date night

For a date night Ben and I decided to have dinner and paint pottery.  The idea sounds childish and a bit immature but we had a BLAST!  Sitting down for 2 hours, painting and having adult conversation was great!  The simple things like talking go by the waste side while you are trying to cook, clean, bath, feed, dress, change, and breathe. 

Here was my creation ~

Here was Ben's creation ~

"No Shit Sherlock"

(Please ignore the cussing, the idea was really funny!)

christmas schedule

From the top:

Tuesday      6:00 pm Christmas with Mommy and Daddy

Thursday     4:00 pm Leave for Rapid City

Friday        Hang out with the Bensons

Saturday    9:00 Open Presents
                12:00 Eat Dinner
                 2:00 Nap :)
                 3:00 Build Madison's Kitchen
                 5:00 Eat Dinner at the Stewarts

Sunday      9:30 Open Presents
               12:00 Dinner at Matt and Kari's
                 2:00 Play with all the new toys
                 4:00 Visit the "New" House (More to come on that!  We are so excited for them!!)

Monday     Hang out with Steph
                  Spend family time with the nephews
                  Have a girl's night with Kari
             
Tuesday     Leave for Rapid City

26 days old

Capturing the essence of infancy is so hard but I think this was as close as it gets.  When Madison was 26 days old we had a mold of her hand and foot done.  Ben's office gave it to us as a gift and I could not be more grateful.  The mold was such a wonderful idea and embraced the idea of "keeping them little forever."  Are these not just beautiful!

trouble with a capital T

Don't look away because this may be your house next....

Yep, that is a box of wipes on the floor.  Thank you honey :)

playtime with grandma

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit this past weekend.  Spending time with all our wonderful family is such a blessing.  Madison and Grandma played with lots of toys (as you can see) and practiced lots of walking.  We enjoyed the Denver Zoo Light Show (as see on the previous blog), a craft show and some shopping.  The weekend went by fast but there was lots of quality time.  Can't wait to see them in a week again!!

a night in the life of madison

A night in the life of Madison

5:30 ~ Dinner

6:00 ~ Bath Time

6:30 ~ Last Call for Play Time

Crawling the house

 7:00 ~ Swaddled

7:05 ~ Bottle fed with 6 oz. of formula and rocked to sleep

paci

Pacifier

Pacifier

Pacifier

This is the only thing on my daughter's mind in the middle of the night.  I watch her on the baby monitor, searching, throwing and crying for the next "right" pacifier to fall into her grasp.  The baby rubber pacifiers are not ok and are only used as a throwing or playing device.  The "Good" pacifiers soothe her back to sleep almost instantly.  For this reason we must provide multiple pacifiers in the crib to ensure a restful night for Madison and for Mommy and Daddy.  Here is what the crib looks like.

Right Side

Left Side

See the green one on the right, those are the "baby" pacifiers but the one in front is the "good" pacifier

I know!  It seems crazy but I swear...IT IS THE ONLY WAY!!

She sleeps from 7 pm to 7 am.  We must be doing something right!

Happy Baby = Happy Family

poor circulation

Definition

Poor: Not adequate in quality

Circulation: Movement in a circle or circuit, especially the movement of blood through bodily vessels as a result of the heart's pumping action

My husband believes he has "poor circulation" and has cast this disease on Madison. 

Let me give you a picture of what "poor circulation" means to my husband.

10:00 pm ~  (As he is climbing into the bed) "Oh honey my toes are SOOOOOOOOOO cold.  I must have bad circulation."

10:05 pm ~  "Oh honey, you better let me put my toes on your bare skin so they warm up."

10:06 pm ~ "I'm sorry honey but I have such bad circulation, I better keep my toes under your legs."

10:07 pm ~ (Ben Stewart sound asleep, with warm feet, and a cold wife) *Snore, Snore*

RIDICULOUSNESS!!

Now while we are laying in bed it is the same scenario yet Madison is thrown into the mix.

10:04 pm ~ "I bet Madison has cold toes right now just like her Daddy."

The situation is getting out of control and mommy is definitively getting the short end of the deal! 

denver zoo lights

We had such a great time December 9th when we met Ben's parents at the Denver Zoo Light Show.  The lights were beautiful, draped from tree to tree and moving animal displays everywhere.  The weather held up for the middle of December.  Madison loved seeing the twinkles in the sky and the blinking red/green/blue/pink/purple illumination. 

The falling lights

Grandma and Grandpa keeping little Madison warm

"Mom, can I try the carousel yet?"

All buddled up.  Thanks Great Grandma Benson for the warm snow suit.

There were displays like this everywhere

10 months old

Baby Madison is 10 months old today and I just can't even believe it.  Just thinking about it chokes me up.  Time goes by so fast and our little baby is growing up even faster.  At night there are times I just keep rocking her, long after she falls asleep, remembering the sleepless nights and cuddle times when she was only a few days old.  I am proud to be called mommy (I did hear her say Mama the other day) and over joyed that Ben and I have started a beautiful family.

At 10 months old Madison can:
1. Walk 3 steps (And walk a very long time while holding your finger)
2. Feed herself
3. Say Yaya, Baba, Mama, Dada, wersdcvnoiwetnkb
4. Sleep from 7 pm to 7 am
5. Hold her sippy cup
6. Push her car and any other toy that can be pushed around the house
7. Dance to the snowmen
8. Get into ALOT of trouble (aka trying to pick out of the garbage)
9. Sit and listen to you read books
10. Miss Mommy and Daddy when we are gone

My baby you are so sweet and cute.  God has blessed us in so many ways!

We love you

ten fingers and ten toes

Aren't they so cute though!

perfect christmas card picture

Here were a few of the semi final pictures for the Christmas Card this year.  We had a very cranky girl, lots of bike riders and the wind blowing to contend with but the weather was gorgeous and overall, the pictures turned out great!