A Little Sentimental and Melancholy

I sit here, on the eve of Thanksgiving, with dinner in the oven, a pie in the making and Christmas music playing in the background. What a warm, joyous and fun time of year! But I will admit that there is a lump in my throat tonight. I think of all of you back home, preparing to gather together, with favorite traditions, amazing, generations-old food, laughter and joyful spirits. We are used to being in Seattle on this night, watching the traffic on I-5 become a sea of red brake lights, anticipating our arrival in Portland the following morning. We miss you all and greatly miss not being with you around the table tomorrow.

But enough feeling sad...we are in for a big adventure tomorrow!! You already know of our grand plan to go to the parade in New York. We are traveling with a family who is also originally from Oregon. They have been out here for 6 years, and this will be their third time going to the parade. Needless to say, they are old pros and we are in good hands. :) We just have to sit back and enjoy the ride! We will be leaving our apartment at 6:10am, catching the 6:44 train, and the rest will be a flow of subways, walking, and watching the parade take place! I am more than excited! We will come home mid-day (we assume), and will be making dinner. The menu is for an un-traditional Thanksgiving meal, including individual beef wellingtons, potatoes, salad and cherry pie for dessert! We then have the excitement of putting up our Christmas tree (thank you, Sarah & Justin!), and decorating our house. We will end our evening watching some Christmas movie, not sure which one yet. So, yea. We have a great day ahead of us! We are going to make some wonderful memories in this new city with our newest family member. Maddie's outfit is already picked out and ready- she is going to fit in to New York City with style!

I promise to take SO many pictures and share them with you as soon as possible!! Get excited! Watch for us tomorrow (even though you will not find us...we'll be near Carnegie Hall, not anywhere near Herald Square, where the tv cameras are). Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We love you and are thankful for the roles you play in our lives. And a special Happy Birthday wish to you, Pop-Pop!! I know you read my blog - have a fantastic day!! We can't wait to see you at Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Another Video, Starring Miss Madelyn Mae!

You have been so very patient. The day has finally arrived where we have another video ready for your enjoyment! Brant showed me how to edit our video clips into a "mini-movie", music and all! Now that I know how to do this, you can anticipate more showing up on a semi-regular basis. I had a lot of fun with this one. Since it has been awhile since we've done this, the footage on this video dates back to the end of September, up until 2 weeks ago. Enjoy!!

Can You Picture It?

It is a beautiful day, here in Princeton, New Jersey. The kind of day that makes you smile inside because you can see the sun shining through the window. As you look out, you will find rays beaming down through the almost barren trees, hitting the crispy, crunchy red, orange and brown leaves on the ground. Tucker is laying on his back, soaking in the warmth and a good nap. Maddie is sound asleep in her crib, dreaming of rolling over. Brant is on campus, reading books and talking with fellow theologians and professors. And I am here, quietly contemplating it all. Can you picture it?

We are approaching the holiday season. I am filled with excitement as I think about the changing season, the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Maddie's first snow, first Christmas lights, first tree, first..everything! What fun! And to top off all the excitement is the biggest excitement of them all; we are going to Oregon for Christmas!! My good friend, Valerie, called me up this morning on her way to work to chat. We were talking about Christmas, and she pointed out that the song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas" is going to take on some serious new meaning for me this year. So true! And if you know me well, I am a sucker for Christmas music, particularly the old classics!

I am thrilled to be going home!! We will be there for 2 weeks, soaking in some tremendous time with family and friends. Maddie and I will fly out on Thursday, December 17th. Brant will join us in Oregon on Saturday, the 19th. We are going to make some fabulous memories this year, I just know it! Don't we always, though? Its going to be quite the experience traveling by myself with a 6 month old. Hopefully her adorable good looks will get us through, and will make our fellow passengers happy... :) It doesn't matter anyway, because we're coming home!!! Yippee!!

Thanks for reading my random thoughts. I have noticed that I have only been posting when I have pictures to accompany my writing. So, I hope this added a bit a variety into your blog reading today. :) Cheers!

Hooray! I'm 5 Months Old, Today!

Our little Madelyn Mae is growing up so fast! She is officially 5 months old now, and trying out new tricks each and every day. I should start by announcing that she has rolled over from her back to her tummy and her tummy to her back 4 times this week, three of which were yesterday! She works so hard at getting those little legs up in the air, rotating her body with her legs to one side, and then using her upper body to pull herself completely over. Its quite amazing to watch the process, believe it or not! She is such a little acrobat! I don't have a video of this yet..but we will work on it!

As a result of her newly increased "mobility", Maddie is waking herself up more often at night and during naps. She wants to move so badly, that she starts doing so in her sleep. Let me tell you, when you are swaddled up, snug and tight, rolling over doesn't happen very well. She gets quite upset, and I don't blame her. I would hate to wake up in that awkward position and full of frustration! Needless to say, she and I (and even her Daddy), have had many nights of scattered sleep patterns. We're a bit sleepy in the Himes' household today (as the following picture shows), but we're making it!

As you saw in my earlier post, Maddie loves her toes. She can get those little guys all the way into her mouth, and then she proceeds to suck on them pretty hard - its really loud, too! :)

Madelyn is our joy and our delight. There are so many things in our life that cause stress and anxiety to creep in, but they all vanish when we look at our little girl. She is so perfect, and we are so in love. My heart swells and overflows with joy when I watch Brant interact with Maddie. He is so smitten by her and she truly is smitten with him; she definitely has him wrapped around her little finger - twice! Although I would love to be a stay-at-home mom all day long, I am grateful that I have to leave the house and Brant is required to attend to her every need. This has allowed for some precious and priceless bonding time between the two of them. I am a proud Daddy's girl myself, and to see my baby girl loving on her father this young, makes me excited to think about the special relationship they will share for life, as I have with my Dad. Here is a picture of her thinking about how wonderful her Daddy is.


Maddie's hair is really filling in. I love running my hand across her little fuzz-head. I sported the exact same hair style when I was a baby. Aww...like mother, like daughter. :)
The star of our photo shoot was not in the mood for performing for me, so these pictures are the some of the best we got. I took so many pictures that by the end of it, Maddie was giving me a look as if to say, "Geez! C'mon, Mom. More pictures?!"

Happy 5 months, sweet girl!! We love you!

Tasty Toes, with a bonus video!!

Maddie has officially found her toes to be quite desirable and tasty! It is really cute to watch her grab her feet, bring them up to her mouth, and wait to see if her toes will land in her mouth or her fist. :) Aww, to be this flexible again - geez, I sound old!

This video was taken using my regular camera in a dim room, so I apologize for the lack of quality (and full-born soundtrack like previous videos)...but you still get the idea!

When You're The Best Of Friends

Tucker and Maddie are really growing quite fond of one another. Tonight, I found them enjoying each others' company in the following scene. Maddie could not stop arching to the side to see him. And Tucker continued to creep closer and closer to her while chewing his bone. This went on for a good 5 minutes, before she remembered that she was hungry. :) Often times we will find Tucker laying in Maddie's room, either on the rug or under her crib. And Maddie has really started noticing Tucker when he makes a sound and when he enters/exits a room. I think this is going to be the start to a beautiful friendship!

2 Weeks From Today...

We will be waking up super early and feeling like this...We will be boarding one of these around 6:45am...
We will be taking it into this city...
And we will be watching this event...LIVE!
Call us crazy, but we are all SOOO excited!! Can you tell?
Seriously, I can hardly wait to go into New York City for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I've watched this parade on television every year on Thanksgiving morning, (much to my father's shagrin), and now will finally see it in person! We are going to brave the chaos on the train, subway and city and make a lifetime memory on this holiday. What a way to do it!