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Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!!


Daddies are special, and we have a VERY SPECIAL Daddy in our house.
He makes sure first haircuts go well:



He plays in the water with Madeline at one of our first pool play dates:

He's huggable:

He plays in the sprinkler:

But, most of all, he loves us and takes such good care of us! Happy Father's Day to the best (Fun) Daddy! We love you so very much!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Five Years

Eric and I have been married five years today. It's been a wonderful five years, I must say. Although we've had our share of "growing pains" with moving, new jobs, and a baby, I can't imagine spending these last five years any differently than with this cute, blondish, blue eyed fella that kept winking at me from afar at the Gold's Gym in Charlotte. Who knew on that first date with the "boy from the gym" we'd start something incredible? Not long after that date, I told my mom on the phone, "I think this is the one. I think this is the boy I am going to marry." Meeting my parents and two older brothers just sealed the deal --- Eric fit into my family as if he'd lived next door to us our entire lives. He truly became a part of my family the second he walked through my parent's front door. A very good friend of ours told me recently that Eric and I were the relationship role model for her and her husband. I took that as the highest compliment to us and our marriage. I've been thinking about that a lot lately as our anniversary approached. Eric and I just compliment each other so well to create a balance that we both need --- I'm high strung & he's laid back; he's messy and disorganized & I'm a neat freak who thinks organizing a closet on a rainy day is fun; I'm frivolous with money & he's conservative with money; he thinks camping in a tent on the side of a mountain is fun & I think staying in an all inclusive resort is more like it; he burns to a crisp on the beach & I turn golden brown after a day at the beach; I find running to be exhilarating and stress relieving & he runs only if a wild bear was chasing him; and he's Fun Daddy while I am Serious Mommy. As I think about our personalities and how opposite we are in so many ways, I giggle because I could go on forever with this list.

But in the end, we are completely, 100% on the same page about one thing --- how much we love each other, our life, & our family that we've created together. As different as we are, we are alike in so many ways from watching college football on a Saturday to drinking wine with great conversation to our dreams for our family & children. That is why what we have works, and we continue to nurture our relationship as our life changes. We can't control many of the things around us, but we have control of us. We work at making us so great, and maybe that's why we are the relationship role model to our friend. The last five years have been nothing short of fun, trying, exciting, and fabulous.

Happy Five Year Anniversary to my best friend and the love of my life!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Madeline is 10 Months Old!


Seriously, can this sweet little baby be this old already? Ten months --- not so much baby anymore. It's been a busy month for Madeline. First and foremost, her personality has always been so laid back & happy, and she continues to be that way. However, she is really starting to show that she has a mind of her own as she explores and takes in the world! She continues to draw strangers to her with that wide open two toothed grin (soon to be four toothed grin) and her famous "oooohhhhh!" when she gets within earshot of anyone. Her wild hair used to attract strangers, but now her little personality, squeals, and wild waves attract strangers. This child has absolutely no fear of anyone. She'll blow you a kiss or lunge for your face to plant a sloppy, wet kiss on your cheek if she sees you as a friend. (I foresee stranger lessons as soon as she can understand what we're telling her.) Madeline LOVES other children and babies, and now that school is out, some of the older children at the gym nursery have really taken an interest in Madeline. It is very sweet to watch a 6 year old little girl talk and play with Madeline ever so gently, and it is even sweeter to hear that little girl tell her mom as they're leaving, "I love that baby. I love to play with that baby! Are we coming tomorrow? I hope that baby is here tomorrow." She especially lights up when her Daddy walks through that door in the evenings. Squeals, smiles, waves, clapping, and bouncing around are all coming from Madeline when she sees or hears Eric come through the door. It is so endearing to watch her express her love for her Daddy like that. I get the sweet hugs & kisses and a smile when I've been away, but Daddy gets the full blown fanfare. Madeline definitely has an infectious, outgoing personality that elicits that famous question from other adults, "Is she always this happy? Is she always this good?" To which, I get to say, "Yes! I am very lucky and blessed to have such a happy baby."
Madeline has made the big leap to all table food as her primary food source, and wow, how much easier it is to cut up some chicken, green beans, cheese, grapes, and an Eggo waffle. Ring the dinner bell because dinner is served. Up until now, I was "testing" different foods while still feeding her a jar of peas or green beans at lunch and dinner, and I will continue to do that until the jarred food runs out in the cabinet. She loves just about everything I put on her tray, and I have to say that I have a little carnivore on my hands. The meat is usually one of the firsts to go, but mac-n-cheese, peas, cheese, and green beans are probably the next favorites. Yogurt is a breakfast favorite. At this point, I don't feel like Madeline is a picky eater. She's gotten the sippy cup mastered for drinking juice, but my girl loves her bottles before her naps & bedtime. Basically, Madeline eats 3 meals a day with some snacks in between, and she only receives her bottles right before naps and bedtime.
Madeline has never been what I would call an awesome sleeper. Yes, she sleeps for 11-12 hours at night, but naps have always been a struggle around here. With her new found mobility, naps have become even more of a challenge, but I'm determined that this child will nap especially in the afternoons. This is why I am so strict about her schedule and routine --- Madeline needs to know that naps are part of her day, everyday. The morning nap can be anything from a power nap to a full blown 2 hour nap, and the afternoon nap typically is about an hour and a half to two hours. That sounds great in writing, but it takes her anywhere from 30 min. to an hour (or more on some days) to fall asleep now that she can do this all by herself: So, she plays until she's absolutely exhausted which is fine, but I don't like that she spends so much of the daytime in her crib "napping". Maybe it's normal or just a phase with all these new "tricks" she can now do, but it's driving me nuts. I know she's tired, and she knows she's tired, but she fights falling asleep so badly!! This is when she really shows that she has a mind of her own. I have yet to decide if me going in there to lay her back down over and over again until she falls asleep OR just leaving her alone until she falls asleep is the best tactic here. I've tried both, and either way she's back in her room squealing, laughing, and carrying on with delight having her own little party. Oh well, she could scream and cry it out for 30 minutes to an hour, and that definitely is no fun. So all in all, Madeline is a decent sleeper, and I shouldn't complain.
Speaking of mobility, Madeline eyeballs something, and she goes for it. Not so much in a crawling fashion. It's more of a lunge/scoot/stretch movement with a lot of "Uhhhhhh!!" that propels her to the object of her desire. If that effort doesn't get her to the desired object, she finds something else to play with. Now that's why I call her a little bit lazy. Madeline can sit herself up from laying down and vice versa, and she can pull herself up by holding onto anything those chubby hands can reach. She can sit herself back down once she's stood up as well. Needless to say, I'm very aware of the surroundings that she happens to be sitting in because she doesn't just sit and play anymore. Madeline is hearing and feeling the word "No" with a swat on the hand more and more as she reaches to grab things she should not be touching. I'm just not completely undecorating my house because she's curious. She will learn what to touch and not touch. More work for Mommy, but better for everyone in the long run. It's exhausting, but it's so much fun to watch her little mind work to figure out how to get places, get things she wants, and explore this world around her. I find it interesting the little things she notices with her famous "oooohhhh!" that I think we as adults either ignore or take for granted. Madeline loves to "dance" -- she bobs her head (shades of Saturday Night Live: Night at the Roxbury) and waves her hands straight out in front of her when she hears music she likes. I'll turn on the Noggin channel for background noise during the day sometimes, and I'll catch her "dancing" when the music plays. She loves her Baby Einstein CDs that sing nursery rhymes too. I decided that I needed to expose Madeline to more than just the Classic rock channel even as great as Bon Jovi is! :) Seeing the world through Madeline's eyes is tiring and exciting all at the same time.
Madeline has really slipped into our lives and made us the little "perfect" family of three that Eric and I'd talk about while I was pregnant. She can go with us just about anywhere whether it's to a friend's house for dinner, run errands, out to lunch, to the pool, or on a mini vacation to the beach. Madeline, our sweet girl...what did we ever do before you? Eric and I have been so blessed and so smitten with parenthood over the last ten months.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Mama's Monday Musings...

  • Madeline and I were enjoying some morning playtime on the back deck this morning, and I decided to refill my coffee. Back door was locked. Instant panic for a fleeting second. Thank goodness we have a garage door with an outdoor keypad. Whoops, that's never happened before.
  • Madeline went down for her morning nap at 8:45, went to sleep almost instantly, and slept for over an hour. That's unheard of these days...that time alone allowed me to clip & organize my coupons and study my grocery game lists to prepare for this week's shopping.
  • We had an open house yesterday for our house. Only ONE couple in two hours, but this was a repeat visit, AND they spent 45 minutes on the visit. Could they be our buyer?? Praying we get a reasonable offer this week.
  • Eric leaves EARLY, like 5:30 AM early, on Tuesday for his National Sales Meeting in New Mexico and won't get back until late afternoon on Saturday. UGH. We will miss Daddy, but I am proud of him for being asked to be one of "the speakers" as an "expert" in growing military accounts. My husband is one talented, hard working man, and I've been bragging on him an awful lot these days! I can't help but be proud of him! Hopefully, I'll get some of my famous "Anne mini projects" knocked off the to do list while he's gone, and catch up on my reading.
  • I have several entries on my mind for this week --- Madeline's 10 month, our 5 year anniversary, & Father's Day --- maybe it's a good week for Eric to be out of town afterall.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Normalcy, Phew!

I think we are FINALLY back to normal around here after a most disappointing return from a great adults only weekend. When I went into Madeline's room this morning to get her, she was all smiles, the Madeline that we are used to seeing each morning! What a great way to start our weekend! It only took 4 days, many tears, some choice words, and LOTS of patience. Our typically happy-go-lucky household was just not fun, and that just isn't good for anyone.

Eric and I were/are just disappointed -- hence the rant. For us, I guess it's the larger picture that's impacted, and this one specific event is just one boundary overstepped. In our minds, it's just not acceptable to change routines, schedules, or house rules when nothing particularly special was happening. It seemed to just be a normal, low key weekend. We realize special occasions call for bending routines, changed schedules, etc. because those specific times are indeed special. Eric and I always try to do what is in the best interest of our daughter, and if that means she has to cry it out at naptime, then so be it. In the long run, she benefits from the nap (we all do actually)! As she gets older, she will experience more tough love from us, and it's called tough love for a reason...we love her dearly and only want what is best for her well-being. Not everyone believes in tough love & that is fine, but our household happens to believe that a little tough love never hurt anyone. Therefore, we expect her caretakers in our absence to abide by our guidelines and/or rules whether the belief systems are the same or not. We certainly don't expect anyone to do anything extreme or to do exactly as we do, but we expect certain things to be consistent. We were just irritated to return to such an unhappy, sleepy baby after such a nice getaway that we in turn had to spend the week "making her right again".

I hate ranting and being such a downer on the blog. I've been "venting" to my husband for the last 4 days as I've tried to get our household back to normalcy, so for his sake & sanity, I "vented" on the blog. We have some fun family stuff planned, and I, for one, cannot wait to enjoy our family time whether it be just us or with our friends! The blog has been a little wordy over the last few days, so I hope to post some "good times" pictures soon!

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Rarely do I Rant on the Blog as this Should be a Happy Place, but sometimes a Mama just has to go off!

To say that Madeline's Daddy and I are upset is a major understatement. To say that Madeline is completely, 100% out of sorts is also a major understatement. After a series of unfortunate events while we in Montreat having a lovely time, our daughter was NOT taking her 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and basically not kept on her similar routine. This does not work well for a 9 month old that is used to her structured day! We were told that Madeline screamed for an hour at this nap hour. I'm not sure as to why that was the case as she does NOT do this for us. Play and sit herself up, yes. Scream, NO! Obviously some type of routine was not followed.***

Things were SMOOTH as glass for a solid couple of months before we went away for this weekend trip. Madeline was napping each morning and each afternoon. (If you have read other posts, you will know that naps were a struggle around here, so I was glad that things seemed to be finally falling into place. Apparently, I got TOO comfortable.) She was sleeping well during the day, so therefore, she was sleeping well at night. She was even getting to where she was snoozing until almost 7 AM each morning! Whew, what a blessing! We were passed all the 5 AM wake-ups when she was not napping well each day. It's funny how the better Madeline naps during the day, the better her nighttime slumber is and the later her wake-up time is.

Let me document our timeline since returning from this trip in order to fully appreciate this rant:

Sunday -- return around 4 PM, were told that Madeline had no afternoon nap neither Saturday nor Sunday, try to visit with a bleary eyed/overly tired/cranky baby, try to feed dinner but she's so cranky/overly tired she cries, try to cheer up with a bath (no cheer!), put to bed & baby falls asleep almost immediately for about 30 min., screams/cries/carries on until 10 PM Sunday night (VERY ANGRY parents!)

Monday -- Madeline rouses about 6 AM (much earlier than normal), cranky/fussy baby eating breakfast, cranky/fussy baby goes back down about 8 AM and sleeps the usual morning power nap (clearly not enough sleep for an overly tired 9 month old), stressed out Mama has to take this cranky baby to her dentist appt. around noon, fussy baby around 1:30 PM but doesn't fall asleep until 2:30 PM and wakes up around 4 PM (intermittent crying/wake up early -- she NEVER did this before this weekend), baby goes to bed at normal hour/seems to sleep okay until she wakes up at 4:45 in the MORNING

Tuesday -- It's 5:43 AM, and I'm ranting & blogging since I've been up since 4:45 AM! Tired & angry Mama decides she needs to vent!

Did I mention things were as smooth as glass before this weekend away? Did I mention we have an unhappy & out of sorts baby, an angry Mama, and an upset & stressed Daddy residing in our house? Did I mention we HAD one of the happiest babies on the planet? Did I mention how long it took me to get Madeline on this awesome schedule that was wrecked in a matter of 48 hours?
Enough said. End of rant.

Here's hoping that I can report Madeline going back to her normal self VERY SOON (and her normal self is documented in the post dinner fun over Memorial Day weekend entry below)!

***Disclaimer --- While I do not have the unrealistic expectation that whoever keeps our child for a weekend, do the things EXACTLY as I would do them, I do expect the typical routine to be followed and carried out as I do leave "directions/routines" (my inner teacher & sub plans come out). Clearly, as events late Sunday afternoon until now will prove, things were not kept routine. Routine is important around here...

Monday, June 08, 2009

Post Dinner in the Stewart household!
Madeline playing with Daddy on the back deck after dinner over Memorial Day Weekend. Until...

Daddy decided it would be MOST FUN to play in the sprinklers in the front yard!
Getting sprayed in the face by the sprinkler! And, the result is...
Clap, clap! I LOVE IT!
Eagerly awaiting the next spray!
All of this post dinner fun = happy, grassy, & soggy baby
McCarthy Grandparents Booked. Check. Proud Wife. Check.

I am so very proud of my husband! He works hard to provide for our family. He's in sales, and therefore, it's completely up to him to meet his numbers, budget, etc. There is no 'Big Brother' really staring over him on a daily basis. Eric is very motivated to do well, and he wants nothing but the best for his girls. Eric received notice that he was in the top sales in the entire company, so he received a trip to Los Cabos in November! What a great reward for all of his hard work!

I'm the lucky lady that gets to accompany him, and Madeline is one lucky little girl that gets to vacay with my parents for a week! We are already looking forward to some relaxation and sunshine before the hustle and bustle of the '09 holiday season, and I know Madeline will enjoy her one-on-one time with her grandparents! We'll all be refreshed and rested for the holiday rush!


Montreat

Eric and I had the lucky opportunity to go away to Montreat, NC with some friends for the weekend. It was gorgeous, and the weekend did not disappoint.

We did lots of this --- sitting on the porch chatting, laughing, telling stories, relaxing, & having snacks and beverages!
We took a hike on Sunday morning. The view was beautiful, and the company was even better!
The boys played golf on Saturday morning while the girls shopped around in Black Mountain. We met the boys after golf and had lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant.
Erin and Wade
Us
Josh and Anna