Summertime

We are enjoying summer over here at the Hampshire house.  At least until these 100 degree days start this weekend!  We have a pool and splash pad by our house and we have been going there several times with Mady.  She loves it more and more each time.  The last time we went she had a blast and was kicking her legs like crazy!  She wants to swim already! 

We also had some good friends of ours, the Mosiers, come and visit us a couple of weekends ago.  They have two boys and Mady had a great time playing hostess and we had a great time seeing and visiting with them! 

Nick had to to work at 4 on Father's Day but we took him out to lunch at his favorite restaurant and then we went to a park close to the airport to watch some airplanes which Mady loved.  Then later we went to his office and had dinner with him Overall it turned out to be a great day!

My niece is coming to see us tomorrow and she's going to stay with us for a week and then we'll be heading down to Port Arthur to see our family for a little while.  In between our time there Nick and I are going to take a trip to New Orleans for a few days.  This is our first time away from Mady overnight so needless to say I'm a little nervous about it.  More so for me than her.  I know she'll be just fine because she'll be with her grandparents but I'm going to miss her like crazy! 

Mady is just growing more and more everyday.  I can't get over how much fun she is right now.  She is all over the place and if I turn my head for two seconds there is no telling what I'll find when I turn back around!  She's learning new things everyday.  She still hasn't gained many more words besides bubble, ball, mama, dada, and go.  She is starting to say duck and dog, even though Nick says otherwise ;)

She found the cotton balls I keep in the pantry to clean Lucy's ears

She has also learned where her head, ears, tummy, toes, and knees are.  She just can't get nose but we're still trying.  We live close to the airport so you can see the planes taking off from our backyard, and like I said earlier, Mady LOVES watching them.  Our new activity in the evening is to go outside and watch the planes.  She'll point and smile so big when she sees them. 

Just love her!

 Hope everyone is having as good a summer as we are!

Summer has started

Well summer has started because it is hot outside and will be for the next several months.  This means a lot more time outside and Mady loves it.  For Memorial Day weekend we headed down to Port Arthur to visit the family and we got to spend Mimi's (Nick's mom) birthday with her hanging out in her pool.  This was Mady's first time in a pool and while she seemed a little unsure at first she got more comfortable and I think she had a good time.

This past weekend our good friend from college got married.  Nick was the best man and Mady was one of the flower girls.  It was a busy weekend but we had so much fun seeing our friends and celebrating Shel and Elizabeth's big day.  Mady was a bit tired by the time the ceremony came around (she could be heard in the back of the church crying while waiting to go down the aisle) but she made it down without crying and handled the ceremony pretty well.  We took her to the reception for a while so she could eat and I thought she wouldn't last very long but I was wrong.  She loved the music and lights and was having a blast dancing, haha.  She stayed up way past her bedtime but there's nothing wrong with doing that every once in a while, right?  I was a horrible mother though because I left the camera at home and didn't get one picture taken.  I can't believe it and I'm hoping I can maybe order some once their pictures are ready. 

I have the first summer session off of school but I am still keeping busy getting my classes ready for the second session and I'm doing some online training.  My boss at school recommended me for distance learning which means they want me to each online classes.  I'll still be teaching on campus but will also have the chance to teach online from the comfort of my home!  This does mean a ten week training course which has been keeping me busy.  I definitely take advantage during Mady's naps!

The city has been doing some work down the street from our house for several weeks now.  We still have no idea what they are doing but today that work moved closer to us and we had a backhoe (that's what Nick says it's called) in our backyard, right behind our fence!  We were out there with Mady and when it cranked up and started digging dirt Mady freaked out.  She was so scared and screamed and started running over to me.  Poor baby!  I'm hoping they're not there very long because she is not a big fan. 

Other pictures from these past few weeks:

Lucy has definitely been warming up to Mady

Hanging out with Mimi

Swinging with Abuelita

She loves my sunglasses.  I can't wear them without her trying to take them from me!

My little helper

Doctor Appointment and the Zoo

Mady had her one year appointment on Thursday and she is doing great.  Here are her stats:

Height: 27.5 inches (6th percentile)
Weight: 18lbs 8oz  (20th percentile)
Head: 17.25 inches (5-10th percentile)

She's hanging around at the lower end of the percentile but it's normal considering her parents sizes.  Her weight percentile has gone down but that just means she's getting more in proportion with her height.  Besides that she is doing great.  We go back at 15 months for more shots and then not again until she's 2! 

I've started weaning Mady and we've tried giving her regular cow's milk but for right now she is not having it.  She wants nothing to do with it and will throw the cup away once she gets a taste of it.  It was stressing me out at first but after talking with the doctor I feel much better about it.  He said as long as she's getting calcium from other sources (yogurt, cheese, etc.) then it's ok if she doesn't have milk.  She loves those foods so she's doing just fine.  She has gotten pickier with her food but we do what we can to get those veggies in her!

Mady right now is walking all over the place.  We do have more accidents now that she is walking but a little hug and kiss from mommy and she's back on the run!  As for her words, she is all about the B's and knows ball, bubbles, and bow.  She also says "go", especially when throwing Lucy's ball outside.  When we sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" she raises her hands in the air trying to do the hand motions.  It's so cute!  She loves the phone and will put it up to her ear and try to say hello. 

She still loves her books and will throw the one she wants you to read right at you.  So polite!  Her favorite right now is definitely Brown Bear, Brown Bear, but they do change.  We are enjoying the weather and taking walks almost every evening.  My parents gave her a wagon for her birthday so we put her in that, with some snacks and she loves it.  Here's some pictures of our latest outdoor fun.

The week of her birthday we took her to the zoo and she had a great time.  We rode the carousel and the train and she saw most of the animals.  We were right in front of the elephant and giraffes and trying so hard to get her to look at them but she was more interested in playing with the bushes!  She loved the flamingos though.  We were there for quite a while as she just stared and stared at them.  We'll definitely take more trips out there.  Especially as she gets older!

Happy Birthday Mady!!

Our little girl is a one year old!  These past couple of weeks have been so busy for us getting ready for her party and, for me, finishing up the school semester.  Her birthday came so quickly and before we knew it,  it was here.  I did a fiesta theme and I think it came out really cute.  Our family and friends came and the birthday girl I think was a bit overwhelmed.  When the cake came out and everyone sang her Happy Birthday she started crying and didn't want anything to do with her cake :(  We've tried to offer it to her again but she wants nothing to do with it.  Guess that's a good thing that she doesn't have much of a sweet tooth?  I really want to thank everyone who came because it means a lot!  Here are a few pictures:

Churro Cookies

Cupcakes!

 

 

 

  

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!

 Mother's Day was today and before our family headed back home we all went out for a nice breakfast.  After they left we stayed home for the afternoon and relaxed.  Nick and Mady took me out to dinner and we spent the rest of the evening outside in the backyard watching Mady walk around with her dino, haha.  It's hard to believe that I had to wait a whole year before I spent a Mother's Day with Mady!  This past year has been the best year of our lives.  As her birthday came closer I grew a little sad that she was already 1 but now that it's here I'm just so happy that we have such a sweet and healthy girl. She is at such a fun stage right now and I'm enjoying every minute.

11 Months

I think I've been avoiding doing this blog post because I know that only means that the next "month" blog post will be for her one year birthday.  Since last Thursday when Mady turned 11 months I've started having this inner battle with myself.  I am loving this stage she is going through.  She is so much fun right now and I love watching her become her own person and seeing her personality really come through.  But I'm also sad that a year has already passed by.  I can't believe that this time last year we were so excited to meet her.  I realized that we'll never again experience the first year of our first child but we still have a lot of great times ahead of us!

Mady has now in the past week started taking her first steps.  She started small with a step from the coffee table to the couch.  Now she is getting braver and will try and walk any chance she gets!  The most she's done at once is twelve steps!  I wasn't quite ready for this milestone but I love watching her face light up when she takes those steps.  She looks so proud of herself!

She has also started saying her first words.  Her very first word was bubble. We bought her bubbles for her Easter basket and she loves them!  We will sit there for several minutes (which for Mady is a long time) and I will blow bubbles while she smiles and tries to grab them. I kept calling them bubbles and she repeated it after me and now says it anytime they come out.  She also says ball, mainly for Lucy's ball.  She will also repeat random words here and there that you say to her.

Her personality is really coming out and my belief that she would be a strong willed girl is starting to prove true.  While she was such a great eater when starting her purees, she has become a lot pickier.  It has been a battle lately to get her to eat her vegetables.  She would not eat them so I started dipping them in yogurt which helped for a while.  Now, she will put the veggie in her mouth, lick all the yogurt off and then take the veggie out with her fingers!  And if you leave the vegetables on her tray and don't give her something she wants (like fruit which she loves) then she will get quite an attitude with you.  She will get real loud and say "dadadadadada!!"  Oh, I can't wait to see what I have ahead of me!

For the best part:

She's so cute when she's sleeping

We've been enjoying the great spring weather

She loves to stick out her tongue

Getting her 11 month picture was a little harder this month

Opening her Easter basket

Isn't she cool!

Wasn't a big fan of the hat, haha

Little Reader

Lately, Mady has become a lot more interested in her books.  We would always read to her, usually before her naps or bedtime but she wouldn't pay much attention.  But lately she has been paying more attention to them and if it's one of her favorites (yes she has favorites) she will sit quietly as you read the whole book.  She even turns the pages for you.  It's so cute! 

Here are a few of her favorites right now:

 Snuggle Puppy is really fun to read to her because the book sings a song to Snuggle Puppy and several times throughout the song will give him a kiss.  We'll give Mady a kiss too, so now when we start reading that book she'll give it a kiss.  Love her!

Now that the weather is nice and the days are longer we can take her to the park close by and she loves the swings.  We got some really cute pictures the last time we went.

Can't believe she'll be eleven months in about a week!

Ten Months

Well, we're in the double digits!  Mady is ten months old now.  I will go back and look at her pictures when she was born and when she was just a month or two old and I miss those days when she was so tiny but I do have to say that I am so enjoying her at this age.  She is so much fun and learning so much everyday.

Right now, she does not stop for one second.  When she is up, she is on the move the entire time.  She goes from one toy to the next.  So much to do, so much to see, and so little time!  She can high-five, and when you ask her how big she is she will raise her arms high up in the air.  She has become a lot more interested in her books lately too.  She has a few favorites and will sit and listen to you read them and she'll turn the pages for you.   One of the books she likes says "Reach for the sky" and she will raise her arms up.  Then it says "Now reach for your toes" and she will put her arms down and touch her toes.  It is so cute!  She's had a few times now that she's stood on her own.  It's just for a few seconds but it's becoming more frequent.  She'll be standing up against her activity table, or the coffee table, and then let go to use her arms and she stands there on her own for a little while.  She's getting a lot better at walking with her dino walker too.  Only on the carpet though, because it still rolls away from her on the tile and wood flooring.

She is still a great eater but she is not eating her purees as much as she use to.  She would much rather have her finger foods so I think we'll be moving to just table foods soon.  Her favorite food is strawberries.  She gets so excited when you put them on her tray.  If we have strawberries on her tray with other foods she will pick the strawberries first to eat and they will be gone quick!

Her routine is still pretty much the same as its been for months.  She wakes around 7-7:30 and has her morning nap around 10.  Her morning nap has gotten shorter lately to where she will wake up around 11:00.  Her afternoon nap is usually longer from around 2:30 to 4 or 4:30. and then down for the night around 7:45.

She is such a joy and we are enjoying every minute!

Hi Lucy!

Hanging out on the porch

Her other favorite thing to do

Love her

My new helper