9 months old!

Maddie in 9 months today!! It's so amazing all the changes this month. The biggest change is of course her crawling. She's a pro, and remarkably fast. She also pulls up on everything, which unfortunately means she falls down a lot. She's hit her head on the coffee table. She has also pulled our camera off the table and hit her eye with it. I felt so bad! I know we have so much to look forward to, like talking and walking, but it's really hard to imagine the little newborn she used to be who slept all the time and couldn't hold her head up. She now protests sleep and cries every time I lay her down. I think this has to do with phasing out the pacifier and that she can sit herself up now. She's getting better and doesn't cry quite as long as a couple weeks ago.

Maddie and I had a busy week. It started with my car dying at Krogers. We finished shopping and after I fastened Maddie in I discovered my car wouldn't start! Luckily it wasn't around nap or meal time so I didn't panic. I checked my trunk and still had my jumper cables back there. My old Grand am used to always break down and run out of gas so now I carry jumper cables and a gas can in the trunk. I asked a lady to jump me and a really nice man also offered to help us. I could tend to Maddie while they got my car going again. Jon installed a new battery for me the next day.

Then, on Monday, I took my car to the dealer because I had an oil change and a break check-up scheduled. I managed to lock myself out of the house twice! I switched over Maddie's car seat to the loaner car, finished the paper work, and didn't realize that I left my garage door opener and house key in my car until I pulled into our driveway. Unfortunately it was around nap time so the drive back to the dealer was so hard for me and Maddie. We don't have the code to our garage and that night Jon and I talked about either finding that out or hiding a key somewhere outside. Unfortunately we didn't follow through with that because I got locked out again the next day and Maddie was inside. I definitely started to panic this time.

I was getting ready to return the loaner and pick up my car. I went to the car to look for Maddie's jacket and warm it up since it was really cold that morning. When I tried to get back into the house the front door was locked!!! We always use the dead bolt but for some reason the door knob was locked. Since my car keys were still at the dealer I had no way of getting in. I really started to panic but am so thankful that I put Maddie into her excersaucer before I went outside, so at least I knew she was safe and not getting into something. At first I considered running down to the Burgess's house (the neighbors that we know) but I really didn't know what Caroline could do to help me. I then see my next door neighbor warming up his car. We've never spoken except for friendly waves but I run over to him and ask if he has any suggestions. He suggested the windows (which I don't know why I didn't think of that) and comes with me to my backyard to try them. Unfortunately we have big screens and couldn't get the windows up. After discussing options he goes into his house to call his locksmith. I go out back again and look at Maddie through the window. Once she sees me she starts crying, which just about kills me. I start banging on the windows and notice that the middle one is unlocked. I managed to take off the screen but couldn't get the window open. My neighbor comes back out to help me and uses our grill spatula, which we accidentally left outside, to pry open the window. I was so relieved!!!

Anyways, the rest of the week wasn't quite as eventful. I had two facials and made a lot of calls for Mary Kay. My director gave us the challenge this week to get 5 bookings. I only got 4 so I need to find one more today. We took Maddie Trick-or-treating on Friday. It was cold out and past her bedtime so we only went to a couple of houses and stopped by a halloween block party our neighborhood has every year. She made a very cute cheetah :) Other than that we plan on relaxing today and watch the Cowboys hopefully beat the Giants.

Easy entertainment. Maddie likes her reflextion in the fridge.

She was not a fan of the ears. They only stayed on for this one picture.

"Hey Casper, do you like me now that I'm a cat like you?"

"I guess not"

The cutest tail in the world!