Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes...You might be wondering at the title of this blog. Turns out that's the number of minutes in a year. Or at least that's what the song says.

Roughly five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes ago we met Pebbles or as we now call her, Madilyn. Yep, this time last year we saw her on screen for the first time. It was the official word that we were pregnant. We affectionately called the little one Pebbles - the two Stones were having a baby, a baby stone is a ... pebble! You catch on quick.

Oh how things change in a year's time. Getting emotional remembering the ups and downs of this pregnancy. Good thing you can't see tear drops on a computer monitor.  *smile* 

The first due date we were given was December 15. They told us the 11th but wrote the 15th on our chart. The next appointment it was officially moved to December 11 and the appointment after that it was December 6. Our pregnancy just kept getting shorter and shorter. It didn't help the argument that we were 10 weeks along before finding out! My Dad joked that this would be the shortest pregnancy on record. From mid-May to first of December isn't exactly 9 months. Looking back, there was so much truth to that joke but never would've guessed at the time. Mid-May to end of August is a very, very short pregnancy. Aw geez, those emotions are back...

I remember being amazed at what we could see that first ultrasound. We saw hands, feet, brain, rib cage, heart - oh, the heartbeat. Hearing our little thumper made it completely real for me. The heartbeat was so darn fast! I remember being completely overwhelmed. The pee stick and blood draw could have been false positives but there was no way that little person was pretend. Some of my random thoughts after that appointment.

                  They definitely missed some things in Jr. High sex ed.
                            Are we ready to be parents?
                                    It looks like an alien.
                                          What do we do with a baby?
                                                   God definitely has a sense of humor.


"525,600 minutes...how do you measure, measure a year?"

May 2010

May 2011

big sitter

Madi's getting strong enough that she sits by herself. Of course she weeble-wobbles and sometimes falls over but she has the basics. I think she loves the independence of being able to reach and grab whatever toy she has her eye on. We still pad the surrounding area because you never know when the wobbling is going to give out and Madi face plants into the floor. The corner of her crib is a great place to sit as it balances her on either side. Of course she can still fall forward but she usually rolls out of that and looks up at you like "Did you see me, Mom? I just rolled over!"

found another video of Madi sitting up, plus she's "talking" to her toys

Dr. Kindred

My sista graduated from Central Michigan with her doctorate in audiology last Friday. My Mom & Dad, Nana & Papa and I trekked up to Mt. Pleasant for the ceremony. I thought my Mom was nuts when she said we were leaving at 7:30a for a 4:30p ceremony but we needed just about every minute. First there was the outlet mall, then the winery, then the winery gift shop, some lunch and finally, CMU campus. We had to make all those stops because we don't have a reason to head up to Mt. Pleasant anymore...and we were hungry. Lunch was at Red Lobster where they might have thought we were difficult to please. When we sat down we were right under a vent that at the time was blowing 80 degree air. Keep in mind, Friday was a really nice, sunny day. Can you say HOT? (minus the elders of the group, they were comfortable) Plus the table-height light was burning bright enough to put off some heat too. We had our own mini-sun. We asked them if they could turn the heat off as it was a tad warm. Sure, no problem. So the manager comes over and does as we asked, turns the heat off. That would've been great but, he turns the AC on instead. After a few minutes we're freezing. Suddenly that mini-sun of a light is a blessing. Did we ask the manager to come by again? You betcha. I think we finally settled on a decent temperature right before we left.

Back to graduation.

It was a nice ceremony with a few speakers that engaged the audience more than "good afternoon." If you've ever sat through any formal graduation you know how nice that is. They're usually not what you would call entertaining but this was nice. I couldn't tell you most of what was said except "grab more parachutes than backpacks" and these are "future leaders" with "bright futures."

Congratulations Alyssa, you made it! Here's to years of "What did you say? I can't hear you."

hot wheels

Madi loves time in her walker. She usually does laps around the house starting at the back door and ending at the front door. She gets going so fast but hasn't quite mastered steering so she'll plow into cabinets or the couch, doesn't seem to mind though. The name on the walker is Tot Wheels and we figure that's a pretty appropriate name. The dogs are getting used to Madi running up to them - when they're sleeping, eating or even right next to her. Like I said, hasn't mastered steering. Pete takes full advantage of Madi being in the walker and attacks her with kisses. I can only imagine how popular she's going to be when she has puffs in the tray or stuck to her face! We've taken Madi out to the driveway so she has plenty of room and less to bump into. She trucks down the driveway and even tries to take the walker off-roading in the grass. She's a true hot wheels!