Maddie's 1st Birthday Cake Smash Photos

All Photos by the very talented Trisha Faber - Faber Photography

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how her birthday photos turned out. Her eyes look amazing!

We're Back and Our Suitcases Are Heavier

That's because we brought back two extra teeth, a bad cold, and a cough. Matt started sneezing and sniffling the night we arrived in WI and Maddie started to cough the day we were leaving! The only one not sick (knock on wood) is mom!

First things first, the question everyone has for us "How did she do on the plane?".. she did great! On the way there we had lots of snacks, a little bit of sleeping, and a Wiggles DVD to keep us entertained. The way back was an evening flight and Miss Maddie slept the entire way. Oh, we were in business class on the return flight so we had cushy seats and the extra room was nice.

We stayed at my grandma's house and had a great time with her dog Schatzie (means "my sweetheart" in German). Maddie loved having a puppy around and finally stopped screeching and crawling after the dog after the first hour or so. She was very excited!

Grandma Behling and Schatzie



My grandma was certainly surprised as we walked her into her 80th birthday celebration on Saturday. She was so touched to see all of her friends and family there, especially my Aunt Mary who came down with her husband from Northern WI. They don't see each other very often but talk on the phone all the time and are very close. She looks just like I remember!

My aunt Mary and her fur-babies.. BJ and Bailey


Here we are at Grandma's surprise party


Unfortunately for all of us, Saturday was the worse day for Maddie. I noticed two new teeth on the bottom coming in on Thursday and by Friday night she was running a fever. She was pretty miserable during the entire party and only wanted Mom. That meant Matt was the photographer. He did a wonderful job and helped out so much with everything! Reason # 510 I love my husband more than anyone! I didn't even ask.. he just did anything and everything.

Poor Maddie was the only one not having a good time at the party


The cake was from Delicately Delicious in Cedarburg, WI.. so yummy.



The weather wasn't so great... it was 45 degrees each day and rained several days we were there... it actually started snowing one afternoon as the freezing rain changed into snow. It wasn't enough to stick on the ground but still... brrrrrr!



It may have been stormy, but the leaves were absolutely gorgeous. The middle of October is not traditionally that cold in WI (guess we just got lucky!).. the changing leaves are something everyone should see.





Another highlight of our trip was having photos done by Trisha Faber... Maddie's 1st Smash the Cake session went great and I was so excited to see the photos... here are a few from her blog http://blog.faberphotography.com








I'll post a slideshow of the photos once I receive the CD in a few days.

I was able to visit with my childhood friend Tina and her family while we were there but unfortunately unable to see my friend Heather and her family. They were all really sick so their house was off limits. I did get a quick chance to see her kids and husband when we dropped off a gift on our last day.

Heather your kids are getting sooo big and Miss Isabel is just darling! She's sooo tall. You said she was but I wasn't expecting it. Gorgeous!

Tina was glad we were able to spend the extra time with her and her family. We've been friends since the fourth grade. We used to play with our Cabbage Patch dolls and even had a birthday party one year.. They gave Maddie a Cabbage Patch Newborn doll, perfect size for her!

She made a great lasagna from scratch and they got Maddie a Winnie The Pooh birthday cake. Her kids are so big too.. I guess that happens when you only see people once a year, if that. Seeing them makes me wish we lived closer but I'll tell you, after a week away, it was very nice to be back home in our own bed.

Now if only everyone was feeling better!

Here are some more photos from our trip.

Grandma Behling gave Maddie a soft doll for her 1st birthday.. notice the excitement in her eyes?.....


For the box! She threw the doll aside and pushed the box around


Maddie and Grandpa Frank (my dad)


Leave a baby alone with a kleenex box for one minute... this is what happens!


Anyone looking to decorate their toity room and cheer their favorite team?


She wasn't all tears this trip.. here she is having fun in her car seat


Grandma Doris and Grandpa Frank playing with Maddie


P.S. Maddie has a new word... "baby"!

Maddie Says Hi and Go Broncos!

11 month photo.. it's getting harder to keep her in the chair for her monthly photo

We've been busy, busy, busy! The days are really going by fast. I think it tends to do that once we reach Fall and before you know it, it's New Years Eve! This year I plan on slowing down and taking time to enjoy every moment of our little one.

I've been busy working on ideas for her birthday party and also coordinating my grandma's 80th birthday in WI. We leave next week and I can't wait to see all my family and friends.. especially my Aunt Mary. We haven't seen each other since I was much younger. We've reconnected via email and it's been fun getting to know her.. almost like I have a new friend that I really enjoy sharing with. She's so great and I can't wait to give her a hug. Not only that, but most of family has never met Maddie so it will be fun showing her off. I cherish my grandma and can't wait for her to meet Maddie. We'll be staying at her house.. hope she's ready for some crying and poopy diapers! :)

Miss Maddie seems to be evolving every day. More and more, she's like a little person instead of a baby. She's starting to talk (when she feels like it). She's said "dada" for awhile and actually meant it. We heard "hi" out of her the other day (check out the video below) and tonight I could of sworn she said "baby" when pointing to her photo while she got into her jammies.

She's starting to actually use her sign language. She knows the signs for baby, more, eat, and milk. She won't do them all the time and so far, it's just mimicking us after we do them or say the word but it's certainly a start and so cute, especially "baby" which is holding your arms together and rocking a baby in the cradle. Everytime I try to capture on video, she hears the beep from the camcorder and tries to attack us.. lol.

She's very big into pointing lately. I try to reward her communication by commenting about whatever I think she's pointing to. We have had a balloon in our living room for two weeks or so now and she LOVES it. If we ask her where the balloon is, she points straight to it.. same for her Cheerios, the kitty, and her large stuffed teddy "Bob" and a Little People named "Roberto". (aka Crista's dad.. inside joke)

It's so much fun watching the little wheels in her brain twirl as she discovers all these new things around her and expresses to us that she gets it! She's a little ham, standing behind her exersaucer and poking her head on the side or through toys to make us laugh. At the playground, she makes all kinds of noise until someone looks at her and comments on how cute she is. :) "Look at me everyone, I can go down the slide!"

Wish us luck on our plane ride there and back.. I'll report on all the fun when we return.

Maddie's first big boo-boo and just two weeks before professional birthday photos. :) She's ok and healing well.. little mishap with the front door and the welcome mat not being so welcoming that day. As you can tell from the photo, it didn't keep her down!


Her newest Mary Lou Retton moves


Grabbing a snack and watching the Bronco game


Touchdown- Broncos!!! We're number one!


Maddie loves watching football with her daddy

All Done! and Safe Kitty

Tooth number six just poked through so we're finally sleeping a little better... Shoot!, every time I say that I jinx myself and to prove it, I mentioned it on Thursday night and couldn't find any wood to knock on. Today I was rewarded with only one 40 minute nap that didn't happen until around 2 pm.

Maddie must be going through a growth spurt, she's eating more food than ever before. Tonight she finished an entire jar of baby food (a large one- 6 oz) plus ground beef, some fruit, and a few Cheerios (I call it her appetizers, others call them Cheerios). The entire jar of food is a first for her and this one is going down in her baby book records. I usually give her a bit of everything but she only eats half a jar at most... this is the second day in a row where she's eating like a champ. She must be channeling a teenage boy right now. At least she isn't into Doritos and Mountain Dew just yet!

She is a big girl though so most meals she eats what we're having but somehow I didn't think burritos were appropriate. We're almost done with the "baby" food but it's convenient when we're having something she can't have and as gross as it smells and tastes (I've tried it all!), she loves it!

Here she is with Sloppy Joes a few days ago.. wonder why they call it Sloppy Joes anyhow?


Oh, that's why!!! All Done!


We had a little potty accident in our car seat (bad mommy for trying to go to one more store before changing the baby). What a pain to get this thing off. Anyhow, the car seat was in our room for a few days before we re-installed into Matt's truck. Mya checked it out each night and made sure it was safe. Pretty expensive pet bed.



For her efforts, Maddie rewarded her with a "nice kitty".


We love our girls!

Oh The FUN We Will Have!!!

I had no idea 10 months old would be so fun! Despite Miss Maddie getting a new tooth (or two) in, we've been having a blast lately! Be sure to check out the new top teeth in next month's photos. That makes number 5, and possibly number 6. (Doesn't she look older with a hair bow? She finally has enough hair on top for it to stay. Hopefully the old guys at the grocery store will stop saying how cute my "boy" is!- My "boy" that wears pink every day!)

To say she's into copying is an understatement. She's a darn good impersonator! You cough, she coughs.. you wag your tongue, she wags her tongue, etc.. so funny! The tongue has been out alot lately.


Grandma Phyllis came by last weekend for a visit. Of course, I never took out my camera (I'm so bad at that!). It was nice to see her and Maddie enjoyed playing with Grandma. We live so close but don't get a chance to see each other much so the visit was long overdue. Hopefully we'll get together again soon, and next time I'll remember the camera!

We purchased a new toy for her upcoming birthday but decided to give it to her early. I figure why keep it under the bed when she can be playing with it now.. I'm going to be bad at Christmas time.

She likes the toy.. LOVES the box! She's been pushing the box around for a few days now. She uses it as a step-stool too.. how did she get so smart?


If we yell out, "How big is Maddie?", she raises her arms to say "SO BIG"!

Here she is with Daddy and her new toy. It's a Leap Frog learning table. It plays music and teaches basics in both English and Spanish. Very cool toy. I like that she can stand up next to it to play with it but of course, she wanted to push it around the living room.


We're all having fun with Maddie's toys. We bought this tent for her to sleep in when we went to Palm Springs.. yeah right! That didn't work out so well, but we bring it out every once in awhile to play in. Maybe we'll try again when she's older. If anything, she now owns a very expensive play tent!

Even Mom fits in the tent! Thanks Matt for grabbing the camera to catch this flattering shot! (At least I wasn't trying to back out!)


She also figured out that Mya's toys are better than her own sometimes. She adores this furry mouse. (Don't worry, I removed the eyes before she chewed them off.) She flings it around and rubs the fur on her face.

Hey, What happened to his eyes?!


I hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day Weekend. Even though I'm not working anymore, I heart 3 day weekends. We hung out with friends on Sunday and Matt recovered (hee hee) on Monday. :) I just really enjoy spending time with my hubby.

This is MaryAnn, Matt's best friend Sean's mom. She considers Maddie a 3rd grandchild and is always buying her something cute.. oh boy! They had a great time and MaryAnn was loving having her all to herself while we were at the pool.


We took Maddie to the park for some "swing time". She's such a dare devil that she leans forward to propel herself down the slide. I catch her half way down and then fling her into the air. She LOVES it. Hopefully she won't be too disappointed when she gets bigger and has to just land on her feet. :)



This last photo is of Maddie and her BFF Isabella. We had a play date at our house. It was super hot that day but the girls had fun showing each other that they can now stand! Something new since they were last together. They're still working on sharing and of course, each other's toys (and sippy cups) were always better than their own. It's going to be so much fun watching these guys grow up together. (Gee do you think Maddie is going to be the short kid in her class? These two are only hours apart in age, but Miss Bella is about 3 inches taller! lol)


It makes me sad that Maddie isn't growing up with my great friend Heather's little girl, my friend Kathy's little guys or her cousins back in WI but it is what it is... I'm just glad I'm able to share Miss Maddie with everyone who's interested in watching her as she changes into a little lady. And yes, despite the conversations that I have with her about staying a baby, it looks like that's going to happen sooner than I'd like... especially if she keeps wearing those hair clips!

As always, thanks for reading the latest and we love you all!

Spaghetti and Cheerios

Spaghetti and Cheerios... Maddie's new favorite meal! Yummy..

She's decided lately that she's too big of a girl to have mom feed her anymore (except for the beloved nursing of course!) so we've had to get creative with our table food. It certainly is messier but has been allot of fun lately. I can handle blueberry oatmeal up the nose every once in awhile. We got smart and bought her some bibs with the pocket in the front.. Bumpkins brand are awesome! After each meal we find a nice pile of things that didn't make it into her mouth. I guess it's a numbers game.. give her 20 pieces of fruit so 10 make it in. :)

I am able to sneak in a few spoonfuls here and there to make sure she's getting the foods that would be too messy or dangerous to feed her like blueberries and applesauce.




Is there something on my nose?



The little devil herself getting a bath after dinner.