All About Miss Madison

I thought it was about time that I posted a blog all about Miss Madison. So much in life right now is about the babies. She has grown up so much since they have come home. She is getting more fun all the time. Here are some fun facts and stories about Madison.

• Madison would live on cheese and fruit if I would let her.
• She is a mommy's girl. I love it even though it has its challenges when I want to go anywhere.
• She loves to color, do playdoh, and make crafts.
• She loves shoes and dresses. They don't always match but overall she does pretty well.
• She would wear pink most days.
• She is not afraid to play in the dirt in her dress.
• She is a great snuggler and very affectionate to the people she loves. Even if Sydney isn't so sure about all the hugs.
  
• She loves her friends! Madison loves to be with other kids and thrives on the interaction. Every new kid is a friend. She is very social! She LOVES going to church each week.
  
• She has a huge vocabulary and can carry on full conversations. She has been doing this for quite some time. I love it. We don't have much quiet in our house.
• She can tell you the relationship of each person in our family. Like the fact that her Uncle Bubba is my brother. Haley is her Auntie, my sister, and Nana is her mom. That is alot to get at 2.
  
• She loves Madagascar. I have heard that movie so many times. Notice I said heard. It is her movie of choice in the car for long trips. She also loves Minnie Mouse and wants to wear her red dress for Halloween.
• She loves My Little Pony. This is the theme of her upcoming birthday.
  
• She is starting to get into Princesses and dressing up. I am so excited for this girly stage.
  
• Unfortunately she knows who Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers are. This comes with a 9yr old aunt. Although I will admit it has been on at our house as well a few times when we had fussy babies and kept at least one child happy. She sings and dances along. (Don't judge me.)
  
• Madison has discovered the art of humor lately. She cracks up herself and us every day. A few weeks ago I asked her what she wanted to wear and she answered, "Chicken Nuggets" and started laughing. It is now her answer of choice. If you want her to laugh just say "Hey Madison, Chicken Nuggets."
• This week she has started saying I love you Daddy to me just to get a reaction. I say I love you Milo (our cat) back and she giggles. I'm not Milo. I'm Madison Marteney.
• Lately one her favorite sayings is, "Mommy, Your my friend". She will say it 25 times in one day. When I close her door at night she will say it. One night she hadn't, so through the door I said, "Madison, Your my friend." She laughed and said, "Chicken Nuggets." :)
• Madison loves to play outside and has loved watching our garden grow. Having fruit and vegetables to pick has been a great experience for her. She helps us water the garden, and would play outside all day in her pool if she could.
• Madison loves to sing. She is constantly singing the Abc's, Twinkle Little Star, Baker's Man, Jesus Loves me, and many others. In the last month she has mastered all her letters correctly and most of the words to the other songs. I couldn't resist recording her 2yr old versions for her to watch later on in life. Watch the cute video below. We call it her Baker's Man Remix.
• She loves to dance. Her and her daddy have a little dance that he taught her. Shake Shake, Shake Shake a Shake It, We like to move it move it, Put your Hands in the Ayer(air) Ayer. It is so funny! Hopefully she will not end up with her daddy's rhythm. Sorry babe!
  
• Madison is a great help with the babies. She wants to give them their binkies when they cry, hold them, and lay with them on the floor to play. The only challenge with this is that she wants to lay like they do on the play mat. All 3 don't fit that well. It is cute though.
• She has had number of cute sayings about the babies lately. When they are nursing we say they are drinking Mommy's milk. One day she was trying to get the baby to suck on her finger. When I asked her not to she responded, "Mommy, He's drinking my Madison's milk. So sweet.
• Madison loves to talk about things she did when she was little. Lately she has been telling Matt, "When I was a tiny baby I pooped on you." And, "When I was a tiny baby Poppy took my binky." (they had a binky game, I am surprised she remembers this) As well as comments about her nursing and having diapers changed. I think it helps her relate to the boys by knowing she did the same things as a baby.
• She loves to sing to the babies when they cry. Especially our I love you so much song.
• And finally, Lately when the babies cry she says, " I think he wants his sister". (grin) Shre is a great big sister! I couldn't have asked for it to go better.
  

Madison is a loving, good girl and such a blast. We have had our challenges the last few weeks as she is getting a little more strong willed and very 2. I am sure part of it is the adjustment of having to share our time with the boys. She wants to do everything herself and her way. We are working on sharing and speaking with nice words. One sweet hug and I love you mommy makes any challenging day worth it. Enjoy this video of my favorite girl!

Madison Sings from Melisa Marteney on Vimeo.

2months, lots of firsts, and overall cuteness

I originally started typing this post over a week ago. I resorted to slides since I am so far behind.

It has been a busy month as you can imagine. We are having a great time getting to know Micah and Mason. They are 2 months old now and smiling and cooing more each day. It makes me giggle every time. SO sweet. Madison loves the interaction.
We finally figured out that they do have a dairy reaction to anything I eat as well as the formula they were previously taking fine. We started Prilosec and the combination of that and no dairy seems to be making much happier babies. We have had a little trouble with them gaining enough weight the last few weeks. I started supplementing Soy formula after each nursing and making changes in my diet and water intake. They seem to be catching up, and just passed 8lbs this week. We have had many friends with babies born recently bigger than the boys. To me they do seem to be getting bigger every day.



They officially wore their first pair of shoes recently, got to have their first bath with Madison, and we made our first trip to the mall. This was also a first for Dara and I taking all 4 of our kids. It was a very successful trip. Since then I have made trips on my own with all 3 kids to Target, the mall, and a few other small stops. It has gone well and I am learning how to juggle it all. It is nice to feel like I can run an errand or two without calling someone to help.
Last night the boys got to go to their 1st baseball game. Poppy was playing in the church championship. It was lots of fun.

Madison has had her share of firsts this month as well.
First Haircut, Trip to Chuck E Cheese, Finger Painting, Helping feeding babies- Doing bottles has enabled Madison to be more involved. She really loves to help.
We recently made a trip to Pump it Up Jr with the Chris, Dara, and Sydney. The girls had a great time bouncing. Madison left with a bright red face from playing so hard.
Madison has also been enjoying playing outside when we get the chance. We got out her wading pool. She spent 2 hrs splashing around and I had to basically drag her inside. This is quite the change from her first wading pool experience. She didn't like the cold. Today we spent the morning at a park with friends.

The boys first 4th of July was started with a family first. We went to the Hillsboro Parade with my parents and Haley. The boys slept through it while Madison clapped and waved at all the floats. About half way through she realized she could get candy and convinced Haley to stand with her. She had a great time.

We went to Nana and Poppy's for the day until church. It was the first weekend for our new Pastor's. After church and dinner for everyone we headed to Banks to watch fireworks. The kids did sparklers while we waited. Being there made me miss our old neighborhood. It is such a great small town feel especially on the 4th. We had a great family day!

We haven't been able to do many of our regular summer activities such as camping this year, but we have had a great time. I cannot believe it is over half over. I will try to update more often with what is going on. Here is one last picture of all three kids.


We hope you are all having a blessed summer.