All about Maddy

As I have been thinking about the past twelve years with Maddy in our lives I have smiled, teared up, and laughed at the memories.  Maddy loves animals.  Everytime she sees a dog walking on the street she wants to assume it is lost and take it home.  One of my favorite examples of Maddy's love for animals is when she asked if she went blind could she get a seeing eye dog.  This girl was willing to do anything to get a dog.  We have a dog now and she is constantly out there petting, brushing, playing fetch, getting her fresh water, loving her and humanizing her.  We need to put her on a strict regimen of watching the Dog Whisperer... she is coddling Betty too much so she doesn't respect her.  Betty jumps on Maddy, she won't listen to Maddy and she basically runs the show when Maddy is with her.  We are working on that with her, but she just loves her so much she just can't discipline her!  Maddy is our neat freak.  Her room is usually spotless and organized.  She makes her bed almost every day before school.  She wanted to start doing her own laundry after we moved in here in July.  She keeps her drawers and her closet organized.  She comes home looks at her job list and gets it done. She doesn't mess around.  She wants to get done so she can go hang out with Betty or a friend or watch tv.  She loves watching Bewitched and I Dream of Genie. She loves listening to music, especially Carrie Underwood.  She started reading Twilight this month and is slowly making it through.  I wasn't quite ready for her to read it yet, but Maddy has not been our most avid reader so when she showed an interest I said go for it.  We will see if she makes it through before our renewal times expire at the library.  I may have to buy it for her so she can work on it for months.  I think she got her reading skills from her Grandma :)  Slow and Steady.  She likes to try new things... she did the violin and ran track last year.  She wanted to try the flute this year but it said with braces it would be hard so we decided to wait.  She is doing piano and is coming along beautifully.  She has really long fingers and long feet.  Dr. Ramsey suggested she become an OB/GYN with her long fingers.  She is our active child...she always wants to go rollerblading with Norm or ride her bike or go for a walk.  She memorized all her articles of faith and completed her Faith in God.  She is very determined when she sets her mind on something.  She has a great talent of knowing when to say when, when it comes to eating.  I am constantly amazed.  She will be in the middle of eating, anything, even a dessert and say, "I'm full" and just walk away and throw it away!  I need to learn that skill.  It is a good one to have.  She often gets these little "things" that she does incessently... like blinking her eyes, tapping her toes, making some weird face.  We often ask her "Is that your new thing?"  She is very uninhibited at home, around others she can be a little quieter, but when she warms up to you watch out.  I often say, she is our "Lauren" of the family.  She is very loving and kind, she often befriends kids and plays with the lonely ones.  Just the other day she said she and her friend Holly played with  a boy who looked sad.  She is very compassionate but she can give a mean stank face too.  We love all sides of Maddy and cannot imagine our family without her.  We love her to pieces.