Twas the Week Before Christmas...

Lastly, I wanted to share my newest favorite Christmas
ornament with everyone - no explanation necessary!

This is one of my current favorite photos.
Is that not just the sweetest little face, or what?!
Her smiles really can just melt your heart!

Up to this point, Madilyn has continued to sleep in her
bassinet in our room upstairs since her room is downstairs
(We haven't been ready for the trips up and down the stairs
in the middle of the night yet!) Well, Scott just happened
to set Madi down in her bed one evening, while he was getting
something out of her dresser so that he could have his hands
free. She was SO entertained by her mobile! She LOVES it!
If only the music would last a little longer, I think she'd
probably stay there for hours!!

This is how Madi tells Mommy & Daddy that she's not a
happy girl...note that she's not very subtle about it!

Scott thought that we put too many of Madilyn's cute
pictures on here for everyone to see, so we should also
show you what she's like when she's not being so cute!

That same night, I was sitting on the couch and cuddling
with Madilyn as she fell asleep, but Thomas felt a little left out,
so he crawled up there, too. Believe it or not, we did not put the
two of them in this position! Thomas crawled up there under
my arm and started "pitty pawing" Madi's belly while she fell
asleep...and it didn't bother her one bit! Too funny!

During the past couple of weeks, Madilyn has started
this thing where she starts getting really fussy right
before she needs to go to sleep for the evening. It's like
she knows that she's going to have to sleep longer, so she's
fighting it extra hard. Well, in an attempt to just let her
cry it out, but also be able to eat my dinner, I turned her
around and plopped her in my lap like this. As you can tell,
she was perfectly content! We stayed like this for well
over an hour while Scott and I watched TV! It has actually
now become one of her current favorite positions!

This is a very special picture to us. As a kid,
Scott used to grow up sitting on Charlie Greening's
lap when he dressed up as Santa for Christmas parties
each year. The tradition has continued all these years,
and now Madilyn got to sit on that very same lap for the
first time this year! She didn't even cry - just a big yawn : )

You may not recognize it, but underneath
that blanket is Madilyn's Boppy pillow! Thomas
didn't think that she really needed to use it, though.
He thought he could put it to better use by curling
up and making it his little cat pillow. He thought Madilyn
should learn to share and not be stingy anyway!

Scott's boss' wife, Jane, has a hobby of knitting hats
and sent this sweet little one for Madilyn. It was
just a perfect fit for her little head on a cold evening.
We actually just got another Christmas one from her
yesterday. I'll have to get a picture of it posted later.

Madi loved her bouncy seat so much that my friends
at Tyson got us another one, so that we could leave
one upstairs and one downstairs. Madilyn often naps
in it, but this time she just cracked me up since she
fell asleep with her arm up in the air like this!

Well, I guess all these pictures weren't taken the week before Christmas, but I'm getting them to everyone the week before Christmas, so I thought that counted enough for the catchy post title! As with the rest of America, I'm sure, the Savages have been staying quite busy trying to get everything done before the Christmas holiday. I've commented several times how busy I stay, and how I don't know how I'll be able to juggle a job on top of everything else come the end of January! A good friend told me, though, that you don't know how it will all get done, but somehow it just does : )

We're looking forward to having Christmas with Scott's family this weekend at our house, and then we'll spend Christmas in Texas with Cheryl's parents and sister. Yes, Karen will be coming in from England, so that will be very exciting! We'll actually get to spend the whole week with with her, and then we'll be heading to Memphis where we'll have a good visit with Scott's brother's family, and hopefully meet up with some good friends of ours, Eddie, Amy & Tucker (Tucker and Madilyn were both adopted through the same agency in Texas!).

It's going to be a busy and full few weeks at our house, but it will be great to visit with everyone who means so much to us. We wish the same for each of you and your families this holiday season! Merry Christmas!!!!