{Belated} Birthday Update: 9 Months

Birth Deets: 21.5in, 8lbs 12oz 
6 month Deets: 16lbs 7oz, 26.5 inches
Height: 28 inches 
Weight: 17lbs 7 oz
Nicknames: Maddie, Miss Me, babydoll, Little Baby Wee, Silly Wee, Mads, Knot Head

~~ Apologies for the picture heavy post – we had a busy month!~~

Exciting Events: Aside from her little stint in the hospital, Mid March to Mid April was pretty busy!  The weather was nicer and we’ve been spending more and more time outside.  She loves to ride in the wagon at Granny’s house and to get pushed in the swings.  Maddie made her second road trip to Michigan and we discovered she still really hates driving at night!  But even though the trip was long and stressful, it was worth being there for Great Grandpa’s 90th birthday (which also happened to be Maddie’s 9 month birthday!).  She also celebrated Mommy’s birthday and Auntie Katie’s birthday with her first trip to a Japanese steakhouse, Shang Hai Ichiban.  I’m sure it won’t be her last!  She loves sharing Mommy & Daddy’s meals and has tried a little bit of everything it seems!  Some of her new favorite foods include: Vietnamese pho, soba noodles, guacamole, black beans and the Southern breakfast standards of scrambled eggs and biscuits and gravy!  While in Michigan we also visited a butterfly exhibit at Meijer Gardens, celebrated Easter and went on an Easter egg hunt, and went to a petting zoo called The Critter Barn.  Mads is really becoming an animal lover.  She still loves our cat but has also made friends with the neighbor’s horse as well as a few dogs in the area. She even loves the ants and bees in our yard which makes Mommy a nervous wreck! Ants seem to look like a yummy food source at the moment and bees.. .well I think their lazy buzzing just has her fascinated in general.  Possibly the most exciting news is that Maddie’s spasms have nearly completely vanished!  It is really an answer to prayers and our baby girl has been deemed completely healthy by her neurologist!
What She Does: Well it’s been an exciting month of developments in this area too!  In addition to pulling herself up to a standing position, Maddie decided that standing without help was no big deal at all!  She hasn’t tried to take any steps without holding on to something or someone though. She also started crawling backward a bit but mostly still rolls to her desired location. Her mouth is full of… NO TEETH!  Yup, she’s still just got pink little gums so I think she’s taking after Mommy and won’t get her teeth until closer to her first birthday!  She says “mom” and “dad” and “yeah”… she also shocked her pediatrician when she said “bye” and waved goodbye as our appointment ended!  She loves to wave at people as they leave but has become a bit more shy around strangers.  These days she’s more likely to bury her head in Mommy’s shoulder than to grace them with her toothy little grin.

{Belated} Birthday Update: Eight Months!

Birth Deets: 21.5in, 8lbs 12oz 
6 month Deets: 16lbs 7oz, 26.5 inches
Height: no appt this month
Weight: no appt this month… was 17lb 3oz at a sick visit
Nicknames: Maddie, Miss Me, babydoll, Little Baby Wee, Silly Wee, Mads
Exciting Events: Mid February to mid March wasn’t particularly exciting as winter raged on and we stayed in out of the cold.  Maddie also caught quite a bad cold and proceeded to share it with mommy, daddy and grandma and grandpa H!  Hey… at least we are teaching her to share from a young age?  We did celebrate our very first Saint Patrick’s Day… Miss Maddie is definitely our little pot of gold!  And we had visitors from Michigan!  We did a little sight seeing with them as things started to thaw out around here a bit.  Mads even did her first stint on the AT! This month she tried toast and a few other big people foods straight from the table.  She loves sharing mommy’s oatmeal in the mornings.  We’ve also started Maddie/Mommy time where we spend some time playing and watching a movie (mostly mommy watching a movie and playing with Maddie) but just spending time with “us girls” while daddy gets to watch sports or play a video game or two. One of Maddie’s favorite things in the world is the cat – Tills. She will pull on his tail or his ear or just handfuls of his fur and he just takes it all in stride. She sometimes will be so excited to see him that she will barely touch his fur before bursting into a huge grin and giggles.
What She Does: Maddie can pull herself up to a standing position like its no big deal. Yup, been doing this forever mom!  She doesn’t crawl but will roll or fall forward to get to what she wants.  I think she’s planning to just skip that whole crawling thing and will be walking soon enough! She is already getting good at walking from one place to another while holding on to someone’s hands. She still has no teeth but that doesn’t stop her from gnawing on her toast!  She says “Mom” all.the.time.  Like literally it’s the only thing she says 24-7. Except when she is baby rapping… still hoping to catch that on video because its hilarious. She’s recently picked up on waving and will sometimes display this new knowledge if you are lucky.  And mommy’s favorite new skill… the head hugs!  When Maddie gets super excited to be with you she will press her little noggin against yours really hard and rub it back and forth with a smile on her face. Sometimes she adds grabbing your ears to pull you closer or noshing on your nose for good measure.  Its quite possibly the cutest thing ever! <3

Birthday Update: Six Months!

Birth Deets: 21.5in, 8lbs 12oz 
4 month Deets: 14lbs 2oz, 24.8 inches
Height: 26.5 inches
Weight: 16lbs 7oz
Nicknames: Maddie, Miss Me, Bay, babydoll, Little Wee, Silly Wee, Mads
Exciting Events: This month was really busy!  Besides marking half a year on this earth, Miss M was baptized, took a trip to Michigan and celebrated her very first Christmas!   While in Michigan, she met quite a few relatives for the first time – including great grandma and grandpa K!  She celebrated Christmas and loved opening presents.  Well… she really loved the wrapping paper that she tried to chew on.  She was blessed with way too many toys and more clothes than she can ever possibly wear in the upcoming months – but she will for sure try! It was a whirlwind week long trip and she left with her very first cold… that part wasn’t quite so fun or exciting.  I will say that Nosefrida The Snotsucker Nasal Aspirator was a complete and total lifesaver! Yes, there is a gross out factor involved but really, those little bulb suckers did nothing to help and this allowed her to breathe.  Maddie also took her first bites of real food this month… she’s not too keen on that quite yet though.  So far she’s tried avocadoes, bananas, and homemade applesauce.  Applesauce is her favorite by far!  She usually has 3-5 spoons and is done so her diet really hasn’t expanded past breastmilk all that much but we will be trying out more foods in the coming weeks!
What She Does: Miss M is an experienced sitter now!  She loves to sit and play on the floor and only occasionally topples to one side or the other while reaching for an object. She also loves to stand and will lean against items like footstools or the back of the couch and stand on her own for small stretches of time. She will even take steps across the room while we hold her arms!  Her toes are an endless source of entertainment and more often than not end up in her mouth – totally gross – and socks never last more than a few minutes at a time.  Yes, you can follow us around the grocery store by following the trail of baby socks!  Maddie loves music, and we have found that the piano and drum apps on our tablets are a fun distraction once in a while.  She still has no teeth but she acts like she's teething… oh joy!  She loves chewing on a sippy cup when her teeth really start to bother her.  So far she hasn’t really learned how to drink from the sippy cups but she does get some baby water out on her shirt!

Michigan Monday

A picture tribute to my recent trip back to the Mitten over 4th of July…

4th of July Oooohs and Ahhhhs!

	Grand Haven, MI

“The longest road out is the shortest road home”
Irish Proverb

Happy 4th!

Ok I know it’s not the 4th yet but I am about 4 hours into my 12 hour drive home – that puts me in Eastern Kentucky currently – and I don’t know when I will be blogging again!  I’m heading back to Michigan to visit friends and family for the 4th aaand I get to visit the lab vampires my Endo friend. Yup that is super exciting.

What is exciting is that this is on my hotel room number plate:

Oh if you only knew how much I looove fireworks! Here is some evidence… notice the supremely goofy face as I go to light the little fountain…

But first there are the 12 loooooong hours of travel in front of me. Sigh… can someone please invent that teleportation device soon?  I guess if I could teleport I would miss out on cool scenery like this…

Oh well.. I need to wrap this up and get some rest for the road in front of me!  Have a safe and happy 4th everyone!

Happy 4th of July!

Caught Red Handed

Not sure if it has been mentioned on le blog or not to date but when I moved from MI to TN I had to break my rental agreement.  Said rental agreement stated I had to pay through the end of my lease term or until my apartment was re-rented, whichever came first.

Guess who has been paying the tidy sum of $710 every month since I moved out in addition to my current rental fees?  Moi.

Guess who’s apartment was re-rented “right away – in January or February” {quote from the apartment complex office staff} but who has been paying the $710 every month because the management company did not inform her of the re-rental? Moi.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, guess who is owed some big time buckaroonies back in le bank account.  MOI!

I am too tired tonight to compose a lovely “I dislike you very much” mail this evening but you can bet your bippy the aforementioned management company will be getting a piece of my mind tomorrow!

I Surrender!

Nothing like getting a piece of mail that makes you feel like a criminal within the first sentence.  I recently received a letter from the city clerk’s office in my former place of residence and the very first sentence was this:

“We have been notified by the Secretary of State that you may have surrendered your Michigan drivers license...”

Is anyone else a little put off by the use of surrendered there?  I read that and at first I thought I was in major trouble and started racking my brain trying to figure out what I might have done wrong!  Then I read it again and realized they were just referring to me handing over my MI license when I got my new TN license and were wanting to confirm that I wanted my voting privileges revoked. 

Thank you state of Michigan for temporarily freaking me out!

Back Stairs

On my recent trip back to MI, I spent many days celebrating my birthday with family and friends.  Friday was no exception.

I went to lunch with my mom and sister then met up with my friends Slaglm and LC for margaritas, movies and Mexican food. {we like theme nights}  LC had rented a hotel room so she wouldn’t have to make the 3hr drive back to the East side of the state that night so we had a place to crash.  After much debate we decided there were no movies out at the time that were worth our hard earned cash so we went to Meijer {another M!} and picked up some refreshing beverages and headed to the hotel to rent a movie there.

When we got to the hotel we found the elevator to be semi-functioning.  By that I mean we pushed the button, heard it working, the lights flickered and we heard no more noises and decided we weren’t going to risk getting stuck in there!  So we headed to the stairwell to trek up 5 flights with our drinks in tow. 

On about floor 3 we encountered some guys heading down the stairs.  Of course they noticed the beverages and immediately thought we were sneaking it up.{uhm like I need to sneak around at 30.2!}  So they start joking with us and then they said..

“Where are you headed… A Bachelor party?”

‘Scuse me? Let’s ponder that one a second… alcohol + women = BACHELOR party? = what the heck did he think we looked like?!

HOOKERS?!

I guess the 5th floor is known to house Val Kilmer and 50 Cent when they are in town filming but they most certainly were not in our hotel room!  And I assure you, our jeans and sweater outfits were more Banana Republic than Frederick’s of Hollywood.

Snowy Sendoff

Well I’m back in the Rocky Top region after a very quick trip back to the Mitten.  Of course the weather there was unpredictable and I left with a true Michigan style sendoff…

I’m Coming Home

On my way back to MI today and I’m seriously hoping that Gerald R. Ford International has something like this going on when I arrive…

Welcome Home!

Kickin’

Wow – has it really been 10 days since I’ve posted?  Time flies when you’re having fun… or something like that.

I have to admit that I haven’t written because I’ve been in a funk.  I’ve been stressed, overwhelmed, sick, tired, overbooked and generally in a crummy state of mind. 

But rather than dwell on all that I’m focusing on the positives!

I’m heading home to visit family and friends this weekend and I think it might be just what the doctor ordered (or would order should I have spoken to him) to break up the funky mood and give me that kick in the butt to help me feel like myself again.

Monday Mumbles

Random thoughts for the day…

One. This weather stinks – its rainy and in the 40’s.  I like rain but the cold – no thank you!  And yes I know I could be in MI where it is even colder… but I’m not and I want the 70F’s back!
Two. Speaking of Michigan… I will be there in just 17 short days!  I’m officially putting in my order for good weather now.
Three. Before I head back to MI for a few days, I get to spend a couple days in Orlando for a conference.  Anyone want to join me?
Four. Speaking of the cold.  I have one.  Or its allergies.  Either way I just want to stay curled up in bed.
Five. But its highly possible that I’m just not treating my body right and it’s mad at me.  my entire food pallet today was BROWN. Not one color to be seen. I am totally not joking and its disgusting when you think about it. That is so not right and I need to change that now… or maybe tomorrow. A frozen york peppermint patty is calling me and that too is brown!
Six. So yeah, change in diet and change in exercise is on the agenda.  I may just get up the courage to start Jillian’s 30 Day Shred!
Seven.  Its only 9pm and I’m exhausted. Time for bed!

Snow Day?

Well half the country is buried, sometimes literally, up to their eyeballs in snow.  This includes my family and friends way up there in the high-five of America.

Here… well I woke up to temps in the 50’s that quickly plummeted into the 30’s with high winds. No rain, no snow… no reason to stay home wrapped up in my cozy bed.

As much as I can’t stand snow, part of me wishes I was there to be part of all the excitement.  Wait, you actually want to be stuck in 18 inches of snow?!  Yes. Sick, I know.

I have always been fascinated by weather and severe storms are my favorite.  Even when it’s business as usual, I can almost always quote you the weather for the upcoming days because I find it interesting.  Perhaps I missed a calling?

Or perhaps I’m just jealous of all the friends who got a snow day today [and some of them tomorrow] because of “SnO-M-G!”  And then I think to myself, “Self, you are so silly!  You work at the hospital and those never close.”  Sigh…