Madeline's New Favorite Pastimes...

"Brroooooommm!!!"

Maybe that's a good sign that a.) she sees me sweeping up often because she does actually have the concept of what to do with it &

b.) she'd like to use the broom for real someday

Sofa sliding provides lots of entertainment until the day she falls off the sofa and bangs her head, but for now it's a hoot!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eric, Madeline, and I spent turkey day with my family. We had such a wonderful time visiting, talking, eating, watching football, and relaxing. It was a wonderful family day, and we are so lucky to have each and every member of this family.

We took the opportunity to get some family photos.

My parents with their 3 children

The McCarthy kids with their spouses and children

My awesome parents and their 3 adorable grandchildren

All of us

"I love my Grandma's mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing!" Madeline gorged herself at dinner! She couldn't get it into her mouth fast enough!

Madeline had a wonderful time playing with her cousins, Ryan & Drew. Even though they are quite a bit older than her, they were so sweet to play with her.

Thanksgiving Day, 2009 was perfect!

And, of course, the day wouldn't be complete without someone experiencing food coma after dinner. My brother, Pat, found Madeline's stuffed gorilla to be quite cozy!

PS --- Madeline is totally back to her normal self complete with four molars that are all the way through the gum! She's 100% healthy again! (see previous post)

Things that make me say HMMM

The last week has been a bit of a roller coaster for us. Madeline's 15 month well visit was perfect & no signs that she was ill. However, any signs of illness all pointed to the four molars that are currently working their way through her gums --- three have poked through while the last one has just a tiny bit more to go. So last week, when her appetite decreased, her crankiness increased, and her temperature rose a little bit, it was no big deal. In my mind, it all boiled down to those darn teeth.

By Friday, she was good to go --- no temp, normal Madeline temperament, better appetite --- or so we thought. We had a Friday evening out thanks to a wonderful college student named Kristen, and all was well.

Then the weekend! Madeline had zero appetite like she was fasting zero appetite, no fever, no desire to drink milk or juice (which was of great concern to us since we've dubbed Madeline the thirstiest child on the planet), the desire to sleep ALL.DAY.LONG (seriously, she slept 7 hours on Saturday after sleeping 13 hours the night before!), so-so temperament, and her coloring was ghost white. We decided to wait through the weekend, lay low, and keep an eye on her. Surely, she will have the desire to at least drink something soon. Nope, not so much. I give it Monday to see if things worsen or get better. Neither extreme, no worse, no better. Hmmm, do I risk the rashy, oozy, germ infested ped office, or do I just wait it out? Meanwhile, my wild hypochondriac brain was going a mile a minute, and at last, I discovered Popsicles for my oh-so-dehydrated babe.

My wild imagination couldn't take it anymore, so off to the doctor we go with a handful of symptoms that aren't really symptoms, and here we are on Tuesday post-doctor visit with a clean bill of health (strep test was negative, no flu symptoms really, very little congestion, no ear infections, etc.).

Dr. K did say emphatically during his very thorough exam (he knows I'm a little bit anxious at our visits), "Wow! She sure is teething!" So, I guessed we were back to those darn teeth. C'mon molars, just come in already! But, then at the last minute he did mention "mono" in passing. What?! Mono?! Apparently, if things don't get better within the next week or things go dramatically downhill, we are to return to the doctor for a blood drawing.

Surely, it's those darn teeth!

Swingin

We took Madeline to the little neighborhood park over the weekend, and she really enjoyed the swing. Just a fun way to enjoy the beautiful weather...

Fifteen Months Old




At 15 months old, Madeline is delighting us everyday with her little budding personality and vocabulary. Madeline is starting to repeat a lot of what we say, and she will walk up to something (like a pair of shoes or her baby doll) and exclaim proudly, "Shoes!" or "Baabby!" She does this randomly and all day long. It is super cute to see her actually use words and use them correctly. Unfortunately, for us, "no" is also popping out of her mouth every now and again.

Speaking of vocabulary, sitting still or being strapped in is not part of her vocabulary. Therefore, the carseat, stroller, and shopping carts are Madeline's least favorite places, and she lets me know it. Unfortunately, she's learning that the carseat and shopping carts are not up for discussion. Sitting still for pictures is also not a easy task to accomplish, but we manage to make it work for our monthly posts. Madeline loves to be right there under my feet when we are at home...not because she's missing me, but because she's curious as to what I am doing. If I'm sweeping, she's sweeping too. If I'm picking up toys, she is too. She's very much a copycat and underfoot, and I don't mind one bit.

Madeline LOVES books, and I cannot even express how much books delight her. The first thing she does in the morning is go straight to her ever expanding book basket and fish out one of her books. We read books ALL.DAY.LONG, and the teacher in me just glows about it. I hope my sweet girl continues to love books and reading. She will actually sit in our laps and read several books in one sitting without losing interest. Many times I will find her "reading" books to herself when she is playing independently. This is the ONLY time that Madeline will sit in one place for more than a minute. I never leave home without a few favorite books in my purse. Speaking of things Madeline loves, she LOVES shoes both hers, mine, and her daddy's. She likes to walk around the house in any shoes that she can manage to get on her feet, and she's not particular about whether she has one or two shoes on her feet. (You'll notice her several shoe selections in this morning's photo shoot.)

Madeline continues to love going to the gym to see her "friends", love other children, and greet all strangers with a smile and a "Hi". We continue to get lots of comments regarding her happy disposition and willingness to talk to strangers. In Madeline's eyes, everyone is her friend. Luckily for us, Madeline has only shown her not-so-happy side here at the house, and these little tantrums always are a result of being tired combined with having to do something she's not interested in doing. We find ourselves biting our cheeks at the dramatics of it all, but nonetheless, Madeline does have her rare moments of tantrum-like behavior. Thank goodness it's not the norm. Someday she'll figure out that these little episodes get her nowhere, and she still has to do whatever it is that she's not interested in doing. As my husband always says to her, "We are going to do XYZ, so if you choose the hard way, you're just prolonging the process."
End of photo shoot as she dives off the chair!

Madeline received a clean bill of health at her 15 month well check...her height continues to be in the upper 90's percentile while her weight hangs around the mid-60's percentile. Her iron levels are finally up, and I'm sure it's because she's been less picky lately at her meals. She will eat what she is served on most days especially when she's hungry. She still has her picky moments, but she's getting the idea that Mama doesn't scurry around to make something special just for her. Overall, she's a pretty good eater, and as of late, she's been an excellent sleeper.
Our sweet Madeline makes our household such a happier place, and we love her to pieces.

Navigating the stairs is also a favorite pastime!

House Update

Eric went by to check on the house's progress, and this is what he found! How exciting! The inside doesn't have drywall yet since we haven't done the structural walk through, but I'm guessing once we do that things will really get rolling.

"They" are aiming for everything to be done December/January time frame! We are beyond ready to get out of this rental house. We're thankful to have a roof over our heads, but it's just not "home". What a great Christmas present for us --- MOVING into the new digs!

Cabo

Eric and I had a wonderful trip to Cabo with his fellow incentive trip winners. The Hilton Resort was beautiful, the days were relaxing, and we came home feeling refreshed and tanned! Our hotel was located in "the corridor" which is between Cabo San Lucas (party town) and Cabo San Jose (relaxing town).

Our trip began on Sunday, November 1 very early in the morning. It was uneventful as far as the plane ride& layovers were concerned, but Eric and I were extremely anxious to get to our destination. We arrived around lunchtime on Sunday and since our room wasn't ready we decided to relax by the pool. Luckily, we packed our suits in our carry-on. :)


Sunday evening, the company provided a welcome reception. Before we left the room, we had to take a few pictures from our balcony.
Daytime view from our balcony. Just beautiful...

On Monday, we explored the hotel, walked the beach, and enjoyed the pool. In the evening, we headed into Cabo San Lucas for dinner at The One and Only Palmilla Restaurant. It was quite fancy, and we had a lovely evening.

The wine list was very interesting and VERY EXPENSIVE. That menu is in DOLLARS not pesos. I don't think we've ever been to a restaurant with a $16,000 bottle of wine on the menu. Yikes, that's extravagant.

Our dinner crowd --- the six of us became fast friends.

On Tuesday, we enjoyed some beach time and the scenery.

In the afternoon, our party of six ventured into Cabo San Lucas to experience the party atmosphere. It reminded me of Spring Break...our group decided we definitely didn't fit into this lifestyle anymore. Nevertheless, we had a blast. In front of the hotel before we left.

Eating a delicious authentic Mexican lunch complete with mariachi band.

The view of the marina from our table.

Eric and I at lunch.

Us in front of all the boats

The boardwalk with all of the vendors, shops, & restaurants.

Can't go to Mexico and not have one of these photos taken!

Our group was all about experiencing some authentic Mexican because the tourist trap-spring break-like bars were just not working for us. So, we stumbled (no pun intended) into this tequila boutique (yep, I said boutique) where we did a tequila tasting. I personally am not a fan of tequila but this was no ordinary tequila! We tasted tequila that didn't make your insides feel like they were about to explode because it was so smooth. We tasted chocolate tequila (YUM), coffee flavored tequila (yummy even though it sounds disgusting), and a tequila similar to that of Bailey's. Needless to say, our group experienced authentic Mexican here, and it was educational, that is if learning about tequila can be called "educational".

At the end of the evening, we tried one last tourist trap, Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo. It was a good time and more low key than some of the other places like this.

Eric and I at Cabo Wabo.

The boys put their new found tequila knowledge to good use and did a shot at Cabo Wabo. We girls opted out of this one. :) Someone had to flag down a respectable taxi!

On Wednesday, the company organized a catamaran/snorkel trip for the afternoon. Super fun!

The famous Arch...apparently, you aren't supposed to leave Cabo without seeing this!

On Thursday, while Eric was deep sea fishing, I was getting a deluxe treatment at the spa! Eric's boat caught one marlin and four mahi mahi.

These birds were scoping out the bait.

Eric's boat with their marlin.

On Thursday night, our six-some enjoyed the fresh catch for dinner. YUMMIEST dinner of the week. The fearless fisherman relaxing at the bar.

The ladies...Susannah (middle) and I enjoyed the spa while Jessica (right) went on the fishing trip.

Sushi was made with some of the fresh catch.

Ceviche was also very delicious.

Finally, the main course was several types of grilling styles.

Dessert and coffee ended the meal just right.

On Friday afternoon, Eric and I joined some others in an ATV tour over dunes, beaches, rocky terrain, and desert trails. Normally, this is not my cup of tea, but I really enjoyed riding with Eric.

The scenery was gorgeous.

Friday night was special. Eric surprised me with a dinner for two on the beach. He had a table arranged on the beach just for us. It was pretty romantic and sweet! The little tiny light in the center is the candle on our table.

On our last night, the company provided a farewell dinner for all of us. Prior to dinner, we met up with our favorite friends for cocktails and appetizers.

While we were having drinks and appetizers, we saw the aquarium being cleaned up a bit. He had quite the audience.

We had live music at our dinner.

Unfortunately, Saturday came to an end, and our wonderful trip to Cabo ended bright and early on Sunday morning. We had a blast, made some great friends, and had some really special "Anne & Eric" time.