Finalization!

On Friday we had our adoption hearing at the Gwinnett County Courthouse with Judge R. Timothy Hamil of the Gwinnett Superior Court. We had to wait a little bit because the judge was a little backed up, but we finally were able to go back with our parents and our attorney to the judge's chamber. It was so easy, it amazed me! We sat around the table and our attorney read us questions like, "Do you still want to adopt this child?" we said yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. After about two minutes of questions the judge said he signs off on the adoption to make it official - and that was it!

I knew it was a good sign when we were sitting there and the judge was wearing a Georgia tie - for those ignorant to the biggest weekend of college football Georgia played Florida and WON (we've only won like 3 times since 1990)! I think the judge's tie was such a good omen. We were so happy about Georgia's victory that Madeleine wore her GA bulldawg cheerleading outfit to church on Sunday to celebrate. 42-30 Go Dawgs!

Taken at our church "Trunk R Treat"

Madeleine's New Man...

Madeleine has a new man in her life - her Uncle Scotty-Body (our family nickname for my BIL -Scott that Katelyn so nicely coined). Scott is not the most comfortable around newborns, when Madeleine came home from the hospital he wouldn't even hold her, but I've found a great way around this. I was over at Cassidie's and Scott's last Saturday and said, "Scott, can you hold her real quick while I run to the bathroom?" - see this has him both cornered and trapped. He's too nice to say no so I plop her in his lap. He's too afraid to get up and pass her off to someone else so there he will sit until he is freed. Humorously, Madeleine loves him. Check out this picture of her staring up at him (and note his thrilled expression :)

Motoring~

One thing I have noticed about Miss M lately is that she is starting to move, now I have to be even more careful! Yesterday, I was doing some work in the office and I had her in her travel swing and next thing I see is this:

I was cracking up - but it did remind me I need to be a little more watchful, she is becoming quite the active baby!

Exciting News!

So I almost forgot to mention our most exciting news - my parents bought a modest bridal & formalwear business that was formally located in Peachtree City out of a home and will now be located in a store front in Loganville. The dresses are beautiful - it's too bad that I don't need one anytime soon, but this would be great for prom, homecoming, mother of the bride dresses, bridesmaid dresses, Christmas party formals, and of course cruise wear. The clothing featured in this store bridges the gap between teen-y boppy and matronly (dumpy) formalwear. I have hated to shop for formalwear in the past because it was nearly impossible to find something that didn't expose all my goods or make me look totally frumpy. I will get to help with the marketing side of the business so while being home with Madeleine, I'll still be able to stay sharp on my other skills - the best of both worlds!

The store will be open the middle of November and will be located in the historic district of Loganville off of Hwy 78 on GA Hwy 20. I have created a poster to go in the window to advertise the upcoming opening so that it will be send for this weekend's fall festival.

So if any of you are desiring really nice formal wear (or tuxedo rentals), I know just the place for you to go!

The Past Month Summarized...

This is starting to remind me of my diary entries as a teenager (now I'm a grownup I keep a journal, hee hee). It would usually start like this:

"Dear Diary,

Lots of stuff has been happening and I've been really busy, but I'm too tired to write - will write more tomorrow."

Having my last post say "better late than never" steals what would be the title for this month! At least I can take some time to summarize what we have been up to.

Basically, Andrew has been working a ton - usually 14-16 hour days so he hasn't been seen very much. We really miss him a lot, but we are grateful for the jobs he has been blessed with. We've gone to visit him a couple of times on the job and we are very impressed with the job he is doing. These pictures are of a pavilion he is building for a neighboring county (baby not included)...

Because I was tired of Andrew being gone so much, I took off to Brunswick to visit my grandma and aunts that live down that way. I ended up taking my 3 year old niece with me and we had a blast! Most people would call me certifiably insane for braving a 5.5 hour car trip with a 2 month old and a 3 year old by myself, but it actually was really nice. Having Katelyn to help entertain Madeleine and informing very loudly, "Kara, Madeleine's asleep!" was a very nice addition. The only big bummer was that the weather didn't cooperate with our trip and it rained most of the time we were down there. Still, I really enjoyed spending time with my family and wouldn't trade that opportunity for anything.

Grandma and Madeleine (this was right when we got there after all that time in the car, Madeleine's first time seeing "G.G." - she was all smiles!)

Katelyn is totally into CareBears and for being such a big helper, I got her a new big CareBear - she is so cute with them - I just had to capture the momma bear with all her little babies...

The day we were leaving it finally stopped raining, and I had been talking to Katelyn about going to the beach so Grandma watched Madeleine and I took Katelyn to St. Simons. We walked on the pier and saw the fishermen fishing, played on the playground, sat in a really big tree, kissed the "dolphin" whales goodbye, and chased butterflies before getting in the car to pack up and go home.

The day we left to go down to Brunswick was Madeleine's 2 month check up. She did very well considering she had 5 vaccinations in one day. Her new stats are:

Height: 23 inches
Weight: 11 lbs
Head Circumference: 38 cm

So she's absolutely right on track! The night of her 2 month birthday she started "sleeping through the night". I woke up listening to her noises thinking - can't you wait just a little bit longer, I'm sleepy - until I looked at the clock and noticed it was almost 7 am - I had 6 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep, it was like a little piece of heaven! Going out of town messed with her system a little, but we are now back on track again and are loving life! I've also noticed since she's turned 2 months she blows lots of bubbles and kicks so much more, when I'm changing her diaper on my lap she kicks so much she could jump off my lap! She's always been super strong, from 2 weeks on able to pretty much stand with a little support and excellent head control. The doctor was really impressed with her abilities - able to track objects with her eyes, her social and cognitive skills seem to be pretty good for her age.

Saturday was our big disappointment, our Georgia Bulldawgs lost to Tennessee :( You can't say it wasn't for lack of our spirit wear (yes, that is a GA Bulldawg mobile - it even plays "Glory, Glory")...

*Thanks Uncle and Aunt A and cousins for the most perfect GA Cheerleading outfit - as you can see it fits her perfectly!

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the past month:

So sorry this has taken so long to post, but I hope that you enjoy!

Better Late than Never

I'm really sorry to those of you who check frequently to see the latest happenings. I've learned I'm not very good at holding a 1 month old and typing, so it comes down to me losing sleep (literally) to check my e-mail and make updates to my blog, boy, has life changed! I taught my grandma how to add my blog to her favorites (yes, my grandma is internet-savy, she also drives a Honda CRV, so not your typical 81 year old), so I figured I better get cracking on my updates. I wanted to post the pictures I took of Madeleine last week for her 4 week pictures, mention Andrew had his birthday, and also my most exciting news - I got Madeleine's 1 month photos taken this week (okay, so not so much for an exciting life - give me a break!).


4 Week Photos


Madeleine Turns 1 Month
So first things first, Madeleine turns 1 month!!! I can't believe it has gone that fast. She had her 1 month check up this week and for those into stats:

Height: 21 inches (+ 1 inch from birth - currently 50%)
Weight: 10 lbs (75%)
Head Circumference: 37 cm (she was 35 cm at birth)

It's so funny how you look forward to having your baby weighed - I dread myself being weighed at the doctor, I already think in advance what my excuse will be for my extra poundage (usually I blame it on my shoes or leaded jeans), but for my poor baby I actually look forward to seeing how much she has gained. Because we spend a lot of quality time together, it is hard to tell how much she is changing. So far I only could tell because she outgrew her newborn diapers.

Madeleine also got her 2nd Hepatitis shot. I was so worried how she would take it so before they came in to give her the shot, I started to sing to her (she loves primary songs and absolutely LOVES being sung too). She did cry a little but quickly quieted as I continued to sing and went right to sleep when we got in the car. What a champ!


Andrew's 28th birthday


For those of you doing the math, yes, Andrew is a year younger than me. He always gives me the jab, "I don't know if I'm ready to be ____" (fill in the year that I've already been enduring for the past year), 'snicker, snicker'. Ha, ha, ha aren't you original! Andrew always seems to buy his own birthday presents, this year I find he's bought another gun (like we really needed another one). We had a nice dinner out at a Japanese steakhouse celebrating his and our niece Kaitlyn's birthdays.

Labor Day
Our Labor Day was pretty quiet. We went up to Lake Lanier to spend some time with family and friends. I was recovering from a cold (thanks to sleep exhaustion), and Miss M hadn't slept well the day before so we were out of the water ourselves, but Andrew had a grand time playing with the nieces and nephews in the water. I take that back, I did get to go on a short kayak ride that was obviously very memorable :) Andrew's been working a ton so it was nice regardless of what we were doing to have him with us for the day.


1 Month Photo Shoot

I took Madeleine for her 1 month pictures this week. It has been so long since I've had pictures taken, that I was really a fish out of water. I went to Portrait Innovations because of Kayleen's reccomendation and was absolutely thrilled! They are running a $9.95 special for one pose you get a ton of pictures - so that was my initial plan, boy, did I fail miserably. I wasn't crazy about my photographer - he wasn't as engaging as the other photographers that were working that day, but come on, she's one month old, I wasn't expecting much. We went through the whole routine of taking pictures, changing outfits, taking more pictures, etc. At first she was such a good sport, I was surprised to even get a few smiles out of her, but as the outfits changed, so did her patience. Once all the pictures were taken they load it on a computer screen and you go through and pick your favorites and then you narrow it down, and narrow it down, and narrow it down. When all was said and done I walked out of the studio with $85 worth of precious memories (that's right you get your pictures when you leave) - I hope you enjoy the slide show, after all it was "free". Oh, and in case you were wondering, the slide show of pictures are not edited or cropped, the ones that were actually printed were more centered and closely cropped.


Things I've Learned About Photo Sessions:

• Be assertive of what you think you would like (I was clueless at first)
• If you don't like a background - say so. Now that I am a seasoned veteran of the photography studios (okay, haha) I know better than to let such a hideous background to be allowed at all, it was really just a waste of time. I'm referring to the "beach" scene if you didn't already pick up on that one.
• The sales team does not have to be pushy. My photographer didn't have to pressure me to buy anything, I was the hard-seller to myself. I just had to have enough money spent so that I could get the CD of all the poses for "free".
• If your husband doens't want you to spend a lot of money, he better be in attendance. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Hilarious Read (Mom, this is dedicated to you!)

My friend Kerri had this posted on her blog and I thought it was hilarious! This woman started by posting an auction on ebay for some Pokemon cards the kids snuck into her shopping cart, but she posts this long-winded reason why she hates grocery shopping with her kids and her rantings and ravings for her auction description and unbeknownest to her, she's become a web phenom. Those cards ended up selling for $140+ and she has over 11,000 hits on her blog a day - from obscurity to reaching out to so many over the internet, my hat is off to her.

eBay listing :http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675#description

Her blog:http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

I am one of five kids, my mom had all five of us in seven years and I distinctly remember those grocery shopping adventures. It never failed that someone in the grocery store would ask my mom the infamous "Are all those kids yours?" question to which my mom would make the snarky reply, "No, I drove around the neighborhood asking 'Who wants to go to the grocery store and drive me crazy?' - of course they are all mine!". Probably the best was when we went to Roses (kind of like a Wal-Mart or Target, back in the 80's) and Cassidie swiped a magnet. Imagine all five kids in tow, Cassidie is a middle child and I think she was about 3 or 4 at the time which would have made my brother about eight and Kayleen would have been about one, walking out of the store as my poor mom makes the discovery. Cassidie is tough as nails (and I mean seriously she could beat me up as a kid and I was not a wimp) and she threw a temper tantrum that should be in another category all by itself. As we were walking out of the store she throws herself down in the parking lot in front of the store kicking and screaming - it's amazing we all lived that day.

I wish my mom had the internet as an outlet back then with us - I can only imagine the things she would have written.

Kudos to you Mom - thanks for letting us live to adulthood :)