Happy (Belated) First Birthday, Madelyn!!

Madelyn turned 1 on September 23rd. She continues to be the happiest baby ever! Even her fussy moments are "Maddy Fussy",  meaning that they are so much less than most babies!
She is crawling everywhere now, and pulls herself up on any piece of furniture, wall, or person that she can find! We think she will be taking her first steps in no time.
She eats all solid foods, and has been on whole milk for a little while now. Her favorite foods include: yogurt, Cheerios, cheese, most fruits and vegetables, pasta, tomatoes, eggs, waffles, turkey, chicken nuggets, and potatoes. She sleeps great, usually 6:30pm-5:30am. She is an early riser, but at least she sleeps through the night.
She is starting to use her voice quite a bit. She babbles often, and has said a few words: uh-oh, mama, dada, Tay-Tay, and baby. 

Here are a few recent stats:
Height: 30 inches (66%)
Weight: 20 lbs 14 oz (52%)
Shoe Size: 3
Diaper Size: finishing up 3's and about to move to 4's
Clothing Size: 12 months
Teeth Count: 2 1/2 (and 5 more trying to come through - teething has been very painful for her!)

Maddy likes...
Crawling, standing, walking holding someone's fingers, swinging on the swings, playing peek-a-boo, watching her big sister do just about anything, exploring, her red sock monkey, her baby doll (she likes to hug the both!), eating, playing with anyone, smiling, mommy's phone, being held, being rocked, music, listening to people sing, dropping things from her highchair, looking at pictures of her family.

Maddy dislikes...
Teething, getting her nails clipped, staying in one spot, loud sudden noises, being told "no" (she has the saddest pouty face!), when mommy tries to wipe her nose, when mommy leaves the room.

From our photo shoot!

Enjoying her cake! We love this face!

Smash cake!

Maddy with Mommy, Mar, and Great-Grandma

Some more photo shoot pics (Taylor's 4 year pics):

Taylor's First Day of Preschool & Maddy is 11 Months!

Taylor's First Day of Preschool! 
Well, it happened - today, my little girl began what will be the beginning of a long educational journey. Sam and I took the day off today to take her to her first day of preschool at the Minooka United Methodist Church. She was slightly nervous (as was I), but she did great! She loved her teacher, Mrs. Davis, and really enjoyed having her buddy Evelyn in class. There were no tears, both from Taylor or myself!
We picked her up and went to brunch with Evelyn and her mom, and then spent the day playing outside together. Overall, it was a very memorable day! We can't wait to see how the rest of the school year goes!

Our big girl, ready to go!

Waiting with her friend Evelyn!

Taylor with her teacher, Mrs. Davis

Getting annoyed with mommy taking pictures!

Being silly!

Maddy is 11 Months Old! 
Our little munchkin is 11 months old! Let the countdown begin to her first birthday!
She is officially on all whole milk and eating table food. She loves everything she tries, but especially fruit, avocado, chicken nuggets, and yogurt.
She has turned a corner with her gross motor skills, and within 2 weeks went from sitting up, to army-crawling, to pulling herself up in her crib! She is trying so hard to pull herself up on furniture, so I'm sure she'll be doing it in a couple of days! She really is all over the place. We will place her down in the family room and 2 minutes later she's across the room in the kitchen.
She loves babbling and has said "mama", "dada", "night-night", "hi", and we think she might be trying to say "no" but it sounds more like "nah".
She is becoming quite the toddler. She gets very upset and cries whenever she is told "no" or something is taken away from her. She loves exploring and getting into everything, so this happens often throughout the day!
She had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago with Dr. Smith, and her kidney is slowly shrinking back to it's normal size after her surgery. Dr. Smith said that it may never be a "normal" size, but that it is still fully functional, and actually looks like it is healing better than he thought it would! We were very happy about that news!

So big!

She loves her food!

Look what I can do!

And Finally, Our Quirky Little Girl...
Taylor was in time-out last Friday quite a bit. While she was in there, she apparently thought it was ok to spit all over the floor. That was the last straw, so I carried her up to her room and told her she needs to go to bed. I went up to check on her about a half hour later (after not hearing any noise - very unusual for her!) and panicked when I didn't see her anywhere! I looked all around, and then finally opened her closet door. This is what I found...

I thought it was especially hilarious that she was still in her "bride dress". Picking her up out of here and putting her to bed was a chore, but she clearly needed some sleep!

Summer Recap!!

Wow, it's hard to believe that we've been back into the school year for two weeks already. We had such a great summer; it really was the perfect amount of fun, relaxation, and family time that we needed after the year that we had. We want to sincerely thank some very special people who's amazing generosity made these trips possible; you know who you are, and we hope that you know how grateful we are.
We were on the go so much, that I did not have a lot of time to sit down and blog about it all! So here is our vacation in a condensed nutshell!

San Diego
We had a blast in San Diego, and enjoyed our time visiting with wonderful family. We stayed in Mission Beach, where we enjoyed the amusement park, beaches, and great day spa! We spent a day in beautiful La Jolla, and another day at Legoland Amusement Park! Here are some pics:

Picnic on the beach!

Taylor's first time in the ocean! Our favorite quote: "Why does this ocean move?!"

Girls being silly at Belmont Park in Mission Beach

Family Pic!

Posing at Legoland

Florida
5 days after being home from San Diego, we took off to Florida! We spent some time on the Atlantic side in Indian Harbour Beach, and some time on the Gulf side in Bradenton (near Sarasota). Taylor was a little apprehensive around the water (thanks to Sam dropping her in the ocean on the first day! Way to go, hun!). But we still really enjoyed our time at the beaches and pools. We could have stayed forever!

Beautiful Beach!

Maddy loved the water!

Maddy trying out the sand!

Having a snack in the cabana!

Maddy, Taylor, and Sophia getting some shade

Grown-up night out with Erica & German!

Date night - dinner and then a sunset walk along Siesta Key

Beautiful sunset

Best buds!

Spending a rainy day at the dog track!

Boulder Junction, Wisconsin
Sam and Taylor took a trip up with the Pavelka clan to Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, to visit Uncle Wayne and Aunt Lou! Maddy and I stayed back - she had just had surgery days before, and was having a difficult time recovering. The daddy-daughter trip was successful, and they enjoyed their bonding time together!

Taylor with her cousin, Haley, and Grandma Gloria

On the boat with Uncle Gus

Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Our 2nd annual trip to Sheboygan with the Forst clan was wonderful! A computer glitch at the resort landed us in the presidential suite, which was amazing! We will most likely never stay in something so luxurious again, and enjoyed every minute there!

The whole Forst clan, enjoying the beach!

Family pic!

View from our balcony!

We spent so much time traveling that the rest of the summer flew by. We still had time to visit with family and friends, hang out with our neighbors, and celebrate a dear friend's wedding. It was definitely a summer that we will remember!