I have neglected this page for so long that I don't know where to begin the update.

Madelyn still has yet to walk. She will take 8 or 9 steps or sometimes walk across a room but until she is walking walking on her own, that is when I call it walking! Maybe I'm a toughie but she uses crawling as her main source or transportation or moms hip.

We celebrated Madelyn's birthday on December 6th the day before her real first birthday on the 7th. It was pretty special having both Grandma's and Grandpa's there. We had some travelers, friends and family members as well. After her monkey party we went to the Christmas Parade in town. It was a wonderful way to end the first birthday. I've decided next year to have her birthday party a bit sooner. It felt pretty overwhelming to organize a birthday party and prepare for Christmas 2 weeks later.

Christmas was the best ever this year. Having a child makes the it so much more special. Watching her face light up when opening a present is priceless. Watching her hug every toy she opens makes it feel so worthwhile. Us being all together on Christmas morning and creating our own traditions is so much fun. Her favorite gifts were her babydolls and Leap Frog School Bus.

Maddie has 7 teeth and a molar close to the surface. Her gum is so puffy where the molar is about to come through. She refuses to eat meat. She will sort out the meat in each bite with her tounge if I mix it in with other food on a spoon. Luckily, (knock on wood) we've all been pretty healthy this winter.

Not too much longer and Madelyn and I will be flying to sunny (hopefully) Florida. Daddy has to stay back and work. We are crashing in with my wonderful in-laws who have a condo in Florida. I'm a little nervous about the flight but if anyone has any flying tips or games or things to do with a 15 month old I would greatly appreciate it. I plan on lots of food, pacifier and the DVD player.

I hope to update with pictures soon!

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."Proverbs 3:5-6

Carving Pumpkins.

We were so excited to carve a pumpkin with Maddie this fall. In the beginning she really enjoyed it and by the end she really wouldn't go near the pumpkin. We've really had a great time doing all these fun traditions that we once did as children. Hope you enjoy the photos below.

Taste testing the pumpkin...nice job dad.

Making sure Colt is behaving.

Family photo in our Sunday's best :)

Scoop it up dad!

Fall 2008

It's been 2 months since our last blog! Yike. Time flies. This fall has been a blast and many changes with our little one.

She currently has 5 teeth and is always on the go. In the photos below, she is attempting to play in the leaves but unfortunatly they freaked her out.

Happy Halloween!

Today is Madelyn's very first Halloween. She was going to be a monkey until she grew out of the costume so now she's a mouse. She makes a pretty cute mouse. These pictures below are from her music class Halloween party.

The mouse quit crawling after 5 minutes because she was exhausted from the costume.

Trying to figure out how to pick up instruments with no fingers out.

Goofy photo but check out that the top tooth!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Another tooth!

We are on our 3rd tooth! The front left tooth popped through and her left eye tooth is not too far behind. You can see it right below the gum line. Pretty exciting for Madelyn.

Things have been busy lately, I have been occasionally subbing. It's the easiest thing to do with our schedules. It's nice to decide when to work and when to not. I give so much credit to working moms. Making dinner when they get home and trying to find a little time to give to your child. Those few days working truly made me appreciate my days with Madelyn more. I couldn't believe how badly I missed her. I would be fine for the first half of the day but then it would just get to me. I loved coming home though to her two teeth gummy smile and her hugs and kisses. It made those days that much better.

We are looking forward to this weekend. We are having a Michigan verse Michigan State party. So far about 80 people have rsvp'd that they are coming. Fortunatly we have a tent with sides being set up (with a heater in it), a port-a-potty being delivered Friday, and 3 fire pits in the yard. Hopefully the better team wins. Go State!

-Love-
The Ramsey's

She crawls!

After many requests (mainly my mom) of wanting me to put up a video of our monkey crawling, I have finally gotten around to it. Enjoy!

Madelyn Dancing

When I was recording this video I didn't realize what song was playing in the background. Sort of funny!

*Not the best quality, video was taken on my camera.

And we're off!

I never really considered an "army crawl" officially crawling but it's what she has been slowly doing for a few weeks. She would slowly army crawl in a circle. As of Tuesday evening, my little monkey has been crawling on all fours still slow but moving. She is pulling up on all the furniture and walking along it. She loves (mainly chewing) all cell phones, dog toys (I try to hide them but Colt brings them back out), remotes, paper, computer buttons especially the on/off switch that lights up, electrical outlets, power strips, so needless to say I am busy.

Her naps are starting to shorten and she is spending some quiet time in the crib. She enjoys it and I enjoy small amounts of time to get things done. She usually takes a 40 minute morning nap and 45 minute-1.5 hour afternoon nap. I've been trying to cut out morning nap but it's really a hard thing to do.

I've started substitute teaching. Just to work when I can and Ryan isn't busy at work. We really want to finish our basement. It will be a slow work in progress but it will be nice to just start the project. We plan on adding a den with an adjoining playroom (that will turn into a pool table room in a LONG time), a half-kitchen, fourth bedroom, bar, and a full bath.

Happy Autumn to all!

-Love-
The Ramsey's

So much progress so quickly!

This past week has been such a monumental week for Madelyn!

She has figured out how to sit up from a crawling position (which she still isn't technically crawling but is doing a slow army crawl).

She has figured out how to wave.

She clearly says "dada" and knows what she is saying I think she is trying to say Colt at times.

And the best part...She is pulling up and trying to walk along furniture. She is standing in her crib and jumping like a wild maniac. She takes much longer to fall asleep now that she has figured out how to stand but it's ok, I like progress!

I can't believe how quickly she has grown. She is so much fun and definatly has her own personality. Also, her favorite foods is mexican foods.

We (Madelyn and I, daddy was busy at work) spent the past week in Lake Orion taking care of Evan and Merza. That was a job in itself. My mom is a Saint. We were lucky enough to see our cousin Haley and little Lydia (1 year old). Lydia and Madelyn got to spend a little time together. It's so cute to watch them interact with eachother. I could not believe how much just a few months make. Lydia is definatly a little investigator!

Madelyn also got to meet some very close high school friends of mine. It was such a nice time together. It's been about 6 years since I've seen them. I miss them a lot. Here are some pictures from our dinner at yummy Sagebrush.

Poor sick little baby

I was reminded last Thursday how truly lucky we were for Madelyn's sleeping schedule. Wednesday/Thursday night she awoke around 4:00 am screaming. We proceeded to wait a short bit see if she would just fall back asleep. After about 30-45 minutes of hard crying I went in and took her out and rocked with her. That work all 2 minutes so we brought her in our bed (which normally we would never do but I'm sure we all remember being sick and snuggling with our parents) and let her watch Noggin. That worked and after 30 minutes or so I placed her back into bed and she fell asleep.

Thursday/Friday night no more then 40-60 minutes of sleeping occured and she was happy and awake as could be. I figured it was teething. Around lunch time on Friday my gut told me to take her temperature and sure enough 101.8*. So I called our pediatrician...closed early on Friday. I called the next pediatrician and they got her in in an hour. We loaded in the car and headed over. Sure enough Madelyn has...tonsilitous, an ear infection in her left ear, and all top 4 teeth are cutting at the same time. She is on amoxicillion and doing well. She is such a great baby and loving girl. I'm especially loving all the snuggling she is giving me.

She doing really well and is such a trooper.

Here is Madelyn enjoying cartoons on Saturday morning in our bed.

Music Class

We started music class this past week and it was extremely successful. Madelyn really enjoyed herself. I took many pictures. I fear what her first day of school will be like if this is how I am now.
Picking out her clothes for music class.

Mad at me about something.

Taking an interest in the tambourine.

Madelyn enjoying Miss Angie.

Teaching Madelyn how to drum.

Madelyn Stats

Length- 29 and 3/4 inch (95th percentile)
Weight- 20 lbs. and 8 ozs. (80th percentile)

Army crawls...that's about it.

Our Family Vacation! Chicago.

Check out those two teeth!Very thirsty!
Awful bed head.
The doll she got from the Disney store in Chicago that she has to have with her. She loves Mary (from Monsters Inc.)
The Family photo

What a wonderful quick trip to Chicago. Our first night there we met up with Meghann and Brian. We went to a fun restaurant and enjoyed catching up. On Friday I took Ryan to Whole Foods. It's a little different from our local grocery store, the gas station. Madelyn had such a great time people watching and going for long stroller rides all over. She truly was an angel the entire trip. She was perfect in the car ride and slept till 7:00 am each morning (which might I remind you that that is 8:00 a.m. Michigan time). It was a great little get a way for us.

I just signed Madelyn up for a 12 week music class that starts in September. She does her thing and I get to meet other moms! Should be fun. I just am really looking forward to dance classes in a few years. :)

We are so excited for fall but know what is coming after. Winter, yuck! Tuesday is Mad's 9 month check up! I'll post some new info soon!

-Love-

The Ramsey's

Labor Day Weekend

What a wonderful and relaxing weekend we had. My mom and Evan were able to come to Harbor Beach on Saturday-Sunday and spend time with us. Ryan's 3 brothers Ross, Shaun, and Clark were also able to come home. We even were lucky, we got to meet Katie, Ross' girlfriend :) and spend some time with her.

Still no crawling as of yet. She spends some time on all fours, rocking back and forth but that's about it. She spends most of the day walking around the house hurting my back (from me hunching over). Still just two teeth, I don't feel anymore near. She's been sleeping like a champ (knocking on wood). Down around 7:30 and up around 8:00-8:15ish. No waking through the night. Yes, we know we are extremely lucky.

Evan starts middle school tomorrow. 6th grade. I can't believe he will be in High School in 3 years.

We leave for Chicago on Thursday. We hope to visit Meghann and Brian then to Carly's. It's Carly's Birthday on Friday so daddy is being nice and staying with Madelyn while I go out with Carly and others to celebrate. This will be a nice and short little getaway.

Love all and miss everyone. Hope all is well and keep in touch.

8 months and growing.

Madelyn's second tooth popped through last night. She has been working very hard on crawling. Look at the first picture on her bottom gum line, two teeth!

Finally-We have a tooth!

Last Sunday, almost a week ago, Madelyn's first tooth popped up. She hasn't slept well the last two nights so I'm thinking the other bottom one is pretty close. This teething thing I could really do without.

I will put a photo of the new tooth soon.

We got back last week from Petosky, MI on Walloon Lake. We had a blast. It was a nice little get a way for our family. Madelyn discovered that she loves french fries, ugh...

It's been awhile since I've written. We miss everyone!

Happy Belated 4th of July!

We are all doing wonderful in the Ramsey Family household. Ryan has been golfing up a storm and has a big tournament this weekend. He won it last year so we're hoping for a repeat. Everyone has been happy and healthy.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! We spent the week at the cottage and what a wonderful time we had. However, night number 1 we didn't get too much sleep. We learned that Madelyn would not and could not sleep in her pack and play. So night number 2 we went home and by night number 3 we brought my in-laws crib. She slept solidly after that.

Madelyn got to play with her cousin Lydia who is 10 months. She enjoyed watching Lydia move all around. Even though they are only 3 months apart I can't believe how much of a difference a few months make. It was neat to see the girls interact with each other.

Colt had a ton of fun at the cottage too! He has been limping pretty bad lately and the vet seems to think that it is his shoulder and he may have to go under the knife. We will find out soon from his x-rays. They say it was caused from either hunting or just his wild every day activity.

Madelyn is 7 months. She is truly a blessing and we are so fortunate for every waking moment with her. She will never know how much we love her. We only tell her 23094820394802930482309 times a day.

Madelyn playing in the laundry basket, distracting me from folding clothes.
Wouldn't you be distracted too?
Showing off on her new bike.
Showing off her walking skills on her tippy toes. Ouch!
Mommy making her stay little or atleast attempting.

More 6 Month photos

She's a half of a year old!

Madelyn turned 6 months June 7th. Where is my little baby going!? We went and had her 6 month pictures taken. She did a great job.

Madelyn had her 6 month doctors appointment Monday. She weighed 18 pounds 9 ounces. She is 27 inches long. We had to make the switch over to her big girl car seat (but still facing the rear) because the doctor said she was to long for her baby bucket car seat. The doctor said it will still be another month until her bottom teeth come in. Madelyn's motor skills are right on track. The entire visit Mad did this high pitched girly scream and when she stopped screaming it was fart noises with her mouth. Real nice.

This past weekend Ryan and I attempted to take a camping trip. I would say we spent half camping and the other half in the hospital. Friday around 5 we went into urgent care because I had a 100* temperature and I felt absolutly miserable. The doctor told me it was either migraines or allergies. Saturday came around, still had a fever and still felt miserable so we went to Genesys Hospital at 11:30 at night. He did a chest x-ray and told me I had Bronchitis. I'm glad because it is finally starting to break.

Below is Madelyn's 6 month photos.

Summer is so close!

I can't believe that we're already in the month of June! We love being outdoors all the time. I have found a new love for gardening. I have a small garden this year but I assure you that it will atleast double if not triple in size next year. It's a fun hobby! Who would have ever thought. I hope everyone likes Zuchinni because I am growing enough to feed all of Huron County.

Madelyn had a daddy daughter doggy day yesterday. Ryan, Madelyn, and Colt did a lot while I was away at a girlfriend's wedding. They went for a walk in the woods, walked around town, played in the backyard, and many other things. She went down for daddy at 7 p.m. and woke up for us at 7 a.m. We are so lucky with Maddie's sleeping routine.

The whole getting up on all fours hasn't happend since I last blogged. It was just a tease. She is sitting up on her own about 95% of the time. Our 6 months photos are coming up this Friday. We have the outfits all picked out. I can't wait to share all the pictures with everyone.

Get out and enjoy the weather. Winter will be here so fast.

First attempt!

Madelyn went up on all fours today! I can't believe it! I put her on her belly right by Colt and up she went! She has grown a deep attachment to Colt. She gets very distraught if he leaves her side.

Where have the days gone?

I can't believe that we are in mid-May. Ryan and I are coming up on our 2 year anniversary and it feels like we were just married yesterday.

Madelyn is 5.5 months. She is laughing, smiling, talking, yelling, teething, rolling all over, jumping, just about everything a baby should be doing. I am so proud of her. Just the other day I thought about how lucky we are (which I do regularly) and it hit me, I better enjoy every second holding and snuggling her because in about 2 years or even less she probably won't let me hold her like this ever again. Our baby is growing up so quickly.

Shaun has graduated undergrad and off to Med School! We visited Ross in Grand Rapids. It was much to short but we appreciated every second we had with him. We all went to dinner and had a wonderful evening. One more year of med school then it's Dr. Uncle Ross! I don't have many pictures over the past couple of weeks but here are a few. Enjoy!

April flew right on by!

Well we made it through many exciting and monumental events! It was a great month. The weather was pretty nice and we've accomplished many things.

Madelyn is pretty close to sitting up on her own. She is still flying all over the kitchen floor in her walker. We had a fire in the backyard last Friday. Madelyn wouldn't go to bed, she knew where they party was and it was not in her crib. Colt would not go in the house until everyone was gone.

We had visitors last weekend, Lindsey and Lonnie. It was nice for Ryan and I to finally have some adult time out of the house. Kosmo (their yellow lab) and Colt had their first puppy sleepover. Colt snuck into Kosmo's room at night and Kosmo would let out a bark. It was pretty commical to two of them. Colt slept right in front of the room where Kosmo was sleeping in. I guess whatever sleep Kosmo got that night, which from what we heard was very little.

This weekend we are excited to see our cousin John Angeles in STOMP. We are pretty proud of all of him and all of his accomplishments. Saturday, Shaun graduates undergrad at MSU and off to Med School he goes. We are very proud of him as well. We look forward to this fun and busy weekend.

2nd set of shots, teething, and so much more.

Madelyn is now 4.5 months (19 weeks) old. We had a doctor appointment one week ago and Madelyn weighed 16 lbs. and was 26 inches long. The doctor guessed that she would be about 5'9" according to her graph and percentile. Interesting. She told us to begin with step 1 baby foods. So we started with green beans. Madelyn liked them at first then by the end of the trial week she was gagging every time they hit her mouth...basically the same thing that Ryan does when he eats green beans. We moved on to peaches today and that was a very unsuccessful journey. The face she makes is priceless.
She changes every single day. She is starting to laugh a lot and all she wants to do is stand up and walk all over the house obviously with my support. I was getting tired of holding her hands so now she flies all over the house in the walker that the Easter Bunny brought her. In fact, at our last Doctor appointment we were told to start "babyproofing" the house because it's going to come fast.

Out of the baby tub and into her big girl tub. What a change! She loves splashing and watching her rubber ducky. Below is a video of her first bath!

Madelyn always has a fist in the mouth and is gnawing. We are working so hard on those teeth. We had a much better week than last week.

It's so hard to watch my baby get bigger and bigger but we are enjoying every single second with her. She enjoys listening to books, going for long walks, her puppy, eating, and gurgling her milk in her throat.

We are definatly loving this Spring weather!

Baptism/Splash Village

A very successful weekend! Madelyn was baptized with no tears! She smiled and coo'd the entire time. It was very special having our family and very close friends (The Olsmans) over for dinner at our house afterwards. My outstanding mother-in-law cooked everything. The meal was phenominal. We are so excited to enter Madelyn into the Catholic Church. It was an incredibly special day with very nice warm weather.

Today, last minute, I decided to meet my mom and some other friends of ours at Splash Village in Frankenmuth. I brought nothing other than Madelyn's diaper bag thinking that she is much to young to be put in the water. After seeing other small children in the water I had to drag (wink wink) myself over to Birch Run to shop. I picked up a bathing suit and realized that I was sure wrong! The first few seconds she was in the water she wasn't sure of the whole idea but once I put her in the jumpy swing and showed her the shooting fountain she was in heaven! I can't wait for the summertime to get her outside more. This made me really appreciate this warmer weather!

Tomorrow is round #2 of shots. Wish us luck. Hopefully it goes as well as the first round. Her teeth are really bothering her so we're hoping the shots don't add to it.

She did it!

Madelyn started rolling over!!! She is started rolling from belly to back as of last Sunday. Grandma Hurford was visiting and frantically called me in to Madelyn's bedroom. Madelyn had just woken up from a nap and Madelyn looked pretty freaked out to be on her back. Ryan caught her rolling over in her crib the other morning.

She is really working on getting her two bottom teeth in. Her cheeks are rosey and she is pretty uncomfortable. They're coming!

This weekend is Madelyn's Baptism. We are pretty excited. We have been organizing (this is a good excuse) around the house. Aunt Carly comes Friday, we are so excited!
Grandma Hurford and I took Madelyn out to find her a baptism dress. We got pretty distracted by all the fun stores!

Have a wonderful weekend! Welcome April!

So close!

Madelyn is so close to rolling over and sitting up on her own! All these big milestones! I walked into her room today when she woke up from a nap to find her almost all the way over. If you look closely, she tucked her arm underneath to roll. She was trying to look at her mobile. Pretty exciting.

We had a very eventful Easter. We went to 8:00 mass in Lake Orion. When we arrived home we found Colt looking suspicious and a garbage can shredded all over the room. It contained things that a dog should not ingest. To make a long story short, the vet said to give Colt hydrogen peroxide and he will throw it up because these were items that he would not be able to pass on his own. So for the rest of Easter poor Colt was locked in a room where he threw up for the entire day. Luckily, he did not get sick on the way back to Harbor Beach that evening. He is much better now and hopefully he learned a lesson but probably not.

Ryan's parents are in Florida so that means that Ryan is majorly busy at the Funeral Home. It just seems to work out that way. We were hoping for a nice and quiet week. Things have been hectic.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Wonderful Weekend!

What a wonderful weekend we had! We were able to see Uncle Jack and Aunt Carolyn on Saturday for a short bit. Uncle Jack looks amazing and Aunt Carolyn looks just as great!

Evan was incredibly lucky to get 2nd row Piston tickets for his birthday from a very close family friend of ours, Barbara and Jules. We were spoiled. We had a close up parking spot and we had brunch/lunch as well at Ameriprise Club. What a great way to catch up with my little brother.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Cereal, huh? Yummy!

What an eventful week!

We had to take Madelyn in to the Doctor on Friday morning because we found a lump/bruise about 2 inches underneath her armpit. The lump is about the size of a nickel. We found out it is a hemangioma and it's genetic. The doctor said it is extremely common and most appear in children about this time. It's a collection of bloodcells and there is no treating them. They go away at around 5 years of age. The pediatrician said it's basically a birthmark.

She also told us also to begin with cereal. She warned us that Madelyn might not take it right away and just to begin with a small amount. When we gave it to her you would have sworn she had been eating it forever. She warfed it down! It was pretty cute!

She weighed 15.5 lbs. My arms are beginning to really feel it (and my back too)!

Anyways, we hope everyone is doing well! Keep in touch!

Sleepy girl!

Life has been treating us great! We are all set up in the new home and keeping it nice and dirty. Ryan started coaching golf yesterday and has 9 kids on his team. 9 is a pretty good number for living in such a small town.

I started back to work yesterday for 2 hours on Monday through Thursday (7:30-9:30). Hasn't been to bad but I'm only on day number 2. It's actually been great because by the time I get home Madelyn is just getting out of bed (and so is daddy).

A new bed was delivered at our house today. Why do we need a new bed you ask? Well if you know Jim Hurford everything has to be bigger and better. We had a perfect little full size bed in the guest bedroom. Then my dad came to visit and wanted a bigger bed, so he bought one. We appreciate him buying it...I just get a laugh out of him. Always looking for something, huh dad?

Madelyn is growing so fast. Size 3 diapers (crazy!) and is talking nonstop. Can't wait until it becomes real words! She really likes when I read to her. I'm pretty impressed when she looks at the pages. It is really enjoyable to her. We are in the process of organizing things for her baptism. The godparents are Uncle Ross and (Aunt) Carly. We are so excited and thrilled that they will support her on her first step into the catholic church.

Please say a prayer for my Uncle Jack. We love you very much and you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Adding Another Thing to Our Day!

As I decided recently to not go back to work, I just couldn't get off the hook that easily! I'm actually excited about this opprotunity because I think it will be great! I will be tutoring students in school every day from 7:30 til 9:00 am Monday through Thursday (Friday if available). Ryan will stay home with Madelyn in the morning. Luckily we won't have to use daycare. We are so fortunate. I start next week. My work has been great and very supportive of my decision to stay home with Madelyn. I am truly blessed.

Finally some down time for Ryan. Madelyn and I are going to enjoy some "dad" time today.

Busy Weekend!

What an awesome weekend! My dad can finally come and visit and stay at our home! We had such a great night. We had dinner, celebrated Aunt Merza's birthday, had many laughs, and watched movies.

My dad wanted to feed Madelyn. No problem excited for...

I tried to tell my father that I would burp Madelyn when he was done feeding her. She is a messy burper sometimes. No, he is a stubborn Hurford male. Well, the end result was...

I can't wait for their next visit. Hopefully it's pretty soon.

Madelyn is definatly growing. She is constantly strecthing. Last night she woke up twice to eat. It was fine with us since it was the first night. Hopefully this doesn't become a regular event. We have been extremely lucky the past few months and we're hoping to stay lucky.


Sunday we had our friends over for the Nascar race. It was our first "event" in the house. It was pretty special to Ryan and I.


Ryan's parents are on a well deserved vacation in Florida. Of course, as soon as they left Ryan's been pretty busy at the Funeral Home. I've never really been too involved at the Funeral Home but tonight will be my big debut. I'm going to help him out with the cleaning portion since the cleaner (his mother) is not here. Ryan has been running around like crazy person. Hopefully, I can help out a little.


Have a great day!

Weekend Visitors!

We are so excited! Grandma Hurford, Grandpa Hurford, and Uncle Evan are all coming to visit tomorrow. Today we spent most of the day cleaning and organizing before they get here.

Madelyn has started to major drooling. She always has a bib around her neck. I can't believe how much she has changed. I often look at her baby pictures and can not believe the dramatic difference from now and when she was a baby.

We'll take lots of pictures and post their visit! Have a wonderful and eventful weekend!

K

Spelling Bee almost Champ!

What a wonderful weekend at home! Madelyn spent Saturday evening with Grandma and Grandpa Hurford while mom and dad went to dinner with Lindsey and Lonnie. We were out celebrating daddy's 28th birthday. Getting so close to that big 3-0!

Evan made it to Oakland University for the spelling bee after he beat out all the 5th graders at Orion Oaks Elementary. I was so proud of him! His first word was admirable and his second word was glasnost. Unfortunatly, he just couldn't get glasnost which I know I definatly would not have been able to figure that one out especially in front of a huge crowd! He sounded like such a big boy up there.

Madelyn started reaching for objects and she also enjoys scooter rides in her grandpa electric wheelchair. I can't believe how fast she is growing. She completely holds her head up and is trying to sit up. When she sits on the couch or in the upright position she pulls herself forward to sit by herself. It's pretty impressive.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Madelyn-11 weeks!

It has been nuts here for the past few weeks. We closed on a house 2 weeks ago today and have been living in it for a week. The first week we repainted the entire thing, had the carpets cleaned, and my wonderful mother-in-law and Aunt Jeanette cleaned this house from top to bottom.

I never really realized how incredibly difficult it was to do all this with a newborn. Although she is a very easy going baby for the most part it still was difficult.

Madelyn has been in her crib for the past week and LOVES it. Mommy and daddy love it too! She lets us know when she is ready for bed and that is generally around 8:30-9:00 and she gets up around 6:00 to eat and then goes back down until 9:00 a.m. Yes, we do know how lucky we are.

Madelyn is cooing like crazy, she is always talking. She loves her newfound voice. She is always smiling.

Off to Lake Orion tomorrow. Evan made it in the spelling bee at Oakland University. He beat everyone out at his school and is going to the next level. I am so proud of my little boy, he received all of his smarts from who else but ME!

A very tired daddy! He has been working very hard moving all of our belongings to our new home. It's Ryans 28th birthday! Getting closer and closer to 30, uh oh! Happy Birthday! ILY!