The Koehn Family: April 2013

Madylin's 1 Year Photo Shoot! 4.5.13

4.5.13

After a very long day of setting up for Madylin's birthday party yesterday I also wanted to get her 1 Year Photo Shoot done because I knew come Sunday I was going to be exhausted. The only official professional pictures that I have of Madylin are from the hospital and also from when we took Madylin to get a photo shoot done with her cousins. Every other picture and "photo shoot" has been done by me. Photography has become a real hobby of mine! As you can tell from this blog I take A LOT of pictures!! Madylin is so easy to photograph. She is such a happy baby and cooperates with all the many photo shoots I have put her through. After all, what other mother does an all day garden photo shoot (3 months) or stick her naked baby in a gutted pumpkin (Halloween photo shoot)? I have thoroughly enjoyed thinking of all these themes/ideas and it has become a real hobby of mine. I still don't know how to fully use the awesome camera that I was lucky enough to buy or cannot always get the lighting right but I love taking pictures. If you've been to our condo you know our walls are FULL of pictures. Madylin has a whole photo album for every month of her life. I don't have the time to scrapbook like I used to anymore which I am sad about but thanks to my cousin Sam I have discovered Shutterfly and well, I'm addicted! It is not the same as scrapbooking but it very close. I still do a little scrapbooking here and there for Mady's baby book but until I have more time Shutterfly fulfills my scrapbooking desire!

These poses from her 1 year photo shoot are a combination of my ideas and ones Auntie Hannah saw and liked. Auntie Hannah is also my secret weapon to capturing these adorable faces! It is very hard to take the pictures AND get Madylin to laugh so now I plan Mady's photo shoots around Auntie Hannah because I need her to get those smiles and giggles out!

Prepping For Mady's 1st Birthday Party! 4.4.13

4.4.13

Thursday was a busy day! Granadine, Mady, and Mommy arrived at Immanuel Lutheran School around 11am to start setting up/decorating for Madylin's 1st Birthday Party! Mady's babysitter, Laura, even came to help for a lot of the day. Thank goodness she did because there was a lot of work to be done!! Here are just some pictures from the beginning of the day...after this it got too busy to take pictures!! :)

Mady are you so excited to start decorating for you birthday party?!?! Madylin was the boss, she told us where she wanted everything!!

We finally got everything carried in after many, Many, MANY trips!

Mady says, "Let's get to work!"

Mady did a lot of playing while we set-up.

She tried to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Mady helped Granadine stuff her little star ornaments for her goodie bags.

All of the boys got super star capes in their goodie bags!

The girls got star wands in their goodie bags.

Another treat in the goodie bags.

LMNOP Class At Gigi's Playhouse 4.2.13

4.2.13

One of the best things about my Spring Break was all the time Madylin and I got to spend together. Over the summer when I was on maternity leave Madylin and I spent a lot of time at Gigi's Playhouse. I met so many moms who I became friends with who I know I would have never met if it weren't for Madylin. I am grateful for their friendship and support! I always enjoyed spending time with Christine and her daughter, Kaytlin, who is about 2 months older than Mady. The moment I saw Kaytlin I fell in love with her! She was absolutely adorable! I loved her name since it sounded a little like Madylin and when Christine told me how she spelled it I thought it was great! Both Kaytlin and Madylin end in "lin." Christine and I call them BFF or besties because they are best friends forever! They are so adorable and cute together. They grab at each other and pull on each other which makes me laugh but the best part is they support each other and cheer each other on. When they are together you can see the support even though they are only a year old! We are so grateful to have met Kaytlin and her family!

These are some pictures of Madylin and her bestie Kaytlin enjoying the LMNOP class at Gigi's Playhouse. This class is one of the many free programs that Gigi's offers their families. It is taught by a speech pathologist who leads songs, rhymes, finger plays, and teaches us signs we can use with our little ones. The class is recommended for 6-36 months, but Mady went to this class last summer when she was 3 months old and LOVED it. Mady has always responded to singing so this class was absolutely perfect for her. She was always the youngest there but we enjoyed this class every Tuesday. We are hoping that the class returns this summer. We were so blessed to be able to attend over my Spring Break!

Kaytlin & Madylin listening to a story together on the story blanket.

Kay and Mady were really interested in this book!

I think Mady is telling Kay a story here.

Besties!

BFF

Madylin's First Haircut! 4.1.13

4.1.13

Mady got her first haircut today! To this day I laugh at how much hair Mady has! One of the things I remember from the labor room on the day Mady was born was the nurse saying, "She has a lot of hair!" Her hair was really dark too when Mady was born. Looking back at pictures from when Mady was a newborn it doesn't even seem like she had that much hair when she was born but what I noticed is she had a lot of hair on top of her head and just fuzz on the sides. Everyone told us the hair would probably fall out and new hair would grow in but has never lost her "newborn" hair! It just kept growing so it was time for a haircut!

We took Mady to Sweet and Sassy since she got a gift card for her birthday. Emily was scheduled to cut Mady's hair that day and of course had an easy time with our well behaved baby! Madylin sat in Mommy's lap and got to wear a purple hair cape. Emily used a water bottle to wet Mady's hair before cutting it. Mady was so good through the whole hair cut! At the end she got a pink glitter star on her cheek and Emily sprayed her hair so it smelled like cupcakes!