Friday, October 16, 2009

Moving and Shaking...

Well boys and girls, it has been a LOOOONG time since my last post, so grab yourself a coffee and get comfy....this one is going to be a doozy!

So just my last post, lots has happened since my last post, so where to start...

I guess most importantly, my baby is seven months old already!!!! Yikes! Where does the time go?It kind of seems like overnight she has gone from little infant to almost toddler! She eats three meals of solids a day (with bottles in between), drinks water from a sippy cup, she yaps away all day long....sadly for me though, she seems to have forgotten how to say mama and everything is now dada....her dad, cows, me, EVERYTHING! Most excitingly however, miss Maddie has mastered crawling and just today, pulled herself up all by herself and was standing in the playpen! I hear other moms talking about their 9 and 10 month olds that are just conquering these feats, so I am very impressed with our little overachiever! 


Look at her go!



Happy 7 Month Birthday Madelyn!!


While all of this is very exciting, at the same time, it has got me in a bit of a panic! Our house is not at all ready for a little one to be turned loose. We have a lot of furniture to strap, sockets to plug, cords to hide, cleaning stuff to lock up....among other things. I was stressing about getting things in order....right now they are still in the middle of barn renovations so Carm is not around a lot to help me out. I was venting to my sister about it and she introduced me to "the FLY LADY." For all you mamas out there torn between house chores and spending time with your kids, you should definitely check out www.flylady.net. It is a website devoted entirely to people who don't like/want to clean, but know it has to be done. It helps you to get organized and develop routines so that your cleaning gets done, but you don't feel like you're spending your entire life doing it. I have it set up so it sends me daily reminders about what needs to be done and the idea is that you are doing some light cleaning of some description everyday, but you only "detail clean" certain rooms each week depending on the "zone" you are in that week. I have only been following this method for a short while and already I am starting to see a difference and I feel a whole lot more organized! Most importantly, I am still able to spend lots of time with the little hooligan. 

As I mentioned, the barn renos are in full swing still at the farm. They were pouring the last row of stalls today already. It's going pretty well and assuming nothing puts them back, they should be milking cows in all three rows by the end of next week!! Check out a few pictures of the progress below.




So, yesterday while cleaning in my living room, I had the TV on and Dr. Phil was on. Now, normally I really can't stand Dr. Phil and quickly change the channel, but the topic yesterday peaked my curiosity...Working Moms vs. Stay At Home Moms....Hmmm. So Maddie and I took a break to hear what they had to say. Quite frankly, the first woman on there infuriated me. Her opinion was that ALL good mothers are stay at home moms and that basically, unless you are going to quit your job and stay home, you should not have children. Working mothers were poor mothers and by going to work and leaving them with caregivers, they were compromising their children's childhood. Seriously? It didn't take long for three of the show's executives (all women) to march out and share their views with the crazy woman. The three Dr. Phil ladies pretty much tore a strip off the woman and by the end of the show, she was sitting there pretty quietly. I don't know what planet this lady was from...a lot of us would love to quit our jobs and stay home full-time with our kids, but it's just NOT an option for most of us. Does that mean we shouldn't have kids? Ouch.

Well, that should give you all a bit to chew on for a few days! Be sure to check back for more updates soon, and also be sure to check out my photography blog at http://jennkylephotography.blogspot.com ! Until next time my friends...


Friday, October 2, 2009

Breaking News...

I know it has been a while yet again since my last post, but it has been a busy news week in the Modern Mama World this past week! Here is a rundown of the week's excitement!

Baby News: Baby Peters finally made her debut into this crazy world on Monday morning! Miss Hailey Maria arrived at 10:30am and weighed in at a healthy 10 lbs 7 oz!! And, I have to give serious props to her mama Heather who is my new hero....10lbs 7 oz....NO EPIDURAL!!!! Nicely done!! Miss Maddie is very excited to have another little friend to play with and I am super excited to have Heather join the mommy club! Congratulations to the Peters Family!! I have lots of pictures of little Miss Hailey, but since her mama hasn't posted any yet, I will hold on to mine for the moment...

Fair News: Last weekend Miss Madelyn graced the stage at the Drumbo Fair Baby Show. Carm and I weren't able to be at the show with her, but Grandma Nancy and Uncle Curtis did a super job showing the baby. This time, there was better criteria and Maddie won her class! That's right....my baby had the biggest eyes...shocker eh? The three of them had fun and Maddie came home with a bunch of great prizes, so everybody won!

Maddie and Uncle Curtis at the Baby Show

Farm News: Monday was a BIG day! The extreme barn Makeover that is the Ashlawn dairy barn, has commenced! After just a week, already significant progress has been made. We will have new stalls in no time! WOOT! I have started taking pictures to show the progress as it happens, so be sure to watch for the updates. You cannot begin to imagine how excited I am for the day my big black & white beauties can lay comfortably in a big new comfy stall!

Construction Day #2

Safety News: As Maddie quickly approaches seven months, she is becoming more and more mobile everyday. This has got us thinking about all of the things around the house that need to be childproofed and safetied before she can get too far. Shelves, electrical outlets, cupboards, etc....the usual. However, yesterday I was enlightened as to another baby safety concern that has never appeared on any of the checklists I have been reading. Carpet...in particular, carpets of the shaggier variety. Many of you I am sure are wondering how in the world carpet could be a safety concern for your baby. Others are thinking of the obvious carpet hazard...dust and allergens. However, I am positive not many, if any, of you immediately thought "choking hazard." But, as Miss Madelyn nearly proved to Heather and I yesterday, carpet can in fact, be a choking hazard. Sitting a mere 2' from us playing on the carpet, Madelyn managed to pull off a couple pieces of the carpet without us noticing and put them in her mouth. Luckily, her gag reflex triggered and the carpet was yacked back up before any damage was done....other than to Heather's and my nerves as we were panicking wondering what the heck she was sputtering about! So, to all the mommies out there trying to convince their cheap husbands to rip out the old carpet and put in wood floors...here is another GREAT reason why the cheap-o should cough up the cash. Maddie was lucky, but the next kid may not be...

Cow News: This week is World Dairy Expo week in Madison. Now that the border is open to cattle and there are lots of Canadian cows making the trip down for the show, we had planned to go down to watch this year. I have never ben, so I was quite excited! However, a certain little someone threw a wrench into the travel plans for this year, so we will have to go another year. For this year, thanks to modern technology, Maddie, Carm and I have been watching the shows from the comfort of our living room. Not quite the same, but for this year it will have to do...



Maddie takes in her first WDE!
(the cooler was her mama's not hers...)