Another Year Past!

Wow, what can I say. This past year has brought a bunch of changes in the Shaw Family. I worked as a tutor in the public school system with children much less fortunate and in seriously broken homes. I was able to appreciate what we have and to appreciate our families so much more so. Madison's life was changed with the introduction of her baby sister. I was so worried about her behavior and reaction to becoming a big sister and having a baby in the house. But she is an awesome big sister, wanting to help me with most of the difficult tasks, such as bathing her sister or changing her diaper or even spoon feeding her. Anything that can potentially create a mess for me to clean up. Isabella was a much needed person in our lives. She has brought much happieness to our family with her smiles and laughs. And continues to amaze us with her bubbly spirit. She is definetly heaven sent! She is so calm and care free making life so much easier for me since Madison is so demanding and strong willed. God knew I couldn't handle another like her for sure! Anyway, Jeremy is still working away, nothing much changed for him other than adding Isabella to the family. Isabella is trying to crawl now. She gets up on all fours and scoots away and she does the army crawl and the tummy spin (goes in circles). That is just funny b/c it reminds me of a dog chasing its tail. Madison had her wonderful Christmas program at school on December 20th, I have video I'm hoping to post. I'm still trying to learn all the special features on this Blogger and I'm trying to figure out how to post video clips. It may be a while before that is done, but keep checking for posts.

I haven't forgotten, just haven't made time

So sorry to all of you that have been enjoying our Blog. Things got a little hectic and time flew by before I realized I hadn't sat down to update the blog. I will try to update at least once a month, Try being the Key word! So, here is an update. Isabella's surgery went great. You can barely see the incision that was made. She is growing like a weed! I'm going to attach some pics so you all can see her. We spent Thanksgiving with Mimi and Papaw Norman in San Antonio. Madison was able to enjoy play time with her cousin Kinzi. She had so much fun and constantly talks about her cousin. For those of you that don't know, Kinzi is Jeremy's brother's (Josh) baby girl. She is 3 years old also. Only 3 months younger than Madison. Papaw and Sandee were also there. During this long break from the blog I learned to make custom hairbows and took a sewing class. I had so much fun! Looking forward to learning to sew more! And this past weekend my sister Pamela graduated from Nursing school with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. We are so very proud of her. We also did our Christmas time with the girls at my mom's house, Granny's! Isabella was all over the presents. She loves the shiny wrapping paper. Well, tomorrow Madison has her Christmas program at school. I'm hoping to get some pics to post, but most of all, Jeremy will be in charge of the Video Camera as I will be substituting for another teacher and will not be able to video the program. Madison's friend Ellie will be singing Happy Birthday Jesus, solo. She is really good! Well, here I go with trying to post pictures. Hope you all enjoy and if I don't get back to the blog before the end of the year, We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love, The Shaw Family

P.S. More Pictures to follow!!!

Potty Time Prizes

Today was a very eventful day at the Shaw household. After several weeks of making "pee-pee" in the Big Girl Potty and us trying to get her to understand that is where "poo-poo" goes too, we have finally made a breakthrough. Madison willingly and without hesitation made "poo-poo" in the potty. Of course she was thrilled b/c for weeks we have been telling her she would get prizes for doing it. She received a "Lulu" cookie and a Thomas the train to add to her new small train collection. I am hoping to have a nice train table with tracks set-up for Christmas morning. So if anyone would like to help contribute to her collection you can do so for Christmas. Here are some pictures of her enjoying her Potty Prizes. Way to go Madison!!! We are so Proud!!!!

More Photos

Ballet and Gymnastics

Madison started ballet and gymnastics last week and this week she started school. We have been very busy. She loves her ballet and gymnastics classes. And today was the 2nd day of school. She did very well. Jeremy is pretty impressed with the gymnastics classes. Last week they worked on balance beam and this week they worked on the uneven bars and the trampoline exercises. Here are a few photos of ballet and gymnastics.

Labor Day

We went to PawPaw's house on Labor Day. We took our friends Ellie and her mom, Letty. PawPaw and Grams have a new baby pony and we took the girls to see it. While we were there PawPaw gave the girls a pony ride. They had so much fun and were able to pretend they were real cowgirls. Ellie was all "dude'ed" up in her cowgirl outfit for the trip. The girls and PawPaw really enjoyed themselves. Isabella liked the horses too! Here are a few pics of the cowgirls.

Isabella on the Move

Isabella is on the move. She is trying to scoot her way off her boppy pillow. She kicks and pushes with her feet and knees. Can you believe she is only 11 1/2 weeks old and trying to crawl?!?! Wow! Go Isabella!

Isabella at 10 weeks old!

Okay, so I have energetic babies. Everyone that sees Isabella can't believe how alert she is at her age. To me its normal, Madison was the same way. And I do believe Isabella to already be very intelligent. She has hit a growth spurt or major developmental stage this week. She has started to eat much more and less frequently. Today I took the girls to church and Isabella was awake the entire service including 20 minutes before AND after service. Not a peep came out of her beautiful little mouth, she was all smiles the entire time. Then she slept 3 1/2 hours once we came home. Wow, how nice! When she woke up, she ate then played for nearly an hour before wanting to sleep again. I took out some of Madison's baby toys and her favorite seems to be the Fisher-price piano. She kicks it and it plays music. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, etc... She likes it so much that she just keeps on kicking. I took pictures to remember her FIRST real playtime and how much she enjoyed herself.

Madison's Tutu

Madison started ballet class last Monday and she loves it. They get to wear BIG ballet tutu's and tieras. I made her a custom ballet tutu and here are some pictures of her showing off. She loves it and won't take it off. She was even wearing it before I could finish it. She picked out her own colors, yes they are bright. But isn't she a cutie pie? She gets to start gymnastics class on Thursday. I am expecting her to do really well in gymnastics since she loves to bounce off the walls all day long. No, seriously, she loves to walk on the curbs and anything that resembles a balance beam. She does really well on them by herself too. So maybe, just maybe, Madison Shaw will be a gymnastics Olympian!!! We'll just have to wait and see. She will also be playing soccer this school year, we'll have pictures of that when she starts. Take care, we love you!

Isabella's bump

For those of you that already know about Isabella's cyst on her forehead, here is an update. And for those of you that don't, keep reading. We went to see the Pediatric Plastic Surgeon yesterday, and he had positive news for us. But also, more questions were raised. Isabella was born with a small cyst on her forehead just between her eyebrows. The doctor said it can easily be removed and that we would want to do it soon. But, with the location that it is in, the cyst can sometimes cross through the bone in to the brain cavity. So, Isabella will have to get a CT scan next month to determine if this is the case. He also said that it is rare that it does cross the bone. The cyst has also formed a slight indention in the bone which the doctor said is NOT normal for a 2 month old. So, with all that information, we just get to sit and wait and pray. As long as the cyst is not crossing the bone, everything will be just fine and we will have it removed before the end of the year. He also said we need to remove it as soon as possible because they tend to grow. So please keep her in your prayers that everything goes well. We love you.

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!!

Well, the Rainbow is nearly complete. Jeremy and Jerry worked hard on it yesterday evening until 8:45pm. Madison was so excited she didn't care that it was dark outside she wanted to play on her new swing set anyway. And today, is Jeremy's 32nd birthday! So I made a cake and we sang "Happy Birthday" Here are the pictures.

Princess Madison and Princess Isabella

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday of Madison and Isabella. They have matching outfits on in case you can't tell. I also made custom matching hair bows for them. They say Princess on the ribbons, as you know they are both treated as such. I'm hoping to make more bows and sell them, so if you know of anyone wanting to purchase custom hair bows for their girls, let me know, or pass along my info to them. The price depends on the size and detail of the bow. Enjoy these pics. Isabella is as sweet as can be with her beautiful smile.

Rainbows ahead!!!

Madison has been anxiously awaiting her new Rainbow play system we bought. Jeremy and his dad dismantled it on Thursday to move to our home and it is sitting in pieces in the backyard right now. Madison is so excited she asks several times a day to go play outside even though its in pieces. We hope it will be completed by late this evening as we have 3 people working on it. Jeremy, Mr. Jerry, and Mr. Patrick (Ellie's Daddy!). I am posting our before and after pictures so that everyone can see Madison and Isabella's NEW toy. The people we bought the system from told us they would call Rainbow to replace rotten wood as we needed, that is great since the warranty is not transferable. Anyway, here are some before pictures of the set.

Madison's School Friends

I'm posting a picture of Madison with 2 of her friends from school. Ellie is the red head and is 4 years old, Lilly Ann is the blondie and she is 2 years old. This picture was taken in May at the end of the school year. And of course Madison is 3 years old. Aren't they just adorable?

Isabella growing like a weed!

For the past week or so Isabella has been much more alert. She has been "talking" a lot! She smiles and coos at everyone. Isabella has been such an easy baby, not giving us a hard time at all. I've started placing her in her crib several times through out the day to get her familiar with her room. She absolutely loves her mobile. She "talks" to it and smiles really big. I've posted a couple of photos of her in her crib enjoying her mobile. As for Madison, well, I think the threat of a "baby diaper" worked. She has been telling me for the last two days when she needs to go "pee-pee." Now we just need to work on the "poo-poo" part of potty training. That is going to be a though one. I'm posting a photo of Madison playing her computer games. She loves to play Sesame street and Nick Jr. games. At least they are educational! Enjoy.

Rebelious at the age of 3!!!

So we have gone a full week without diapers, and were doing so well. But today something happened. It was like she was possessed by another spirit. Madison has been having 1-2 "pee-pee" accidents a day and staying dry through the night. Thought we were on the right track, but today there was NO end to how many times she wet her pants. She is being stubborn. I took her to the potty this morning and she refused to sit on it. She had just woken up and her pants and bed were dry. So she kept her legs stiff to prevent herself from sitting on the potty. As soon as I stood her up again she looked at me and pee'd all over the floor. What is wrong with my kid? Why is she doing this to us? I made her really mad tonight b/c I put a "baby diaper" on her hoping that she will get the point. Jeremy and I are exhausted with trying to potty train her, but she has to be to go to school. If anyone can offer anymore suggestions, we are all ears! We've tried all sorts of rewards, and praise for her when she does go to potty. We tried to not make a big deal about the accidents, but now its out of hand. When we are out away from home, she does great. She tells me when she needs to go potty, but when we are home she doesn't. Help!!!!! Please someone!!!! Help!!!

Potty Training

As most of you know, Jeremy and I have been trying to get Madison potty trained FOREVER it seems like. Well, I think we may have finally done it! She is so strong willed and stubborn at the same time which doesn't help our efforts. So, Sunday after church I took her to Target and had a long talk about NEVER EVER wearing diapers again. That's right, she picked out her Big Girl panties and since then has not worn a diaper. She has gone 3 nights without wetting her bed and only a couple of accidents during the day. Her problem is that she doesn't want to stop what she is doing to go to the potty. For example, I asked her yesterday why she didn't let me know she needed to potty and she said "Because I was busy mom." With what? Playing her computer games!!!! How stubborn is that? I'm hoping by next week we are having ZERO potty accidents. So this is big! How big? Well, if she isn't potty trained by the time school starts in a few weeks, she won't be able to attend. 3 year olds MUST be potty trained to attend school. And she likes her school, if she finds out she can't go she will be so upset. Go Madison!!! What a Big Girl!!! No More Diapers!!! YEAH!!!

Isabella's First Vacation

Life is so hard being a baby! Isabella slept most of the time in Colorado. Here are a few pics of her taking it easy on vacation.

Colorado 2007 Cont...

So I couldn't fit all the photos on the previous post I had to do another one. I also forgot to tell you about the Big Camp Fire that they have every night in the village. Madison likes making S'mores and roasting marshmellows. So did Jeremy, what a big kid he is. Haha.