We lied!

Yes, we lied, we'll post if we have internet access! Maybe no one will check since I said that we won't post, but this is as close to a journal as we get, so I'd better write something! I'm visiting Colorado this week for my sister's graduation and other sister's NONhomecoming. Madeline's birthday was yesterday, and we spent half of the day in airports traveling from Cincinnati to Denver. She was pretty good, but I think that her time schedule is all off! We got up at 4:30 ET and she went to bed at 9:30 MST. She slept a little on the plane, and had a nap here, but it was a long day for her!
We actually celebrated her birthday on Monday with Raymey and had a cake and presents. Madeline had her favorite foods for dinner-string cheese and banana! Then she got to dig into a cupcake all by herself. It was pretty funny and sticky! She was really funny with opening presents. She just liked the ribbon. It was like pulling teeth to get her to rip the paper-and it was only tissue paper. So, I wrapped all of her presents, and I pretty much opened all of her presents too! She got 3 dresses (one from us, one from grammy, one from the Barnes family), a talking ABC caterpillar, a baby doll (maymey like baby-her new best friend!), and a knock-off $1 magnadoodle. She also had another birthday last week where she opened toy boats, socks, 2 outfits, a dog puppet, and a puzzle from her granny. She got dresses from Jesslyn and Molly, and a duck from Maren. I think we covered it all! She's had a lot of fun playing with her new stuff. We've had fun thinking about the last year and how fun it has been to have Madeline around. By the way, the night before we went to Cincinnati we went over to our friends' house (the Robisons) and their daughter Lindsey inspired Madeline to start walking. So, since last Thursday she's been walking all around!
Raymey started his internship this week and I think that so far he's feeling good about it. He feels like it would be a good company to work for. We live in downtown Covington KY and Raymey walks 20 minutes across the bridge over the Ohio River to downtown Cincinnati OH where he works. Our apartment is pretty good, it is much bigger than the one in Nashville, but it is up 50 stairs (which is tough with a baby!) and doesn't have a washer, dryer, or dishwasher. It will be a pleasant place to spend the summer.

Probably last post for a while!

We're off to Cincinnati for the summer, so we probably won't be posting regularly. We won't have the internet in our effort to cut costs.

Here are pics of Madeline and aunt Molly, Madeline playing with groceries, Madeline helping me fold laundry, and Madeline sporting her new hairstyle:). Actually, I just wanted to fluff it out to show that our baby actually does have hair-it's so funny!

Madeline had a doctor appointment this morning and she is 29" tall (46th percentile), weighs 20lbs (33rd percentile), and has a head circumference of 47cm (94th percentile!). So, she'll be cryin' herself to sleep tonight on 'er huuuuuuuuuuuuge pillow!

I WON"T wash your mouth out with soap!!

3 fun things. First, on Tuesday when I was making dinner, I noticed the deafening silence and that Madeline was not around. I followed my intuition and sure enough, she'd been drawn to the bathroom, and this was about the only time that it wasn't closed. She has been eyeing the toilet paper for weeks, but I don't ever let her get it, but this time she got a good 3 feet unrolled (that really isn't that much, but for her it was a lot, and I think she was proud!). I think she may have a tp addiction.

Second, we went to the park tonight with Raymey's sister (Miriam) and afterwards we fed the ducks. We told Madeline the word "duck" and she was fascinated with them and kept saying "duh, duh, duh!!!" Raymey got her out of the stroller and she loved getting close to the ducks. This is such a fun age!!!

When we got home we gave Madeline a bath and while I was talking to Raymey and Miriam, Madeline started to do some little coughs. I looked down and she'd taken a big bite of squishy bar soap!!! There were little pieces of chewed up soap all over the bath. She didn't cry or anything, and she makes worse faces when I try to feed her canned carrots! So, I think that the threat "I'll wash your mouth out with soap!" isn't going to be scary enough for Madeline-when the time comes I'll have to get creative!

It's been a while!

So, it feels like forever since we've (I've) posted anything. Madeline and I went to Colorado from April 19-May 1 to help out a little (and Madeline provided entertainment) during my Mom's second round of chemo. We also got to see my sister Maren for a couple of days after she returned from Guatemala. Madeline is taking steps alone now, but she still thinks that crawling is better. We had fun trying lots of Mom's hats on Madeline. It was really fun for us, not so much for Madeline!

I was talking to my mom about this-it has really changed my view of cancer patients to see my mom go through her breast cancer. I think that before her experience I would have seen someone, or heard of someone with cancer or doing chemo, and just felt weird around them or felt bad for them. Now, to have seen my mom go through things and so much change-she's still the same person, that means that other cancer patients are also just regular people who maybe a few months ago didn't even think about cancer. It seems that now there are so many more treatments for cancer and the outlook is so good-it isn't necessarily such a final diagnosis. That isn't to say that it is easy or anything-my mom has been such a trooper, and I know that every diagnosis is different. I guess that it has been good for me to get a new point of view, and hopefully a type of empathy. My mom is doing well for what she's going through, and she has a great likelyhood of full recovery. So, that is what is on my mind.

It was great for us to go to Colorado to spend time with Mom, Dad, Jess, and Maren. I don't know how we're going to manage posting this summer though. If I couldn't post for a month while I had internet access, I don't think it will get better when we don't have the internet this summer!