She makes me laugh...

Madi has "found" her tongue and has spent the last two days spitting at anything and everything. It cracks me up every time she does it! She is seriously the cutest girl EVER!!! :)

Dinner Time...

To show that we truely do feed Madi healthy food, we are sharing with you her first experience with Gerber Spagetti and Beef and for dessert... Gerber Vanilla Custard with Bananas!

Madi's first cone...

We got Madi her first ice cream cone from McDonald's. I ate the top off and gave her the cone. She was freaking out when she saw it and kept grabbing at it. I set it on her tray and she picked it right up.

She dug right in!It only took about 15 seconds before she cried because her fingers were too cold! I took the cone from her and she screamed louder reaching for it back! So, mommy helped her.When it got to the bottom I took it and threw the rest away. I told her "all done" and she burst into tears!So sad... I always thought I would be strict with food, especially the first year. But she is just such an sweetie that we do give her a treat every now and then. :)

My girl...

Friends...

We ran to Wal-Mart the other day and the lady at the door gave Taylor and Madi stickers. When we got home the girls were sitting on the couch and Madi kept trying to take Taylor's sticker.

Taylor was not about to give up her sticker and Madi was so bummed! She looked at mom for help!Taylor showed Madi her sticker and then Madi seemed to be okay with it. It was pretty funny to watch the two of them. My angel....

Playtime...

Fertile Dreams...

We applied for an IVF grant last March and were chosen among the 20 finalists. We found out today that we were not selected to receive the grant. I thought I would be bummed but sitting here with my beautiful daughter I'm actually not. We have been so blessed to have Madi and we are grateful to Mindy every day! Someday we do hope that Madi will have brothers and sisters but for now we are loving each moment with our little girl!

Taylor's 3!!!

Yesterday was Taylor's birthday. She was so cute! She got her clothes out of her bag to get dressed and she was so excited to show me her cute new outfit that her Grandma gave her. After we got Madi to sleep we played with the camera a little. She LOVES to get her pictures taken. What a cutie!!!

So spoiled...

Derrick made this Valentine's Day so special! He fixed us a great dinner, brought me flowers and gave me a beautiful necklace! Here is a side view...

The necklace was kind of to replace one he gave me a few years ago. Last April I was at my Grandma's spending the night and took it off and set it on the sewing table. I forgot to put it on the next morning and she had all the family over for dinner. Two of my cousins (age 2) played in there and I searched everywhere and couldn't find it. It is now my brother's room and he was moving into a different room so I told him to keep an eye out for it.

On Tuesday morning he called me. He mentioned to Grandma that he was looking for it and guess what??? She had it!!! She had asked all her girls if it was theirs and she didn't know who else to ask. Where did she find it??? Under the stairs, in the CHRISTMAS TREE!!! Seriously, why didn't I check there first??? :D

Anyway, I love the necklace and thought it was so sweet of him to do that for me. He is a great husband and I couldn't ask for anyone better to share my life, my dreams and my future with! I love you Derrick!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

For Madi's first Valentine's Day we got her Tinkerbell (the movie) with the money from Grandma and Grandpa. She LOVES Tinkerbell. We tried to show her some toys and other things but she wanted Tinkerbell. It was too cute! Mom and Dad Hawkins came home on Sunday so we were able to spend some time with them. It was great to see them and will be so nice to have them back!

We were invited to my brother's fiances house for dinner Sunday night. We met her family and had a great time chatting and learning more about Annie. She is great and we are thrilled that she is going to be part of our family!

Oh Baby!!!

There are several people I know that are pregnant right now and those that know the gender are all having girls!!! Madi will have five new cousins in the next few months and they are ALL girls! I am so excited for her to have some little friends!

I went to a shower on Saturday for one of the cousins. Laura is due on March 4th with her first. She married Derrick's cousin, Jameson. We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet Rachel! I made her a hooded towel and a little "cake". It was so fun to make. It is the first one I have done! Hope you liked it guys!

My Valentine....

For Valentine's Day I made Derrick a coupon book. In the last envelope I included a gift card to McDonalds. He was thrilled! It's his favorite place and I hate McDonalds so he rarely gets it.

Good News...

Last week we found out that for the time being M&M is not going to sell so Derrick still has a job! Yea!!!

Sweet dreams...

At about six this morning I heard Madi so I went to check on her. She was still asleep but this is how she was sleeping! She is scooting and squirming all over and she has started using the spindles on her crib to pull herself to the top of her crib and turn herself over. She had done this a couple days ago too but she also had her nose poking through that time. Wish I'd have had my camera then! :)

Better than ever...

I have dreamed of being a mom pretty much my whole life. Now that I am, it is so much better than I could have ever imagined! I don't mind getting up during the night, in fact some nights I make her a bottle and go wake her up because I miss holding her. I love to cuddle with her and I love the sweet smile she has! I love that she knows that I am her mommy and that Derrick is her daddy. I love her face when she looks at the picture of us in the hallway. I love the sounds she makes when she wakes up and lays there playing until I come get her. I love her little cry and the way she sticks her lip out. I love how excited she gets to see me and how she loves when I talk to her and play with her. I love dressing her in cute little outfits. I love her smell. I love her chubby rolls. I love everything about her and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be her mom. She makes every day wonderful! I am so glad I have such an amazing husband to share the journey with. What a great life!

Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!

I am so frustrated with Derrick's job! Every week they give us a new date to know one way or the other about the sale. We hear new rumors every day going every way. Their down payment was due yesterday and the VP said he would let Derrick know today. Derrick was just told that they won't know today and it could be as long as March 1st before they know. This is ridiculous!!! It's either yes or no. JUST TELL US!!!!

Finally Final...

After many stressful days of getting everything ready we were able to keep our Feb. 4th court date and yesterday Judge Morris finalized our adoption and named us Madi's legal parents! What an exciting and emotional day! (It was during Madi's nap time so Madi was exhausted!) We will get a DVD with the proceedings and when we do I will try to post that.

Although yesterday was a special day, we are most excited for March 20th when we can bring her to the temple and have her sealed to us for all eternity! We will be blessing her later that day.

Six Month Pictures...

We have played around some with the camera this week. Madi does not love having her pictures taken. There are a few that I thought were pretty cute but I still love her five month pictures better! Maybe we will have to try some more next week. :)

This is my favorite one. Madi has her finger(s) in her mouth at least 85% of the day. She loves chewing on them.

Madi has started sucking her lips in the last few weeks. I thought it might be fun to break out an old jacket from high school. It of course drowned her! Maybe we will try again when she is two and can actually put her arms in the sleeves! :)

"Please mom! No more pictures!!!!"

Play time...

Since Madi is sitting now we have brought out a few toys that we thought she may like. Taylor LOVES the ball popper and Madi is content to just watch them pop. She doesn't even bat an eye when one pops her in the head. :) I love this one!We got Madi the V-Tech Crawl Ball for Christmas. She LOVES it! She gets so frusterated when it rolls out of reach. She is starting to get up on her knees and is rocking back and forth a little. I am sure she will be crawling in no time!

Sounds of the night...

Madi is a GREAT sleeper and usually goes to bed at eight or nine and then wakes up at five or six. Sunday's are the exception. Since we moved to eleven o'clock church she goes down for her afternoon nap late. Last Sunday I woke her up at eight because I was worried she would be up and ready for the day by three if I didn't. Well, I should have woke her up at seven or maybe even six.

At 3:11 she was up and she was ready to play! I fed her and changed her and rocked her and sang to her and she still wanted to play. I put her in her bed with one of her favorite little friends, her seahorse that plays music and lights up. Once she started talking to her I had to get out the camera. I hope you enjoy her sweet sounds as much as I do! What an angel!!!

Six months...

Last Saturday was Madi's half birthday. She is six months old! It is amazing how fast the time has gone. We went to Sparetime for a little celebration. We let her ride on a merry-go-round and in the batmobile. She really didn't seem amused. :) Derrick and I bowled and she enjoyed watching us. We got her an outfit for the spring/summer. We had a great day as a family!

Madi has started scooting herself all over. On Saturday after we got her ready, we went to get ready and it got a little quiet in her room so we went to check on her. She was playing with her FAVORITE thing that mom always moves her away from... her drapes!

It is so funny to watch her when she gets so excited. She kind of forgets to breath and sometimes we have to put our hand on her chest and remind her. She loves to play in her drapes. I think it is because they are textured and somewhat sheer so she is able to learn and see things differently. I love her sounds and her smiles!