Little Miss Madison

Miss Madison turned 11 today! I have been thinking about the day she was born a lot lately. We lived in Kentucky at the time and Madison's birth was the only one where it was just me and Robert with no family in town. I have loved sharing the birth of each of my babies with my Mom and Dad and other family members, but I also greatly enjoyed the intimacy of it just being the three of us. It was incredibly warm, peaceful, and a day filled with love. I couldn't believe that I had a GIRL! The first two things that stood out to me about Madison, were her heart shaped face and her calec on the right side of her forehead, just like her Daddy. She also had a slight dimple on her nose and barely cried when she was born. Madison was born three weeks early and was only 6 pounds. I remember thinking she looked like a baby bird with her enormous eyes and tiny head. She soon grew into those enormous eyes and they have always been one of my favorite things about Madison. She was peaceful and happy from the very beginning. These days, she is always running, jumping, playing and laughing. My little girl is growing up!

For her birthday, we allowed her to get her ears pierced and she was able to fly to Washington by herself to visit her cousins. She had the time of her life and will never forget the memories she made. Today we went out to a restaurant of her choice, which was Red Robin and then we had an ice cream cake and a silly string war which the kids always love. Madison's main present was going to Washington, but I wrapped up 2 big boxes of "Gushers" (like fruit snacks) and couldn't believe how absolutely thrilled she was to get these! Seriously, we go through so much effort as Moms to make holidays big and elaborate, and really they are happy with the simplest things! Tomorrow we will have her birthday breakfast which was postponed from today because Robert had a campout last night.

Happy Birthday my little Madison! How we love and cherish you--