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! 

Welcome Madelyn Faith

Introducing...Madelyn Faith

Madelyn made quite an entrance into the world!  Before we get to the drama, let me explain her middle name.  As most people know it took us 18 long months to conceive Olivia.  We decided to name her Olivia Grace because by the Grace of God we became pregnant!  Madelyn was a bit easier and we determined she need to have the middle name Faith because we have always kept our Faith that everything would work out the way it is suppose to be!  Keeping that thought in mind we awaited the arrival of our little girl and she lived up to that middle name during labor!  

Such a diva already!

Because this was my second child, my doctor offered to induce me on Thursday, the day after my due date. I was a bit nervous to be induced because my first labor was fairly "easy", and I did not know how my body would react to the procedure.  I agreed, figuring that if a spot was open, then it would be the right choice.  Plus it was a lot easier to have a plan of what to do with Olivia than the unknown!  So on Thursday August 18th we arrived at Howard County General, after dropping Olivia off at my parent's house.  I was checked in and had an IV started before Dr. Esposito checked me out.  When he entered the room I could tell something was not right.  He did an exam and determined I was 2 centimeters dilated and 60% a faced.  Then he said, "we just had about 5 women arrive at Labor and Delivery and there is not enough staff to cover everyone."   He then explained that since my procedure was an elective induction, I was probably going to be sent home.  Honestly, I was fine with that outcome.  I was nervous about this to start with, and I took it as a sign it was not the right time.  Two hours after arriving at the hospital, we left to go home and wait!  

Another thumb sucker?

Talk about everything happening for a reason, when we arrived at my parents house, Olivia felt warm to me and my mom thought so too!  After taking her temperature, I decided to call Dr. Landcaster and  ask her if we could come in for a quick check.  I was worried it was an ear infection and with the possibility of a new baby soon, I wanted her on antibiotics as soon as possible.    That afternoon it was determined she had a virus called Hand, Foot, Mouth, and it would just take time to pass.  PHEW!  At least it was not  an ear infection.  Dan and I decided we have been pretty bad about washing her hands, after we are out in public places, so we will be better about that!  That afternoon, we gave her lots of love and fluids and she seemed to be better.  

Fast forward to 8:30 pm.  We are watching "The Dilemma" downstairs and I start to feeling something. About ten to twelve minutes later I feel it again.  Before alerting Dan, I keep track of the timing and about half an hour later I tell him to start timing.  He determines I am having contractions about ten minutes apart.  At 9:30 pm we call my mom and ask her to come stay the night because this baby is most likely coming soon!  We also called Dan's mom, Jean, and tell her she should probably leave in the morning because she was going to help with Olivia.  We wait out the contractions and about 12:00 am call the doctor to let him know.  I was ready to get to the hospital and get an epidural so we could rest a little bit before the fun begins!  We then discover Dr. Esposito is still on call and he says to come in he will check me out.  

12:30 am we leave for the hospital and at 1:00 they put me in a room to determine if I was going to be checked in to stay or go back home.  As an awful nurse tries to get an IV needle in my arm, poking me about four times before she "gives up," Dr. Esposito checks me out.  He determines I was now four centimeters and 100% a faced.  I would be staying and having this baby!  YAY!   Then as he begins to ask me about pain medicine and I say I would like an epidural, the lights in the entire hospital go out!  An awful lightening storm knocked out the power.  Less than a minute later, the generator begins and we have lights again!  But what a shock!  

Proud Daddy!

The next adventure began when moving rooms.  Since they were unsure if I would be admitted, I was in a small room first.  When it was official, the nurses then had to move me down the hall to an actual Labor and Delivery room.  I had to get up and use the bathroom and while I was in there, two nurses took the bed I was in and started wheeling it down the hallway without me!  So we rushed to keep up,  I holding the back of my gown closed, and Dan carrying three bags!  As we approached the room a contraction started and I had to hold onto the doorway for support all the while a third nurse says, "there goes your ride!"  Thanks lady!  As I think back it was all pretty comical, but in the moment I was not a happy person, who was still missing an IV line!

Cuddling with mommy!

Finally,  I get to the room (minus an IV) around 2:00, and I immediately ask about an epidural.  At this point the contractions are about 2-5 minutes apart and growing with intensity!  My new nurse, who I loved, says I have to have a whole bag of IV fluid first!  She quickly put in my IV and I waited!  UG!  How long will that take?  She did not know for sure, but 30 minutes later and many painful contractions, the epidural is given!  What an instant relief!   I cannot imagine why a woman would choose to have a natural delivery anymore!  Epidruals are magical!  At this point it was about 3:00 am and Dan and I were able to catch a few hours of sleep.  Sorta...

From 3:00 am until 5:00 am, when the Doctor came to check me, the nurse kept coming in to check me and move me because Madelyn's heart rate was getting funny readings.  Nothing to panic about, but she wanted to keep moving my position.  At 5:00 I was about 7-8 centimeters dilated and Dr. Esposito decided to break my water.  Then he said he would be back to check later.  Another half an hour goes by and I am in and out of sleep, and I begin to feel the sensation to push.  Suddenly at 5:30, Dr. Espostio comes in and says, "I don't like the her heart rate.  Let's see where we are now."  At this point I am now fully dilated and he says it is time to push!  YAY!

~7 pounds and 4 ounces~

The pushing begins and Dr. Esposito disappears for a few minutes and we find out later he had to help another doctor because the baby was stuck!  When he reappears, he observes her heart rate and after two more pushes decides it is time to get her out!  He says, "we need to vacuum her out, now.  You are so close I would hate to do a C-Section."  I said, "Yes.  I do not want a C-Section"  Literally a minute later I start pushing on another contraction and suddenly she is out before Dan can count to ten!  It all happened so fast, and they wanted her to get checked out by the NICU first that Dan did not even get to cut the cord!  It was a little chaotic at first, but everything ended well with a healthy 7 pounds 4 ounces, and 20 inches long baby girl, delivered at 5:52 am!  To be honest, over all that was an amazingly easy delivery, which fits her middle name!  We kept faith she would arrive when it was time and she did! 

Puryear Family of Four

It was so strange to have this little girl in our arms by 6:15 in the morning.  Thinking back to Olivia's labor and delivery it was about 14 hours, so I figured it would be the same time frame.  Nope, Madelyn arrived 10 hours later!  We had the entire day to spend with her and she was able to meet most of our immediate family that day!   

The Puryear Sisters

The most special part of the day was when Olivia met Madelyn for the first time!  She immediately wanted to hold her and give her kisses!  It was a precious moment, and it is a memory that will always stay with me!  So our story continues as our family grows!  We are so blessed with love and support of family and friends, and two beautiful girls!  

PS- I am adding pictures of Madelyn below the matching picture of Olivia.  So scroll down the right side and see how the two girls compare at the same ages!

Is It Really Thanksgiving?

Olivia turns one!

Oh my where has the time gone?  I hope that everyone had an wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  The big question that was throw around this weekend was, "is it really Thanksgiving?"  The fall season has begun and we are enjoying each moment, as we realized it goes by so fast!  If I had to recap the fall in one sentence it would sound like this: We are thankful for the two front teeth Olivia has now, a happy healthy, 20 pound one year old, who has learned how to walk and talk, and blah blah

Since the last entry in September, we visited two farms, the Maryland Zoo, gone apple picking, traveled to Rochester,  traveled to Ocean City and spent time with the Wittmans,  grew two front teeth and have four more that are working their way through,  celebrated Halloween and a first birthday, started really talking, blowing kisses, giving kisses, and most importantly started walking! Of course and most recently, celebrated Thanksgiving!  Now do you understand our lack of attention to the blog?!

The following descriptions are in no particular order and are brief descriptions of our adventures! There are pictures on Picasa Web Albums that show off our events in more details, if you are more visual. 

Fall Festivities

Watch out sheep, here comes Olivia!

Olivia has always loved Hurley, but we recently discovered a love of all animals .  We went to Elioak Farm with friends in October and they have a petting area. She was enthralled with the animals!  She was practically crawling over the fence to get into the pen!  We also visited the Maryland Zoo on Friday after Thanksgiving and were able to walk around the petting area and she was trying to hug all the goats in the pen.  She was so excited and provided us with several laughs.

Chowing away on the apple

We also discovered another love of Olivia's, apples!  Tyler went along with us in October to Larriland Farm to pick apples from the orchard.  Olivia was in the stroller because she was not stead on her feet.  She was very interested in what we were doing.  Of course when you apple pick, you need to eat an apple.  She kept pointing at our apples,  so we found a baby like apple and bit off the skin, then handed it to her.  She was in her glory!  She gnawed on that apple the entire time we picked apples!  It was quite a sight to see.   We realized she prefers bigger bites of food.  Once in a while she will eat a bit that is too big, and she will spit it out. She is doing quite well I if I say so!

 Girls Weekend to Rochester   

The first weekend in October my Mom, Bethany, Kym, Olivia, and myself made the journey up to Rochester for a girls weekend, and to celebrate the baby shower of our good friend Amy Knight (Scata).   It was a bonding experiences for us and Olivia was a fabulous little traveler.   It was great to for her to meet her Uncle Ron, cousins Colin and Andy, and of course to see Greatest and Uncle Ken again.  She missed two naps, went to bed late both nights, was in the car seat for 17 hours and hardly complained!  The best part was on the way  home she sat and looked at her books by herself for more than a half an hour!  My mom would just give her an new book when she threw one on the seat!  The weekend was great and my sisters and mom were a great help with Olivia.  We missed Dan!  I think he enjoyed his bachelor time, but was ready for his girls to get home.   

All the Cousins Together

The Puryear, Wittman, Wambolt Cousin Photo Shoot

-The Girls-

As some of you know Jill and Steve Wittman, Dan's sister,  moved to Geneva, Switzerland for three years.  We miss them very much, but keep up with them using Skype!  Before they left, they spend some time in Maryland, visiting the siblings.  Steve flew to Geneva before the rest of the family, so Jill and her two girls, Emma and Ava, spend  time in Ocean City.  We visited them for the weekend.  The three girls together was so much fun!  The weather was lovely and we walked on the Boardwalk, went for two boat rides, and played outside.  The Boardwalk area in Ocean City has huge wooden play toys, which are great in the off season because they are not overrun by kids.  Emma and Olivia had the best time discovering, crawling, and running (well Emma ran), all over the toys.  Olivia loved the sand, of course, and this time was more mobile in the sand.  We had to keep an eye out for her because she kept trying to escape.  We also had two boat rides on the Cris Craft.  Olivia and Eva joined us for one and then Emma, Jill, Dan, Lee, and I went on a two hour tour for the second ride.  O and E were so cute in the over-sized life jackets.  The weekend was bittersweet because we had to say good-bye to the Wittmans. There are great pictures from the weekend and a cousin photo shoot on the photo link!  We are looking forward to seeing them at Christmas time.  I am sure we will have lots of good stories now that Olivia is walking and Ava is crawling!

 Teething

No longer a toothless grin, Olivia's bottom teeth came through at some point in the spring and her top two teeth broke through in the late summer, but it was mid-October they became cute little fixtures in pictures!  She is now cutting the top two "fang" teeth and the the bottom two as well.  I looked into her mouth the other day it the entire top of her mouth looked like it was white and swollen with tooth buds.  It must me awful, but she is holding on.  She loves the frozen teething rings.  Last week I discovered her fingers had scrap marks all over and I realized she was chewing her hands.  So I try to save  her fingers by handing over the Soothie things. It is a pacifier for infants because it has a place to put a finger in for a baby to suck on.  She LOVES to put her own finger in it and that has really saved her fingers. 

Talking and Talking

Talking up a storm!  I think her first official word was Daddy, but she had since learned, light, yes, mommy, Hurley (yes she says some of the word), cheese, please, and a few others I cannot think of now.  It is amazing that she can communicate with us, she can sign to us, but usually prefers to point at the object and make a little noise.  We are well trained and usually give her what she needs, but we always name the item.  I guess we should encourage her to sign or use her words more!

 Halloween Time

All bundled up ready to go outside!

We did celebrate Halloween with a party at our house, a Maryland tailgate, and good old fashioned trick or treating!  We usually have a Halloween party, and this year I think at one point there were more kids than adults! Olivia was a pumpkin and looked so cute.  We put the hat on her several times and she kept it on most of the nights.  We are a family were a pumpkin patch this year.  Not very creative, but the price was right.  Pumpkin carving was a family affair this year and Olivia like to put the top on her pumpkin and then take it off.  She sat in her highchair for quite a while, while we finished carving.  Tyler came over to trick or treat.  We went out for about forty five minutes and Olivia had a little stash of candy that Dan and I ate!  Next year will be fun because she will be able to really walk around and say,  "Trick or Treat!"

First Birthday Celebrations

Our little one year old!

Just dive right in!

Finally, she turned one!  We had two birthday bashes, lots of cake, and plenty of gifts!  My parents and Grandma Mary Lou came over for a birthday dinner on Monday, her actual birthday.  We dressed her up in tutu and matching pink sparkly tights.  She looked like a little princess.  My favorite part of the evening was the smash cake!  We sang to her and put down a little cake.  She had not trouble putting her hands right into it and licking it all up!  At one point she just put her face right into the cake!  We all had a good laugh, and then we opened presents.  She received a few gifts from Tyler, Grandma, and Grandpa, and a few from friends who could not make the party on Saturday.  The best toy gift was the walking toy from Skylar and Bryce.  That was the catalyst in giving her the confidence to take her first steps!  The evening flew by and soon it was bed time.  Dan and I can hardly believe we have made it a year with a child!  Our life is drastically changed, but we cant remember not having her in our lives! 

We had huge bash on Saturday for Olivia. The theme was pink and the number 1! We served chili, bread, some appetizers, and of course cake!  There were about 25 people who came to celebrate and it was a tight fit for a while, but well worth the closeness!  She received so many gifts and had some help from Brooke to open them all!  We played a few games, but the most fun was that smash cake!  We felt so blessed to have the love and support from our family and friends on her Birthday and throughout the year! As people started to leave the party, Olivia climbed up the stairs and went into her bedroom, pulling her blanket from crib and laying down on her rug in her room.  So I put her into bed, exhausted by the day, she slept for a little while!  The day was certainly memorable!

 Walking and Other Developments

As I close this LONG and DETAILED entry, I must add I am astonished how quickly she develops a skill!  Take walking for example, she was cruising for weeks,  then on Saturday (November 20th) she was walking around the living room table and stopped.  With a second thought she let go, and started walking towards the dinning room where we were sitting.  She stopped half way to clapped, then continued on towards her toy!  I was crying and I realized she is a little girl now!   Now she has taken off!  She walks/totters/falls everywhere, and has even started to climb!  She has been clapping for months, but waving bye bye, blowing kisses, and giving kisses, just started happening before her first birthday.   It is like one day in her brain, things start to click and she can do all the new tricks we have been encouraging her to do all along! 

So our live is a whole new crazy now, keeping up with her!  We absolutely LOVE it and cannot ask for anything more!