One sick January...

Well, baby girl. You have had a rough month! You were diagnosed with RSV/Pneumonia and were out of daycare for a full week! You took your first round of antibiotics which upset your tummy and had to do awful breathing treatments every four hours. You screamed and cried at first and it broke our hearts to give you the treatments, but eventually you got used to them and would snuggle up and watch tv while you were treated.  Thankfully you got better quickly and your cough is completely gone now.  Unfortunately, Mom caught the flu from your RSV so Daddy has been running the show around here this week.  We are both so lucky to have him in our lives as he has taken care of both of us without one complaint! We were nervous that all the illness around here would knock you back a bit, but you are as strong as ever. In fact, you crawled all the way up the stairs for the first time all by yourself yesterday! We couldn't believe you made it all the way up. You giggled and thought it was the coolest thing.  You have also been really into dancing/music lately, and you love to push your walker toys that you got for Christmas all around the house. Here you are in action:

First Christmas!

Dear Maddy,

The Christmas season is among us! This will be your first Christmas and Dad and I are so excited! We have always loved Christmas and now will enjoy it even more. We truly hope that we can share with you the true meaning of Christmas over the years and that you can grow up wanting to give rather than to receive and that you remember the birth of Christ our savior as the purpose of the holiday! Here is the timeline of your first Christmas:

1. Sat on Santa's lap (no online picture available, but let's describe it as "cute and pouty" as you were not too happy to sit on his lap!!!

2. Visit with Grandmommy and Grandaddy: On their way to Mama's house, Grandmommy and Grandaddy stopped by to visit you. You opened your very first Christmas present, a doll baby, that you love to snuggle and play with!

3. Visit with Grammy and Grandpa Tom: Grammy and Grandpa Tom came to stay with us the weekend before Christmas. On Saturday night, Uncle Paul and Shel came over and we all had a big ham and turkey dinner (you tried turkey, ham, green beans, and a roll for the first time!) and opened presents.  You got a huge pink teddy bear that you clearly love as seen in this video:

4. Christmas Eve at Uncle Mitch and Aunt Stacey's: After a 3 pm church service, we headed to Uncle Mitch and Aunt Stacey's house where we ate a yummy meal and opened a TON of presents- you are one loved girl! You danced with the singing bears and Santas that they have in their house and were passed around for every family member to love on you! You stayed up way past your bedtime, but were a champ and only fussed a little bit towards the end of the night. All the excitement of the day caught up with you though as you slept until 7:45 the next morning!! Here you are on Christmas eve in the Christmas dress Mommy wore 31 years ago for her first Christmas:

5. Christmas Morning with Mom and Dad: This was the most fun Christmas morning we have ever had! Once you woke up, we gave you the presents that Santa brought to you: a rocking horse and a spinning Elmo chair! You loved them both and played with them immediately. After that we all opened our stockings and then at breakfast. Once that was finished, we opened the rest of the presents and then spent the rest of the rainy, cold day inside enjoying each others company! You brought a whole new level of joy to Christmas day- watching you play, laugh, and learn makes our hearts so happy! We can't wait  to start fun traditions and enjoy the holiday season together for many many years to come! Here is a video of you riding your rocking horse for the first time and some pics of you on Christmas morning (wearing my pj's from my first Christmas):

First Thanksgiving

Dear baby girl,

We've been super busy and bad about posting lately. Here is a picture of you on your first Thanksgiving to catch up:

On the way to Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle Mitch and Aunt Stacey's house!

Purpose in the midst of sadness...

 We drove to McKenzie, Tennessee on 11/1/12 to attend my grandfather's funeral.  Your great grandpa Bateman would have loved you to pieces. He would always say that "there could be no wrong in the world when you were holding a cute little baby." While it was very sad to say goodbye to him, he hadn't been living a good quality of life and we know he is now in a better place.  You were such a joy to have at the viewing and funeral alike. I really think you brightened people's spirits. When we visited great grandma at the nursing home, she smiled so big when you sat in her lap!

The weekend was emotionally draining, but the preacher who spoke at the funeral really left me thinking. He spoke about purpose and how Grandpa was a man of purpose.  He lived for God and thought about His desires before proceeding with any action.  Grandpa always thought of others first and I always saw this, but never thought of the purpose of this.  Like all other aspects of his life, he chose to think of others first, even when it wasn't the easiest thing to do.  He chose to attend church every Sunday. He chose to invest in his marriage that lasted for 60+ years.  He chose to lead by example in his town. He chose to put family first. He chose to read scripture and share it with others.  He chose to laugh every day to spread joy to those around him. I always saw these things, but just thought that he did these things because he was a good person. When the preacher spoke at his funeral though, I realized that he had a purpose everyday that was larger than himself.  His purpose was to know God and help others know Him, and I believe that he succeeded and is with Him in heaven now.

All the thought of purpose got me thinking about you.  You have brought a new meaning to the word purpose. I pray that Dad and I can live with a purpose and model this to you. I pray that you will learn to live with purpose. I pray that your purpose ties directly to God's purpose for you. I pray that you will analyze and think before you act. I pray that you will be a good example to those around you. I pray that you make the right choices for your life, whatever they may be. I pray that you live life to the fullest and appreciate the small things. Mostly though, I pray that when you inevitably lose your way as we all do from time to time, that you will know and experience the love, forgiveness, and guidance that comes from the One who gives us all purpose.

If we didn't see it we wouldn't believe it

Well, you continue to amaze us. You crawled early and now you have started pulling up too! Mommy was on the phone with daddy on 11/5/12. We were sitting on the floor and Mommy was resting her arm on her knee. You reached your little hands up and pulled yourself up to standing! We were both shocked. Since then you have pulled up on several tables and your crib like the picture below (we have now moved your mattress lower). You have only had one major problem since starting this new venture: you slipped off a side table and cut your lip with your new tooth. There was a little blood and a few tears and then you were right back up again!

Moving and Shaking...

5 months has come quickly and you are surprising us each day with new and exciting things! You are quite sturdy when you sit up now and you are absolutely loving peek-a-boo right now. You cackle with delight! Just yesterday (10/15- I'm late in actually publishing this post) you crawled for the first time.  Grandmommy put glow worm out in front of you and you took two big strides to get to it.  We can't believe how fast you are moving around (we better get baby proofing soon). You have about half of a bottom tooth sticking out and your top two teeth are working hard on popping through.  You are eating rice cereal regularly and now eat both carrots and green beans. We can't wait to have you try more options in the upcoming weeks!

 Here you are modeling your new hats for the cold weather we've been having:

4 months and lots of changes...

We can't believe you are already four months old (actually closer to five since I'm late posting this). Your four month appointment was on 9/19 and you were a champ for everything (except the shots). You were laughing and smiling and talking to Dr. Dewling, but then you screamed when the nurse gave you your shots. Poor thing, you had a tough time this round. We kept you out of daycare the next day as you had a fever that just wouldn't break and you looked so pitiful. Normally when you're sick, you're still a smiley and happy baby, but not this time! You wanted to be held close all day, so we enjoyed the snuggle time with you!!

At four months, you love to play with your ball from Uncle Rob!

This month you started eating rice cereal.  You didn't love it at first, but have gotten really good at eating from a spoon and now eat it at daycare in the morning and with us at night.  We're excited to start some other veggies with you this weekend. We'll see how that goes...

First time eating rice cereal! 

This month you also started "sitting up." We won't give you full credit yet, as you can't sit up for long periods of time, but your back is strong and you will sit up for stretches of 20-30 seconds on your own and bend to play with toys and come back up on your own. We can't believe how strong you are!!!

Four Month Stats:

weight: 15 lbs 8 oz
height: 25.5 in
head circumference: 16.6 in
likes: bouncing, baths, playing with balls and toys on your own/ using your hands, trying to sit up and pull up
dislikes: sleeping during the daytime, being reclined (put into a sleeping position), basically sleeping anywhere other than someone's arms, tummy time