Point Park and had a lot of fun looking at the fall colors.
Other events that have transpired include Thanksgiving and Madeleine's blessing. We had our Thanksgiving this year with the Opp family and were able to fully stuff ourselves (that never seems to be a problem). While we were there I mentioned to my SIL Lynnette that I was looking to get Madeleine a Johnny Jumper for Christmas so she brought out her's to give it a try. It was so funny because Madeleine is so petite that it seemed like it was almost all the way to the floor, but she loved it! She's been trying to stand since she was about 3 months old and she loves to be upright and I've tried the Exersaucers, stationary jumpers, and walkers and none will adjust low enough so that she can touch with her feet so it was a big hit. I've already got all of her Christmas presents bought, now it is just so hard not to have her play with them until the big day - luckily I only have a little more than a week to go (finally)!
The first Sunday of December we had Madeleine's blessing (like a christening, except the baby isn't baptized until the age of accountability which is 8 years old in the LDS church, but the baby receives a name and a blessing by an authorized priesthood holder, in our case Andrew administered the blessing). It was such a wonderful experience to have our family attend - we ended up taking up about a third of the chapel. Madeleine's birthmom was also able to make it and that was so special.
One of my old coworkers from Belgium was able to make it here to the states. It was so fun to see her and see some old friends and introduce Madeleine to them. We got to have a real yummy meal at Bahamma Breeze and afterwards took Marjolein around to find American goodies to bring back home with her.
Just this past weekend was my grandma's 85th birthday and small family reunion down in Newnan where my mom's family is from. It was so much fun to see my cousins, aunts and uncles, including my greats! For a present for my grandma I made her a small scrapbook of her life. I introduced myself to the world of digital scrapbooking and I have to say - I am in love! It only took me about 3 hours to complete this little book, where traditionally it would have taken me a couple of days with cutting paper and printing the right photos. Here's one of the pages I created (I use the Shabby Princess papers and elements). It was pretty funny when we sang Happy Birthday to my grandma and sang, "and many more" and she kept saying, "no, please no, I'm ready to die", unfortunately Grandma, we're not ready to let go yet.
At 4 months Madeleine seems to be growing leaps and bounds. It is so fun that she is learning hand eye coordination and can almost hold her bottle by herself. She has more fun playing too and now when placed on her back, she almost immediately rolls to her tummy. She is a very happy baby and loves to smile and laugh. I'm a little bit of a pickle, I still swaddle her at night because she will sleep so well swaddled (she'll usually sleep through the night, or maybe just once). I started to feel a little guilty about her swaddling so I tried to do without - not fun at all! She couldn't sleep well therefore I couldn't sleep well. I now envision her spending the night away from home when she's like 12 and asking, "Umm, excuse me, would you mind helping me into my swaddle so I can sleep?" Hopefully we can transition her (easily - fingers crossed) before then. She takes her naps well throughout the day, but she is in her swing.
We're now looking forward to January as we have our tickets to go to Utah for a little ski vacation. We are so excited, we haven't been skiing for 3 years and poor Andrew bought skis then and hasn't had a chance to use them, he's itching to give them a go. We can't wait to see friends and family while we are out there, it should be such a fun little trip and we've already vowed to make a few runs to our favorite Cafe Rio.
Other than all those activities we are excited for Christmas. This past week it didn't quite put us in the holiday mood with it being almost 80 degrees in a freak warm front, we're now back in our normal 50's and so we're ready to have the fire going in the fireplace. However, the little warm spell allowed me to put Madeleine in some of her warm weather little outfits that I love, for instance the little leopard print top...
I do love this special time of the year, and I would be lying if I didn't say it isn't a much more enjoyable holiday season with our new little one. I'm so grateful for the bounteous blessings that 2007 had in store for us. A year ago I couldn't have possibly imagined the changes that have taken place in our lives, and for this I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. They say hindsight is 20/20 and I would love to say that handling our childlessness was a breeze, but in reality it was very painful and one of the hardest things (if not the hardest thing) we've had to endure. There were times when we wondered if things would ever improve and little did we know, our Heavenly Father was mindful of us all along and was waiting to send us this special spirit that has blessed our lives so immensely both by having her in our home and our relationship with her birthfamily. For these miracles we know that Heavenly Father was preparing us for this most perfect experience. As well we are grateful to be loved by so many and we have felt the prayers you have offered on our behalf. We are so blessed by the life of Jesus Christ and love this time to reflect on his birth and his life. We hope your lives are also touched.
Merry Christmas!
