Harvest Fest

I finally made it back to church this Sunday for the first time since I've been pregnant I think. I wasn't feeling so great through church and was feeling pretty bummed about how I felt. After church Daniel surprised me with my birthday present a little early. I FINALLY got a new camera! A Nikon D40! He gave it to me so we could use it for our annual Christchurch Harvest Fest. We got it charged just in time, but I still have lots of practice. It's a pretty complicated camera!
Anyway, Harvest Fest is one of my favorite things we have at our church and I was really looking forward to it this year since Madeleine is old enough to enjoy it. Luckily, I was feeling much better than I did at church that morning! I already missed out on her and Daniel's trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We had a band, lots of games, hay rides, BBQ, and trunk or treat. Madeleine actually kept her entire costume on the whole night. I thought she would at least get rid or the hat! She has not stopped talking about hay rides, pumpkins, animals and of coarse candy. Madeleine is officially addicted to candy now. I am in for a lifetime of tantrums in the check out lines.

Little Things

Madeleine has been cracking me up when I listen to her play with her toys these days. For example, I saw her making the mommy and daddy kiss in her doll house. She is really good at manipulating them. She used to get really frustrated when she couldn't make them sit down in a chair or on the potty. When she would get mad at them she would bite them!! She does this a lot to her toys but, luckily not other people!!! Atleast besides me :) Madeleine also loves to make her babies and animals do things that she does like eating and changing their diapers. She always wants to take toys away with her in the car or when we go places. She just amazes me with how grown up she is now!!!!
As for my pregnancy we are still plugging along. Last Friday I broke down and called my doctor. I couldn't stand being sick any more and I was ready to see if I had any other options. I was starting to worry that I was dehydrated or that the baby was missing out on necessary nutrition. Fortunately they were very proactive and referred me to a obstetrical home nurse. They have my medication set up through an iv at home!!! Today they came and gave me a bag of fluids and I'm feeling pretty good. I even ate a piece of pizza for lunch! Praise the Lord! Maybe things will continue to improve. I'm feeling very hopeful at this point :)

Lizards

Daniel and Madeleine found a baby lizard in her room the other day. Even worse, I found a dead one under Daniels pillow!!!! Where are they coming from!!!!!????? I guess there could be grosser pests in my house but still, get OUT! Madeleine doesn't mind the Lizard. She looks for him every day! She has always been fascinated by every animal, bug, and critter. I don't know where she gets it from. Not me!

Sticker Love

I have not thought about getting stickers for Madeleine until recently when they were in the $1 bin at Target. I bet they are always there. Anyway, she loves stickers and they occupy her forever!!! One day I put one on her hand before dropping her off at school and she still had it on when I picked her up! Hopefully I can start using them for rewards, I need something besides food!

We're Pregnant!

We're so excited that Madeleine is going to have a little sister or brother on the way! A long way at this point, but it looks like the due date is May 14th. Honestly, I knew I was pregnant before I even took a test because I could feel it! And with early pregnancy tests these days you can find out way too soon. I feel like I have been pregnant forever already! I woke really early one morning and couldn't resist taking the test. I told Daniel that he could sleep in and Madeleine and I went to the grocery store to make a special breakfast. I changed Madeleine into a "I'm the Big Sister" t-shirt in the parking lot at the store and we picked up what we needed. When we got home Daniel was up already and helped us unload. He never noticed the shirt, just like a guy :) So I pointed out to him that she had a new shirt on. He was soooo surprised and we had a wonderful breakfast! That night we had dinner at Me Me and De De's . Me Me bought steak and a live lobster for dinner to celebrate. But really the lobster was for Madeleine. :) She loved it! And, I must say it was the finest lobster I have ever had in my life!!!!!

Even though we are very excited I must say I HATE the first trimester (and hopefully not more than that.) I have been very sick since about 6 weeks. I am able to take the nausea medication Zofran and I have actually found it to be somewhat helpful so far. Luckily, I was able to get Madeleine in for an extra day at MMO, so she is now going on MWF through November!! My wonderful friend Mary is helping on Tuesday and Jeanne is the rest: house cleaner/dinner/errand running/babysitting super grandmother/mother-in- law for all the other things that have needed filling in. And all I can say for Daniel is just that he is PATIENT! Very patient, loving, and wonderful! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family, and support. Hopefully we will move on from this phase sooner than later. For now, my patience will continue to be tested and refined. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and that we will move on quickly :)

You may notice that Madeleine is eating hot buffalo wing pretzels. She LOVES them. They are Daniel's favorite snack and she always asks for a bite so we let her have one thinking she would not like them and leave us alone. It totally back fired. She wants them every time we pull out a bag. And yes, it was 6:30 in the morning on the way to the grocery store. They were in the car and she spotted them. Not having breakfast yet I gave in :)

And please remember, I cannot take good pictures, nor will she stay still long enough for me to get a decent shot. I will have a new camera before we have this Baby!

Playset

Finally I'm posting about the beautiful playset Daniel built for Madeleine this past August!!! It took many, many, many hours to put together and a lot of brains :)! Madeleine is loving her new swing set and is actually pretty good at letting Daniel push her in the big girl swing. I won't do it because I'm still scared she's going to let go and I'll push her out. She loves the play house which has a little mail box and a door bell. She also loves climbing up and down the slide as well as sending other objects flying down! I'm sure there will be many pics in the future of her playing on her new playset. Especially now that it's cooling down. Finally!!!