Remembering what sleep is....

This past Friday was the night Derek and I have waited for since June 18th! We put Maddie down about 9:45 and we were in bed around 10:30. Around 4:00am I woke up in panic. All thoughts went through my head as I grabbed our video monitor; did the batteries die, what is wrong with Madelyn, is she breathing, etc. As I grabbed the monitor there she was still in her crib just sleeping away. I figured  any minute now she would be waking up without a doubt so tried to stay a wake for a little bit. Next thing I knew I was waking up at 7:00am and still no cry from Maddie. It wasn't until 7:15 she finally woke up and successfully hit the big milestone of sleeping through the night for 9 1/2 hours!!! I can really say I forgot what those nights were like, lol! Much to our surprise she surprised us again on Saturday night and went down at 9:30 and slept until 8am!!! She has continued to sleep through the night since Friday so keep your fingers crossed that we are on happy, SLEEPING family from here on out :)

This weekend we had Derek's family in town for a couples wedding shower and cookout for Whitney and Andy. It was great to spend Saturday evening with great friends and family. Sunday we went to Derek's Aunt and Uncle's pool and attempted to see what Maddie thought of the pool. When her toes first hit the water she started crying, then after a few minutes of trying over and over she didn't mind her feet in the pool. We decided it was to cold to put her in all the way yet but can't wait for next summer when we can take her swimming!

We have been trying to finalize plans for Madelyn's care for when I return to work. Derek's Y is in the process of starting a daycare for staff children but the date isn't set for when it will be ready. They hope by the end of September. This of course is wonderful and she will be so close to Derek's office. However, this will put us in a bind for the mean time until it starts. We have been talking with a few different people to come to the house to care for Maddie. Today we selected the girl who will watch her for the 2 1/2 weeks until it is ready hopefully. We both really like her and she did great with Maddie. She is going to come for a few hours a few days before I go back to work to help ease the transition. 

Supporting Grandpa's work with the shirt he gave me!

Early morning family walk:)

Do you think I have to many rolls??

Seriously mom you are going back to work soon, does this new girl know how to give me milk??

I don't know about this Dad!

Attempt at family picture at the shower, Maddie loves her hands in her mouth!

Today Maddie had her 2 month check-up. She continued the trend of great weight gain, haha and now is 14 lbs! She is also 25 inches long. Her Dr. said she is off the chart in length! Of course it seems we are going to have a tall girl  but we all know it can all change and she may slow down later! She had to get two shots and an oral liquid vaccine. It was so sad to watch her scream and cry real tears! When Derek held her after to calm her down he had a wet spot on his shirt from all her tears:(

Before shots

After shots :(

All smiles:)

Tomorrow Maddie will be 2 months old. These have been the fastest two months ever. However, then to think back to her being born already almost seems like a blur that was forever ago. She has started to have such a personality. She loves to smile and now recognizes Derek's and my voice. We love smiling and talking to her and getting her big smile back. She is such a happy baby who loves to smile! She has learned a new trick in the past day. She has figured out if we lay her on her blanket and walk away or into the other room from her she will begin to fake cry. Then when we walk back over to her she smiles. It is like she is saying "ha it worked they came back" Of course this was perfect timing for her trick as her Dad is out of town this weekend on a bachelor party trip so I of course will be at Maddies beck and call, haha!

Last week my good friend Kara came to stay with us for 5 days. We loved having her here and she got a lot of time with Maddie As always I loved having the company and extra hands here. We have had a lot of visitors but Kara was our last one for awhile. It was strange to not have to rush and get the guest room ready for our next visitor. However, it will be nice for us to have some time as a family before I go back to work.

We found out this week that Derek's Y is definitely starting the staff daycare. They are working on getting all the licensing completed. We are so happy that Maddie will just be down the hall from Derek,s office. Though this will make the transition a little easier on me, I am so jealous Derek will get to go visit her whenever he wants. I have informed him we will be meeting for lunch often!

Maddie's new favorite spot to relax and nap!

Maddie with Kara, in her new cute outfit Kara bought her:)

First time trying out her bumbo seat!

Smiles!

One Popular Girl!

Miss Madelyn has become one popular little girl. I think the longest she has gone since being born is a week without going to visit or having a visitor to see her. This past week Aunt Sue, Elly and Kerra came to spend the week with us. It was so much fun and hard to see them leave. It was also very nice to have all the helpful hands. This week I started running again. With Aunt Sue here Elly and I were able to go to the gym almost everyday. I hadn't realized how much I missed running and it really made me feel like I had myself back to get a good workout each day. On top of that we of course did a lot of shopping, getting out around Charlotte and lots of snuggle time with Maddie. It has always been hard having my family far away but even harder now with Maddie. 


It seems in the past week Madelyn has changed so much. We all have noticed how she has grown and is getting so big. She also now really notices voices and laughs a lot when you talk to her. She seems to really laugh when her daddy talks to her. She also is a babbling machine. She talks to us all the time. The last new thing is how strong her neck has become. When we hold her she now can hold her head up and look around. We started the tummy time and she seems to only like it for a minute and then starts to get fussy so we will pick her up. Hopefully as she gets stronger she will like it more.


 With all the company we have had and how much we have had her out and about we are truly lucky to have such an amazing baby. She really only cries when she is hungry and is such a happy baby most of the time. There is nothing better than walking into her room at 3am so tired and then seeing her smiling back up at you in her crib. I am really struggling that it is August and will have to go back to work next month. Though I am extremely grateful to have 12 weeks with her I really don't know how I will ever leave her all day :( 

Snuggle time with Elly

I guess I will sleep so daddy can play these boring games!

All set for a morning walk