Madison Elizabeth Russo

Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers

Ashley McIntyre Russo

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Monday, August 22, 2011

16 Weeks and 16 Months

Wow...time sure has flown by. The past 16 months with Madison have been the best ever, which gives the new baby a big hurdle to get over!

I thought I would post about our daily life with a 16 month old and being 16 weeks.

First, we start off the day very early when she has to go to "school" because I have to be at work early. She gets up about 6:25-6:30, which means I get up about an hour earlier to get myself ready!

I drop her off at daycare, then head to work. She typically eats breakfast around 7:30, then has a snack around 9:00 am with her class.

Then, around 11:00, they all eat lunch at the table, in a big girl chair(for little kids), which is just adorable! Around noon, they all take a nap on the floor on mats. This was very scary for me in the beginning as she has never slept anywhere but her crib. But Ms. Francis said she is doing GREAT at her naps, and usually sleeps for the full 2 hour nap time.

Once all the kids have woken up, they all get another snack. Then, they either play outside, if it is not too hot out, or have fun inside.

I try to pick her up around 5:00, but sometimes I am running late and do not get there until 6:00. Which means that she is at daycare sometimes 11 hours! I feel so bad for her on these days, but she does not seem to care at all. She loves her "school", which is GREAT!

Once I have picked up my munchkin, we head home for dinner, which sometimes I pick up on the way home...but who has time that late to cook a full meal! After dinner, we play for a bit, I try to get her outside if it is not too hot. Then, about 7:45-8:00, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, we head up for a bath and bed time.

She LOVES bedtime, because we read to her her favorite books. She can pick out her books from the top of the bedside table. If she does not want that book read, she will shake her head no. Her favorites right now are Barnyard Dance, Pajama Time, and Five Little Monkeys.

After her books, I try to read her a prayer from her children's prayer book. Then we say our prayers before I put her in bed for night with ALL her monkeys, bunnies, and blankets that she MUST have in bed with her! She might be a tad high maintenance!


New words...

I feel like she is saying new words daily, which I know is not true. But here is a list of all the words that she can say and that we can understand!

Please, Thank you, Bailey, Dada, Mama, baby, diaper

When she wants more, she does the baby sign language and says please! If she is hungry, she will go to her high chair at our house and say please. When tired, she will sit on the bottom step and point up for the bed, so sweet! She most certainly knows how to communicate what she wants!


At her 15 month check up, It old the doctor that she is really wanting to take her diaper off at night and during nap time. She can also tell you when she needs a new diaper or when she has poop in there. She told us to try to potty train her over one weekend; we have not tried it yet, but hoping to this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

She weighed 20 lbs 5 oz at her appointment, which was in the 10th percentile, while she is 31.75 inches tall, which was in the 90th percentile. The dr wants us to come back for a "weight" check appointment. I cannot believe it with all the food that she eats! I guess she is so active these days at school. Her calories are going to her height, not her weight!


Back to the new baby...

We are expecting to find out the gender of baby number this Saturday, August 27th. We will keep everyone posted once we find out...I am trying to come up with a creative way to tell people, so check back!


I know that this was long, but we had a lot to catch up on!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Exciting times ahead...

Rob and I are very excited to announce that we are expecting baby number 2 in February! We cannot wait to see what this little one is, and see its cute personality grow. Madison does not quite get the concept yet, but that is expected since she is only 15 months old. There are going to be tons of new changes that come along with this one...the main one is that Madison will not be the only child anymore!

We ask for prayers for a healthy pregnancy for me and for the healthy baby! I will keep the blog updated with weekly pictures of my quickly growing belly, and any other updates that we have.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Maddie's One Year Pictures....

Last Thursday we had Madison's One Year pictures done at Peidmont Park. They turned out fabulous, but I had no doubt that they would since the photographers are AWESOME! Here are a few of my favorites...I hope you enjoy!

Our little family! Here she is trying to walk up the hill...her first hill ever!


Is she a natural or what?!?!?



So excited...


Giving her monkey some loving...she loves that monkey, it goes EVERYWHERE with us!


I love the police smocked dress...my sister gave her this for her birthday and I LOVE it...she can wearit next summer too since it is so long on her!


Hamming it up!




So small in the big city! Great place for pictures!



I could never have imagined that I could love someone as much as I love this little girl! She truely is a blessing to us!



Friday, May 27, 2011

Enjoying the sun...

A few days ago, we enjoyed some time outside since it wasn't sooo hot. We walked around with her babydoll stroller, thanks Aunt Kristen! She loves to walk around and is getting so good at changing directions and moving the stroller if she hits a curb. Here are a few pictures from our adventure outside! This is pure precious! She wanted to carry her babydoll and try to push the stroller. She actually did very well pushing with one hand!


Nothing like a little girl and her daddy!

Madison trying to play with the bubbles! Not sure she got the hang of it, but maybe after a few more times she will really love it!












Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Beastly Feast...Zoo Atlanta!

Here are a few pictures from the Beastly Feast that we attended a few weeks ago. I love this event, as the Zoo is my favorite place in Atlanta. The Zoo is completely closed so that you have the best view of all the animals. I LOVE the pandas from Chengdu, which is is awesome because I have been there and seen them in their habitat there. The gorillas were awesome! They feed them apples so they are front and center and all "fighting" over the apples.
The Zebras were prancing around...

And here is my favorite animal of all! The ELEPHANT! This creature amazes me, with its size and how they eat.


So Sweet...

The last week, since Maddie has really started walking, has been a joyous time. The new things that she does are precious. One if my favorite might be that she will be standing and she will want to walk, but first she will reach up for your hand. Make my heart melt! Another great thing is that she will now walk over to the chair that her highchair is in and reach up when she is hungry. I love she can now tell me what she wants more than just sitting there and screaming!

We have been battling with the molars and her eye teeth, and still we have not seen them come in! I am so ready for them to come in, so that my sweet baby will come back.



Also, she has now started throwing tantrums...which is not a good thing. We have learned to just ignore her when she does this, but sometimes that is easier said then done. When she throws her entire body on the floor and starts kicking her legs...I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until she was 2! I guess one is the new two!



Here is a picture of Maddie in her pigtails that her teacher put in her hair!


Maddie absolutely LOVES her daycare teacher! I am so thankful to have such a wonderful place with such caring people. She has no separation anxiety when I drop her off, which is great!


I will try to get more pictures up soon! Life has been very hectic for us lately!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Maddie is WALKING!

That's right...she is WALKING! I cannot believe that she is old enough to be walking. She will be 13 months next weekend, and my how the time has flown by! The past year has been a wonderful and crazy year. We have been so blessed with our little angel!




As I look back over the past year, I giggle and almost cry. We truly have had a wonderful year! It is so hard to believe that she is now a toddler, it is CRAZY! We are enjoying our time with her and experiencing everything with her.


All the wonderful things that we have experienced over the past year make all the late nights and midnight feedings and even her new tantrums worth it all!


On another note, she now has some good walking shoes for the summer! We made our first Stride Rite purchase yesterday, we are loving them! Hope you enjoy the video!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Birthday Party!

On May 1, Madison had her official birthday party! We had a blast planning it, and then when it finally came, it went by way to fast! We had so many friends there to help her celebrate, it was awesome! She loved the cake again, except I think that she ate almost the whole thing her self this time. Here she is going at the cake again...she might start thinking that she gets a cake every week!
All the kids loved climbing the stairs...especially sweet Dominic! I loved Madison's outfit for the day, thanks to Aunt Kadie!



Here she is pushing her new babydoll stroller that "Aunt" Kristen gave her! We love it and she pushes it around all the time!


Hoping to get more up soon! We have so many pictures and videos to sift through. I hope you all enjoy!

We sure do love our little munchkin so much, it is hard to believe that she is a toddler now!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Happy Birthday part 2

Happy Birthday to my sweet Madison! I cannot believe that she turned 1! It seems like just yesterday that we went to the hospital to have her. For her birthday, she wore a shirt that said "I'm the birthday girl!" with a cupcake on it and a pink tutu! I loved the outfit, too bad she can only wear it once! This was her trying her first cake ever! And she loved it...she ate it all and very quickly! Here are some pictures that show the progression of her eating the cake...enjoy!


All mushed up...

Shoving it in...

All gone...

Asking daddy for more...

My hair needs something more...

That was yummy, can I have some more...

We had a great day with her! The past year has been a crazy one, but I would not change a thing! I never thought that I could love someone as much as I love her!


Today, we went to the doctor for her 1 year appointment. Once we were there, I was talking to her about Maddie's ears. While at the beach, she started draining fluids from both ears; we took her to immediate care and they said that she was fine. However, after the doctor looked at both ears, she said that they were both punctured due to ear infections! I cannot believe that she has two ear infections, my poor little girl! On top of that, she is getting two molars on the bottom and her eye teeth are coming in; not to mention all the other teeth that are trying to get through.

Her statistics for 1 year are as follows:

Weight 18 lbs 12.6 oz, 10th percentile

Height 29 inches, 50th percentile


Happy birthday sweet baby girl, we love you so very much! We look forward to celebrating many more with you!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Happy Birthday part 1

Fun playing in the sand and sun for my birthday! She had a blast playing the sand, I think she ate more sand than anything!She loves to splish splash in the water! It is like a giant bathtub to her!





There are more pictures to come after her birthday celebration tonight! Enjoy!