Story Time

Every Tuesday at 10:30am, a locally owned bookstore, Book People, features story time for babies and young kids. I wasn't sure whether Maddie would enjoy story time or not but it was another successful activity.

Maddie was thrilled to pieces with all the other babies/kids in attendance, laughing and "talking" non-stop (including during story time. Ooops!). The actual book reading was only 15 mins or so but then the babies seemed to take over the kids section, looking at books and playing with anything they could get their hands on. Maddie even made some new friends! What a fun time!

Birthday (Party) Season Begins!

One of Maddie's best friends, Lauren, turned one year old on Nov 5th. She had an adorable 1st birthday party for all her friends, including Maddie. The adults ate yummy BBQ while the babies played and socialized. It was a sweet time and a special day for Miss Lauren.

It's hard to imagine that all the babies in Maddie's playgroup will be turning one in just a few weeks. (sniff.)

Here are a few pics from Lauren's party:

Live Music Outside

Sorry if I keep repeating this, but Fall in Austin is beautiful. Most days are sunny and slightly chilly which means Maddie and I spend a lot more time outside.

Another cool thing about Austin are the many opportunities to hear live music. Every Friday at noon, there's a free concert at an outdoor venue at City Hall. It's such a wonderful (and FREE!) activity to do with Maddie and our other Mommy & Baby friends. The babies can dance to music, have a lunch picnic under some trees and the Moms get to catch up.

Maddie and I have been twice in the last few weeks and plan to go again soon.

The two pictures below are courtesy of my friend Michelle. Her daughter Erica and Maddie had a fun time.

New Trick

On Sunday, Maddie started standing up without holding on to us or anything else. The longest she's stayed standing is about 25 seconds before she sits back down again. She can also hold her toys while she's standing, which is cute. I've started to put Maddie in a standing position everytime I put her down and she loves it. We clap and cheer together every time. I never get tired of seeing the excitement on her face.

A Happy Halloween

For the past few weeks, I've been anticipating Halloween like a giddy young girl, anxiously awaiting Maddie's first Halloween experience and dressing her as a pumpkin. Her reaction to all the festivities was awesome. She squeaked and smiled and laughed and stared at all the decorations and costumed people. She made friends with several of our neighbors, smiling happily and even held the pumpkin treat bag I got her. Our neighborhood celebrates Halloween quite a bit, complete with a small haunted house, several street parties, BBQs and lots of friendly people sitting outside and chatting.

My sister, Dee, and her husband, Adam, celebrated Halloween with us and we all had a fun night.

Maddie's first Halloween was a smashing success!

Fun at the Park

Just recently, we introduced Maddie to infant swings at the park. Luckily we have a great neighborhood park just a few blocks from our house so I take Maddie there quite often. Maddie is a swinging maniac now. On Halloween morning, Eric and I took Maddie to the park for some playground fun.

Fall Fun

For the past two weekends, Eric and I have taken Maddie to two pumpkin patches. The Fall weather in Austin has been beautiful (50s at night and 70s during the day) so we're trying to get out as much as possible and enjoy the Fall festivities.

First we visited Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls, Texas which is a large pumpkin farm with a corn maze, hay rides, horses, goats, and lots of picture oportunities. Maddie really enjoyed Sweet Berry Farms, squeaking often with happiness.

This weekend, we went to a small pumpkin patch near our house for more fun picture opportunities. Once again, Maddie loved seeing all the different pumpkins and Fall decorations.

So far, Fall has been a lot of fun for the Mahurin household.






To see more pictures, take a look at my flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17603883@N00/4045009982/in/set-72157622663392058/

Our First Family Vacation - Florida

On October 3rd, Eric, Maddie and I boarded a plane for a week-long vacation in Florida. We met Eric's parents and brother, so Maddie was able to see her Grandpa and Gram Mahurin and Uncle Andy.

Maddie handled her first plane ride beautifully. She ate and slept on each flight and played happily while she was awake. She was only cranky for about 10 mins on one flight.

Our vacation went wonderfully too. We spent lots of time with Grandpa, Gram and Uncle Andy Mahurin, swam in the ocean and in the pool, took a paddle-boat ride, saw dolphins, visited an aquarium and ate lots of yummy food. Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better first family vacation.

Here's a video of Maddie having a blast in the ocean:


Family Photo:

9 Months Old

On Oct 4th, our little Maddie turned 9 months old. Eric and I fall more in love with her each day and can't resist her charm and cuteness.

I'm sure I've said this before, but Maddie is truly the light of our lives, bringing us joy every day.

9 Month Well-Check Stats:
- Weight: 20 lbs, 3 oz (75%)
- Height: 29 in (90%)
- Head: 44.7 cm (75%)

Things We Want to Remember About Maddie at 9 Months:

• She CRAWLS! Although she took her time learning to crawl, she's all over the place now, exploring her world every day.


• She stands. Every chance she gets. She pulls up on everything. Just yesterday, she used a 2-yr old friend's shirt to pull up on.


• She takes big steps with assisted walking, but stops every 2-3 steps to look up at us with her dimpled grin.


• She dances to music, toys with tunes and even my humming.


• She's become incredibly vocal within the last 2 weeks. She says "Dadda", "Momma", "Hi" and makes lots of sounds in response to people or things she likes. She's got a lot to say these days.


• She waves bye-bye.


• She loves pictures - especially of herself. Everyday, she points at several pictures around the house and makes excited noises. I say the names of everyone in the pictures and she smiles and laughs.


• She loves swimming in pools and the ocean and thoroughly enjoys bath time.


• She likes reading a lot more now and enjoys turning the pages as we read.


• She's got 5 teeth and one on the way.


• She's still a great eater and has learned to feed herself several finger foods. She's yet to dislike any solid food we've offered her.


• She has started to use a sippy cup.


• She gives Daddy and Mommy zerbits, mimicking all the zerbits Daddy's given her over the last few months.


• She growls and squeaks when she's happy or excited.
• She knows her own name.

All Mommy, All the Time

As of Sept 21st, I am a stay-at-home Mom. Wow. Writing those words make me feel so happy and blessed.

After working for the same, great company for 8 1/2 years, Eric and I decided it was time for a change - a big change. I never imagined that having Maddie would change me in so many ways. I never (ever) thought I'd want to be a stay-at-home Mom. But I do and I love it.

And now that I have experienced working plus being a Mom, I have so much respect for working Moms. It is by far the hardest, most exhausting thing I ever did. So, KUDOS to all you working Moms out there. You're amazing.

I don't quite know what the future holds regarding my career but I'm okay with that. For now, all I want to do is spend my time with Maddie.

How can I resist this face?