Well, I haven't posted in forever because in trying to cut back costs, we have gotten rid of our internet at the house. I have it at the restaurant, and I can do things from my iPhone, but I don't have much time to actually sit down and post anything. I shouldn't be doing it now either, cause I am at work, but hey, I'm the boss, so I suppose it's okay. Super super slow here tonight. I hope we get some business or we will be closing early. We could really use the money though!
So, onto Maddy...we had her 9 month check-up today and she's doing great, physically and developmentally. She is still very advanced for her age in the gross and fine motor department, as well as the social aspects too. She is starting to test Jason and I lately though, purposely trying to get things (i.e. the cat!!!) that she's not supposed to have. She is starting to cry when we take things away from her and tell her no, and has started fighting tooth and nail to get loaded into the car seat and to have her face wiped off after eating.
All in all, she is doing really well, she has had a snotty nose for about 5 days now, but it's clear mucous and the doctor checked her out today and said she's fine and it's not in her chest or anything, so just to watch it!
But, that's about it, I gotta get to work! I promise I will come in early one day and upload some new pics! I'm falling behind on that!

So, my promise of updating the blog on Saturday came and went...I'm almost a week late. Whoops! Things have been busy here lately. Trying to figure out our lives...Business at our restaurant has still been slow, though this week it is slowly picking up. That and the fact that we are cutting back on staff, has helped make us a little more money. We had a benefit last Friday for 3 families whom lost their homes to fire on Thanksgiving day, so I think that helped get us some business afterwards too. A win/win for everyone.
Jason and I are going to (have to!) start working more hours, which means that instead of taking Maddy to a babysitter, which we can't afford anyway, we will be taking her to work with us when we are both there at the same time. We are in the process of setting up a play area for her. We need to get a couple of baby gates and would love to find some of those interlocking foam mats. Obviously toys too, but any other suggestions would be great. We want to make it as fun for her as possible!
Nothing really new going on. Maddy is getting big! She's been giving kisses, and waves, and now points at EVERYTHING. It's cute! She also wiggles her fingers when you ask her where her fingers are! Not bad for an 8 month old!
No walking yet, though, she's been standing with no support for longer periods of time more frequently. Honestly, I'm okay with waiting awhile for that, I already have to keep an eagle eye on her and walking will only make that worse! :)
Off topic here, but please pray for my mom, she had hip replacement surgery on Wednesday and feels like crap! I'm sure it can't be fun to have that done, but we know it's for the best. Her hip was in bad shape!
Well, I am hoping to update again soon, but it might be after Christmas. If I don't write until then, have a very Merry Christmas! I hope that it is filled with laughter, love, and good friends and family.

Well, I haven't posted in awhile, things have been slightly crazy around here and probably will be for the rest of the week. I probably won't post again till Saturday. Thursday we are getting family pictures taken by a wonderful photographer named Julie. You can visit her website at www.afinephotographer.com. She was our NILMDTS photographer when Gabriella died. For those of you that don't know NILMDTS stands for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. It is a nationwide organization made up of volunteer professional photographers that donate their time to taking pictures for families that have lost or are losing a child. They are a remarkable organization and very near and dear to our hearts. We are so excited to be able to see Julie again and to have her meet Madeline. She was there in a very intimate and heartbreaking time in Jason and I's life and gave us the gift of beautiful pictures of our sweet Gabby.
So, this week Madeline cut her first tooth! I have no pictures yet, but you can feel the little thing pretty good! It's sharp! It's not completely pushed up through the gum yet, but hopefully for her sake, it will be soon!
Another first this week, was Maddy's first Christmas tree!

It's pretty small because, well, we have a small house and this tree fits perfectly in this little window cubby. I haven't had a Christmas tree up in the house in almost 6 years, so I was excited to have one this year. I bought a couple of new ornaments.
One for Gabby

And one for Madeline

And, this one, my mom gave me a few years ago, and this is the first time I have ever had a tree to put it on!


Maddy loves the Christmas lights and all the shiny ornaments. Luckily, she can't get to them! Now, if I could only figure out how to keep the cat away from it!

As some of you might know, Jason and I own a pizzeria. We (most of the time) love what we do and the freedom that owning our own business brings. The economy has hit everyone hard, some more than others. Things had been going alright for us until about 4 months ago, when we hit the slow season here in our little mountain community. We have fallen behind on alot of bills and taxes and are in danger of losing everything. We have managed to stay up on our house payments and rent for the restaurant, but it's been a HUGE struggle just to do that. We still have a year and a half left on our lease for this building, but I really don't know if we can even survive that long. Please pray that our business picks up and that we can figure out a way to keep from filing bankruptcy. It's disappointing to me that we are in this situation, we have worked really hard to build up our business. Last summer we moved to a larger location because things were going well, and looking back now, I feel like that was a very bad idea. Nothing we can do about it now, but as I said before, things are getting worse every day.
I haven't vocalized this publicly before, but we need all the prayers we can get! Thank you all very much.

p.s. Maddy is doing great, I think she's hitting a growth spurt, because she's been waking up 2 to 3 times in the middle of the night to eat! No teeth yet either, but hopefully soon!

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!