Randoms

A few things I forgot to mention yesterday -

Maddie's favorite new "babble" is da, da, da, da, da. Alex is convinced she is talking about him but since she says the same thing to me and the dog and all her toys, I think it is just another new sound she has learned to make.

The also really loves to growl which is the funniest thing! She will let out this really throaty sounding growl and just grin at herself.

She is also laughing much more which we love! Last night Alex and I were able to get her giggling for a few minutes which is the first time anything other than Pepper has made her laugh. It is such the sweetest sound.

Maddie can also now get from sitting to down on her tummmy by leaning forward and rotating her hips behind her. I'm afraid that crawling is not too far in her future!

And lastly I wanted to share a few pictures with you for the weekend. As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Zac Brown Band. Many years ago, he used to play every Thursday night in a local Smyrna bar called Dixie Tavern. It was shortly after I had graduated college so needless to say we were there every week.



It is also the only time that my brother and I have lived close together since high school and I had so much fun getting to see and hang out with him one night every week. I look back on those days and wish that we lived closer together so I could have that again.

Last spring he was here opening for Keith Urban so of course I had to go see him. It was a few weeks after I found out I was pregnant and when I saw this I knew I had to get it.






I have been just waiting for her to be big enough to wear it and she finally can! So that is what we will be doing tonight - me with a cold beer and Maddie with warm formula.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend! And please keep in mind all the families whose loved ones are fighting oversees or who have lost their lives while fighting for our freedom.

New stats and afternoon at the zoo

Madeline had a busy few days, on Monday she went for her six month check up. Here are her new stats:

weight - 15 lbs, 13 ozs (50th percentile)
length - 25 3/4 in (50th percentile
head - 42 cm (50th percentile)

The doctor said she is right on track with everything and may even be a little advanced in her sitting skills! Our little over achiever since the beginning!

The doctor also detected a small heart murmur so she is having us go to a cardiologist just to make sure it is nothing serious. She said many kids have them and that we should not be worried. Knowing that she is not worried about it helps a lot, but laying in bed last night I started to freak out a little. I feel much better about it this morning and I know everything is going to be alright, it just sounds like such a scary thing. We have our appointment on June 15th and I will definitely keep you posted once we go.

We also got the go ahead to move her up to stage two foods, because baby girl likes to eat! Over the next month we can also let her start trying to eat Cheerios and Gerber puffs if she is interested and we can also try a sippy cup. She always seems very interested in drinking out of our glasses so I'm hoping she will take the sippy cup.

And baby girl now has her second tooth coming in! Both bottom, front teeth are starting to make an appearance.



Also, this last Sunday was a gorgeous (and hot) day and we decided to not waste it! So we packed Maddie up and headed off to the zoo! She enjoyed it about as much as any six month old could, meaning she did not fall asleep the entire time we were there.



Unfortunately we weren't there as long as we wanted to be. At one point she started getting fussy and as I was going through the diaper bag to make her a bottle I realized that I had left all the formula at home! Uugghhh!! I was so frustrated with myself. We gave Madeline a bottle of just water which did help because it was so hot out, but we had to leave shortly there after.

We did get to see Maddie's friend Livy though for a few minutes! Livy is the daughter of Brittany who Alex and I both work with. Our due dates were a month apart so we go to experience all the "joys" of pregnancy together. Livy was born just six weeks after Maddie and this is the first time they have been together that one of them is not asleep.





That's all for now!

Funk

I've been in kind of a funk for the last few days. Work has been really stressful and it's been just a tad too cold to take Maddie outside for any long period of time so we have been stuck indoors. Also, due to both work and other obligations we have not spent an evening together as a family in well over a week.

Alex and I actual both have the ENTIRE weekend off!! Tonight Maddie is staying with Grandma and Papa so that Alex and I can go to the going away party for two good friends of ours. And Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be gorgeous so hopefully we will be able to get out and do something fun together as a family. I need a lot more of this to cheer me up and get me out of this funk.

Playing the Piano

This some times gets us a whole half hour of time to get things done around the house (or just to eat dinner).









Six months stats coming tomorrow!

Peek-a-Boo

Peek-a-Boo has become one of Maddie favorite games!

One half year!

Where has the last 30 days gone? It seems like I was just writing Madeline's fifth month post yesterday. I still can't believe that she is already one half year old.

We have had a lot of milestones this month, but the most important one is that Maddie is now getting her first tooth!! Alex noticed it Friday night as he was letting her gnaw on his knuckle. Which is perfect, because we just got her favorite teething toy from Ninnie and Buddy.



Yes, that is a jigger, don't judge! It's the perfect size for her to hold and the cool metal feels good on her gums. So far we have been really lucky and have not had much drooling or crankiness. We have although had a lot more dirty diapers which has not been fun.

She also had her first ear infection this month and we have learned that no matter what they may flavor medicine, she does not enjoy it!





We are lucky if we get half the dosage down her, even with blowing in her face. I know, everyone outside of my family is thinking "What, blowing in her face?", but trust me it works (normally)

Most importantly to me, Maddie started sleeping through the night this month! Every night!! (watch, I just jinxed myself and she will be up all night tonight) She goes to sleep around 7:30 at night and sleep through to around 6:00 in the morning.



She has also started taking 6 ounces at most feedings, although since I have packed up all the larger bottles we have to make a 4 oz bottle followed up by a 2 oz bottle.

We don't go the the doctor until next week, so I do not have any new stats yet. I did cheat last week though and weigh her when I took her in for the ear infection. Our little peanut was 15 lbs, 1 ozs which is around the 35th percentile. And finally, here are a few of her 6 month pictures:







And I'm sorry for the length of time between posts, since we thought we were moving a few weeks ago we had the Internet at our house disconnected, so I am having to find time at work to post. Some days I just don't get the chance!

Bedtime at our House

She's still not to sure about the toys that squirt water!

Weekend update (part 2)

Sunday was a gorgeous day with lots for us to celebrate. Not only was Maddie being dedicated at church that morning but it was also my mom's birthday, my brothers first wedding anniversary and my first Mother's Day!!

For the dedication, Madeline was going to wear my mom's christening gown, but my mom was such a tiny baby that it was too small for her. So instead she wore one of the smocked gowns that my mom had made for her.

At my church, all the babies that were born in the previous year are all dedicated on Mother's Day. The service was conducted by Dr. Joel, who has been pastor at the church all through out my childhood. At the service we, as parents, "make a promise to the Lord to do everything within our power to raise the child in a godly way, prayerfully until he or she can make a decision on his or her own to follow God." My grandparents were also able to be there for the service.

Afterwards we were able to get a few family photos:











I'm so upset that I did not get a picture with all of us together. We took these before anybody else showed up at the house and forgot to have someone else take a group picture.

My mom made us a wonderful lunch of homemade lasagna, salad and veggies. And being as classy and country as we are, we had to celebrate my mom's birthday with a candle and singing happy birthday.



And we were so happy to have my cousin Erica there to celebrate with us. She was in the hospital last time we were home so she had not seen Maddie since January. She was in very critical condition and in ICU for a few weeks and I'm so grateful and thankful that she is okay and was able to join us.



All and all, even with Maddie not feeling the best, we had a wonderful trip home. Oh, that is until the return flight back. Remember when I said she had been great so far on all the flights? Yea, not this one. She was okay for about the first half hour and even fell asleep for a short nap, but the last hour of the flight all she did was scream!! It was terrible. We were trying everything to try and get her to calm down but she was having none of it. I felt so bad for the people sitting around us, but they felt equally bad for us because nothing we could do would comfort her. I was almost in tears myself, but finally Alex was able to calm her down and she fell asleep for the last 15 minutes or so of the flight.

I took her to the doctor Monday morning and turns out, she has an ear infection! Poor things was probably in so much pain with all the pressure on the flight. She is now on medication for the next week but we can already tell that she is feeling so much better!

Weekend update (part 1)

Has it really been almost a week since I blogged?!

The weekend started off on a not so good not. Thursday evening Maddie felt a little warm to us, but we thought it might just be because it was so hot in our condo that evening. That was until 2:30 in the morning when she woke up crying and was burning up. We took her temperature and it was 102.7!!! Poor baby had to have felt so bad! This was her first fever and I had no idea at what temperature I was supposed to call the doctor for, so just to be safe we called. The on call doctor told us that as long as she was eating and was able to go back to sleep she would be okay. We gave her some Motrin and stripped her to her diaper and she was already asleep before we got off the phone. For the rest of the evening she alternated from sleeping in my arms to in the bed between Alex and I, but she was constantly waking up and crying. Needless to say, we did not get much sleep for the night.

Friday morning we had a 9am flight to Georgia, so we were up pretty early and Maddie's fever had come down and even though we continued to give her medicine throughout the day she seemed to be feeling much better. She did awesome on the flight and entertained the people in the few seats around us. Once we landed, our first stop was, of course, Chick-fil-A for lunch - I can not wait until they have one in Chicago!! After that, we went to my parents house and had a pretty low key evening. Frissi & Pops came to visit and Alex was able to get a few sniper shots of Frissi with Maddie.





They also treated us to dinner that night at Sprayberry's barbecue. Of course, it doesn't come close to comparing to Frissi Boston Butt, but Alex was able to have his bbq pork for the weekend.

Madeline's fever spiked on Friday evening, so we ended up not doing much on Saturday either. Throughout the day she was able to take lots of naps with Buddy which I'm sure helped her feel much better. Cousins Asa and Zoe came over to visit and we also tried out the johnny jumparoo and she wasn't quiet sure what to do with it. She normally loves to "jump" if you are holding her on your lap, so I'm sure if she had felt better she would have loved it.







My brother Paul, and his wife Brittany we able to come over from Birmingham for the weekend as well. They spoiled Maddie and got her the cutest outfits, including this bathing suit, with shoes and sunglasses to match. It will be perfect for the baby pool that I will be getting once we are in the house.







Sunday was a very special day, and I will tell you all about it tomorrow . . .

Also, I have gotten so many compliments on Maddie's dress from the last post and I wanted to thank her Aunt Susie for it. She picked it up in Mexico while on her recent cruise and it is such a beautiful dress!

As promised!

Since I have not posted any new pictures since Saturday, I'm going a little overboard here!

Tuesday afternoon was gorgeous here in Chicago so after work Alex and I took Pepper and Maddie on a walk. Our condo is right next to the campus of Loyola and a few buildings down from us they have a great grassy area along the lake. There are buildings and fences along three sides and the lake on the other, so it is a perfect place to let Pepper run around and get some energy out. It also gave us the chance to have Maddie sit in the grass and play for a bit (oh, and pose for some pictures too)

At first she wasn't so sure






And quickly realized it wasn't so bad



Especially when she realized there were things she could put in her mouth



She got to play with Pepper



And Pepper got to play with her ball for a little bit



These are two of my favorite pictures from the day!





Big weekend ahead for us - tonight we will attend our buildings board meeting to see if we can get the issue with the insurance resolved and tomorrow morning we head out to Georgia to visit my family for the weekend. This will be Maddie's 3rd round trip flight and we hope everything goes as smoothly as it has the last two times. Sunday morning she will be dedicated at the church I grew up going to. I will have many pictures of the weekend to share next week!