Thanksgiving

Where did we go for Thanksgiving?

You guessed it...Birmingham! Actually, we were there for an entire week! Steven and I attended a wedding the Saturday before, and we sure weren't going to drive back and forth two times in one week. So a week in the Ham it was. How wonderful to get to visit family and friends.

We had a blast, especially on Thanksgiving Day. Here are some pics to fill you in on the fun!

We don't let Madelyn watch TV, but the Macy's parade is an exception (and a tradition.) She loved it!

For lunch we headed to my grandparents house to meet with aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I was soooo excited about all of the yummy food we'd be eating that day. And I couldn't wait for Madelyn to dig into our family favorites for the first time!
(fyi: in the south everything is served as a casserole! sweet potato, squash, broccoli/cheese, dressing...)

Sadly, she wasn't interested in eating; too much excitement I guess. Little Girl did not know what she was missing out on in the kitchen! (I think I ate the food off her tray so it wasn't wasted!)
She'd rather be....

and...

...and once she explored the house, outside she went!

the Fab Four: Bethany, Drew, Holly, me

sweet pic of Steven and me ;)

love the candid one!

The Stanford clan

This year sweet Autumn's 1st birthday was on Thanksgiving Day. Precious!

She loved her cake (that matched her dress by the way.)

From there we headed over to Jay and Melissa's house to celebrate the day with the Hyde side of the family.

Cooking it up in the kitchen (no, she's not a lunch lady!)

the hostess with the mostess!

Melissa worked hard on her pretty table :)

Another first for the day:

we don't feed Madelyn sweets, but yet another exception...she loved pumpkin pie!

Our time in Birmingham was wonderful! Everyone enjoyed seeing Madelyn (and Steven and me too I suppose!) After being gone about 9 days, the three of us were glad to be back home. And Miss Madelyn was right back where she left off...

November

When we got back from Bham it was November and we had a one year old! This month seemed to fly by because we were home for only 3 weeks between Bham trips, and Grammy came to visit for one of them. So we blinked and it was Thanksgiving (another post.)

Hello fall and hello leaves! We love to go outside to play and explore. Steven and I seriously think we had the most leaves in our yard out of the entire neighborhood! Madelyn didn't mind; she wanted to play in the yard anyway.

Have I mentioned that Madelyn is always getting into something? I know all parents say that about their babies, but seriously....

Madelyn LOVES to go out for a ride in her car! It's one of the few times a day she'll sit still. What will we do this winter?! Bundle up and put the tire chains on I guess! ha!

Madelyn turned one and got sooo playful! We love it! Madelyn is also really learning! While she doesn't say complete words yet, she definitely makes the right beginning sounds for things. She knows what it means to go outside, get in the car, sit in her highchair, put on shoes, etc. I am amazed at how much and how quickly she learns!

But, she is also learning to test Mommy and Daddy. The word "no" has seemed so pointless; she's one to ignore it. Madelyn will do something she shouldn't to see how we'll respond. She is also doing this "I'm not getting my way so I'll fuss" thing. Ugh! I pray daily for God's guidance and wisdom as we tackle this parenting task.

If you've seen her, you know that Madelyn has a mouth full of teeth! (Molars #2 and #3 came in this month.) So we took her to the pediatric dentist for a check up. Where was this office when I was little?

the video game station...

the playhouse (next to the movie room)...

and there was a fish tank too! I didn't get a pick of Madelyn during her check up- Mommy needed all the hands she could find to keep the little lady still! Her teethies looked good and we started using a big girl toothbrush and toothpaste!

I like this pic from that day...

And when I say that Madelyn gets into everything, now it's quite literal! She is loving to crawl into baskets, drawers, etc.

And yes, that is a black eye. What are the odds that she fell into the one kitchen drawer that is her height, and hit her brow on the drawer pull, right before we left to go somewhere?! I was hoping no one would notice. Yeah right. Even the older man that bags groceries at the store said something. I felt so bad. But Madelyn didn't seem to mind!

Like I said, November flew by! And once again we were ready to head to Bham...again...

1st Birthday

Our "Little Ladybug" turned one at the end of October. So we headed to Bham to celebrate with friends and family.

This summer I took a Wilton cake decorating class and felt empowered to make birthday cupcakes. They didn't look so bad when I made them...


But when I put them out at the party... the colors had begun to bleed so they didn't look too appetizing. :(

Madelyn was content playing with tissue paper for a while!

She loves to talk on her new cell phone!

And her new Teddy is so soft!

But the highlight for Madelyn was the red balloon!!

(We took it home and she played with it for another 2 weeks!)

She didn't mind that the cupcakes didn't look right.

She enjoyed her cupcake indeed!

We had a great day!!

And of course we had one year portraits made:

Madelyn's 12 month checkup went well. She measured 30.5 inches (90%) and weighed 23 pounds (75%). She is a growing girl!! :)

October

With eleven months behind her, Madelyn headed into her 12th month! Growing like a weed and turning into a big girl!

My kitchen helper. Always into something! :)

(This deserved it's own post, but oh well!) At the beginning of October I ran my first 5K! I started training in August, which was barely enough time! On the day of the race, I felt unprepared and my goal was just to finish the thing. But something about that beautiful fall morning, in the Highlands, with me, myself, and I... I ended up running the whole thing (let's call it a steady jog, because it wasn't a sprint by any means!) No slowing down; no walking; just a nice pace for 3 miles. I finished in about 36 minutes, which wasn't bad for a non-runner and first-timer. It was such a wonderful experience!! And my sweet family was there for me at the finish. :)

Halloween: I found this costume brand new at a consignment shop. hooray! But we ended up changing plans and she didn't wear a costume for anything this year. Got a cute pic though!

Oh Miss Madelyn...how funny you are!

Someone was having a good old time in the bed instead of napping. I went in to see what was going on and found things in the floor. The ususal suspects were there: Lamby and Paci. But I wasn't expecting to find her pants (the ones she was wearing!) and the teething rails! I would love to have been a fly on the wall that day!

Our girl LOVES to be outside!

Most days we go out looking for doggies. According to Madelyn, dogs say "huh, huh."

And the big milestone this month: WALKING! Madelyn had been walking from point A to point B, as long as it wasn't too far. But one day at church we put her down and off she went! (So naturally we spent the rest of the day making video clips! - Pardon the shrieking mamma!)

I took our big walker to the mall to get "big girl shoes!" She didn't hesitate breaking them in!

Last ride in the infant car seat...

...first ride the the toddler car seat! (she looks older to me!)

playing in the car seat box was a blast!

Continued to broaded our horizons with food. Hello, picky eater phase!! Some days "yes, I want that" and some days a definite "no!"

This day spaghetti was a hit.

(Also, first little molar came in!)

Our little pumpkin.

This is so random, but I think it's hilarious so I posted it. One morning when Madelyn was starting up her noise making for the day, she found she could make a new sound. She had a teeny bit of "stuff" in her throat and so out came this...

Sweet girl started showing us affection. :)

And loves to give hugs!


We put a swing under the deck for some outside fun. :)


And like I've said before....Madelyn is into everything!