New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve Hello everyone!!! Happy New Years Eve we are hanging out and being safe with Daddy and Andrew and Courtney. Madi and I were playing earlier. I am not sure if you can make it out but she has a black sock on her head.

SHe loves to drink water from a sippy cup. I think it makes her gums feel better. She wears most of the water but she seems to like it.
HEre we are playing again. Don't worry I am the one who put the hoops on her ears. We don't have the chrsitmas pics with us. I will post when we get them (Carolyn). Hope everyone is safe tonight. GOd bless in the new Year!!!!

We are having a good weekend. It is nice to get to spend some time with Madi ("the madilator" as Jason likes to call her.) She is really coming along with eating cereal. She is able to eat prunes, bananas, pears, and now we are on peaches. We hit a few road blocks with being sick a few times. But now we are back on track. We get to spend some time with Jason before he goes back to work on Wednesday. He starts his 4 pm to 4 am shift. Three times a week he has to work this, so we will be getting used to that for a few months.
Madi is sitting up, and loves to play in her toy box int he living room. We hope you guys have a wonderful and safe New Years. I hope 2008 is a good year for our friends and family.

God Bless

After my bath mommy thought it would be fun to play a little game.....styling my hair. She likes to call this one my "Rocker" mohawk.
And this one she she calls "Napolean".
This is how mommy combs my hair every night after my bath. She thinks this is funny because I look like Daddy ad Grandpa with this style. Lets hope I eventully get mommy's hairline :-)
Then I watched the football game with Daddy.

Madilyn seems to be a Redskins fan. When they scored a touch down she squealed, then once more on the field goal. Go Figure!

It's been a while

It's been a while since our last blog. Everything is going well. Jason is still training at the Juvenile Detention. He only has two more weeks and then he is on his own. Work has been super busy with so many activities. Andrew, COurtney and Aiden flew into town last night. It is so good to see them. Aiden is adorable and Andrew and Courtney are wonderful parents.
Madilyn is getting bigger and more grown up everyday. She sits up all by herself now and is almost rolling over. She gets half her body twisted and stops. She'll figure it out soon and there will be no stoppering her after that. I absolutley love to watch her discover new things everyday.

Thank you

We bought a new winter hat for Madi. What do you all think. I think she looks so cute!!!!! I want to say thank you for all of you who commented on my last blog. Your kind and thoughtful words of encouragement and advice helped me in a difficult time. My milk supply is still here and I am working on getting it back up to my previous "manufacturing quota". Madilyn is still on Soy milk formula and she and I are both adjusting. Thanks again for your support.
Madilyn spent the afternoon yesterday with Jason. She helped Daddy with some laundry. Jason has a few days off before his schedule changes. He will be working the dredded 4pm to 4 am shift for a few weeks. It will take some getting used to. I am glad they get to spend some time together before he goes back to work. He is a great daddy. He carries her around in buckets and baskets along there daily chores.
As you can tell, Madi thinks Daddy is silly and like every minute of it.

Confessions from a Mommy

As many of you know, we have been sick this past weekend. Because I was so sick and dehydrated my milk production has slowed to practically nothing. I have been trying everthing I can to get it back, but in the mean time I have had to put Madilyn on formula. In my mind, I feel that I have failed my daughter because I cannot breastfeed her anymore. Now I know with that statement I have probably offended my mother, mother-in-law and sister and millions of women all over the world, all of whom for various reasons had to formula feed their babies. Rationally, I know i didn't fail her - I breastfed her for 5 months, I am pretty lucky. But emotionally, i feel that I have let her down. I feel she needed me to do this for her and I am no longer able. It is cheaper to breastfeed, Madi has more immunities, better fats, more brain juice, etc. I placed such an importance on breastmilk, that now that I cannot I feel.....LESS.
When I was feeding Madi her first formula bottle, which by the way she think formula is disgusting, i cried. I think I cried for many reasons. Maybe in my mind this unwanted change was another inadequicy of my ablities of being a working mom and wife. Often it seems I am falling short of some if not all of my roles. I want nothing more than to be great at them all and in my marathon of daily chaos I come up short.
I have a wonderful husband who helps me as much as he can and I work for an amazing group of men who want nothing more than for me to be happy. In that respect I am truly blessed. Because I am so blessed I feel an even greater need to make everyone happy.
Daily i feel the struggle that oh so many working mothers feel, and it is this modern maternal struggle that fuels my feeling of breastfeeding failure. It is in that struggle that i cry when I gave Madilyn the bottle for formula.
I am going to try to look at the brightside of not breastfeeding. I can drink milk again (Madilyn is allergic). I can have a glass of wine. Madi might sleep longer at night with formula vs breastmilk. I will keep focused that Jason and I were formula fed and we turned out damn fine ;-).
I have opened my thoughts and feelings to you and confess my working mom secrets in hopes to give insight to those who don't understand, consolation to those who've experienced this and clarity to those who will follow a similar path.

Rough Weekend

Well as some of you already know Madi and I haven't been feeling well. This weekend came the big shabang of being sick. Friday night i fed Madi put her to bed and shortly thereafter she and I started throwing up. We were sick all friday night and into Saturday morning. Jason was awesome at taking care of Madi for me. I was down for the count. I know it wasn't easy taking care of Madi and me but he did it. He was great. We are feeling better now.

Thanksgiving

We had a very good Thanksgiving. Jason's parents, Steve & Mary came up. Mary made a yummy dinner with all the trimmings. Madilyn loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa. Good thing they came too. Madilyn had a cold and some tummy troubles. Grandma helped Mommy and Daddy figured out what to do. Thank you so much Grandma, we love you guys very much.
Madilyn did have some good moments over the weekend. She loved playing with a spoon and an orange. She loved playing ball with Grandma and giggled when we tickled her.

We sure have a lot to be Thankful for this year. Jason and I thank God this year for a BEAUTIFUL, healthy daughter. We are grateful for our warm home, and our jobs. We thank the Lord that Andrew and Courtney had a healthy baby boy. We give thanks for the safety, health and love of our friends and family. We live in a society of "more", of "bigger, better, faster". Sometimes we forget to take a minute and be grateful for the graces we've already received. Lets take a minute at this busy, commercialized season to appreciate how truly blessed we are.

Family

After meeting with Carolyn, Dave, Colt, Rachel, Sean & Mae (whew!) we went to Tri-Cities for a Thanksgiving with my family. We stayed at Nicky's house and Alethia, Daniel, Andrew & Mom come too! Nicky made amazing Lasangna. It was so nice to hang out with everyone. We all live far away and these times we can come together is very special. Madi LOVED being with everyone. Here are a few pictures from our weekend together.

Friends

On Saturday we got to get together with my good friends Colt and Mae.

New Pics

Our family pictures are done!! Misty of Misty Dawn Photos did a great job. I absolutley love these two of Madilyn.
It was chilly, so we had Madi all bundles up. What a great little trooper she was. We will send our some photos in the coming weeks.

Big Girl Cereal

Madilyn got her first taste of cereal this weekend. She did really really well. She didn't even hesitate. I think she learned what to do or how to eat from the kids at school. She seemed to know exactly what the spoon was and what it was for.


She loved her cereal so much she decided to help me feed her.

With Madilyns help, we managed to get it every where. We even got some in her tummy.

No Joke

This is not a joke. Madilyn was sleeping with a binki in her mouth. She was done with it and spat it out. The binki flipped in the air and landed just like this. She slept like this for a while. As you can see she could care less.

Toys

Madilyn got a new toy.... see how much she likes it. She will only stay be happy if i am there right beside her where she can see me. and this toy is only fun for about 10 minutes.... hopefully she grows ingto it.

Autumn Pictures

Misty finished our Autumn pictures. http://www.mistydawnphotos.com/gallery/McPherson/
She did a great job as usual. There are some great ones of Madi and Jason together. Thank you Misty....they're awesome.

Voices

Well, Madilyn foundher voices this weekend. She learned that she can squeal. She now squeals when she is happy and when she is mad. It is actually a wonderful sound. She talks with us. She is growing so fast!!

Time with Dad

Daddy picked me up early today. He found this pretty hat for me to wear...what do you think
He bundled me up and took me for a run. It was chilly, good thing I had my pretty hat
And naturally, this run ended the way they all do....I fell asleep on the homestretch. Thanks Dad I had a great afternoon with you!!!

Halloween 2007

Here is Madi's first Halloween. As you can see she is a frog. We went to the Northtown Mall to trick-or-treat. It was incredibly busy there, but warm and safe. Clearly, She wasn't quite sure what to make of her costume and the other kids that were dressed up.

then Daddy got into the fun of thingsShe thought about if for a while

Then realized it was fun to dress up and see Mommy and Daddy's funny faces
We then went to see Madi's new bff Mae - who is so cute and tiny.

But the night eventually took its toll and wore little Madi out.Glad everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. We are doing well up here in Spokane.

We had Misty with "MISTYDAWNPHOTOS.COM" take some pictures last weekend. So be on the lookout for new family photos. She does a fantastic job and I am looking forward to see these lastest photos. Jason's last day with school is today. He starts JCO on Monday. We are happy and excited about that. On Tuesday Mom came over and we painted the laundryroom - looks great. Thanks mom. Love you guys.

Greenbluff Sunday

We went to Greenbluff today and we picked apples, and played in the pumpkins, and ate hotdogs. I had so much fun.
It was a little chilly, so Mommy bundled me all up. I stayed awake for most of the adventure. I got to see a dog up close and got to ride on a tractor.

I hitched a ride with on Mommy in my Fancy Sling. We went with Aunt Karen and Uncle David. Those guys are so funny.

Nanna Time

I got to spend some time with Grandma tonight. See how much she enjoys being with me. I love being with her too. I am glad she lives here, so she can see me often.

Wonderful Sunday

Sunday was a very relaxing day for our family. Mommy and Daddy took me on my first jogger-stroller ride. I like it, its a very smooth ride! Mommy bundled me up and I even got to wear my first pair of shoes. Its so nice to spend a day together as a family.

Look how happy Daddy is to be home with Mommy and me.

Then Daddy and I played together. He is so funny.

Visiting Friends

Today Madilyn and I went to visit Rachel and Mae. Jason got Madi and Mae matching Nike caps. Madi wanted to model it for us.......sup yo!!


Madi and Mae's first picture together. Doesn't Rach look great. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mae - Good Luck Rachel and Sean.

Weekend projects

Here is Madilyn and Mommy.

Hi All,

the past few weekends we have been working on some home projects. Jason and David put up gutters on the house. Last weekend Jason and I insulated the heat ducts and crawled in the crawlspace to lay plastic down over the dirt. We were covered with spider webs and were exhausted when we finished, but we are glad to have those projects done....and we put down new spider traps. Tonight, Madilyn fell asleep early which let me get some cleaning done. Madilyn went on her first "buggie ride" today at school (daycare). She fell asleep leaning on a another baby named Dallen. And Dallen fell asleep on her. We joke that she has a little boyfriend. I know this little girl would be a heartbreaker, i just didn't realize it would happen so young!!

Yeah!!!

Just to update everyone. Jason got the job at the Juvenile Corrections. He will be a Juvenile Corrections Officer. We are so pround of him. Of the hundreds who applied he is the only one that made it. This is an unbelievable opportunity for him as well as our family. He starts November 5th. Madi and I are are so proud of you Jay. I know all the hard work and sacrifices he made over the past 10 years. I am also excited about his sexy new uniform..hubba hubba ;-) CONGRATULATIONS JASON...WE ARE SO DAMN PROUD OF OUR SUPERHERO. HUGS AND KISSES

Even when Madilyn gets mad, she still makes my heart over flow with joy. Being a mom is the hardest most enjoying thing i have ever done. I feel so incredibly blessed by God. He has given me a beautiful, healthy daughter full of spirit, an amazing husband who's crazy about me, a rewarding job, a few bucks in my pockets, a warm home and food in my belly.....MY CUP RUNNITH OVER!!!

Look how strong I am. I can hold my head up and ALMOST roll over, with a little help from Mommy.