Here Comes The First Birthday!

Here Comes The First Birthday! 

I consider myself a pretty realistic and laid back first time mom.  When I was pregnant, I wasn't sure how I would be. Would I be a worry wart about every tiny thing? Would I lay awake at night beside her crib to listen to her breathe? Would I sanitize every thing and every one in my path? Or would I let my child make mud pies? Would I allow her to rule her sleep and not have any type of schedule?  I think I'm a happy medium. I'm not too cautious, not too whimsical. Disclaimer, I do not disapprove to those who are either of those things! I really do think I'm in the middle. I don't let Madison eat dirt, but I don't care if she crawls around on my dusty floors or outside.

So when it came to planning the big FIRST birthday party, I was the same. I didn't want to hire an event planner but I didn't want it to be just us three celebrating it either. We definitely wanted family and close friends. We also wanted something laid back. We were thinking of making it a themed party, but ultimately we didn't. I don't know how to put this without sounding bad, but we kind of don't care. Sure there will be pictures of this wonderful milestone, but I don't think Madison will care if it was Mickey Mouse themed or not. What matters to us is celebrating, playing, spending time with friends and family, and eating gobs of cake and ice cream! 

We did, however, make it a gift theme of books! Madison has tons of toys. Some toys, unless we bring them to her attention, never even get played with! We were scared that all she would get for her birthday would be tons of toys that se will play with for a week or two and then move on to the next big thing! We feel like books have been such a fulfilling and rewarding item that, pardon the cliche, keeps on giving! Especially right now, she loves her books. I think it also has to do with what is associated with books! She sits close to Mommy and/or Daddy and listens to the sounds of our voice as we read the words to her. Some books tell a story, some are simply a melodic rhyme to describe bedtime or how much we love her. She gets to look at the bright pictures and point out the characters with us. It is just a special time and we never tire of it! Except for the BINGO book. It was cute at first, now if I have to sing that song again, Bingo might find himself in the donation pile! Kidding! She loves that book too much, I can't give it away! 

We will be having one of those laid back cook out type parties and there will be a "smash cake" that I hope she digs right on into! I am also one of those Moms that purchased the monogrammed shirt and she will be sporting a tutu that matches! They are just too cute NOT to wear. I do wonder, however, what to do with it after her birthday. I think I will make it into a pillow or something. Or maybe save it and when she goes to college include it in one of those tshirt blankets! How cute would that be?! 

In conclusion, I'm excited and sad about this party. Excited that she is a whole year old and sad that we will be closing the pages on her infancy! Okay... Here come the tears!

Madison and Mommy Go To Newport!

Madison and Mommy Go To Newport!

So about a month and a half ago, my brother in law was going out of town for about 6 weeks. I decided that I wanted to go and help with the adjustment. Madison did so well and I will tell you, it was an eye opener!

Now now, it wasn't in a negative way at all, but it made us realize how involved having multiple kids are! It wasn't a deterrent, but educational! 

The ride to Newport went so smoothly. Madison immediately fell asleep as soon as we left Greenville city limits. She napped the entire way until about 20 minutes before we arrived. I was starving for dinner at that point, so we stopped by Bojangles and we enjoyed some yummy chicken and biscuits! She was in such a great mood, I couldn't believe it! My sister in law and the kids were already at a baseball game, so we unpacked the car and played for a bit until it was bedtime! I was so nervous about this. Madison hasn't really slept anywhere else besides Nana and paw paw's house and that didn't go over so well. So I was definitely scared that I was getting no sleep that night. We brought the pack n play and her noise maker, so she was set. I fed her and she went straight to sleep.  She did wonderful all night! What a blessing! 

The next day I was watching two of the kids. I am unfamiliar of the territory and rules of the house, and just haven't spent one on one time with them very much, so again, I was nervous!  Aaron surprised me and came to Newport (originally he planned to have a deserved daddy day to himself!) and my fears were a little more settled. It's always good to have a partner in crime! The day went so well!

We played in outside. The kids played in the pool and I pushed Madison in the swing. Aaron played on the trampoline for a while too! After a while, I came inside to put Madison down for a nap and Caroline and I baked some cookies! At this point we are realizing... Kids are go, go, GO! We were constantly going from one activity to the next! I'm not sure what I expected. Or not even expected, but I guess I just didn't know. From what I remember in childhood, we played outside or inside with my brothers. We did Legos or played school or played with action figures, etc. My mom also did tons of crafts with us, but I don't remember being so busy all the time! Your view changes when you are the "Mom" and I have such an appreciation for my parents now! When Madison and I are at home, I do try to break up play time and go to the splash park or meet up for a play date or go for a walk, and we do play A LOT! I can see now that as she gets older, we can do things such as crafts, easy cooking, playing a game, play pretend, etc!  It really got me excited for when she grows up and is able to do those things! Right now, the craziest we get in the "play" department is hiding toys for her to find and stacking blocks! 

The other thing Aaron and I learned about is silly sibling fights. It seems so trivial (and sometimes funny), but it is something that gets left out when dreaming about having lots of kids! Brothers and sisters fight and are annoying! Gosh, I remember fighting all the time with my brothers, but Aaron and I have yet to experience this for ourselves! And how do you referee those fights?! Most of the time, they are about the stupidest things! "Casey put her toy in MY toy box. Mom!!!!!!" To us adults, it's like "are you kidding me?" But to them it is LIFE OR DEATH. How do you solve this dire conundrum (feel the sarcasm! Feel it!) while making those angel faces feel like you are taking their concerns seriously? We learned that sometimes... It's as simple as "Casey take your toy out of your brother's toy box and go play somewhere else for a while." Sometimes they are persistent little boogers and it's not so simple "but it's not HIS toy box, it was mine first. I'm the oldest." Oh boy... Now you have to explain in simple terms and vernacular that a young child understands about how hand me downs work.  Bahahaha, Aaron and I have soooo much to learn in this department! Are we going to be perfect at it? Absolutely not. As we are always learning there is no such thing as perfect in parenting!

Okay, back to our day with the kids! We went to lunch at Dairy Queen and played arcade games and games that give you tickets and so forth.  They played so well together and are a pretty cute and hilarious bunch of kids! Jackson, the oldest, spent time being a monster and hiding and surprising the other little kids in the play house. It was so cute how giggly those kids got when they found him! Madison got her first taste of ice cream and really enjoyed it! 

After we went home, Madison went for her afternoon nap and at that point Aaron and I were ready for one too! Another learning experience... Parents don't always get to nap during the day. And not all kids nap at the same time... This seems totally unfair! Maybe my kids will be like magical unicorns and all take 2-3 hour naps at the same time! It happens right?! A girl can dream!

Aaron went home that evening and Madison and I went to Jackson's baseball game! Let me just tell you, I love baseball games. I don't care if it is kids or professional, I LOVE baseball. It happens to be a treat when you get to watch family play!

It was raining, but I honestly didn't care. Madison and I were having so much fun! Madison loves to watch the little kids play! It was fun for me to observe as well! Things I learned at the baseball game. If you are going to bring food/snacks bring enough for all kids! It cracks me up! Kids have no shyness to them. It's what makes the show "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" so popular! They don't care if you aren't their mommy. If you have snacks, they are going to come up to you and hold their hand out to get some! I also learned that when at a ball field, kids will get dirty, especially when raining! The youngest of the family went off to play in the rain and my sister in law fought it for a while, then embraced it! And let me tell you if that was not the happiest kid ever playing in that mud puddle! When in Rome and Life is too short!

Jackson's team didn't ultimately win, but the game was full of excitement!  In the end, the players were respectful and had great sportsmanship! The same couldn't be said necessarily for some of the coaching staff, but I was reminded that actions speak louder than words and they should have remembered that young kids were observing this childish behavior. They should have set an example, but didn't. It makes you mindful of who you surround yourself with and your kids, including adults! After a silly exchange of words, we were headed back to their house and it was bedtime! Madison did absolutely wonderful again! How lucky am I? She is truly amazing. 

The next morning, we woke and spent some time with the kids and Adrienne again. At morning nap time, I loaded Madison up and we made our way back to Greenville.  At this time, I learned that sometimes, if a child is too tired, sleep will not happen, but actually the opposite. My sugar plum screamed the entire way home... The. ENTIRE way. We stopped in Havelock so I could take her out of her seat and hold her for a bit. That poor thing was so worked up and it was killing me to listen to her be so miserable! She calmed down and I held her a bit longer. I placed her back into her car seat and I didn't even get out of the parking lot before we were in full meltdown mode.  I called Aaron over the Bluetooth and she calmed down for a bit listening to her daddy's voice. That is, until we lost reception... Bless her! We eventually made it home and as I predicted, she finally fell asleep as we entered our neighborhood!

Madison did finally take a wonderful nap!

We had so much fun, and as I said, so many learning experiences! We are still excited to expand the family and be able to experience those things for ourselves and figure them out for ourselves! Most of all, we really loved and enjoyed spending time with family! I can't wait to hang out with them again!

Daddy Buys Madison Her First Pony

And hopefully only pony! Haha!

We were in a store the other day just killing time and window shopping when we came to the toy aisle. Madison's birthday is coming up and I was curious to see if they had any good books for her or chunky puzzles or blocks or something. It was then when we happened upon "the pony." Immediately Madison gave this huge smile and giggled at it. I mistakenly pick it up and bring it closer to her. 

When I tell you the look on her face was of pure and utter joy, I am telling an absolute truth! She kept giving these huge and brilliant smiles, laughing, and getting so excited! Thank goodness this thing was $6.00! I looked at Aaron and gave the "puppy eyes" look for Madison as she hasn't fully mastered this manipulative method yet! Daddy could not deny her this and he purchased Madison her first pony! 

She had it in the back seat with her the entire ride home!

She so smiled so big the next day when she discovered it was still with all her other playthings in the living room! She cracks me up!

Madison Violet Goss

It has taken me quite a long time to write this and it is so difficult to put into words how this day went and how I felt. Here is the best I could do!

Madison Violet Goss

August 18, 2014

Sunday night, August 17, 2014, Aaron and I go to the hospital, bags packed, and we are both anxious for what is to come! I get admitted and the nurse comes in to start hooking me up to machines galore! Turns out she was once a Cardiac Nurse... YES!!! I'm so pumped! I went into this telling myself "I'm not going to be that patient... I'm not going to be that patient who tries to rule her treatment process because I'm a nurse." As a rule, nurses make the worst patients.... Turns out that is true lol. The nurse comes in to start my IV and I do not want an IV in my hand. I pick out a beautiful fat, juicy vein fit for a 12 gauge needle. She misses it... I immediately think two things, both of which are bad. 1.) can I just start it myself, or 2.) can I call one of my coworkers to start it for me. After 3 sticks, I let them start an IV in my hand, ugh. 

Fluids get started and I get to have this wonderful balloon (essentially a foley) inserted into my cervix and flushed with pitocin all night. Great! Things are going well until I have to pee... Again, being a bad patient, I unplug my IV pump from the wall and start to make my way out of bed and GUSH! No one told me that the liter of pitocin they've been flushing into my cervix was going to come out! At this point the floor is soaking wet, but I'm about to pee my pants (or I would if I had pants on). I make my way to the bathroom, pee, then grab a couple of absorb pads, one to switch out my bed, another to turn upside down to absorb the mess on the floor. The nurse rolls in and just gives me a look. Like "I knew you were out of bed, without calling me, bad patient." She proceeds to see my pad fix on the floor and I tell her most of it should be absorbed by now. She tells me that is a new way of cleaning up liquid mess, and I tell her it works like a charm. I behaved for the rest of the night. First thing in the morning, IV pitocin gets started. My mom arrives around 5:30am and I'm starting to actually feel some contractions.

 My nurse, who I eventually begin to like, bumps up my drip and encourages me to walk. Aaron and I roam the hallways and my nurse hunts us down every once in a while to turn that drip up. At this point she's really beginning to annoy me as my contractions are getting stronger. I decide to sit back in bed and this nurse has finally made these contractions become unbearable. At this point I am unsure what to ask for and don't really know what my options for pain control are. I didn't want narcotics, but I was beginning to wonder about this epidural stuff. 

My midwife Lisa comes in and wants to place a probe on Madison's head. To monitor contractions better. I'm 85% sure this did get put in, but I was in so much pain, I'm really not sure what went on. Lol. I learned very quickly how much of an absolute wimp I am when it comes to pain. I'm bawling my eyes out and telling the nurses that I'm done and I will deliver Madison on a different day! I am literally looking for my discharge papers because I was convinced this wasn't happening today and Lisa suggests it is time for an epidural. This is like music to my ears. I am to receive a bolus of IV fluid before the anesthesiologist is called and my nurse (who is growing on me now) tells me she's running it in as fast as it will go. It was the longest 20 minutes of my life. 

Finally Dr. Jones arrives! I've never been so happy to see those snooty anesthesiologists! At this point the midwife covering for Lisa is in my room and we are sitting me up to get my epidural. The next 5 minutes were the most confusing! I had nurses telling me to move one way, scoot another, Dr. Jones is barking orders at me from behind to move, straighten up, my nurse it telling me to do something and I'm having the biggest contractions all at the same time. What in the world... 

None of that matters now, why? My epidural is in and I feel amazing! Bam! Next thing I know I can't feel the lower half of my body! Sweet! I will give it to the midwife Carolyn, who helped my nurse change my bed and roll me like a beached whale! It blew my mind how I couldn't move or feel my legs! What a weird feeling to have them tossed around like dead weight! Blew my mind. They changed out everything, so all was new, I had a foley placed, and pillows galore fluffed and puffed me. Aaron played some Jack Johnson over the iPad speakers and I was told to take a nap.

 This was my favorite part of labor.

I am woken up by my nurse an hour later and she tells me she is going to check how my dilation is going. Low and behold... I'm 10 centimeters! Bam! She goes to page Lisa and I call Aaron and my mom back to the room. We wait around for an hour or so. Lisa comes in and says "Are we ready to have a baby?" I'm thinking there is more to it than her waltzing in and getting started, but no, before I know it, she is telling me when to push! 

I am thanking my lucky stars that this epidural is still pumping at full capacity! I had heard that some women get epidurals but they run out by time it comes to the actual birth and MAN was I NOT looking forward to that. I was ready, before my epidural, to pack my bags and keep Madison in there for a couple more weeks and could not imagine how it would feel to push that proverbial watermelon through. I know I would have done it anyways and everything would be okay, but I was so thankful for that epidural because bringing that sweet girl into the world was easy and I could really focus on the miracle of it all. I mean... After all, I was bringing a pink, screaming, beautiful baby human into the world and she is going to be ours forever! I knew what was growing inside me was a tiny human and not a pterodactyl for 9 months, but it all seems unreal. It's hard to imagine those tiny hands, pretty pink lips, beautiful blue eyes, kissable toes and adorable nose while they are inside you. So here I was, about to see it all for the first time and she is so real and more amazing than anything I could have dreamed! I really wasn't sure how I would react once she was born. I'm typically not a cryer, but then again, I also thought I was a tough cookie when it came to pain too haha.  

August 18, 2014 12:26PM

After 45 minutes of pushing and what I felt like was 100 times of "one more push," my sweet little Madison was born! Right now I am teary eyed remembering how she cried, how she felt on my chest! I was a Momma now and this.... This was my little girl. It was like the next 70 years of my life flashed before my eyes and I knew my future, my passion, my vocation in life was loving this new little gift and sharing in her world. It was as if my heart would explode with how much I already loved her and I had only just met her a second ago. At least that's how best I could describe this overwhelming gush of feelings.

 I cried.

I just could not believe she was finally here and she was already so amazing! 

She weighs 6 pounds 15.4 ounces and is 19.5 inches long!

Aaron and I have never been so happy and so amazed at God's work! Now to bring this baby home!

Old People

Hey Look! Old People!

It's official. Aaron and I have become old people. 

I'm not sure if is the fact that we have an almost 11 month old that we are constantly running after/entertaining. Or the fact that we spent the first 6 months not sleeping and it magically aged us. Maybe it's that we now have more important things to worry about and spend time at night awake doing just that and it has aged us, but we are old!

Madison goes down about 8 or 8:30 at night and we are in bed asleep by 10pm. It takes us 3 days to finish a movie. I read in bed and fall asleep after about a page on a regular night. It has become pretty hilarious and sad. Just thought I would announce it to the world!

We Just Can't Do Nice Things For People Anymore

We Just Can't Do Nice Things For People Anymore

Have you ever been asked the question, "if money wasn't an issue and you could do what you love, what would it be?" Mine has always been to own a small bakery in a small downtown hole in the wall, preferably on the corner with windows. One where I can bake whatever I want or am in the mood for! I would just love to share my talent! I love making food for people and thoroughly enjoy sharing it with them!

With that in mind, once I started work, my breastmilk supply went down. I wasn't always able to pump regularly and sometimes went the entire shift without pumping. Naturally, my supply took a hit. I had heard many things to help boost the supply up. I've heard of the vitamin you can take, but had heard that it makes you smell like maple syrup. I wasn't willing to be a walking pancake, so that was out. I had heard about lactation cookies. I called around and turns out... They are expensive! A dozen for $20 or $25.  And the best part was that you had to eat two or three a day to see a difference! I couldn't believe it! 

I'm a self proclaimed good baker, so I thought, "dude, I'll bake some myself." I purchased ingredients and whipped up a batch. They were delicious! My husband was even eating them! They were helping too! I began making a couple batches at a time and freezing them in sets of 12. After this, I began having this great idea! What if... I made some and then sold them for cheaper than the "big dogs" like $10 a dozen? I would love to do this especially for the moms who don't use lactation cookies as a solution because of the price! My husband even thought of a fantastic idea to donate the profits to a charity or organization that benefited breastfeeding moms or helped support moms who aren't fortunate enough to breastfeed or even just to the children's hospital here. I absolutely loved this idea! To think, I would be able to share my talents, help moms in need, and even have the opportunity to give back! I was sold!

Here comes the rain cloud.... I asked on a Facebook forum for moms to see what interest there would be and I was extremely let down. There was plenty of interest, but I also came to find that there were a lot of rules. Apparently to legally sell baked goods, you have to be state inspected. The application seemed easy enough and someone would have to observe a batch being made to make sure I was washing my hands, baking things at the right temps, having my supplies stored properly, cleaned properly, etc. I was reading the NC department requirements and I came to find that there could be no animals in the house to even apply for inspection. I looked at my two sweet puppies (who are hypoallergenic non-shedding dogs) and sighed a big sigh... Even though they are the worst puppies in the world sometimes, I couldn't kick them out....

Bye bye baking dreams... Bye bye...

I was kind of disappointed. I was really hoping to make a difference. I understand why rules are placed and it is really for my own protection. What if someone were to get food poisoning and they claimed it was from my cookies. I could get sued now a days.  I just seem to think sometimes that we can't just do nice things for people anymore without worrying about the negative. Especially in this "sue happy" day and age. Sure I could probably rent a kitchen space, but the amount of work to haul all my supplies there, bake, package, and find somewhere to safely store my "product" is just too much. Not to mention that the rental fee would steeply cut into profits. 

Good intentions, but not something I can not do right now. Who knows, it might be fun to do a fund raiser for some cause where I could do a "one time" kitchen rental and see how it goes from there.  Maybe one day! 

Why I Think Month 10 is My Favorite

Why I Think Month 10 is My Favorite 

Let's be real, up until this point, every month has been my "favorite" but for many reasons, I think this is the best one yet!  Aaron and I have seen Madison shoot to the stars in developmental and learning! I literally think her brain could explode at any given moment with all the things she is observing and taking in. Okay, I'll start off with my favorite... Kisses! That's right. Madison had learned to give KISSES!!!! I will have to upload the video later, but they are the sweetest little baby kisses anyone has ever received! 

Another one of my favorites is her growing love for books! If you are willing, that girl will look at/read books with you for hours. She is learning to help turn pages. Sometimes she gets impatient and I either have to speed read or make something up before she turns the page haha! She also does the most adorable things! After a while, she will come over to sit in your lap and look at the pictures while you read. It's completely unprompted, but she plops right down and leans back on you slightly and watches the pages! It melts me! She loves to hand me the next book (or the same book... Over and over again) and make a noise like "Come on! Read this one!" 

Another favorite this month is what I like to call "sharing" toys. She will hand toys to me and I will say "thank you" and play with for a minute before she puts her hands back out as if to say "oooookay... Your turn is done. Hand it over!" We love sharing blocks, baby dolls, balls, puzzle pieces and teething toys. She thinks it is especially funny when I pretend to "teethe" on her toy. That gets a good giggle going!

A new one that started the last day or so is that she is really enjoying emptying bins and buckets and filling them back up. Today, she even put her sippy cup in one of her buckets. Note to self, at the end of the day, make sure all sippy cups are accounted for! Everything goes in a bin, drawer, bucket!

Speaking of today, this morning, I was cleaning bottles and this crazy girl was playing in the living room. She then gets up, walks herself along the wall past the dining room, past the kitchen, and into her bedroom. All by herself. Just apparently had the idea she would like to go in her room and play with her books! The independence she exhibited just blew me away and almost brought me to tears. Soon, she won't need mommy to carry her from room to room. She now just goes by herself.  Just the idea that she "doesn't need me" for such a task.  If I'm already getting emotional letting go, you may as well reserve a spot for me in the psych ward when it comes to the first day of school.

Finally, an area where she is also excelling is eating! Yay! I was so concerned that she was never going to eat real food and was going to be bottle fed until age 2! Silly mommy.... 

She is now eating and trying new things. Aaron and I are getting pretty good at fixing a breakfast lunch and dinner.  This has been an adjustment for me. I typically don't eat breakfast and I rarely eat a lot for lunch. I'm more of a snacker and grazer. So to sit down and have a "meal" is kind of a big deal for me. Even if it is only a sandwich and chips. It's also been an adjustment thinking about what to make for lunches for her. I can eat PBJ all day everyday. But I like to change it up a little for her and have fruits and vegetables too! So being prepared and thinking about making things ahead of time has been challenging because once that girl is hungry, there is a small window of opportunity to make something before we have a meltdown on our hands! She is doing so well with it now, especially this past month, it seems so trivial that I was soooo concerned about it a few months ago! 

There is still about a week left of her being 10 months old, and I think she might even be walking then. The past two days she's been taking more and more steps on her own! Seriously... This is the best month yet! (Look out for next months post "why 11 months is my favorite")

New Beginnings

When Aaron and I first started dating, I learned that Aaron and his dad had purchased a townhouse for his sister and her friend to live in during college (I ultimately rented there too!). Eventually Aaron had moved in with me and through the years we've had several people live with us and for a while we lived there by ourselves. Once we started building our new house we had renters lined up and they were amazing! Going back to when Madison was a few months old, these renters decided to move on to bigger and better things. Great for them, sucks for us. Let me tell ya, finding good renters is so difficult.  Since November, we kind of sat on it and stalled. We had a new baby, and it was hard to find time to clean the place up, list it on various sites, and find someone we THINK is reliable to not tear the place up and keep up with rent. Finally in January, I had had enough. We were paying two mortgages and man, these diapers were getting expensive! Madison and I took a day where we cleaned the place up and finally got it listed. Aaron had come to visit us after work and placed the ad on social media. Turns out, we had so many responses! We found a new renter who is so amazing. I keep thanking God that he is providing for us!

Another "new beginning" is my job. Let me first start off by saying, if you think you have the best management ever, think again. I have never EVER met a group that was so willing to work to keep employees happy and work to create a better environment for nursing care. Their leadership is so profound, they are touching lives every single day and maybe not even realizing it! 

I went back to work full time after my maternity leave and was keeping up, but was feeling swamped most of my shift and having to stay an hour late every day. Between Aaron and our gem of a babysitter, we were working it out mostly so the days I worked, Aaron was off or his parents watched Madison and we occasionally had a babysitter. It made those days seem extra long and I was always late coming home. I also needed to pump breastmilk during that time and that had turned into another fiAsco. I used to work nights during school, so I was close with several nurses during that time who kept telling me that I needed to switch to a weekend option night shift. I basically work only weekends at night. Well, I was scared about such a change, so I shrugged it off. Each night I stayed past 8:30pm, this was looking better and better. I finally seriously inquired and researched it. I emailed my manager and she had an opening for this position. Holy cow.... How scary. It sounded great in theory, but man, it was going to be a change. My husband was even more nervous than I was about how it was all going to work out. It gets stressful when a new schedule comes out and we have to arrange who is watching Madison when, but I tell ya what, this is the best decision I have ever made. I get to spend so much time with Madison and I also have days off with my husband now. How amazing it is! 

Last on my "new beginnings" is priorities. Pre-baby, I had my house spotless once a week. One day a week, I would deep clean the house. I have OCD tendencies, so let me tell you what a struggle it has been after baby. In those first few weeks it didn't bother me that much as I just wanted to sleep any break I could, but after about a month, I could see the dust collecting. I felt like one of those cartoon characters that you see a hair pop out of place on their head and then they get this deranged facial expression right before they go bazerk (I don't know how to spell, I'll own up to it). Yep... I was a woman on the edge. I would actually become this mean person and as soon as my house was cleaned, I actually felt this weight lifted off my shoulders and I felt so much better! I'll admit it, I have a problem. One thing I have learned, is clean as you go and when you can. I had to let go of the "spending all day to clean" and embrace the "clean a little here, clean a little there" routine. It has been a learning curve, but one thing is for sure, if my Madison is awake, I want to be playing with her or having adventures with her.  My world revolves around her. Let's face it, it is a hard truth when you realize she will never again be as little as she is right now. Seeing her stand for the first time or finally learn how to walk, I can't get those moments back for her and I don't want to miss any of them if I can help it! Especially if it means the dishes pile up in the sink or the amount of hair on my bathroom floor can make a wig. Cleaning can be done when she is sleeping. Especially at this point where she is sleeping through the night and taking regular good naps! 

Speaking of sleep... One thing that still hasn't changed... I hate mornings! 

Creamery Trip!

Simply Natural Creamery is a locally owned jersey cow ranch that provides natural dairy products to eastern NC. Their cows are raised in the fields where they are free to graze and they are fed food grown on the farm. Their dairy products are pasteurized and bottled on site and they have a little creamery inside too! I had heard from several sources that this was a fun place to visit and it was merely 30 minutes away! Aaron, Madison, and I went they other day and from what we were able to experience it was pretty cool! We weren't able to do a tour, but we did enjoy some super yummy ice cream (of course Madison tried some too)! We also were able to meet a calf that was born just a week ago! 

Her name was "Lucky 7" because she had a 7 hair pattern on her forehead! I'm not typically a cow person, but I was smitten with this little babe!

Madison liked her too!

Overall, we would have liked to see more, but what we did see was pretty cool!

I can't wait to go back and see more!