Maddie has a BOY cousin on the way...

We finally know what Natalie is having! A little boy! I was wrong as usual when I try to guess what people are having. I thought it was a girl all along, but it is definitely a boy. Carter Steven will be here in March. We are thrilled! Maddie is excited and ready to show this little guy the ropes. I have a feeling she will probably beat him up...

Carter 21 weeks

Maddie 20 weeks

I must say the ultrasounds in Greenville are SO much better than what we had in Kentucky!

Sleeping through the night???? HA!

It seems like every time that we can officially say Maddie is sleeping through the night again, she decides she isn't going to do it anymore. I am no longer EVER putting it out there that she is sleeping all night again. Her new thing is sleeping until about 4:30 and waking up screaming until we pick her up and bring her to bed with us. I have tried to get her back to sleep in her crib, but she just wakes up shortly after crying. It is OK for now, because Gabe leaves by 4:30 to get to the hospital. The weekends are horrible though, because we can't all fit in the bed comfortably. Somethings gotta give...AND SOON! Oh and if I see another post on facebook about how someone's much younger baby is sleeping all night I will scream!!!!! Ok venting is over...

9 Months Old...

Here we go again...another month gone by TOO FAST! Madison is now nine months old! I took Maddie to the doctor yesterday for her 9 month well visit. She was very good! She was so curious about everything at this visit and let Dr. Woodlief check her out without a fuss! She was all over the place, so I could barely keep up with her! I talked to Dr. Woodlief about several things including switching Maddie to milk-based formula. Maddie has been on special formula for about seven months now. We came up with a plan to see if Maddie will tolerate regular milk. Today I gave Maddie 1 tsp of milk in a bottle. We will wait a week and if no symptoms of irritability, upset stomach, or blood in stools I will then put 2 tsp of milk in one bottle. We will wait 3-4 days and if no symptoms are present we will switch to milk formula! I am really optimistic about this and I pray that our baby girl's tummy will tolerate milk! Maddie also got her flu shot and final Hep B today as well. Of course, she cried big alligator tears...Poor thing (but don't worry, I am not one of those Moms that cry along with the baby) Maddie also has allergies and eczema...she is her daddy for sure! She has started taking children claritin and we have to start using nonscented creams to clear the eczema up on her legs. Oh boy, it is always something...but nothing too major thank goodness!
Here are Maddie's stats:

22.5 lbs (94th percentile)
29.25 inches (95th percentile)
18.31 head circumference (98th percentile)--we knew she would have a big head (just look at her parents!)

Developmentally, Maddie is right on track (if not above!) Here are some things Maddie is doing:

• Crawling (I honestly can't keep up with her...she is gone in a blink of an eye)

• Pulling up to stand on ANYTHING (couch, wall, kitchen chairs, dishwasher, and lots more...)

• Cruising (she has mastered this and can really get to where she needs to go)

• Enjoys banging objects and hearing the noise it makes

• Entertains herself by playing alone with toys

• Imitates us (she does the "indian noise" with the back of her hand)

• Picks up food/things with pincer grasp

• Eating lots of new foods

• Understands the word "NO" but does not like it!

• Says "Mama, Baba" and other consonant vowel combos

Also, I must say that Maddie has been sleeping through the night. We had a bad spell when she started standing up in her crib. Her sleep was seriously interrupted, but I had heard that it could happen during big developmental milestones. She goes to bed between 7:30-8:00 and sleeps a little more than 10 hours each night. She will occasionally wake up, but will go back to sleep on her own. It is rare these days for her to fuss for longer than a few minutes. We keep about 8-10 pacifiers in her crib, so she easily can retrieve them if she needs one.

Even though I am tired most days and being a parent is the hardest job anyone can have, we are so truly blessed to have a happy, healthy, beautiful baby girl! We love you Maddie Moo!!

Baby's first Halloween!

We have just finished celebrating Miss Madison's first Halloween! On Saturday morning, Gabe and I took our little pumpkin to Stewart Farms. It is such a neat little place. We had fun walking through the pumpkin patch. Maddie picked out her very own baby pumpkin and we picked a big one for us. Honestly, it was the first time I had ever been to a pumpkin patch. I know that might sound strange (Gabe thinks so), but we just always got our pumpkins at the patch at Wal-Mart! As a kid, we didn't take field trips to the pumpkin patch like schools do now. Well I must say, I feel like I have been missing out. It was so much fun looking at all the pumpkins and picking our very own from the vine! We then visited the farm animals and walked through the corn maize. Maddie LOVED the sheep. She would touch them and then just laugh! She could have stood there all day doing that!
After the pumpkin patch, we got home just in time to see the second half of the South Carolina/Tennesse game. They had us stressed out again, but we came away with the win 38-24. We are now 6-2 for the season.
We relaxed the rest of the afternoon and then went to visit Nat & Ryan. We had Maddie dressed up in her costume to show her off a little bit. After visiting for a while, we took our little duck to see our friends Anna and Josh. It was a short visit, but of course always fun! We then went home, got Maddie in bed, and Mimi watched her while we went and ate fajitas at the Mexican restaurant!
On Sunday we ordered pizza and went over to Nat and Ryan's again for trick or treating. We had a great time. Maddie got some good treats. She tried her hardest to get into the candy and she did succeed in tasting a lollipop! Our little duckie was worn out after a busy day! She fell asleep in the car and I was able to get her out of carseat, change her diaper, and get her into her pajamas without her waking up!