Mother's Day

Madeline got sick Saturday evening, so I went to church alone yesterday while Craig stayed back with a feverish child. When I got back, Craig had busied himself straightening the house (thanks!). We made a quick trip to see grandma and grandpa, but opted to not go to dinner since Madeline was still recovering. I should say "recovering" because despite the fever, she was acting normal and you'd never guess by these pictures that she wasn't feeling up to snuff.

The text of this post is just an excuse to share a few pictures that. I. am. in. love. with. So I'll just cut to the chase.

First, the obligatory Mother's Day picture. Please excuse my hand...I was trying to get her to sit down (it didn't work).

 

She did happily give me a kiss though. :-)

One of Madeline's newest things is to try to jump. She just cannot figure it out though and she usually ends up with one foot off the ground while jostling her upper body upward. Craig was behind me trying to get her to jump and showing her how, and she was just loving it. I was loving what I captured with my camera.

The simple joy of being a child - "jumping."

I'm just so in love with this beautiful little girl. She's reserved in new situations and around new people, but when she's around us? We get this:

What a blessing is it to be her mama.

And I just have to post this picture from August 2010. Where has my baby gone? I remember wondering what to call her at this age because she was toddling around and so *technically* she was a toddler, but she was less than a year old and still my baby. Looking at this picture now, I see a baby, but the picture above is clearly a little girl. I've almost forgotten her baby-ness now! Wow!