Both kids had a blast playing with their papas! Here Shane is trying to teach Papa Irwin to play his new memory game and Madison is just hanging out with Papa Judy.
January 23rd was the 4th anniversary of the loss of our baby, Madeleine. We marked the day as we always do, with a visit to the cemetery. I always read Shane an amazing book called "Someone Came Before You" that my friend Shandelle (another mom who lost her baby) shared with me when I was pregnant with Shane. This year he almost understood it and hearing him say Madeleine's name was so sad. We read the story several times, gathered stones to leave on her marker as well as flowers, & headed to the cemetery. Madison stayed in the warm car as it was quite cold. I live most of my days very happy, but I will never forget my little girl and our loss. This is the first year I was interested in taking Shane's picture at the cemetery. I usually reserve the camera for happy occasions, but want shane to know how important visiting his sister really is & that her loss is what allowed me to learn about the TAC and bring him here so safely. Anyways, here is the picture. It is sad that this is the only way Shane will ever know his big sister.
We ended January with a chance to meet Clifford at the WTTW Readers are Leaders event at Yorktown mall. Shane had a blast! I forgot my camera, but the nice lady from Yorktown took some great pictures and posted them on Facebook.
I took Maddie for her 5 month pictures at the end of January and took Shane for his 3 year pictures a bit early. The pictures all came out so cute! I just love them all! Here are a few! Most of these are not my favorites, except the one of Shane and Madison together! LOVE that one! I feel so blessed to have the most wonderful children as my own! I can't believe how lucky I am!
Maddie is also trying to hold her own bottle!!!!
OK, well my last post showed our perfect little Madison proudly wearing her White Sox gear so here she is in her Cubs shirt! I think she is happiest in her Cubs shirt... I am just saying...
Shane told me tonight that his best friend is Thunder! So sweet! Thunder will be 17 in September! He can still steal Shane's food like a puppy, but his age is showing in other ways. Here is a picture of the BFFs!
Madison marked her 5 month birthday by taking her monthly picture! Our little girl is just perfect! I can't believe how much love I have for her! I did not think it was possible to love anyone as much as I love Shane until Madison was born! I love both kids with all of my heart! I am so blessed!!!! Here is Maddie in her ND jersey!
Last year February 1st brought us one of the biggest blizzards in Chicago history!
This year, we spent the first 2 days in February doing this.
And some of this!
Did I mention how much I love this winter! I could seriously live with 50 degree weather all winter - no need for snow or bitter cold for me!
Shane, Madison, & I had a great time at Aunt Joan's house. Shane adores Aunt Joan and Uncle Cy and has so much fun with them. He loved Joan's clock and could not wait for the chimes! He even insisted on taking a picture with the clock! Aunt Joan also gave him a stuffed dog she had which he sleeps with every night! Madison also loved hanging out with her Great Aunt! My parents joined us for lunch and everyone had a nice day. I feel so lucky that my children are surrounded by so many people that love them!
Shane celebrated February fun with his friend Isabelle at the library's toddler dance party! They were so cute!
Here are some pictures of Shane and Maddie hanging out!
Valentine's day around here was a challenge. Shane got sick the weekend before and was the sickest he has ever been on Valentine's day. He started with diarrhea the weekend before. The day before, Monday, he threw up a few times and slept almost the entire day. I called the doctor, but they said as long as he was fever free that they did not need to see him. They also asked if he had any contact with Madison. What??? Of course they have contact - they live together! I was told to limit it as Maddie getting sick like this could be dangerous since babies dehydrate so quickly. Of course we tried really hard to do that, but it did not work - more on that later. Back to Shane, He woke up Monday at about 4 PM and was hungry. He asked for a banana and then another and kept both down. He played and acted normal the rest of the night. We were sure he was past it. However, he wasn't. He woke up the next day - Valentine's day and just wanted to sleep. He drank milk, but ate nothing and really just slept the entire day. Wednesday was the same thing so I finally called the doctor and we brought him in. It was just a virus and I was told to keep pushing fluids and try pediasure and popsicles. He would not take any. He actually did not eat again until Friday when he had a few bites of food. He was finally 100% by Monday when Madison got sick. She started with diarrhea and then started throwing up too. We have spent the last few days in a fog of providing her a few teaspoons of pedialyte every 10 minutes for an hour and then trying to graduate her to an ounce and then formula. She often just gets to the hour and throws up, causing us to start all over again. Yesterday she did good during the day and then by last night was throwing up and having diarrhea again. She also has no fever and the doctors do not need to see her as long as we can keep her hydrated. I am hoping for a better day today! Anyways, here are the Valentine's Day pictures. Shane really felt bad so it was hard to get him to take any pictures. He didn't really even want to open up his Valentine's Day present (Maddie & him each got a stuffed animal and a book)
Here are some pictures of Madison's first baby food feed -she has been eating cereal, but I bought the baby bullet and was finally ready to make her some baby food. I made peas and avocado and we started with avocado. We stripped her down preparing for a huge mess. Little did we know that a few minutes after we finished these pictures, she threw up. Dan thought it was from the food, but it was the start of that pesky virus... Anyway, here is my beautiful baby girl eating avocados February, 20, 2012!
Finally, here is a picture of Maddie and Dan - She LOVES her daddy! Dan walks in the room and she gives herself whiplash turning around to see him! Anyway, here they are. I also tried to take a few pictures of her tooth, but am not sure it is visible. It broke threw about a week ago and is still pretty small. I need to get another picture as soon as she is better.
