Smiley Sunday

For more reasons than one, I am having one of those days where my mind is filled with reflection and my heart, gratitude. We had a relaxing day with family today and I soaked up our moments laughing, snuggling and chatting. Madelyn was very smiley and these pictures do a pretty good job of capturing how I'm feeling... hope you had a great weekend with your families!

I'm a big girl now...

My mom sent me this picture this week when she'd taken Madelyn to the grocery store with her and I couldn't believe my eyes. There was my little girl, who isn't so little anymore, sitting up in the cart acting like it's no big deal! It really seems like there is a new development or discovery every day. I know in the next few weeks we'll introduce her to other foods and I'm looking forward to seeing her reaction and we're not far from her rolling over either.  When we put her down in her crib, now she's started to raise her legs up in the air and then to flop them from side to side before she goes to sleep. It's always something, and it's the best!

I'm writing this during a quiet Friday afternoon at work (ssshh!) and I am SO excited that it is (almost) the weekend. I plan to spend the majority of the weekend snuggling with my munchkin. Life is good :) Happy weekend all!

20 weeks!

Madelyn and I had a great time together today. Daddy went to play golf with some friends, which meant my baby girl and I had the day together.  While, Daddy was having fun of his own, Madelyn and I watched TV, played, went on a nice long walk, and went shopping... it was perfect!! After bath-time, we were having some fun in her room and I captured a few cute pictures of our growing girl. Unfortunately, I took them with my phone and can't figure out to save my life, how to format them to fit on here... and it's getting late, so I'm giving up. I'll share the only picture that I took that will come through, but it is a pretty good one ;-) I think we're in trouble...

Our favorite go-to dinner

I've never blogged about a recipe before, but for this dish, I decided it was worth starting! We try not to eat pasta too often, but when we're due for a pasta dinner, this one is always first to mind. I found it on allrcecipes.com a few years back and in addition to us, I've made it for friends and family too, and it's a real crowd pleaser. By now, I know the recipe by heart and I've never made it exactly the same, twice. Depending on my mood, I'll use reduced fat sausage, light cream or half&half, or I'll even omit the parmasean cheese. I make it with GF penne, use petite diced tomatoes and I always add red pepper flakes and extra garlic.  I even save myself more time and use frozen onions because they're so easy :) Next time you are looking to make pasta for dinner, give this a whirl and make it your own, you will not be disappointed!

Cheesy Sausage Pasta

welcome!

Now when you come to visit it us, you'll have a much nicer walk up to our house! The new porch and walkway are now complete and we are thrilled. I even did a little dance in our driveway when I got home last night and it was all done. It's a bit bare without the finishing touches - new grass and over 20 plants and bushes coming soon, but we love it! It's funny that one thing totally leads to another though. Now we recognize that we can't hold off on painting the trim of the house any longer, it needs to be done, asap!

Visitors welcome, anytime :)

gotta love laughter!

Here is a little video of Madelyn laughing recently. The first official laugh came about a month ago but since then she's started to understand whats happening and she's laughing more and more.  A lot of times we find ourselves laughing with her, it's contagious!

New entry

The face lift to our curb appeal is about half complete. After a few day delay because of weather and some unexpected issues with the old porch, we now have a new entry into our house. Every day for the last 2 weeks we couldn't wait to get home to see the progress. This week they'll be adding in a walkway and then in a couple of weeks, they'll fill in the area around the porch with plants and bushes. We are thrilled with how it looks so far - money, very well spent!

A BIG birthday!

Last week we celebrated a birthday in the Tiani family, my Dad turned the big 6-0! Since March 8th 2011, my Dad has been talking about this birthday and joking about what we'd do for him.  My mom, in her usual way, put lots of time and planning into a birthday celebration that he wouldn't forget. First, she picked one of his favorite restaurants and planned a surprise dinner there with their closest friends and us, then we celebrated his birthday on his actual day with his favorite meal and a few small gifts, and THEN she planned an awesome trip to Napa for them! They just got to San Fran today and I know they'll have a blast. I think we got 60 off to a great start for him :) Cheers Dad to many more wonderful birthday celebrations and fun memories with your friends and our family! We love you!

Some pictures from the surprise birthday dinner - we had lots of fun!! (and a big thanks to Krissy and Jamie for offering to watch Madelyn for her first sleepover at their house! You guys are the best! xo)

The tripod

Here she is...

Our little girl, who continues to grow like a weed, sitting up and hanging with Grammy this morning :) She's got a Pisa lean to her but it's a start to the real thing!

4 month check up!

The two months between the 2 month and 4th month appointment seemed three times that long! We were so curious to learn how she was doing, growing, etc.  At long last, we had our appointment on Friday and everything was great! Madelyn is healthy, growing quickly and already quite strong.  Dr. Flynn propped her up in the seated position to show us how we should start "sitting time" and he quickly realized that this wasn't new to Madelyn as she just about held herself up on her own. She put her arms right out to her sides, in the tripod position and flashed us a smile, showing us all that she had it down :) Our doctor was surprised that she already was able to hold herself up like that and told us she's ready for the more interactive toys and swings... Oops - we put together M's bouncer about 2 1/2 weeks ago because we felt she was ready, maybe we were moving a bit too fast but she loved it anyway!

We continue to notice new things everyday. Madelyn is grabbing for everything, talking quite a bit and boy does she love her brother Quigley. She just lights up when she spots him, it melts my heart! We've had a couple chuckles squeak out, they are the best sound in the world and we can't wait for some more! Madelyn is almost completely grown out of her 6 month clothes, a few pj's and zip up sweaters still fit but that's about it! It's hard to keep up with our growing girl as most of her pants are now cropped and in length, she fully fits in to all 9 month pj's! Please baby girl, slow down just a bit, you are growing up too fast!

Madelyn's 4 month #'s:
Weight -  15 lbs, 2 oz (75th - 90th percentile)
Height - 25 3/4 inches (95% percentile)