I have one more of these posts. One. It doesn’t seem real that our little girl is eleven months old! I know she will never remember this time or the unprecedented year we have had but I don’t ever want to forget it.

Eleven months ago while still very pregnant, I was finally coming to terms that we weren’t going to get to celebrate you the way we had expected when we announced we were pregnant in December. Quarantine meant no baby shower, no babymoon, no photographer to capture us meeting her for the first time and no visitors in the hospital. It meant us introducing her over Facetime to our families. Quarantine meant not everyone who loved her could meet her in person. It meant all of our expectations were out the window.

When I think about all of the things we didn’t get to do, it makes me sad. But on the other hand, I also see the many blessings it brought us. Because we were quarantined in the hospital, we got to spend those first few days just focusing on our new little family. We didn’t have visitors in and out of our house that first week, but the few we did made it all the more special. And while things are slowly starting to go back to normal, this time has made me appreciate the normal  we would once have taken for granted.

And we have Miss Maddie to thank for all of that.

So here are a few things I want to remember from her 11th month of life:

• After eleven months of waiting Maddie finally got to meet some of my favorite people. Over Mother’s day she was able to meet the “Iowa City Soride’s.” It was so fun seeing her interact with so many new people without skipping a beat. And she loved celebrating Cooper’s birthday with singing and cake!
• She also got to meet two of my best friends this past month. Maddie and I roadtripped to Wisconsin to celebrate Ashley’s bridal shower. And I am going to use this blog to make an official apology to her for Maddie stealing the spotlight with her loud outburst and overall cute personality. PS to Lea if you are reading this, Maddie is always available if you need some baby snuggles although she is turning into more and more of a toddler every  day. Maddie also got to meet Megan, my other half, my maid of honor and the girl who knows the way to my heart is an HBO marathon day with margaritas when the baby is sleeping! It was so fun getting to see her for the SECOND time in a month and the best part is I get to see her next weekend too for Ashley’s wedding!!!
• We have officially learned to stand on our own. Our unofficial record is close to a minute. I have no doubt she will be walking before we know it!
• Maddie is FAST at crawling on all fours.
• Her hair is really starting to come in and is getting lighter every day!
• We love our Tucker dog and she is constantly having to touch him! But thankfully, Tucker just puts up with it!
• She will let us know when she is tired by crawling up to me and laying her head on my shoulder.

Maddie’s favorite things:

• She LOVES food! We have yet to find a food that she truly does not like.
• Maddie is obsessed with her John Deere book and will dance and wave her arms like crazy when we play the music.
• She loves crawling up the stairs in the morning to change for the day!
• We got her some new bath toys and I think she would stay in there all day if we let her.
• Maddie is Grandpa Howe’s number one helper in the garden. She loves to play in the dirt, water the plants and “help” him pull up radishes.
• She loves playing with her sunglasses even if she doesn’t exactly like to wear them!
• Maddie definitely has a favorite toy and that is her lamby. I just bought two more on Amazon because she sleeps the best when she can cuddle it and I can’t risk a night of her not sleeping if we lose it!
• She loves seeing all of her friends at daycare! She always does her happy dance when I get her out of the car and she sees where she is. And she has an even bigger smile when she hears them announce her arrival lol

Need to catch up on the last eleven months? Start here