Ten Years Ago...

Baby Madi

10 years ago I very nearly gave birth in the car.

Our Toyota Camry was racing through the streets, Mike driving, 2-year-old Ryann & her carseat temporarily buckled in the front seat, me in the back along with my doula and my Mom.

I wish I had a picture of that scene...

Everyone was freaking out, Mike was running red lights, my body was pushing completely beyond my control, and I was just completely thrilled that my baby was almost here! I didn't even care that she was going to be born in the car.

I knew she'd be just fine.

We barely made it to the hospital.

We pulled up at the ER and they ran me to an observation room in a wheelchair. One push and the nurse caught our brand-new daughter - Madison Barbara (Barbara after my Mom, who raced behind us carrying Ryann and got to the room just in time.) The Dr. ran in breathless much too late (but he still charged me).

What a night!

Ten years later....

We celebrated with a day full of Madi's favorite things...

• being the center of attention
• cinnamon rolls
• homemade chocolate chip cookies for her 4th grade class
• mommy-daughter pedicures
• dinner at Red Robin
• ice cream cupcakes

and the desperately-hoped-for present...

a cell phone!!

(She was completely thrilled - just like me, 10 years ago.)

Happy 10th Birthday Baby!!

Madi's Birthday, Family Style

We kicked off Madi's Birthday Week Family Style!

Now that my Mom & Dad live here, I thought it would be fun to have a little family party for Madi.

It was so fun!

We had pizza, salad & a super yummy chocolate cake made by Grandma Dew.

Aunt Corey had too much sugar & chased & tickled the girls

'til I thought I was going to have to put her outside.

Madi got good & spoiled with love,

which is the whole point of birthdays, right?

Our Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day was fun-

even though it was so weird to spend it without Ryann.

She spent the day in Denver at The Pulse,

hanging with Mia Michaels & Shane Sparks.

I loved, loved, loved the overcast, snowy day

& the sugar-dipped trees.

I made heart-shaped muffins for the girls

& we gave them little boxes of chocolates.

My sweet hubby gave me flowers

& took me to lunch at the most delicious mediterrean restaurant

- just the two of us.

I took homemade heart-shaped brownies to my Mom & Dad.

That afternoon I played a couple of board games with my Squeester,

while Bayli loved on her uncle

and the big girls played & squealed with their cousins.

It was a great day.

I hope yours was too!

Stuffy Sleeplessness

Didn't we just do sick??

Now Bayli has a cold, complete with the baby congestion that causes both of us to lose sleep.

I think stuffy-nosed babies are the worst.

I'm afraid to go to bed tonight.

Wish us luck...

Bayli's Favorite Things

Just look at how proud she is of herself!
I was walking by Skylar's room, popped my head in to talk to her, then kept walking... I was out in the hallway before I realized that I had just seen Bayli sitting on the top bunk. Aagh!! She climbed up the ladder when no one was in the room and was just hanging out up there, waiting to break some kind of bone before I noticed she was gone...
Now she wants to climb up there all the time.

Just like this:



Her other new favorite things:

sitting in boxes, baskets, or any kind of container that she thinks will hold her...


wearing scarfs and necklaces around her neck...

I just love the way it trails along behind her...

She is such a funny girl!!

The Pulse! (Shhh...)

Ryann went to The Pulse last year - a weekend dance convention with some huge, huge names in dance like Mia Michaels, Brian Friedman, Wade Robson, Shane Sparks from So You Think You Can Dance and others... She met & took classes from Mia, Brian, Dave Scott, Cris Judd and some other really amazing choreographers. But these days, we are trying to spend less and save more, and really just couldn't afford to send her this year.

Ryann & I were both bummed.

But that's life.

This afternooon, I got a phone call from the wonderful owner of our dance studio. She said they just found out that they could take one more dancer to Pulse and immediately my heart sank because I knew we still couldn't afford it... but that was before I heard the words "free of charge"!!! Apparently, our studio got to bring one dancer for free, and the first one they thought of was Ryann!! I had tears in my eyes. The owner said that Ryann is so dedicated and such a pleasure to work with that she was everyone's first choice. I was so touched and so proud of Ryann. She truly is dedicated and passionate about dance and it really shows. Now she is bouncing off the walls with excitement.

She should be working with Mia, Cris, Laurieann Gibson, Brian, Dave & Wade.

That's so cool.

The fact that she's going for free is supposed to be a secret.

Does that mean I can't post it?

Hopefully not.

Just don't tell...

I'm so proud of you Baby!!

Sick Again :(

This is how Bayli & I spent most of the last few days. :(

She is making up for the fact that she never got sick 'til she was 10 1/2 months old.

This time she got it from Ryann & had a fever of 102.5 for four long days.

At least it wasn't another ear infection.

And it does feel kind of nice to know that this is all I have to do to comfort her...

Now it's Monday and she is all better and back to her havoc-wreaking little self. :)