M is for...

"M" is for MARCH!

I am actually posting about the current month. No more monthly "recap" posts!


"M" is for MADELYN!

The subject of most posts. She is growing in so many ways! The first week of March we went for her 4 month well-baby visit. She weighed 15 pounds (75th percentile) and measured 25.5 inches long (90th percentile.) What a big girl!


"M" is for MOUTH!

If she can get it in her hands, it's going into her mouth! Pacifier, pacifier clip, burp cloth, toys, my shoulder, her fingers, and the list goes on! Babies explore by putting things in their mouth, so as long as her item of choice isn't dirty we don't mind!

And speaking of mouth, Madelyn has learned that she can make sounds with her own voice. The girgles, coos, and babbles have turned into squeals, shrieks, humms, and laughs. She likes to talk to herself, especially when waking up in her bed...sooo sweet! And she likes to talk to us too. Here is a clip of her chatting with Mommy one morning at breakfast. :)

"M" is for MOVEMENT!

It's crazy how one day you wake up and the immobile baby is moving around! We'll lay Madelyn in her crib one way and she'll wake up at the other end, turned in the other direction! Funny girl! She likes roll onto her side to sleep and every once in a while she'll keep going onto her tummy and get stuck...she's not sure what to do there. And lately if she's on her tummy for "tummy time" she'll lean right over and roll onto her back. I just can't believe it!

Speaking of laying down- We used to be able to lay Madelyn here and there, but laying down will no longer suffice! She wants to be upright so she can see what is going on around her! She'll sit in our laps, propped up in the corner of the sofa, or in her Bumbo seat so she can see everything like a big girl!

With her wanting to move around and her interest in toys, we decided it was time to break out the exersaucer! Madelyn loves to stand up and play with the toys (and talk to them too!)

Madelyn has found something she really enjoys most. The Jumperoo! Our sweet friends let us borrow their jumper and now jumping is a daily activity at our house! Here is a recent clip of Madelyn having tons of fun jumping! Steven and I get a kick out of it!!

Madelyn is so much fun and a joy to love on!

Guess Who?

Just for fun...

Here are pictures of us when we were babies.

Who do you think Madelyn looks more like?

Steven?

Alison?

Post a comment and tell us what you think! :)

3 month portraits

These are some of Madelyn's 3 months portrait pics.

Just FYI- the white dress was a very special gift from her great-grandmother Stanford.

Quick story- Madelyn did great during the shoot until the photographer wanted to put her on her tummy. I knew that wasn't a good idea because at that time she wasn't crazy about being on her tummy. We got a quick picture and then came the cries of unhappiness. I tried to settle her down AND do a wardrobe change- the two were just a bad combination! So, the pcitures of her in the flower gown (a precious shower gift!) are all on the brink of her crying. You'll see...

What a cutie pie!!

I love my Madelyn!!

February (recap)

Our little girl just kept on growing during the month of February! We had her 3 month portraits taken...so cute! I'll make a slideshow of them so you can see!

Here are some pictures to recap what we did this month...

Sitting on the sofa watching Mommy fold clothes

This is "Baby." I give her kisses!







Totally busted watching TV!





Playing with Mommy and giving her kisses!

Madelyn had been eating on her whole hand, but she eventually found her thumb. She doesn't suck on it like she does her pacifier, she just chews on it by itself. Funny girl!

We made a trip down to Birmingham towards the end of the month. My sister, Bethany, participated in the Hoover High School Senior Beauty Walk. All the girls dress up and have fun in the pageant! My pictures aren't great because I was sitting far back, but she'll get me a good picture later.

Bethany is in the middle- brown strapless dress- next to the tall girl.

Beautiful Bethany being escorted out.

Bethany's turn to strut her stuff!

Two days before we got to my parent's house, their dog, Belle, had puppies...again!

Brittany Spaniel puppies- Dad loves his bird dogs!

Grammy Hyde rode back home with us from Birmingham. She spent the last week of the month at our house playing with her first grandbaby, Madelyn. They had so much fun!

February went by so fast!

:)

January (recap)

We started off the new year by celebrating Steven's birthday.

Oh look, another bday cheesecake (those are popular at our house!)



The first of the month also meant another trip to the pediatrician for Madelyn's 2 month well-baby visit. She was 23.5 inches long (90th percentile) and weighed 11 pounds 14 oucnes (75th percentile.) We couldn't believe how much she'd grown! Her physical changes were apparent, but also this month we notice her little personality developing. She began to smile more and coo and interact with us. Funny how a quick diaper change would end up being 30 mintues of play time!

spending some time relaxing with Daddy

Madelyn is not a big fan of "tummy time." She usually fusses and then....

There was one day/night (prior to the ice storm) when the temperature dropped below zero! That night Steven and I were like, "I dare you to go outside in your PJs!" (we did!)

Madelyn loves to ride around in her carrier. It is quite convenient!

My college roommate, Shelley, flew up from Bham for a visit. We didn't do anything too exciting, but hung out around the house and caught up, relived old times, etc. She is so sweet and such fun!

By now you're all aware that the last week of January we had Ice Storm '09 here in KY. It was a day of snow, then ice, then more snow.

(last time I checked trees weren't supposed to bend like that!)

Then on Wednesday (the day after the mess) our power went out. We hadn't experienced an outage since we lived here, so we thought is was no big deal. That night the three of us cuddled on the couch under a blanket. Steven and I just talked and reminisced...it was a good time!

Thursday morning we woke up and were still without power. Steven headed to work and Madelyn and I stayed home.

We just knew the power would come back on at any time. It did not! Once it was below 50 degrees in the house we had to leave. We stayed in a hotel that night and Friday morning Madelyn and I headed to Birmingham for the weekend. Don't you know that when I called Steven to tell him we made it, he said the power had just come back on! Go figure.

After all that drama, I was rethinking the events of the week. My, how I could have handled it differently! I had a rotten attitude the minute our power went out. I was inconvenienced. I was mad that I couldn't do the things I wanted to do. Did I stop to be thankful for anything? No. How horrible! I should have been thankful for so many things, but my selfishness got in the way. My family and I were safe, we had a roof over our heads, food to eat, and (eventually) a warm place to go. We were even able to get one of the last generators at Home Depot. Our power was restored after 3 days while some people were without for over a week. The Lord takes care of us in times of need (and forgives us when we mess up) and for that I am grateful!!

Miss Madelyn seemed to change a lot during the month of January. It is so fun to see her grow each day, to see what new sound she'll make or new facial expression she'll show us!

(Ok, I'm making progress on catching up....)

December (recap)

We started off the month of December with a trip to the pediatrician for Madelyn's one month well-baby visit. She was 21.5 inches long (50th percentile) and weighed 9 pounds 7 ounces (50th percentile.) We were amazed at how much she had grown in just one month!

We caught a first glimpse of Madelyn's smile and pretty soon we were seeing it more and more!

All bundled up to make our first (quick) trip to the mall for a last minute gift.

Our first official family portrait! Fun Christmas gift to our families!

We usually put out a lot of decorations around the house...so not the case this year! Our poor tree got some red and gold balls and that's it- no ornaments. Oh well! But we did get new stockings. :)

We couldn't wait to get to Birmingham for Christmas. Madelyn had so many family members to meet! Here are some...

Granddad and Grandmom (her "greats")

Aunt Carolyn ("great" even though she wouldn't admit it!)

Maw Maw Stanford (another "great")

Maw Maw Burrell ("great")

Her Christmas dress came with a headband. We don't wear headbands, but had to model it!

Aunt Celeste (another "great")

Paw Paw Burrell ("great")

Aunt Kathy and Cousin Stacy

Mommy and Madelyn

We put the girls in matching dresses (so cute!)

Autumn Madelyn

4 generations of daughters!

Daddy and Madelyn

Madelyn had a great time with Nana and Aunt B

Getting some love from Aunt B (Bethany)

Steven and his grandparents

After we got home from our trip we broke out the baby tub! She looked like such a big girl in there!

And before we knew it....2008 was over and it was on to a new year!