Baby's First Christmas

Well it was an absolutely WONDERFUL 1st Christmas for Maddie! We had our worst snow storm in 40 years, so her first started out indeed as a white Christmas. We jam packed our week, with lots of last minute shopping, and some fun festive events. We made cookies with Grandpa Doug and Aunt Angie on Monday before, and headed out and about in the horrible driving conditions to get everything ready for her first BIG holiday!

Christmas Eve was spent with both sides of the family, in our grandest of traditions! We ate amazing prime rib with the Christopherson's, and it was top notch as always. In addition to the amazing piece of meat, we had lefsa, which is and will always be my favorite holiday tradition. I hope to be able to have Ethan and Maddie share in it as they get older! We opened gifts, and had a wonderful time! Maddie got some cute outfits, and some small toys! It really was a lot of fun, but honestly, what can you get a 1.5 month old for Christmas? It's tough shopping! haha...

Then we headed over to the Porter's for late night gift opening, in it's finest tradition. We attempted secret Santa's on both sides, and have come to the conclusion that we'd rather go back to the way things were. Ethan and Maddie definitely made out like a bandit.

Sadly, Ethan hasn't taken too much of an interest in Santa yet, so my attempts were futile when it came to putting out cookies, and having gifts left under the tree. Hopefully next year he'll be more cooperative.

Maddie sure was loving her stocking gift opening from mom and dad! We bought her mostly rattles and noise making toys, which oddly enough we never really had for Ethan. It was fun to see her face in reaction to the noises and sights as we opened them. Here's some fun moments of Christmas morning at the Porter household!

I just love the new expressions Maddie is starting to make. Of course she'll still giving us good smiles, and she's starting to talk here and there, finding her voice. It really was an awesome Christmas this year. Our first family Christmas!

Well in the excitement of the Christmas season, we've started to notice our littlest of little loves doing a first! SMILES! And let me tell you, it is by far the cutest smile I have ever seen in my life, well okay, I lied, it's exactly tied with how cute her brother's smile is. But it is so precious to see her little face just light up. We've found her "smile spots" on her face, where we can tickle her to get a good reaction. It's actually quite precious.

Along with noticing how wonderful her smiles are, we've also been having fun just playing around and taking pictures of her. Daddy especially takes great interest in loving on his baby girl!









I do so adore the family that we've created. We just feel complete! Not that we didn't when Ethan was born, but things just fit, and feel right now! Our wonderful family of four!


The three greatest loves of my life!






and of course, what fun is it being a mom, if you can't play dress up with your daughter! My aunt Monica bought this wonderfully cute little hat for Maddie, and thank goodness, because we have the most perfect season for it. When I put it on her, I couldn't help but laugh, and tear up with joy because of how stinking cute she was in it. It's one of the most amazingly cutest things I've seen on her. So I took some photos, and wanted to share them with you! Enjoy!



and of course she loves it too!










We're just excited as she becomes more alert these days, waking up longer, and spending time looking around. She's so strong, her grip, her neck, just very interested in figuring things out. We're having so much fun going through all of this again!

Maddie meets Santa!

I must admit that in the Christmas season, one of the things we are So blessed with, is a grandpa (my dad) who has the ability to get a Santa suit! It is one of the most excellent experiences in the world, not having to fight the mall crowds, and pay an arm and a leg to get a good (well, as good as they can get) shot of our kids with some stranger.

So this year, we had our session, first one ever during the day, and later than usual. We dolled the kids up, and got ready to get not only our annual shots, but to get our first Christmas pictures of Maddie with Santa. The experience was fun, and miserable, all at the same time. Ethan of course, in his two year temperament, and no matter how many times was told and shown that Santa was just grandpa, would of course give us no cooperation. But we did come away with some AMAZINGLY cute photos of our little Christmas baby! We will continue this tradition (hopefully) and as the kids get bigger, will come away with some great Christmas memories. Though let me tell you, a screaming child is no reason to not take some photos for blackmail later in life!

Maddie's 1st Snow Day!

Well - - as most of you around here know, we've witnessed Winter Storm 2008! On top of the awesomeness of seeing nature's winter miracles, it was awesome that Maddie got to see her first snow day so early in life. And so we decided to catch this "Christmas Miracle" on film...

We bundled her up as best we could, and headed outside, to see how she'd react to this cold, cold, weather that we've been experiencing.

In some aspects, she didn't mind the weather so much, but the first initial shock of the coldness was not pleasing to our little Madito!

And then the cold hit... and as you can tell... she was LESS than happy about the conditions to which she was surrounded with.

look at that face... our daughter is NOT a snow bunny!

look how cute Maddie and Daddy are together! What a fun first time in the snow! We love our little bundle of joy... even if she doesn't appreciate the snowy goodness right now!

Christmas with Maddie!

Well - - as Christmas time is approaching, we are learning the difficulties of baby's first Christmas, when baby is so small still. Though we're definitely making the most of this wonderful time of year. One of the traditions I've really tried to hold on to is always having Christmas photos taken of Ethan, and I'd like to continue this tradition with my beautiful little lady. So we embarked on a photo session with our two little ones, and needless to say, though the experience was less than fun, the moments captured are well worth it.

We decided to find the cheapest photo package we could find (because after all, we're not made of money), and ended up going where we had had Ethan's taken at 6 months for his first Christmas. Though really, they weren't actual "Christmas" pictures. Ethan of course was LESS then cooperative, and wouldn't sit close to his sister without having to "take a moment". So we, I kid you not, got ONE photo of the two of them together. And thank goodness it was SO precious!

Maddie of course was not very cooperative either. We'd have to plug the "bink" in her mouth until she'd calm down, then take it out quickly to get a shot of her, before she'd start crying again. It almost felt defeating! And let me tell you, it was worth the $5 the package cost us. But there were some OH so precious moments caught on camera, that we were so thankful for.

I love this photo, because really, it was just Allan calming our little bundle of fury down because she was SO upset, and it just shows that sometimes, all a girl needs is her daddy!

And in all honesty, who could NOT love that face. She's so amazingly beautiful. I can't get over how blessed I have been with the good lookin' kids that have been welcomed in to our household. I just stare at them in amazement of how so very cute and cuddly they are.




So look for your Christmas cards, they should be coming soon (as long as I have your address) - - though in truth, none of these pictures will be on them! haha... There will be more Christmas memories to share as Santa visits our home in the next couple of days to do our annual photo shoot! But I'll share more later.

Eventually, I plan on being able to take these photos on my own, because I love photography and want so badly to be able to do it for the rest of my life. But for show, I will let the not so professionals worry about getting my kids in good light!

The FIRST Bath at Home!

Well... our second little one has proven to be just as modest as her big brother. Amongst getting used to the schedule of a new born again, we are remembering the fun of first. Since we had been home for a few days now, it was time to give Maddie her first bath. I had been taught a really good trick by my delivering nurse regarding how to give babies baths in the beginning. So we started with the unpleasant part. As you can see, she was less than thrilled.

But then the fun part began. After getting her full body wash, it was time to wash that WONDERFUL head of hair! And wouldn't you know it, she LOVED the sound of the running water. She calmed right down, and allowed us to run her head under the water. All swaddled up, she just patiently allowed us to finish up with her bath.

She is so precious about getting her hair washed too! She'll move her head from side to side, depending on which side we're attempting to get wet or rinse off. She's a natural already!

It's the best shot I could get of her being held under the faucet, but her face is so precious when she's getting her hair washed!

Then it was finished, and she was at peace! All swaddled up! We had a wonderful first bath, and have had a few good ones since. But we're mostly excited for when she's big enough to sit in the big bubble bath! But we're still quite a few months away from that!

AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR!

HERE SHE IS! LITTLE MISS MADELYN!!!!

Well, it was a LONG and HARD process, but she is finally here! Her official due date was November 14th, but she decided to wait and make her grand entrance on her own special day! It was a fun, and slightly interesting story, and I wish to tell you EVERY rough minute of it!

On Friday, November 14th, I went in for a doctor requested appointment, to see if I had made any progress toward labor, to which I had not. So Allan and I were given some information regarding induction, which I will say, I was not all that excited for. But because my doctor (being as everything needed to be on her schedule) decided that she wanted me to attempt to deliver before she went on her Thanksgiving vacation. So we were scheduled to go in to the birthing center on Monday morning, November 17th, to be induced via Mistoprystl. She had decided because naturally I was making no progress, it would be a bad idea to use Pitosin, because it was a "losing battle". So we heard the information, and signed our hesitance away for them to do this procedure.

I had called down as I was supposed to on Monday morning, to make sure a bed was available, and a nurse. Originally I was told I would need to be there at 7:30 am, and they would start inducing by 8 am. Well, everyone in the world knows nothing EVER works the way it is supposed to, and so they told me to come down at 8:30 am when I called, and didn't even start the process until 10:15. What were they doing you ask? That's an excellent question, and I wish to goodness I had an answer for you!

Then, slowly but surely, the contractions started... they were light, but noticeable. I laid down for an hour, then sat up for an hour, and then was allowed to walk around for an hour. Inducing was not as fun as you'd think it might be. Then after the first dose, they did another treatment. I again had to go through the same process. My contractions started picking up, to being about every 7 minutes, and not lasting very long. But I noticed them. The nurse then decided because I was having contractions, that it would be a good idea to not do another treatment, and allow my body to try to start it's own natural pregnancy. So at 4:30, I was on my own. And you know what, nothing really changed. The contractions started to get a little stronger, but nothing too difficult to bear. Family and friends sat around, waiting for something to happen. I walked the halls, waiting myself for something to happen. And then at 7:30 pm, the doctor came in, and it was the worse news in the world. She said I was making no progress, and that they were most likely going to send me home (I could have told her there was no progress, because wouldn't you know, they didn't give me the additional doses they probably should have!). She said because I was having contractions, they were going to monitor me for a couple more hours, and then make a decision. To which they did, and then 3 hours later, they told me they'd monitor me for another four hours and get back to me. There were a lot of mixed emotions that I don't want to go in to, and a lot of frustration about the HORRIBLE nursing staff, and the even worse doctor who was treating me. As you know, I didn't like her to begin with. So at 1:30 in the morning, they decided to send me home. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?! I was SO horribly upset at this point. They sent me with some sleeping medications, to which I did not take, and basically left me with no real resolution. Only fears of what this would lead to.

The next morning, I woke up, and the contractions were still there, VERY noticeable. I was also having some other concerns, so I decided to call and talk to the birthing center, to get their advice. They told me that nothing seemed to indicate pregnancy at this point, and to just kind of monitor things. So for the day, every 5-7 minutes for the most part, I was having contractions, and they'd last about 1-2 minutes a piece. But we didn't let it stop our day. We went out to the stores, stopped by and ran some errands, and just went about our day. And things seemed to keep progressing as they did, but I thought NOTHING of it. Then Allan's brother and wife came over to make us dinner, and help us out with a few things, and I noticed that things were getting far more noticeable, and more painful. So at 6:30 pm, I decided to start monitoring my contractions. They were consistent, every 3-4 minutes, lasting 45 seconds to a minute. At 9:30, I decided to call down to the birthing center, and explain what was going on, and they requested me to come in to get checked out. So needless to say we rushed in, in the most pain I have EVER been in in my life! Okay, that's not true, but it sure felt like it. They sent me to the exam room where Allan joined me, and guess what they found out. I was already at 9 cm. And everything from there was a wonderful rush! They wheeled me in to my room, where I had to rush to get all my papers signed, and my IVY in. Allan rushed calls to family to tell them to get down to the hospital as quickly as possible. And before we knew it, she was on her way!
And she was born, not even an hour later! Weighing in at 7 pounds and 2 ounces, and 19 3/4 inches long. Her official time of birth was 10:45 pm, and her head was FULL of black hair, as you can tell. It was perfection! I couldn't have asked for a better labor, since I got to do most of it at home, and a better delivery, which only took about 30 minutes!

She is so delightful, though we've found her to be SUCH a night owl, which I guess she gets from her mom! But she's so quiet, even when she's all worked up, you could barely hear her. We just adore her little voice!

When she is awake, she's SO curious, she just looks around to explore the world around her. Of course she had a natural tendency to put her thumb in her mouth, just like her brother, but she seems to have grown passed it! We just are in awe remembering what it's like to have such a little, little one around! Ethan is doing WONDERFUL with her for the most part! The only time he really has a hard time is when people come to visit, and they don't focus all their attention on him like they used to. But he's good at helping get her baby diapers, and putting her pacifier in her mouth when she's upset, and he likes to tell everyone who his baby is. Though it took him a while to realize that baby Madie wasn't in mommy's tummy anymore. He really is going to continue to be a great big brother in the end!

Well, I'm sure there's so many more stories to share, however, I need to tend to my little miss! but I wanted to make sure to get everyone updated! Please feel free to stop by and visit any time, as long as it's after 10 am! Or else I won't hear the door! haha. Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. I know what we're thankful for this year!

I'm ready for the big entrance...

Well - - needless to say, YES, I am one week away from my dreaded due date, but this last week has been the MOST difficult for me (what with Ethan being born TWO weeks early) - - I have been anticipating the labor pains, and hoping that they will lead to the big delivery, however, I have had many many contractions, not close enough to mean anything, yet feeling like I need a sign that the end is coming! haha... I won't lie, I am more scared of this labor than I was of Ethan's, mostly because I know what to expect with this one. But I am sticking to my convictions of a drugless labor, with the support of all my family and friends. Truthfully, I'm more scared of not realizing I'm in labor! I know, crazy as it sounds, but I'm just someone who has a completely different body chemistry than most of the women I have talked to. With Ethan, I was awoke from my sleep to what I thought was a horrible moment of "peeing my pants" - - which I later learned was my water breaking. Never have I felt more ridiculous. And needless to say, contractions to me, really feel much like menstrual cramps, so what if I'm sitting here, uncomfortable as can be, having contractions, without realizing that they pains I'm feeling are labor pains? How crazy am I??? I know... These are the things that are running through my mind DAILY!

Allan has been wonderful this past week, while also anxious for the delivery, because he's looking forward to his 8 week vacation! And I don't blame him! But he's definitely been making me take every step possible. We've gone out walking, and he's even gotten to the point of requesting that I walk on the treadmill downstairs while we're watching shows. Because I'm eager to have this happen to, I'm definitely not fighting his requests. He has been far more understanding to what my body has been going through this time around, than he was with Ethan. But I think my strength through all of this has shown him how much I can handle. Today (11/7/08) marks my last day of doing childcare until after the baby is born. I will take 3 weeks off, and since Allan will still be here, we will transition back in to our daily routines. So hopefully that's a sign that she'll come by Monday! With Ethan, I worked up until "literally" the day he was born. He was born on a Monday, and I was at work the previous Friday. But every other opportunity I've had for this pregnancy to resemble his, has failed me! haha...

So now, it's all down to waiting. At my last appointment (11/3/08) she had said that I had noticeably dropped, however, my cervix was not showing much movement. She said not to be discouraged because it could change at any point, but she was sure I would be in my next clinic appointment. So far, she's right. I go in again on Monday (as long as no labor starts over the weekend) and she'll let me know where we're at there. I am hopeful I will have made some progress by that point.

I am hopeful that the next blog I post will be the arrival of this wonderful bundle of joy. I'd like to meet her. See what she's like, see who she looks like, and am more than convinced that she will be every bit as beautiful as her brother was and is! I just want to hold her in my arms, instead of in my tummy. But I'm convincing myself that it will all take place in God's perfect timing. Well... It's time to get back on my feet. Hopefully something will work in my favor!

Thanks for taking the time to read of my frustrations and fears... I hope all are doing well!!! I look forward to being able to introduce you to our wonderful blessing!

A Day to Celebrate the Little Lady!

What would my little girl's baby shower be without a Minnie Mouse cake???

It turned out to be SUCH a wonderful baby shower! I couldn't have asked for a better turn out, and better food, and even more important, such wonderful blessings for our little girl. I really was blessed by my family and friends on this amazing day, and there is just not enough "thank yous" in the world to give to everyone to helped planned, and who made an appearance. Here's some wonderful photos of the day, the games played, and the amazing people in my life!

Here is three generations celebrating together. My mom, and her mom, and I, all together, celebrating the arrival of the fourth generation of girls in the family! The last time we had a photo like this was at my wedding, so this was very exciting for us!

Part of the baby shower party. Here are my mom and grandma again, my sister in law Angie, and her mom Diane, and one of the greatest daycare moms in the world, Catharine! I hope they had as much fun as I did, they were such a blast to have at the festivities!

Also, baby Cate, two weeks old, was able to make an appearance. My soon to be daycare addition! I was very excited to get to see her again. She belongs to Catharine, and is going to be roughly two months older than Miss Madi, and they are destined to be Best Friends Forever because they share a name in common (as Madi's middle name will be Kate just like her mommy's)! Her big brother Corbin and Ethan are only 5 months apart, so I couldn't ask for a better Daycare family!

Also joining the party were such WONDERFUL friends of mine, Tammi (who's daughter Tori is only a month younger than Ethan), Mandy (who helped plan the shower, and who also has a daughter Jilly who is 3 months younger than Ethan) and my Heather, whom helped with taking the pictures at the party! What a life saver! I couldn't ask for people who lift me up any better than these three gals! I was blessed to have them there!

My Trisha! One of the many who also helped plan my baby shower, she also did TREMENDOUSLY wonderful things for me! Aside from helping Mandy lead the games, she took me out shopping to be able to have a WONDERFUL baby shower outfit the week before. I was SO grateful and thankful for her pampering! She also picked me up and delivered me home from the events. She's such a good friend to me, and I'm so thankful to have her in my life! What a great hostess (of the many that were there!).

The other master of ceremonies, Mandy, whom made Madi the most BEAUTIFUL picture frames, that everyone signed, to hang in her room! We're excited to get those put up! These two girls really made the events and the day SO much fun! I am so lucky to have wonderful people in my life!

Me and my wonderful Daycare mom Catharine! What an awesome lady. Just had her baby TWO weeks ago, and she's back on her feet like it was no big feat! She's an amazingly awesome lady, and I appreciate her family so much, and am so thankful for the opportunity to get to watch her kids during the day while she works. I look forward to taking them back on after I heal from having little Madi. I enjoyed being able to spend the weekend with her!!! (As her son Corbin's 2nd birthday party was the day before!).

More wonderful people in my life. My mother in law Sue, her neighbor Sarah, my sister in law Katie, and Sarah's mom Rene. Sue and Katie also contributed SO much to this shower to make it So wonderful! I was so blessed by the things they did for me.

My wonderful family! My cousin-in-laws as I call them, Nicole (my cousin Chad's wife), Danielle (my cousin Josh's wife), my aunt Monica (their mother in law) and my cousin Brittany. It was so nice to get to see them and catch up a little.

The table that I made my stake at! There's me, Trisha, Margie (a GREAT family friend, and a wonderful ex-coworker!), my mom, Malaika, and my other great Friend and ex-coworker Sarah (Malaika's mom!). We had fun cheating off each other's game cards, and chatting, and telling such great stories! It really was a fun day. If you didn't have a chance to make it, you REALLY missed out!


We played some REALLY fun games. One being the "Candy Bar Pregnancy" game, where people had to match candy bar names to pregnancy terms, and it really turned out to be so much fun. People got to see candy bars in a whole new light! We also tested people on their "observance" of baby foods, and seeing if they could name them, just by looking at them. Then during the gift opening, we handed everyone a "baby pin", and anyone who got caught saying the words "cute", lost their pin, and the winner was the person who held the most pins at the end of the gifts. It was fun to see everyone put their heads together, and get things accomplished!

The gift table was absolutely covered with such wonderful blessings for our little girl. Thank everyone SO much for being SO wonderful to us!

The food was DELICIOUS. Mandy contributed her AMAZINGLY awesome vegetable tray. It was delicious! I was so grateful for it! And Trisha made Guacamole, Hummus, and brought plenty of chips and dips to share. They were also amazing! And my mother in law made a great meat and cheese tray, with crackers included, and an awesome apple and caramel tray. It really was an amazing spread of food!!! I ate to my hearts content! I hope everyone else did too!

The moments of me opening Madi's WONDERFUL gifts. It was really an awesome day for this little girl. She ended up getting SO much, and we were SO thankful and grateful for that! I look forward to getting it all put away, and now I am just at a loss for what her going home from the hospital outfit is going to be. I gave up my "cute" pin VERY early in the game (on the first gift actually!) because I couldn't contain myself. I was very excited to see the wonderful things that my friends and family BLESSED my little lady with!