Going Swimming

Today we took Madeline to her very first swimming lesson! We weren't quite sure if she was going to like it so we made sure we got a shot of her smiling before we got in the water... But once we got in the water she really seemed to enjoy it! It was a bit chilly at first,but after a few trips up and down the length of the pool we were warmed up and loving it!
We danced in the water, we bobbed up and down and she even went swimming around on her belly :-) The Instructor said that was it for the first lesson - just getting used to the water, but in the next couple of weeks she'll learn how to hold her breath and go completely under. That should be interesting!!! We'll be sure to post pictures of that when it happens!

Madeline's First Solid Food!

She's 6 months old now, and that means it's time for solid food! So we put her in her High Chair and put a bib on her. No food yet, but she seems to like sitting in her chair :-) Her first experience with rice rice cereal - mom thinks the face she's making is pretty funny!

Her second bite gets spit right back out...
but don't worry, because mom will clean it up! Open wide - there's more where that came from! Maybe Daddy will have better luck getting the food to actually stay in her mouth...but Madeline has another idea - she thinks it would be a good plan to try putting cereal and fingers in her mouth at the same time!!!Well, the first experience with cereal was fun. We're sure she'll get better at it every day. We'll just have to practice, practice, practice :-)

Sitting Up

Happy New Year! What a better way to start off the new year than with a new trick!!!

When we woke up this morning, we were playing and mommy thought we should give sitting up a try. She did so well that we got her dressed and gave her a book to look at:

Much to Mommy & Daddy's surprise, Madeline sat up for a few minutes all on her own! She even turned the page!

Of course she fell over eventually (and we were there to catch her), but we figure she must have made a new year's resolution last night. Maybe she thought something like this...

I'm sick of laying on the floor all the time - I want a new & different view of things! I guess I'll just have to show mom and dad that I can sit up on my own!!!

New Year's Eve

After a lot more driving we finally made it back home to Ohio. It felt so good to be home after being in the car for so long. Madeline didn't stay up to watch the ball drop, but she had fun playing with her favorite blanket before she went to bed...

Another Christmas Party

Today we went to our last Christmas Party. All of our relatives from Grandma Judy's family were there. Here is a 4 generation picture with Great-Grandma Weiers, Grandma Judy, Mom & Madeline. There were soooo many great-aunts, great-uncles and cousins there, that we couldn't take a picture with all of them (70+), but here is one with cousin Cassie.

Today Madeline gave us the picture she made for us yesterday.

She looked so cute with that green bow in her hair :-) After the party we packed up the car and started the long drive back to Ohio. It was extra crowded because we were taking Aunt Alyssa back with us too! We made it all the way to Illinois, before we stopped to sleep for a few hours. We'll drive the rest of the way tomorrow so that we make it back to celebrate New Years at home :-)

Making A Picture For Mom & Dad

Today Grandma Judy, Aunt Alyssa and Aunt Melanie got to babysit while mom and dad went to a show in St. Paul. Everyone helped Madeline make a very special Christmas present for us.

They got out all the paints and got their hands (and feet) dirty!

When they were all done they had a pictures of a reindeer made out of handprints and a footprint.

Then it was time for a bath.

Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated two birthdays: Mommy's (Dec. 21st) and Mommy's Goddaughter, Alyshia's (Dec 20th). Alyshia is our cousin and she really liked meeting and playing with Madeline.

We showed her how Madeline plays in her new jumper, and everyone laughed :-)Madeline even got to sit at the big person table to watch us blow out our candles! It was a fun day meeting new relatives and celebrating birthdays :-)

Christmas at Great-Uncle Marv & Great Aunt Kim's

After getting ready at Grandma Judy's house we all went to Marv & Kim's house for a Christmas Party. Madeline's Santa Hat was a hit!

Here she is with Great-Uncle Marv... and Cousin Greta... and Cousin Taylor... and Cousin Lilly! The whole day was soo much fun :-) We played games, exchanged gifts and all of the grown-ups ate way too much. We couldn't imagine a better Christmas!

Madeline's First Christmas!

It's Christmas morning! Madeline was the first to wake up, so she took it upon herself to go around to eveyone's rooms and wake them up, one-by-one! Everyone was still pretty sleepy, but they woke up to see what Santa had brought for everyone.

At Grandma Judy's house Santa alway's hides everyone's stockings, so Madeline had to find hers... It was in the cabinet!

Now it's time to look inside.She got christmas ornaments, Baby Eistien CD's & DVD's and some bows to go in her hair :-)

She also got a ball that lights up, plays music and moves around on it's own.

AND, she got a Christmas outfit from Grandma - it even had a santa hat! We put the hat on her right away. What a perfect outfit for Christmas, everyone thought she was sooo cute :-)

Time to open more gifts!

Soooo many presents!!!!

All this gift opening made her soooo tired. Time for a quick nap before we go to Great-Uncle Marv and Great-Aunt Kim's House to celebrate with more of the family!

Christmas Eve at Grandma Judy's

After 10 hours of driving we finally made it to Grandma Judy's at 4:30AM Christmas Eve morning!

Aunt Melanie couldn't wait to cuddle with Madeline :-)

Later that morning Madeline showed everyone how she could stand up without any help from Dad!

Great Grandma Deutsch came over and she got her two books and some Christmas ornaments :)

That evening we all got together and opened Christmas Presents -

it was sooo fun! Everyone got something

(but we think Madeline took in the biggest pile of presents).

Aunt (Godmother) Alyssa gave her a Xavier hat and a new t-shirt.

Aunt Melanie got her a Vikings dinnerware set!

After we opened some of our gifts it was time to go to church. Madeline slept through most of it - we think all of the beautiful singing helped her sleep :-)

Everyone went to bed when we got home, so that Santa could come while we were sleeping. It's almost Christmas!!!