The DeArmond's Summer.....So far!

Well....where to begin? It has been so long since I have posted anything I feel like there is so much to tell! I think that I will begin with the wonderful trip back home to TN that Madison and I were able to enjoy! Tony was not able to come with us since there is so much going on this year, he has to save up his leave time! Anyway, he dropped us off at the airport Saturday, June 7 around lunch time. We were so excited to go home and visit with everyone, but at the same time it was very hard to leave Tony. It ended up being very difficult for him while we were gone also. We hadn't been apart since his deployment and he was missing Madison terribly! Anyway, the plane ride did not go that well with Madison! Who would of guessed that a one year old wouldn't want to sit in one tiny little spot for 4 hours?!?!? Crazy, I know! We did survive the flight, though, and arrived in Memphis around 7pm. It took a minute (literally only a minute) for Madison to warm up to Mom, Dad, and Amber, who were there to pick us up. We headed straight to Grandma and Papaw's house, as we always do. It almost seems like a tradition now! It was so great to see them and let them see how much Madison has grown. Then, we were finally on our last stretch home, and I was about ready to pass out! Madison, on the other hand, had a burst of energy! Of course she did, why wouldn't she, she is ONE! I think we all made it to bed around 10 or so! During our stay Madison grew very attached to her Nana! (And Nana LOVED it!) Madison would get very excited when she came home from work and Nana always had special treats for her!

Madison also enjoyed terrorizing the dogs! Angel mainly just ignored her and stayed clear. Rusty, however, had a lot more tolerance for her.

We were able to do lots of shopping while we were there also. We made a trip to the mall and to the Tunica Outlets. Both trips were a lot of fun. Madison was able to walk around A LOT! She is basically set with clothes and shoes for a while now also. Thanks to her Nana! We also made a trip to the Zoo! That was so much fun! We had quite the crew with us as well. Mom, Amber, myself, Madison, Becca (Amber's friend), and Erin (my friend) all went to the zoo! We spent about 4 hours or so there! I had a wonderful time and I know Madison did too! She seemed a little more interested in all of the other children instead of the animals at first! We were able to get her attention and point out all of the animals to her, and she made some pretty funny faces!

After the zoo trip, we basically just relaxed the last couple of days before we headed home! We left Memphis two weeks later and got into Seattle really late that night! Tony was actually pretty disappointed that Madison wasn't her normal self towards him when we arrived. I just had to reassure him that it had been an extremely long day for her, she would be fine the next day! So....we are back to our normal schedule and Madison is back to being "daddy's little girl!" I am very excited to say though that Amber will be flying out July 22 to come here to WA and help out with our move! She will be taking Madison back to Memphis so that Tony and I can make the drive as quickly as possible. I am getting so anxious and so excited about our move! I can't wait to spend a month at home with family, and for Tony to be with us makes it all the more exciting! I can't wait for everyone to see how Madison and Tony are together! It is so fun to watch them together! He is an amazing Dad, I couldn't ask for anything more! I will be blogging soon as we get closer to our move date and as more details come along. There will be lots happening coming up, so....stay tuned!

Madison's Summer @ Nana's!

The ZOO trip!

Update on the DeArmond Family!

I know that when I started this blog it was mentioned that it was mainly to let everyone know of Madison's progress and to let them watch her grow just as I do everyday. Well...this particular blog entry is to update everyone on a couple of things that have happened in the past month for our family as a whole. I'm sure I will be able to add a little tidbit about Madison for those of you that need a Madison-fix! (You know who you are! :))

First on the list ... ORDERS!
I let quite a few people know that we were in the process of picking and applying for orders for our next duty station. In fact, I asked quite a few people to be praying for us in the very stressful process. We were very anxious to find out if we were going to be able to get stationed on the East Coast to be closer to family. I didn't really care where exactly, I just knew that this was our one and only chance to make the coast to coast move. So, our prayers were answered and Tony was accepted for PAX River, Maryland orders. PAX River is actually the Patuxent River in Maryland. It is known by the military as PAX River, so that is what I call it. Mainly because I am not sure how to properly pronounce the actual name. Anyway, we are very excited and can't wait to be closer to family. We will probably begin our transition sometime in August. We are still ironing out details and planning. The only definite dates as of right now are Sept 14 and Sept 29. Tony has to go to VA for training before we make it to Maryland and he has to be there by Sept 14. Then, he has to report to PAX River by Sept 29. I should be able to give out more details as we plan and make more decisions about traveling. I will definitely keep everyone updated on this exciting move and time for us. Thank you to all of you that prayed for us and the decisions that had to be made. God is good! (All the time!)

Next on the list...MADISON IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!
That's right! We are expecting our second baby! It is very hard for me to imagine right now. I am still very early in the pregnancy for one thing, so it will seem like I am pregnant FOREVER! I have been talking with Mom a little bit about this pregnancy and how it is so different from the first time. I remember being pregnant with Madison and Mom and I would talk daily about how she was growing and developing in my belly. This time, I keep having to remind myself that I am actually pregnant. Tony and I are very excited and overjoyed, and a little stressed with everything going on in our lifes right now (as I mentioned above). I have been trying to imagine Madison with a baby around and how she is going to react. That in itself is hard to imagine! My estimated due date is December 15, but that could change after I have an ultrasound and they measure the baby. I am so excited to have a new addition to our family! I wasn't sure how many children Tony and I were going to have, but we did know that we wanted them to be pretty close in age. After having Madison, I really started thinking about having a big family. I absolutely love being surrounded by family and all the love and support you get from a big family. I have experienced that in my life and want for my own family to have that love and comfort as well. I look forward to this pregnancy and birth of our second baby and all the new experiences that comes with it. I will be sure to keep everyone updated on our progress and give you more news as it comes along. Keep us and our new little one in your prayers!

And lastly, but certainly not the least ... MADISON!
Madison has been doing wonderfully! She amazes me everyday and its so funny to see how amazed Tony gets watching her. She is walking more and more everyday. We have been trying to get her to walk around in the stores, but she acts shy and doesn't want. She has been having a little bit of separation anxiety lately when we drop her off at the nursery for church, but she seems to be fine within a couple of minutes. Thats what they tell me anyway :). I think I mentioned in my last entry that we went to the park and had a wonderful sunny day. Well, this past Saturday, we had atleast 2 inches of hail and snow on the ground! How ridiculous!! It is the middle of April and we are having winter weather!! Anyway, this past Saturday was the "City Wide Clean-Up Day" for Oak Harbor. I had volunteered to help and was going to take Madison with me. She ended up staying home and had some Daddy time while I went and worked. Tony is loving this time with Madison right now. She seems very attached to him and he can't get enough of it. He works at night and likes to come home and wait on Madison to get up so that he can get her out of bed. He loves to see her big smile in the morning and see how excited she gets to get out of bed and play. They have been doing a lot of bonding lately and it is so sweet to watch. He likes to get in the floor and play with her and he really wants to be able to wrestle and mess around, but she isn't quite ready for that. She does like to be chased all around the apartment though, and he is more than willing. She will turn around and see if he is coming behind her and cackle really loud and take off again. It is sooo cute! I believe this past Saturday they had a lot of fun together just the two of them. I think thats all for now, I will post again soon! Enjoy the pics!

Madison

A day at the park!

Living on Whidbey Island during the rainy season isn't the best. However, when the sun decides to come out and shine on us all day, it is well worth it. We were lucky enough to have a nice warm sunny day this past Saturday! I was able to convince Tony and his buddies that it would be a great idea to head out to the park! Not to mention its something to do that is FREE! City Beach Park is a wonderful park in Oak Harbor. It has several play ground areas and large grassy areas to picnic or play football. It also has a path that goes all the way around the park to take in the beauty that surrounds us. This past Saturday was warm enough that kids were playing in the water on the beach and the park was full of people. It was a nice clear day so we could see all the mountains around us and they were beautiful. So, we got to the park and Madison and I sat on a blanket to have our sandwiches, while the guys ate at the picnic table. I was hoping that Madison and I could spend the day walking around in the grass, swinging, and maybe going down the slide. After we had our lunch, the guys started to throw around the football and Madison was off on her own little adventure. This was her first time to really be outside in the grass and explore. She wasn't very steady on the grass, so she wanted to crawl everywhere! We decided to try out the swings next, and she wasn't to fond of that. We had tried to get her to swing before and she didn't like it, but I thought I would try again. She was okay for a few minutes, but she just isn't too sure about it. So, we headed back over to the guys and relaxed in the sun and played in the grass. The guys finally decided they wanted to take a break from football so we headed over to the playground. Tony and his buddy decided they wanted to put Madison on the big slide! I was terrified! I wanted to keep my eyes closed the whole time! She loved it though! So, she went down the slide a couple of times with the help of her daddy and had a great time! We walked around a little bit and let Madison walk on the path where she could be a little more stable. The guys played football a little longer and then it was time to go home. Madison was worn out and in desperate need of a nap! It was a wonderful day and lots of fun in the sun! Enjoy the picks!

Playing at the Park

Playing at the Park

Madison's 1 year check-up!

Madison's first birthday has come and gone! She seems like such a little girl now and so grown up. We had her 1 year check-up at the doctor scheduled for March 31, just a few days after her actual birthday. Apparently, the maternity ward was as busy this year as they were last year, and we kept having our appointment switched. So, finally on Friday (April 4) we were able to make it to the doctor and see how much Madison has progressed. She weighs 27lbs 12oz and is 30in long! WHAT A BIG GIRL! She is so tall and quite the chunk! She is still in the 97th percentile for her weight, and I believe in the 75th percentile for her height. Her doctor said that her development is fantastic! She is doing all the things 1 year olds are supposed to do and then some! So, after the appointment she had to get shots and have blood work done to check her iron. We decided to do the blood work first so that we could leave right after her shots. Madison always does really well with things like that though, so we didn't really have anything to worry about. We made it over to the lab and had to wait a few minutes. I decided to let Madison walk the hall while we waited and its so cute watching her walk around and explore new places. She walked a couple minutes and then we headed back to "the room". The lab technician was very nice and explained everything, they basically had to prick her finger. Tony held Madison while I stood behind the tech to distract her. Tony was freaking out and cringing while the tech explained what he had to do! It was a good thing Madison could see me and not him! It probably would not have gone as well if she would have seen the faces he was making! He looked terrified and acted like he wanted to yank Madison up and carry her to safety! I felt like I was on double duty trying to keep both of them calm! :) Anyway, Madison (and Tony) did very well, and it was over before we knew it. The tech mentioned that if the bandage came off she would probably bleed a lot more because she seemed to be very well hydrated (thats a good thing). So, we had him bandage her entire hand instead of just the finger in hopes that it would be impossible to pull off. Well....we definitely underestimated Madison! We got about ten feet away and she had pulled it off! There was blood everywhere! Tony and I had it all over us, Madison had it all over her, and there was a trail on the floor on the way back to the lab room! We finally got all cleaned up and he bandaged just the finger this time, really really well! I had no idea so much blood could come from such a little finger! Well, by the time we finished with all of that, the immunization clinic had closed! So, we still have to get her shots. I doubt there will be an interesting story to go with that trip. We decided to go have lunch and run some errands the next day (Sat). We had lunch at Applebees and Madison wanted to turn completely around in her high chair so that she could chat with the baby next to us. It was a very interesting lunch! We then went to run errands and ended up at Wal-Mart. Tony and I decided to get Madison's ears pierced while we were there! We had talked about it for a while and thought maybe it could be a present for her first birthday! We hadn't officially decided we were going to do it until we ended up at Wal-Mart and just decided on the spot! What an experience!! Madison actually did really well. She of course screamed when it happened, but it didn't take her long to calm down. She ended up getting her first sucker from the ladies that did it! She looks so adorable with her ears pierced now! She is such a little lady! I have posted some pictures of her new earrings and just some random pictures for you to enjoy!

Funny hair-dos and funny faces!

Madison's Ears Pierced!

Madison's First Birthday and then some!

Well.....Madison is officially 1 year old! The past year of Madison's life has flown by and so much has happened! So....let's recap!
Madison was born March 28, 2007, Oak Harbor, WA. Mom and Amber were here to be with Tony and I as we brought Madison into this world through a very long and exhausting labor! The most amazing time of my life! Within a month of Madison being born, Tony and I had moved ALL of our belongings into storage and headed for Memphis, TN. Madison and I stayed with Mom, Dad, and Amber while Tony headed off for deployment. The hardest time of my life! Thank God for family who will always be there! Tony was gone for about 7 months and missed so many milestones of Madison's first year, but has definitely enjoyed watching her grow so fast since he has been home! While staying with family, Madison smiled, laughed, rolled over, sat up, started crawling, and even slept through the night! She became more active as each month went along. She started eating baby foods and drinking juice. She wanted to eat everything you put in front of her! It's still that way! Needless to say, a lot happened while Tony was gone, and a lot has happened since he has been back! We have been in WA now for three months and Tony has been amazed by her every day! Since we have been home, Madison has pulled up, started walking, has 5 almost 6 teeth, and talks like crazy! She doesn't eat baby food anymore, and is drinking milk instead of formula. She is a little girl now, not my little baby anymore. Well, as you may know, we celebrated Madison's first birthday early while her Nana and Auntie Amber were in town. She ate birthday cake and had the time of her life! Since we celebrated early, we didn't do much on her actual birthday. Her daddy bought her a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing to eat, and we bought her a new toy! She has plenty of toys, but we wanted to get her something new since it was her birthday. Her Nana bought her some new clothes that are absolutely adorable! I have posted pictures of Madison with her new toy and some of her new clothes, hope you enjoy them!

PS Some recent Madison news....
I know I mentioned that Madison is walking now, but I thought I would elaborate a little. Madison will walk from me to Tony and back and forth. She will walk across the room by herself, and has even walked the entire length of the apartment by herself. She loves to follow me around all day, if she can keep up :). She also will wave and say hi to everyone she sees...this makes for a very long grocery shopping trip! She will wave bye, and say night night when it is bed time. And she gives kisses which her daddy loves tremendously! Enjoy the pictures and I will post again when something new happens, probably won't be long!

Kisses

AH AH AH

Madison Walking

Birthday Toy and New Clothes!

Prayers Needed!

I believe that most people know that Tony has been up for orders now for a while. For those of you that don't know, Tony will have served his four years sea duty come August. Since he decided to re-enlist, we have been in the process of picking and choosing orders (our next duty station) every month. He applies every month when new orders come out and waits to see if he is accepted for any of them. He can apply for three or four jobs at a time. So far, everything he has applied for has been on the East coast. We are desperately trying to get on the East coast to be closer to family. As of right now, it has been extremely difficult. He hasn't been chosen for any of the orders so far. We have been told that it is really difficult to move coast to coast. We feel like this is our only chance to make the move if it is going to happen at all. So, with all of that being said....March was the last month that he could choose for himself. If he isn't accepted for any of the orders he applied for, they will choose for us. If they pick for him, we will more than likely be staying here. We should know within the next couple of weeks whether he was chosen for any of the jobs he applied for this month. So, now I am asking for some much needed prayers. We want more than anything to be closer to home, but also know that whatever happens is all part of God's plan. Just keep us in your thoughts and prayers for the next couple of weeks as we get ready to move on to the next phase of our military lives. I will give out more details as they come along!

Easter!

EASTER!

Easter Sunday! It turned out to be a big day at my house! I caught myself somewhat reflecting on this time last year. Last Easter, which happened to be later in the year, Madison had only been with us for about a week or so. Her very first Sunday at church was on Easter. I was really excited about this one because I knew that she would be able to do more now that she is older. Before I begin with all of the "Madison stories," I have to mention the other things that happened yesterday. I had invited Tony's buddies over for a big Easter lunch after church if they would like to come. Well, not only did they come for lunch, they showed up for church! (I should bribe them with food more often!) Our lunch consisted of Honey ham, baked beans, mashed potatoes, corn, mac-n-cheese, deviled eggs, rolls, and monkey bread! Needless to say, I was very busy after church! They really enjoyed it and it was fun for me to be able to share it with them. Most of Tony's buddies are single and are far away from family. Therefore, I really enjoy being able to open up our home to them. For some reason, all the guys were really concerned about their outfits for Easter. They wanted to look really nice, but became a little stressed with the details. Ties, shoes, and belts were big concerns that morning. It was pretty funny to me, but they didn't think so.

Now.....onto more important things.....MADISON! This Easter was so much fun with her! I can't explain how much excitement there was for her big day at church! We started by taking some pictures of her at home with her baskets just in case she was a mess by the time we got back home. Then, she came to church early with me so that I could help hide eggs for the Easter egg hunt! It was raining here, of course, so the hunt ended up being inside instead of outside. The nursery had a room all to themselves and the eggs were everywhere! When it was time for the egg hunt, I was wondering if Madison would really get into it or not. I figured she would grab one egg and be satisfied. I was shocked to watch her and see that she went after EVERY egg around her! She actually put them into her basket all by herself too! She had so much fun with Easter eggs. She headed back to the nursery for the rest of us to attend the late service. We came home afterwards and she played with all of the guys while I cooked! All in all, a wonderful Easter Sunday morning! I took lots of pictures, so I hope you enjoy them!

PS...Just some other Madison news!
Tony and I have watched the past couple of weeks as Madison has decided to start WALKING!!! She will take several steps on her own from one piece of furniture to the next. She will even walk from me to Tony or vice versa. She is growing so fast and doing so many new things now its hard to keep up. I can't imagine how much more there is to come! Madison's FIRST birthday is this Friday, March 28, and it just amazes me how much happens in one year! I will be posting much more as she continues to do new things and take off! If I can keep up that is!

Back to Normal

Back to Normal

Well....Madison's Gamma/Nana (we aren't really sure which one yet) and Auntie Amber left us early yesterday morning. It was a very sad day, we miss them sooo much already! We had such a wonderful time while they were here! I wish they could have stayed longer, but everyone has to get back to their normal routine at some point. Yesterday, Madison kept going back to the room her Gamma and Auntie Amber stayed in. I'm pretty sure she was wondering where everyone was at. We had a pretty full house everyday they were here to visit. Tony's buddies like to come over and hang out and they had an excuse to this time. It was a lot of fun! Tony went back to work last night, and it was just Madison and I again! So, its official....we are back to normal. I have definitely realized just how much I want to be closer to home now that I have had a taste of what it would be like. I really believe I want it more for Madison than anything. I know that when I think back to my childhood, my happiest memories are the ones surrounded by family. Going camping, having family "get togethers", and every holiday that exists the entire family would get together! I want that for Madison! Hopefully, within the next few weeks we will be able to decide on orders for Tony and find out if we will be able to be any closer to family. So, please keep us in your prayers! I will be posting soon to let everyone know what is going on with the process! In the meantime, I have posted pictures of Madison for everyone to see! She makes some pretty funny faces in some of them! Until next time!

Madison's First Birthday!

Well! Madison's Gamma and Auntie Amber are in town and we celebrated her 1st birthday while they are here! Technically, her birthday isn't until the 28th, but we wanted to celebrate the big moment with family! We were only missing one person, her Grandpa. He had to stay home (TN) to work for a living as he would say! We missed him lots! We actually celebrated on his birthday, which was a big one for him as well, 50! I have posted a slideshow of the "chocolate cake experience"! She enjoyed every last minute! Even the bath she got afterwards in the sink. We will be celebrating Auntie Amber's birthday tomorrow (Sat) when we go snowboarding. She is really looking forward to it. It will be the first time for them and Madison to go to Mt. Baker! Lots of snow! We are really excited! It's a beautiful place!

Other news.....
Madison has taken her first steps while Mom and Amber have been visiting! Its so cool! She will only take a step to grab onto something else, so we haven't quite made it to taking consecutive steps! It should be anytime now though! She also has two more teeth coming in! Her other top tooth is pretty much in and the one next to it is breaking through! We have lots going on all at once it seems! Its so much fun though! Its amazing to watch how quickly they grow!

Well, I am going to go for now to continue visiting with family while they are still here! I wanted to post the birthday info and pictures! I know her Great Grandma and Papaw are waiting patiently for them!

Madison's Birthday Cake

Baby Teeth!

I forgot to post yesterday about Madison's baby teeth! She has two teeth on the bottom front and a huge tooth that just came in on the top front. We were worried a couple of days ago because she had a pretty high fever because of her new top tooth. Those are big teeth that have to come through those gums. I had no idea! Anyway, I took some pictures yesterday of her and she was really excited about the light on the camera. She would grin really big every time, so I was able to capture all of her teeth in a few of them. So, enjoy the pics! I am also posting pics of her in her "anywhere chair". She loves the chair her Gamma bought her. She has loved climbing all over it lately instead of actually sitting in it! She falls out quite a bit too. Shouldn't be too much longer and she will be climbing onto the couch, yikes!

Madison's Teeth

Madison's Chair

New Blogger

Hi everyone! My sister has convinced me to start up my own blogspot, YAY! I have never had a blog before and have no idea what I am doing, but I figured I would give it a shot. The main reason for this blogspot is to stay updated with family and friends. Tony and I are living in Washington and all of our family is in Tennessee. Therefore, we have to come up with ways to stay in touch and share what is going on in our lives. We have a beautiful daughter, Madison, and she will be 1 on March 28! The time has gone by so fast! My main goal for this blog is to post weekly for family and friends, Madison's new developments and of course PICTURES! I know how important pictures are to family! She is growing up so fast and changing so much. I am really excited to be able to share it with everyone!



This week..... (2/24/08)

Madison has been "cruising" now for a few weeks. We are anxiously awaiting for her to take her first steps! She will stand alone for a few seconds, but eventually grabs ahold of something or plops down on the ground! She is definitely finding her way around everywhere. We had to put a baby gate up finally to keep her out of the kitchen. She was caught with the toothpicks the other day! We recently have decided to start weaning from the bottle as well! She has done really well with that, as long as I am consistent with it!



We are really excited about next week! We will have visitors! Madison's Gamma and Auntie Am will be coming in town to celebrate all of the birthdays we have this month! Madison will be turning 1, her Auntie Am will be 21, and her Grandpa will be 50! Major birthdays this month! We can't wait for them to be here with us! I will be sure to post the birthday photos!

Our Beautiful Baby Girl!