Changes

It has been a very slow week at work and the weight loss ticker and baby ticker were really bugging me every time I was on the blog so I decided to make a few changes. Since Alex was the one that set up the blog I have to log in under his account in order to make any changes. The age ticker for Maddie is finally updated and the weight loss ticker is gone for now. I decided that there was no way possible to stay on my diet through the holidays (I mean come on, peppermint ice cream has been buy one, get one free for the last month - how can you pass that up). So, I have put off getting back on track until Monday and will somewhat re start everything then so I can be in shape for our wedding!

And since you really come here for the cute pictures, here is the proof of the baby club picture we got from our photographer. I can't believe how much she has changed in the last year!

A Very Merry (and White) Christmas

It has been a whirlwind of a few days full of family meals and gift giving. We will be spending the next two days together as just the three of us before I have to go back to work on Tuesday so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.


















MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Maddie and Santa (round 2)

Last year Maddie was so infatuated with the big man that she passed out from all the excitement while waiting in line.


Apparently this year, she must have found out she was on the naughty list.


Well played Santa, well played.

Allergic

This has not been a good week for Maddie.

Remember that ear infection I mentioned last week? Turns out Maddie is allergic tot he penicillin the doctor prescribed for it. So this is what she looked like this morning: (you can't see the fat lip she has from falling into the coffee table last night)



if you click on the picture you can see a bigger version

And this was after a lot of the puffiness and swelling had gone down. To my parents the pictures will be familiar, this was me in the summer of 1981 at close to the same age as she is now:




Oh, and the ear infection is now in both ears, yippie! The good news is though that after two days of benadryl and Motrin Maddie already looks so much better!!! I'm so glad I snapped those few pictures this morning because 80% of her rash had cleared up by this evening. You can tell from the bottom picture from tonight how much better she looks.




And her hair is now long enough for pigtails!!! Granted she hates me doing them and screams the whole time. But so far she hasn't pulled them out so I'm considering that a success!

The Engagement (finally)

My parents had planned to come to town for two weeks around Maddie's birthday and it worked out that Alex was out of town for work for one of the weeks they were here. It was great because they were able to help me with Maddie and then he also only had to suffer through one week of having the in laws in town (I kid, I kid).

They got in on a Monday night and Alex left Tuesday morning. We had a great week while he was gone and I even took a day off work to go to a local kids' museum with them. It ended up being geared towards slightly older children but we had a good time and Maddie really enjoyed the grocery section.










When Alex returned the following Monday he mentioned that he might see if he could get some free passes for the Field Museum (we have a friend who works there) and take my parents the next day. I didn't want him to feel like he needed to entertain my parents on his day off and I was a little annoyed because I had already taken a day off the week before and would have to take another if I wanted to join them. They were only going to go for the afternoon so I decided to work that morning and just take a half day.

We got to the museum and walked through a few exhibits and took a few pictures with Sue.









Then we went to the Granger Hall of Gems which I was really excited about because it had been closed the last time I went. We walked through the whole exhibit and right as we were about to leave Alex pointed to a display case I had missed. And there was this:



All of a sudden the paparazzi (my mom, dad and our friend Becky) started snapping pictures as Alex got out the ring and asked me to marry him.















It was amazing and if you can't tell from the pictures, I was shocked!! I had absolutely no idea any of this was happening and was a little speechless for the first few minutes. We walked out of the gem display and there was a table set up with champagne and glasses for s to celebrate.



Maddie especially enjoyed the champagne!


After we left the museum we met up with Alex's mom and stepdad and sister and brother in law and their daughter for a big family dinner. It was a great way to end the day! I only wish my brother and Alex's other sister could have all been here with us as well. Maddie did enjoy getting to see her new best friend though.



So now begins the long process of planning a wedding. We have already visited one venue and are going to another tomorrow and will hopefully have that and the date decided by next week. I will probably begin to write separate posts in regards to the wedding planning to let everyone know what is going on. For now, we are just looking forward to spending this Christmas together as a family in our beautiful home.

Feeling Better

Thank you to everyone who has checked in the last few days regarding Maddie, she is feeling much better! Her fever is gone and her eyes are back to normal and her nose is much less congested today.

I stayed home with her yesterday and spent a lot of time doing this:


She went back and forth from her chair to my lap for most of the day!

This weekend

was perfect!

It kind of started Thursday night when Alex was able to go get a Christmas tree. I would have liked to all go as a family but it was dark and cold and myself and Maddie were both starting to get a cold so we stayed at home while Alex picked us out a beauty. Although we were both able to help put the tree stand together and get the tree in place.





We left work a little early on Friday and were able to get home and get all the lights and ornaments up on the tree. Afterwards we turned all the lights off and just sat for a few minutes and watched the tree. I was a little (a lot) weary of getting a real tree ya know with the toddler, cat and dog but I'm so glad we did! One, it smells wonderful and two, it really reminds me of my childhood Christmas' when we used to go cut down our own tree. I think Maddie loves it to, she keeps staring and pointing at it.







Later that evening our friends Tim and Candace came over for a little take out dinner and game night. We had so much fun! Maddie is getting so much better with "strangers" and quickly warmed up to them and even sat in Candace's lap for a while. They are expecting a baby of there own (yay!) in the spring and we are so thrilled for them and can't wait to have she/he join us for family game nights!

Saturday we woke up to a gorgeous winter wonderland! It had snowed a few inches over night and our street was so beautiful and serene. We had Maddie's one year picture appointment that morning (she did awesome!) and we decided to stop on the way home for some hot chocolate and apple cider. It continued to snow all day so we spent the day holed up at home napping, sipping hot beverages and watching the snow fall! Alex did have to go out to get salt for our walkway since that is no longer done for us (it makes me so glad that we don't have a driveway that we have to shovel although he did a great job shoveling a path for us to the garage). We ended the night with a movie and a bottle of wine then headed to bed.

Sunday morning was a crisp, cold morning with a gorgeous blue sky. Pepper and I got out first thing to get some pictures of our home and yard covered with snow. At first she wasn't so sure about the snow but it didn't take her long to remember how much she loved it! We spent a few minutes running around the backyard together.





Maddie went to church with her grandparents while Alex and I checked out a wedding venue (I know I still owe you the engagement store, it's coming). Once we got back we bundled Maddie up and took her out to play in the snow.







She wasn't quiet as enthusiastic as Pepper and kind of just pointed at it. But it was also probably difficult for her to do anything with those mittens on. Playtime was cut short when she tripped and fell on the patio (oops). It's supposed to snow again next weekend so we will try it again and we may even build her first snowman!

The perfect weekend!

But alas, it must end. Maddie now has a double eye infection, an ear infection and a cold. I have a feeling we are in for a looong night.