The Passport

I went to get the mail today and there was an envelope from the passport agency!!  I was so excited and said, "Maddie....we got your passport!!!"  So I opened the envelope because I wanted to see her picture (isn't that the most important part of the passport?).  To my surprise there was no passport in the envelope :(  There was only a letter saying Eric needed to fill out a form and sign it and have it notarized in order for them to complete the passport process.  This was the same form I had already filled out and filled out the "special circumstances" block since Eric isn't able to get this form notarized or mailed to us.  I called the passport agency immediately and they told me what needs to happen in order for us to get Maddie's passport in time for our vacation in 13 days.  I'm not going to go into here, but let me just say it's going to cause an intense amount of stress for both me and Maddie (because she would have to accompany me to lawyer offices, courtrooms and passport agencies).  I'm still waiting to talk to Eric but at this point it looks like our vacation to Cozumel is going to have to be postponed :(  The good news is that when Eric comes home on Oct 10th he can get this form notarized and we can mail it in and we'll have Maddie's passport by the time we reschedule a vacation.  The bad news is that it's really depressing when you're a stay at home mom (who desperately needs a break from all things domestic) and you're less than two weeks from getting away from it all and then it gets pulled right out from under your feet. 

The Little Gym week 5

Maddie did INCREDIBLY today at the Little Gym!  Oh my goodness...she was like a new child :)  She had ZERO anxiety today!  She went in by herself and went right to the red mat where we start the class.  When the instructor opened the box of bells, she went right up there to get the bells (this is a FIRST!) and then she sat down right beside the instructor (a substitute this week...) while we sang the welcome song.  She wasn't shy about trying new things today.  The substitute instructor (Mr. Brian) was able to help her do things and she talked to him and smiled at him.  I was A.M.A.Z.E.D.  She even walked across the balance beam (with my help) and when she jumped off the end she gave a big "TAA  DAAA-ee".  The whole class heard her and clapped saying "yeah Maddie" and she just smiled.  No crying today!  She knew what to do on some of the mats, too.  She went to the "cheese wedge" and got into position for a forward roll.  She knew what to jump off of, but was kind enough to wait for Mommy to be in position to spot her before trying to jump (this is important because while she knows the concept for jumping she doesn't have the ability to get her feet off the ground just yet, resulting in her falling flat on her face). 

So, today was just the most amazing day for the Little Gym.  I like the other instructor but with the way Maddie responded to Mr. Brian I kind of wish he held a full time class...I would DEFINITELY switch!  Let's just pray it has more to do with her confidence building than it has to do with the instructor...we'll find out next week!

Foto Friday

I can safely post my Foto Friday pictures now since my camera battery is dead and there is no chance of taking more pictures today :)

So, here are some pictures from Saturday, September 19th through Friday, September 25th...

Trying to get a picture of Maddie's perfect little curl.  She's steadily getting more hair.  Maybe by the time she's 3 we'll be able to do something with it :)

Upside down girl!!

Uncle Guy came for a visit last weekend!  Maddie had a good time with him :)

I got out Maddie's potty chair.  We're not starting potty training, just thought she might get used to it if I get it out now...

She had a lot of fun playing with the potty.  I'm definitely NOT letting her make a habit of playing in the potty...this was just when I first took it out of the box!

Trying to figure out how to sit on it

Still can't quite get it.

Mommy had to put her on it the right way!

Deep in thought...wondering what Mommy is up to now :)

She got her feet in it and said "bath".  WOAH...no bath here!

Maddie has found that it's fun to explore new places.  She's been sqeezing herself into new spots, just checking things out :)  She sat back here for a few minutes "reading" her book.

Another fun new place to sit. 

So busy...

Thursday Random Ramblings

I'm jumping on the opportunity provided by Brooke to get all of my random thoughts out of my head...

First of all, I'm so fed up with this rainy weather!  I know we've been having a severe drought in Texas but these rainy days drain what little bit of energy I have left. 


It's been a full week since the yard has been taken care of and I wonder if they're going to come do it today. I did contact the landscaper and ask if they would use the push mower instead of their ride on mower.  Our yard just doesn't drain well and the ground will stay WET for days after the rain has stopped.  Because of this, the heavy riding mower the landscaper uses ends up ripping up the ground.  It's not nice...so I'm glad they're going to be gentler on the lawn (if they come today).

As of today there are only 16 days until Eric comes home again.  I'm so looking forward to getting a break!  It's so exhausting being a mom of a toddler.  Mine is a very well behaved toddler for the most part, but it's still a lot to handle.  Even when she's playing nicely by herself I still have to be paying attention.  I cook three meals a day, try to maintain a clean house (which is becoming more and more of a struggle these days), give a lot of attention to Maddie (she's been watching quite a bit of Noggin...) and still find the energy to have some "me" time that doesn't involve any of the above.  Hopefully when Eric's home this time he'll give me a day or two to sleep in and have no responsibilities :)


I'm pretty obsessive about checking the mail these days.  We applied for Maddie's passport at the beginning of September so I'm hoping it will come in soon.  We still have 19 days before we go to Cozumel so I know there's plenty of time...I just don't like leaving things til the last minute!  Also, if that passport doesn't come in, we'll have to cancel our trip.  Since I desperately need to get out of this house (see paragraph above) I'd like to see that passport so I know for sure we're going on vacation!

Ok, I have a TON more things on my mind but right now Maddie is pretty much driving me crazy whining in the high chair.  She doesn't want a drink, she doesn't want more bread, she doesn't want more turkey, she won't eat her peas, she only wants more cheese.  I swear this baby would eat cheese, and only cheese, for three meals a day if I let her!

Completely Candid Photo Entry

I decided to enter the "completely candid" photo contest over at iHeartFaces this week.  This is the first time Maddie was playing with the hose in her little pool...and not the last.  You'd think she would've learned from spraying it in her face!

My Growing Girl

I just put a cute little dress on Maddie that's a size 18 months.  I put this dress on her on Aug 29th (I know because I took pictures) and the dress hit her mid to lower knee.  Today the dress is at the top of her knee.  I know she has been getting bigger by the day, I can tell when I'm trying to snuggle with her in the rocking chair.  She just doesn't quite fit anymore :(  It's amazing just how fast they can grow when they're so young!  I read somewhere that if people continued to grow (throughout their lives) at the same rate they do as infants, the average height of humans would be somewhere around 10 feet!  Isn't that amazing?  I'm already looking forward to Maddie's 18 month check-up just to see how much she's grown!  She's probably grown at least a 1/2 inch since her 15 month appt on Sept 9th.

In addition to Maddie growing physically, her imagination has been growing like crazy too!!  She just plays and plays and plays so nicely with her toys these days.  She feeds her babies their bottles, rocks them and pats them and puts them to sleep.  She's gotten even more into her little tea set.  She plays tea parties all the time.  The other day she was walking around with her sippy cup in one hand and a tea cup in her other hand.  She pretended to dump the contents of her sippy cup into the tea cup, drank it out of the tea cup and then said "more".  Then she "dumped" more out of the sippy cup into the tea cup and did it all over again.  She was just walking laps around the house playing like that :)  Last night she brought one of the "cakes" to her tea set out to the living room, put it to the cat's face, made her fake eating sound, then said "good?" to the cat, while stooped down looking her in the eye, then she said "more?" and "fed" the cat more of the cake.  Then she tells the cat "good girl" and headed back to the playroom to find more to play with.  It's just so cute to see her interacting with the animals.  It makes me wonder if she'll use Murphy and Audrey as her "living dolls" when she plays tea parties when she gets older.  She already likes to feed Murphy her animal crackers...

Maddie is also continuing to get smarter and smarter by the day!  Yes, I'm surprised it's possible as well :)  I'm just amazed by how smart my little girl is.  I know every parent thinks their child is smart, but mine REALLY is!  :)  Yesterday she was being really fussy, bothering me while I was trying to prepare dinner...as usual.  I was trying to come up with ways to get her distracted from pestering me so I told her to go play with her horses.  I told her to go get her horse and make it kick the ball.  She stopped fussing and looked at me with wide eyes like "what a great idea" and started walking toward the playroom.  I watched her to see if she understood everything I said.  I certainly didn't think she would get all of what I said, expecting her to get one of her My Little Ponies and bring it to me.  But she actually got one of the horses and made it "kick" a ball!  I was in shock that she understood that.  Unfortunately she wasn't all that into it...it only last about 20 seconds (if that) and she was back to bother me some more...

Uncle Guy is in town visiting us right now and Maddie is doing really well with him.  He came in late Sunday night so I thought there was no way she'd be interested in having anything to do with him.  Well, when we got back to the house, she went right to him!  She didn't seem shy at all.  But within a matter of seconds she was ready to come back to mommy...maybe she has a fear of heights?  :)  Yesterday she was really interacting with him, bringing him toys and everything.  He's been able to hold her and play with her and she hasn't had much anxiety with him.  Thank God!!  I guess it's easier on her to be around people she's not completely comfortable with in her own house.  This is the place where she feels safe so to have a person come here is less stressful for her.  Also, it's just one person.  There isn't a huge group of people for her to try to figure out all at once.  I'm just glad Guy's visit is going well!

The Little Gym

Maddie did SO GREAT today at the little gym!  She's becoming a pro at her forward rolls :)  (mommy assisted, of course).  I can really see her confidence building each time we go.  Today she sat on the parachute and went for a little ride and didn't get anxious about it at all.  It's so much fun to see her enjoying herself and not feeling afraid.  I'm so proud of her!!