Growing Leaps and Bounds

We had some down time this past weekend so we finally made an attempt at capturing one-year portraits of Maddie. Our little girl is growing up so fast!

Yes Uncle Steve, Maddie IS reading Seven Little Rabbits! And yes, the book is upside down. But Maddie does not care. It's so funny to watch her with books. She opens the covers, turns the pages, and jabbers as fast as she can. She reads! I'm not sure what language she speaks when she reads, but I'm convinced that she's reading. LOL

The girl LOVES her prunes! We are transitioning her onto cow's milk and prunes are a necessity in her diet these days.

I really wanted to get some good frame-worthy shots in her beautiful purple dress from China. But, by the time we got her changed, all posing desires had left the building!

This was a week of more firsts for Maddie. She is closer than ever to walking on her own. She pulls herself up on anything and everything, and walks around everything. She loves to push her car around the yard. She pushes our chairs all over the kitchen. She has also started climbing! Last night I was lying on the floor in front of the couch. She stepped up on my leg and climbed up on the couch. She tries to pull herself up on furniture by throwing one leg up, and then grabbing at whatever she can find to pull herself up. We have to watch her constantly!

More new things: She can no longer be in the kitchen when I'm cooking. The second she gets into the kitchen, she heads for the pet food and water bowls. She seems to be quite fond of the cat food. If she starts hacking up hairballs, we'll know why!! She also LOVES to splash water - in the tub, in the pets' water bowl, in her babysitter's swimming pool.

This afternoon, we saw Grandma Jo (my mom). Maddie had her finger buried halfway up her nose. Grandma howled and said I deserved a kid who did that! Evidently she had a difficult time breaking me of that habit.

We have been working on learning colors. Maddie tends to pick a color and then stick with it. Last week, everything was purple. This week, everything is orgy! That's how Maddie pronounces orange. She just amazes us with how quickly she learns new things.

I hesitate even bring up the crap that is going on right now. However, it's a part of our lives and life isn't always a bed of roses. So, here goes...

Doug has been suffering for over a week with intermittent migraines (every five minutes or so he gets stabbing headaches that last for 5+ seconds) and numbness and tingling in his right arm. He is also extremely weak. After a stressful visit to the hospital to rule out life-threatening stuff (heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, etc.), we came to the conclusion that his M.S. is flaring up again. M.S. is such a cruel beast (not my "B word" of choice, but I'm trying to keep this family friendly). Tomorrow Doug starts a five-day regimen of daily infusions of a steroid to halt the attack.

For the most part, Maddie is a little trooper and such a bright spot during an otherwise difficult time. However, at night when I'm rocking her to sleep, it becomes evident that she too is feeling the stress. She has reverted to scratching her forehead and pulling at her hair when she is drifting off to sleep. She also occasionally claws at my face during that time. It's nowhere nearly as severe as it was in the first two months after we brought her home. However, it's just enough to remind us that she is no dummy and she feels the full impact of what is going on.

It's gut-wrenching to see my dear husband and our sweet baby girl dealing with pain and stress. However, I also know from experience that character is born and grows during times like these. So, in essence, these experiences are a gift. Ultimately, we become stronger, more compassionate, and learn to appreciate the things in life that truly matter.

OK, enough of that... no pity parties please. However, prayers and good thoughts over the next week or two are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for checking in.

Much love,

Beth, Doug, and Sweet Maddie

Happy 4th of July

We had a wonderful week and weekend with friends and family. Aunt Iva (my sister) and her four beautiful girls were here from Colorado. There is definitely a mutual love between Maddie, Allie, Lauren, Katie, and Melanie. They had such a wonderful time playing and Maddie was tuckered out every night.

This being the weekend of the 4th of July was definitely different from our first five Independence Days in this house. Since there was no Freedom Fest at the Goshen Airport this year, we didn't have a party this year. While it didn't seem quite right, it ended up being a good thing as it would have been just too much with all the other activities this weekend. Hopefully by next year Freedom Fest will be back and we will once again have our annual party.

Being around the four older kids so much this weekend has resulted in Maddie starting to imitate EVERYTHING! She started repeating what we say this weekend. Time has run out.... gotta clean up the language NOW! Katie taught her to wave her finger and say, "No, no, no!"

Maddie is so close to walking. She now stands next to furniture and "forgets" to hold on. She no longer falls when that happens. We have been working on colors. This week she started saying "purple" and picks purple letters out of a stack of different colors. I'm not 100% convinced that picking the purple letter was for real... coulda been a fluke because it doesn't happen consistently. However, she does manage to grab a purple letter more than 50% of the time when we ask her to find purple. She also says "orange" and "blue" quite clearly. She also learned how to flip a light switch this week. She loves to turn lights on and off.

Maddie helped me do laundry today. She LOVES to help with whatever she can get her hands on. It's amazing to watch her transition into this stage... less baby, more little girl. I just cannot say enough about how much fun she is right now. Every day is an adventure in learning new things. When she looks at me with those big black eyes and giggles, my heart melts into a puddle. I thought I knew love before Maddie but never dreamed of a love this intense.

We are in the process of transitioning her off formula and onto cow's milk. She has had some digestive issues return so we are feeding her lots of apple juice, prunes, and other fruits. On Friday we went to the Zoo. On the way home, Maddie exploded in her car seat. Aunt Iva was wonderful... she disassembled the carseat and we washed everything. There was even poop on her carseat toys so it all went into the washer. It even oozed through the cracks in the carseat and onto the back seat of our car. Anyone need a ride anywhere?! Needless to say, we made good use of soap, water, rags, and Fabreeze. Everything is once again fresh as a daisy.

Lauren would like to get on a plane every morning and come to Indiana to babysit for Maddie. She was a wonderful helper while they were here!

Melanie and Maddie had a great time playing in her car.

Katie and Lauren got to babysit for Maddie on Thursday while I was at work. They must have worn her out because Maddie slept like a log that night!

The Graber kids (and one Snow kid) at the Zoo.

Maddie has quickly become very fond of her Uncle Dave. To see more photos from Iva's visit, visit our Picasa web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/grabersnow/200907. Thanks for checking in. Much love to all of you...

Beth, Doug, and Maddie

Summertime is Here!

It has been another busy week. Time is flying by and our precious daughter is growing like a weed. She is learning so many new things every day. She is now walking along furniture like an old pro and occasionally stands without holding onto anything. New words this week: book, bubble, blue (she likes B words).

Maddie had her one-year checkup with Dr. Chris this week and she is a very healthy girl. She is in the 95th percentile in height (by American growth standards). She has gained four pounds since we've been home (feels more like 40 when I carry her!). She got two shots and cried for five seconds. She has a high tolerance for pain! Her daddy stood by the door of the exam room, ready to split as soon as she started to wail. But, it was such a mild cry that even Mr. Wimpy stuck around!

Whenever she eats, whether in her high chair or when she is drinking a bottle, one leg goes up. I like to have my feet elevated when I'm relaxing, but she takes that concept to a whole new level!

Much to Squirt's dismay, Maddie takes great delight in chasing the cat. This afternoon the cat walked by her - sauntering lazily. Maddie immediately dropped to all fours and ZOOM... she was after her in a blue streak. I have never seen anything crawl as fast as Maddie does when she is chasing the cat. Funny thing is that she is usually squealing and giggling the whole way.

Our friend Bryan from Ohio was here for the weekend. Maddie had her first introduction to a Harley. She also had her first exposure to Nascar this weekend. Our friend, "Uncle Dave", moved into our basement this week and he is determined that Maddie is going to be a Tony Stewart fan. We'll see...

Last weekend was Doug's birthday. We had a bunch of friends over for steaks on the grill, and ice cream cake. Maddie enjoyed polishing off Daddy's ice cream. The next day, Doug got deathly ill with the stomach flu... we're not sure but we think Maddie may have had a touch of it and passed it along to him. Having a kid that doesn't feel well is one thing, but having a hubby who is as sick as Doug is yet another. By the time the weekend (and Monday) was over with, I was one tired mama! I just kept chanting our wedding vows... "in sickness and in health" and plowed through it. We all survived.

Kris, Shawn, Kaycee, and Kya were here for Doug's birthday. Maddie and Kya had good time together. Kya, like Maddie, is flourishing and has definitely emerged from her shell. She is such a sweet, charming little girl... more reserved than Maddie by a mile, but I can already see these two getting into some trouble together in the years to come!! Next week, we're going to start working on the phrase, "Kya made me do it." This will be Kris's payback for all the times she says, "Beth made me do it!"

Kaycee, Maddie, and Kya

Maddie and Kya both had a fantastic time on the slide!

Kya on the slide

Maddie on the slide

We are looking forward to spending time next weekend with my sister Iva and our beautiful nieces from Colorado. Normally, next weekend is the time that we have our annual party - airshow and fireworks - but that has been cancelled this year. The airshow as cancelled early this year due to a lack of sponsorships. So, we're not having a party this year. While that is usually the highlight of our summer, we are also somewhat relieved. For those of you who usually come over for the party, we still want to see you this summer - just not all at once!! :) So, give us a call and let us know when you want to come over and we'll have burgers ready to toss on the grill! Hopefully by next summer, when Maddie is a little older and a touch more independent, we can resume our traditional bash.

Thanks for checking in. Happy Independence Day!

Much Love,

Beth, Doug, and Maddie

Summertime Fun

Maddie continues to blossom and we are having so much fun with her. Last weekend, her cousin Mandy graciously lent her yard toys to us for the summer. Hopefully by next summer, Mandy will have a sibling who will be playing on those toys. Maddie absolutely LOVES playing on these toys. If the rain stays away long enough, we can get back out and play with them again this weekend!
Maddie loves to swing. Of course, for supreme comfort, her foot and leg have to be up and out. Otherwise, things would be just too easy on Mommy! This week Maddie discovered how to twist her little body around and up in her high chair. So, she now has to be harnessed in or she stands up. She's quite the contortionist.

Maddie was a little tentative about the slide at first, but once she caught on she giggled and giggled when going down the slide - especially when going down backward!

The boat is her favorite... or maybe it's just my favorite because it requires zero energy on my part!!

Hey Judy - she does the "S thing" with her boat! LOL

I think she learned how to drive from her cousin Cassidy! If she didn't, it certainly isn't for Cassidy's lack of driving lectures. Cassidy babysat for Maddie yesterday. So, when we took Cassidy home last night, she honed her back seat driver skills.

During part of this video, you can see Maddie doing her beatboxing routine. She beatboxes all the time in her carseat. It's adorable.

It was so nice to have Cassidy here yesterday. She is so good with Maddie and Maddie LOVES her Cassidy! While I was making supper, there was a whole lot of giggling going on in the living room... the best sound in the world - laughter from my two girls.

While I was at work yesterday, Maddie "exploded" and Cassidy had quite a mess to clean up. She said she never guessed that Maddie could be so much work! Maddie is teething again so she was just a touch fussy and getting her to eat or take her bottle requires a lot of patience.

Maddie was my little helper this morning while I was vacuuming.

OK, so "helping" is overrated. We can't exactly blame the dog for this mess! This week Maddie discovered that one of her favorite pastimes is opening drawers and making big messes with the contents. Time for the next phase of baby-proofing!

Maddie says more and more words every day. In this video she is saying, "bootsa, bootsa, bootsa..." She learned that at the babysitter's. It's PA Dutch for "cleaning, cleaning, cleaning." Most of the time she is one happy little girl. She loves to giggle and laugh.

She's also quite the cuddle-bug. She is now sleeping in her own bed in her own room. However, she still won't sleep through the night - she's usually up between 2 and 4 AM and wants a bottle. So, we put her in our bed. When she is in our bed, she loves to snuggle and cuddle. Doug and I cherish those moments - even if they're at 2 AM. We know that they're fleeting so we embrace them. When she scoots her little body right up next to me and lays her head on my arm, my insides turn to mush and nothing else in the whole world matters. It's so worth being a little tired in the morning - nothing that an extra shot of espresso can't fix!

This week, Maddie started walking behind her doll stroller. Doug was the one that discovered that she could do this. That is very special because he was so afraid that he would be gone when she took her first steps. It has been wonderful that he is here for these "firsts". It won't be long and she will be walking on her own. This video was taken two days ago and now she has started standing with one hand and occasionally no hands for balance. We are simply amazed at how quickly she is progressing over the past two weeks.

Much Love,

Beth, Doug, & Maddie

A Very Active One-Year-Old

Wow... this parenting thing just keeps getting more and more fun - exahusting, but fun! Holding Maddie is a full-body workout. She does not like to be held for more than two seconds, especially if you're sitting or standing still. This girl likes to be on the MOVE!!

The days of the army crawl are behind us and she crawls up on all fours now. She also goes from her stomach to sitting up quite gracefully. She is pulling herself up on anything she can get her hands on and is starting to walk along the furniture. Every day is a new adventure and Maddie never ceases to amaze us with how quickly she is learning new things.

One of Maddie's favorite pasttimes is chasing the cat. The poor cat just barely tolerates her but Maddie does not care. She crawls after the cat as fast as she can go, giggling full belly laughs as she goes.

Sleeping habits are beginning to even out a bit. The frightened shrieks in the middle of the night have faded... thank God! She still awakens sometimes, but now it is a much softer cry - usually because she is wet, hungry, or wants to play. We figured out last week that when it was just Maddie and me at home alone, she slept through the night most nights. However, when Daddy was home, she woke up between 3 and 4 AM on a fairly consistent basis and wanted to play. Hmmm... what does that tell ya?!

Well, that issue may have resolved itself since Daddy is home every night now as he got laid off from his job on Tuesday. This is bittersweet for us... bitter in that Doug loved his job and things will probably be a little tight for awhile. However, sweet in that he loves to be home with us and it was getting more difficult each week for him to be gone from the daughter he loves so very much. We are already starting to establish a more stable routine as a result of him being home every night.

He has only been home for a few days but this tired mama is already getting used to it and loving having an extra set of hands and eyes. Cooking is so much easier if baby is not attached to my hip and is playing in the living room instead! Getting ready for work is a lot easier and much quicker now as well because I don't have to be entertaining and/or distracting her from doing things such as sticking her fingers in electrical outlets, etc. while putting on makeup! Yes, we are in the process of babyproofing. However, the little booger has this fascination with trying to figure out how things work. She watched me install the outlet covers and now she likes to pry them off by working her little fingers under them!

Overall, she brings such tremendous joy to our lives. Watching her discover how to do new things and how to say new words is so exciting. Her smile lights up the dreariest day. On weekends when we do not have to get up by the alarm clock, she often sleeps with us for the last half of the night. Several times I have been awakened by little fingers poking at my eyes - trying to pry them open, and little hands patting my cheeks - trying to awaken me. When I finally open my eyes, her face is usually 2 inches from mine and she ALWAYS has a huge toothy grin the second she is successful in rousing me. Life just doesn't get any better than that!!

There are times when Doug and I still get a little weepy at just how blessed we are to be her parents. I'm not sure what we did but we must have done something really right to be blessed in this way. :)

Maddie LOVES her bath - more every day. There are days when she now fusses when I take her out of the tub because she wants to stay in.

Maddie is one wiggly little jabberbox. Her babysitter is Amish so she is learning more Pennsylvania Dutch words than English right now. Her favorite words are, "Vo iss?". That translates to, "Where is?". She always says this with raised eyebrows, shrugged shoulders and both hands facing up by her shoulders in a questioning gesture. It's so adorable. Last week she started saying, "bootsa, bootsa, bootsa". Translates to, "cleaning, cleaning, cleaning". Unfortunately, she gets that from her babysitter, not her mother!

Other words in her vocabulary: Squirt (our cat's name), mama, dada, bye bye, no no no no, happy baby, mmmmmm yum yum, blue (new this week), back (It's so funny... whenever we take her near the patio door, she yells BACK really loudly. She's heard that one too many times from her mommy and daddy - yelling at the cat to get back when we open the door.).

Maddie LOVES ice cream! Go figure. :) She's not shy about demanding that her father share ice cream with her if he is having a bowl!

Gotta get to bed... family breakfast at the Essenhaus in the morning. Thanks for checking in.

Much love,

Beth, Doug, & Maddie

Maddie's First Birthday

Our baby girl is now a year old! Every day we're seeing fewer and fewer signs of "baby" and more and more signs of "toddler".

Maddie is now pulling herself up on furniture and starting to walk along the edge of furniture while holding on. She is developing a sense of independence that she didn't have before.

Our days of snuggling just for the fun of it are OVER. The only time she snuggles now is when she is tired... when she is not fighting sleep, that is.

She is learning the word NO and hears it often. Just a short month ago I made the comment that I'm afraid she is not going to learn that word because she never does anything that warrants us using that word!!! Go ahead and laugh - I realize now just how short-sighted I was!!

Maddie continues to show us that she is a very strong-willed child. We definitely have our work cut out for us to make sure that she channels that in the right direction.

Yesterday was her birthday and we had a party.

Our girl is just a touch prissy. She does not like to get her hands dirty (she gets that from her mother!). It took awhile to get going on her cake!

Once she figured out just how much fun it can be to play in icing, she had to paint everything around her with icing.

Libby, Mandy, and Zoe with the birthday girl... We had the most beautiful birthday crew ever!

Maddie recently learned how to blow kisses. She shares those quite liberally.

Don't blink when you watch this or you'll miss Maddie blowing kisses.

Maddie loves her Grandpa Tim!

Gotta love Darrin... he's a real man - NOT afraid to read instructions to get the assembly job done, no matter how much crap he had to take from Doug and John!! Thanks Susan for this fun gift and thanks Darrin for assembling it.

Maddie instinctively picks up her feet when others push her on this cart, but she hasn't quite figured out how to make it go by herself. I'm sure once she figures that out, I'll be getting LOTS of exercise!

Zoe and Libby decided that they have outgrown their car and handed it over to Maddie. It was such a sweet and loving gesture, one that was a little difficult for them. However, once they saw how much Maddie LOVES riding around in this car, they knew they had made good decision. Thanks, girls, for this awesome present!

Doug says things are just as they should be... her first car is a used car! LOL

Maddie was too busy playing with her new cell phone from Aunt Susan to pose for this picture. She is fascinated with all the little buttons that make lots of noises. I'm so glad we're even now and Susan doesn't have to buy us any more noisy toys!!!

Grandpa Tim also decided that Maddie needed a noisy toy so he bought her this xylophone. However, the joke is on him... it plays very soft sounds - not noisy at all! Now, the wooden building blocks and legos that are currently spread all over the living room floor may pose more of a problem! Maddie LOVES to watch us stack the blocks as high as we can, then she knocks them over and giggles and giggles. She's having a blast playing with all her new toys.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Patrick, Peg, Susan, John & Sheila and Mandy, Darrin & Megan, Zoe and Libby for partying with us and for the thoughtful gifts. Thanks to everyone else who called and/or sent cards for Maddie's birthday, and for all the birthday wishes on FaceBook.

Much Love,

Beth, Doug, and Maddie

Long Overdue Update

I started this post a week ago and never did get it done so I'm just going to post what I wrote and start working on the birthday party post. :)

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Wow - I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. Nor does it seem possible that it has only been three months since Maddie was placed in our arms. It is difficult to remember life without her as she is the very core of our universe. On the other hand, time is flying by and in less than a week our daughter will be a year old.

I was looking over photos of Gotcha Day and it is amazing to see the changes in our sweet girl -both physically and emotionally. First and foremost, she FINALLY has hair! It even comes down over her ears now. Last weekend I managed to put a cute litte pink clip in her hair. Of course we lost it somewhere in the grass in Cromwell, but the girl did have a clip in her hair for more than an hour.


Other physical changes: Maddie is crawling! She crawls at the speed of light - so fast in fact that she crawled right off the bed at the babysitter's before anyone could catch her. Her nose and forehead took a beating - the firstof many, I'm sure.

She has grown out of her 9 month clothes, some of her 12 month clothes, and we have been forced to break out her 18 month clothes. That's an organization project that we started this weekend but it is far from finished! Maddie has gained over 4 pounds since we're home. She has transitioned into a front-facing carseat as her legs are too long for the rear-facing seat.

Since she has started crawling, she has a new-found sense of freedom. Gone are the days of sitting still and playing in Mommy's lap. She wants DOWN and she wants to MOVE! Today in church I put her in the nursery because she absolutely would not sit in my lap.


Emotional changes: After I returned to work we put Maddie in a daycare in our neighborhood. The daycare came with lots of recommendations from others who had kids there at one point or another. However, it was not a good fit for Maddie. We were very fortunate to have a backup babysitter who wanted Maddie and when I am at work she is now cared for by an Amish family. Maddie LOVES it there. Their youngest son, a three-year-old is Maddie's best buddy. They love and nurture her as one of their own durng the daytime. She gets to play outside in the sandbox, on the swings, pet the animals on their small farm, and is basically getting the same experiences I had as a child. She is blossoming under their care and we are so thankful for them.





A few weeks ago we spent Sunday afternoon with Kris, Shawn, Kaycee, and Kya. Kya and Maddie are from the same orphanage. The girls had a good time playing together.

Kya is two months older than Maddie and is very laid back - just the opposite of Maddie. The two make quite a pair.

Maddie is a real giggle-box.

Maddie crawls faster than most people can walk!

One of her favorite activities is watching videos of herself or looking at herself in the mirror.