While mommy was away

Madison was at play!!  Annie kept Madison on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday during the day and Ryan kept her at night.  Ryan was thankful that I had the exersaucer downstairs so he could eat dinner and watch Madison.  My parents came up on Wednesday and stayed through Saturday afternoon.  As I'm sure you can imagine, they were ABSOLUTELY in love with her and had a great time!  Madison had fun too with her Papa Steve & whatever my mom is going to be called - she goes back and forth between about 5 names so we are just going to see what Madison calls her once she can talk!  

I missed Madison while I was gone but I must confess, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be.  I actually found myself starting to feel a little guilty on Thursday because I didn't think I was missing her enough or as much as I should be.  It was the first time since I've been back to work where I've felt that way.  I'm not sure what to make of it other than just a feeling.  I was excited to see her today though and I swear she's grown SO much and is the CUTEST thing I've ever seen in my life :)  Ryan, Meredith & Madison picked me up from the airport and she looked like a little doll in the cutest hand crocheted hat my mom bought her.  Ryan was the best and had a fresh Diet Coke in a glass of ice waiting for me in the car...I think he missed me :)

Mom brought her a bunch of cute clothes, hats, and even a halloween costume so they had fun taking her through a photo shoot.  She is also 100% holding her bottle and feeding herself...so sweet.

Conference

This week was conference week. It is always a highlight of my year because it is so great to all be under one roof! This year I had a scare because my new big boss initially told me that I couldn't go but it worked itself out and I had a great time!

It was such a great week. I was able to attend my first Management team meeting, there was a touching tribute to Shelly Anderson - one of our great leaders who is leaving to go study public policy, a tribute to Paul Kolheim, a birthday dinner for Kate, a Talent show, and a lot of meetings sandwiched in between.


I found myself forgetting about all of the craziness of the acquisition while I was there. There were a few minutes where it felt like old times and it actually brought me to tears a few times. I hate that we'll never have what we had before. I know we can't go back but it was nice to get a small glimpse of what it used to be like through conference. I was reminded of why I am still here after almost 7 years - I absolutely love the people I work with and we do great work in an industry that matters.


After conference, I stayed for an extra night to celebrate Kate's 50th birthday with some of our friends - Amy Kjesbo Lincoln, Mitzi Piva Raaf, Shelly Anderson, Neera Gupta, Larry Stuckey & Todd Wolk. It was my first experience wine tasting...you can imagine it was pretty amusing since I don't like wine!! I went for the company! There were some beautiful vineyards and we finished the evening with an amazing dinner at Mitzi's.


Enjoy these pictures from the week!


I spent a lot of time pumping as you can see below. I pumped in 2 airports, on 3 airplanes and while conducting an interview (over the phone of course). Phew...I'm glad to be home!


Dinner at Mitzi's...the kids were *so* cute and made me really miss Madison Claire!
At my favorite of the vineyards

The birthday girl!
Me & Kate

My good friend, Kristin Skalko
Pam is the best!
Carol was so thoughtful - she made us handmade nametags & granola!
Steve Norris - always looking out for me

What a big girl...

Thanks to Anne, Madison Claire now has a little pull up table with a bunch of fun activities.  She can stand up by herself for a few minutes and then decides she needs a break :)

GO CPA!

CPA beat their old region rivals Goodpasture 21-14.  The defense played GREAT!  Madison had a good time cheering for daddy, eating her toes and hanging out with Jeff Fisher (the head coach of the Titans).  

Patiently waiting for her rice cereal...

I LOVE my Daddy!

Madison Claire meets Mr. Matt!

Matt was driving through Nashville this weekend on his way from Dallas to Ohio and he stopped by for a quick visit.  He immediately thought Madison was a little mini-me of Ryan!  Matt has no room to talk - his little Matthew is the closest thing to a mini-me I've ever seen!!  We're hoping to plan a trip to visit with the whole Stewart gang sometime soon!  The guys had a great time hanging out...I'm thankful that Ryan has such great friends!