Happy Birthday Jenny!

Happy birthday Jenny! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Monday was Andrew's 27th birthday. I didn't get a chance to blog because we were traveling back from Roanoke. But, I wanted to let everyone know how much he means to me and Madeline. Andrew has been an amazing husband for the past 3 1/2 years. He is more than I could ever have dreamed of. He is sweet, caring, sensitive, fun, exciting and I love spending every minute with him that I can. It has been even more amazing to watch him be a wonderful father to Madeline. I knew that he would be a great father. But, once again, he is even better than I had imagined. He loves spending time with his little girl. He changes diapers (and the diaper pail) without a complaint. He is so excited to come home from work to spend time with his little girl. He sings to her. He rocks her. He reads to her. He shows her his fish tank. They are going to be great buddies. :) So, thanks for being so wonderful, Andrew. I love you with all my heart and I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Madeline's New Toy

Madeline got a new toy from her cousin Will. She has really started to grab things lately So, she loves this new exersaucer. We have to put a blanket behind her because she is still a little small for it. But, she loves the toys. And I already know all of the songs on it very well. :) Thank you Will for letting us use your exersaucer!

Fun Times in Roanoke

As you can see, Madeline did not have a lack of attention in Roanoke this past weekend. Madeline fit very nicely on mom's ottoman so we could all watch her play. All of her great grandparents came over for a visit on sunday afternoon.

These are my dad's parents.


These are my mom's parents.


And a good family friend came over to visit as well with her daughter and grandaughter.

Even though my brother, Nathaniel, couldn't come into town. We gave him a call on Skype.


And of course, Madeline loved her time with her Pawpaw...


and Granny B.

Krisha' s Baby Shower

This past weekend, I had the chance to celebrate with friends at another baby shower. Little Baby Chase Whited is due to arrive in the middle of April. Krisha is such a beautiful pregnant lady. She had the cutest little belly I have ever seen. Her sister, Renu, threw the shower for her at her house in Roanoke.

I love all these baby showers because it means that I get a mini reunion with all my friends from college.


As you can see, we always have lots of fun together :)


And it is really fun that Madeline gets to join in all the fun now too. She loves her Aunt Jenny. :)

Madeline's Aquarium

Madeline's Nana (Andrew's mom) got her this aquarium before she was born. We recently got it out and put it next to her changing table and she loves it! Thanks Nana!

Happy Election Day!

Madeline participated in her first election day yesterday. The results didn't turn out as we had hoped. But, we weren't really surprised. At least Madeline got to wear her new cherry hat that her Granny B made her! :) By the way, can you figure out which sticker is Andrew's? :)

Talking in The Morning

Madeline is such a happy girl in the mornings. (Well actually, she's happy all day long.) She is really starting to talk a lot more and using lots of new sounds. She is a very social girl. :)

Skypin' It

We just discovered the wonderful world of Skype and Web Cams. My mom wanted a way to see Madeline when she wasn't around. So, we have been talking to her almost everyday on Skype. It is so much fun. Madeline has also "talked" to both of my grandparents and Tabitha and Jude Lookabill as well. It makes such a difference to be able to see someone when you are talking to them. Madeline might learn that her Granny is a big head on the computer screen. But, at least she gets to see her. :)

The Cavanaughs

Our good friends, The Cavanaughs, came over last weekend to hang out. We played a little Guitar Hero and some Settlers until 2:30 in the morning. They are always so much fun to hang out with.


But, while we were playing Guitar Hero, Ian decided to knock over his wife, Kim's, Oreo Milkshake. As you can see, it made quite the mess.

But, no need to fear. They had let us borrow their steam cleaner sometime before Madeline was born. (We had good intentions to use it. But, it never really happened.) So, Ian, whipped out the steam cleaner and got to work cleaning it.

Madeline said, "Silly Ian! Why did you go and do a thing like that?"

I have to say, I was very impressed with how well the stain came out. You can't even see it now. So, thanks, Ian, for adding some excitement into our lives! :)

Just Some Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our "sweet" growing girl.

The Stats

I was so proccupied by the mean shots Madeline got that I forgot to mention how much she is growing. She now weighs 11 lbs 9 oz. and is about 23 1/2 inches long. This puts her around the 70th percentile. She is a very healthy, happy and growing little girl.

Shots

For Madeline's 2 month birthday, we took her to the doctor. (I know, what wonderful parents we are. All the kids will be jealous of our party planning skills.) She had to get 5 vaccines! She got 2 in each leg and then one orally. I don't know why they can't all be oral. Because, she really liked that one. But, the shots in her legs were a different story. She screamed and cried and looked so pitiful each time she stuck out her lower lip. We finally calmed her down a little bit and she slept on the way home. She slept for most of the evening. But, when she woke up, she was not very happy. She was very sore and fussy. I think she started feeling better around 10pm because she played with Andrew's parents a little bit. She has been one sleepy girl ever since. She went to bed around midnight and slept until 7. She ate and then we slept in a little longer until 8. She woke up for a brief period and has been sleeping for the past 2 hours. But, she seems to be back to her normal happy self this morning when she is awake. So, I guess we survived our first vaccination experience. It wasn't very fun. But, I guess we better get used to it. She gets shots every time we go to the doctor now until she is 18 months old :(

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Madeline is 2 months old today! I can't believe how time is flying. But, each day just gets better and better. Madeline is learning so much each day.

She doesn't really like tummy time too much. But, if she has her Boppy and her dad to look at, then she will put up with it for a little bit. We are working on extending her tummy time so she can work her muscles a little more.


She is a great sleeper. During the day she will sleep in her crib, swing, floor, bouncy seat or my arms. At night, we swaddler her all up and then put her in her crib. We are on our second velcro swaddler now because the velcro wore out of the first one. As soon as she is wrapped up, she knows that it is time to go to sleep and she will just lay in her crib until she falls asleep. She usually goes to sleep around 10:30 or 11:00 and then sleeps until 5 in the morning. Then I feed her and put her back down until about 7 or 8. But, this past Wednesday she slept all the way to 6:30. That was her first full night of sleep! Although it is exciting that she is on the verge of sleeping through the night. I have to say that it is a little sad. I actually really enjoy that sweet time in the middle of the night. Everything is so quiet and peaceful.


Madeline is quite the happy girl. She smiles almost all day long. She smiles when you kiss her feet, when you talk to her, when Miss Elephant plays with her, pretty much all the time. It is so fun to play with her. She has also begun playing and interacting with toys more. She loves the toys in her bouncy seat, Miss Elephant and pretty much anything that makes noise. She will bat at them with her hands and try to get them.

Madeline loves to talk to people now too. She will coo and smile back.

She really loves when her daddy brings her McDonald's home for lunch :) Andrew comes home for lunch about 3 or 4 times a week. It is so sweet to see him loving on his little girl.

She got to use her high chair for the first time last week while we ate dinner with my parents. She is a very social little girl and likes to see what is going on. So, we thought that maybe she would like to sit up high where she could be a part of our dinner. She enjoyed it a lot. I think she is getting a little curious about all the food we are putting in our mouths.

It is amazing to watch her learn each day. Everyday is so exciting. So, in a way, I want time to keep going so we can see the next exciting thing she is going to do. But, on the other hand, I wish that I could make time stand still so that she doesn't grow up. I just keep thinking that my mom used to watch me do these new things. And now, I am all grown up and have a baby of my own. I can't imagine Madeline all grown up with a baby of her own. But, I know it is going to happen. Motherhood is so bittersweet. But, worth every second.