A Ballerina Halloween, 2011

Madeline LOVED Halloween --- dressing up in her favorite ballerina gear, knocking on doors, getting some candy, and being up past her bedtime!

Our little ballerina remembered trick-or-treating from last year, and she was very excited to go again this year. However, Madeline was content to just leisurely walk from house to house on our street. Once she got to the door, she was very polite with a timid, "Trick-or-treat!" and a soft "Thank you!" once she received her goodies. She enjoyed chatting up the person at the door, and at first, at several houses, she tried to go inside to continue the conversation! It was so funny. It took her a few houses to remember that we must keep our conversations short and sweet in order to move out of the way for the larger, pushier kids who were clearly candy hunting experts. A handful of houses remarked how refreshing it was to have a polite child come to their door, and Eric and I appreciated the compliments.
We didn't venture too far from our house, and we mainly stopped at the neighbors' houses that we know well. Madeline didn't care to go up to every door, and Eric and I were certainly okay with not having a large amount of candy hanging around our house. Madeline was content to walk, chat, and admire all the other children's costumes. We've noticed in large crowds, Madeline tends to hang back and take it all in.

Overall, we had a very simple, low-key trick-or-treating experience. We made it home in time to hand out a bunch of our candy, put Madeline in bed at a reasonable hour, and have some Anne-Eric evening time once the front porch light went out.

Pumpkin Carving, 2011

Today we carved our pumpkin, and Madeline seemed to enjoy it as much as any three old could muster. She declared, "I want a cat!", so her Daddy did his best to fulfill her request. Sweet Daddy.

First Eric showed Madeline the finer points of cleaning out the pumpkin. She was not a fan of the smell and squishy stuff. No surprise there!

Eric going at her with the innards...Madeline is not amused with Daddy's antics!
"Eww, there's some on my hand!" I believe were Madeline's exact words. Such a priss-pot! :)
However, she did her part to empty out the pumpkin.


However, no Stewart project is complete without consulting the Internet! We weren't exactly prepared for Madeline's "I want a cat!" request, so off to find a cat face to consult. Madeline began to draw her own blueprint. So cute.
Daddy worked diligently to create an awesome cat. At this point, Madeline was off playing. The fine details were a bit much for her.
TA-DA!! Daddy exceeded expectations! Madeline was thrilled with the result and extremely fascinated with the candle on the inside!

Happy Halloween!

Only 66 Days Until...

my Disney marathon in January 2012!

These brand, spankin' new Mizunos have officially been broken in as my training is in full force!

I'm loving my runs during the week, and I'm especially loving my long runs outside in this gorgeous fall weather on Saturday mornings. It's taking my old bones some getting used to the longer distances, but so far with lots of water, stretching, and cross training, everything seems to be going well. I'm on the uphill climb in my training, but I'm looking forward to the challenge, the "me time", and of course, the actual marathon itself. Disney doesn't ever disappoint, so I feel sure that they know how to do a marathon just right!

Special Getaway

Every year, my parents take my brothers and their wives, Eric, and I to a Clemson football game. It's our "thing" every fall to give us adult time together in a fun, relaxed atmosphere without kids. This year, Madeline spent the weekend with my parents' friends from their church, Ginny & John. (Ginny and John also travel with my parents on all of their fabulous trips every fall. Right now, they are all in France together having a wonderful time.) Ginny and John's personal grandchildren are in Texas, so as a result, Madeline (and Amelia) have become Ginny's next of kin, if you will. She treats Madeline as her own, and Madeline absolutely ADORES Ms. Ginny and Mr. John. Ms. Ginny and Madeline have a very special bond, and I am so thankful to have another "Grandma" in town to take care of our sweet girl for special getaways.

Ms. Ginny was beyond excited to keep Madeline for us while we went away to Clemson for the weekend. Madeline was able to play with another little girl down the street for several hours. I'm sure a nice little break for Ms. Ginny. Apparently, Madeline and this little girl played fabulously together.

Of course the weather was perfect for a Riverbanks Zoo excursion. Madeline loves the zoo, but she's not a fan of the animals so up close and personal.

See the sunglasses in the following picture? Well, Ms. Ginny felt like the sun was "so bright", so she declared that Madeline needed some sunglasses for the remainder of the zoo trip! :)

Again, Madeline made fast friends at the play area giving Ms. Ginny & Mr. John a chance to sit.

Madeline had such a wonderful time with my parents' dear friends, and Eric and I so appreciate their willingness to take our high energy 3 year old for an entire weekend! It was a win-win for us all!

Meet Holston

Our dear friends, Brian & Jen, have welcomed their first baby, Holston Kreuz St. John, into this world. We were unable to throw a shower for them prior to delivery, so Eric and I decided to throw a sip-n-see post delivery. We were able to visit with many old friends from Brian & Eric's college days. (Brian and Eric were roommates at NC State, and Jen and I went to Clemson together although we didn't know each other at that point in time.) It was a fun day to visit with friends and shower little Holston with lots of love!




Madeline especially enjoyed her snuggles with little Holston!


We adore our newest addition to our circle of friends!

Nine & Ten Months Old






Amelia is ten months old, and we've had quite a couple of months in the milestone department!
Nine month highlights:

• The FIRST time that she's been healthy since she popped out of the womb --- no ear infections, no congestion, & her acid reflux symptoms are controlled! Praise the Lord! We are now seeing the sweet, silly Amelia that we knew was there all along underneath all those uncomfortable health issues. She's quite a silly goose with her raspberry blowing, babbling little self.



• Amelia's two bottom teeth poked through, and she loves to use them to crunch on her Mum Mums. My girl loves to eat...she's loving her Mum Mums and puffs. Her little pincers are getting better and better. She manages to shovel puffs into her mouth with very few hitting the floor and her lap even though her steadiness is not quite there. Amelia pretty much eats any and everything I feed to her. Amelia's hates peas and green beans in baby food form, but she loves everything else.
  



• She's super close to actual crawling. Right now, she is an amazing reacher-scooter-bum-bouncer to get to where she wants to go. Once she gets to her destination, she's trying like mad to pull up. Whew, she's a determined little gal. She knows what she wants and goes for it. It's making Madeline's little mama come out more and more. Madeline is very sweet to look out for what Amelia is getting herself into.



• Unfortunately, Amelia has had a difficult time adjusting to our school schedule. When we are leaving for school in the morning is normally her morning nap time, and she is just not allowing herself to doze in the car on our commute. (I drive Madeline to our church about 25 minutes across town for preschool, so it's a perfect little catnap.) She refuses to fall asleep, and I am paying for it by late morning. The kind ladies at the gym are working with me to help figure something out, so that she can remain in the nursery without screaming her head off. When it comes to sleep rituals, Amelia is NOT my easy going little baby. She wants her lovey, a bottle, and her bed when she's tired.



• Amelia's little personality is coming out more and more these days, and she's a very sweet little girl. She loves to giggle, babble, play, and be tickled. I might add that she's becoming quite the Mama's girl, and I'm loving it. :) She gets all kinds of angry when you take something away from her. It seems that there is going to be another hothead in the Stewart household.

At her 9 month well visit, she was almost 21 pounds which prompted her Grandma (my mom) to call her "Moose" in the most loving way, of course. It was funny, but I'm pretty sure that nickname will NOT stick as you can imagine the self esteem issues that could arise from being called "Moose". Bless her sweet, chubby self. She does wear most of Madeline's 12-18 month clothing now, so the clothing is working out rather well due to Amelia's weight. I'm loving pulling out all the adorable clothes from the attic and reusing them.

Ten Month Highlights:

• Amelia is a full-fledged crawler, and she's not far from walking. She pulls up on everything, and she's into everything! She's had to face the "Mama-Stern-No-Touch" lesson one day, and it paid off for the time being. Now I just have to say her name with a stern tone, and one of two things happens: 1. She stops doing it and goes about her merry way. or 2. She cries like I chopped her finger off with a butter knife. So dramatic.



• Amelia will be getting another tooth/teeth any day now. She's a drooly, gnawing, cranky mess.
  



• Amelia loves to self feed with finger foods. She really likes green beans, waffle, Ritz crackers, cooked carrots, Goldfish, yogurt, applesauce, finely chopped apples, and Cheerios. Depending on the day, she may eat ham and chicken in very small pieces. I randomly try things at different meals, so her meals consist of some self feeding and finishing up the baby food I have in our pantry.



• Amelia is starting to adjust to our school routine. The ladies at the gym can really tell a difference in her disposition! Thank goodness....I was really becoming quite stressed with her fussy mornings.



• Amelia continues to babble more and more. She waves hi, and she blows kisses. So stinkin' cute.

Amelia likes it best when she's on my hip or getting into Madeline's stuff. I vacuumed the entire second and third floor in our house with her on my hip last week. Mama's going to get her chores done someway! Talk about a fabulous workout!

Amelia's little personality continues to blossom. She's certainly a little spunky, stubborn thing, and we love her dearly. She delights us more and more each day.

Clemson Homecoming, 2011

Eric and I decided to take Madeline to a Clemson game this year. We chose Clemson's homecoming, and we convinced our good friends, Libby, Kyle, and their son, Jack, also 3 years old, to come with us. We had a blast! Madeline totally digs the tailgating, the game, and the entire football experience! Not to mention, we picked a great season to introduce our daughter to Clemson football. Go Tigers!

Libby's family has a beautiful home on Lake Keowee, a stone's throw from Clemson, so they so graciously allowed us to stay with them. We arrived on Friday night, and Jack could've spent the entire weekend on this boat. The kids played on the boat while the adults chatted before dinner.



We had a lovely spaghetti dinner on Friday evening. Libby's aunt so kindly let Madeline wear her apron to protect Madeline's white shirt. All that is missing is the candelight, don't you think?
On Saturday, we headed to the tailgate, and we had a blast! Both children were super stars making it through the entire day without much fuss. Eric and I were pleasantly surprised with Madeline's stamina.
She barged in on Jack's football time with his Daddy. Not sure she's an athlete, but she was super cute in her Tiger outfit!
Madeline worked awfully hard to catch the ball! :)







Our girl worked hard to be one of the fellas...she had a ball running around!
Madeline was completely mesmerized with the beginning of the game with all the music, balloons, cheering, and noise. She LOVED it.
Madeline took a little break from Daddy's lap to sit on Ms. Libby's lap. She managed to swindle Ms. Libby's bangle bracelet from her for the 2nd quarter!





Some halftime cooling off...it was very sunny in our seats.

A sign of a good weekend...sleepy girl on the way home Sunday afternoon.