11 Months

Madison Grace 11 months

Eleven months?!? This year has flown by, and I can't believe sweet Maddie Grace is a few days away from her 1st birthday. Here is what she has been up to this month:
*1st Cold... This month Madison got her first cold and ear infection! Not really exciting news, but this was my first encounter with ear infection as a Mom (Lulu hasn't had one yet) and they are pretty miserable. She is on the mend, just in time for her birthday.

*Eating.... Decided she didn't like peas recently. Will most definitely let you know she doesn't like something by waving her arm/hand to push away the spoon/Kleenex. Her favorite food lately is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. She has been nursing 4 times per day, although less frequently when she was congested. Although we were doing great with the night weaning, when she got sick I fed her to keep up the fluid and calories. Poor baby! After our 1 year Pediatrician appointment we can begin dropping feeds.  I am not in a hurry, but after 12+ months, Mama is ready to have her body to herself again. I will probably cry at her last feeding... my last baby! Sniff sniff!

 *Sleeping... MG has been sleeping pretty good the past few days since she has been feeling better. She fusses around 11pm and usually goes back to sleep without us having to go in, and has been waking up 1 time around 3am. For a week she was fighting her naps fiercely, mainly because I think she was overtired and not feeling great. Lately she has been taking a nap around 10am-12:30ish, and going down again at 2-3pm. We usually do our errands in the morning, and she is pretty laid back about sleeping in her carseat between stores or the Baby Bjorn.

*Physical... Girl loves to crawl and move! She enjoys following Sister, pulling things out of the cupboards/drawers and patty cake. Luckily she hasn't figured out how to climb the stairs yet! MG is so ticklish, and loves to run her fingers through my hair, or touch Daddy's soft fuzzy hair and bursts into giggles. She's our little love bug, and gives great cuddles, or puts her head on our shoulder for a 'hug'.

*Mamama.. Hooray! Sweet Girl says "Mama" or "Ma" and "Dada".

"I'm gonna get you Mama!!"

*Personality... Our youngest is pretty vocal and outspoken around the house, but in public, is very serious and rarely cracks a smile. Madison is confident in her likes and dislikes, and will make them known. She is quite the squealer, and I can't wait until she picks up some words... we better watch out, because this girl likes to talk. Always curious and inquisitive, she will point at objects and wait for you to tell her what they are called. She loves to read, and especially turn the pages. At bedtime she will promptly hand me "Good Night Moon" to be read as soon as she has her jammies on.

Happy Girl

Little Miss Big Stuff

This picture is from this morning... we were trying to get out the door to take Daddy to work, and Little Miss was super quiet. Should have know she was busy getting into the toilet paper!

Love you sweet girl! Can't wait to watch you eat your first bite of cake in a few days!! xoxo

Nonna & Morris Family Visit

A couple days after Christmas Nonna, Sarah, Nate and Mia drove from NC to NJ to visit and hang out with us for New Year's! Here are a few pics of our visit:

Watching the kids play and visiting

 It snowed the day after they arrived, and the kids had a chance to play in the snow. It was an icy, light snow, and melted off within the next couple days. Sarah's friend from college, Megan, another recent NJ transplant rode the train down from Hoboken to hang out with us for the day.

Lindsay + Nate = BFF cousins

 We celebrated Christmas with Nonna and the Morris clan, and it was so fun getting to see each other open their presents in person!

Nate and Lindsay started the present opening earlier that night by themselves. Luckily they only opened their own presents by the time we realized what was going on.

Maddie getting some lap time with Nonna

Love this pic... Nate to Maddie: "You're as cute as a bug's ear!"

Thanks for the rainboot Nonna!!

We took a day trip into Philadelphia to the Children's Please Touch Museum. In my opinion, it is the best Children's museum we have been to, and trust me, we've been to a handful to compare. It is really big; two hours isn't enough time to walk through it. There is an indoor carousel, a mini hospital (Lindsay's fave) grocery store, post office, shoe store etc... (basically a tiny city) with props for the kids to play. However, I wouldn't recommend visiting in the winter (everyone got sick afterwards) and on a holiday weekend (super busy)!

Had to wear her new boots to the museum. My big girl is getting too grown up!!

Auntie Sarah, Mia and Nate at the grocery store... so much fun!

Our littles, Madison (11 months) and Mia (1 year)

Now, for being cooped up in the house for several days, the kiddos got along famously. Lindsay was a great hostess and was happy to play and share her toys (most of the time). Nate did wonderfully entertaining himself by playing with girl toys for 5 days, and they both were so gentle with the babies.

Playing in the playhouse in the garage. It was 29 degrees outside. They were little Popsicles when they came in.

 We rang in the new year right, with Reid Tacos and sparkling apple cider!

We don't give our children booze. Just sparkling cider, folks!

Nonna made her famous Hershey Chocolate Pie!!

"Happy New Year".... at 8:30pm

We had a wonderful time with our family, and LOVE having a house full! Come and visit anytime family, although it is our turn to head south next time!  xoxo

Reflection

One year ago yesterday... View from our bedroom window at Pepperdine

Sweet Maddie Girl arrives... the perfect addition to our family

 

NC Beach house for the 4th

 

Packing up our earthly belongings to move cross-country

 

First football game at Princeton

2012 was an adventure! As I am looking back on the highs and lows, it only reveals the Lord's perfect timing, provision and faithfulness. 

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

One of my greatest prayers for 2013 is that my family and friends who do not know Jesus will come to know Him. I hope that 2013 will inspire a fresh new walk with God, and a deeper commitment to living the Christian faith. We pray God's blessings for you and yours in 2013!

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!!! This year was a special year for the Fishers... we celebrated Madison's very first Christmas, and got to enjoy it in our new home! Here are some of the highlights of the season:

This year we started a new tradition, a Jesse Tree. A Jesse tree is sort of like an advent calendar, and each day you read a bible story chronologically that trace Jesus's ancestors through the line of David, and finish at Jesus's birth. The name "Jesse" comes from the passage in Isaiah prophesying Christ's birth, There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots. Isaiah 11:1 It was really fun getting to share the stories, many were familiar, but there were some that we all learned about together! I am looking forward to watching the girls understanding about the true meaning of Christmas grow each we do our devotionals!

Lulu had so much fun getting to put the ornaments on the Jesse Tree

The Friday before Christmas we made sugar cookies and had our friends come over to help decorate them. Here are the cookies we made for Santa!

Proud of the cookies she decorated (and ate!)

Christmas Eve we enjoyed a quiet night at home, it was COLD outside, and besides me burning our roast, dinner was pretty good. Jarrett read The Christmas Story, The Nutcracker and The Night Before Christmas to the girls in our comfy red chair.

Daddy and his ladies reading, The Night Before Christmas

 

Our Christmas Tree

As he was reading, I looked out the window and noticed it was SNOWING! On Christmas Eve!! In our cozy first home! What a beautiful, magical gift!  

"Daddy, It's SNOWING!"

Jarrett was so cute and ran outside with Lulu to catch some snowflakes...

Christmas morning was super fun, first because it was Madison's very first Christmas, and also because Lindsay really "got" the whole Santa thing. Can you tell she was excited?!

"SANTA CAME!!"

Madison cracked me up with her face..."Whoa, check out those gifts!!"

 

A pro at opening her gifts this year.. needed no help from us!

Little Miss had fun crunching the wrapping paper and exploring all the empty boxes.

Loving our stockings that I got last year for Christmas. Daddy and his princess!

Mama and Madison opening her present... she loved the paper!

Sweet Love in her Santa Jammies

 

Santa brought the girls a tent that had a tunnel, and Madison had a ball crawling through it.

"Peek a Boo"

One of the best parts of the holiday was getting to just relax. I loved staying in our jammies all day, and I don't even remember if we brushed our teeth. LOL. We have been going a million miles per hour working on our house projects and it was nice to take a break. Daddy got some great play time in with his little ladies while I made us breakfast.

"Hey Daddy! Come inside it's fun!"



Quality time putting together a puzzle...those chairs are pretty strong. LOL

In light of all the sadness our nation has been dealing with the past few weeks, it made me all the more grateful to have my little family together to soak up the holiday. As this year comes to a close, I pray that the New Year is filled with blessings for you and your family! 

Papa's Visit

Papa and his Girls

Dad came out for a visit in early December and we utilized his many talents to help us redo the upstairs bathrooms in our house. Did I mention he was handy?! We had a great visit, ate way too much food and worked HARD. Poor Dad needs a vacation from his vacation seeing us. Here are some before and after pictures, and we are putting the finishing touches on while J is on winter break.

Master Bathroom... Before

First of all, the fact that we have more than 1 bathroom at all is spectacular. We had been living with one bathroom for over 5 years at Pepperdine, and we were thrilled to find a home with 2.5 baths, AND a connected master bath (especially in a home over 50 years old).  Both baths are functional, but tiny and had no storage. The other problem was that all bathrooms did not contain any GFI outlets (nowhere to plug in hair dryers or tooth brushes).

Master Bathroom... Pink tile everywhere (from the 50's), crumbling in many places and just waiting for a leak.

 I didn't mind the pink tile, but it bothered J a little ;) The tile was in bad condition, and had been patched over many times over the years and was crumbling. It was only a matter of time before it sprung another leak, so we decided to re-do it now before any expensive damage took place. Plus, we would get to enjoy a nice new bathroom!

Master Bath... After. Much more manly.

Master Bath... After. The shower is clean and neutral tile, and has a light!

Bless his heart, Dad installed two toilets, two vanities, two sinks, two cabinets, not to mention tiling a floor and tub surround in five days! I enjoy the DIY stuff, and got to learn from the best. He showed me how to tile, and I can say I actually had fun laying tile. It is a hard job, and it makes me appreciate the miles of tile laid in the subways in New York. Whew!

Dad the Tool Man Cross

Girls Bath... Before

Girls Bath... Before. The tub had been refinished multiple times and was chipping off in the corners and bottom. There was a mat on the bottom when we looked at the house, and when we pulled it up it was gross.

Girls Bath.... After. We went for the era of the home which was built in the late 50's, and did white subway tiles.

 Dad took time out to play with the grand girls, and they LOVED getting to hang out with Papa.

Girls Bath... After. New tub and fresh tile.

We are thrilled to be enjoying our new bathrooms, and so grateful to the man who made it possible! We couldn't have done it without you! My favorite part of the visit were the conversations we had while up to our elbows in grout and covered in dust. Still learning new things from you Dad ... Love you!!