My babies

~"Madelaine Baby"~

My little Mat (I actually hated when pleople called her that when she was born, but it stuck and now I call her "Mat" all the time). Along with that, whether I liked it or not at the time her name was turned from Madelaine Baylee into "Madelaine Baby" by my in-laws and it used to irritate me but now it's my term of affection for her. :) What can I say about her? Plenty actually. :) If ever there was a faithful, responsible, on-top-of-things child then this is it! It's a running joke around the house that we call her "the elephant"...because she never forgets anything! She's my walking to-do list and notepad rolled into one. If I need to remember to do something I simply say "Maddie I need you to remind me to do this." Then sure enough, not only will she remind me about it on time, but she will have probably have reminded me thirty other times before it was time! lol We jokingly call her "Repeat"...that's her newest nickname. You know..."Pete & Repeat were sitting on a fence, Pete fell off. Who was left? REPEAT" LOL She will have lunches packed, her clothes laid out, homework completed, beds turned down when the rest of my kids are still sitting around picking their noses! haha

Sometimes I can get a glimpse into the future and I can see her as a woman. She's going to be the responsible one. The soccer mom. She's also going to be the one who is near me the most. I can see us having lunch, or her taking care of me when I'm old. As much as I adore my other girls...God knows I do....but Madelaine's going to be my one-true-thing. That made me tear up just to type that. :) It sure wasn't like that when she was born and I think that's why it touches me so much.
From the minute she was born she was daddy's little girl. I hardly even got to hold her when she was little! I actually used to feel rejected by her as a baby as dumb as that sounds. I'd hold her and the evil one would walk in and she'd cry to go to him. I was heartbroken. But unfortunately heartbreak doesn't just have my name written on it.


We didn't know it then, but her daddy was a monster. And when he left I think a big piece of little Mat did too. Her baby heart was so broken by his sin and then his absence that for a couple of years she couldn't even say the word "dad" or any version of it. She would say "that person". She, like the rest of us, had been betrayed and a part of her tiny heart was shut down.
She's doing great now. But as the last three years have passed I have seen her coming out of her shell, growing into me and becoming mommy's little girl.
Now she talks a mile a minute and her dream is to do gymnastics... the most common site around here is to see Maddie standing on her head! LOL She's actually really good at it too!


As cool as she is in other areas, the one thing that I love the most is that even though all four of my kids are born again now, she is the one that truly has a heart for Jesus. She gets excited just to hear his name spoken. When it's her turn to say grace before meals the other kids aren't as thrilled as I am that's for sure! :) She tends to take forever...her prayers are very long. lol But it's because she loves to talk to God. Wow do I choke up just talking about it! She's such a special, touched, blessed, beautiful little girl. Smart as a whip, aims to please, compassionate and thoughtful, lovely inside and out. Innocent. Yep, that's Madelaine.

My little "Madelaine Baby"