9 months!!

Time for another update for my little Maddie Marie! At nine months she:

• Had her first big fall. She fell off my bed when I stepped out of the room and got 2 big scrapes on her nose. Mom for he win.

  

  Notice her poor nose?

• On a related note, she is mobile! She has an adorable crawl, and beat her sister to it by 1 month.
• She feeds herself finger foods quite well. 
• Her favorite treats are graham crackers. After she stuffs one in her face, she squeals for more until she gets it. 
• She now has 4 big teeth, two on top and two on bottom, but is growing 2 more on top. And let me tell you, this teething bout has been the WORST!
• Every morning when I go in to get her, she has the blankets over her face. Once she hears me, she pulls them off and grins at me. Best way to be greeted first thing in the morning. 
• She prefers my phone to any other toy.

  

  A slobbery faced shot of her teeth

• She already has the fake crying and tantrum throwing down. 
• She still prefers being held and bouncing on my hip over any other activity
• She loves walks
• I don't want to jinx it, but lately she has been a fabulous sleeper, and is automatically sleepy by 9. (which I realize is still late by some of your standards, but that is quite early for us. Abby is an after 10pm night owl)
• She is in size 3 diapers and wears 9 month clothes
• She will not keep bows on her head
• Her jabbering ang giggling are the best sounds in the world.

I can't believe that in 3 very short months, she will be 1. Stop it. Stop the growing. 

Anniversary Weekend

 When we first got married, I knew I wanted to do something fun for our 5th anniversary. I also remember thinking it seemed like sooo far away. Well it has come and gone, and here we are starting out our 6th year of marriage. And life is good.

Since it was the first time leaving my babies, I wanted to stay close. We decided on Midway and it was absolutely the best decision ever. On Friday, our anniversary, we dropped the girls off at my sisters and headed out. We had bought a Groupon for The Homestead Resort. Well, upon trying to check in, we found out that Groupon never sent the information to the Homestead. Usually that would have been ok, but they were completely booked. Thankfully the Zermatt (their sister hotel) had space so we were able to get a room over there. It was an super nice place, and it looked like we were in Switzerland or something. (the only downside: no free breakfast and it ended up costing us $30 more. Still worth it though.)

After we got checked in, we quickly changed into our swimsuits and headed to swim in the Crater. The water was so warm, and we got to soak in it for almost an hour. Perfect start to our trip. We didn't get any pictures of us on that day, except back at the hotel room, but we later went back and took these gems.

Post Crater swim

After the Crater, we went and got pizza at this cute little Italian place. It was so good and fun and quaint.We then stopped by the store for some goodies and headed back to our hotel to swim. They had a great indoor/outdoor swimming pool, and two pretty great hot tubs. We then spent the rest of the night eating our candy and watching tv.

So, I should mention that I was so focused on getting everything packed for the kids I forgot a few key items. Namely: our toiletree bag, (which meant to toothbrushes, toothpaste, or deoderant for me to name a few) my pump (which really was awful) and my fan. With no fan noise, I couldn't get to sleep. Finally at about 2:30 my sweet husband called the lobby to see if they could send up a fan. They did and after that I slept great.

We had to check out by 11, so we mozied about, got ready, and left our hotel room. We then ate breakfast at the expensive hotel restaurant and walked around Zermatt and The Homestead for a bit. We walked to the top of the Crater, which had like a billion stairs, and my legs are just starting to not be sore. Midway is so beautiful! We decided if we ever get rich, we are buying a cabin there. And maybe retireing there when we are old.

Looking down into the Crater

The billion stairs

In front of our hotel room

It was such a fantastic weekend together, reconnecting. I'm not going to lie though. Picking up my babies from my sisters was the best. They were both so happy to see us. Maddi wouldn't stop grinning and bouncing. Abby couldn't wait to tell us all about her weekend. Thanks McGees for taking our cuties!

When we woke up Sunday morning, Sam told me he had taken Monday off so the fun continued the whole weekend. Monday we just hung out around the house and then went to a Bees game that night. We lost big time, but hey, I got my hotdog. (side note: I got a fancy hot dog. I think I will stick with normal hotdogs from here on out.)

It was the perfect weekend spent with the love of my life. Happy 5 years Sam. Here is to many, many more.

Abbyisms

"How do I look?" she asked me.

I can't believe how many cute things Abby says daily. Half the stuff I don't even know where she gets it from. I want to hurry and write them down before I forget.

• "I'm cold! I'm freezing, frickin cold!"
• One day as I was getting out a sippy cup for her, aparently she didn't like the one I got. In her most disgusted-teenage-like voice she said: "Green? Really?"
• One day as she was going poop, she exclaimed: "It's gonna be a huge one. My poopies are going to build a snowman!"
• Almost everyday when hugging Maddie, "We are best friends!"
• "Maddie is so cute the big goo!"
• "I have a friend Emily. She is 40 months."
• As we were getting ready to leave the house, "Let's go dear."
• "I love Grammy. She is sooo cute like a baby!"
• "I love Papa. He is a good guy."

And my personal favorite:

• "There's a monster in my gina!"

There you have it, just a few of the many, many things my Abbigale says.

The Time I Danced With The MoTab

Clear back in 2004, I had the oppertunity to dance in the Tabernacle Choirs Christmas concert. They have lots of dancers now, but I was among the first group of dancers to perform. Natrually, the best group. It was an AMAZING experience. Audra McDonald was the guest singer, and Peter Graves was the narrator. My part was only a small one, but the impact it had on me was huge. I have always loved performing. That is probably 80% why I love to dance, and to perform in front of thousands of people was just amazing. 

If you look close, I am in this little clip a few times. (hint, 1:50 and 2:09, but don't blink.) 

This whole experience was just amazing. Even Rehearsing in the Conference Center was awesome. I am very blessed to have had this experience

After the concerts were over, I remember being so emotional because to me, performing there with the Tabernacle Choir, it didn't get any better. I danced again in 2005, but for some reason I didn't love it as much. It was still a great experience, but it just wasn't the same. Different dance instructor, and different dancers. Still, I am so lucky to have done this twice.