Testing...Testing...

We are having Madelynn's birthday party next week.  We decided to do cupcakes again this year.  I decided to practice making them this weekend so I can get the coloring right, and the icing technique down.  I also thought it might be a good idea to have Madelynn try one since we remember what happened last year:

Today  was a very different experience... It is amazing what a year can do for one's ability to hold their cupcakes.

Our Diva Is Two

While this must get annoying after each section of time that I write and post little re-caps of her journey, its therapeutic for our family...So get ready for a public therapy session:.

 Two years ago today Madelynn came in to this world unexpectedly and without much hope.  Prior to the C-Sections the neonatal doctors were prepping us for what was potentially to come our way.  The baby will not cry. You will not be able to see her.  Turns out she came out crying for all to hear (Her cord had yet been cut.) , and Jeremy got a chance to see her before the doctors whisked her away.  She scored a high nine on her Apgar test

The next five months were a blur of tests, transfusions, numerous surgeries, oxygen tanks, monitors (which she is still terrified of. So if you have a cell that makes sounds like a hospital monitor please silence it before you watch our child :) ) and touching/holding her in longer increments.  Madelynn came home 5-months to the day of her birth.
She was hooked up with Miss Becca, a PT, and learned how to eat, sleep, roll, scoot, and crawl. 

By the time she turned one her gastronomy tube was out, and she was eating solids. She had made her first road trip, was babbling, and pointing to shapes, people, and body parts.


At eighteen months she became a little person, and not our little baby.  We made a big move, and took her to Washington.  She has grown and developed by leaps and bounds.  We walks, runs, had her first hair cut, teaches Andrew bad habits, and is in daycare.  Pretty soon, save for her size, you won't be able to see signs of prematurity.


She is now 19 pounds and 30 inches. A far cry from the 1 1/2 pounds 11 3/4 inch baby that came into our lives.











Our life has never been the same.  Jermey has become the father he had always wanted to be, and I have become the mother I never thought I was going to be.  With all the heartache, the PTSD, PPD (yep been diagnosised with those....) we would never trade her or the experience for the world.   We love you Madelynn.  You will never know until you're a parent the love we have for you. Your are our light, and purpose.

We love you baby girl.

 

Madelynn's First Hair Cut

Just a day shy of her second birthday, Madelynn got a hair cut courtesy of her Grandma Anderson...Well, it's more like a trim.  Photos below:

My Little Diva

Enough said...

Walking!

She's done it!! Madelynn is walking.  After weeks of taking a step here and there, she has given up crawling and cruises around on two legs. 

The other night Madelynn kept getting in and out of her red chair, and was walking all around the house. There are videos at the end of the photos. 

Summer Photos

I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate some cute photos of Madelynn that didn't really have any purpose... I decided just to throw them on here and call it a summer collection.  She has grown so much in the short two months we've been here.  I am so proud of everything she has accomplished, and how far she has come in her little life.

Playing in the Grass - June

 Jeremy Had a Dog, Copper, and Bought Matching Jackets...

 Playing in the Motel Drawer - July

 Watching "Beauty and the Beast" in Bed

 Little '80s Outfit

 She Loves Bath Time

 I Know I'm Fat Again...But Madelynn is Really Cute

 Stealing Grandpa's Chair

 Madelynn and the Aforementioned Grandpa

 Back Again

 Our Country Pumpkin with Pigtails - August

Madelynn will Sit and Read Wherever and Whenever She Wants

A Couple of Videos

As always, the videos are of Madelynn.  The first is of using her walker, and the second is her attempt at jumping on the trampoline.

Madelynn is a Pick Pocket

If there is a purse, bag or wallet lying around you can bet my child will be pilfering through it.  The case below is her getting into  my purse, and then into my makeup bag. Thankfully she couldn't open the makeup herself, and just played pretend.

Dining with Madelynn

Jeremy and I took a trip to the mainland to register his plates.  When we got to the DOL, the office was closed...It was supposed to be open until 3, but there was a sign on the door saying they had closed early.

Jeremy decided he was hungry, and chose to eat at Outback.   They gave us a kid's menu for Madelynn with crayons.  She really enjoyed coloring.

 

Afterward the waitress boxed up Madelynn's left overs.  Madelynn then thought she would be a waitress too.