New Daycare!

Madeline started her new daycare center today. Friday was a sad day when we said Goodbye to her teachers. They really were great and I will miss them alot. They have taken really good care of Madeline since she was 3 months old. So they have seen her grow alot! I feel sad thinking about them. But obviously we left for certain reasons; we just need to feel at home at the new center now.

I was nervous all morning like it was MY first day of school. But Madeline and I have been taking short visits recently so she wasn't totally weirded out this morning when we dropped her off. The center takes pictures and emails us everyday with an update. So here we are dropping her off.

And she actually had a pretty good day. Other than a meltdown at lunch, she did great. I visited her at lunchtime which was so much fun. Here she is with her new friend, Leo.


One of her teachers, Miss Heather, rocking her to sleep.

And here is an excerpt from our daily update...

"Today we welcomed a new friend to A3. Madeline is 10 months old and will be an excellent addition to A3. Leo seemed to enjoy having a friend close to his age. Leo and Madeline took turns examining each other.

We let Madeline choose the book selection for the day. She picked You and Me, Baby, by Lynn Reiser and Penny Gentieu. This book is popular with both the older and younger children. The older children pointed out different parts of the face on the photos, while the younger ones enjoyed the faces of the babies.

The older children practiced their walking skills by holding on to Miss Heather’s fingers and wandering around the room. The younger babies practiced sitting while being supported from behind.

Musical instruments were set out for the children to use. The children knew immediately the function of the toys. They shook and banged the instruments as soon as they heard music. Then they searched out new instruments to test their mallets, the favorite was the noise made from hitting the window separating the changing area. "

Busy Weekend

Watch out! This is a long post full of pictures. It was a busy weekend starting with baby shower # 2 for Jackie on Saturday.


This is my beautiful mother getting all the food setup. Now you can see where I get all my good looks. ;)

Poor Madeline got so tired that she passed out while Jackie was holding her.

Madeline and I were quite tired from our jam-packed day in Cincy, so getting up early the next morning was not something we were both thrilled about. But we couldn't not go support Andy in the Fisher 5K! You can tell she is not too excited here.

And he's off.....(he has a white shirt and blue shorts on)

Once the runners started crossing the finish line, Madeline was having fun watching them.

Andy came in faster than I was expecting, so I almost missed him.

First Step!

Madeline took her first step last night!! She fell over once she went for the second step, but she's got the first one down. She was playing with her new walker from Aunt Jackie and she stopped, took her hands off and started doing her baby dance. So we thought we would try and see if she would take a step without holding onto anything. It took some coercing from Mommy and Daddy, but she did it. So you know we'll be doing this the rest of the week. I wonder how many steps we can get her up to by the weekend?

A Baby Shower for Jackie, Part 1

Yesterday, my Mom and I threw the first of two baby showers for my sister, Jackie. We have such a large family that we have to split up the Italians from my Dad's side.

I made custom water bottle labels.

And I carved out this Watermelon Baby Buggy from this tutorial *here*. The scalloping didn't turn out as well as I wanted, but it's still cute. I'll have a second go at it next weekend and hopefully it will turn out a little better.

Jackie received lots of great gifts! And Madeline had to help, of course.

Spaghetti Night Part 2

Easter Weekend Pictures

What a beautiful weekend it was! Saturday night was spent with Andy's family just hanging out. I think Madeline was having fun.

The next day she got her first Easter basket.

The chicky is chirping at Madeline here. I don't think she knows what to do with it.

Then after a nice brunch with Andy's family, we headed to my family Easter gathering where Madeline had her first Easter Egg Hunt. Unfortunately we didn't get pictures of the hunt, but here she is with her egg. When Mommy helped her find her egg, she had no idea what was going on. I think she was more weirded out by the grass than anything. So Mommy had to get her egg for her.

Check out this present she got from Aunt Jackie! She can ride on it and then it converts to a walker. She loves it!! It's her new favorite toy.

Then it was time to kick back in some comfortable clothes and play with her second cousin Z. They were having a blast together!

Ten Months Old!

I swear, these months are flying by faster and faster. She is cruising like a champ now and bending over to pick things up. She used to like us helping her walk around but since she can get places faster crawling, she plops right down on her bum instead of walking. I think I'm fine with that. I heard walking is a whole 'nother beast so I'm happy to postpone that as long as possible.

She isn't liking her runny pureed baby food much anymore. Especially carrots. She enjoys spitting those back me now. Nice.

Wonderful Saturday!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day! Perfect weather to go to Easton and shop. We first stopped at Buy, Buy, Baby (my new favorite store) and got our new umbrella stroller. We got the Maclaren Volo. I LOVE IT!! It's so lightweight, small and easy to maneuver. It made walking around Easton a breeze. I think Madeline liked it too. Shopping kinda wore her out.

We also stopped at Stride Rite to look at new shoes for M. Her Robeez are getting too small. We didn't buy any though. Damn those things are expensive! And we weren't sure whether to get her Stage 2 shoes or go straight for the walkers. She needs something soon though.

But what really made my day was buying new pants. The pants I've been wearing have started to fall off me, so I needed new ones. I am now one size above what I was before I got pregnant. And I am totally happy with that!! I was pretty skinny then anyway and didn't really expect to get back there. Yes, I know it took me awhile to get here. But it took 9 months to gain it and 10 months to get it off. I'm happy with that and this has totally made my week!

What has my life become?

I'm planning a playdate for lunch on Saturday and then we are going to the mall that night to pick up a new stroller. AH!

At least we might go out on Friday night with some friends without the baby. We just need to find a sitter. And hope Madeline lets us get at least one night of good sleep this week. Otherwise, we'll be walking zombie's by then.

Requisite messy eating picture. Complete with macaroni stuck on forehead.

Girls Shopping Trip

My mom, my sister, Madeline and I all went to the Jeffersonville Outlet Mall yesterday. No other reason than to have a girls day out. We haven't done that since I was pregnant so it's been a long time coming. And we had a great time! Jackie found some winter stuff on clearance for baby Alexis, my Mom found a couple of new golf shirts and then I came home with the most stuff. I got two new shirts for both Andy and I and then a ton of stuff for Madeline. That's how it works anymore. But how could I pass up these outfits?

A new spring jacket and jean skirt overalls with onesies

Yellow sweater on clearance for $3. Can't pass that up for next winter. And look at those Bermuda shorts!

Super cute capri pants with matching shirt and some new PJ's.

New daycare

So we've been unhappy with our daycare for awhile now. It's been one thing after another for months and we've finally had it. I want a new place! To be honest, I was never in love with it to begin with. But it was our only option at the time and fellow co-workers had their kids there, so it must be okay, right? Madeline is fine there, but it could be SO much better. And I'm tired of all the b.s.

Well, my employer has been in development of a brand new daycare facility for the past year and it finally opens in two weeks. Andy and I attended their information sessions months ago but ultimately decided to leave Madeline where she was. In hindsight, I don't know what we were thinking. We toured the facility today and it's amazing! It's state-of-the-art with a lot of "green" construction ideas built in (energy saving lights, lots of natural light with big windows into every classroom). Each classroom has their own outside area for the kids to play. Even Madeline's infant room! Since we work in the science field, they designed a special play area that is oriented to the sciences........a microscope for the kids to look at things, a play x-ray machine, a hanging solar system, a light box, the list goes on. When Madeline moves up to the toddler room (at 18 months), she'll have a computer to play on. Yes, the toddler room has a freakin' computer! She'll be typing out emails before she knows what she's typing.

One interesting thing though, they don't have highchairs. Even for Madeline's room. She will sit in a little baby chair at a little baby table to eat. I think that's hilarious and too darn cute. I will be interested to see how that goes and see if she actually sits still to eat.

I'm so excited for her to start! They are having an open house next week and we plan to go and take Madeline with us. So we'll see how she likes it.