Do they look alike?!

Madison Grace ................... Sydney Marie

10ish weeks?? ................. 7 weeks

What do you think?! ;)

Finally ... Introducing you to Sydney Marie

So sorry it had taken so long, but I'm sure you all understand. ;) We'd like to introduce you to Sydney Marie:

Sydney arrived on Friday, October 16 at 2:22 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19.5 in long.

She was just 2 days early; we were induced Friday morning, just because I wanted my doctor to be the one to deliver her (he wasn't on call over the weekend and we thought she would have already been here by then, so Mommy didn't want to chance it - Plus, Mommy and Daddy were ready to meet Sydney). ;)

This was a MUCH better experience than with Madison's delivery. I had pre-eclampsia with Madison, so I was in a bed from Tuesday night - Friday morning, not allowed to get up that whole time; had so much medicine I don't remember much of the stay; and had to get my blood drawn every couple of hours (when home with both arms completely bruised up). This time we got to the Wesley Birth Care Center at 7am, had the pitocin going by 8am. They had me walk the halls (it was kind of boring, but sooo much better then laying in that bed) to get the contractions going. Water broke around 11am, got the wonderful epidural around 12 or 12:30 and was doing much better. Then around 1:45 I told my nurse I was starting to feel the contractions again, so she checked and said well actually you are ready ... we just need to wait for the doctor. WAIT, how long?! I'll see what I can do. ;) He got there about 2:15... only pushed for 6 minutes .. now that's what I'm talking about! ;)

Sydney is perfect! She's an easy baby (man have we been blessed with two easy babies, how lucky!). Madison is absolutely in love with her. We did have to keep her away as much as possible for about a week, Madison got sick and then passed it to Mommy and Daddy. But now, Madison loves to talk to, read to, take care of (with paci, bottle, and blanket) and hold Sydney. I think they will be the best of friends!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!!

Madison is 2 - where did the time go?! She even got 2 birthday parties this year. We went out to Pratt to celebrate on Saturday and then celebrated here in Andover on Sunday. She opened presents better this year, but still wasn't sure about blowing out the candles.

Here on some pictures from Pratt's celebration:

Daddy showing her how to work her new mixer - it came with 2 eggs and a stick of butter. She usually says she's making tea. I haven't tried her special tea yet. ;)

Checkin' out her new alphabet set - she likes to dance to the song.

Showing off EACH pair of her big girl panties.

Yummy Elmo cake!!

"Dang, this cake and ice cream is GOOD!!!" She was piling it in!




And here's some pictures from the Andover celebration:

Trying to figure out her very own camera.

Taking pictures of the scrapbook she got.

Checking out the new bath paints.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Last Summer Vacation Part 2

Tuesday we went down to Branson Landing and looked at a few shops for the morning. We went back and hung out at the lake and the pool. Our "resort" had 3 different pools and we stayed right in the middle of them all. At the lake we took Madison out on the paddle boats (she wasn't too sure about this) and then Mark took her out on a kayak (I think she liked it, probably wasn't sure about this either) - This was the first time she had been at a lake.

Branson Landing.

On the tube with Daddy.

Kayaking with Daddy.

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Swimming with Mommy.

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Wednesday (Mark and I's 3rd anniversary - August 12) we slept in a little and got all packed up - headed to St. Louis. We were going to a Cardinal game that night at 7. They had autographs from two current players for anyone 20 and under, so of course Madison fits in that catagory - so we went. ;) Madison did really well until the last inning and a half - but she fell asleep when I started walking with her, so Mark got to carry her on our 2o minute walk back to the hotel; she woke up right when we were across from the hotel. ;)

Maddy and Daddy.

All 3 of us .. technically, I guess 4. ;)

Getting autographs..

Thursday we headed home, Mark had to go to work Friday, but wished he could have had a vacation from our vacation!

Last Summer Vacation Part 1

We took this year's last summer vacation/3rd anniversary trip the first week of August. We left on a Saturday and spent the night with Mark's aunt and uncle in Springfield, MO.

We got up on Sunday morning and went to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. It was the last day of kids fest. That was a long day, lots of walking! We walked around checking everything out, saw a Veggie Tale show, and took Madison over to the kid rides, but she was still just a little to small and had fallen asleep anyway. So we went to the "resort" about 4:30 that afternoon - relaxed and grilled dinner. Mark took Madison to one of the pools at 9 pm. She LOVED it.

Playing with the foam at Kids Fest.



Coloring on the giant board they had at Kids Fest.



Wearing a princess hat.

"Fishing" for a stuffed animal with Daddy.

On a train ride, trying to cool off and relax for a minute.

Poor Madison was sleepy after that train ride!

Monday we slept in - went to the Toy Musesum, the Titanic, and had lunch and played at Grand Country. The toy museum had an insane number of toys, Madison wasn't to interested in just looking at them, she'd rather play with it all. The Titanic was really cool!! I wish Madison was in a better mood for that. At Grand Country, we just got pizza for lunch and took Madison up to the toddler play area, we had to drag her out of that - and we tried to get her to play glow-in-the-dark mini golf. She did good the first half, but after that lost interest, plus waiting on other families is hard for a two year old to do. We just went back and relaxed after that and Mark grilled dinner for us!

Playing at the Toy Museum.

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Toddler area at Grand Country...



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Glow-in-the-dark mini golf.



Mommy helping Madison.

At the end of the golf course.

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Belly Pictures

We have not been good about taking belly pictures this time around! :( I think these are the three different times we have taken pictures. This pregnancy has flown by!! As of today, we have just under 7 weeks left - Madison is going to have her second birthday in just under 4 weeks!! I can't believe where the time has gone.





16 weeks









25 weeks - July 4th weekend







33 weeks - only 7 weeks until due date!! Probably a week before Madison's birthday or around her birthday we'll see how big Sydney is - back when we did baby waves they said she was pretty big for how far along we were. For some reason I have thought we'd go early - maybe its just wishful thinking, I don't know. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself into going late! :( We (Mark and I) are starting to watch my wieght, blood pressure, and swelling pretty carefully - hoping I don't get preeclampsia again. I got this with Madison which caused us to be induced, but only a week early. So far so good, weight is 25 pounds under where I ended up with Madison - surely I won't gain that much in 7 weeks, right?! ... ... And I can still wear my wedding ring, I know I wasn't wearing it this far into the pregnancy last time!!