Now that our closest friends and family know, it’s out on social media, and I’m already sporting some oh-so super sexy over-the-tummy maternity clothes, we are officially out of the pregnancy closet and happy to announce that Madelyn is going to be a big sister!

This is how we shared the news recently on Facebook:

This baby has been in the making for a while. Longer than we intended, actually. But that’s life’s way of a funny joke since we went into it thinking it would be as quick and easy as it was the first time. So for seven months, I was in a bad mood, annoyed with each notification of “Nope, try again!”

Naturally, I got frustrated and started wondering what could be wrong. And it wasn’t until I finally gave in and had to reluctantly buy a box of monthly, um, “gear” (I seriously might have muttered some bad words to the box, letting it know how very unwelcome it was on my shelf) that I think something clicked, and that box is still unopened.

My first order of business after I took a pregnancy test was to tell Bryan. He was downstairs and had been awaiting my opening of that dreaded box I unwillingly had to buy, assuming we’d see another unpregnant month. With a morning haze and my glasses still on, I asked him if he saw one line or two because I wasn’t able to function (this is true. I am, uh, not a morning person). He looked at me in shock and told me he saw two. I said I thought so, but knew I needed a new prescription for my glasses and can barely read the cereal box, so I couldn’t take a home pregnancy test very seriously.

We were super excited, a lot in shock, and a little freaked out.

We decided to tell our families during a July 4th BBQ we had already planned on hosting. It was two days away, and while we didn’t want to make a huge production, we also wanted to add a little excitement to the mix.

I bought a cake and had it customized to say: Expecting A New Little Firecracker.

It was cute, but our baby cake was also delicious. Is that wrong?

The day after we found out we were pregnant, Madelyn was on her A-game firing off the funniest sayings and my mom jokingly called her a little firecracker. I knew that that was my link to the upcoming holiday and this baby’s big sister.

It was a normal BBQ at our house except for the fact that I was on edge with excitement to share our news. And at one point, my sister-in-law asked me, “So what’s new?” and I screamed in my head that I was pregnant aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!! but I just shrugged and sighed and said, “Eh, nothin’ much. Just staying busy this summer.”

Princeton looked extra dapper in his festive bandana and Madelyn was enjoying all the attention of her favorite family members being together. I snapped some photos before the craziness.

All my babies!

So after some grilling and grubbing, I told everyone to check out this cute cake I got for dessert. Some got it right away; some took a few extra seconds for it to sink in, but in a matter of a minute, we were all hugging and celebrating. It was really fun, and it felt good to share our good news with our VIPs.

The family of 4-ish.

I think the best reaction of the baby news was when we told Madelyn. We told her the same day we found out because I can’t keep my own secrets very well from the people I love and I wanted to hear her weigh in on the situation. I explained to her that Mommy has a baby in her belly and reminded her about other friends who’ve also had babies in their bellies lately. She seemed to understand very well. I told her she was going to be a big sister and she’d get to have her own baby.

Her eyes grew wide, she gasped with realization, looked upstairs, and declared: I have babies in my pway woom!

She will find out soon enough that this baby won’t be anything like the five plastic ones that share a miniature crib surrounded by blocks and books in the room next door to hers. She also will find out soon enough that the room next door to hers will no longer be her pway woom. Sorry, pal.

She actually took the news very well and each day she continues to make my heart melt with hugs and kisses to my belly, often singing and talking to Baby. She is so excited to be a big sis!

We are now almost 13 weeks along, and despite some extreme exhaustion and a few waves of queasiness here and there, I’ve had a great and easy pregnancy as I did with Madelyn’s. Seeing the baby during ultrasounds has helped remind me that this is really happening during my busy days with a three-year-old when it’s easy to be distracted. We’ve had our routine first trimester screening and I’m relieved and happy to say that everything looked perfect and normal.

So, come early March, we will officially be able to say we are a family of four (humans), and that another one has been Born Friedman.

Hey, kid! Welcome to the Internet!

Madelyn started taking her first steps right around 11 months. She teased us with three or so steps at a time and then would crawl. Perhaps once a day she’d walk a few paces, but nothing seemed to stick. Then, she gave up all together. I swore I’d have a walker at her first birthday party, but by 12 months, she was boycotting walking.

Sometime between 12 and 13 months, she decided she wanted to give walking another go. She spiced things up and kept us on her toes — would she walk? Would she crawl? She did both. And soon, her confidence grew and she was walking more and more. But still, I couldn’t trust her to walk and she was so close, I wished she’d just pick Team Walking already. I was ready to have a blue tooth baby — a baby that allowed me to be hands-free. Setting her down and letting her roam was so close to being an option, but still not an option. I put her in shoes that people had gifted us, but I was realizing that these shoes were not helping her feel the ground beneath her and maybe she’d finally commit to walking if she had proper cheerleaders on her tootsies.

I knew absolutely nothing about toddler shoes so I took her to Nordstrom to get fitted and an education. They were so wonderful there!! I highly recommend taking kiddos to Nordstrom for their first proper shoe fitting and purchasing experience.

We learned that Madelyn is a size 4.5 and that she needed a soft sole shoe. Then, it was just a matter of choosing a pair based on those stats. I went with a pair of Stride Rite Mary Jane tennis shoes in silver. There were so many adorable options, but I thought it would be best to pick a color and style that could be worn with anything.

As soon as I Velcro-ed the shoes on her feet, she only stumbled like Bambi learning to walk for a few steps and then just took off! It’s almost as if these shoes had magical wings that made her fly across the Nordstrom floor.

Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! I’m freeeeeeeeee!!!!!

She had more freedom than Aretha Franklin.

Madelyn put on quite a show. As she ran down the tile floors between the children’s shoes and clothing departments, she curated an audience who thought she was just a crack up with her jolly squeal and Flo Jo sprint. The few times she misstepped and took a tumble, she giggled the fall right off. The shoes definitely gave her the confidence and foot pillows she needed to walk properly.

Then she went around the department playing Shoe Sales Person. She’d pick up other shoes and hand them to my mom or me or strangers she didn’t know. It’s like she couldn’t get enough shoes! Should I be scared that I’ve created a mini Imelda Marcos?

It is I, Madelyn Friedman, the Wonderful Wizard of Shooz!

And then the whole thing got really tiring and she decided to revert back to being a baby. Apparently, being a walking toddler is just. too. hard.

You think your life is so bad? Trying walking in some other toddler’s shoes!

Just when you think your kid is all grown up and ready to help pay the mortgage, she also reaches in her mom’s diaper bag for her own lovey because nothing says “I’m a big girl in my new big girl shoes at Nodstrom” than walking around with a bottle in your mouth and a pink poodle-blanket dangling from your hand.

Shoe shopping is exhausting!

At the end of our shopping spree, our super helpful shoe sales woman gave Madelyn a pink Nordstrom balloon and took an adorable Polaroid photo in a souvenir frame! What a great way to impress an already-kvelling mom!

I had to snap a few photos with my big girl. We had such a fun day shopping for her first pair of shoes, and Madelyn continues to wear them non-stop! They’re magical, I tell you!

This past weekend, we celebrated Madelyn’s first birthday with a party. It wasn’t just any party. It was a luau!

The idea came about when we were in Hawaii earlier this year. We love indulging in Hawaiian BBQ pork sandwiches and shave ice. We love the music of the islands. We love the beauty of the water, trees, and flowers. We love the Hawaiian culture of family — ohana. So we decided to pay tribute to Madelyn’s first big vacation and recreate Hawaii as best we could… under a picnic gazebo in the middle of a park… in Simi Valley.

Okay, so that’s what you get for not having any boarding passes and a real plane to take us all to Hawaii, but when you’re stuck on the mainland, you make do! We tried to forget that it was the hottest day of the year and sweated our way through celebrating Madelyn, the one-year-old, with a little aloha spirit!

I have been planning this party since our Hawaii trip in April so, ya know, far too long for any first birthday party! At first it was just going to be Hawaiian food and some palm tree decor but then I went hog wild and short of pitting an actual hog underground like the authentic Hawaiians do, I managed to find myself paying for a Hawaiian food truck and a shave ice hut, creating tropical fruit skewers, and hanging decorations all over the place. I had a pretty clear vision and Bryan, Aunties Lisa and Alison, and Uncles Kevin and Michael did a great job helping make it all come together early in the morning before the party started.

Meanwhile, back at home, Madelyn took her morning nap, so after we were finished setting up the park, I scurried home to beautify, and the guest of honor woke up just in time! I got her dressed and ready and rolled her into her party as her friends and family started to arrive.

Madelyn warms up to the party with milk and Mimi.

Arriving at 9:30 a.m. with coffees in hand, Auntie Lisa and Uncle Kevin are expert party planner associates!

My parents leid each other. Sorry, is that awkward?

The shave ice hut was a hit! Since it was hotter than the lava from Kilauea Volcano, people fled to the icy, sugary oasis for relief. Best idea ever and the shave ice was almost as good and authentic as it is in Hawaii. I will seriously hire Hui Hui Shave Ice for every party I ever have in the future. Ever.

Gay pride at the shave ice hut!

Looks like strawberry or, you know, COLD SUGAR.

Hui Hui Shave Ice did a great set-up with a personalized surfboard menu! So cool!

The food truck, Kings Corner, served up teriyaki chicken sandwiches, Hawaiian BBQ pork sandwiches, sticky rice, and potato mac salad — all of our favorite food from the islands!

It was fun to socialize with so many important people who’ve known us since before we were parents and even new friends we’ve met since we’ve become parents!

Aunt Alison and Uncle Michael are preparing to pose for all the photos they’ll be taking at their wedding in two months! Even their eyebrows were made for each other.

Love my right hand gal, Lisa!

Madelyn and I with Auntie Phis Erin and Alison with soon-to-be Phi-in-law Jordan!

Madelyn gets love from the Trabold Sisters: Grandma Ellen and Great Aunt Wendy

Cat and Matt with their cute cabana boys enjoyed their afternoon at the luau!

Bryan and I always have fun with Brian and David!

Becky and I were pregnant together and now Baby Dia and Madelyn are going to be starring in shows together!

My best friend Stefanie and I used to celebrate our own birthdays together as kids — and now we celebrate our kids’ birthdays as adults! Holy full circle.

People joked with me that I was doing way too much for a one-year-old who would never even remember this party. And, well, that’s true, but the party was also for Bryan and me to celebrate one hard-but-amazing year as parents! Still, I made sure to have some fun for the kids.

When I think about Hawaii, I think about swimming and relaxing, but I didn’t want to worry about babies in a baby pool, so I threw together a ball pit in the baby pool and the kiddos seemed to enjoy it!!

Madelyn and Cousin Ocean play together in the ball pit! Ocean turns 1 in September and it’s so fun watching them grow up together.

“OH. EM. GEE. THIS IS SOOOO COOOOOOOOOL! I CAN’T EVEN HANDLE ITTTTTTT!”

Even Princeton wanted in on the fun.

And outside the ball pit, there was more fun to be had, like poking each others’ flowery dresses and headbands.

Brielle has her own kind of fun with the rainbow fruit skewers!

There was a cupcake fiasco at the beginning of the party because the hot Hawaiian Simi Valley sun was melting the pretty frosting! So we had to make a game time decision to schlep them back home 30 seconds away to keep them cool in the fridge. Can we please give some bonus points to a stressed out birthday mama for staying sane and not having a melt down over this… melt down?? Please and thank you.

Uncle Michael chauffeured them back in time to sing “Happy Birthday” and watch Madelyn’s big cake smash. And big it was! She went to town on the cake and ended up naked and wet when it was over. That’s the sign of a good party. Never too early to prepare for college nights out, I guess.

This beautiful cake is about to get very ugly.

Last family photo without frosting in our nooks and crannies.

Madelyn listens to the chorus of “Happy Birthday” that accompanies her cake.

Teaching Madelyn that yes, she does want what’s in front of her and to eat it Moroccan style.

Houston, we have contact.

Frosting on the face makes any baby 10x cuter.

Methinks she likes cake!

The sign of a good meal.

Madelyn wrapped up her party on a sugar high and lots of cuddles with her grandparents and Aunt Alison, her twin friends Evan and Lauren, and her great grandparents. Of course, a wardrobe change was necessary after her cake smash, so she got to don her backup dress, one of the many I bought “just in case” during the weeks leading up to the party.

Golly gee, Madelyn’s family sure does like her!

All 3 almost had the same birthday, but the twins came early and Madelyn came late!

Madelyn with her Bubbie and Gigi whose glasses she enjoys ripping off their faces. I need to teach Madelyn that elder abuse is wrong.

We survived the heat and packed up to head home. Even after three hours of partying in high temperatures, Madelyn hung out and opened presents like a true belle of the ball. She has so many new toys and treasures to enjoy as she heads into her second year. Now that Madelyn has all these new fancy presents, her parents need a new fancy house for which to store all this loot! Kids’ birthday parties should come with real estate agents for parents.

Madelyn is in a party-and-presents coma. What a lucky little girl!

Madelyn got a bath to de-frosting-ize her entire body and after a few sips of her bottle as I rocked her in the chair, she pushed away her milk and reached for her crib and was in dreamland in a matter of minutes. I hope she had the sweetest dreams of a happy day full of love and aloha.

Madelyn’s birthday was fo fun! For me! Madelyn? Yeah, I’m sure she had a good time, but I had the most special day celebrating my mommy anniversary with my baby girl, my mom, my best friend, her mom, and Brielle, Madelyn’s best friend! This tradition started on Brielle’s first birthday in March when we decided it would become tradition — birthday lunches together on the babies’ birthdays! When we went out for Brielle’s big day five months ago, it seemed like forever until it’d be our turn. But, as I’ve learned, time keeps a tick-tockin’ and on August 9th, Madelyn turned the big O-N-E.

We met up at The Cheesecake Factory, our usual favorite, and put the girls next to each other so we could swoon over them interacting (interacting = one baby swiping another baby’s piece of sourdough bread off her sticky placemat).

One reason we love The Cheesecake Factory for lunches with babies is the complimentary baby plate that comes out on the table as soon as we sit down. It’s tiny slices of their amaaaaaazing bread and bananas sliced into coins. Why can’t all restaurants do this? Helps keep the babies busy and fed while the grown ups try to enjoy grown up time.

They were so good while we figured out our orders and ate our own meals. Good job, babies!!

After we finished our lunches, I ordered Madelyn her own personal baby-sized ice cream sundae and a chocolate fudge cake for the table. This would be Madelyn’s first introduction to delicious things like sweets. Here I go spending a whole year dedicating myself to making healthy foods for Madelyn only to mess it all up with binging on cake and ice cream.

She wasn’t quite sure at first, but after a few tastes of ice cream with chocolate fudge cake she realized it didn’t suck and that she should make several servings and eat it at the kitchen counter at 10 p.m. because she’s stressed about planning a birthday party in two days… oh wait, that’s me.

Even Brielle got in on the birthday treats binge fest. She loved Madelyn’s birthday!!

Stefanie and her mom, Michelle, were so sweet and wanted to bring presents to lunch so that we could have our own intimate party. Opening birthday presents for your baby is awkward. Babies don’t really know what to do with them, so you end up unwrapping them yourself and then when the present is revealed, the baby cares more about the tissue paper anyway. Silly babies. They have it all wrong.

Maybe she’ll have this exercise down by Chanukah??

Before leaving (and leaving our mess… Oops! Sorry, Cheesecake!), we snapped a few more photos to document the day. Must’ve been something in the air on Madelyn’s birthday because everyone looked really good! Hot August air does wonders for the hair.

I think Madelyn had a fabulous birthday day! In the last photo with the mamas and the babies, Madelyn is even reenacting the birthing position. Such a lady, that one.

Later that night, Madelyn and I managed to stuff ourselves silly with another celebration at a restaurant. We met up with Bryan and Princeton for some more grub, but Madelyn seemed too worn out for her reunion with cake. We tried to GIVE her dessert and she turned away. Who is she? This can’t be my child. Doesn’t she know that on your birthday, you are required to eat dessert several times a day? Oh well. She’ll learn eventually. It’s only her first one.

The funny thing is, after all this celebrating of Madelyn’s arrival, it wasn’t until we got home and she was fast asleep that it was even close to a year since her birth. She was born late at night after a long day of induced labor and an unforeseen c-section. Out she came at 10:25 p.m. on August 9, 2011 and on August 9, 2012, I was going over the whole play-by-play of the events from the year before.

“Bryan, it’s 9 p.m. right now. A year ago RIGHT NOW, Dr. Fiiiiine came in and was giving us a little more of a chance to push her out before snip-snip time…”

“Bryan, it’s 10 p.m. right now. A year ago RIGHT NOW, I was getting wheeled into surgery and I was crying non-stop only to be comforted by Dr. Hunk’s dreamy looks and powerful, um, needle.”

“Bryan, it’s 10:25 right now. We JUST had a baby. You cut the cord. You leave with the baby. I puke. Good times.”

“Bryan, it’s 11 p.m. right now. A year ago RIGHT NOW, you were like ‘where the hell is Alison? Oh, she’s a geyser of leaking blood? This is rare and almost a problem? Cool.”

“Bryan, it’s midnight. A year ago RIGHT NOW — ”

“Alison, a year from now, RIGHT NOW, you will have your mouth stapled shut!”

Okay, he didn’t really say that because my husband is a gentleman, he is, but that was basically me the whole night of her birthday. I just relived every hour of the experience, and there was something comforting about it.

Madelyn’s birthday was a wonderful day and as special as her birth day was last year, her birthday this year was fun and I loved celebrating with my little buddy on my hip!

For Father’s Day on Sunday, I was excited to dress Madelyn in a cute romper shorts outfit that said “DADDY’S GIRL” on it. I normally don’t love to dress her in outfits with presumptuous words like “WORLD’S CUTEST BABY” (I mean, it’s true, but no need to brag) or “SPOILED PRINCESS” (I prefer the term “Well loved”), but for Father’s Day, “DADDY’S GIRL” seemed appropriate and, well, with her new favorite sound being DA DA DA DA, extremely true!

I knew Bryan wanted to spend the day with his girls (and Princeton) so I decided we should at least immerse ourselves in beautiful weather and scenery so we went to the ‘Bu. A quick and easy drive through the canyon brought us and the “DADDY’S GIRL” romper to the Malibu Country Mart where we realized that everyone and their mother (father??) were spending Dad’s Day there, too! The lack of paparazzi was shocking (guess the Kardashians had other plans that day) and the abundance of normal civilians was annoying.

After the treasure hunt that was finding a parking spot, we waited for lunch at a Cuban restaurant where I noticed Madelyn, who was sitting in her stroller with a blank stare on her face, was making a moaning sound. This could mean two things: she was moaning herself to sleep, which is one of her soothing methods, or she was making a really big doody.

Well, a story about Madelyn’s snooze moans would not be entertaining so of COURSE she was making a doody. A REALLY BIG DOODY. Apparently, it was too big for the diaper to keep inside its “extra absorbent” $842/diaper interior because I looked down and noticed the specimen emerging for all the world to see. IN MALIBU. It was embarrassing enough that my dress was from Kohl’s and I was wearing $2.50 Old Navy flip flops (they were 2 for $5 last summer!!!!!!), but now my daughter’s feces was raining all over the richest beach town I’m barely privileged enough to hang out in.

I ran her into the restaurant’s one-room ladies’ room where they oh so inconveniently did not provide a diaper changing station. I laid her back in her reclining stroller seat and ferociously pulled wipes out of the case to clean up the mess that had expanded beyond Madelyn’s romper. I could hear two girls outside complaining that the girl in the bathroom had been in there for, like, ever-uh, and so I tried to hurry up as fast as I could to clean off my poopy daughter who, of course, was squirming all over and in doing so, got more poop on the areas I had just painstakingly finished cleaning. The pressure weighed heavily on my shoulders. It was dark and humid so I was dripping sweat, but hey, at least I couldn’t see myself in there because it was basically pitch black. I put on a clean diaper, got Madelyn back into her romper, washed my hands, and fled the scene quickly, but not fast enough to miss out on the death stare from Malibu Barbie who squirmed outside the door because she had to probably pee out her afternoon of bloody Marys.

I returned to the fresh air outside where Bryan and Princeton were still waiting for our table. I looked down in the daylight to see, OH NO!, Madelyn’s romper was beyond help. There was no way she could continue wearing the “DADDY’S GIRL” romper because she was no longer Daddy’s Girl. She was Daddy’s Poop Monster.

Ding! A lightbulb went off in my head. The EXTRA PAIR OF CLOTHES I ALWAYS CARRY IN MY DIAPER BAG TO BE UTILIZED IN THIS CURRENT SITUATION would fix this problem! And then, very quickly, that lightbulb flashed off as if Thomas Edison has just dropped his key out a window right before our eyes and left us in the dark. A day before, I had just washed my diaper bag and had not refilled it with its usual contents like, oh you know, THE EXTRA PAIR OF CLOTHES I ALWAYS CARRY TO UTILIZE IN THIS CURRENT SITUATION.

But, because I’m the MacGyver of shopping, I did what a desperate mom would do. I knew I had to buy a new outfit right then and there. The ONLY store that sells baby clothing in the shopping center is Kitson. L.A.-area folks know that Kitson is a hotsy totsy store with trendy clothes, accessories, and home goods that all come with price tags that are printed off golden tablets, probably straight from the collections of Moses or Oprah or something. I told the saleswoman that my daughter had a diaper explosion and I was hoping there was something on sale I could purchase to carry us through the day. She snickered upon the foreign word of “s-a-l-e” and said no, they did not have a sale, but oh look!, here’s a cheap 50/50 cotton see-through onesie straight out of a sweatshop that says “I left my Louis in the limo” and it cost $35.

After I swallowed the combination humiliated-irritated vomit, I spotted a table of dresses and other very cute clothes with pricetags to the tune of $70 to $90. “But they’re Ella Moss!” said the sales lady. Yeah, I don’t care if they’re Queen Elizabeth. My kid is not wearing an $80 dress in size 6-12 months. Well, dear readers and friends who are just SOOOOOO wonderful, she can wear one if my credit card isn’t paying for it.

I realized that I wanted my daughter to be covered so buying a stupid onesie would not do. I would have to buy a dress. I found one for $58 by Splendid and really, it’s splendid. It’s super cute and very soft and I know it’s good quality, but a little part of me died inside that I was about to pay over $60 — damn tax! — for a dress for my baby. I’m sorry, I can barely dish out those bucks on myself.

I signed the credit card slip that said I sold my soul to Kitson, and quickly left to redress Madelyn.

I put the dress on her and I melted. She looked adorable in it and it was really cute and it’s a good thing because she will be wearing this dress every. single. day. until she leaves for college. I WILL get my money’s worth on this dress.

Now that my baby is the most stylish baby on the block in her designer because-she-pooped-her-pants threads, I expect that Suri Cruise will be texting Madelyn any day now for a play date. And I will drive her there.

In my Kohl’s dress. (I HAD A COUPON!)