Madelyn's first Halloween Eve!

Madelyn with the Pumpkin her Daddy carved for her! Madelyn with Mallory Daniels!

It's hard to get a good shot of these two girls on the move!

Happy Halloween...more later with Madelyn in her costume!

Out of order beach pics

A few more pics from the beach...

Madelyn playing in the sand...and Mally bringing the frisbee in the background!

Madelyn is blowing bubbles in this one...too funny!

Daddy and Madelyn in the hammock!

Ear Bling!

A few pics of the new earrings!

Here Madelyn is talking on the phone to Nana...

Warning...piercing ears hurts!

Friday was a BIG day for us! Madelyn had her 9mo check up, and this time Nanna came along as Daddy had appointments at work. Thank goodness Nanna was there...Mommy needed her support as we all three went through the trauma of getting Madelyn's ears pierced - OUCH! I was hoping this experience would be similar to getting a shot...hmmm....not exactly. Madelyn doesn't really like people to hold her in place or mess with her head/ears anyway - we've learned that before. So, just the part where the doctor was trying his best to mark the piercing locations was hard. Then, add to that the actual sound and pinching pain of piercing and we had one poor little girl in pain and in tears. AND we still had to pierce the other ear!!! Don't worry, we didn't leave her with only one piercing, but it was all together a rough time. Later Nanna read some lady's blog that said her two month old slept through the piercing - I'd love to know how that happened! It's done now, and I can honestly say I believe the worst is behind us. Madelyn has hardly reacted to the cleaning and turning of the earrings (for you males out there, you have to clean and turn the earrings on a regular basis - it's part of the basic care). Best of all, she's not messing with them with her own hands, and sleeping does not seem to be a problem at all (she sleeps on her side).

On to the good stuff...Madelyn weighed in at 20lbs 8oz and is 27 1/4 inches long! She's in the 80 percentile for weight and 45th for height. Madelyn is developing right on track. She's definitely crawling all over the place now, and she'll stand up when supported by mom, dad, or the sofa! She's clapping, eating finger foods, and mimicking mom and dad's funny noises and faces. She says Mommy, Daddy, and Hey...although it's not completely purposeful or clear. She loves her Blue Bear, being outside, and her new personalized CD from Nina and Grampa! Really, that CD was a life saver! It sings songs that has her name inserted. On our way home from getting the ears pierced, Madelyn started crying again. We tried every toy and every trick we knew and couldn't get Madelyn calmed down...then Mommy played THE CD...it was like magic! Madelyn heard it and immediately calmed down and stayed that way the rest of the way home! Thanks Nina and Grampa!!!

On another note, Mommy and Baby #2 had a check up a little over a week ago. Things are progressing just fine...we heard the heartbeat (186bpm this time) and we'll go back in another month!

Here are a couple of pics from our beach trip...stay tuned for pics of the pierced ears!

This one is Aunt Steph and Madelyn - although Madelyn's not smiling, she is clapping!!

Here's one with Gramps!!

Our family on the beach!

October News and Updates

Madelyn will be 9 months old in 2 days! We just can 't believe it! We are dismayed that in 3 months she'll be digging into her first birthday cake! This weekend we are enjoying our second trip as a family to the beach. We are staying in our cousins' beautiful home outside of Georgetown, SC. The weather is beautiful, Daddy and Gramps have already been out golfing, and Madelyn loves riding around on the golf cart! After the last two months of jammed packed Tully Markets activities, we all needed this vacation! Oh, I guess I didn't clarify - we're here with the Tullys - Gramps, Nana, and Aunt Stephanie. AND we can't forget that Mally joined us on this trip - she's the happiest camper here!!

Well, we tried unsuccessfully before to make announcements to family and friends through this blog but for some reason we're trying again. We are excited to announce that Madelyn is going to be a BIG sister!! Yes, we are pregnant with Baby #2!! The baby is growing and developing just fine - we're almost 11 weeks along. This new addition will be joining us at the end of April 2009. Please keep us all in your prayers as we prepare in all sorts of ways for this wonderful new life!

Here are a few of the latest pictures of our little girl!!!

This is Madelyn playing with her favorite friend, Mallory Daniels! They have such a blast together!
Here's Madelyn playing with a burp cloth on her head! She loves to play "Peek-A-Boo" and pull it off her head! It makes her laugh every time!

This is our family at Texas de Brazil in Fort Worth. This is where we celebrated our 1st successful Western Apparel and Tack Texas Market in August.

Stay tuned for more updates on Madelyn and more info on our Baby on the way!

Love,
Mike, Allyson, Madelyn, Baby #2, and Mally