Fall Family Photos

We haven't had a good family photo taken since Madeline was born. So 16 months later, I thought it was time to get a new one. I also wanted to capture our family of 3 before we move up to one of four. I called up my friend Tammy and we met at a local metro park. It was such a fun shoot! Check her out if you need photos taken for anything. She was awesome to work with!

Sorry if this is picture overload, but it was really hard to narrow down my favorites. I have too many! These aren't all of them, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

Trick-or-Treat # 2

Since our Beggar's Night was Thursday, we headed down to visit our families for their Halloween night on Saturday. Andy's family lives on a huge hill so we opted for my parents' house in a flat neighborhood. :) Andy's parents came over and Jackie, Mike and Alexis were there too. We had a great time together!



Here is Madeline cheering on the Bucks in the chair that Grandpa built for her.

After some LaRosa's pizza (of course) it was time to head out. How stinkin' cute is Alexis in her pumplin outfit?

With Thursday night under her belt, Madeline did great this time around. She knew the drill and we actually got her to say Thank You at one of the houses. We went to more than 10 houses this time but had to stop because the big kids were starting to run her over. But that was okay. She had plenty of candy. One house gave her bead necklaces so here she is putting them on.

When we got home, Alexis decided she needed an outfit change. I can't decide which one she is cuter in. They are both adorable!

Trick-or-Treat

Madeline's first time Trick-or-Treating was tonight. I wasn't sure how she would do and kinda thought she would be shy and weirded out. But she actually did pretty well. She was very friendly and smiled and took her candy about half of the time. It was so cute when she would take a piece and put it in her pumpkin basket.


We don't have any kids in our neighborhood so we went to a nice neighborhood nearby. We went to 8 houses in 45 minutes and then called it a night. Yeah, she's a slow walker.


Her costume was a hit! If you can't figure it out, she is a giraffe.

She got to a bag of skittles here on the way home.

And then of course she had to have some chocolate too.

Scratch that

It's now official. January 25th at 7:30am it is!

3 months away!

January 25th, 2010. It's not an official date yet, but that is the plan for now. We should know for sure in the next two weeks. So that means that as of today, we have 3 months left to get ready for this new little one on its way. That is both scary and exciting at the same time. I can only imagine how our life is going to change. But the closer it gets, the more excited I become. It means our little family is becoming more complete. I can't wait to see what the new baby's personality will be like and how that is different than Madeline. But also, how alike the two of them are and how they will play together and be best friends (at least until the teenage years).


She still doesn't have a name. We are working on it. Our list has two names on it now and neither one is a front-runner. I have a feeling we'll be waiting to name her until we meet her. Then we'll see which one fits.

Madeline's Date Night

Go here to see Madeline on her first date with Jake. Too funny!

Pumpkin/Apple Farm Trip

It was a beautiful Fall day today so we took a trip out to a local pumpkin and apple farm. It was a little chilly, so we needed to dress warm, but it didn't dampen our spirits. We all had a blast!

We started by checking out the pumpkins.

On our way to the hayride, we stopped and played in their play area.

Madeline had a great time on the hayride!

We made a pit-stop during the ride to pick an apple straight from a tree and eat it. It was delicious!

Before we left, we went and picked a whole bag of apples from their orchard. I have wonderful memories from when I was a kid of going apple picking with my Grandpa Cipollone. So it was awesome to be out doing it with my own family. I am looking forward to keeping this a tradition every Fall.

Update on me and the baby

I had my monthly OB appointment yesterday and all is well and good. Nothing really to report, which is a good thing. We did discuss scheduling the c-section already. Eek! So we should know the official date soon.


It's really starting to feel close, even though it's still 3 months away. I've been feeling the urge to make room for her arrival. I got out Madeline's newborn clothes and pulled out all of the sleepers. That's about all we can reuse, I guess. The rest is all short-sleeved stuff. Then I cleaned out all of Madeline's summer clothes from the closet and dresser and made room for the baby's stuff. I feel better having some things out for her. Now we need to figure out where she is going to sleep.


She's been kicking alot now and you can see my belly move with her movements. My bedtime has definitely gotten earlier now. I was able to do okay with my normal 10pm bedtime for awhile, but anymore, I really need to go earlier or I'm pretty wiped. Especially by the end of the week. I've also been adding alot of Tums to my diet lately. At least I'm getting some extra calcium, right? :)

24 Week Picture

My current picture is the one on the left. The one on the right is how I looked with Madeline at this same time. I don't know, do I look bigger now or the same? I think maybe I look the same.

Daddy's Little Girl

Madeline is becoming a Daddy's little girl now. She wants nothing to do with me if Daddy is around. Tonight I was sitting on the floor trying to play with her but she just ignored me. But when Andy sat on the floor with her, she was all about playing with her toys with him. Little bugger. When I started to take her to bed, she cried and reached out for Daddy.

She is starting to make-believe play with food items now. Daycare says she loves to play with the toy kitchen they have. And if you give her a bowl and a serving spoon, she will pretend to eat, complete with a "Mmmmmmm" sound.

Let's see, what else.....her recent new words are meow and socks. Both are hilarious with the way she says them.

I just have to say that I love the array of books Madeline has. For my baby shower, guests were supposed to bring books in lieu of a card. Best idea ever! I love reading her books at night from family members knowing that they enjoyed readings these books too. It makes it that much more fun and special for me. And hopefully extra special for her one day too. Right now, her current favorites are Wynken, Blynken, & Nod and Pat the Bunny. And yes, she picks them out. After bath time, I tell her to pick which stories she wants that night and she does.

Wine Trip

My Grandma Cipollone's birthday was this past week so we all went to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Louisville, KY to celebrate. This was an extra special trip for Andy and I because my Uncle Steve LOVES wine and he can afford the good stuff. And....he likes to share. :) And if you know us, you know we like good wine but we can't afford it. So we had a good time partaking. For anyone that knows wine, here is what we had. I can't remember the years of two of them. Andy and I both agree we liked the Camus the best, BUT they were all incredible!


Sea Smoke Pinot Noir
Penfold's Grange Shiraz 1998
Caymus Cabernet
Insignia Cabernet 2002


As is usual anymore, the kiddos were the highlight of the activities. Madeline is quite the pianist.



How cute is my little niece, Alexis?

My Mom had her hands full at one point.

Aww, what a cute family. :)

Footed PJ's

It's supposed to get pretty chilly tonight, so we broke out the footed pajamas. Here she is brushing her teeth before bed.

Rough Week

Well this past week wasn’t too fun. Madeline woke up Tuesday morning with a fever and she’s been sick all week. She didn’t eat for 3 days which had us really worried. By the third day, she was noticeably skinnier and she was very pale and weak. Her fever finally broke on Thursday and then she ate a few crackers in the evening and seemed to bounce back a bit. She’s been eating more and more everyday since but she still isn’t back to normal yet. We have no idea what exactly it was, but we suspect it was some virus. She basically slept all day and wouldn’t eat. Fortunately we were able to keep some fluids in her. We thought she would be back to normal by now and she’s close, but she’s extremely cranky. She also isn’t back up to her normal amount of food, but I suppose that is to be expected. She’s eating and her Buddha belly is sticking back out again. :) So she’s getting there.

As for me, I've been feeling extremely tired lately. I could sit and do nothing all day and then still sleep all night. I don’t feel sick myself, but I’m wondering if it has something to do with M’s sickness…..being worried about her and tending to her extra neediness. So because of this, I’ve also been extremely cranky. I’m trying not to be, but it’s hard when I feel so tired. Poor Andy has to deal with both us. He’s probably ready for a plane ticket out here.

On a positive note, I’m feeling the baby kick all the time now. She’s most active right after I eat lunch and late in the evening when I’m relaxing.

And in all this madness, I forgot that Madeline said two words together for the first time last weekend. Andy was taking her to bed and without prompting, she said “Bye-bye Mama.” It was so sweet.

New Videos

For this one, I blame my friend Tammy for supplying the weapon. :) At least Madeline is very polite at the end. haha




What's a cow say?

It's still a girl

We got to see the baby again this week. Can you believe I'm already 21 weeks along?! I sure can't. It was time for the big ultrasound where the doc checks to make sure everything is okay. The baby looks good and healthy and is measuring right on track. The doc double-checked and yep, it's still definitely a girl. Check out her cubby cheeks....