One year ago ~

The first day I met you: 11/17/2013

CLICK HERE: A song for my love, Maddison Grace Haley

One Year ago, with just a swing of your ponytail and a flash of your baby browns, you made us fall in love with you. And everyday since then, we have fallen in love with you over and over again, countless times. It is hard to believe that you have been a part of our lives for only a little ol' year, as our love is oceans deep and mountains high.
You are the center of our world now, and we would have it no other way, our love.  

To show you how much you have grown in such a small amount of time, enjoy your pictures and videos below of THEN and NOW:

THEN

 

NOW

 

THEN

NOW

A Mommy Memory- Conception Date

For my musical girl:

Song #1

1 year ago yesterday, I conceived you.
Not in the most "traditional" way, but in the most MAGICAL way.
1 year ago yesterday, I conceived the thought of you being my child, someone to scoop up and call my own. Mommies don't get to pick their babies. Their babies are conceived, developed, and born into this world on God's terms. And 1 year ago yesterday, in the most crazy, wonderful, confusing, shocking, and completely speechless way... I conceived the thought of you.

I remember the first time I heard of you like it just happened 20 minutes ago. I remember being completely caught off guard and excited in the most scared way!? I didn't know what to think... was I ready... were WE ready to embark on the journey to you? I suppose now, that's probably exactly how most Mommies feel when they first find out they have conceived. :)

Again, for my musical girl:

Song #2

I spent the next couple days, and many sleepless nights after I conceived you, in a fog of wonderment. I felt like my heart was swelling too big to carry inside of me, probably the way most Mommies feel about their tummies. But hidden perk, I didn't have to wait 9 months to meet you. I anxiously and impatiently carried you in my heart for 5 days before I met you on 11/17/13. I think 11/13-11/17 will always be a very special time a year for me, as I remember every swirling thought about you, me, daddy, your families, and our hopeful (at the time) family.

One more time, for my musical girl:

Song #3

It still breaks my  heart that I didn't get the chance to be your mommy from day one, but I accept that  we found each other in God's perfect timing. I cannot fathom to think where I would be without you... and it pains my heart to think about where you would be without Daddy and I.

November is National Adoption Month. There are lots of children in this world that are waiting to be born into a family... sometimes all it takes is a willing heart to conceive them. I strongly support and urge anyone able to adopt to do it! I didn't think I was ready, and God proved me wrong in every way! ;)

Happy conception day Maddi!!!
Mommy and Daddy love you forever and ALWAYS!!!

How we kicked off the weekend:

Keeping with the "new home" theme, she received a FROZEN castle after school today!!!

And, except to eat and use the facilities, she has not come back out! LOL

The Littlest-Biggest Fan

Maddi is completely obsessed with singing, humming, clapping and tapping, and I think if she knew how to whistle, she would probably do that all day too! She really puts life to a song at any chance she can get! (She's kinda like me... well A LOT like me when it comes to that!)

Recently Mike was talking with her preschool teacher, and she said, "Maddi is doing GREAT in class! No problems, except... can you get her to stop singing 'Let It Go'?" His answer: "Haha... GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!" ;)

It's true, Maddison is completely in love with the movie "Frozen" and all of it's songs. I actually get a kick out of her random outbursts of song as she begins to waltz across a room with her arms "dancing" to her song ;)
If you are ever in a bad mood, 5 minutes of Maddi will cure that! LOL

With all of that being said... there seems to be only ONE thing that tops "Frozen" songs... CHARLIE!!! If I ever start getting a little burnt out on "Frozen" songs, all I have to say is, "you want to listen to Charlie!?"
If you are not familiar with who CHARLIE is... Please see the below link. (feel free to watch all the videos, follow, and share if you like... he is trying to win a competition to get on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!)

http://songwriter.amplifiertv.com/channel/Charlie+Haley

Charlie Haley is Maddi's 2nd cousin, on Mike's side, obviously. He has been making music long before Maddi came into our lives, but to her all his songs "Are my Jam!" LOL
When we first started visiting with Maddi, on our long 50 minute drives back and forth from our house to Grandma Teresa's house, we would have his CD playing. I think she just bonded with his music as she was bonding with us, and that is alright with me. I hate when her little ears listen to strong suggestive "music" with foul lyrics. His music has a great beat, catchy lyrics, inspiring messages, and Maddi LOVES him!
Like... LOVES him... A LOT! I compare it to a love struck teenager with a celebrity crush. LOL

So, it has taken LOTS of convincing, but I think she is finally starting to believe that they are related.

He lives far away, and pursuing a music career is REALLY time consuming, so they haven't been able to meet in person yet. I have a bunch of really cute videos of her watching his videos and talking to him on the phone, however this site is not letting me post them, due to their length... so here are a few of Maddi's favorite text videos Charlie has sent her.

Maddi watches on repeat (daily) LOL 

 

If you enjoy Charlie as much as Miss Maddi, you can find his music in the itunes store, on CDbaby.com, charliehaleymusic.com, or follow him on Facebook. 

Please share the above link and help him win... 

do it for his Littlest-Biggest fan, Maddi! :o)

Happy 4 th Birthday (Minnie Style)

9/20/2014

Miss Maddison turned 4 today, and she requested a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party at a park. Grandma Wanda made her a double chocolate Mickey Mouse cake, and Mommy made a Strawberry Sprinkle Minnie Mouse cake. She was TICKLED that Minnie's dress was a cake, and that they both matched ;)

We had cake, pretzels, fruit, fruit snacks, water, and juice for our guests.
Maddison had lots of fun with all her cousins playing and chalk painting with them at Rocket Park, while the grownups visited. Chalk painting is one of Maddison's favorite outside past-times, and was SUPER happy when I told her she could do it with her cousins at her birthday party!

After the momentous year we have had, with BIG celebrations at every milestone we reached in the adoption process... it was kinda nice just having a small and simple birthday celebration for our SPECIAL new FOUR year old BIG girl! It feels surreal that we are already celebrating her 4th birthday... she is growing WAAAAAY too fast! LOL Thank you to all who came to celebrate at the park with us! :)

 Even the BIG kids had a fun day at the park!? LOL

 Maddi requested a chicken nugget happy meal after her party was all over.

She was tickled when the cashier said she knew it was her birthday, because she saw pictures of her

birthday party on Facebook already. LOL

 HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY MADDISON GRACE HALEY!!!

Wyoming and Ohio comes to Iowa

9/13/14

Mike and I counted up that Maddi has NINETEEN Grandparents and Great Grandparents (that we know of). Uh, yea… that’s A LOT of grandparents!? LOL Since receiving Maddi last year, she has never met one set of Great grandparents from Wyoming (Mike’s grandparents). They came for a visit, along with Mike’s Aunt and Uncle from Ohio and Maddi ate ALL them up!  LOL

It was very special to see her love on them all, except that Maddi can be kind of a brute when she is playing… we had to constantly remind her that she cannot bounce, wrestle, jump, pull, etc… on them because they are “OLD”. LOL It’s our little inside joke to make her not want to “attack” them. She just giggles a sneaky giggle because of their reaction to her saying they are old, and leaves them alone. LOL

She even had an early birthday party with her cousin (hosted by Mike’s mom). It was a very sweet idea, so that everyone that came into town could share some birthday love for the girls. Her cousin’s b-day was a week before their visit, and Maddi’s is the week after their visit… so It was actually perfect!

Thank you for the travels our family made and all the love that Maddi received this weekend. She is so lucky to have such a warm loving family to share her life with. We love Maddi with our whole hearts, and it’s so awesome to see her family does too. Thank you also to Grandma Sherri and Papa Steve for all the b-day fun and yummy treats! I think it’s pretty safe to say that the girls loved it!

One of the sweetest B-day gifts Maddi received:

 

 Thank you Great Aunt Jenny & Great Uncle Larry

CLEAN YOUR CHOMPERS!!!

Maddi had her first dentist visit on 9/12/14. I had been preparing her for the visit for a while… letting her know that the dentist will count her teeth, check for any wiggly teeth (which she is obsessed with the idea that her teeth are wiggly—someone from school must have had a wiggly tooth), and see how sparkly her teeth are! I told her they will wear gloves so they don’t get her spit all over their hands, she gets to be SUPER special while she is in their AWESOME chair, and gets STICKERS when she is done. So, in other words… I made the dentist sound like Disney World in her eyes ;) LOL

After hearing all of this great news about the dentist, she wanted to dress up. *She is such a girlie girl* She originally wanted me to curl her hair even… not happening for just the dentist, just so you know! LOL

When we got their, Mommy’s turn was first. Daddy and Maddi played in the waiting room together. I came out and showed her my NEW SPARKLY PURPLE TOOTHBRUSH and NEW TOOTHPASTE, and she was quite impressed!  Daddy’s turn was next, and she got to “hold his hand, because Daddy forgets to sit still like a big boy.” So she pulled her chair over next to him and inspected the WHOLE process. Held his hand, watched Mickey Mouse House club, and even got to brush the dragon’s teeth!?

Daddy was done, and now… it was Maddi’s turn! She could barely stand the excitement at this point. Her feet were dancing, smiling like a goofball waiting for them to let her into the chair!? The dental hygienist, was SUPER fun and SUPER sweet with Maddi. Taking time to show her that her mask was not scary, showed her all her tools, gave her some COOL sunglasses so the light would not be in her eyes, and even let her take the chair for a ride. Maddi giggled through the WHOLE cleaning and thought it was so awesome that the dentist counted TWENTY teeth in her mouth!? Maddi didn’t have any cavities and earned an AWESOME princess sticker. She proudly wore it all day, and even wanted it one her pjs that night. She is anxiously waiting for her next dentist appointment, and mentions it every time she brushes her teeth. LOL