Sunday at the Lake

My parents took Karlee with them to the lake for the weekend. She was so excited all day Friday waiting on my dad to come pick her up. She was spoiled rotten and had a great time. We joined them on Sunday for a great lunch and some boat riding.

When we arrived, Aunt Suzzanne got some lovin' and Aunt Cyndi waited patiently for her turn.




Do you see the eyes on this one? Can you say jealous?



Madelyn had her first (of many) boat ride. The pontoon boat has not been cleaned up from winter storage so we went out in my dad's fishing boat. It was fun and I remembered Karlee's first boat ride was in this same boat when she was only 12 weeks old. Madelyn fits right in with our lake lovin' family. She didn't mind the life jacket and loved the boat ride.




Do you see this tongue? This is something new Madelyn has started and it drives me crazy. She's like a lizard trying to stick her tongue to everything. It all started Friday night after eating baby food for the first time. I guess she's trying to taste everything around her!




A quick memory pic from Karlee's first boat ride. It seems like it was yesterday.

Feet and Food

Last week, Madelyn officially found her feet. She will pull them all the way to her mouth and suck on her two big toes. I haven't had the camera handy when she does this but, trust me, it's funny to watch.



Friday night, I pulled out the 1st foods and decided to see if Madelyn liked it. She wants nothing to do with rice cereal. It's a struggle every time I try to get the spoon in her mouth. Not the case with peaches! After the first taste, Madelyn was grabbing my hand and pulling the spoon in her mouth.



It got pretty messy with her pulling the spoon away from me so I just let her have it. She decided it felt like a great teether toy.

Beautiful Charleston

Last weekend, Chip's college friend Chad got married in Charleston. The original plan was for this to be our first weekend getaway without kids since Madelyn was born. Well, with me being back at work and it also being tax season, my milk storage has dwindled and I'm forgetting to pump on time at work and have totally screwed up the pumped milk supply. So, Karlee stayed home with Chip's parents, Madelyn went with us, and my gracious mom went too to help with Madelyn and keep her during the wedding.

I was so anxious about the LONG drive with a teething 4 month old. Boy did Madelyn surprise us all. She was really good all the way to Lagrange and then she fell asleep all the way to Augusta (a little over 4 hours). When she woke, we stopped for a late lunch and let Madelyn stretch a while before the next leg of the trip. The getting put back in the car seat part was not fun (for any of us.) Madelyn cried for a while and wore herself out before falling back to sleep. She would then wake again, scream, and scream some more. We stopped two more times between Augusta and Charleston. I think 4 hours in a car seat is her limit!

We finally made it to our cute bed and breakfast. Anxiety set in again when I was worried we would get kicked out because of a screaming baby. Madelyn was great the entire weekend. At breakfast, it was nice to hear others say they didn't know a baby was even in the house (especially since Madelyn doesn't sleep through the night).

It was fun being on vacation with just Madelyn and getting to experience firsts with her alone like we did with Karlee. It was also fun spending time with my mom. None of us have ever been to Charleston so we set out early Saturday morning and walked at least 20 miles (in my opinion!)

Madelyn seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.




On the steps of the U.S. Customs House and Madelyn was like a bobble head looking around at everything!



We had to buy a hat at the market because I forgot to pack the kitchen sink and a hat!



We broke the trip home up a little and went through Savannah. My mom has never been there so we ate lunch on River Street and strolled through the historic district and Forsyth Park. St. Patrick's Day is a big deal in Savannah so all of the fountains were already green. I wish the river had been green already so we could have seen that.




Then we journeyed home where Madelyn slept great until we hit the 90 miles to Auburn mark. Then the screaming started and IT DID NOT STOP until we got off the interstate and I told mom to take Madelyn out of the car seat. Once she was out, she was as happy as she could be. I told Chip to drive slow and careful the rest of the way home.

Since we got home so late, Karlee was already in bed so she came home the next morning. She walked right pass me and straight to play with Madelyn. She really missed her sister.

My Little Ballerina

Last Wednesday was Karlee's last ballet class. The parents finally got to come in to the room and see what the little ballerinas had learned. I was really impressed at what all they learned in such a short period of time.

They performed a dance to "Beauty and the Beast" which is one of Karlee's favorite movies (she's worn out the DVD she got for Christmas already).

Sitting criss-cross applesauce

Pointing her toes

Supposed to be turning around!

Swaying like a tree

I was so proud of Karlee. Notice the cast is off too!!! She loved ballet so I will probably sign her up at Nix Dance next fall. That will be a very proud moment for me since I danced at Nix for 13 years!

4 Month Update

I just can't believe Madelyn is 4 months old already. I took her in for her checkup last week. She weighs 13 lb 7 oz and is 24 inches long. Dr. Greer said she is way advanced with pulling up and holding her head in front of her body while doing it. He was even more impressed that she was pushing herself up to the standing position while he was just holding her hands.

We have had lots of firsts at 4 months.

* I was taking out spring/summer clothes from the attic one day and pulled the exersaucer out while I was there. I put Madelyn in it just to see how she would do. She was a little wide-eyed at first but realized she had freedom to bounce and turn around. Thank goodness! I now have a new way to keep her entertained while cooking and doing laundry!




* Madelyn had her first experience with rice cereal on the night she turned 4 months. Her facial expressions just said it all. She was not a fan! I'm not surprised because it took her 3 months to get used to a bottle (which she still gives fits with). She prefers to be fed straight from her mommy and nothing else. Karlee loved getting to help feed Madelyn. Since Madelyn doesn't take a bottle at our house at all, Karlee never gets to help me feed her.






* Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'!!!!! Madelyn has become a little rolly polly. She was getting all the way up on her side for a long time but couldn't figure out how to get her arm out from under her. Watching her go over all the way for the first time was hilarious. She had a look on her face like "okay, what did I just do?" Karlee would lay beside Madelyn and say "look Ma-lyn, like this" and would roll across the floor!







* TEETHING - I am screaming this because it is about to do me in. Madelyn is chewing on anything that gets within reaching distance and drooling like a dog. She is perfectly happy and content one second and screaming the next second. Tylenol and night time oragel are never out of my sight. Madelyn has moved out of the cradle in our room and into her crib in the nursery. We did this because she WAS sleeping from 8:30/9:00 - 4:00/4:30, eating and going right back to sleep. Now, she is waking again a few times a night. The dirty diapers that come along with teething are making me wish a 4 month old could be potty-trained! 11 poopies yesterday alone. I really wish the teeth that are causing all this pain would go ahead and make their appearance.

Daddy-Daughter Dance 2011

Karlee and Chip went to their first daddy/daughter dance on Saturday night before Valentine's Day. Chip gave Karlee her first corsage but Karlee wasn't quite sure why she was wearing a flower on her arm.



This was the best shot I got of the two of them. Karlee wasn't extremely happy with being woken up from her nap to put on dressy clothes.



Chip took her to dinner at Mikata before the dance, which is her favorite restaurant!



I would have loved to be a fly on the wall but mommies are not allowed. Chip said Karlee had fun doing the hokey pokey but got shy when it got crowded. She liked the candy station the best of all!

Warm Sunny Days

I know I have been MIA on the blog lately. Maternity leave is over and I'm swamped at work. Gotta love coming back at the start of tax season to 3 months of work to be done before I can even start tax returns!

The weather in February was crazy. We went from freezing, icy days to warm, sunny days in a matter of days. We took full advantage of the warm weather while we could though.
My mom was off on a Friday so she joined us at the Monkey Park in Opelika. Karlee loves to slide so she was in hog heaven with all the ones they have there. My dare devil decided that sliding on your bottom was too easy so she went down on her tummy (the cast never seemed to slow her down!).






We spent Saturday playing in the back yard while daddy was at a fishing tournament. Madelyn had her first time in the swing and she LOVED it. She would smile and cackle so loud that Karlee would laugh back at her. I foresee lots of time in the swing this spring!




Sunday, daddy was home and we all went on a picnic at Town Creek Park. Karlee wanted to try out all of the exercise equipment! She loved quacking at the ducks and just running around letting off all the cooped up energy from the cold days we've had. I got her a soccer ball to see how she liked kicking it around. She is signed up for soccer at the Opelika Sportsplex starting in April! Madelyn just slept right through everything. Probably because she has decided to stop sleeping at night again.






Madelyn is growing like a weed. The girls got to wear their first matching outfits! There are many more for spring and summer!!!!



We all went to Anna Wohleb's birthday party at Sandy Stables. Karlee was so excited. She knew she would get to ride a horse again. Words just can't describe now much she loves animals. It's just amazing to me.