One Year Check-up

Checking out her weight at the pediatrician's office! Getting bigger.

One Year:
Weight: 18lbs. 5oz. (10th percentile YAY!)
Height: 30 3/4 inches (95th percentile)
Head circumference: 17 1/4 inches (20th percentile)

The day after Maddie's 1st birthday she had her one year well child check up.....I know it's taken me a while to post this. :-) As usual she got all weighed in and measured. The doctor was very happy with her weight gain and growth overall. She is now in the 10th percentile for weight, which is quite a change from the 5th percentile for the last 9 months or so. Still a very LONG and LEAN little girl however, as she grew 2 whole inches in just 3 short months.

Her doctor was also very pleased with her social skills and intellectual self. I mean I think we have a pretty bright girl on our hands, but of course I am a bit biased. She feels like she is right on track with all the skills she was able to show her. She definitely is not a shy girl.

These days, Maddie is literally running around the house. She honestly would rather pick up random objects and walk around the house with them. She prefers this exploring much more than all the wonderful toys she got for her birthday. :-) She loves showing mommy and daddy her nose, ears, and toes. Although lately is getting her noes and toes mixed up! LOL. She is a very proud girl and often claps with praise after completing a task or making mommy and daddy happy. As she has for a very long time now, she continues to LOVE dancing to any music she hears.

Maddie is still a very vocal little one often being called a "squealer pig" because of her high pitch squeal. What a joyful noise....kidding. She does say a few words which consist of "momma," "dadda," "what," and "ball." Her most recent word being "ball".....for some reason anytime she says it she says so with a whisper. So cute!

This past year has truly been the most amazing year as we have watched this little girl grow into a toddler. Really?!?! Am I saying my little lady is a toddler?!? It's so hard to believe that a year ago we were meeting her for the very first time. What a blessing and joy she has been to all of us! It's her smile that has helped us make it through the tough times of the past year. WE LOVE YOU MADDIE!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Madison Rose!

Rummaging through Auntie Andrea's purse at lunch.

The BIRTHDAY GIRL pre-piercing.

I don't think she really knew what was coming to her.

"What's that lady doing over there?!?"

Immediate post piercing. My poor baby girl.....but doesn't she look so stinkin' cute?!

All better now!

Happy little birthday girl with her "pretties."

Enjoying that birthday ice cream. Cotton candy....Yum!

Licking the lid clean. Gotta get every last bit of it. LOL.

Such a happy birthday girl!

Proud little walker!

Watching the other kiddos playing in the park.

Honk, honk.

Getting some birthday loves from Uncle Ke-Ke.

One proud happy mommy and her birthday girl!

Since we had Maddie's big celebration on Saturday July 16th we celebrated her actual birthday in a very low key manner. We started out the day by meeting up with "Auntie" Andrea for some lunch. After lunch we headed to the Tacoma Mall for Madison to get her ears pierced. Since I was not looking forward to holding the little birthday princess down, Andrea agreed to come along and do the dirty work. Maddie did surprisingly well....although she did shed some tears. My poor baby girl....she got lots of TLC and a lollipop for being such a big girl. :-) Goodness does she ever look cute with those "pretties" in her ears. Hehehe.

That evening we met up with Grandma Jill, Grandpa Randy, and Uncle Kevin for some dinner followed by some playtime and tasty ice cream in the park. Maddie absolutely loved the pink and purple cotton candy flavored ice cream that we picked out for her. Hope this sweet tooth of hers doesn't get us in trouble.

This little girl continues to amaze us everyday with her funny personality and her day to day changes. Happy birthday to Madison....she cut 2 new teeth on her special day as well. She is now walking unassisted and is soooooo proud of herself whenever she does it. It is not often that we do not see a HUGE smile on her face when she is walking, actually practically running around. Look out everyone......here she comes!

Celebrating our "little lady".....ladybug style!

Check out those baby blues.

Party favors for the kiddos.

Maddie is one! Her high chair and party hat are all ready for the festivities to begin!

Our little ladybug....ready to PARTY!

Tasty treats for everyone to enjoy. Yummy!

Happy little birthday girl.

Playing in the chair that Grandma Kathy repainted and reupholstered. It used to belong to daddy when he was little.

Delicious cupcakes made by Dixie Cups Cupcakes.

Table of sweets and tower of beautiful and tasty cupcakes.

Looks like the birthday girl is wanting to join the party outside.

I just loved the angle of this picture with the little lady in the background. My brother is AWESOME at taking pictures!

Picture boards of the birthday girl. One picture for every month showing off some of the many different facial expression of Maddie.

Grandma and her birthday girl.

Cousin Jennifer and her little guy Levi (5 months old).

One of Maddie's best buddies, Lucas.

Family and friends enjoying some good food and good conversation.

Maddie's giant "smash" cupcake.

Happy birthday to me!!!

YAY! It's my birthday.

"What am I supposed to do with this?!"

Tasting the frosting. After one taste she realized she REALLY liked it!

Yummy....loving that cupcake.

Our little lady is ONE!

"He did it!"

Present time!!! She was more interested in the wrapping paper than anything. :-)

Getting some love and kisses from daddy.

We just had to throw a BIG 1st birthday bash for our little lady. She definitely deserved it....afterall being one is a big deal. We had a ladybug themed birthday party to celebrate our little lady turning one. Complete with ladybugs and polka dots EVERYWHERE, BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs, and a sweets table filled with candy, cookies, and cupcakes! Thankfully the weather held up perfectly for us. We definitely weren't looking forward to have 60+ people inside our house. It worked out great. The sun came out in just enough time to celebrate.

Maddie had a WONDERFUL time being the center of attention! She especially loved it when everyone began singing happy birthday to her. She just clapped with joy. What a doll! She wasn't she tearing in to her very own special birthday cupcake either. She LOVED the frosting. Looks like she got mommy's sweet tooth. Yikes.

We feel so very blessed for all of our family and friends who helped to celebrate such a special occasion. We were especially lucky to have my best friend of 15 years, Kimber, fly in from Utah to join in the festivities. Kimber has been such a blessing in my life and we have been through the good times and bad over the last 15 years. And what better way to spend time together than to celebrate a very special little girls 1st birthday. Thank you to all of the helping hands who put so much time and effort into making this day all the more fantastic. We could not have done it without you!

4th of July Celebration

Little Miss Independence!

Going for a ride on Uncle Ke-Ke's shoulders.

Enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

Maddie and daddy spending some time together.

Checking the engine on her little car.

Snack time!

Happy 4th of July from the Pepper Family.

Testing out the water. Brrrrrrr!

Bubbles.

Happy girl in her swimming pool. She loves the water!

Having fun playing with Great Grandpa's little blue chair. Waiting for the firework show to start.

Maddie's first sparkler. She was so enthralled.

We had a wonderful time with family celebrating the 4th of July. It was a much more low key holiday than usual. A number of family members had other engagements so we had a terrific BBQ with Grandma Jill, Grandpa Randy, Uncle Kevin, Great Granny, and Great Grandma and Grandpa. It was such a beautiful warm, sunny day so we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get Maddie into a cute little swimsuit to she could splash around in her pool. She had a GREAT time!

It was so sad to realize that this holiday was the last of Maddie's "first" holidays....well besides her first birthday that's just around the corner.....sigh! We weren't so sure as to how she would do with the firework, but thought we would give it a try anyways. She ABSOLUTELY LOVED THEM! She was not scared one bit of the booms, bangs, and crashes. Instead she was thrilled to watch all the colorful fountains and big bursts of color in the sky. She was also very amused with her very own sparkler - held by mommy of course.

Overall a very fun and enjoyable time with the best family ever!