Swimming Swimming In The Swimming Pool!!!!

Well our little one was like a fish in the swimming pool. Sign her up for Swim Team!!! She is ready to follow in her Mom's footsteps already. It was such a great experience being able to watch her giggle and laugh. Its awesome that she is not afraid of the water. Below are the videos that Jamie took while Maddie and I splashed around at her first Shrimp Class at the Y!

Wait there is more!

WAIT THERE IS MORE!!!!

What a blessing both my ladies are. They sure know how to light up my world.

This is what life is all about!

Pat

Our Little Shrimp

What a great weekend!!!! We have had a lot of things going on lately that it was so nice to have a relaxing weekend! Saturday Maddie spent the day/night with my parents so Pat and I could spend the day together and go on a date!! We did some shopping for someone's first birthday, hit up a movie, and then ended the day with a nice dinner downtown. It was strange not having Maddie with us, but that didn't stop us from talking about her! When we picked her up yesterday we were so anxious to spend the day lounging around. . . .until it was time to go to her first swim class! Swim class today. . . .high school tomorrow? It is so hard for me to believe that she is almost a year old already. We can both see a big difference in her, it is amazing! Here are some shots of her over the past few days!

One of Maddies favorite things. . .opening the mail!

And playing with shoes. . . .

And climbing up and down on the furniture. . .

And eating of course. . . .spaghetti!

Here are some pictures from our first swim class! Pat decided he was going to get in with her for the first class and I would take pictures. At one point I actually got choked up (big baby. . .I know) because she was having SO MUCH fun! Her giggles said it all!

1 . .2. . .3. . .JUMP!

Riding the raft with the teacher

Dancing and singing with daddy

More dancing and singing. . .

More to come later this week I am sure . . . . . we always have something new and interesting to report! Have a great week!

Goodbye January. . . .

I can honestly say that we are happy to have January behind us!!! My 30+ hour weeks have come to an end which makes me one happy girl!!! Plus, with January gone, that is one more cold month that we have make it through. I personally cant wait for spring to get here. Maddie has so much energy that it will be nice to get her outside once it warms up!!

The last week of January Pat and I got to experience 2 new things. Tuesday I got to watch my friend Shiela's little guy while she had a meeting at work. Everything went fine and we had a great time, but 1 thing is for sure. . . . .I tip my hat off to parents of multiples!!! With Keegan and Maddie both mobile, it was funny to see them both take off!!!

Keegan and Maddie playing!

To wrap up the month of January, we got to welcome a new baby to our circle of friends. . . .Sophia Marie Castillo was born on her due date!! We made our way to the hospital to meet Maddie's new playmate! It is a blessing to watch your friends enter the wonderful world of parenting!

Introducing. . . Miss Sohpia Marie

Maddie checking out her new friend

Pat hanging out with Sophia

We wrapped up the weekend spending some time with friends! I won Brewers on Deck tickets from Fox 6 this week so Pat and Ryan headed downtown with Louie and Jordan to see what autographs they could get. From what they described, it was very busy!!! Each player gives out 250 autographs. . . .Ryan was #250 in Robin Younts line! (Talk about lucky!) Pat was able to get a few shots of him getting a jersey signed. I think my favorite story of the day. . . . .Ryan says to Kari and I . . . . .

"So I am in the bathroom doing my thing when in walks this guy who starts "going" right next to me. There are plenty of urinals open and he decides to stand right next to me. I briefly look at him and realize, IT'S ROBIN YOUNT! Yep, thats right, Robin took a pee right next to me!"

GREAT story Ryan, I love it!!!

The jersey Ryan picked out for the event!


Just hanging out on a Sunday afternoon!


Big smile for mom. . . .no nap so I decided to snap some shots!

Have a great week!

11 Months Old

Today marks Maddie's 11 month birthday. . . .you know what that means?!?!?!?!? Next month she will be 1 already! It hardly seems possible! At 11 months old she has a good idea of what she wants and what she doesn't want. It is so much fun to see her little personality start to really shine through.

Not much has changed since my 10 month update. . .but there are a few things.

Likes at 11months:

**Still #1 - EATING! I have to make sure to feed her some baby food before she sees "adult food" otherwise she has her mind set on eating whatever Pat or I have!

**Walking along all of the funiture as well as taking a good 8-10 steps on her own. She is very brave! She will let go and take off thinking she is superwoman. Of course she tumbles quite often, but what can you expect?

**Her new thing is pointing at everything! We notice that she likes to point her little finger up her nose! She is just wanting to explore!

**Shoes. . . she loves to go find our shoes and play with them

Dislikes at 11 months:

**Naps - does that sound familiar? This is a continuous work in progress

**Winter coat and hat. . . .we always win this battle, but she does put up a good fight!

This past week was a busy week here as we had a lot going on! With January being so busy I managed to work about 32 hours. Gosh, I hate to complain over 32 hours when I used to do 50, but things are much different now. Pat was out of town last week for work, so keeping up with things around the house, working, and taking care of her kept me hopping! At least I had the moms to help me out which is a huge relief! **Thanks moms** Overall we had a good week and weekend though, so no complaints!! We heard that Maddie will be getting a new playmate at the end of summer which is exciting! It is so fun to have friends having kids! We spent a lot of time playing and enjoying the rest of our weekend!

I love the expression on her face! "Mom, really? I am trying to eat!"

Playdate w/ Maddie's friends Keegan and Ella! Doesn't it look like they are having a serious conversation?

Who needs toys when you have a diaper bag to play with?

They sure love their puffs!

Too much playing = 1 tired baby!

Pat's new way of keeping Maddie's hands out of her diaper while she is getting changed. . . . .using her shirt like a straight jacket!

More fun things to report later this week!

Go Go Go. . . .

Another week has come and gone! I have come to realize that my mental imagine of Maddie is way off!! I guess I am having a hard time realizing that she is almost a year old already. I just got done scheduling her 1 year check-up as well as her 1 year photo shoot with the Spottswoods! Wow. . . .and then I have to laugh to myself when I pick up a 12 month outfit in her closet and say, "Gosh, this is huge, maybe you will fit into it in a few months!" Well. . . . .IT FITS HER! When we got these outfits as gifts it felt like she would never wear them - wake up Jamie!

Maddie continues to make us laugh and shake our heads each and every day. She got to spend some quality daddy and grandparent time this weekend! My husband surprised me with a day/night in Appleton with my soon to be sister-in-law. It was a nice for me to get out and for Pat to kick back with Maddie!

She is getting pretty good at this walking thing - she just wants to go!!!

She is pretty cocky too! (where did she get that from?) She thinks she can do anything!

Our little rockstar - compliments of her Rock & Roll Auntie Jilly!

Reading to grandma and grandpa - one of her favorite things to do!

Have a great week!

So Close. . . . .

to WALKING that is! :) Pat and I have been working very hard on helping Maddie to walk. Well, we are happy to report she is doing great!! We have been offering her little "treats" to trick her into walking to us. Over the weekend she was able to take about 5 steps on her own, it was so exciting!! As we are helping her to master this I was thinking to myself, "Crap, we are going to be chasing her even more now!" Oh well, it is well worth it. I'm just waiting for the day that she stands up and walks across the room by herself. . . .it will be here before we know it!

It was a nice relaxing weekend for us! It started out with a play date with Maddie's friend Ella. . . .so nice to see the girls together. We spent some time with Maddie soon-to-be new friend Sophia. . . she will be entering the world in a few short weeks.

All and all, a nice weekend for all. Maddie also got her new taste of some treats we got for her. We were at the store and I say to Pat, "Do you think Maddie will like these crunchers?" He turns, looks at me, and rolls his eyes. . . ."Really Jamie, do you need to ask that?" He is right. . .that kid eats everything. So we got them . . . .and. . . .SHE LOVES THEM!

Play date w/ Ella Metz. The girls loved the paper - imagine that!

So serious Maddie. . .cute none the less!

Maddie w/ the ornament Ella got her for Xmas.

Hanging out with dad!

Is it really 2010?

Wow, it is hard to believe that we are in January already!! For me, this month will be a busy one at work as everyone is geared up for their New Year's Resolutions! The Y has been busy, but that's ok by me! It has given Pat a chance to spend some quality time with his favorite little lady!!

With it being January one other thing hit me. . . .someones first birthday is next month - can you believe it?? Pat and I started talking about it the other day and couldn't believe that we have to start planning that. We tend to forget that Maddie is almost 11th months old already. I can only speak for myself, but it feels like she is still 6 months old in my head!! (wishful thinking I guess) She has been making the both of us laugh so much lately with all of her new "tricks" . . . .and she has quite a few of them!

All of her toys tend to make music, so what does that mean. . . .DANCING OF COURSE! She will stand there and dance to the music and it is the cutest thing. She is also waving bye and attempts to say it, but hasn't nailed it just yet. "SO BIG" is also a new favorite that she does all day long!!! Pat and I think we have an actress on our hands as she loves to fake cough and then laugh about it when she is done! Last, but certainly not least. . . . . .she will offer you her snack, and when you go to eat it, she will pull it back and stick it in her mouth. The best part of the entire thing. . . .the giggle she makes after she puts it in her mouth - PRICELESS!

She continues to grow right before our eyes and amazes us each and every day!

SO BIG!

Eating. . . .still her favorite thing to do!


Notice the ball in her hand - she will chase that thing around for hours!

On the move like usual. . .

I have the weekend off , so I will have many more pictures to post soon!