Beck Update

The last two weeks have been pretty rough. I thought that after Maddie's birthday party we would just relax and enjoy having some time at home just the three of us, but God had a different plan for us. The Saturday after Maddie's party, February 6th, my Grandma Worthington passed away. She had been battling lung cancer for many years and was finally taken home early Saturday morning. I went to visit her a few times the week before she passed away. The night before she passed away, Josh and Maddie and I all went together. I was afraid that Maddie would disturb her as Maddie is getting loud these days, so I had Josh and Maddie stay in the lobby of the hospital while I went and sat with my Grandmother, Dad, and brother Josh. Grandma was in and out for a little while and didn't really say much. At one point I was helping her get a drink and she asked me what Josh and Maddie were doing and I told her that they were down the hallway and asked if she wanted to see them. She said that it would be nice to see Maddie. So I had Josh and Maddie come in to visit for a little while and Grandma W just lit up! She seemed so happy seeing Maddie. It brings tears to my eyes right now just thinking about how excited she was to see her. Maddie played with Grandma W's little prayer lamb a little bit, before she started getting tired and had to go home with her daddy. I am so glad that I have such a good memory of the last time we spent time together. Grandma W was a very determined lady and she would tell you exactly what she thought. No matter what, you could count on her to be honest with you. She will definitely be missed.


Grandma W. and Maddie at Grandma W's 80th birthday party this last October.

Later that same week, Josh (my husband) called me to tell me that he didn't feel very well and that he went home from work early. He said that he had chills and kept feeling like he was going to pass out. So I left work a little early to take him to the doctor's office. The doctor thought that he had an infection and said that he needed to see a specialist. Josh was worked in the following day to see the specialist and he said that he needed surgery. So we spent our Valentine's Eve in the operating room. My parents watched Maddie while we were at the hospital and my mom called about 5:00 that evening to tell me that Maddie had a temperature of 102 and that she was really fussy. So I spent Valentines Day taking care of Josh and Maddie. Luckily Josh's mom was able to take off a few days and come up to take care of Josh and Maddie so I could go to work, since I had just missed a few days the week before for my Grandmother's funeral. Maddie is much better now and Josh is slowly improving, but he is still REALLY SORE!! He is in a lot of pain and just can't get comfortable. He stayed home from work for the past week, but will hopefully be returning for 1/2 days sometime this week. CRAZY!! I tell you what just when I think things are going to settle down. Hopefully all of our excitement is over for 2010.

On to happier news...Maddie started walking today!! She is just taking 4-5 steps at a time before falling down, but she finally decided it was ok to let go of the wall, couch, mom or whatever she was holding on to. Josh has been trying to drink a lot of water, so he has a huge mug with a straw that I got when I was in the hospital and taught Maddie how to drink out of the straw today. Maddie is getting more and more vocal and adventurous. She was trying to open the door to the garage tonight and I said "Bye Bye" and she turned to me and said "Bye Bye" and waved. I guess she doesn't need her mom anymore, she thinks she is ready for the world. :)


Maddie loves to push her baby in her new stroller. I put a different doll in the stroller and she pick the other doll up threw her on the floor and put her "baby" back in. She is so funny and definitely has a mind of her own.


Whenever we let Peanut outside, Maddie likes to go to the window and watch him. She gets a big kick whenever she sees anything/anyone out the window. The neighbor walked out to get her mail the other day and Maddie saw her from across the room, Maddie crawled as fast as she could to the window and started waving frantically, but of course our neighbor was already back inside. Maddie was so disappointed that no one waved back.

I think this is my new favorite picture. She looks so stinking ornery!!

Practicing for the big show!

Josh's Grandma Dorothy gave this little piano to Maddie at her Birthday party and she just can't get enough of it. It has a little bench part that she sits on and just plays away. She always looks so excited/surprised at how beautiful the music she is making sounds.

Double trouble...Peanut and Maddie

Here is some video of Maddie walking. Please pay no attention to her crazy hair. I promise I do comb it from time to time!! :)

Maddie's 1st Birthday Party!!!!!

We had Maddie's first birthday party on Saturday, January 30th! We had such a wonderful day!! We just invited family members and ended up having around 32 people between my family and Josh's family. It was so nice to have everyone together. Most of Josh's family hadn't seen our house before, so it was fun having them see where we live.

The theme of Maddie's party was green and pink polka dots. I made polka dot invitations. They were postcards that were stamped on one side with the party details and little circles glued on the other side.

My hand crafted invitation! I thought that they were going to be very easy to make, but it ended up taking a lot longer than I thought for each invitation.

Of course we hadd to have a polka dotted cake too. The polka dots are green and pink fondant. One of my dad's friends made the cakes. They were WONDERFUL!! She dropped them off around 10:00 the morning of the party and I could smell the butter cream frosting everytime I walked by the table. So I was dying to eat cake by the time the party started!!

Random picture of the kitchen and the 6 ft. sub we ordered! It was really yummy too!

My mom cut circles out and we hung them up in various places around the house. We had a "Can you spot the dot?" game where I had everyone guess how many polka dot decorations we had around the house. Great Grandma Dorothy was the winner with 62 polka dots hanging on the walls/doors.

We just finished remodeling our basement, since it flooded last July. We don't have much furniture down there yet, so it was the perfect place to set up extra tables.

Maddie's present table!! It was overflowing!!

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL just relaxing!!

Maddie was so cute. She got a big kick whenever anyone would clap and yell "Yeah". So of course all 32 adults had to keep clapping and yelling to get her excited. Maddie loved it.

Maddie had her very own polka dot cake. She didn't like how her it felt when she stuck her fingers in it and started to get a little upset until she accidently got a little bit in her mouth and then she couldn't get enough of the cake!

She was so funny. She picked all the polka dots off the cake and ate those first. She ended up eating about 1/3 of her cake!! I knew she had a few of my genes in there somewhere!

Post-after cake bath we went for a few wagon rides with baby.

Hanging out with Uncle Cory is so much fun!!!

Those toy boxes are always so much fun too! Uncle Cory and Maddie had a lot of fun playing hide and seek in the wagon box!

Grandpa Beck and the Birthday Girl!

After a good night's rest, Maddie was so excited to see her new toys the next morning!!