My Madie is 2

Has it really been two years since this little surprise came into our lives? Time has flown by. The fact that life is full of three kids now and huge messes that she leaves there has not been much time for breathing. Let me take you back to a little over two years ago as I watched the faint pink lines form on the pregnancy test. I stared at in disbelief as the shock set in. We moved to this new place to start a church. Brighton was 20 months old and fully weaned. Dalton was four and half and very independent. I could breath a little and I was looking forward to a new adventure of life. Darin stood in silence waiting to see my reaction with his own mixed emotions. I called my mother in the middle of the day and told the secretary to put me through to my mom's class telling her it was a minor emergency. I cried telling her my unplanned and shocking news. She just laughed out loud and was excited. I repeated the same thing to my sister-in-laws
Jenny and Lynne and got similar reactions. Over the next 9 months the initial shock began to settle. I got a little more excited when I found out it was a girl. I cried when they told me it was a girl. Planning would be much easier with two little girls that were close in age. Plus we were set on a girl's name more than a boy's. We were having a Madison Rae. After 9 months of a hard pregnancy and 6 months of morning sickness at last the day arrived when we were being induced. Darin and my two sister-in-laws Jenny and Stephanie went to the hospital early Wednesday morning at 4:30 a.m. to be induced at Methodist in San Antonio. Jenny is a labor and delivery nurse and was my coach. She helped me have Madison with no drugs. I have always had short labors but having no epidural made it even faster and she came with no pushes and before the doctor made it in the room. Once she was out the world looked and felt so much better. I had the sweetest little girl in the world and our family felt complete. I instantly bonded with her. She was the cuddliest little things and I loved holding her. She was a chubby little baby and Brighton gave her the nick name "Smooshy Pooh". Over the first year of her little life I had a calm, mild mannered sweet compliant little baby. Whose big blue eyes and full faced grin lit my heart. Dalton and Brighton loved to entertain her and make her laugh. Then she started to walk and our lives changed. Over the second year we got to see her little personality come out more and more. At 13 months she started walking to keep up with other two. Madie has never been one to be left out of what her older siblings are doing.

But she waited for 18 months before she started to talk. Then all of the sudden we got to hear her chatter about everything. Once Madie started walking nothing in the house was safe. She is our live little version of Curious George. The most meddlesome, destructive thing that is so cute at the same time. I have spent the last year rescuing glass, cleaning up shredded what ever she found to play with. All the markers are thrown away and my carpet will never be the same. Ms. Madie Rae also hates to wear clothes. One morning a couple of weeks ago I went to get her after nap out of her bed and discovered her proudly standing in her bed and she announced "I naked!" I looked down to see the pile of clothes and diaper thrown on the floor in front of her crib. We thought she was going to potty train at 18 months but it was too hard to keep her from playing in the toilet and flushing things down it so all bathroom doors had to remain shut and she refused to use the baby potty because Brighton doesn't. Madie is still the most loving child. She greets everyone that comes over with a huge hug. She kisses easily and is nurturing and motherly. She loves all of her babies. She kisses them goodnight and puts them in their beds. She loves stuffed animals, her favorite is her pink elephant, Ellie. Madie is also a girly girl who plays dress up, carried and purse and loves her pink cell phone. She has added a whirlwind of excitement to our family and I am still adjusting to having three. I can't wait to see how she changes this next year.