Happy 1st Birthday Madeleine!!

I cannot believe my beautiful baby girl is turning ONE today!! Most days, I still cannot believe I even have a little girl! Everyone has always said girls were so different than boys....and they were RIGHT!!! She is definitely much more dramatic and knows what she wants (and she wants it NOW!!). Everything is either the best of times or the worst of times, she rarely has an in-between!

She has her demanding or upset moments, but they are nicely and beautifully sprinkled with the most precious, heart-swelling sounds of squeals and squeaks of delightment when she sees her Daddy for the first time everyday or she sees her brothers when they get home from school or she sees the bouncy ball (or whatever) she wants. Yes, the bads in life are much more dramatic with a girl, but the GOODS are also much more dramatic!! And, the good dramatics SO outweigh the bad!!








The difference I like to see the most is the side of the boys she has brought out. They have a side of them that is gentle and sweet. That is hard to see in a house of loud, wrestling, fighting boys! They become big teddy bears when they get down on her level to say hello or play with her or comfort her. Every morning when Mady wakes up and I get her out of her room...you would think it was Christmas in this house. The boys pitch goes up about 10 octaves as they attempt to talk in a girly baby voice. There are many hugs and kisses and "Good Morning Princess Pooter Tooter" (which, of course, has ended up a favorite nickname for her from her brothers), or "Did you sleep well Sistee?" or "How is the Pretty girl this morning? Are you in a good mood this morning?"

That is right. She is spoiled already. She is RARELY called by her name! But, the names they do call her - they call with such affection that it is hard to do anything but smile! The funniest part is that it is her BROTHERS that spoil her the most (okay...Daddy is right up there with them!). They always want to be around her, playing with her, ANYTHING to make that little girl smile her big smile and show off her dimples!

As smitten as the boys are with her - it works both ways!! The guys in that little girls life ALL hung the moon in her eyes. She sees any of them and instantly lights up. Oh, how it melts this mamas heart!! She is a busy little girl that is always going, but she loves to crawl on the floor from boy to boy to boy to boy to Daddy and back to boy again!!









What a joyous ride the first year of having a girl has been! She can definitely challenge us, but the boys are REALLY good at that too! I am so blessed beyond words!!

Happy birthday Mads! We love you very much!

Scroll down for a post from her birthday party.