i'm back already

i am back from my trip to chicago and ready to blog again - so get off my back already! i would have gotten on last night, but i came down with a 24 hour cold. i felt fine in the morning but ended up sleeping most of the afternoon and had a 100.7 degree fever last night. but feel much better today.

maddie changed SO MUCH while i was gone! i knew that she changed everyday, but it was unbelievable when i went to pick her up how different she was! she felt heavier and her face looked really different too. plus, she was sitting up better and her dexterity had changed dramatically. she can pick up the smallest objects (like my fleece zipper) with very fluid movements. its difficult to explain, but the difference was very striking to me.

as you can see her daddy is proud of his work with the sweet potatoes! (this was one of the few pictures he took while i was gone.) matt would have posted more, but he was in the final week of writing and giving reviews and just didn't have even one spare minute.

and she finally showed some interest in holding the sippy cup herself. she always tries with a normal cup, but the handles of the sippy cup were of no interest to her. matt said that he just set it on the high chair tray and she picked it up and started drinking!

she did pull herself up while holding on to the laundry basket on sunday night before i left for the week. (the picture is a posed reenactment.) she is so anxious to get moving! we just keep saying that we are going to be in trouble when she really gets mobile...

okay, i just spent three hours on a christmas project and i am going to make matt a turkey dinner tomorrow and work on a million other things that i need to get done in the two weeks before we leave for kansas, so i am going to have to call it a night. i just wanted to make a quick post before bed since i have been m.i.a. and some of you are going through withdrawal. love.