Adventures with Bethany

New parenthood is it's own adventure, but Brian and I are enjoying taking our Baby Girl on little mini-adventures!

Bethany's first Madsen-style outing was a trip to Vogel State Park in Blairsville, GA when she was about 2 weeks old (May 26). We accompanied Daddy to the mountains and visited the park while he rode 3 Gaps with friends. First, there was a nap on the soft moss by a stream:

Then, mama and baby took a gentle hike around the lake and down to the waterfall.

A few weeks later (June 15), we decided to try a boat ride! Bethany enjoyed snoozing the whole time.

Next (June 23), we took a little weekend trip to the mountain bike trails at Tsali, NC. Baby Girl looked at trees and hung out in the shade. 

In early August (Aug 5-8), we had the Hunter family reunion in Hiawassee, and then a weekend with the Hunter grandparents at Lake Chatuge.

On August 26th, we went out to Ft. Yargo State Park to get some mountain biking in. Daddy took a lap on the bike, and Mama/Baby took a walk. A friend took a big spill, so mama's lap got replaced by a trip to the ER! Glad Anne is okay!

Now our precious little one is 4 months old! 

More adventures to come!

Bethany Faith - A 3 Month View

It has come to my attention that some of my dear family and friends (mostly family) haven't been able to see photos of our Baby Girl, since I generally post them on Facebook. I could email them-- but then I remembered! -- I have a long-neglected blog! Forgive me for re-posting Facebook photos here, please.

This way, hopefully you can see pictures and check back as you wish. It will keep me from being "that mom" that shares too many pictures. Haha! Below is a short little summary of our first 3 months with Baby Girl. 

In the beginning, she was a little Peanut, with lots of spunk.

She was also pretty darn cute.

Fortunately, we are blessed with a great sleeper. While she usually only takes short naps during the day, she will regularly sleep 10-11 hours a night. Hooray for Bethany! 

 

As she got a bit older, Bethany showed us that she loved to wiggle.

...and since Day 1, she's been an alert little one! She loves to see the world. Don't even think about holding her cradled in your arms (unless it's time to eat). She would much rather be held upright so she can look over your shoulder, or out at all the excitement!

For the past month, she has smiled more and more, giving lots of giggles. 

Here she is, wondering what all the fuss is about. ("What ARE you doing with that camera, Mama?")

This first week of August was wonderful and exhausting for us! She met the Hunter clan, spent time at the lake, met all of Daddy's oldest and bestest friends, made new local friends, and visited all the friends at the Roswell Church.

....to be continued! 

Look forward to our next installment: "Adventures with Baby"

Bread Success

Behold my beautiful homemade ciabatta rolls! As one of the things on my list below, I decided to try this great recipe. It was PERFECT, and my KitchenAid was so happy to be used for something other than Christmas treats. I also finally drummed up all the ingredients for Worchestershire sauce, and it now sits wrapped in a paper bag, curing in the dark pantry for two weeks. I tried a taste before I put it up, but I know the flavors (tamarind, shallots, jalapenos)really need time to come together.

I am having the darnedest time finding malt powder for my bagels. I think I'm going to have to suck it up and order the stuff, and pay just as much for shipping as I do for the product.

Things I want to do this year:

• Try a new recipe once a week.
• Use my crock pot more
• Use my KitchenAid more
• Make homemade bagels, marshmallows, Worcestershire sauce, ciabatta bread and fruit jellies
• Journal once a week giving gratitude for the blessings in my life
• Write "you are awesome" cards to my deserving friends, family and colleagues
• Write monthly "awesome-cards" to my husband
• Floss my teeth more often
• Write letters to our unborn baby...and keep doing so when the Peanut is born
• Sew some fun stuff, like tote bags, an apron, a wall organizer, and curtains

Do I think I'll do all these things as often as intended? No, of course not. But I will try!

Happy New Year!

As you may know, I fell off the regular blogging wagon back in July...after falling off the daily blogging posts long before. However, after some encouragement from a friend (Thanks, Eve!) I'm going to get back in there! Hello again, friends!

It's been a great few months! Here's the 99-cent recap:

August took us on an amazing trip to Maine where we ate lobster, saw amazing views and took some of the best and scariest hikes ever! Here's a awesome highlight reel on Picasa.

September brought some exciting news, as Brian and I found out that we were expecting our first baby. We also spent a great week soaking up rays and eating seafood in Grayton Beach with the family.

October held beautiful fall weather and a beautiful backpacking trip with Jess and Michael. 

November, and yummy Thanksgiving came next! Love to the family! Baby Madsen grows bigger, helped by some yummy turkey.

December held plenty of bike rides, tinsel and more delicious food at each of our three families houses.....which brings us to 2012!

What better way to ring in the new year than with a muddy mountain bike ride with friends?! 

Hope y'all have an amazing New Year! 

Sweet Peach

Another photo from my time in SF! These lovely ladies were on sale at the farmer's market. The title refers to peaches, but you can probably tell from the lack of fuzz that these are nectarines. I don't care, because peaches are my favorite. Nectarines are okay, but there is something about holding a fuzzy peach, sniffing the freshly-sweet fragrance, opening up and admiring the vibrant orange and pink colors inside, and then gobbling the whole thing up, slurping the juice. You know how hard it is to resist snuggling and petting the cutest little puppies and kittens? That's how I feel about the fuzz on the peaches.

Seriously....I see plenty of recipes for peach desserts, cold peach soups, peach cocktails, grilled peaches, or peach salsas. But, peaches around my house don't stick around long enough to be cooked up! How can I think of pureeing, or blending, or otherwise "preparing" something so perfect in itself? Any why on earth would I buy peaches that are not guaranteed to be in season or may be disappointing? Shoot. That's just crazy talk.

These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Anarchist Chickens?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had a fantastic recent trip to San Francisco to visit my dear brother and his beautiful (and hip!) bride. There was much in the way of bicycle rides, good food, and -- of course -- afternoon naps. A good time was had by all.

Now the photo above came from the egg carton in my brother's fridge. These were our breakfast on Sunday morning, fried in duck fat. I could mention that the eggs rest right next to the homemade beet and onion pickles, on the next shelf up from the fancy salami and local cheeses.

Other culinary delights included a croque monsieur, rocher with cocoa nibs, and coffee at Tartines, some lamb/fish/chicken/vegetarian Pakistani dishes at Lahore Kalarhi (spell check anyone?), pumpkin tamales and green olives on a friends rooftop patio and a tasty dinner with oysters, beef carpaccio, wine and a nice steak at Foreign Cinema. Delish....

Prayers

Dear friends,

After a wonderful weekend in San Francisco, I have lots of pretty photos, but no heart to post them right now.

Please pray for me. Please pray that God will show his perfect love and power in a very real way in my life. While I am being public in this request, I will be keeping the reasons private. God knows them intimately, and that should be sufficient. Many, many thanks.

"Love never fails." - I Corinthians 13:8