Madelyn: 12 weeks old...

Sweet Maddycakes is 12 weeks old! 

The latest consensus is that Maddy is really looking like Kensley's baby pictures.  Below is a side by side comparison of her and Kensley.  Maddy is on the left and Kens on the right...different ears and smaller cheeks, but they sure look alike!

 

 Maddy has made great strides in the sleep department.  I was prepared to announce that she is officially sleeping through the night, but that hasn't been the case the last two nights.  My guess is that has been due to her recent congestion and runny nose though.  Prior to Saturday night, she was sleeping from 8/8:30ish pm until 5/5:30ish am.  After a quick diaper change and eating, she'd go back to sleep for 2-3 more hours!  She had been doing this for at least a week and a half.  She is still sleeping in the pack and play in our room.  I was prepared to move her this weekend, until the cold hit.  I'm not really in a big rush as she's a pretty quiet sleeper...most nights Jeremy rarely hears her when she wakes to eat!

 

Naps are a different story though. We're still working to figure out a pattern and more of a schedule during the day. Unfortunately we tend to throw her off as she mostly sleeps when we run errands, take/pick up the girls from school, etc. When we are home, I lay her down in her bed and she will usually only sleep for an hour max at a time. I am hoping that we can get her to take at least 1 long nap a day in her bed...as opposed to lots of short cat naps.

This past week she managed to pick up her first snotty nose as we've been passing a cold/virus around the family.  It hasn't seemed to bother her though and we mostly only hear it when she is sleeping.  She is still the happiest, little thing.

 

She is still loving her hands and loves to suck on her fists.  Oftentimes, I'll find her sucking on her hands when she is sleeping.  It seems to soothe her, which is great, especially when her paci falls out.

 

Size wise, she's still about the same. Wearing size 1 and 1/2 (from Costco) diapers, 0-3 and 3 month clothes and sleepers. She's pretty much completely out of her newborn clothes and I've started to pack them up.

She tried the Bumbo for the first time this past week and seemed to like it!

Look at those cheeks!  She cashed out while walking around a local festival.

Happy 12 weeks, sweet Maddy!

Madelyn: 10 weeks old...

Maddy is 10 weeks old and seems to have made great strides in the sleeping department!  She is now sleeping on her tummy in the pack 'n play and is sleeping for much longer stretches at night.  She typically goes down by 8:30 pm and has only been waking once at night to eat (around 3 or 4 am)!  Let's hope this continues!  She is still in our room more so due to the convenience factor.  Usually if she gets fussy or is starting to get hungry, it's been easy for me to reach over and pop her paci back in.  I'm sure we'll move her to her crib before too long.

 

Mads is also taking a few naps a day in the pack 'n play as well.  Her other naps usually take place in her carseat (if we're out and about) or with me on the couch.  She is slowly starting to show napping patterns throughout the day, but isn't really on a schedule yet.

 

Maddy is really cooing and smiling a lot.  Sometimes she sounds so close to laughing and we can't wait to hear her little giggle.  She is starting to notice her hands and spends a lot of time sucking on them and swinging her arms around.  She is also really starting to enjoy spending time on her floor gym.

 

Here are some pictures from the past week.

 

Maddy had a rough afternoon/evening after her 4 shots at the doc last Tuesday.  She was absolutely miserable and screamed off and on for about 4 hours.  Poor girl was wiped out and clearly didn't feel well.  She bounced back to her happy self though the next day.

 

 Happy 10 weeks, Madelyn Joy!





Madelyn: 2 Months Old...

Our sweet Maddy is 2 months old and changing by the day.  She is really filling out and is growing like a weed!

 

 Sizewise, Maddy has moved into size 1 diapers (actually did a few weeks ago).  She is pretty much wearing all 0-3 month clothes and a few 3 month items.  She's almost completely out of all of her newborn clothes.

 Last week Maddy got her first bottle, given to her by her big sisters.  They of course loved it and ask daily if they can give her another bottle.  She took really well to it and has since had a few more.  Maddy is still nursing about every 2-3 hours throughout the day.  She nurses and then goes down around 8ish in the evenings, waking around 2 am (give or take a half hour) and then will wake one more time in the early morning to eat again (typically around 5ish).  She is pretty restless after her last early morning feeding and we have trouble getting her back to sleep.

 

 We're starting to lay her down in her pack and play (on her tummy) for naps as big sisters tend to wake her up when she sleeps in her swing or on the couch.  Hopefully she'll start to get on a more consistent nap schedule and sleep for longer stretches of time.

She is still a great traveler and errand buddy.  She sleeps the majority of the time we are out and about.  She loves to be outside no matter what we are doing and does great in the stroller and sling.

 

We had her two month well check today and she did great.  She smiled and "talked" to the doctor while she was getting checked out.  She got 4 shots today and an oral vaccination.  She of course wasn't thrilled with them, but calmed down relatively quickly.

 

Here are her stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 15 oz (50%)

Height: 22.5 inches (51%)

Head: 14.5 inches (4%)

 

 

Happy 2 months, Madelyn Joy!

Vacation 2013: Gulf Shores

Last week we took our first vacation as a family of 5 to Gulf Shores, Alabama!  It was such a great week and we had a great time together!  It was our first time there and we'd definitely go back.

 

We decided to drive through the night on the way down and the girls did pretty well.  We had to make several stops to feed Maddy and the girls unfortunately woke several times...so not the most restful night for them.  Nana and Papa were able to join us for a few days at the beginning of the week.  We even talked them into staying an extra day and a half!  It was great to have some extra hands, especially at the pool, beach, dinners, etc.

 

The weather ended up being perfect for us!  When we arrived on Saturday it was raining, but it stopped by early afternoon and it was clear and sunny the remainder of the week.  We spent the week swimming, playing at the beach, outlet shopping, going out to dinners and relaxing in the condo.  Kensley made huge progress with her swimming skills!  By the end of the week, she was swimming short distances, pausing only to breathe and then taking off again.  She met a little friend halfway through the week that was independently swimming without floaties.  From that point on, she was determined to swim without hers...peer pressure at it's finest!

Since we had an extra day (Labor Day), we decided to take two days driving home and stayed overnight in a hotel in Franklin, TN (just south of Nashville).  The hotel was great and the girls of course wanted to take advantage of the indoor/outdoor pool. 

 

Here are lots of pictures from our week (of course the majority were captured on my phone).

 

On the road and ready to go.  They were SO excited about sleeping in the car.

View from our condo

Morning chat with Nana

Reading with Papa

Our little daredevil

View from the balcony

Ferris Wheel
(sorry about the tiny picture...it's blurry when I make it bigger)

Ready for the dolphin cruise

3 different opinions about the cruise...excited, indifferent and relax (Avery also fell asleep on the boat!)

Quiet morning on the beach

My beach/pool buddy...just relaxing in the shade

Her pouty face

My view one afternoon

Unfortunately the only picture of the three girls together...and Maddy slept right through it!

Sunrise from our balcony

The water was SO calm (with the exception of the first two days)



What a goof!

Dolphin siting off our balcony

More dolphins...they swam up and down the shore line

Merry go Round ride at the Opryland Mall in Nashville

We go to great measures to keep them entertained in the car (blue ring pops)

The girls had been talking and looking forward to vacation (or 'cation if you asked Avery) for weeks.  We're so thankful we had the week together and chance to get away. 

First day of School {2013 - 2014}

Today was Kensley's and Avery's first day of school! Kensley is going to preschool two days a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) and Avery is going to Mother's Day Out (MDO) on Wednesdays.  School starts each day at 9:30 am and ends at 1:00 pm.  They seemed to have a great day, but wouldn't tell me much about the day.  Both girls were pretty wound up when I picked them up, which typically means they are exhausted.

  

1st Day of MDO and Preschool

Fake smiles??  Ah well, at least they smiled.

The face Avery makes when she doesn't want to do something...in this instance, get her picture taken.

Why does she look so old all of a sudden?!

Aves had a change of heart and requested that I take her picture (of course this is after we had gone inside and were getting ready to leave).

We are in trouble with this one!

 

 Standing by their cubbies in their classrooms.

 

 

Meanwhile at home....

This little peach was enjoying her own "friends".