Hustle and Bustle

So the holidays are over, but in the hustle and bustle of things, I have completely neglected my blog!! So much has happened in such a short amount of time that this MIGHT be a long post. :) We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday season, and made sure to do something "festive" almost everyday in December including looking at lights around the city, making Christmas treats, delivering Christmas treats, going to Live Nativities, and so on. It was so much fun, especially since we had little Maddie to share it with. We were able to go down to Vegas for Christmas which was so much fun. After looking through our pictures, i realized that most of our Christmas moments are on our DVD camcorder and not on our actual camera--so the photos I can upload are slim pickings. About a week before Christmas, Spencer's extended family (uncles, cousins, etc.) had a Christmas party and since Maddie was the ONLY small baby, she got to help in the Nativity by being the Baby Jesus. (of course that meant taking off her dress and bow). It was really fun--and I think i went a little crazy with the camera, so i'll just post some of the best ones:

As I said earlier, we spent Christmas in Vegas. A few days before we left to go down, it snowed in VEGAS! Apparently they got 5-6 inches of snow. It had already melted by the time we got there, but it was still pretty chilly for Vegas. We really enjoyed family company and had a blast helping Maddie with all of her presents! She made out like a bandit this year--Santa must really like her! :) Now that she's sitting up and more interactive, she needed a lot of developmental toys and some other essentials like--a new baby bath. Maddie has now outgrown her small bathtub, so "Santa" got her a chair for the BIG bathtub. Makes a BIG difference, too--a lot less mess and a whole lot more room:

Maddie Enjoying her NEW bathtub chair

That's about all we have for photos--everything else has been recorded. So if you wanna see, come on over! :) And since Christmas, lots has been happening with Maddie--her first two teeth are breaking through and they are SHARP!! No pictures quite yet since they are still in the process of breaking through. Once they show up on camera, you bet i'll post them! And Maddie has been making strides to start the crawling process. She shows real desire to move, but hasn't quite mastered it. She'll move her arms and then fall on her tummy. But she's trying! Here's a question for all you mothers out there---when did YOUR babies start crawling?!? I've heard from some that their babies started as early as 5 months and then others don't start until 10 months--i've even heard that some skip crawling altogether and walk instead. Crazy how different every baby is, but we're trying to help her learn the process. That's basically what's been happening with our little family! :) We are so blessed to have such a beautiful baby girl. She is so sweet and loving--she loves to cuddle with her mommy and daddy and LOVES to play. We can't wait to see what other surprises she has up her sleeves!