8 months

Yep. Madelyn is 8 months old today. I'm just having a hard time believing this. Chip said to me this morning, "goodness, didn't you just have her."

I would like to start off by saying that, finally, Madelyn is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!! I put her down between 8:00-8:30 and she sleeps until I have to wake her at 6:15 on the days I work and until 7:30-8:00 on the days I don't work. It's pure heaven! I can even put her in the bed after her bottle when she's not asleep yet. She lays in the crib, plays with her bear lovie, rolls to her stomach, and goes right to sleep. She sleeps on her tummy now with her arms stretched out above her head like she's being held up by the police. It's funny to see when I wake her in the mornings. She leaves them up when I pick her up and stretches and groans (I feel terrible waking her that early but I have no choice).

We have also lowered Madelyn's crib. I walked in to find her standing one morning. When she saw me, she started bouncing with delight! Very blurry picture from my phone.



I think bath time is Madelyn's favorite part of the day. She loves splashing around and loves it more when Karlee is in there with her. This child doesn't mind water splashing in her face at all. It makes her laugh hard.



After bath, Madelyn covers her face with the towel and pulls it off really fast. I say peek-a-boo and she cackles.




As you can see in the pictures, Madelyn still doesn't have a single tooth. It has worried me a little. Several people have told me instances of children not getting teeth until they are 1 or after. She's gotten pretty good at gumming down food. We have started a little table food, mainly just fruit. She loves peaches, watermelon, strawberries, and cantaloupe. I've given her mashed up english peas but she's not a big fan!



The mobility has picked up from just scooting to full speed crawling. She piddles around just checking these out. But, when she gets something in her eye sight that she wants, she takes off. It's hard to get a good still picture these days. Ignore the bruise on her cheek. That's a weekend wound from her time with her daddy while I was out of town.




The above bubble is the one that I made and smocked. I finally sewed the snaps on the back so Madelyn could wear it before she grows out of it! Take a good look because it will be the one and only bubble I ever make (and possibly last thing I ever smock!).

I was sitting at the table with Karlee eating our breakfast yesterday morning while Madelyn was roaming around. She noticed Sable through the window and bee-lined it to the door. I had to raise the blinds before Madelyn pulled them down trying to get to Sable. They both sat and stared at each other for about 25 minutes before Sable walked off. Madelyn started knocking on the door and grunting for her to come back. It was so cute. I think Sable was looking at her and thinking "so you're the reason I have been moved to the back porch to live."

Patty Cake + A Little Moon

Trying to get a good video of Madelyn crawling, clapping, or pretty much doing anything is very hard to do when Karlee is in the same room. Stay tuned to the end of this video for the latest stunt Karlee pulled.

Fervent Prayer

I post mainly about the good times of our life. I leave out the 3 year old tantrums, the bad moods, the day to day struggles I have. I have a friend that has put it all out there and needs your help ASAP.

Please click on Mike Reed's page to the right and read his story. I ask that you join me on this fervent prayer mission. I have known his wife for most of my life and just cannot imagine what she is going through, let alone Mike that is actually living it. April is by far the strongest woman/mother/wife I know (though she probably doesn't realize it).

Hit your knees and lift Mike and his family up in prayer.

Baby Baptism + Another Year Older

We dedicated Madelyn to the Lord through infant baptism on June 12. It was a special day. Chip and I vowed in front of the church and our family to raise Madelyn in a christian home and teach her the ways of the Lord. My hope for her is that she grows in the Spirit throughout her life.

My laid back child just took it all in. She smiled at Brother George when I handed her over and didn't mind the water on her head one bit. When it was over and the congregation was singing "Jesus Loves Me", she just chewed on her thumb and looked out at everybody.





Thanks to my family for being there to share this special day with us.



We all headed to my parent's house afterwards for lunch and an early birthday celebration for me. Birthdays are just another day at this age but having kids makes it more fun. Karlee helped my dad put 31 candles on the cake (no, it didn't catch the cake on fire!) and helped me blow them out.




After strawberry cake and homemade ice cream (a must for my birthday every year), Karlee hit the baby pool.




Madelyn told us all she wanted to join her big sister in the water.



So, after all the guests left, Granna got her suit on and Madelyn dawned her "birthday suit."



We all had a great day. Wednesday the 15th was my actual birthday. Chip wanted to attempt a nice dinner at Amsterdam (with the girls). It was interesting to say the least! I have learned that getting a good picture of all 3 of us is few and far between but here is a decent one on the back porch at home after dinner.



I'm hoping that one day Chip will surprise me with the New York birthday trip that I didn't get to take on my 30th birthday (pregnant). HINT HINT! WINK WINK!

Mondays and Fridays

I don't work on Mondays or Fridays, and I LOVE IT! It's my time to spend with the girls and see what kind of fun we can have (and mess we can make!). The days usually start with Madelyn crawling around in just a diaper (why bother with clothes if we are just staying home!) while Karlee and I cook and eat breakfast. Karlee is in an "I want to help" stage. She helps make blueberry muffins, puts chocolate chips in the pancake batter, or pushes the button down on the toaster for Eggos when we are in a hurry.





We then head outside to play in some kind of water around the house. I even con Karlee into helping me wash my car (might as well make good use out of the running water since it's running up the water bill anyway!). And again, why bother with bathing suits when we're just playing at home!





If I don't have Madelyn in the baby pool, then she's hanging out in front of the fan in the garage. She's happy and content playing here for a long while.




When we're not playing at home, we're playing at the pool. I don't have too many pictures of this because my hands are usually on Madelyn. She loves the water as much as Karlee does and splashes around either in my arms or in the baby float. She takes a bottle when we are there and goes out like a light for about 30 minutes.





We have been to the pool only one Saturday and Chip joined us. Adam and Erin were there too so I was able to catch a few pictures of Karlee jumping off the diving board. She was saying "let's do it again" the minute her head popped up out of the water every time!




And, on the very few rainy days we have, the living room turns into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Karlee is Donald, I am Mickie, and Madelyn is Pluto (because she crawls like a dog - Karlee's words, not mine!). It is so much fun watching Madelyn scoot after Karlee and already try to do everything she does. I am definitely going to have my work cut out for me when she starts walking!

New School for the Summer

Karlee will start Indian Pines Country Day School in the Fall. It's a 5 day a week program. I'm not sure she is going to like going to school 5 days a week but she needs to get used to it some time. The school offers a summer program that is 3 days a week for 8 weeks. I thought it may be a good idea to introduce Karlee to a new school at 3 day intervals rather than being out an entire summer and then starting a new school that will meet 5 days in a row.

The summer program started yesterday. I've been telling Karlee about her new school for a while. We even went by there last week for Karlee to see it and play on the playground. I walked her to the door yesterday and she went in with the rest of the kids. She got a little skittish when the teacher started talking to her but it didn't last long. Everyone headed out to the playground and Karlee took off. She never looked back and didn't even realize I slipped away to the car and sat and watched her play for a little while.






I picked Karlee up on my lunch break and she wasn't ready to leave yet. The teacher (Miss Katherine) said she did great and was really smart. Always good to hear that! I had picked us up lunch and we headed to the airport for a quick picnic before Chip's mom met us to take Karlee back to her house. It was fun hearing Karlee tell me about her day and about some of her new friends. She talked about Camille a lot because she was a previous Parkway friend!

I'm excited about what she'll learn at this new school. The summer program is pretty much play time and art projects related to books they are reading. I'm hoping it's a fun experience for Karlee so she will be excited about the real school session starting in the Fall.

7 months

In the blink of an eye, Madelyn is 7 months old. She hit this mark last Saturday. I know I say this every month, but time is just flying by. I want her to stay little for a while since she's my last baby. There's just nothing like the smell of a baby, baby coos and giggles, and just plain ole cuddling. She is just like her sister when it comes to picture taking though - complete stone faced. So, I'll just take pics of her back side rolls!




We have had a few milestones this month. Madelyn is finally taking a bottle from me!!!! We are down to one nursing session a day. I'm only pumping to relieve pressure so the milk production is starting to really decrease. I'm at the point where I'm ready for my body to be mine again (and fit into a normal bra size!). Madelyn is taking between 6 and 8 ounces each feeding. She's also on stage 2 baby food twice a day, puffs, and yogurt melts (which we now have to share with her jealous big sister). Food feeding time is quite messy. Madelyn wants to grab the spoon and feed herself. At home, I fight it and keep the spoon myself. But, on a boat where we can just dip her in water to wash off, she can grab all she wants!




We are attempting the sippy cup. Madelyn hasn't quite got the gist of it yet. She prefers to chew on the handle! She is finally taking formula so to throw water in there too is just a little too much change right now. And, water is cold and she likes her bottle really, really warm (almost hot).




I would LOVE to say that Madelyn is finally sleeping through the night, BUT she's not. Crying it out definitely doesn't work for her. I have stopped swaddling and her sleep seems to be getting better. The first two nights of no swaddle were rough. She wasn't really swaddled that much anyway these days. Just her hands were wrapped and the bottom of her legs and feet hung out the bottom of the blanket! She now rolls to her tummy the minute I put her in bed and grabs her bear lovie to cuddle. The last week hasn't been bad. I'll take 8:30-3:30, feed for 20 minutes, then sleep again until 6:30 any day over the several wake up times a night. She sleeps until 7:30-8:00 after feeding at 3:30 on the days I don't work.

The little munchkin is starting to creep. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth. Her facial expression says I really want to get somewhere and then she just falls on her tummy and rolls to where she wants to go. She's a little steam roller! My house is not ready for a crawler. Karlee has small toys and game pieces all over the place. Madelyn will grab whatever is in front of her in the blink of an eye. She's pretty dang fast. Last week, she grabbed a piece of watermelon off Karlee's plate and had it just about swallowed before I saw it. She obviously liked it because she got MAD when I moved Karlee's plate out of her reach!





Madelyn doesn't have any teeth yet but I think they are close. She is chewing, drooling,and cranky. She has also learned how to make sounds so her tongue is constantly out making blowing noises.



I pulled the doorway jumper out of the attic a few weeks ago and it's an instant favorite (for me and Madelyn)! I can just hang this anywhere I am and Madelyn is content for quite a while. It has made folding laundry and cooking dinner a lot easier. She spends a lot of time in the exersaucer too but this is easier to drag upstairs while holding a basket of clothes on one hip and Madelyn on the other hip!