The White House: Busy House

It's hard to believe Gabriel is already almost 4 weeks old. We thought time went fast with Madelyn but I think it goes even faster with number two! The days are crazy and of course the work load has certainly increased, however, we were very lucky to have some great guests that have joined us to offer a helping hand. My dad came out to visit a few days before Gabriel. The best part of dad being here was the fact that Madelyn was able to spend some great one on one time with him. The weather was gorgeous so they spent a lot of time playing outside which was heaven for Madelyn! Madelyn also helped Grandpa plant some flowers, and leave it to our diva to find the only pink think at Lowes and get Grandpa to get her a pink Minnie watering can, haha! Dad was so helpful and not sure what we would have done without him!

After dad left my mom flew in for 10 days. Anybody who knows mom knows how awesome and efficient she is at getting things done. She helped get caught up on all the house chores, did lots of cooking and we even ventured out on a few outings with two kids (which was no easy task, ha) Not sure how I would have gotten anything done without her here. Madelyn and her Nana are two peas in a pod and I love seeing them spend time together. The best was we got to spend not only mom's birthday but Mother's Day together with her! It wasn't the most exciting birthday for mom but meant the world to us to celebrate with her!

Next, Derek's parents came in for 5 days! We had a great week and lots of fun memories. While they were here we had lots of pool time (Madelyn playing in her outdoor inflatable pool), a picnic at the park, Madelyn got to go strawberry picking with Nanny and Poppy and of course more great cooking! We loved having them here and it's hard knowing they aren't just 2 hours away anymore! We are very thankful for everything they did for us! The last two days of the week our good friends Dana, Dan and their son Grady came for memorial weekend. It meant a lot to us they drove the long drive and we loved catching up. Madelyn LOVED having a buddy to play with for a few days. Thanks to Derek's parents we also got a night out with Dana and Dan while they babysat.

Many people have said you have to be so sick of company after 3 1/2 weeks of straight company but Derek and I loved nothing more than filling our house with friends and family! After everyone left the quietness of the house made us both sad. We are so thankful for all the helping hands and memories! Gabriel and Madelyn both hope all their grandparents will be back soon! Now that everyone is gone we are excited to start getting adjusted to being a family of 4:)

Updates on the kids:
Gabriel is doing wonderful! He had a check up last week and was already up to 10lbs. We are so blessed to have another great baby. He rarely fusses or cries unless he is hungry or you are changing his diaper. As for sleeping he is till sleeping a lot and most nights goes about 3-4 hours between feedings. We definitely have noticed when he is awake he is starting to enjoy looking around at things especially lights.

Madelyn has surprised us on how well she has done with the addition of Gabe. She of course has had a few jealous moments when she wants to be held if we're holding the baby but for the most part has done really well. Just the other day Gabe was crying while in his swing. Without knowing I was watching, Madelyn walked over and turned on the music on his swing and said "there you go Gabriel" to make him better. She also has impressed us with her talking the past two weeks. She is using 4-5 word sentences all the time now.
We started her in swim lessons a few weeks ago and this past Saturday she swam by herself for the first time (with her back floaty on of course)! We also started back with the potty training again today! We will see how it goes!