Madeline is getting close to turning two! She turned 23 months old today and before we realize it her 2nd birthday will have crept up on us. It kind of already has, seems like we jumped straight from 18 months to this point. Toddlerhood has been alot of fun as we have found ourselves in new territory. As much as she learns everyday, we learn just as much from her. It's amazing how much she has taught us about life, ourselves and parenting, and she doesn't even know it!

Madeline we love you with the deepest of love in our being! You have added more to our lives than we feel we can express in words...you made us parents!

This is the end of our "baby" site. Your a big girl now!

We love you!!

Our Savior's birth. Family. Love. Giving.

These are the things that we wanted to focus on. And we started it all by going to the Christmas Eve service at our church. Madeline got to be in the service with us, which was SO much fun! She surprised us by singing along!! 1800 people packed into a sanctuary all singing "Away in a Manger" at the same time...plus Madeline's sweet voice, it was beautiful! She sang & danced through the service, and ran around in the back for awhile too (afterall, she is 15 months!).

This was the first Christmas that we spent at home. On Christmas morning Mimi came over for breakfast and to watch Madeline open her presents. And then Grandpa and Uncle Brett came over to spend the rest of Christmas with us! We had plans to travel and see the Bell side of the family after Christmas, but sickness crept it's way into our household and we weren't able to go.

New Years Eve we spent with our friends the Parks and their son Nathan at The Cheesecake Factory. We then made it an early night because we were celebrating a late Christmas on New Years Day with Aunt Lena & Uncle Mark, Kaelyn, Uncle Brett & Magen, Great MeMa, and Mimi the next morning. We ate GREAT tamales from the Dallas Tamale Factory! Madeline helped hand out the gifts when we would say "go give this to..." and she loved it! It's so much fun having her enjoy that aspect of Christmas, as well as opening them of course!

We finished up our holiday with RSV and breathing treatments, but she's been doing very well with them and taking them like a big girl! 

We are more on our toes as parents than ever! Since Madeline started crawling & pulling up about 3 weeks ago, we have noticed that the entire house has become a new playground! We no longer put her down in one spot and go back and find her there ... she usually has crawled off to her toy basket or has found her way to the kitchen or our bedroom. And she is pulling up on everything possible … the pantry door, walls, dishwasher, ottoman, crib, our legs, anything that will help her stand! Things that were once nice and organized … aren’t so much anymore. But that’s okay, because it's definately fun watching to see what she finds interesting around the house (cell phone chargers, remotes, cameras, stacks of laundry, shoelaces, magazines, paper...). She still seems to like bathtime as her favorite part of the day and would definitely stay in there longer than the water would stay warm. And that’s not to say we havn’t been in there and refilled it THREE times before! Of course having a dad that is WAY to into her “ships and sails” toys and a mom that is part fish definitely helps her cause! Some new tastes that she likes are icees and snow cones (thanks to her Mimi!). Gotta love the summer!

We took our first vacation with Madeline this past week! Brian was sent out to Eglin Air Force base to work for the week. The base is in Ft Walton Beach, Florida - and right on the ocean. So, we went early so we could have some true vacation time! It was fun taking Madeline to the beach & pool and seeing her reactions to everything new. She liked the sand - up until she face planted in it and got it in her eyes, nose, and mouth. After that, she seemed to prefer the pool over anything else. But let me tell you, the girl knows how to vacation. I think her favorite time was when she was either floating in the pool, taking a bath (she got to sit up in the real tub instead of the baby seat), or sitting in her skimpies on the bed. We had fun!

Today Madeline is 9 weeks old! She is such a fun baby! She is smiling, cooing, gurgling, and exploring everything with her eyes. She loves to face outward and constantly moves her sweet little head around to see all that she can. We feel like overnight she went from 'newborn' to 'baby'. It is amazing watching her grow...but there is definately sentimental sadness. You realize that time truly does fly. And you feel that if you blink for just a moment you might miss the most incredible things. That is why we spend every minute possible with her. What can we say...she is our newest love.

She went to her 2 month checkup last week. She is now weighing in at 10 pounds, 6 ounces. Way to go Madeline! This was also the appt for her first vaccinations. And that was nothing short of traumatic...for mom, that is. Madeline did fine. She did cry, but as soon as dad scooped her up the tears started to go away. She is such a tough baby girl!

As I'm writing this it was exactly 3 weeks ago today that Madeline was born (8:18 am). It seems like just last weekend we were walking around the Southlake Town Center wondering when she would be here. And now it's been 3 weeks, we've been through labor & delivery, had our hospital stay, and have now been at home a couple of weeks. We are trying so hard to embrace this time with our newborn daughter, trying to soak up every moment possible! It is amazing how much you can fall in love with your baby. It's even more amazing how much your heart can break with every wimper or cry. You want so badly to fix everything and make it better, for her to not even be sad or upset for a second of time.

She has started to smile more and more. We're still trying to figure out if she's smiling at us or just at something else that she sees. One of our favorite times with her is watching her wake up. She wakes up stretching like a grown-up, arches her back, raises her arms, makes noises, sometimes even turns over in her bassinet and falls right back to sleep. She likes sleeping with her arms directly over her head. Well, either that or she tucks them under her head and curls up.

We're having a blast with her, although that's not to say we're not suffering from sleep deprivation. We've both gotten really good at finding our way around the house in the complete darkness and changing diapers with only a nightlight on. She is amazing in every way and we love watching her grow day by day.

My Girls are Home!