head, shoulders, knees and toes

Madison is my smart little cookie.  As I mentioned in an earlier post she can say many words and make noises of many animals.  We can add an owl and tiger to that list as well.  She also loves to point out her body parts.  She has done her eyes, ears and head for about 4 months or so but we captured each moment while in Buena Vista.  She is just my cutie.  I could not be more proud!!

She can also do her toes, fingers, teeth and mouth.  And now she can point to other people's body parts.  The doctor said this is much more difficult of a concept for kids to grasp.  Okay, maybe I am just a bragging mother but she really did say that! 

"You ready Boo Bear!!"

Nose

Eye

Ear

Tummy

pop up adventure

We recently purchased a pop up camper (more pictures of the remodel to follow soon).  We have always loved the outdoors but with Madison sleeping in a tent is just no longer feasible.  Instead we sold our jet ski and trailer and but us a camper!

Our first adventure started in Buena Vista Colorado, deep in the Collegiate Peaks near Mt. Princeton.  The weather could have been better, cloudy and rainy but really, I loved the break from the heat.  The night got a little cold but we have a heater in the unit.  Wow...is this what people call camping now!  Haha!  Speaking of the lush, we visited a RV store to see what new gadgets we may need and the RVs were crazy!  I mean the wood work was better than in my own house.  I did not even feel like I was in an RV!  Amazing what they have these days for a small payment of $75,000!!!

Anyway.  We still enjoyed the outdoors.  Did a little hiking and some fishing.  Enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  We actually switched locations for the second night and stayed more at a camping facility.  The amenities, ie a bathroom, were there which is always nice.  We loved every minute of it and cant wait for the upcoming weekends to enjoyed the beautiful CO!

The mountains are actually behind that thick fog

Buena Vista

You can sort of see the river behind us.  The rushing water was beautiful.  Madison enjoyed about 2 seconds with her toes in before she looked at me like, "Mommy this is freezing cold!"

Enjoying the near by park while Mommy enjoyed her favorite ice cream

And maybe Madison did as well

the sweetest moments

As a mother there are many moments that are unnoticed.  From something as little as wiping your daughters face to holding her until she falls asleep.  We do them because we love our children.  We do them because we want the very best for them, always.  Many of these moments you will never receive a thank you for and never would expect that either.  You wait.  You wait for the moment where you feel your child is showing you, the best way they can, how much they love you and appreciate that you are their mother. 

My moments came two days in a row.

Two days ago I was rocking Madison to sleep after a very long day.  She was a little crankier than usual and I was exhausted, I think just due to the pregnancy.  We spent the day finding activities to do, reading books and playing fun games (like chase the baby around the house).  At the end of the day I gently wrapped her up and started rocking her.  She looked up at me, as she regularly does, spit her pacifier out, which she never does, and puckers her lips for a kiss.  Just even typing this, I am flooded with overwhelming love for this little lady.  I instantly started crying and she gently touched my face.  In that moment, life was perfect.  Nothing else mattered.  My daughter was saying, "I love you Mommy."  What else could I ever ask for!!

Then day two....

My sweet girl and I have a saying, "Be gentle to Mommy."  She will gently stroke my cheeks which then typically leads to some hitting but we just keep saying to be gentle.  Again.  Such a sweet gesture.  Today instead of becoming the crazy hands, she gently put my cheeks in her hands, tilted my head done and kissed my nose. The flood of tears came and my love for this beautiful baby grew.  I didn't think it was possible but my heart just got a few inches larger.

I feel incredibly blessed to have such a beautiful, sweet, loving and happy girl.  Madison you are Mommy and Daddy's everything.  We love you.

4th of july

4th of July was a quiet one at the Stewart's this year.  Most of the time we try and travel back to Rapid City but with the holiday landing in the middle of the week and us going there 2 weeks later we stayed home. 

The weather has been scorching, as most of you have been feeling as well, so we turned on the faucet (which some how is way better than the water play mat) and we enjoyed some cooling off.  Licking the water up was a favorite.  As many of you remember, she did this last summer but was much littler.  Fun how times have changed! 

Ben has been working on a deck for a guy he works with and most of his 4th was spent doing that.  Madison and I had our water fight while Daddy was sweating in the 100 degree heat all day.  He was able to get home just in time for us to play with a few sparklers before bedtime.  Yes, technically there were not suppose to be any flames but we stayed near the fire pit and only did a couple. ;) Ben just could not give it up 100%.  Best compromise.

Our new pond.  The black pole is actually a fountain.  The finished product really looks nice.

I finally changed Madison into her swimsuit because she was basically soaked head to toe.  Right now she is very into cleaning.  She grabs rags or wipes all the time and I find her cleaning her babies to the dining room chairs.  Apparently today the retaining wall needed a good scrub.

She enjoyed the sparks for one minute but then was leary the next.

My sweet girl!  She is such a happy one!!!

life stressors

1.) We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.  We don't have a name.

As much as I have made that look like I am stressed about it, it is at the bottom of my list actually.  Other people seem to be very stressed that this name business is not happening but Madison was decided on minutes before she entered the world and expect just the same for our little man (Bob, John, Matthew, or whatever other name)  ;)


2.)  The baby's room is not near completion

Yes!  This stresses me out!  I need to start organizing clothes (immediately) and seeing what sizes we need.  I mean how can a girl properly dress a handsome young man when I have two large piles of clean clothes, on the hangers ready for the remodeled closet!!!  Yes, Ben is in charge of this and Yes, he has twenty projects (at least) on his plate right now.  Mommy is about to nest and poop may hit the fan (we no longer use profanity in our home! hehe).

3.)  My house is just NEVER as clean as I want it to be. 

This sums it all up:

Enough about the negative....The positive!

1.)  I have a handsome boy inside of me.  He loves to twirl and kick and stretch.  Always positive confirmation that he is doing well.

2.) My sweet girl is 17 months and loves her Mommy and Daddy.  Hugs and kisses come frequently.

3.) I have the best husband in the world.  Really!  He is caring, kind, loving and always there for his family.

my big girl

"The most precious gift from Heaven above is the gift of a daughter for a mother to love." ~ Author Unknown

"My finger may be tiny but I can still wrap my daddy around it." ~ Author Unknown

Our little girl has brought such joy and laughter to our home.  Our expectations of this parenting journey have far been exceeded in the most amazing ways.  Ben and I talk about Madison every night before we go to bed, reliving those small moments in our every day lives that bring such happiness to each passing day.

Madison is growing up and with that comes bigger smiles, flailing tantrums and energy that never ceases to amaze us.  Here are just a few of the wonders of our baby girl.

Words She Can Say (In order of when she said them):

~ Bird, Boat, Papa, Boo, Bear, Momma, Dadda, Ah Ooooh, Bye Bye, All Done, Hi, All Gone, Duck, Hot & Tee

Sounds She Can Make:

~ Vroom, Ta Ta (when sounding out the letter T)

Animals She Knows the Sounds of:

~ Cow (Moooooo), Bear (Rarrrrrrrrr), Puppy (Woof, Woof), Sheep (Baa Baa)


Wow, really, where does time go.  I can not imagine what even 1 month is going to bring.  Next thing I know she is going to be driving!!! 

This is the "I don't know" shrug Daddy taught her

summer fun

We have been enjoying (or roasting) in 90-100 degree weather.  Four straight days of double digits.  Pregnant Mommy feels like a sticky mess and Madison is even thinking, whoa!  Finally the last couple of days we are feeling some relief.  We brought out the sprinkler mat and have been outside with the hose everyday.  Madison likes the water but doesn't love it.  She wants to play with it her own way, not something spraying at her.  We have fun either way!

Oh my mom!!  This weather is getting ridiculous!!!

father's day love

Daddy was spoiled with breakfast and a day filled with his favorite hobby (or one of the twenty favorites)...Fishing.

Madison enjoyed all the outdoor time and daddy got some quality time at Eleven Mile Reservoir and Rampart Reservoir.  We had not planned on two different locations but in the afternoon, around 2:00 we were evacuated!  Yes, evacuated!  This came only days before the fire in Colorado Springs. 

This was around 11:00.  The smoke caught both Ben and I's attention right away.  We kept saying, "that wasn't there when we got here right?" 

The wind caught these little pigtails and wow!  Sticking straight up!

Daddy tickling Madison with a rubber worm.  She was so grossed out.  Then, found out it was not going to eat her and started playing with it.

And this was a real worm!!  Mommy stop making me touch it!!

This is when we were evacuated the size.  What a difference 3-4 hours makes!  The fire is now under control but of course the after effect is still being managed.

Already got this fishing down!

Ironically enough the only fish caught at the reservoirs was while Madison was sitting and playing with the pole.  Unfortunately due to this little person Daddy wasn't able to bring it in...Bummer!  We still had a great time hanging out in the sun and enjoying some water between our toes.