Thankful

I have so many things to be thankful for in my life right now.  It's hard to even begin.

In no order and I am a random thought type person, so...

1.  Family- Parents, siblings, in-laws, extended family.
Whoever it may be I absolutely love spending time with my family.

2.  Bebe Girl- I cannot believe we were blessed with such a beautiful soul.

3.  Choices- Good, Bad, or The Ugly!

4.  The Great Outdoors- There's something about the outdoors that lightens my shoulders and lifts my heart.

5.  Friendships- old, new, broken, or haven't even met you yet.  
I have been lucky enough to have some great friends when I needed them most in my life.

6.  The opportunity to be a stay at home momma-  I was sick to my stomach almost everyday having to leave my little one, even though I knew she was in GREAT hands.

7.  My Husband.  He is my best friend and a great daddy.
He has been a part of my life for such a long time, I don't know what I'd do without him.
He is the person I look forward to sharing stories with and creating stories with. 

8.  My Curls.  Although sometimes I'm a hater, they've always been a conversation starter
and I'm slowly learning to love.

9.  Very thankful that Madelyn still lets me rock her to sleep at least once a day.
I will miss the day when she won't let me do this anymore.

10.  Food!  It brings people together, it awakens my taste buds, it brings back memories.

11.  Music.  Period.

12. My Sisters-  I've always only had a select few friends in my life and I know it's because I had the two best friends in the world already.  I didn't need much more than that.  We got to share clothes...whether we wanted to or not.  We got to hang out whenever we wanted to or not. 

13.  My Home- We are lucky enough to have a beautiful place we call home.
We have created many memories in this home.

14. My mom and dad- they have always been there for us and truly want us to be happy.

15.  The family I've married in to-  I know I am awkward.
I think it's got something to do with the whole being left handed thing.
I am so very thankful they have accepted me into their family.

I could truly go on and on, but I know I am one lucky girl to have such wonderful 'Thankfuls' in my life!

What can I say...

There are no words.

LOVE HER.

Santa and the Doctor

Yes, those would be the two things I believe my child dislikes most.

Santa was a no go this year.

She wouldn't even let me hold her and sit near Santa.

We go to the mall and walk past him just to let her wave and 

she shakes her head no vigorously letting me know she does not want to go any closer.

So no, Santa pictures this year...

The doctor's office was a no go for her 15 month check up as well.

Well, we went...but she most certainly let everyone know that she did not want to be there.

She was all cute and sweet in the waiting room waving and saying hi to all the other people waiting.

Then, we get called back and the moment we entered the room we were going to be stationed in she shook her little head no and said uh-uh, which of course means NO.

She kept reaching for the door.  

She most definitely did not like being cooped up in that little room.

She screamed her head off just to have her head measured and length, and weight checked.

15 month stats:

Height- 30 1/4 = 40th percentile

Weight- 21 lbs 11 oz = 29th percentile

Doctor walks in.

He hasn't even touched her yet...she's screaming. 

At one point she claps and the doctor laughs because the poor bebe is such a hysterical mess.

Nurse comes back.

So, far so good.

Try to lay her back down on the table and I swear she had the death grip on me.

The nurse gave her three shots nice and quickly.

Yes, she screamed and cried...

but I tell you what, it wasn't any louder than any of the previous screaming and crying.

As we are walking out of our room and go to schedule our next appointment 

she immediately starts telling everyone bye-bye.

The girl couldn't have gotten out of there any quicker. 

Oh, how I don't look forward to our next visits to the doctor.

We can avoid Santa, but the doctor...that's another story.

So, I will not leave you with screaming Santa and doctor picture because naturally I didn't take them.  

I was too busy trying to console the screaming and crying.

Instead I leave you with this...

Thanksgiving at the Beach

This time of the year for us is...
BEACH TIME!

It has quickly become a very loved and exciting tradition.

Here are a few pictures to capture our time at the beach.

(I will warn you, if you don't want to be bombarded with pictures then skip this post)

She loved the water.

She loved the sand and the toys.

She got to spend some quality time with her momma and daddy.

She absolutely loved sitting in mommy or daddy's beach chairs.

She did a lot of resting and playing.

She gave nana lots of lovin'.

She got to play with her cousins the whole week!

She got to ride on her very first carousel...well, half the time ride, half the time I had to hold her.  

She wasn't so sure about it.

I absolutely adored the little bow on her swimsuit and those little sand filled toes!

Good Bye, Beach!  Until next time...

As always, I wish I had of taken more pictures...

I guess you can't capture it all.

She would find every bird in the sky, point to it, and say 'bir'.

She would point to the moon every evening and wave her little hand at it.

She would beg at the sliding glass door to be let outside to play.

This girl loves her some beach!

Thanks to my mom and dad for carrying on this tradition 

and taking us to the beach every year. 

We love us some beach!

A Lil' Family Love...

It's not very easy getting a picture of the whole group.

Love.

Creative Dresser

She brought me the shoes and the sunglasses, 

and of course she insisted on wearing them.

Oh, how I look forward to the days when she wants to dress herself.

Let's just hope she gets a little better with her choices.

Playing in the Dirt Again

This girl not only LOVES to play outside,

she loves to find rocks and leaves and grass...

and yes, dirt.

Momma's Little Shopper

Madelyn and I try to get out of the house once a day.

Not only for my sanity, but her's as well.

I love being home with her, and I know she loves that I get to be, 

but staying in the house all day five days a week would drive anybody crazy.

We find ourselves at the mall, grocery store, walking the neighborhood,

playing on a playground somewhere, at the Avenues, Target, the pet store...

The list goes on.

On this particular day we were lucky enough to get out 

and go shopping with her Nana.

And as you can see, she loved it!

Jackson Love

Madelyn LOVES her some Jackson.

He is the first thing she looks for in the morning when she wakes up.

He is the first thing she says 'Hi' to.

And she repeatedly says hi to him and pats him randomly through out the day.

You can even find her trying to sneak in a kiss to him.

She frequently points to him and says 'what's that?'

just so we will say dog or Jackson and she will say 'Arf!'

She even says his name.

 

She tries to get as much Jackson time in as he will allow.

He just walks away when he's been bothered too much.

Thank you, Jackson, for being such a good doggie.