As most of you know, Miss Maddy and mommy took a trip to Missouri for Thanksgiving. I really wanted to see my beautiful new niece, and it worked out well that Thanksgiving was coming up! Maddy had a great time, and ate lots of mashed potatoes and turkey at Grandma and Grandpa Hester's house. We went to my Grandma Joyce's house too and she was very surprised to see us! Here are some pictures!

Oh man. It's good to be home.
Don't get me wrong, I loved spending time with my family in KC, and it sucked having to say goodbye to them, but I missed my husband, and our pets, and my own bed. I think Maddy missed her bed too. So, I can hardly keep my eyes open and am gonna go to bed. I think that tomorrow I will post some great pictures of my nieces and some of the rest of my family too!
Goodnight!

Well, tomorrow we (Maddy and myself) leave for KC to visit my sister and her new baby! I am so thankful that I get to spend Thanksgiving with my family (though am totally bummed that my husband won't be there). I haven't got to spend a holiday with my family in a very long time! It will be very nice!

I've made a list, checked it twice, gonna find out whose...wait, wrong time of year. Though it's getting pretty close to Christmas, geez...ANYWAY, this will be the first time that I have traveled with Madeline by myself, so I am a bit nervous! I think that I have everything packed and ready to go though, so manuevering the stroller with our luggage tomorrow will be the big challenge. It shouldn't be too bad. Just the line to the ticket counter and then at baggage claim in KC.

I totally forgot about "Not Me Monday" because I have been cleaning like a maniac all day today. I got completely, well, almost completely caught up on laundry and cleaned the whole house. I am the type of person who does not like coming home to a dirty house after being on vacation. So, it's up to my husband to keep it clean. *fingers crossed*
Back to "Not Me Monday", I didn't have anything exciting this week anyway. Maybe next week!

Well, I probably won't be posting anything until I get back from vacation, so I hope that everyone has a very good Thanksgiving with their families and friends. And, don't forget to be thankful for the things you have!

I have been sitting here staring at the computer screen, debating whether or not to even type anything in. Why, you ask? Because my life is boring! Very boring indeed. But, honestly, that is alright with me.
We took a trip to Grandma's house today. We hadn't been down to the "big city" in awhile, so Maddy and I took a trip down the mountain. I had some errands to run for the restaurant, including going to the liquor store, so she stayed at Grandma's. I suppose I could have taken her with me, but I always feel a bit strange when I do that. It seems kinda odd to take a 7 month old into a liquor store and proceed to buy a couple hundred bucks worth of booze. People look at me funny enough when I have that much alcohol in my cart, I can imagine the looks I'd get if Maddy was with me!
Afterwards, I headed to the grocery store to buy some stuff to (finally) made some baby food! I was running dangerously low on alot of things, and we were all out of the Earth's Best food that we use for backup. I got lots of fruits and veggies and have lots of good recipes planned. Here's a sample of what Maddy is gonna get to eat for the next week or so...
Egg Yolk and Veggie Scramble
Tropical Fruit Puree
Green Beans and Peppered Rice
Brown Rice Chicken and Peach Stew (sounds weird, I know, but I think it'll be good)
Beef Zucchini Barley
Chicken Mango Risotto (yes, I stole that one from Earth's Best)
Plum Banana Oatmeal
Apple Yogurt Oatmeal
Sweet Pea Turkey Brown Rice
and more!
I'm trying to figure out how to best do this. The only thing I am not sure on is how to store the meats. I'm just not sure if I can freeze them after pureeing them or not. It would certainly make things easier, but I want to make sure that it will still taste alright. I'll freeze everything individually in ice cube trays and then can mix them altogether as needed. I'm thinking that will work the best since I have multiple recipes using lots of the same ingredients.
Maybe tomorrow I will take some pictures of my wonderful creations!
Oh, and as for me, I might eat some of this stuff before I puree it, cause some of it sounds pretty dang good!

For those of you who don't follow MckMama, click on over to www.mycharmingkids.net and click on the "Not Me Monday" icon.

Well, this week, I most certainly did not eat about 5 chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, nope, not me!

And, I would never ever have dreamed of checking my daughter's diaper and finding a huge poopy in there, only to inform my husband that I was getting in the shower and that he needed to check her diaper cause it was stinky, just so I wouldn't have to change it and rinse it out! (we cloth diaper!)

Have you ever subjected your very tolerant wonderful doggie to minutes of torture (using doggie as leverage to pull to standing) just to get a couple of minutes to yourself to check your email? Yeah, me neither.

And I have never turned on Nick Jr. to watch the Wonder Pets myself, but insisted to my husband that we can't change the channel because our daughter is totally engrossed in it!

Finally, last but not least, I have never had Maddy wake up at 8 in the morning and not want to go back to sleep, so what did I NOT do? I did NOT put her back in her crib with some toys and proceed to lay on her floor with my pillow and blanket so she could see me and go back to sleep myself for an hour! NOT ME!

Well, that was my first "Not Me Monday" post. I couldn't think of a whole lot I did this week. Maybe next week will be more exciting! lol!

well, Maddy's rash is getting better. I'm still not sure what it is, but the salve is helping and I plan on giving her another oatmeal and chamomile oil bath tonight. Hopefully within a few days, it will be completely gone. It has never seemed to bother her though.
Isn't it so much fun to watch a child grow and learn? I just love this phase right now. She seems to learn quickly and has so much fun with everything! The waving is sooooo cute! Madeline pretty much waves at everything and people she knows. She won't wave at strangers though. She just stares 'em down!
In the last month or so, she's figured out how to turn on her toys with buttons. She has a ball popper that she LOVES and has figured out how to turn it on. She likes it when the balls fly out of the toy, so she can put them back in herself though.
And lets not forget the Wonder Pets! Madeline adores it. She especially likes it when they sing, because she has Ming Ming (the duck, for those not savvy with the show). And whenever we sing the song, she turns to the tv to find them, even if it isn't on. I love it!
Well, I might not update for awhile, but just wanted to share with you about the rash. But, if she reaches any milestones or does anything cool, I'll blog about it. But, day to day life is pretty boring around here, so there isn't much to write about consistently!
i thought that i would share this pic of her, she fell asleep on grandma's lap just watching tv. she never does that! but, i love the expression on her face so i thought i would post it!

Well, we ended up going to the doctor on Thursday. Dr. L was very thorough and checked Maddy over from head to toe. And, *drumroll please* she has.....A RASH! lol!!!! So, we really didn't find anything out, except for she was pretty sure that Madeline's rash was not being caused by bacteria or a virus. We went through anything and everything that could have caused it, but couldn't come to any conclusions. We haven't changed soaps, or introduced new foods, or anything like that. But, the more I look at it, I think that it is a mild case of eczema of some sort.
It doesn't seem to itch her, but today the bumps seemed more scaly and dry. They were never fluid filled or anything before, but they looked more similar to heat rash.
So, I did some research and before bed gave Maddy a lukewarm bath. I put a drop of chamomile essential oil, plus a chamomile tea bag in the bath. I also put some whole oats in an old sock and put that in the bath too. It seemed to help soothe her skin; it definitely took some of the redness away. Then after her bath, I put some salve on her that I make (calendula oil, shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax). She was VERY relaxed and went to sleep very quickly. I am hoping that in the morning, the rash will have subsided some. I don't want to use topical steroids unless nothing else works. Fingers crossed that this natural approach works!
Oh yeah, Maddy waved tonight!!! I don't think she knows exactly what it means, but for the last week or so, I have been opening and closing my palm (you know, a baby wave) and telling Maddy to wave. I try to do it when I leave for work. I will wave and say "bye bye". So, tonight I started waving at her again and she waved back. Then for the next 15 minutes she would periodically look down and her hand and wave to herself. It was hilarious. She was so proud! It was cute!
I will keep you posted on the rash. Let's pray for healing.
xoxo

Maddy has a rash. A strange one. So, I am hoping that I can get her into the doctor's office tomorrow. She doesn't seem to be bothered by it, but it's freakin me out! The best way to describe it is that it is similar to heat rash, but i don't think it is. It's a whole bunch of very small red bumps, some grouped together in big clumps, but most are by themselves. Some are flesh colored that you can feel, but can't see unless the right light hits it.
My dilemma is that I don't want to take her to the doctor's office with a whole bunch of sick kids, and chance her really getting sick ( if she doesn't have something already ). I left them a message, so we shall see what they say.
No new news really. No more "walking". She has let go of the (insert object here; table, chair, couch, ect.) and wobbled a bit and then fell down or caught herself, but no attempts at walking. Which is fine with me. I already chase her around the house as it is. The last few days, she has been pulling herself up to standing using the knobs on the kitchen cabinets. Which isn't good, because I have not put child locks on them yet. So, I will be doing that on my next day off!
With the exception of the rash, things are going well. She's eating more solid foods, discovering the joy of splashing the water with her tub toys, and discovering her personality. She knows what she wants and is constantly figuring out ways to achieve her goals. She loves to explore and LOVES her doggy and kitty. Madeline is fascinated by music, and loves to watch daddy play the harmonica, though when she tries, she just chews on it :) and she loves the stringed instruments. Daddy has a guitar, a mandolin, and a banjo and her little face just lights up whenever he starts playing. It's so cute!
She is a gorgeous, smart, and loving baby girl! We are so lucky to have her as our daughter!
Now if we could just figure this rash out.......

Soooo, I haven't posted in about 2 months. I didn't think that anyone read it, but apparently, my dear cousin Amber does. So, if nobody else reads it, this is for you! lol!
Maddy has been doing very well the last two months. She started crawling around 5 1/2 months. Once we came back from Missouri, she started really taking off. At about a week past 6 months, she started pulling herself up to standing holding onto things, followed shortly by walking around while holding onto them!
My husband *swears* that she took two steps completely unassisted, but I think it was a fluke. She shows absolutely no signs of even attempting that. She is very careful when letting go of anything while standing up!
The solid food eating is going well. She eats about a jar a day total. Pretty good I would say. We are still breastfeeding, though not quite as much since I have finally gone back to work 4 to 5 days a week. So, because of that, my milk supply has dropped off. I am working on it, but fenugreek capsules make me want to puke, so that is NOT gonna work!
All in all, she is growing and developing wonderfully. We just went to the doctor last week and she is 26 1/2 inches long and 15lbs 4oz. Madeline has dropped off a bit in the weight department but had another little growth spurt in terms of height. Still no teeth though, which is driving me nuts! Poor thing gnaws on anything she can find. I feel bad for her. I wish they would just break through already!
Also, she's become a bit whiny if she doesn't get her way the past few weeks. Like, if I don't pay enough attention to her, or she wants something I take away, or is tired, she YELLS at me, and if I am in reach, hits me too!!! I hope, hope, hope this does not continue once she can talk!! I'm sure we won't be that lucky!!! I am not sure what route to go on discipline, because it's slightly difficult to discipline a 7 month old. Right now, I just say things like, "it's not nice to hit" and "please don't yell at Mommy". I know she doesn't get it yet, but hopefully with enough reiteration, she will one day soon!
Well, that's it for now...as always, I leave you with pictures!