Adventures in Alaska

Madelyn turns ONE!

2013-01-07T12:49:00.000-09:00

My baby girl turned one year old last week. One year ago, our lives forever changed when that precious little one entered the world. I didn't know I could love someone so deeply. I didn't realize that someone so small could motivate me to be a better woman. Seek God more. Use my time more wisely. Love my husband deeper. Desire a healthier lifestyle. Or live on so little sleep. Being a mom has changed me. Our little Madelyn makes me smile every single day. Sometimes at night I don't want to put her down to sleep in her own crib because I don't want to be away from her. I'm one of those moms. And not ashamed.

So of course, we held a little birthday party to honor her first year of life. It turned out wonderfully. She was loved on by family and a handful of friends. I was just going to do something "little" and then I couldn't stop with the details. For about a month I put things together during nap time or while she played on the floor next to me. I hoped it'd all come together on the big day - sometimes it's questionable that what's in my head is in reality what it'll be like. I can't promise she'll have such a homemade birthday party again either.

Maddie's personal smash cake
(I made it with a loaf pan, cut in half and stacked)

a party is not a party without food
plus, we got to enjoy our new kitchen!

delicious chicken salad found here

We put together a little ball pit for the kiddos, using bags of balls (found at Target) and an old kid pool Matt's parents had hidden in their attic. It was such a hit!

I vowed to not raise a girly girl. And now she's wearing a tutu.
But she seriously looks too cute. I even made a cute hair bow, but she refuses to wear them anymore. :(

Blessed with so many great gifts. Maddie just sat there in my lap the whole time and closely watched each gift be presented to her (not too interested in opening them herself). Such a little lady.

Maddie's first sugar. I thought about going all healthy on her cake, but decided she only turns 1 once.
It took her a few minutes to realize she could eat it, but then she went to town!

What a sweet day for our little girl. I put together a little video of many of the pictures and videos we have taken through the year and showed it to our party goers. It's amazing how much change can happen in just a short year. I thank God every single day for such a wonderful gift He's blessed us with. Happy birthday, Madelyn Grace!

New Kitchen

2012-12-18T05:00:00.000-09:00

A vast majority of houses we looked at needed a kitchen makeover. It became a common theme after touring a house and saying "we'll just paint the kitchen and it'll look great". Oh how those words have such a deeper meaning now. And I don't think I'll ever say them so nonchalantly ever again.

Because when we bought our house, the kitchen looked like this:

It was dark. And ringed of the 90's era when the house was built. Plus the counter tops were cracked in several spots. The stove top only have 2 working burners. And oh my goodness that floor was pretty disgusting. We contemplated ripping that out as well.

It even had one of those lovely florescent light fixtures that is popular in so many houses built during the 90's. It did not help with the darkness of the room. And coming from Alaska, I needed light. And lots of it.

So we got to work. In two-ish weeks before the moving truck arrived, we (with much help from Matt's dad) painted the base cabinets, installed new counter tops, and replaced the back splash, got a new stove top, painted the walls and installed all new lighting. And that was just in the kitchen.

One thing we didn't get to were the cabinet doors. We worked our tails off to get the kitchen to a place where we could unpack and survive. Doors and hardware were not part of that equation. And then we got burned out...well, actually we had other projects to work on...so we lived with no doors for...um...two months??

And just a couple weeks before Christmas, we finally have doors up and hardware on! I didn't think I'd ever see this day.

Remember before?

I love before and afters. And now have such a better appreciation for "after".

My husband never ceases to amaze me in how he can just decide to tackle something and learn how to do it. Like he did with electrical. He learned when we remodeled our bathroom in Anchorage. And now he's a pro. What a blessing to be married to man with such handyman skills.

Thus, he installed some can lights and these beautiful pendants over the island.

Our beautiful new stove top - that has all working burners! And that back splash. I cannot take any credit on the installation of that, but am thankful for the men that can. Because I love it.

My new paint color that took three coats. THREE. That was dreadful, but I love the end product. It's bright but the rest of the kitchen and house are so neutral, that I love the pop of color.

You can kind of see the floors in the picture above. After several hours of scrubbing the floor with Clorox and a toothbrush, they actually look clean and relatively new. I'm glad we didn't have to replace them after all!

And another angle for your viewing pleasure...because the amount of work that went into this kitchen deserves a bazillion pictures.

We have these two glorious, huge windows by the sink. They will one day get curtains, but for now, I'm enjoying all the sunlight.

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so it's an important room to me. I love the brightness of it all. And it was fun to pick out all the finishes. However, I already told Matt, if we ever have to paint kitchen cabinets again, we will save and pay someone. Or buy a house that's already completed. If that last scenario is actually possible.

But for now, I'm loving the new kitchen. And thankful for the opportunity to have such an amazing space.

First Christmas

2012-12-17T10:29:00.001-09:00

A baby's first Christmas is a memorable occasion. Maybe not for them, but for the parents. We did a little celebrating early with just our little family of three.

Maddie was way more interested in the tree than in her present.

We tried to hide her little stuffed animal in the bag, but she just dug out the old, already owned stuffed animal and didn't think twice about the new, shiny gift inside with it. But she was happy none the less.

So we tried again that Saturday morning. Where Matt and I exchanged gifts too. It was like our "Christmas morning".

She is always full of smiles and giggles - which still (and probably always will) melt my heart.

Thankfully, we had more luck this time with the gift...

I think she liked it...after we hid her stuffed animal. Ha.

We bought her a little fake cell phone since she always steals ours. I certainly didn't go crazy with gifts for her...since clearly the tree and the tissue paper are just as exciting to her. Though it was hard to restrain myself, I'm not going to lie.

Then we went to a Christmas festival at our church. Maddie didn't quite get how the bounce house worked. As she just sat in the corner and watched...with perfect posture, of course.

(yes, I left her in her pj shirt, because it's seriously too cute. However, next time I'm going to glue a bow to her head as everyone thought she was a boy. I guess the big glittery heart on her shirt wasn't enough.)

But get her around the Bethlehem animals and we couldn't be more excited.

Even the fake ones are thrilling to her.

It's quite endearing how easily amused, joyful she gets. And the celebrations have just begun!

Life

2012-12-03T14:20:00.001-09:00

I'm currently living in a season of life that involves lots of change. And effort. As much as I long to just sit and be still - and spend my afternoons taking hour long walks in this 80 degree December weather (really? I wanted to escape the dreadful freezing Alaska winter, but this is kinda ridiculous) - my life right now is full of projects and contractors and unpacking and making a home. But that last part I love.

Thus, blogging has taken a back seat lately. So much has happened though! My baby girl not only turned 10 months...

but 11 months!

I'm currently planning her first birthday party. You know the one that's really just for the parents, since she'll never actually remember it, but I'd be a bad mom if I didn't have one? Yeah, that one. But I'm excited. I think I'm going to go with a pink and yellow theme. I cannot believe she's going to be one. ONE. Which means I'll have been a mom for whole year. How did that happen?!?

Anyways...we celebrated Halloween with our cousin. We were actually painting kitchen cabinets on October 31st, so it's a good thing I busted the outfit out early for this photo shoot. Are they not so cute together?

We enjoyed a corn maze too. I'm pretty sure she's the cutest little ladybug ever.

Have I mentioned we are remodeling yet another house? Yep. We've done it again. Bought a house that needs lots of TLC. We are getting sooo close to being *finished* (oh how that term is to be used loosely), but we have transformed our living room from this:

...to this...

I love walking into this room. I'm still in need of making curtains for in here...but every room in this house will always be a constant work in progress. I guess you could call that my hobby.

We've also transformed the half bath from this lovely early 90's bathroom...

...to a much more modern, bright and inviting toilet room.

Maddie has been such a big help throughout the whole process. This little girl has grown up too fast!

In the meantime, Thanksgiving happened too.

Maddie is all about supporting football entertainment. Especially Johnny Football. The Cotton Bowl this year is going to be a divided household this year.

We participated in our tradition of running the Turkey Trot in Fort Worth. And by "tradition", I mean it was our first year. But we have high hopes of it happening every other year when we all meet up for the "Heine" Thanksgiving.

And now we are in the season of Christmas. Goodness it came fast this year. But it is and always will be my favorite time of year. I'm excited to start new traditions in our growing little family. I'm excited to teach Maddie what Christmas is really all about. I feel like having a child helps me refocus on what this holiday actually represents - the birth of our Savior. I know she won't remember a lot this year, but I strongly believe it's important to emphasize from early on what's important and what's really not. Though I do still have a fondness for trees and lights and stockings and Christmas music (which has been playing all day long in our house since the day after Thanksgiving).

But as life has been so crazy lately, I didn't even want to put up our tree this year. Yes, it's felt that overwhelming as of late. But again, bad mom moment. How could I do that for my child's first Christmas? So Matt surprised me with a day off of work last week and we put it up. I'm pretty sure Maddie is ecstatic that we did. Those lights and ornaments are just mesmerizing.

I am so blessed with this child. I thank God every single day for such a beautiful, joyful gift. Every day gets more exciting with her...

Homeowners

2012-11-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

We bought a house!

It's true. We are no longer homeless...even if we are not living in the house quite yet. Nothing like being anticlimactic by closing on a house and not being able to move in for a couple more weeks. However, when that moving truck arrives, the angels will be singing. At least in my head.

I guess we could have moved in right away, but let's just say the house needs a little work. Such as every single surface in the house is to be repainted or replaced. The bones of the house are wonderful and the location can't be beat (hence why we bought the place), but it was just a tad bit lived in with the previous owners 3 dogs, 8 cats, 4 kids and potbellied pig we later learned about from the neighbor. Yikes.

And it is all being renovated in 2 weeks. TWO. Even though it ~~might~~ will exhaust us in the process. We could not be more thankful for Matt's dad contractor skills and unending energy.

Because I feel about like Maddie is here at the end of each day...

I'm exhausted. But what does my lucky fortune cookie remind me of?

words of wisdom discovered during a very appropriate time

It will be worth it! When it's done we can move in and relax (so I tell myself, though in reality I'll think of 500 other things I want to do to the house post-unpacking). I have been counting down the days for two whole months now.

With just less than a week left we have already painted every single room. In the entire house. Every. single. room. If I never see another paintbrush for the rest of my entire life when this is all done, I'll be ok with that. The floors will soon be all brand new too. And the best part? I may have my dream kitchen.

No fear, I'll have lots of before and afters for you, but in the mean time here is a sneak peak of the biggest project...

BEFORE
(certainly not terrible, but we needed to replace the countertops so we decided to just redo the whole thing while we were at it - and I somehow convinced my other half it was a good idea. Some things just seem like they'll be easier in my head.)

PROGRESS
...it's better already, right?...

Aren't the joys of home ownership worth it? :)

Welcome back to Texas

2012-10-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

We've almost been back in Texas a month. It feels like we just got here but somehow it feels like we never left. Life certainly has not been ideal since we've arrived (sharing one car for 6 weeks, living out of a spare bedroom, enduring the expected but still hot, humid weather, teaching a 9 month old that adjustments - and church nurseries - are ok), but it has been full. There is rarely a day that I don't have anything going on...which is such a blessing because I might go crazy otherwise. Remember, I am living out of a suitcase in someone else's house.

I love all the opportunities to get involved and meet new people (and hang out with old friends). I've learned to just jump in with both feet. No point wasting time. It's not like we have much else going on right now. So at times, I may at times pull the "I just moved here from Alaska" without the "we lived here a few years ago" part, so people will have pity on me and invite me to things. Eventually, they find out and still allow me to tag along. :)

Because seriously, there are so many stay at home moms! Where have you been all my life?!?

Maddie and I get to spend a lot of quality time together. She's such a little gem. I can't imagine a better little person to spend my days with.

Here we are enjoying the hottest weather Maddie has ever experienced, while the rest of the Houstonians are dressed like it's cold. I have a word to share: 65 degrees is not cold.

We enjoy lunches and zoos and libraries and fall festivities with new friends. Here is Maddie's best friend, Addie. At what age is not appropriate to decide who their best friend is anymore? I say I have at least half a decade of control over that still. Right?

Football. Matt + living with best friend = watching LOTS of football. (Honestly, I don't mind though. I secretly really enjoy it. And Maddie appears to too).

Thankfully, little one has been so good at sleeping lately! I do not know what caused the turn, but I'm not complaining. Not. one. bit. I'm sure this is what most parents with small children experience earlier on. Actual sleep lasting more than 3 consecutive hours at night. Which is probably why many are okay with having more kids. Which is why I'm just now starting to have a small hint of realization that more than one kid might be doable...

We've also found the only forest in Houston. No more walking outside and being consumed by nature. We now work with plastic trees that are 3 feet tall. I'm glad my tax dollars are going to this type of school playground. How disappointed those kids would be to run outside to the jungle gym just to discover small, fake trees! What are they supposed to do with those anyways?

We've also gotten quite mobile. If you look closely you will notice how not baby proof our temporary residence is. And Maddie has a fascination with cords. Awesome. It works out well that we will be able to baby proof as we unpack our new house. Because, goodness, it will be necessary.

It's good to be back to my Texas roots. I'm not going to lie. I've missed you.

9 months

2012-10-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

So at 9 months Maddie is not breaking in her new nursery. But maybe at 10 months. Maybe. At least we can hope. :)

At nine months though, Madelyn is more beautiful than ever.

Look at that arm strength. Matt's teaching her how to do push ups.

We had our 9 month check-up today. Madelyn is 20lbs, 10 oz (81%) and 28" tall (67%). Her head is still huge (99%). We (again) had the doctor request to re-measure because it is unusually large. I tried to explain it's always been big (99% when born) and not to order that CT scan. I'm not joking. Our new doc was concerned at first. I'm pretty sure that does not mean she has too much fluid in her head. But that she's going to be the valedictorian one day.

How can you resist that smile?

This has been an eventful month for our baby girl. She has been learning to crawl on all fours - until now she's just been a scooter and army crawler. She's starting to pull up on things too. Maddie has learned to sit up on her own. We thought that was super exciting until we realized she can sit up in her crib but has yet to figure out how to lay back down and go back to sleep!

Who me?!

The most important milestone is...we are SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!! Yes, that fully deserves all caps. It only took 9 months. Nine. I still wake up several times and check on her, but having a full nights sleep...it took me awhile to remember what that was. She's gotten on quite a beautiful schedule of going down about 7-7:30pm and waking up between 7-7:30am. About 5am she wakes up and I nurse her and she'll sleep for a couple more hours. I'm praying this sticks around. I'm guessing she likes her bedroom of a closet. I guess we could have bought a smaller house.

This picture cracked me up. Are we already posing for senior pictures?
...tilt that chin a little more to the right...

Maddie has spent her first Sundays in the church nursery. (I know...9 months? Alaska is more kid friendly during service. When the lady in front of us kept turning around our first Sunday back in Houston, I knew it was time.). I didn't even cry. She's just growing up so fast.

Everything ends up in my mouth. I mean everything. Yum.

My growing babe loves to eat! Goodness, that was probably the biggest topic I discussed with our new pediatrician. I don't want to over feed her (since she is on the larger end for her age), but apparently that's kinda hard to do at this age. So I'm not too worried. She nurses every 3-4 hours during the day still (about 5-6 times total) and eats some veggies, fruit and/or meat at lunch and dinner. And then devours those little Gerber puffs whenever I need to get something done in the kitchen. I love that she is starting to feed herself.

She still has only those two bottom teeth. Though I'm convinced more are coming in. She is still such a happy little girl. Steals the attention of any and everyone who walks by her. I've met more people through her smiles than ever in my life. And she loves to talk. Socialization is not something I'm worried about with her. I'm thankful for that!

Goodness, I love her.

living with less

2012-10-01T14:07:00.001-08:00

Remember how I was concerned about moving and not having any baby stuff for awhile? Well, due to difficulties with this house purchasing situation, it's actually being a bit longer than "awhile". We are now looking at early November (not early October as originally planned) before we get our stuff.

It's bittersweet. As we may finally have settled and negotiated a house (YAY!! It makes my heart very happy. This has been a ridiculous process.), I'm a little disheartened that we have about 6 more weeks before we get to that point of moving in. Considering my current full-time job is a mom and homemaker - a home would be a nice resource to help fulfill that job description. I'm sure there will be lots to come on this new house....but back to our current situation.

We are living with a lifelong friend of Matt's, basically like a brother to him. He has very graciously opened his home to our little family. He is a bachelor, so we have more than enough space around here. We just don't have many baby items. One positive that Matt has reminded me of during this transitional time (especially when he is trying to find the good in my moments of not so good perspective) is that we really can live on very little. We had about 5 suitcases when we arrived. And minus a few items that we've purchased to make life a little easier, that's all we've used for the past 3 1/2 weeks.

Case in point...this has been Maddie's bed. A twin mattress on the floor with pillow 'railings'.

I think it looks quite cozy. But when she started rolling around and sitting up in between sleep cycles, I realized that wasn't going to work for long. Thankfully, my mom had a pack-n-play I borrowed from her this past weekend. So Maddie even now has her own room. In the closet. :)

I don't think she minds much though.

Here's her changing station. It's very portable.

Oh and can't forget her rocking chair.

Yep, it's a patio rocker we splurged on for our future backyard that is getting double duty at the moment.

I packed one small bag of toys. It's a good thing that it doesn't take much for her to be entertained right now. Who knew the laundry could be so amusing?

Today my car arrives. I'm excited to think about the endless doors of entertainment that will open to us both.

We've had a few rough patches as we adjust to all the changes, but overall she has been a trooper.

But now the official countdown can begin to seeing that beloved, packed moving truck pull up to our new place. Trust me, this could be more exciting than the countdown to Christmas. And that's a bold statement.

Anchorage Home

2012-09-19T08:02:00.001-08:00

Since we will probably move quite frequently, I decided to make little photo booklets of each house we live in. I think it'll be fun for our kids way down the road to see where we all lived and where they grew up. I'm still working on the Anchorage house, but this is why I made it a point to take lots of pictures (like I did for our first Houston house).

It all happened so fast I don't think I got to say a proper goodbye to our Anchorage home. The movers didn't leave until late in the evening the last day and we frantically had to deep clean the entire house and rush off to meet the person to ship up my car before leaving for our flight the next morning at 3am. It was not a restful, let-it-all-sink-in type of farewell.

But here is our (old) home. Isn't the exterior lovely? It was actually the first house we looked at in Alaska and I was not a fan. The curb appeal is terrible. It looks purple (though it's really grey). And every single house in the neighborhood is exactly the same. But then we looked at about 40 more homes and I realized it wasn't so bad compared to Alaska standards. In hindsight, it's covered with snow 8 months of the year anyways, so what does it really matter? :)

Let's take a tour, shall we?

We rarely used our front door. Except for guests. But that's probably pretty normal. Matt re-did the entry way (aka - arctic entry...keeps the cold air out). Isn't it so welcoming? He did a good job.

Our family/dining area. We had to make sure our furniture fit in whatever house we purchased, specifically our large dining hutch we had just bought (can see in picture below). Our living room was quite cozy. I spent many a cold days on that couch sipping hot tea curled up next to my space heater (we owned 3 by the time we left).

I loved how open the downstairs all was.

Our formal dining furniture worked well for everyday use thankfully. But now that we are back in the south it will probably have it's proper home outside of the eat-in kitchen.

This kitchen was more updated than 99% of the homes we looked at. It was a bit smaller than what we had before (thus we had appliances stuck in various closets throughout the house). I baked a lot of goodies in here.

And now for upstairs. Our guest room with the bright orange wall I painted in the middle of winter. Good thing I still liked it when the sun came back. :)

Maddie's nursery. I'm going to miss this sweet room. Hopefully we can duplicate it in our new house.

The landing. The last two bedrooms are behind you (along with the stairs) and the master is down the hallway with the second bath on the left and laundry on the right. I loved having the laundry upstairs. So convenient!

The guest bath (notice the second space heater).

Our master.

And the lovely bathroom remodel of the master bath (which I guaranty helped sell the place and keep our marriage sane). (And there is the third space heater in the bottom left.)

And then our back patio that we got to enjoy for, eh, 3 months?

In reality, here is what is looked like half of the time. :)

It was a great house in a great neighborhood. Sure, it wasn't my dream home, but we made it our own and made lots of memories there. It will always be our first home purchase as a married couple. The place we lived our first big adventure together. Where we learned to endure negative temperatures and 20 hours of darkness a day. And of course, where we brought our first baby home to.

I'm thankful God gave us a great house in Anchorage, made the choice so clear and blessed us again with a quick sell when it was time to leave. It's been a bit more challenging this time around, but I'm confident He has something else great in store. I'm just really learning patience until then...

Goodbyes are hard

2012-09-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

Our house is currently in boxes and packed away in crates on it's way down to Houston. Matt has started his new job and we have moved into our friend, David's, guest room. Now if only we could find a house. House #3 doesn't look promising after inspections so we are back to the drawing board of house hunting. This has been an emotional ride. And rather exhausting.

one last look at our living room

But before we took our final flight out of Alaska (at least for awhile, I hope to bring Maddie back one day and introduce her to her home state), Matt and I had an eventful weekend finishing up chores, running errands and saying goodbye to all the friends God has blessed us within the short 2 years we lived up in Alaska. We had dinners and parties in our honor. We certainly felt loved.

The biggest thing Matt and I prayed for when we moved to Alaska was community. We didn't know a single person within 1,000s of miles. When I filled out paperwork for my new job, my local emergency contact besides Matt was our realtor. We were that alone.

But God quickly answered our prayers. And He gave us incredible community. I'm not a type of person that has (or needs) tons of friends. I usually have a handful of close friends and I'm completely content. Maybe that's my introverted side. But either way, I hate goodbyes. So it wasn't a fun weekend in that regard.

We met the majority of our friends at our church and most are recent "transports" to Alaska like us. These ladies were such a blessing when I desperately needed a friend! None of us had any family in Alaska so we became our own small family. I love these ladies and am going to miss them dearly!

So many people impacted us in our time in Alaska. It's crazy to think we are about to start yet another chapter. I pray yet again that God will continue to bless us with meaningful, encouraging friendships...

...and a house to call our own.

8 months

2012-09-08T10:18:00.002-08:00

In the midst of our incredibly chaotic life right now, my baby girl turned 8 months old! Her little personality comes out more each month. She is full of giggles and smiles and high pitched screams (though we try not to encourage those). And a little drama. I'm not sure where that comes from...

She is experiencing full on separation anxiety. She's always had this (she is such a mamma's girl), but it's getting to where I often cannot leave the room - or even set her down - without her getting upset with me. She loves her daddy, but if she's tired, mommy is all she wants. She still nurses about every 3-4 hours during the day and once or twice at night. I decided it wasn't worth trying to wean her from night nursing quite yet with all the changes taking place. As soon as we settle into our new home, I hope to get into better sleeping habits. Is that too hopeful? :)

She loves drinking water out of a straw. If she gets full, she'll start sucking the water up the straw and spitting it out just so she doesn't have to stop. She usually eats real food (pureed fruits and veggies) twice a day. This girl loves to eat. And those little pouches of pureed food are the best.

We are on the verge of crawling. I'm hoping she'll refrain until we get into our new house and get it all baby proofed. But she can scoot like nobody's business and has started to pull up onto her knees. But no hands and knees crawling just yet.

Maddie is such a joyful little girl. She has been such a trooper as our world is turning upside down and her routine is completely out of whack. Hopefully at 9 months we will be unpacking our new house and a sense of normalcy will return. I hope.

a whirlwind of a move

2012-09-06T11:42:00.001-08:00

I'm not really sure where to start. It has been a crazy two weeks in the life of this family. I have yet to even process most of it. It's so easy to be filled with anxiety and worry as we walk through this move. I'm thankful that I'm just on this journey and God is in charge of orchestrating all the details.

First, we've sold our house! We were a bit worried when we purchased this house because it had been on the market for a year. One entire year. For whatever reason it just wasn't selling and it was by far the best house we looked at. It was actually a no brainer to us, since there weren't any other choices that compared to it. We just hoped that we'd be able to sell it for as much as we put into it - we painted the whole house, redid the master bath, finished off the arctic entry, and made a little oasis on our small patio. And within a week we had three offers on the place. Three. Needless to say, God blessed us big time with this house. I'm still a little in disbelief.

I love when things work out so smoothly. We were off to a good start. Confirms that we are on the right path and makes it so stress free and easy.

Then we went to Houston for a house hunting trip.

We brilliantly scheduled a direct flight from Anchorage to Houston - the best. Unfortunately it was a red eye from 8pm to 6am - the worst. Especially with a baby. Who doesn't have her own seat. And you aren't sitting with your spouse. And you have to house hunt the entire next day when you arrive.

I got no sleep. Matt got a couple. Maddie got about 5. Maybe. What were we thinking??

Then we had four days to find a house. I didn't want to be homeless for an extended period of time, so we needed a house before we left. It was a bit stressful. Especially with a baby in tow. Thankfully my sister and bro-in-law drove to Houston and went with us the first day. They spent lots of time in the car while she slept or driving around and around the block trying to keep her asleep while we viewed potential homes. Houston is big (especially compared to the giant population of Anchorage with 300,000...eh, what's 3 million?). I think that made it a bit harder to figure out where we wanted to live. There were so many options! Do we live closer in and have an older, smaller home? Do we live in timbuktu and have a fancier, updated home? Plus, we really wanted a pool. Maybe we were making things a little more difficult than necessary. But coming from Alaska, I need a pool. Maddie needs a pool. Or we are going to melt. Poor thing was dripping in sweat the entire time we were in Houston. I like to think I'm not overreacting. And being completely reasonable. So no pool = deal breaker to us.

Then I got sick. Like severe food poisoning. It was terrible! I don't think I've ever gotten food poisoning before. That night was a disaster. Our little hotel room, Maddie crying her eyes out because mommy is in the bathroom losing everything. Matt trying to calm her down to no avail. So we didn't get any sleep. Again. It took me a full 24 hours of our 4 days to be able to leave our hotel room. This wasn't going well.

I felt like as every day passed we had a new opinion on what we should do. We made offers on three different houses. Three completely different, all over the map houses. And God kept closing the door (which I'm thankful we didn't end up with something we shouldn't have!). I did not want to leave Houston without a home. But by our last day and we didn't have a house to call our own yet, I realized my dreams weren't coming true in my timing. (This is where you'd insert the sympathy music.)

But thankfully after we left, we made another offer on a house. Though we had to wait a tad bit longer than I would have preferred, we are finally in negotiations with a house that we are both really excited about. I'm just praying that it'll work out smoothly from here or God will yet again shut the door if He has something better in store. And my heart will be prepared to deal with that.

So now we are back in Alaska. Our last week here. We have one week to pack up everything we'll need for at least 4-6 weeks, clean everything, say goodbye to everyone :(, get our whole life packed into boxes and help throw a baby shower (yay!).

Think that'd be it right? Hah. Wrong. We were hit with a record category 3 hurricane wind storm which not only uprooted a tree in our front yard but also left us without power for 36 hours. A day and a half with a baby, no car (we've already shipped one), and no power. That was fun. So now I am down to one day before the movers come tomorrow. Tomorrow!! My list of to-dos just continues to grow. I haven't even had time to get sentimental about leaving. I guess that's what the weekend is for.

And maybe on our 9 hour flight back to Houston on Tuesday, I can start to process what just happened.

moving thoughts

2012-08-23T15:58:00.001-08:00

My calendar I hang on the fridge is a mess. All my "plans" for the next month are crossed out in big black pen, replaced by new plans. Like house hunting in Houston. Or going away dinners with friends. Or trying to squeeze in that massage Matt got me for my birthday before we leave.

I've officially decided that selling a house with a baby is not easy. I'm thankful she's still so little that she only makes a small mess in the spot I set her down in, but she's still so little that she takes 2-3 naps during the day. At least half of which were interrupted or didn't happen due to house showings. Which makes a cranky baby. And an exhausted momma. I probably have spent 10+ hours of my life in the last week driving in circles around town trying to get the wee one to get some sort of nap in the back seat. But I never turned down a house showing...we just need one buyer. One. So come one, come all. And please buy our house.

We have narrowed down our winter gear supplies. Did you know that selling snow tires on Craigslist is a headache? So many tire dealers wanting in on the action...I probably got 5 calls a day about those darn tires. But those are finally gone. We also no longer own snow shoes or cross country skis. Since we won't be needing them in Houston. We plan on trading them in for pool floats and flip flops. And I guess we can go ahead and pack up all our below zero gear for another day. I pulled out my box of summer clothes I stowed away when we moved here. Oh my pasty white skin may not be ready to be exposed again.

And the food. I feel like the food part is a tricky aspect of moving. Trying to eat the food up without actually having a full meal available. My 20 pound bag of potatoes is slow going. Creativity is key. And we are eating a lot of baked fries. Thankfully we are checking a cooler full of our fish when we fly down, so I can throw in a few freezer items that we can't get rid of this quickly - like Maddie's milk supply and that gigantic bag of cheese I just bought from Costco.

At times I feel like it's not real. Like I'm just floating through this move. I know this will not be our last. But I'm excited for what's to come. I'm thankful God prepares our hearts for His plan. Because He is certainly full of surprises.

...and I really hope that part of His plan involves a house with a pool...:)

See you soon, Mocha

2012-08-15T08:25:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Mocha enjoyed her last walk in Alaska. The weather has been beautiful (such a nice note to end on!) so I've been taking my children - Maddie and Mocha included - on nice long 1+ hour walks. I look forward to this part of my afternoon each day.

But when we found out we were moving, Matt and I quickly decided it might be easier without a 75 pound pooch running around. Thankfully my mom graciously offered to take care of her for awhile back in Texas until we get moved on out of here. Maybe now I won't have to vacuum up dog hairs every few hours or worry about rushing a baby and a large dog out the door for house showings.

Mocha had her good times up here. Alaska is incredibly dog friendly. Like the fact that my old job allowed us to bring our dogs to work with us. Yep. That's kinda crazy to me. And maybe not the most productive. But Mocha enjoyed it on occasion.

She also enjoyed all the hikes. And we enjoyed it when she slept for days afterwards.

She loved the snow. Poor thing may never see that again. I hope she doesn't get heat stroke. And sorry mom for all the shedding I'm sure is about to ensue.

Pretty much everywhere we went...so did Mocha.

She is kinda like our first child, although Matt was forced into the relationship. I like to think she prepared us for parenthood.

Though I'm sure she won't miss this minuscule thing of a back yard. I'm praying for a large lot next go around.

I was sad to bring her to the airport. I worry too much about her stress levels while flying. I actually backed out last minute and made Matt take her. Goodbyes are terrible, even if they are to a dog. She's currently in route on her 12 hour flight back to Texas. I pray that the benadryl worked it's wonder.

Moving with a baby?

2012-08-14T09:08:00.001-08:00

This week has been full. And yet has felt sooo long! After a couple days when the shock of the move wore off, I got into the mode of let's-get-on-with-this-already! I feel like I wait around each day for a glimmer of additional information from the relocation people. Each day I get just a tid bit. Just enough to keep me hanging. I'm a planner. And maybe a little impatient. If you are going to throw my world upside down, at least let me plan it out. And quickly. Goodness.

But I guess in hindsight, we did just find out a week ago we are moving.

One week. And I've already made the mental shift. I guess that's good?

We've cleaned (and cleaned and cleaned...how does this house get so dirty?!), painted the 6 tiny little touch-up spots that each required a different paint color, met with 2 different realtors and put our house on the market, searched relentlessly for a new house via har.com, spent hours on hold with the airlines trying to figure out how to get Mocha back to Texas, returned unopened groceries, sold some winter gear, cleaned off the roof and gutters (apparently I purchased gravel instead of ice melt this winter...and it was clogging up our gutters. Oops. This is why I don't make runs to the hardware store.), and dealt with a sick baby.

This is how Maddie feels about leaving Alaska.

It's her new face. She never fails to make me laugh.

It takes about 100x's longer to do anything with her. Oh how I took it for granted on our last move when it was just the dog to deal with. How do people do it with multiple kids? That stresses me out thinking about it. Because it'll probably happen to us one day.

We are getting to the age that we like to get into everything. And somehow she can scoot from one side of the blanket to the other. And knock over the full humidifier spilling water all over the floor. In the 10 seconds I'm not looking. Amazing.

I'm getting a little concerned about the logistics of the move. It takes at least 6 weeks to get our stuff shipped to Houston. And that's assuming we find and close on a house by then. Six weeks without any baby stuff. No crib. No bouncer. No swing. No high chair. No baby tub. This could get tricky.

I did buy her first swim suit. I cannot wait. I hope the pools are still open when we get there. I'm pretty sure Maddie is going to have to run around a naked kid because she's going to be so hot. It was 70 yesterday and she was sweating on our afternoon walk. I'm determined to not complain about heat since I've been freezing the past 2 years. Though realistically we might melt as we transition.

Not to mention her naps. Those might get tricky with this house on the market. I hope a lot of them don't have to go uninterrupted. And house hunting? How does that happen with a baby in tow? I guess we are about to see how flexible our little girl really is.

Goodbye Alaska

2012-08-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

As of a few days ago, my life has taken an unexpected turn...

...and we are moving!!

Are you shocked? Me too.

I anticipated this to happen. But I had fully planned on moving in 2014. 2014. And not in ONE MONTH!

This is how it went down...
My phone rings Monday morning and I just miss it. I see it's Matt. He sometimes calls during his lunch break to see how our day is going. So I leisurely call him back.
"You got a minute? I need to talk to you." (that's never a good start) "Actually, you might want to sit down for this..."
I sit down a little nervous.
"How hard have you been praying for warmer weather? Because it worked - we are moving back to Houston..."

My first thought was, I know we'll move, honey. In 2 years. We've talked about this numerous times.

But then it registered he meant now. Like less than a month.

um, WHAT?!?

First, I actually have not been praying to move back (I became convicted of that and stopped those prayers refocusing on being fully all where I am). I have finally come to a place where I'm content up here. I like our house. I love our friends. The pace of life. Sure, it's dreadfully cold all year round, but it finally feels like home.

Second, we have a bucket list going of all I want to do before we move, which is still way too long! There is no way we can cross everything off in a few weeks. We had visitors planning their vacations to visit us next summer. Why didn't they come sooner? I have a plane ticket to Texas at the end of September. We bought our tickets for Christmas...and worse, our trip to Hawaii next March!! I'm supposed to host a baby shower for a friend mid-September. Oh no, I have to say goodbye to all my friends?!? And make new ones when we move? All my stockpile from Costco! How are we going to eat all our food? Plus, we have an entire freezer FULL of fresh salmon that we cannot finish in a month. We never even got to go on a halibut charter. Oh, my garden. We only got to enjoy it for one summer.

And to top it all off, I just bought new snow boots for this winter!

One month is not enough time!!

So, I slightly freaked out. Maybe a little.

Then I took a deep breath, my heart stopped racing, got some perspective and calmed down a bit.

I'm excited. We'll be closer to family. I've been wanting that. No more 14+ hour flights back to family. I won't have to endure another Alaskan winter. We are actually moving around the perfect time. End of Alaska summer, start of what-feels-like-Alaska-summer/Texas winter. We'll get a new house, which is always exciting to redecorate. We have friends in Houston that we are excited to live life with again. Oh and our church. I've missed that amazing church.

I'm thankful. God has blessed Matt with his job. Our move to Alaska has been great for his career. And our move to Houston will be too. He's excited about his new position. And being our sole provider, I couldn't ask for more.

I'm sad. I definitely cried. I feel like this just became home. God has given us amazing friendships. I have to say goodbye to them in just a few short weeks. Not knowing when we'll see them again. My home. I've worked so hard to make it our own. And now we have to leave it? We didn't get to do everything we had wanted to do. And now we probably won't.

I'm fearful. What if we don't find good friends in Houston? I know it'll take awhile to feel settled. Am I ready for that again? It's going to be weird being new in town, but not really since we already lived there. What if we can't find a house we like? What if I'm scared to sleep at night like I was before in Houston? What if the reintroduction to traffic makes me go crazy?

I'm overwhelmed. There is so much to do. I remember when we moved to Alaska, we found out and our house was on the market in 3 days. We were in Anchorage house hunting 2 weeks later. And that was a longer time frame than we have this time. And now we have a baby involved! The inventory, the organizing, the cleaning, the packing.

But I'm also at peace. Amazing how I can have all those emotions and still be at peace. I'm thankful God is in control. Life is never what I expect it to be. My plans, as hard as I try to make them, always change. God calls us to be flexible, right? I know that this roller coaster of a life is in the palm of God's hand. He sees the big picture. And knows what we can handle.

I'm glad I can trust God to lay the path for us as He has every step before.

Because we are moving. Again. Here we come Houston.

another camping excursion

2012-08-08T08:09:00.003-08:00

Maddie has come down with a cold. It's her first sickness. Poor thing can't breath through her nose. Matt caught a bug going around at work and our little girl picked it up. But for being so sick, she's in surprisingly good spirits...as long as she's being held. :) As for me, I'm trying to not overreact in the realm of mommy hood. I think it might be harder on me than it is on her.

But before she came down with this cold, we spent the weekend camping out in Seward. Our small group from church has been planning this event all summer. We headed out for two nights (which always seems more worthwhile after spending hours setting everything up) and it allowed us to just relax and have a campfire for the entire 48 hours we were there. I literally don't think the fire went out except for the few hours a night when everyone was sleeping.

Unfortunately, it rained. Am I surprised? Not really. Thankfully the boys set up this tarp contraption that kept us dry. Made me feel a little redneck. Amazing what you can get away with in the wilderness.

We loved our camp fire. It was a balmy 40-50 degrees. Oh first of August, I never expected you to be so cold.

We actually saw the sun coming into camp (a rare treat), but that quickly changed. There are mountains over there across the bay. I promise.
That little dot is Mocha living up her freedom.

So we stayed bundled and embraced the rain with all our babies.

Dare I say that might be our last camping trip of the summer? My hope is to squeeze one more in...but we will see. It's practically fall/winter up here already.

7 months

2012-08-06T14:05:00.002-08:00

Maddie is seven months old! This month both of her bottom middle teeth poked through. She's getting good at eating solids, loves basically everything so far - especially applesauce. I'm trying to feed her twice a day now with solids. But she does not like feeding herself. Only if it's on a spoon. She's ladylike like that. :)

I feel like we go through waves with her sleeping routine. Sometimes she's awesome at going down right to sleep and will sleep for hours...other days it's all I can do to get her to sleep for 30 minutes at a time. But I think I'll blame that on the teething. Now that they have poked through she's much better (give it a week, I'm sure it will change).

She is still so full of joy. People always comment with "she's such a happy baby!". Maddie is full of smiles and giggles. Matt can make her laugh better than anyone.

I'm afraid that crawling might be very soon. She's learned to roll around to get things and can scoot backwards a bit. She loves to stand up by herself, usually holding on to our fingers...but here Matt got her leaning by herself long enough for me to snap a photo. Gotta love that determined face!

She is such a treasure. I love her beyond any words could express. God has truly blessed us.

Air Show

2012-07-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Maddie took a four hour nap today. FOUR hours. That's unheard of. I'm thinking we wore her out too much this weekend. She was a trooper since we weren't home much. All her naps were in the stroller, car or Ergo. No wonder she's so worn out.

Anyways...Every two years the air force base in Anchorage hosts an air show. Anchorage is home to 2 military bases. An air force base and an army base. Basically when new people move here there's a good chance they are in oil or the military.

At the air show all their planes, hummers and equipment are on display and they entertain with an air show containing fly-bys and fun aerobatics. It was hard for me to watch the little planes come inches from each other and made me a bit nauseous as they flew straight up in the air and then free fall until they came within seconds of hitting the ground. Those people are crazy. I'm glad that's not me. I get scared flying commercial.

But Maddie had a great time! We bought these earmuffs so we wouldn't permanently damage her precious little ears with the planes zooming by. She didn't put up a fuss at all wearing them! I loved how they pushed her chubby little cheeks together.

It was quite hilarious as she didn't make a noise the whole time they were on. A rarity since she's very talkative these days. Maybe she couldn't hear herself? Or she could hear herself too well? Who knows, but we are considering putting them on her during church service. :)

She even pretended she was on her way to a mission while aboard a big plane (I'm sure Matt could tell you the technical name of it...all I know is it had 2 gigantic wings and we could push the stroller up the back ramp).

Matt couldn't keep her still long enough for a picture she was so excited. Hence the blurriness...and the fact that all I had was my phone for photos.

It was awesome to see all the high tech planes and fighters. A small glimpse into the military.

The planes were much bigger in person - a photo just cannot justify them.

As we were leaving 40 troops jumped from a plane. Again, I'm glad that was not me.

Reminds me to be thankful for all the men and women who dedicate their lives to keep us safe and free.

Bird to Gird

2012-07-30T08:57:00.000-08:00

I love bike riding. It's probably one of my favorite things to do up here on a sunny summer day (or rainy, I can't be too picky considering where we currently live). I love the trail system around town and that it connects just at the end of our street. Maddie and I often will take a ride mid-afternoon together (though sometimes I do get a bit scared of the moose and occasional crazy folk I pass along the way). But my favorite is when Matt comes with me in the evenings or weekends.

Such as this past weekend when we loaded up our gear and headed to a trail that rides along the inlet from Bird Point (a lookout/town area/point on the map about 20 min south from Anchorage) to Girdwood (where the big ski resort is). It is 13-miles round trip to a strip mall that has a bakery, ice cream shop and pizza. So you can negate all the calories you burned along the way.

We were uninformed that you basically bike straight up to this ridge and back down - just to do it again on the way back. And since it's on the inlet, the wind was ridiculous! Matt took the chariot on the way there (thankfully) while I carried the bear spray and led the way...

...while I took Maddie on the way back. We certainly worked those donuts we had for breakfast off...and possibly those burgers we had for lunch. hah.

But the views were beautiful.

And Maddie had a great ~~time~~ nap.

3/4 of the way there Matt realized his break was sticking. Made the last mile seem super easy. :)

Enjoying our treats (and the sunshine) before heading back.

Other than the bear scat we saw on the trail - which made me slightly freak out and sing at the top of my lungs the whole time to scare them away - I loved it. Maybe we can do it again before summer ends...that gives us approximately 3 weeks...

Dip Netting

2012-07-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

Matt's parents just left after coming to visit and see Maddie in all her cuteness. We drove to Homer (a fishing village about 4.5 hours south), played golf (I drove the golf cart and watched), did a little shopping, played cards and went dip netting.

As Matt's mom put it, did I ever think that three years ago I'd be asking Matt to take me fishing in Alaska? That'd be a resounding no. However, I had to practically drag Matt out there. All you catch is pink salmon and he doesn't like salmon, so I can understand his lack of desire to get all nasty and tired for little reward. Dip netting is only open to Alaska residents for about 2-3 weeks during the summer while the fish are running. There are all these rules about how non-residents cannot handle the fish or even touch the cooler we use. We had to get permits and could only catch as many fish as this year's limit (25 head of household and 10 for each additional member = 45 fish for us).

So on our way down to Homer we stopped at the mouth of the Kenai river, in the pouring rain, and gave it a shot. We borrowed some equipment and got bundled up (while Matt's parents were on Maddie duty).

about to head down to the beach at the mouth of the river in our waders and dip net
thankfully the rain stopped just as we were getting started.

It was a mad house - so many people!
You can see all the people in the water just 5 feet from each other - on both sides of the river.

That's me in the green jacket.
Don't I look like such a pro as I wait for a fish to find it's fate in my net?

Matt came to help me after I caught one. I'm clubbing it on the head to kill it.
I couldn't do it at first, but quickly got over it. Those poor fish.

Where we set up, we had to walk back and forth with the fish in these mud flats. It was exhausting, especially after standing in the cold water fighting the current with this gigantic net the size of me.
I'm pretty sure Matt is headed up to cut off some fish heads and gut them. Clearly, that was his job...because I sure wasn't going to.

Some of our future dinners!

Most people go and camp out for a day or two and stay til they catch their limit on fish - which depending on the family size can be 200-300 pounds of fish! We stayed for about 2 hours and caught 6....all 27 pounds of them. I take a lot of pride in our 6. We then dropped them off at a processing place to get filleted, vacuumed sealed and flash frozen. Much to Matt's surprise, it was actually a lot of fun. Maybe next year we'll try to catch a few more, depending on how many I can eat or how creative I can get in hiding the salmon in recipes for Matt. Six maybe all we can hold in our freezer.

I officially feel very Alaskan.

Intentionality

2012-07-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

It's kinda strange being a stay-at-home mom. I rarely have to be at any certain location on any particular day. Sure we have random play dates and errands and appointments - but most days are pretty chill around here. I don't have to shower until noon and if Maddie would let me, I could stay in bed all day (though that hasn't happen since she was a wee little one). I'm a homebody. I'm quite content to be home and actually prefer it. I LOVE staying at home with my baby and am thankful for the opportunity. Though some days, dare I say it...I get a tab bit bored. Some days I look back at the day and can't really think of what I actually did. Those are not good days to me.

So I decided I need to be more intentional. With my time. Energy. Thoughts. Friendships. Resources. Food. I can't expect things to just happen and happen well.

First and foremost, I was convicted that I needed to spend more time with God. Sure, I was doing a quick 10 minute devotional each morning while Maddie played in her bouncer, but I long to be a godly wife and mother who reflects Christ to everyone around me. 10 minutes wasn't providing that deep knowledge and wisdom I long to have. So, right now, Maddie almost always takes a good morning nap (and usually a good afternoon one, but our afternoons have more variety and less consistency). So now instead of browsing the web, doing laundry or baking something sweet, I'm going to spend that time in the Bible, my journal and prayer. And I committed to it. A crucial step.

Beyond that, I'm making lists (I love lists) of what I want to accomplish each day or week. This isn't new concept, but it keeps me focused and productive. I try to make things with my hands and repurpose items laying around, rather than buying new things. I'm learning how to make my own laundry and dishwasher detergent. I've been working on baking and cooking with healthier, more from scratch ingredients...though I will admit, I made eggless cookie dough last week and it was delish...which brings me to not snacking all day. That's a huge weakness of mine. Intentional food choices. Because goodness, my sweet tooth can get out of control. I'm trying to be a better friend and reach out. It's my tendency to wait for someone to call me first. I'm trying to be creative in ways for Maddie to get out every afternoon to explore, on walks and bike rides (weather permitting), the library, store, or friends' house. In basically every area, I'm trying to just be wise with my choices.

On a side note, I realized quickly that the TV was a time zapper. If I want to get nothing done faster, turn on the tube. When Maddie was born, I admit that I'd lay in bed with her watching all 4 hours of the Today show. There was a time for that (you know the exhausted, healing stage), but not anymore. Instead, I now enjoy listening to sermons (Mars Hill has a great free app) and worship music. Maybe it's just me, but complete quiet all day makes me a bit crazy.

I know another season will bring a crazier schedule. Goodness, Maddie isn't even moving around on her own yet. So I realize times will change. But hopefully if I make good habits now, they'll stick around as the household grows a bit more hectic and the fall brings a bit more schedule to our lives.

Family Pictures

2012-07-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to get some family pictures done sine Maddie has been born. I see all these really cute ones online and get a little jealous that we don't have any. I know I take a crazy lot of pictures of Maddie, but I want to document our family as we grow. Matt wasn't thrilled about hiring a photographer (and let's be honest, neither was I), especially since we just purchased a fancy camera. But it worked out that when my sister, Amy, was in town, she offered to take a few for us. So her last night, we wondered down to a park by our house.

I'm not gonna lie...they turned out way better than I imagined! Sorry if I was skeptical, Amy! She's quite talented, if I do say so myself. She has a good eye for posing and our surroundings. My other sister, Kelsey, helped keep Maddie focused (the best she could). I know where we are going for family photos from here on out. Hopefully she won't start charging us. :)

Here are just a few of the tons she took. It's kind of hard to choose...

Sister Trip 2012

2012-07-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Growing up with three sisters and one bathroom wasn't always fun. But now I want to have multiple kids because I can't imagine life any other way. Several years ago we started a tradition of a yearly "sister trip". So far they have involved Disney World (Kelsey worked there), a cruise with mom (entitled 'Last Fling Before the Rings' - the spring before 3 of us got married), Galveston (where Caitlin was living) and now Alaska. It's getting a bit more complicated now that there are spouses and children involved, but not any less exciting and entertaining. These women mean the world to me. I am thankful for such wonderful sisters in my life.

It was an eventful week. I had to keep them entertained so that they'll come visit me again down the road (wherever we might end up). Sadly, the weather did not cooperate, but thankfully everyone endured the cold rain with a smile. We fed moose, reindeer, visited glaciers, camped in the rain, rode bikes, went hiking and kayaking, saw whales, eagles and otters, talked and laughed a lot and of course it included a viewing of The Proposal. My sweet husband endured a whole week alone with 5 women. He's a champ - and earned major points when he jumped my car in the middle of nowhere in a monsoon (I take the fault on that one, gotta turn those headlights off).

Without further ado, here is our week in pictures (it was hard to narrow it down to just this many):

I think I may have worn them out a bit. I love you ladies!

Six Months

2012-07-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

All three of my sisters just left after a week of visiting. I held back the tears as I dropped them off at the airport. I'll need to go through the 500 pictures we took during our week of adventures and relive the experience again.

But during their visit Maddie turned SIX months old!

She's half a year. That's crazy to me. Just six short months ago, we brought home this little girl...

...and now I get to spend every day with this munchkin...

She is getting unbelievable big. It takes some serious back muscle to get her in and out of the crib, car seat, jumper...you name it. I won't know the exact measurements until her appointment though. She is not a big fan of solids quite yet. Her faces when she tries something new are hilarious. Great news is she decided that she'll take milk out of a sippy cup and a bottle. A whole new world of opportunity has opened up to me. But who am I kidding, it's not like I want to ever leave her!

She is so full of joy. Her giggle is possibly the best sound I've ever heard. I love watching her little personality develop. She smiles at any and everyone. And is quite content to just hang out in someone's arms. We are still working on sitting up without tumbling over after a few minutes. I am blessed that she is usually a decent napper. She's fallen into a routine of two naps a day - on average 2 hours long each. I often have to go rock her back to sleep half way through each one. But I'm ok with that. I've learned if she wakes up crying, she still needs more sleep. At night she still enjoys waking up about every 3 hours. On the nights she goes longer than 4 hours, I may wake up slightly panicked. One day I'll see 8 hours straight again.

She loves to blow bubbles with her mouth and chew on her tongue. And she still loves her bouncer. that was a great purchase. As long as I'm in sight, she can entertain herself on the floor with toys for a while. I'm learning this is a great age. More independent, but not yet mobile.

My heart just smiles when I see her. What a blessing God has given Matt and me.