MAJOR MILESTONES

Our Mady-cakes has 3 major milestones to report. Over the last few weeks, she has become quite the "big girl". First (and my favorite), she all of a sudden decided that she wanted to hold her own bottle. One day when I was feeding her, she just pushed my hands down and held it with her own two little hands - I was so shocked, and thought for sure it was just a fluke, but she's been doing it ever since. This may not sound like a major thing, but believe me it is. J.D. NEVER held his bottle, so this has come as such a pleasant surprise. We're having a little trouble transitioning to the sippy cup, but I'll take this little victory for now! :)
Secondly, we were at our favorite place, Chick-fil-A, and Mady climbed up to the second step in the playground area. (Mommies, you know what I'm talking about). I could not believe it - they are pretty big steps, and I was shocked she could get her legs up that high. It's also funny to watch the different personalities - J.D. was fully capable of climbing at that age, but he was too shy and didn't want to get in the other kids way (Mommy's kid). However, Mady didn't give a toot who she got in the way of, and in fact was slinging her leg over some other kid - she wasn't about to let some little rugrat keep her from seeing what was so great up there. Side note - I was in the other room and Jimmy was playing with J.D. in the family room, and he looks over in the kitchen to find Mady sitting right in the middle of the kitchen table. She had gotten up in the chair, and climbed on the table - quite the climber she is. I see many more skull fractures in our future - Ha!
And lastly, we finally switched her over to her big girl car seat. It was becoming almost impossible to buckle her in the old one, so we decided it was time. She looks like a little peanut sitting in that big seat. I had a little meltdown the other day when I looked in the backseat and saw TWO toddlers looking at me - my baby is GONE!! Sniff, Sniff!! I can't believe she's getting so big, and it seems the days and months keep flying by and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

I pray that the Lord can help me stop and cherish and be thankful for all these little milestones instead of wishing them away for a "easier day" (whatever that is?) Thank you, Lord, for my little Mady-cakes and the way she keeps us on our toes.

~Allison

STOMACH FLU = AWFUL!

WHEW!! It has been a crazy month for us. We ended October with our Halloween party, followed a week later by Mady's birthday. I had been "burning the wick at both ends" those two weeks and was so looking forward to a relaxing week with not much on the schedule - Ha! Should've known that sounded too good to be true.
Wednesday night I was awaken around 3am by J.D. throwing up all in his bed - YAY!! Poor guy, he was so sick, and continued to throw up several times throughout the night. I think we both maybe got one hour of sleep in before Mady woke up the next morning. Needless to say, being up since 3, my patience was thin and was just counting the hours until bed time. So, I finally get the kiddos to sleep, and I drift off into oblivion...until 1am when I awoke running to the bathroom. Yep, I got it! So, I'll spare the details, but didn't get any sleep that night either. I felt really awful the next day and did the only thing I knew to do...called Mommy! My mom, bless her heart, was heading out of town, but took time to come over and help with the kids and even made me some homemade chicken soup - yum! I slept for 12hrs that night and felt like a new woman the next day. I thought life was starting to look better, then...yes, you guessed, Jimmy got it the next night - yet another night with little sleep (couldn't sleep with all the moaning & groaning. ha!) He stayed home from work the next day, so I had to play nurse, mommy & house cleaner that day - let's just say it was NOT a good day! On another note, J.D. was so sweet when I was sick. He would say, "Mommy, I'm so sorry you sick, I'm sorry". I kept telling him he didn't have to be sorry, but it was so precious - he has such a tender heart and really cares about stuff like that. Anyway, I think we've all had it now (Mady had a little diarr, so hoping that's all she'll get), and am really hoping we can get back to normal, whatever that is, before the holidays. Although, I better be careful - wishing for normal is what gets me in trouble! :)

OUR LADYBUG TURNS 1!!

I can't believe my baby is ONE!!!! We celebrated Mady's birthday this past Saturday, and we did a ladybug theme - OF COURSE!! It was is Memaw's backyard and it turned out better than I ever expected. The food was great, the decorations looked amazing, and I think all the kids had a good time - even Mady! Ha! It was a beautiful day and we had such a good time.

Here's the Birthday Girl in her Ladybug Birthday outfit :

I decided to make her cake for her, and it turned into a hysterical nightmare!! (hysterical now, not that funny then). I dropped it getting out of the car, so I had to perform major surgery on it (and nurses do NOT get training in that), then I proceeded to spill RED icing all over it. Like I said...nightmare! However, in the end, I thought it actually looked great and I was glad I did it.

Mady also LOVED smashing into her cake. Well, she didn't really smash, it was more like a "girly mess." She would pick up one piece at a time and put it in her mouth - still, red icing got EVERYWHERE! What was I thinking making her cake RED??

This was one of my favorite things: opening presents. She was a riot! Every present I would show her, she would open her arms, reach out for it and say "OOOHHH". Such a GIRL!! She acted like every present was her very favorite. I've been to my share of 1yr old parties, and I have NEVER seen a child act like that - it was hysterical. Do we think maybe her love language will be "gifts"? Ha! We're going to be in trouble when she hits 13!!

Well, that's about all. It was a wonderful party and I actually got to enjoy myself some (which is unusual when hosting a party) and I genuinely think everyone else did as well.

Mady,

We are so blessed to have you as our daughter and we thank God for every one of those 365 days he's given us with you. We beg God for many many more days and a lifetime of more memories. We love you so much more than you will ever comprehend. Happy Birthday, my ladybug!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Happy Birthday, Mady!!
Madelyn Elise Ammirati was born Nov 6, 2008 @ 1:44pm. 8lb, 4oz.
I can NOT believe it has been a whole year. Where did the time go?? In some ways it seems like yesterday, and then in other ways it seems like she's been here forever. She has brought us so much joy and we can't imagine our lives without her. I prayed so hard for a (healthy) little girl, and God blessed me with such a precious little lady.
Happy Birthday, Mady - Mommy & Daddy & J.D. love you SO much!!!

TRICK-OR-TREAT

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year, and this year was no different. We started off the Halloween holiday by carving pumpkins. This was actually our first time doing it, and J.D. really enjoyed it, so I'm sure this will be a yearly tradition.

And then it was on to the good stuff...Trick-or-Treating!! We started a few years ago having our families over for dinner on Halloween and then going trick-or-treating. Every year we seem to add some people, and it has now become too big for our house. This year we actually put up a big tent in our bag yard to accommodate everyone. It was actually really nice and it didn't feel so cramped. We had chili (was hoping it was going to be a little cooler, but oh well) and all the fixins and then headed out for the main event. J.D. dressed up as a pirate (HE got the idea from his favorite Backyardigans episode). He practiced for weeks saying "Argggh", and was calling everyone "Matey" - it was hilarious! I "made" his costume, and it was rather funny. Of course I thought he looked great, but we did have a few laughs at his expense - some people thought he looked like a gypsy!! Jimmy said it was definitely a more "Johnny Depp-ish" pirate. Ha! We joked that Frank would have had something to say about it and would not have let me live it down. He was SO excited, though, so who cares?? And then of course Mady was a ladybug - what else?? We borrowed a costume from Joscelyn and it was just too darn cute. She was precious. All in all, it was a GREAT night. J.D. had an awesome time and is STILL talking about it. In fact, the next morning, the first thing he said when he woke up was, "thank you for taking me trick-or-treating. I had SO much fun!" That makes all the hard work worth it - what a thoughtful little guy. Fun memories!! :) Here are some pics :