Wordless Wednesday

First Cubs Game

Maddie and I went to her first Cubs game on Sunday and even though daddy had to work he was able to come hang out with us for a little bit.





It ended up being a lot colder and windier than I expected so we spent most of the day in the club hanging out with all Maddie's uncles and enjoying the fabulous Sunday brunch they had made (thanks, chefs!)

We left a little before the game was over just to try to beat the crowds and Maddie was so pooped from the exciting day that she fell asleep and slept the whole train ride home.



And yes, I did take my baby on public transportation and it was actually her third or fourth time. You can go ahead and nominate me now for the mother of the year award. Make sure to include that time that I laid my two week old daughter in the snow to get pictures of her after her first snowfall. Doesn't she look happy?



Sheesh, she was in a snowsuit AND I laid down a burp cloth so she wouldn't get wet! You'd think she would at least appreciate that right?

Working Those Abs

Look what Maddie has learned to do! Again, sorry for the poor quality of the picture but it was taken on my phone.

Just this weekend she has begun sitting!! It started with a few minutes Friday afternoon at daycare and I could not wait to show Alex once he got home from work that evening. Of course Maddie was so tired by then that she did not want to cooperate and this is what we ended up with.



Almost every picture had my hand reaching in to grab her before she hit the ground. Then Saturday we skyped Ninnie and Buddy and lo and behold, Maddie sat and visited with them for about 10 minutes. She has yet to play with any toys while she is sitting but I think she is still concentrating on balancing.

We had a pretty exciting day yesterday that I was going to tell you about but I thought this was a little more important.

Oh, and you will have to excuse the mess in out house, we are starting to pack for the big move. Our building has to approve the sell of our place which unfortunately can't take place until the board meeting on the 29th. So, our closing date has been moved back to May 3rd, which actually might be a good thing considering we have only packed four boxes, right?

5 months!

Our dear sweet Madeline Ruby,

You have only been in our lives for a few short months, yet we can not imagine our lives without you. The best part of our day is looking into your crib in the morning and seeing that split second as you recognize our faces and break out into the biggest smile possible. We hear it and say it everyday, but you are such a happy baby! It is brings us so much joy when we walk around with you in the baby bjorn and see the smiles that you can bring to strangers faces (and there are many.)

Everyday we can see the wonderment and amazement in your eyes as you discover new things. We are torn between watching this joy and also thinking into the future at all the things you have yet to discover. I constantly have to remind myself to take in and enjoy and remember every day with you. With baseball season beginning again this past week, we are both working longer hours (especially daddy) which makes us appreciate each second with you a little bit more.

This month you discovered your feet and now have a built in toy where ever you go. You especially like to do leg stretches while in the car - you will hold onto one foot with your hand and just pump it in and out. Your daddy and I like to watch this in the new mirror we got to so we can see you as we are driving.

You also learned how to roll over and seem so proud of yourself every time you do it. You're still working on getting it down and can get very frustrated when you can't quiet make it the whole way over. You give us your fake cry and fuss and this is when we call you "Miss Ruby." But in the end you are always able to figure it out on your own.

You have also began solid foods and you absolutely love every thing so far! This means that you have been nursing less and less throughout the last month. In a strange way it actually makes me a little sad to know that you do not need me as much any more. You are even beginning to look like more of a little girl than a baby.

As you lay sleeping next to us, mine and your daddy's heart swell with more love than we ever dreamed possible. We feel so blessed to have you in our lives and look forward to experiencing so many things through your eyes. Just don't grow up too fast (we would be okay if you didn't crawl or walk for a while and just stayed our little baby)

We love you baby girl!

Mama & Daddy








And since I got a few complaints last month (you know who you are, MOM) that she looks so big in the monthly pictures - I decided to throw in this one with Pepper so you can see that she is still a little peanut!

Miss Madeline turns 5 months today and I had planned on writing a post about all the new things she is doing this month, but then last night happened. So, today I am going to write about my first baby, Pepper (technically Baylie is the first baby, but she has always been so damn independent as cast usually are, and frankly, sometimes I’m not even sure she likes us), but I digress.

All throughout my pregnancy and since Maddie was born I have been wanting to get life insurance so that if god forbid something should happen to us, she would at least have that. This last weekend Alex and I finally had the time to sit down and enroll (thanks, Tim!) and in order for everything to go through we had to have a nurse come to our home and get urine and blood samples. Enter Nurse Dingbat.

He arrives at our house and just seems to be one of those nervous people who is constantly flustered. He spoke really fast and kept repeating himself over and over. But okay, the guy is a little strange, whatev. First he has Alex and I both do the urine sample, then he takes both our blood pressure and pulse no problem. Next is height and weight, which by the way I thought breastfeeding was supposed to help you lose weight - yeah, not so much.

Lastly is drawing blood. He asked which of us wants to go first and since I was in the chair next to him I say I will go ahead but that I just didn’t want to watch. He places the tourniquet on my arm (very tightly) and then proceeds to take forever to get all his supplies in order and put on his gloves. The whole time looking at my arm and asking if people have ever had trouble finding a vein on me before. Okay, the nerves start here. I tell him no, I had blood drawn numerous times while pregnant and have never had a problem. He continues to talk about how he is feeling around trying to find and vein, then begins to give me a play by play as he inserts the needle. Then, “whoops, not in yet” and begins to move the needle around inside my arm looking for a vein.

That was the last thing I remember.

Next thing I know I am coming to laying on the floor and all I can here is the baby screaming and nurse Dingbat repeatedly saying “wow, it’s a good thing I caught her.” And once I come to he promptly ask Alex if he is ready (with the baby still screaming in her bed where Alex had laid her down to attend to me). Are you SERIOUS? Give him a few minutes, will ya?

So, while I am still laying on the floor recovering Alex has his blood drawn and is told that he needs to hold his finger over the spot for at least three minutes and Alex is all “No, I think I’m going to pick up my screaming daughter.” Then the guy proceeds to draw my blood WHILE I AM STILL LAYING ON THE FLOOR!!! And he is still giving me a play by play of what he’s doing. I think I had to tell him three or four times to be quiet, that I didn’t want to know what was going on. Just draw the blood and get out of my house!

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have passed out once before while having blood drawn but it was the very first time I had it done and it was over 12 years ago!! I think this guy just had no idea what he was doing.

I know by now you are wondering how all this relates to Pepper, right? Well, I am a firm believer in the fact that animals know when things are going wrong. I still to this day believe that both Baylie and Pepper knew I was pregnant and that was why I could not get them off of me the entire time. It would just be me in the bed, but both of them had to be as close to me as possible with Pepper preferring to be on top of me. As you can see by this picture of her using my belly as a pillow:



And last night, she knew again. According to Alex as soon as I went down she was immediately laying on top of my stomach and would not move. He ended up having to put her in the bedroom in order to get her to leave me alone. Once I came to and she was let back in the living room she would not leave my side. She made circles around me and kept coming up trying to lick me in the face to make sure I was okay. Then, when I finally moved to the bed to lay down she laid right next to me for the rest of the night.

So, to our Pepper Lou, thank you for being my first responder last night. And I promise to make Maddie's 5 month post soon!

This is how I roll!

This is very short, but it took me about 6 takes in order to get a got shot of her without Pepper running up to her. I initially laid her on her back on the mat to wash the dishes and when I looked down a few minutes and she was on her belly. I rushed to get the camera and then it took her 10 minutes to roll over again. She almost made it a few times and was getting so frustrated, but finally made it all the way over. (oh, and you might want to mute your computer to avoid hearing my high pitched voice)

She is rolling over quite a bit now and also blowing raspberries ALL THE TIME! It is so cute! I haven't yet been able to catch it on camera but will post it as soon as I do.

We are off to bed now after a very looong day (but the Cubs did win, yay!)

Go Cubs Go!!

Maddie has gotten caught up in all the excitement of opening day and hopes the Cubs will win their home opener tomorrow.