Fabulous Flooring!

We're currently getting new flooring installed in our bathrooms! I'm excited to not have an icky gray spot around the guest bathroom and to have a better color! Plus I think it'll be easier to keep clean. Pictures to come....

Madison is 17weeks and growing like a weed. We went to her well checkup yesterday and she is 14lbs 3 oz, 25in. long, and her head is 15 1/2 in. She's in the 90% percentile for height...GO FIGURE...with a 6'3'' dad and a 5'11'' mommy she has no chance. She did very well with her 2nd round of shots. I gave her Tylenol before going in and I think that helped. She had her bottle right after and was asleep within 10min. It was great because I was able to get my weekly deal shopping done while she slept. I have however noticed, that I am a klutz when it comes to pushing the cart with her car seat in it. For some odd reason I always seem to hit something. Oh well, if she can sleep through it then I guess it's not that bad.

oh...princess is awake :)

He is Risen..... Indeed he is Risen

Happy Easter and Spring. Although it doesn't feel
so much like spring right now in WI. It's rainy and cold today with a high of 38. We enjoyed our Easter in Ohio with my family. Madison enjoyed her time with her 3 cousins who lovey on her and love to play with her.



It was such nice weather the whole weekend. We walked to the park one day and enjoyed the sunshine.




Here's our little Easter Bunny.















I didn't get a really good picture of Madison in her Easter dress or a great family picture of the 3 of us, but these will have to do.

Madison's Friends and Mommy's Bargain Shopping

Madison has been a great napper...until recently when we started changing schedules. I'm working on getting her to take three big naps and eating every 3 1/2 to 4 hours. I've really enjoyed following Baby Wise. I love the felixible schedule and knowing that I determine when she eats. Anyway, she was squirming around in her crib one afternoon and did not want to go to sleep...this was mommy's solution.....




Madison is such a good baby and I have been so blessed with her. The woman at Bible study were OOOing over her yesterday. They can't believe how big she's gotten and how smiley she is. She's really growing in to her own personality. I think once she is able to really crawl around and move that she will be so independent. She loves shopping with mommy! I think we've gone to some type of store 8 out of the past 10 days. She does so well and loves her stroller. I love her stroller too. Now just to actually jog with it....that's another story :)

I've recently gotten into couponing and I think I'll blog more about that in the future. But it's been so fun for me to see how much money I save and what I actually get for free. Brent loves it too when he sees what I bring home and has that look on his face that says "And how much was ALL that?"...and I tell him and he is so proud of me for basically getting things free...and most times I do get things free. Here's my latest shopping excursion to CVS....

2 Tubes Colgate Toothpaste (I'm a snob and have only used Crest...but may have to just change)
1 Crest Mouth rinse
3 packs gum
1 Reese's Candy Bar (had the coupon and love to treat my husband)
1 Airwick I-Motion

total= 1.21$

Then at Target I got 3 connect 4 games and 10 Sobe Life waters for 4$ with also a 5$ target giftcard (they give you gift cards when you buy certain items)

And at Walgreens .99$ Razors

Who knew I'd one day love this kind of shopping!!!

11 weeks

Madison is 6 wks!

I've been so bad at updating! I'm so sorry everyone. Our life has dramatically changed over the last 6 weeks, as you can expect. So I'm finally settling into a routine and finding my old self again. Our most exciting news is that Madison is finally here! Madison Joy was born on December 20,2009 at 1:30pm weighing 7lbs 6 oz. and 20 inches long. It was a pretty easy delivery for me. All day Saturday I had been feeling like I was having "cramps". Brent and I went to the mall for xmas shopping so you can tell the pain wasn't that bad. That night around 11pm I began to think maybe these are getting more frequent, I should start timing them. So I did. They were irregular but I thought I'd call my doctor anyway. He said to just go to the hospital and get checked. So at 1:30am I woke Brent up crying telling him we should go. I thought we'd drive 40min. to the hospital and they'd send us home and I felt bad for having to wake him up. So we got the hospital and I was put on the monitor and checked. The nurse said "Oh you aren't going anyway. You're 5cm". I made it to 7cm before deciding to have an epidural. I think I could have done without one but I decided I was getting really tired and wanted to set some sleep so I could have energy to push. I started pushing around 12pm and then had to stop to wait on my Dr. So not cool...it's like we're not #1 on their agenda but I've got this baby coming and you better get here fast. I pushed maybe 10 times and she was out. Her head full of brown hair and so beautiful.

I've had quite the time after giving birth. 2 Days after I was home I went back into the hospital with pneumonia. It was so hard to be away from Madison and to trust she was alright without me. I spent two days in the hospital and was finally allowed to come home. At home I felt disconnected from Madison since I was gone and I had alot of anxiety. I have been amazed through all this of God's wisdom, grace, and guidance. My relationship with God has grown and been strengthened to a much deeper level. I'm a woman who likes to be in control of situations and who likes to know what's going to happen. This was a time in my life that I had no control and had to rely totally on MY GOD to guide me. I'm so thankful he is all knowing.

Madison is now 6wks old and things are getting into a routine around here. We went for her 1 month pictures and she did so well. She is so beautiful and such a good baby. We're still working on getting on a schedule with Baby Wise but we are so thankful for Auntie Naomi and all her help. Madison is smiling and focusing more each day. She's such a joy to have and we can't stop kissing her.

Madison's Room

I finally found the time and energy to finish Madison's room. Here are the finalized pictures. Now we're just waiting on her!

I made her a name plaque...I'm not by any means an artist..my 1st graders may think so, but it's not true. I was very proud of how well the sign and picture frame look.

A busy 2 weeks

The past few weeks have been so busy for Brent and I. I had to finish up my current semester for my masters by Oct. 31 and had to write 5 papers. They all had to be handed in by the 15th..AHH...but I got it done! Thank you Lord! It's hard to want to come home and work on writing a paper on education when I just spent 7hrs. in education. Hopefully I can get alot done when I'm home with Madison. I've also been putting together the school Christmas play and practices have started for that. Just one more thing to add to my plate. I told the other teachers I was going to go into labor early so they'd be stuck doing the performance. They didn't like that very much.
Last week was Madison's baby shower in Ohio that Grammy Vitt and Auntie Naomi threw for me/her. It was a lot of fun and I know they both worked hard and fast on putting it together. It was good to see all the ladies and friends that I cherish. Madison got so many cute clothes, soft blankets, and fun books. I'm excited to dress her up in all the outfits. She will be one cute little girl!
This past weekend was definitely a girls weekend. Brent had a men's retreat for our church and was gone all weekend so my mom, sister, and 3 nieces came to stay with me and get Madison's room/etc ready for her. What a weekend! Fun...but 3 little girls can tire a 7month pregnant woman OUT! They are such a joy and I love them but I also love that they go home with their mommy! We went through all Madion's clothes and seperated them by months and made a list of what we needed. Then we went shopping, made returns, made more purchases, and put her room together. It's not totally finished but it's getting there. My mom is a handy woman and made Madison's crib skirt to match the bedding. I didn't like the one they had at Target so she said she'd make one. She also made her a pillow for the crib and is making a seatcover for my rocking chair. I'm excited to get it all finished. Madison is all set and I even packed her diaper bag for the hospital. Maybe a little early but just making sure I'm ready.
Brent had an amazing weekend at the retreat and said it was life changing and eye opening for him. I'm so blessed to have a Godly husband who not only desires to do what God wants, but also challenges me to do the same. It's amazing how many woman think they have Godly husbands just because they pray at meals and go to church. Brent has become so much more in God's word and has such a desire to know God more and more. It's hard not to love my husband more each day!!! God has been so good to the Hall's!!!!!!!!!!!!