she really is a little einstein

Remember this post? Turns out we really do have a little genius on our hands.  A few months ago I thought she was learning stuff quickly but the learning is speeding faster and faster and I am just overwhelmed by how quickly our little girl is growing up.  Do I have baby fever right now?  Yes.  (For the record I'm not pregnant).

One of her favorite little "tricks" lately has been the position you see above and below.  She loves when I surprise her by looking between her legs and saying, "BOO!"  As you probably noticed in this video, she loves playing peek-a-boo.

Not only did she start walking yesterday, her vocabulary decided to blossom today.  She's been saying, "bye bye" (pronounced 'buh buh') for weeks now but that's all she's really said.  Today she decided she'd add a couple of words to the mix.  This includes ,"ni ni ni ni ni...." (aka "no") which we're not exactly thrilled about.. but she's only told her daddy, ''ni ni ni ni ni",  so I still think it's cute :)  She even said it in situations that make sense (i.e. Daddy is changing her diaper and won't let her roll around (see picture below) or Daddy won't let her pull everything out of the diaper bag at church).  She also sometimes accompanies "no" with the shake of her head.  It's not going to be cute, soon, but for a couple days. ha.

She's said, "ah duh" (all done) today, too.  She did it when she was done eating and did it simultaneously with her 'ASL' sign I taught her.  I'm so proud of my little munchkin! 

After offering her some water this morning, Madeline responded with, "wah wah", and crawled on over to gulp down some agua.

It's kind of funny that she said so many new words today because last night Jeremy commented on how, "She doesn't really talk that much anymore."  He was referring to how she hadn't done much babbling yesterday.  Right after that we got in the car and drove to the church and she BABBLED the whole way over.  She hasn't stopped talking since.

Just now we've been practicing more walking and she has no trouble starting on her bum, standing up and walking anywhere she pleases.  The distances she walks without falling are getting longer and longer.  It's all happening too fast and yet I'm so eager to encourage her and help her grow!

She never ceases to get into trouble.  Always emptying bags, pulling things off of shelves and out of cupboards.  She's just busy.  My philosophy has kind of been if it doesn't hurt her and it makes a mess that'll take a minute or less for me to clean up, then whatever.  She's not aloud in the bathroom or the cupboards under the sink, but other than that she explores all over the house.  Some days it's one step forward two steps back, but I love finding a little mess that means she's been here recently. 

{I spy with my little eye...}

Madeline is such a joy and a blessing to have in our home and our family and I thank God everyday for letting me be her mother. 

Madeline walked today

{Madeline Walks! from Sarah Wells on Vimeo.}

Here's the video of our little (only not so little anymore) Madeline walking!  She was doing so well right before we got out the camera, sorry.  That's kind of how home videos go though isn't it?  

Can't believe our daughter is almost a toddler! It's the craziest most wonderful thing to be a mom.

peek-a-boo video

{peek-a-boo! from Sarah Wells on Vimeo.}

This little girl.  I can't tell you how much fun it is to spend my days with her.  Last night while I was making dinner she entertained herself quite happily and spent most of that time playing peek-a-boo with a pair of pajamas.  She loves putting clothes "on".  If I'm sorting laundry she'll come right over, help me empty all the baskets... five times... and then when I finally give up, she will put every article of clothing "on" by draping it over her head or around her neck.  I think she'll be one of those little girls I find playing dress up in my closet all too frequently.  And that is just fine with me :)

boho curls: saved by the curling iron

I've seen the 'boho curl' tutorial floating around for probably a year now and I finally went ahead and gave it a try.  Here's what I learned.  You need hair a little longer than mine for it to be really successful.  My little hairs in the back just didn't stay in.  I'm guessing it also works better if you sleep with your hair up or wear it most of the day.  My hair was pretty dry, and I got a few curls initially, but mostly it gave me a crimpy/funky start to putting some curls in with my curling wand.  I think I'll give it another try.  I mean the end result was GREAT! But I was hoping to use a little less heat on my hair.  Tell me what you think!

{yes you can be jealous of my awesome fuschia-silk robe from china)

madeline loves the dishwasher

Madeline-dishwasher from Sarah Wells on Vimeo.

I forgot to tell you about one other funny thing Madeline does my last post.  Madeline clicks her tongue.  It's so funny!  If I click my tongue she'll do it back to me.  She's a cutie.  

my baby is ten months old

I chose to use the word baby in the title because I'm realizing more and more that she's not exactly a baby anymore.  Let's just say I'm kind of sad about that.  I mean, she is a baby, but we're moving in on toddlerhood.  I saw a commercial recently that said something like, "You have a child forever but you only have a baby for one year."  *tear*  What about, "Forever and always my baby you'll be"? huh? What about that?!  (I always thought that book was kind of creepy anyway)

I miss my curls so much!

Obviously I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that my BABY is growing up.  Two more months and she's going to be one year old.  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?  

Ironically, someone asked me last week (the day after I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight) if I was expecting... I'm not.  Just to clarify.

Madeline is very busy these days.  She can hear the dishwasher and the fridge opening from across the house and crawls just as fast as she can to get there.  As soon as she makes it to the open fridge she stands up with her hands inside the fridge and exclaims,"OH! OOOOH! ahoOOH!"  She's big on enthusiasm these days.

She can also hear the tub filling up each night from across the other room.  I'll go in to start getting her bath ready and turn around to see her bouncing up and down watching the water spew out.

Some of her favorite toys are tennis balls, our little DVD collection, my mascara, and just the kitchen in general.  The tupperware cupboard, the paper goods cupboard... She's a pro at getting all the paper plates unstacked and spread around the entire kitchen floor.  I even found her in one of the cupboards the other day.

She loves chasing her tennis balls around the house and saying, "go go go go go!" 

Madeline is starting to mimic animal sounds when we read her favorite book, "MOO".  

She still loves baby einstein.  I only let her watch it when I really need to get something done, like shower.  

She said her first words a few weeks ago, "Buh buh"  (bye bye) to her daddy when he left for school.  We didn't prompt her to do it at all.  She just knew he was leaving and wanted to say goodbye!  So cute.  

She's getting closer and closer to walking but we're not quite there yet.  No rush.

Madeline is really into nodding.  She just randomly "nodds" as if she's a part of the conversation and she agrees.  I'll be changing her diaper and she'll start nodding.  The funniest part is it doesn't feel natural to her so it's not a very smooth nod.  It's a little jerky and uncertain.  

She still likes pointing too.  I think it makes her feel grown up when she can point at what she wants.

She loves going for walks and really enjoys swinging at the park around the corner from where we live.

Some of her favorite foods are avocado (she can eat a whole avocado in one sitting), banana (eats a whole banana in less than five minutes) and for dinner she enjoys a little bit of whatever we're eating for dinner, in addition to her baby food.  She likes cheese, turkey, and peanut butter sandwiches are like the best thing ever.  The hardest part about feeding her is she gets really bored with snack foods so we have to keep switching them out.  She loves graham crackers but right now she's not interested.  But she likes Gerber "puffs" again.  It's kind of funny.  

I think most of all she just loves playing with her parents.   It's strange to think that when we do have more children our relationship with Madeline will never be the same.  And it's also hard to imagine being able to share the love with more than one little person.  One thing I'm learning about love is that it keeps growing.  There's not a fixed amount of it.  I'm glad.  But I'm also loving this time with the three of us.

{photo taken by Matt Shumate}

Check in later today for a VERY entertaining video of Madeline.  Here's a little sneak preview:

a madeline video

                    

Madeline9months from Sarah Wells on Vimeo.

Hope you enjoy!

afternoon walk down Eutaw Place

 

Obviously we're not in the evergreen state anymore....

Madeline and I were much overdue for some fresh air today.  I often times keep us indoors either because of humidity or the fact that I fear for our lives every time someone walks behind us.  Baltimore has it all: beautiful and scary/sketchy/ugly.  Almost every time I drive somewhere new I thank Heavenly Father for helping us find our apartment.  We live on such a beautiful street and I have a hard time thinking we'd have found it with out His help. Today we ventured out for a little walk up and down Eutaw Place. We still think it's pretty funny that we moved from "Utah" to "Eutaw".   Hope you enjoy a little taste of where we live.

it's here!

One of my favorite memories from when we were dating (and I'm sure Jeremy would agree) is sharing a piano bench.  The summer we got engaged, he was the Ward Mission Leader for the Single's Ward we both attended.  His calling involved arriving to the church a couple hours early to fill the Baptismal Font for each baptism.  There seemed to be a lot of baptisms that year.  

I usually went with him to wait while the water filled up.  There was a piano in the room with the font.  He would play through Hymns and the Children's Songbook and I would sing.  We must have gone through each book twice.  

It was special.  Just the two of us sharing our love for not only music, but the Spirit as well.  

Music has played a special role in both of our lives growing up.  I always knew I wanted music to fill my own home one day.  I knew I wanted little ears to grow up listening to music.  I had planned on surprising Jeremy with a piano for his birthday next year.  I know how much he loves playing, and how much he's missed it since leaving for college.  

When Jeremy told me about the advice one of his professors in Dental School had offered during the first week of class, I knew we needed a piano sooner.  She said, "Is there something you love?  A hobby? A sport?  Don't give that up just because you're busy and in dental school.  You're going to need a small distraction that will get you through these next four years."  

There's not a lot that Jeremy loves to do.  He doesn't have many hobbies and exercising isn't even on his list of things to do.  But he loves the piano.  It relieves him of stress and helps him to regroup. 

So I started looking on Craig's List and finally came across just what we were looking for.  A piano... that we could afford.  

We are so excited! Obviously we'd love to have something a little newer and a little more Yamaha baby grand, but for now it is the piano of our dreams.  It needs a tune like SO BAD.  But it's here.  And it's ours.  And we are so happy!

today

Today was that day.

That day when you wake up ready to conquer the world.

That day when no amount of laundry or dirty dishes could possibly bring you down.

That day when you not only look cute but feel beautiful, too.

That day when you have an added gratitude for the little person you get to spend your days with.

kisses for mommy

That day when the only thing you regret about the candy bar you shoved down your throat was that you ate it too fast to really enjoy it.

*attacks for mommy

That day when you surprise your hubby by picking him up early because you missed him so bad.

That day when dinner wasn't only not a disaster but really good.

That day when you build a fort in the living room as a family.

That day when every kiss means more.

That day when he spins you around the kitchen just because he loves you.

That day when the sun seems to be shining brighter.

Today was that day.

Today was happy.