No photos please

This is how I found her sleeping a few nights ago!

We have a babbler!

Please excuse Peppers annoying squeaky toy at the end (worst purchase I ever made)

I love my daddy!!

Maddie loves her daddy so much! This is what a typically night of them together would be:

a little TV time (probably sports center)





maybe a little nap in daddy's arms




bath time



Seriously, I have only given her one bath since she was born! The little turtle is a toy that squirts water (right now I think Alex may enjoy playing with it a little more then her.)

Alex is such a great father and I am so blessed to be able to share mine and Maddie's life with him!

Don't have a lot of time to write today, but wanted to share this picture with you all!

Family Photo

On Madeline's first day at daycare last week they requested a family picture of us to put up on one of the walls in the nursery. This made me realize that we had not taken one since Christmas! We take so many pictures of just her and I forget to get any with us in them. I think we have more pictures of her with Pepper than with me.

So this last weekend I made Alex where a solid color shirt and had his sister (thanks Lindsay) take a picture of all of us - enjoy! Now if we could just get Maddie to look at the camera - maybe next month!

New skills!

It seems everyday now Maddie is surprising us with new things she can do! Sunday night she was on the kitchen counter helping me make dinner and all of a sudden she starting bringing her toy to her mouth to chew on. I was so excited and so glad I was able to get a few pictures before she got bored (sorry the quality is not that good.)

She also is so much more vocal every day - I am going to have Alex try to get some of our "conversations" on video camera so I can post a clip.

And I forgot to try to get her weight last night but will try to remember to tonight!

3 Months Old!

Madeline turned three months old yesterday and I can't believe how fast they have gone by! I also can't believe how much she is growing - she has already moved up to size 2 diapers!! We don't go back to the doctor until next month so I am going to try weigh her tonight to get a rough estimate of how much she has gained this last month. Until then, enjoy this mini-photo session we had last night, you can really see the rolls she is starting to get (and her big feet that we have to get size 6-12 month socks for)!

(Oh, and unfortunately Maddie and dad's night together wasn't so exciting - I ended up not leaving the house until 7:30 and she fell asleep shortly after that. I will have to make sure to go out earlier next time so they can have some more play time together!)

Look what I found!

That's right, Madeline has found her hands!! She has not quite figured out how to suck on just her fingers, but all this week she has been putting her fist in her mouth and sucking and slurping away. She also has been much more vocal this week. Wednesday night we had a 15-20 minute conversation on how much she liked her daycare and her teachers. She now is making two-syllable coos as well!

The other picture is Madeline sleeping one morning after she woke up early and I put her in bed with me to feed her - she wasn't quite ready to wake up yet.

Today we had Maddie's three month photo session and the pictures turned out sooo amazing. I was worried that we would not be able to get any of her smiling (since we can't seem to at home.) But she was fabulous and we were able to get so many good pictures of her cute little one dimpled smile. We don't get the prints for at least a week but I will try to figure out a way to post them when I get them.

Tonight I am going out to dinner for a girlfriend's bachelorette party so Madeline and her daddy are going to have their first night alone together - story to follow this week!

Swimming

A few weeks ago while we were in Door County Madeline was able to go swimming with her daddy! The condo we stayed at has an indoor pool so we decided to let her try it out. She really enjoys baths but she wasn't quite sure about the pool. She didn't exactly love it, but she didn't hate it either (no crying or screaming). She and Alex were in for about 3 minutes or so before she seemed to be getting a little cold and we took her out.

And this bathing suit was just too cute to pass up! The good thing is that is a 9 month size so she will be able to wear it all summer. (for that beach trip, right Frissi?)

Cuteness

A little bit of cuteness on such a nasty, snowy day!

Success!!

I was finally able to get a picture of her smiling! It's not the greatest angle, but it's the best I got. I will try to get more this next weekend.

My first day back to work was good -only a few tears when we first dropped her off this morning. The first thing I did when I got in to work was set a picture of Madeline as my desktop image so I could stare at it all day. A few girlfriends also took me out to lunch to gossip and take my mind off of not being home! Maddie had a great time with her Grandma and had the biggest smile on her face when I picked her up.

Promise to post more later this week (I am a little tired tonight since I didn't get my nap in today)

Guess who . . .

slept for 10 hours last night! That's right, Madeline gave her mama the best birthday present ever - a full nights sleep!

I turn the big 3-0 today and it's amazing how much has changed since last year. I honestly didn't even realize it was getting close to my birthday until Alex mentioned it. Grandma is going to babysit tonight so that we can go out to dinner at my favorite seafood restaurant, Devon. Other than that it is going to a low key day just playing with Maddie.

Today I do want to give a big thank you to my mom, Cindy, for being such a strong, wonderful woman. Today more than ever I appreciate everything you did for me thirty years ago today - I love you mom!

Brooke

P.S. She really does smile all day, but every time I bring out the camera she gives this blank stare. I am going to try to get some sniper shots of her smiling with Alex's help today.

Enjoying story time . . .

with her daddy!

Brooke

Sad news . . .

Today I told Madeline that I would a have to go back to work on Monday. She was not very happy.

Seriously, this is the face she gives me sometimes when I put her down, and who can live with that? Looks like I will have to spend a little extra time spoiling her over the next few days (sorry Frissi).

Guest Blogger Today!

That's right, it's Brooke, otherwise known as mom! I figured that since dad works so hard all day the least I could do was take a break from our nap/TV schedule to give you a little update on Madeline. My daily schedule will be changing shortly as I have to return to work next Monday, who new twelve weeks could go by so fast!! On one hand I am excited about returning to a regular schedule which includes getting dressed and putting on make up everyday as well as a return to having regular adult conversations (sorry Maddie and Pepper, but it just isn't the same talking to you two all day.) On the other hand I am going to miss being able to snuggle and play with Madeline throughout the day.

Today we visited the daycare that Maddie will be at three days a week and while there they mentioned that we could bring her in for a few hours this week if we wanted to see how she adapted. And while the offer sounded intriguing it really made me realize how much my life will change again next week! While I know she will have a great time at daycare, the thought of not being there to see every smile or hear all her coos just breaks my heart. :-( I know she will have so many more "first" moments and that I will not be there for some of them. This next week I am going to spend a little more time just staring at her and especially kissing those adorable cheeks!

Speaking of cheeks and smiles, Maddie is such a happy baby! We stopped by work to visit with my co-workers this afternoon and everyone could not get over how good she was and how much she smiled. It is one of the best feelings in the world when I look down at her and she gives me the biggest one dimpled grin. She is so close to laughing out loud and every time she smiles I am just waiting to her that magical sound!

According to my mother she is definitely my daughter because she does not like to be laying down at all! If I lay her in her boppy pillow she will grunt and do "crunches" until I prop her up with more pillow so she is sitting up. She is so alert and wants to be able to look around at everything. We just ordered a Bumbo seat for her and I can not wait for it to arrive - I will have Alex post pictures once we have it!

Just a quick update on our trip Georgia a few weeks ago, Maddie had her first flight and she did fantastic! She slept for both the flight down and the flight back home. I was a little worried on the way back since I was traveling by my self, but luckily my mom was able to get a pass to help me get through security and walk us to the gate. While in GA Maddie got to meet the rest of my family including my brother and his wife and her great-grandparents and many, many more friends and family. I included a picture of her with both Frissi & Pops (my moms parents)and MawMaw (my dads mom). My mom hosted a meet and greet for Maddie and I wanted to thank everyone that came by to meet her! She is going to grow up having so many people that care about her both here and in Georgia.

Maddie also got to go to her first NHL game! We returned as a family to the place where Alex and I meet to see a Thrashers game. A special thank you to Colin for getting us the tickets to the game! In typically Maddie fashion she slept the entire game and only woke up once when the Thrashers scored and an air horn went off in the arena (luckily they one scored once).

Lastly, I was able to have my beloved Chick-fil-A numerous times while we were home!!! This is one of the things I miss most about not living in the south! My grandparents also gave Alex a special treat by smoking a Boston Butt for us and also teaching him how to make their famous cheese straws. Pops really cracked the whip on Alex while making the cheese straws but they turned out great! In his next post I will let him explain how good the Boston Butt was - I unfortunately did not get to have much as Maddie is not a fan of barbecue sauce.

This has become a much longer post than I planned so I will wrap things up for now. Look forward to some more great pictures later this week - we are working on setting up a playdate with Maddie's new friends Olivia and Amelia!

***Sorry, I don't know how to put the pictures in order, but the second picture was Ninnie's poor attempt at swaddling!! And the first one I had to include because she is just so stinkin' cute!!

Team Beck Out