Maddie Meets Santa Claus

On December 13th, I got hired with the Christmas Belles Carolers to sing at the Woodbury Christmas event in Irvine. Since we miss living in Irvine so much, we decided to bring Madeleine to my gig with me to meet Santa. She had a lot of fun watching Mommy sing with Tara and Marti and then meeting the big guy himself...Santa.





Madeleine was not scared of Santa at all. In fact, she was studying him quite intently. You can see she is thinking on her face.






After meeting Santa, Maddie got to sit in the driver's seat of a fire truck. She loved it. You can see she already wants to drive. She also got to meet the fire rescue dog, a black lab named Jerry. Maddie and Jerry became instant friends.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

It's been two weeks since Maddie's birthday, but since we've had a little something called Christmas, I give myself some slack for getting these pictures up a little late.


Madeleine had a great birthday party. It was just her mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa Pfeifer, Granny Schnepel, Grandpa Green and Grandma Chris. We had appetizers, presents, and then the big moment...the cake.

I made her a vanilla birthday cake that I was very proud of. It was my first attempt at birthday cake. Even though I frosted it 24 hours after baking, the frosting started melting down the cake. By the time the party started it was completely melted off. We were all perplexed. It must have been melty frosting. Luckily, Jason ran out and got her a new cake. It was still delicious. Next year, Mommy is going to make her own frosting.

First cake


Second cake


Let's just say, Madeleine loves cake. You could see the wheels turning in her head. She started oh so dainty, dipping her finger in the frosting and licking it like a lady. Within moments, she had the cake in both hands. It took her 2 days to recover, but it was worth it.

Happy Birthday Madeleine!

Happy First Birthday to our little December baby, Madeleine Elizabeth

Family Portrait

Ok, so we've officially done what every young famiy has to do...go to Sears Portrait Studio for a family portrait. Of course we decided to do Christmas pictures. We also took some birthday portraits for Madeleine.

I have to say the experience was a little uncomfortable. The workers were very disorganized and the whole process took 2 1/2 hours! I have been taking Maddie to Kiddie Kandids all year for her pictures and that process takes about 45 minutes. They have it down to a science, especially with babies. They just can't last 2 1/2 hours, and neither could ours. Even though we made an appointment, we had to wait 30 minutes before we started the photo shoot, and by then Madeleine was already wiggly. By the time we changed her clothes for her birthday shots, she was already melted down. The pictures are cute, but her hair is a mess and and we didn't get the poses I hoped for. But because she is so cute, the pictures still look fabulous.

I have a beautiful family.

Madeleine's First Song

I don't know why it surprises me, but Madeleine is already singing. Jason and I caught her singing in the car on the way to church last Sunday. Here is the back story.

When I first became pregnant with Madeleine, I was performing in a production of Sondheim's "A Little Night Music". This was May 2007. I had some morning sickness during the run of the show, and often had a hard time performing. Jason was helping with sound in the booth. One night after a show, we stopped at CVS for something and saw a display of singing stuffed animals. We were tired and silly and so we started testing out each doll to see what it would sing. Most were "Happy Birthday" and "You are My Sunshine", songs like that. We came across a white bear dressed in an old granny dress and wide brimmed hat and pearls. When we pressed the button, it sang a loud flat version of "Sunrise, Sunset". It was not good, but we were so tired we thought it was hilarious and we had to buy it, so we did.

Fast forward to September 2008. Maddie was crying one day, so I pulled out the flat-singing doll and played it for her. She immediately stopped crying and actually started laughing. She really loved that doll. Now it is one of her favorites. Who knew? I ad mit I have been nervous that if she listens to it long enough, she would learn to sing flat. We started putting the doll in the car when she cries in her car seat to help soothe her.

Last week she was listening to it on the way to church when all of a sudden we hear her holding a sustained note along with the doll. She was matching both the pitch and the duration of the note. She did this several times throughout the song. We turned the doll on a second time and Madeleine did it again. We laughed for quite a while. Her first song was not "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Little Bunny Foo-Foo", but Fiddler's "Sunrise Sunset". She sings with it all the time now.

We're going to have to get a new doll soon so we can listen to a different song.

Thanksgiving 2008

This year we had a great Thanksgiving. It was Madeleine's very first Thanksgiving, and I think she had a really great time. We started our morning with cinnamon rolls and eggs (Maddie had some eggs) as we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Since this was our first major holiday in our new house, we really enjoyed the three of us being at home in our pajamas following Thanksgiving traditions. After putting Madeleine down for a late morning nap, I made my first pumpkin pie (which ended up being a big hit), as well as the sweet potatoes we were bringing to the big Wardlow feast later that afternoon. Jason made creamy horseradish sauce for the party, since the feast was going to feature not only turkey, but ham and prime rib too.

At 2:00 we went to Jason's cousin Keith Wardlow's house (which used to be Jason's great-aunt Evelyn's house), where we had a major feast with over 30 other people, many from Jason's mother's side of the family, the Wardlow's. Madeleine got to play with Jason's second cousin Tanya's 2 year old daughter Lily, as well as Buddy's granddaughters. She had a great time playing with the older girls and they took good care of her. Then it was time for the major feast, with all the meat, as well as potatoes insane, 3 kinds of stuffing, corn chowder, and all the typical Thanksgiving fixings. There were even banana leaf wrapped tamales. Needless to say, we were stuffed! We barely had enough room for Mulberry cheesecake and pumpkin pie. But it's Thanksgiving...you find room.

Madeleine playing with the girls Miley and Tito


Madeleine and Lily


Madeleine was hungry and wanted appetizers, so she got her puffs out of her bag, removed the lid, and started chowing down.


Time with Granny




The Wardlow house



The Feast







Jason and I were tired, yet Madeleine was full of energy and wanted to play some more. She loved spending time with her Granny and Auntie Katharina, as well as her other relatives. She finally pooped out at about 7:30. What a great day.

11 months old

My baby is 11 months old today. She is growing so fast! Just one month until the big day...her first birthday!