23 Years

Twenty-three years. Can't believe it's been that long.

For those of you that haven't known me as long as others, you may or may not know that I lost one of my brothers, David, in a tragic drowning accident. I was beginning my senior year of high school and he was beginning his sophomore year at Texas A&M. As you can see on his marker (sort of - there's a shadow!) he would have been TAMU's Class of 1991. He was an Aggie through and through.

I am in Longview this weekend (along with Alan and Madeline) visiting my parents. It was 23 years ago today that David passed away. My parents change out the flower arrangements at his grave several times a year, and always put out a fall arrangement in September. I accompanied my Mom out to the cemetery today to put the new one out. I got tickled at her - she told me she made sure that there weren't too many orange (burnt orange was implied) flowers in the arrangement and also made sure they were mostly in the back and that maroon flowers were more prominent in the front. Love it. It would have made him happy.

Gig'em, David. We miss you.

Mom, Dad, Philip, and Melanie

Madeline #1 and Madeline #2

We have been SO GRATEFUL that Madeline has been a great eater since day one; However, the past week or so she has been a TERRIBLE eater! The girl that would eat a whole bowl of oatmeal or waffle along with a whole banana for breakfast went to a girl who would only eat a handful of Cheerios and a few forced bites of oatmeal for breakfast. The girl that could eat AN ENTIRE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH for lunch went to a girl who would only eat a few bites of chicken and a couple of bites of carrots. Our refrigerator had become FULL of leftover foods that we'd tried to get her to eat. Had she had any other symptoms (like fever or something) we would have thought she was teething or had another ear infection, but there was nothing else out of the ordinary. She just didn't want to eat!

Alan and I became so frustrated at times! We'd offer her the first bite of a meal and she'd immediately push our arm away - over, and over, and OVER again. She definitely tried our patience! We had decided that she might have reached an age where her appetite had slowed down and that this might be the new "norm" - which was sort of scary! Mealtime had become less than enjoyable! We had resigned ourselves that when she was hungry, she'd eat. This pattern lasted about a week, until, FINALLY this past Sunday she began to eat like her old self again. During mealtimes, we had started referring to her as Madeline #1 (the girl we knew with a voracious appetite) and Madeline #2 (the girl with the appetite of a little birdy). Alan would ask me how she had eaten at a particular meal and I'd tell him, "Well, for Madeline #2 it was pretty good, but for Madeline #1 she didn't eat much at all". We have slowly watched Madeline #2 disappear and we are THRILLED that Madeline #1 has returned!

Pucker Up!

Madeline has been able to blow us kisses for quite a while now. She used to just put her hand to her mouth for the kiss part, but now she moves her hand away from herself like she's throwing the kiss. So cute!

But...TODAY we were excited to get a REAL KISS! She has learned how to pucker those sweet little lips and give precious smooches! Here are a couple of shots of her getting that cute little mouth ready to smooch her Daddy!

The Little Scholar

I have to use my reading glasses when I cut Madeline's fingernails. Her little nails are still so tiny! I feel better wearing them because I'm so afraid I'm going to cut her finger! I left my glasses on her nightstand after trimming her nails and she decided she need to model them.

I don't know why, but this second picture of her reminds me of the Japanese sailor that was on several episodes of Gilligan's Island! Anyone else remember him?

 

 Or does she remind me more of Austin Powers?!?

MOPS!

Madeline and I went to our first MOPS meeting today! MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. What is MOPS? It's a place to meet with others moms and mentors that encourage, equip and develop you to be a great mom! Our MOPS group meets on the first and third Fridays of each month at a church that's close to my home. There are several MOPS groups in our area, but this is the only one that meets on a day that's good for us!

Today's meeting was basically and introduction day - learning how MOPS works and what we will do at our meetings. I got to meet the ladies in my table group. Each table was decorated with the theme of a board game. My table was the Monopoly Mamas! Pretty cute. Each table has a leader, a mentor, and a member of the steering committee. I was excited to learn about the mentor part of the program today - I didn't know it existed! A mentor mom is a mom that's "been there and done that" already and who's willing to share her experience with others. Pretty neat!

Our meetings will consist of a discussion time, teaching time, and a time for different activities like arts and crafts. Our little ones are taken care of by workers who love to love on children in a pre-school like setting. It's called the MOPPETS program! :)

It was fun to meet a whole new group of ladies that have children around Madeline's age. I'm looking forward to making new friendships and seeing what God has in store for us at MOPS!

If you're interested, you can check MOPS out HERE!