9 months old

Maddie had her 9 month check up on Thursday. It's hard to believe that 9 months ago we just found out that we were going to be parents. Oh how our lives have changed! There is never a dull moment that is for sure. Madison brings so much joy to our lives, we can't imagine what we did without her.

Here's Maddie at Dr. Fulop's office. Our little peanut is 16 lbs. 8 oz. That puts her in the 10 percentile for her weight at 26 3/4 inches she is in the 15 percentile for her length. Her head circumference is in the 75th thought. Mike likes to say its because she is so smart! We were worried about her being little, but she has constantly stayed in the 10-15 % since she was born. The doctor said that was just fine.

By no means has that hindered her development. Maddie is already walking....and has been for about 2 weeks now. At about 8 months she started taking 'steps' but has been a woman on the go for a good 2 weeks now. She loves to pick up things off of the ground and carry them around the house. Her favorites are a stuffed cow that is the size she is and her Johny the Tractor book. It is a blessing that our house is set up in a circle down stairs....she just walks and walks and loves to chase Mommy around the kitchen island.

Speaking of stairs we had to go buy a baby gate this week. Mike was working in the living room the other day as Maddie was taking her daily stroll around the house when he didn't hear her any more.  "Maddie...Maddie....' he called, but she didn't come pitter pattering like she normally does. He went to the front door and there she was sitting on the 3rd step of the stairs. Later that day when was working on the computer he turned to find her on the 4th step! The little one is adventurous for sure! So that afternoon we took an outing to Babies R Us and are officially sporting the baby gate....which does SO much for the overall decor of the house (Vern Yip would NOT approve).

Madison has been adventurous as far as her food goes too! Now that we are home for the summer we are trying to do less baby food and more people food. She loves it. To the point that she really doesn't want baby food now except for her cereal and the occasional canned fruit. Some of her favorites are bananas, bread, chicken and steak......yes steak (grandpa Joe and uncle Robbie would be so proud!) He have recently tired hummus which she loves. She was a big fan of the roast pork and cheesy potatoes that we had at Lauren's graduation party, so we have already got her set for all the Porteus/Buxton/Wells reunions! Speaking of family favorites, she also has her love of spaghetti and meatballs like her daddy. She had a grand time eating them the other night.....but would refuse to be fed with a fork. She would only eat them with her hands.

Life has been amazing the past 9 months. We can't wait to see what the next 9 months and many more years have in store for us. I'm sure there will be smiles and a few tears as well, but we wouldn't change it for the world!

               Madison before her shot at the doctor.................

Madison after her shot at the doctor.

Summer is here. Maddie and I are so excited about getting to spend some quality time together. With only a few short days left to tie up loose ends at school we have already begun having fun. We can't wait to go to the park with Daddy, watch Uncle Dominic play baseball, go to the mall on rainy days and check out the Columbus Zoo.

Not only will Maddie and I get to spend some mommy and daughter time together I am excited to get to add some new friends to our play group.  Starting this summer I will be watching Marley as well and can't wait to see how the girls interact and play together. Two bubbly, happy little girls that can't wait to explore the world are going to be so much fun. In October we will add one more to our group as I am privaleged to get to watch my new nephew (as of now we will call him superhero according to his big brother Carson) when Janna goes back to work. There are SO many changed happening in my life right now and I can't wait to experience them all.

Here are a few pics of what we have been up to so far with many more to follow!

Maddie getting used to the water in her new swimming pool. Don't you just love the ruffles on that bathing suit?

After a while she decided that 'cruising' around the edge of the pool was so much more fun the playing in the water.

Finally getting used to riding in the stroller without tears! The key you ask..............Cheerios!

Maddie loves to walk around the jungle gym and hold onto the bars. Daddy thought that she would like to swing on the monkey bars for a while as well. This was at the beginning of the fun. Maddie however had a different idea of fun about 2 minutes into playing.

She LOVES her new jog stroller. We are so excited about this one. It is a double stoller that will hold up to 2 kids and 150 lbs. It also converts to a bike cart as well that you use to attach to any bike.

This is Maddie after the Grove City Community Winds Concert at Pinnical Golf Course in Grove City. Maddie was so great for the concert. Here she is next to Mike's tuba after we changed into our pjs for the ride home in the car. We were hoping that she would fall asleep on the way back to the house and we could just put her in her crib......again, she had different plans for us.

This is at the play area of the Polaris Mall......or as Mike lovingly refers to it 'the germ pit'. Lucky for us Daddy wasn't with us on this trip. Miss Maddie LOVED playing here. I think part of her fun was just to watch and chase after the other kids. I took so many more pictures, however most of them are blurred by Maddie's hands wiggling in excitment!

Toe Tapping Good Time

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More music time at the Porretta household. This time it's with Daddy and cousin Carson when he came over to play.

Piano lessons

From the moment that I could feel Maddie moving in my belly music has always spoke to her. She heard me singing everyday in class, she sat through countless piano lessons and attended more concerts then most kids do before she was even born.

Now that Maddie is her it is obvious she has a love of music. Whenever an upbeat song comes on she is flapping her hands and bouncing all around (most of the time to the beat!). She will sit in the music room while I teach piano lessons and just listen and play. Sometimes she likes to crawl under the piano bench and know that she can pull herself up will try to 'play' along with my students. If Mike isn't around she will often times sit on my lap for a part of the lesson and just wave and 'sing'.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised when I was making dinner tonight that the piano started playing. I turned into the music room where Maddie was playing and this is what I saw..........enjoy.

First Steps

Not much to say on this one......other then let the chasing begin. From what everyone tells us our life will never again be the same. We knew that Miss Maddie would be up and walking, but didn't realize that she would be doing it at 8 months!!!Sorry that this is a little long.....the fun stuff is all in the beginning.

Having your cake and eating it too!

Well Truly Scrumptious Cakes and Sweets is officially underway! Over the past year I have been making cakes on the side for a little extra income. Most of my business has been through family and friends and word of mouth. However, with staying at home next year I've decided to take things to the next level. I've talked with a girlfriend who has a graphic design degree and we are working on getting together a business card and website. Mike, for Mother's Day, went out and bought me a Cricut. They have come out with a new version for cake decorating. What this means is that I can had a lot more intricate designs to the cakes and do more fondant work as well!

I had my first wedding this past weekend. 150 cupcakes, a 2 tier wedding cake and a grooms cake. Wow, was I busy. But it was an amazing sense of pride and accomplishment seeing everything set up. I am busy for the next 3 weeks as well. I have 2-3 cakes/orders every week until the 2nd week of June. Luckily I have a great assistant who helps with all the clean up.......and quality control.

Here are some of the cakes that I've done over the past year or so. If you know of anyone who needs a cake......give me a call or drop me a line. tscakesandsweets@yahoo.com

Baby Shower Cake

Floral Retirement Cake

Another Baby Shower!

Wedding cake and 150 cupcakes!!

Groom's Cake and more cupcakes!

Birthday Cake (fall theme)

Boy Baby Shower

Monkey Birthday Cake

Football Cake for OSU party

Another shower cake

Kitchen Helper

I was picking up dinner the other night and Maddie was content playing with her toys in the other room. I soon realized that I didn't hear her 'talking' anymore. Mike and I have quickly learned that means something is up. I turn to look in the living room and I don't see her anywhere. That's when I heard a squeal of joy and turned to find Miss Maddie standing at the fridge door that I had left open for a minute. I was going to taken her away....but she started having so much fun that I just let her keep playing and of course I grabbed the camera.

Needless to say everytime that she hears the door open now....she comes crawling our way. I can only hope that the walking holds off for another month or so because then we will be in some BIG trouble.

More pictures to come later....but wanted to share our fun for now.