, but we still know how to celebrate and have fun...even though we are just in the comfort of our house!


December was definitely a month of struggles, chaos, and lack of sleep, but the look on Olivia's face Christmas morning and the smiles from Madelyn made everything worth it!  We are quickly learning that no matter how rough it can get with two young kids, the smiles and happiness outweigh it all!

So here is to 2012...bring it on!  We have many, many more pictures in the online albums.  Check them out here if you want <https://picasaweb.google.com/116339140741596376327>

Happy New Year! 

8 Things during Madelyn's 8 Weeks

Madelyn Faith 6 Weeks

Madelyn Faith is two months old, and I can hardly believe how exhausting, challenging, and exciting our life has become!  Madelyn is a great little baby and loves to be held and cuddled.  So in honor of her being eight, almost nine weeks this blog entry is dedicated to her top events and favorite things from her first eight weeks!

Madelyn slept away during the rehearsal

Number 8: Aunt Bethany's Wedding Weekend

At four weeks old, my sister Bethany was married at a lovely ceremony at Mountain Branch Golf Course.  I was in the wedding along with Olivia, who was the flower girl.  It was a crazy, busy, weekend, but such a great time!  Olivia successfully wore her dress the entire night, it was touch and go, because she would not wear the dress at home! Madelyn Faith was a darling, sleeping in anyone and everyone arms.  She was able to meet so many cousins, aunts, uncles, and close family friends.  The weekend was pretty chill, so she stayed bundled up in her swaddle blanket most of the time at the wedding.  It was a very memorable weekend and the two girls were so amazing with the chaos and excitement.  We are so happy for Bethany and Bryan!

Number 7: Madelyn's Favorite Place to Sleep

In the rocker sound asleep!

At her one month appointment Madelyn was diagnosed with Acid Reflux.  This explains her crankiness after eating and why she cries when we put her down flat.  Dr. Landcaster recommend she sleep elevated and she has medicine to take three times a day.  As a result, we decided to let her sleep in her rocker full time.  Man oh man does she love that bed!  It was given to us as a gift from my sisters in law after Madleyn was born and it has been the best gift yet!  It seems very comfortable to us, almost like a hammock.  She has been sleeping much better and was in that full time for about a month.  Then I, starting to panic a little about starting daycare, and began to transition her back into the bassinet.  It was a tough week because she would not sleep for longer than 40-minutes to an hour during the day, but one night I just went for it and she slept fine!  She still sleeps in the rocker, which is so convient to carry places, but is in the bassinet full time again.  The medicine seems to be helping a lot, and it is obvious when we have forgotten to give her the medicine.  You can honestly seen the pain on her face when she spits up.  It is very sad.  For now though, we she is feeling great and is all smiles.  Not to mention an amazing sleeper!  The next step is out of our room and in with Olivia...um, we are waiting on that for now! 

Number 6: Bath Time

Splashing with her hands!

We have another water baby for sure.  The first bath was a little touch and go, Madelyn screaming the whole time, but the second bath she relax and loved it.  We give both girls a bath together and Madelyn loves to splash and watch Olivia.  Olivia loves her bath already, and adding Madelyn to the mix is so much fun for her.  She loves to laugh at her and especially "help" with washing her.  We have to remind Olivia to be gentle and not dump water on her head.  We encourage her to get her belly, but she really likes the head.  Madelyn is a great sport and does not seem to mind the water being dumped in her face.  I think it is going to be more exciting when Madelyn can actually sit up and splash back at Olivia.  Oh the times to come...

Number 5:  The Restraint Swaddle and the Pacifier

Olivia wanted to sleep next to Madelyn on the floor.

Both kids simply crave the coziness of the swaddle.  We swaddled Olivia until she was almost six months, and we started doing the same with Madelyn.  One difference though, Madelyn will break out of the swaddle and then wake her self up, hitting her face with her hands, trying to suck her thumb.  So at about 3 weeks of age, I pulled out the big gun swaddle....The Swaddle Blanket, which is complete with a Velcro strap to secure her in.  This has made a huge difference and she sleeps much more soundly.   I feel awfully bad because it seems like we are putting her into a straight jacket, but she is sleeping better and who can complain with that! 

Asleep with pacifier in her mouth. 

The other trait that Madelyn has is a desire to suck and Olivia would never really take the pacifier, but Madelyn loves it.  We had had quite a struggle with keeping the pacifier in her mouth.  Dan and I had a rule with Olivia never to put her down with the pacifier in, but with Madelyn we have not choice.  As soon as that falls out she will wake up.  It can be quite frustrating, and we are constantly playing the game I call, "Pacifier Wars."   The good news is when she is finally in a deep sleep the game ends, but can sometimes last  thirty to four-five minutes.   On the other hand, at night she usually sleeps without needing it replaced.  So we play the game during the day, mostly.  Since she sleeps upstairs, I use the stairs as a work out.  I feel like we need to put a positive spin on it!  She still tries hard to get that hand in her mouth, and recently we have let her fuss a bit more to get that hand in her mouth.  I would rather  deal with the dental bill, and have a good self soother!  I will probably look back on these days in a few years and say why is she still sucking her thumb. 

Number 4: Fall Adventures

Larriland Farm Pumpkin Photo 

Peach and apple picking, vising the pumpkin patch, family walks, Raven games, and Maryland tailgates are all the fall adventures we have enjoyed as a family.  We love Larriland Farms in western Maryland and have gone twice this fall.  It has become quite a tradition to pick apples in the fall and then get our pumpkins.  The farm has hayrides, animals, and a hay maze.  Last year we went with Olivia and she was not quite walking, but this year she tore up the hay maze!  Madelyn was comfy cozy in the Bjorn and was earned much attention.  My favorite fall picture was at Larriland with the girls sitting by the pumpkins.  We also visited another farm, Elioak Farm, which has more things to run and play on and more animals to pet.  We visited this farm twice, once with Courtney and Addie, and once with the Joy family.  Again, Olivia had so much fun this year and really liked feeding the goats.  Madelyn slept most of the time during each visit, but we have pictures to remind her and I can envision next year she will be keeping up with Olivia! 

Before the walk

One of my favorite parts of the fall is the weather and football.  We have had great fall weather and have taken advantage of the days.  One event we did participate in is the BWI Family Fun Run/Walk.  Three years ago, Dan and I ran in the event, but this year we walked with the girls.  We let Olivia out the last half mile, and she was hilarious!  She wold watch the other people walking by and the stare at the planes taking off next to the walk.  My favorite part was at the end of the race.  She reached the finished line and everyone starting clapping.  She stopped and starting jumping up and down!  It was so cute because she caused a traffic jam.  Madelyn spent most of the race sleeping in the stroller, but the end she woke up and grandma has to bring her across the finish line.

Football is our other favorite.  We have been to most of the home Terps game this year and that was possible because my parents willing watch the girls.   The other games we brought them to the game.  Olivia was fascinate by the crowd, the players, and the Turtle.  Madelyn also woke up for the game and was a cuddly little girl. We are certainly a football family and on Sunday spend the day watching the Ravens.  Most of the time the game happens during nap time, or dinner time!  When Olivia wakes up her favorite part of the game is eating cheerios and cheering for the plays that "all fall down and get boo boos."  Then she will say, "they need band-aids." So cute!  Madelyn has also become more observant and is starting to like the colors on the TV.  I cant help but wonder what will happen next year with two mobile kids. 

Number 3: Daily Outings

I like to keep the girls busy and we have had quite a few outings while I have been home.  We frequently visit the library, Storyville, the mall, and have play dates.  Olivia's favorite has been walking in the cemetery behind our house.  She likes that because she can get out and run freely.  Madelyn is such a good little travel and will stay in her car seat or the Bjorn.  Again, I get a lot of looks from other moms, saying, "I am impressed you are out and about."  My reply is, "We get bored at home and need to stay active."  I feel like you need to get out and about to break up the day.  We are usually home by 11:00 for lunch time and nap!  The only issue,  it is really hard to take picture when out by myself, so we have no pictures of our adventures!

Number 2: The Play Mat and Bouncer Seat

Including Madelyn in our puzzle play!

Just like her big sister, Madelyn loves the play mat and the bouncer seat.  What a life saver these have been.  We actually purchased a new mat for Madelyn and it has more bells and whistles than our original one.  It is so much fun to watch her stare and try to hit the various toys hanging from the toy.  She is really getting good at hitting them and if you step back and watch she will just start to smile!  It is great because this toy will entertain her for quite a bit of time. 

She also loves the bouncer seat and will fall asleep in it, one day we played puzzles and Olivia put the pieces onto Madelyn.  Most days though we have to move her upstairs because Olivia will see her sleeping and feel like she needs to be bounced.  So she will walk over to her and really bounce Madelyn.  Of course she wakes up, crying.  So we quickly put an end to the sleeping in the bouncer. Poor thing! 

Number 1: Madelyn Loves Her Family

Playtime with my girls

All smiles for her family.  Madelyn has become quite observant and her face really lights up with a toothless grin whenever we put our face in front of hers.  She really loves to watch Olivia and when she focuses on her she will watch her for quite a few minutes.  My favorite time of day is when Dan comes home.  It is fun to watch him hold Madelyn and when she realizes who is holding her she will smile wide for  him.  I look forward to seeing the interaction between the two girls.  Olivia has been wonderful with her and the way she looks at Olivia I hope they will be close! 

Madelyn has become quite a happy little baby and that smile just lights up my days!