Inflation....riiiight

Okay so I have been reading blogs of friends lately and have been inspired to jump on that bandwagon and start blogging reglularly. It was so hard when I was working and barely having time to even sit down to enjoy dinner. So here I am....promising to keep up. (at least for the summer) hahah

Things on my mind lately......
1. MONEY MONEY MONEY (or lack there of)
2. Getting our stupid moving truck to Michigan so we can move out of my parents!!

I woke up early this morning with Robert, mainly because I had to iron his clothes for work but when I did I sat down with my dad and we had a conversation that got me all fired up. Not at him, just about the issues we have to face these days. I have never really paid much attention to the rising costs of gas or I guess even cared for that much. I just filled up each week and even though my vehicle would continually take more and more as the weeks went on, it was what it was. But seriously now- WHAT THE HECK!?!?! It's been a few years and all it does is get more and more expensive. When will it stop? We aren't seeing these kinds of drastic increases in our salaries so what is going to happen? When will enough, be enough? It feels like before long I will just be working so I can pay for my gas to get around!!! We all know that teachers make a whole grand whopping what?- 35 grand a year! This just sucks. When I got my license 9 years ago (wow!- I'm old) it took me all of $12 to fill up my gas tank and now with an Escape it takes almost 6x that! It's so ridiculous! It won't be long and I'm going to be paying over $100 just to fill up a small SUV. It's scary to think about and with groceries getting more expensive too....:(
Oh blah now I am just more pissed....

Every day is something new:)

She's turning 4 months this week and I don't know where the time has gone. This past month has FLOWN by since I am back to work.Madelyn is getting so strong and doing so much lately. She loves playing with her toys now and just about reaches the floor in her jumperoo! She's the cutest thing ever and we have so much fun just watching her! EVERYthing goes into her mouth and she is constantly drooling and slobbering on herself or someone else. haha She's just so darn lovable!!!!
She weighs a whopping 14 1/2 lbs and is 25 inches long now!!! She's wearing all of her 6 month summer outfits and now I am thinking by the time summer is actually here she's going to be outgrowing them all! Oh well...more shopping for me:)
Her other latest thing is screaming (happy screams) for very long and extended periods of time. She's been making lots of noises and babbles for awhile but only recently has she really discovered the power she has in her vocals. BUUUUTTTT it's soooo cute! We've been taking many walks in the stroller and she just kicks back and relaxes when we do. She isn't having her breath taken away so easily by the wind like she did when I first started taking walks. We are excited for our first Mother's Day together this Sunday! Next best thing in the near future...4 weeks left of work for me and then it's home for the summer with my girl!!

3 Months!!!

I guess it's been almost a month since I've updated- sorry! Madelyn is just a growing girl and it seems like she is doing new things everday. We visited with family over Easter in Michigan and everyone was finally able to meet our precious girl. We had so much fun. The last night there, I got sick with a sore throat, cough etc. Unfortunately Madelyn caught that same cold a day later. My baby was sick for her first time and it was hard to watch. I had talked tot he doctor and was told she would just have to fight it off and let her immune system build up. She had so much mucus and phlegm in her throat that she would start gagging and actually choking for a few seconds at a time. SO SCARY! Despite not feeling well, she remained a happy baby the whole time:) She is finally feeling better after a week but still has some coughing spells from time to time.

In other sad news....I am back to work:( I was supposed to start last Monday but with Madelyn at the worst of her cold, I stayed home with her Monday and Tuesday. We visited the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything worse than a cold on Monday and then I just spent those couple of days nursing her and letting her get lots of sleep.
Wednesday came and it was back to 2nd grade for me and daycare for her. It was so hard to let her go and it was an emotional transition to say the least. I'm still adjusting but looking forward to June when I will be back home with my love once again! My biggest worry is her refusal to take a bottle. The first day she took all of 1 ounce while at daycare and her second day was 1 1/2 ounces and the same for Friday. Hopefully she will get better as the days go by. Even with her not eating all day long her daycare workers just keep raving about how sweet she is and how happy she is. I'm relieved to hear that:) It's really hard to balance working full time and being a mommmy and wife at the same time. All I want to do when I get home is sit and hold Madelyn and play with her. I don't want to make dinner or do laundry or anything... Then at night, I don't want to go to bed because I don't want to put her down. It's really hard. I had only 4 hrs of sleep the first night, 5 the next and 6 the next. Madelyn however is sleeping SO GOOD right now! She slept throught the night Thursday and I had to wake her up at 6 to feed her before I left. She is sleeping about 8-9 hours at night!!

When she is awake all she does is babble babble babble! Her voice is getting louder and louder and sometime she squeals. She is just so darn cute and Robert and I can't get enough of her! Here are some new pics of my beautiful girl!!!

Spring is here!

Well, the weather is finally reflecting a spring-like feeling and I love every minute of it! I love being able to take Madelyn outside without having to cover every inch of her body to keep her warm. She's so cute too because instantly the sun causes her to sneeze when we get outside. Next Friday we will be flying to Michigan to see our family and spend Easter with them. I am super excited to finally have everyone meet Miss Madelyn my beauty:) I hear flying with a baby can be challenging but bring it on! haha The 3 of us will be going together but Robert is returning on Monday, which means Madelyn and I will be on our own for the trip back on Wednesday night. I hope it goes smoothly!

The time is approaching and I will be returning to work....sad. I am going back Mar. 31st and every time I think about it or talk about it, I cry. I am so sad to have to leave my girl in the hands of a stranger for 8 hours every day:( She will be going to a LifeSpan Circle School, which is a daycare center uptown, near Robert's work. He will be taking her in the morning and I will be flying across all the way town each day at 3 o'clock to pick her up! I'm so thankful that will only be for 2 months and then I will have my whole summer with her.
Since we have to start daycare, we decided it was time to really start working on that bottle. So I've decided to provide breastmilk for her while at daycare and we are trying to get her used to taking 1 bottle a day. She absolutely refuses to take the bottle and will cry and scream bloody murder for her daddy for almost 2 hours before taking maybe and ounce. I get so sad to hear her crying because I know she just wants her momma to jump in and save her! But I have to be strong. It will be good to be in Michigan with so called "strangers" who can working on giving that bottle to her. Since her daycare providers will not be familiar to her, this might help her. I am hopeful!

Madelyn has started to grab onto her toys now when she is sittin in her bouncy seat. She's not really "playing" with them but just holding them. It's cute. I don't even think she means to grab them but it just happens! haha She is also on the verge of laughing. She gets so wriled up (however that is spelled) when talking to us or laying on her playmat. (which she LOVES) She squeals and smiles and makes all kinds of noises! I love listening to her and I get lots of videos during this time. :) Oh another thing she has discovered-- her hands! She loves to suck on her hands and not just when she is hungry either. It's just so much fun watching her grow and discover new things each day.

Well, we are off to her 2 month drs. visit. Today she gets 4 shots!! yikes! I am picking up daddy so he can hold her while she gets poked and prodded. I'll cry if I have to watch them:(

2 months Baby!

I can't believe we have already approached Madelyns 2 month point! Where did the time go? I was driving today and it hit me that my little "newborn" is gone and she is a baby instead:) I can't believe how much she has changed in such little time, yet I don't know when she changed. I'm with her every day, all day but still it amazes me the change that has already taken place. She is just the sweetest, most precious little girl and I can't thank the Lord enough for bestowing such a blessing upon us.
Nights are continuing to go well and have improved a little bit. We usually get to bed each night between 10:30 and 11:30 and Madelyn will sleep about 5 1/2 hours before wanting to eat. I enjoy that long stretch of much needed sleep each night. When she awakes to eat, she barely gets herself awake enough to eat and then falls back to sleep after only 5-10 minutes of nursing. Works out great for me because it barely gives me time to wake up and then its back to bed! Days are always different fom day to day. Some days she will sleep most of the time and wake for feedings in between. Other days she will be awake most of the time and eat a lot. The days when she is awake, I like to stay home. She has become SO alert in the last month that its hard to get anything by her. She's very picky when we are in the car, about not stopping or slowing down too much. haha It's pretty funny because Charlotte traffic is terrible and we are often at a red light or stuck in traffic. She likes to fuss as soon as the car slows down and quiets once it speeds back up. When we are out shopping she likes to keep moiving as well or else she gets restless in her carseat. THat can become a problem as you can imagine. I had to leave the grocery store in the middle of my shopping trip a couple of weeks ago because Madelyn decided she was hungry and wasn't going to give up until she was fed. My cart was about half full so i thought I'd check out what I had....BAD IDEA, the lines were ridiculous and with a screaming baby, I wasn't going to put everyone through the torture of listening to her for the time it would take to stand in line and get checked out. On the flip side, we went shopping today and she fell asleep and stayed asleep the entire trip! yay! That was a GREAT grocery store trip!
This past weekend the weather in Charlotte was beautiful, about 70 and sunny so we decided to go on our 1st walk down this newly developed nature trail. Madelyn loved being outdoors and the stroller put her right to sleep. Mommy and Daddy got a 3 mile walk in too! BONUS! Well I think thats wraps up what's going on with us...
2 weeks and we will be in Michigan with everyone! We are SUPER excited to show off our little angel:)

My little lovebug:)

I guess it's time to update since it's been almost 3 weeks. These last 3 weeks have been super busy as Madelyn is getting bigger and more alert every day. She had her 1 month check up almost 2 weeks ago and she weighed in at 9 lbs 2.5 oz and had grown an inch in length!! She's most likely pushing 10 lbs by now! I can't believe how fast the time flies with her in our life. The most exciting day was when she had her very first "real" smile for Robert and I. It was a sunday morning, 2 weeks ago and ever since she has become such a smiley little bug! She is still sleeping about 5 hours at night with some exceptions. We're working on her tummy time and building up to 10 minutes at a time. Sometimes she's very cooperative and will lift her head high, other times she just gets so flustered with her momma and decides its time to eat instead, and other times she decides she's too tired and lays her head down to go to sleep. hahha It's pretty cute, whatever day she decides it's going to be.

We've had a couple of visitors in the last couple of weeks. Robert's Aunt Terri was here last weekend and his sister LaNae is here with us now. Madelyn's enjoyed meeting her new Aunts:) Just 3 short weeks and we will be making a trip back to Michigan for Easter. I can't wait to see everyone and for them to all meet our Madelyn.

Another big accomplishment thus far has been a trip to the mall and dinner out a few different times. She's been very good for us when we're out. She's really become alert of what's happening around her and it's becoming more and more difficult for her to just sleep through all the action. She just doesn't want to miss a thing in her new world! I can't believe how much she has grown. She looks less like a newborn and more like a baby each day. The fun's just beginning!

4 weeks old!

I am keeping busy with my little girl. My days are funfilled and exausting and the nights seem way to short. Madelyn is still doing well at night. She slept for 5 hours the last 2 nights which was great! In my last post I mentioned that we thought she was intollerant to me having icecream but it turns out it's milk in general. Last Friday night was the worst night of sleep for RObert and I because I had eaten a bowl of cereal before bed. Madelyn was throwing up and crying and would not go to sleep. That's when it dawned on me that it must be milk. She' inherited that wonderful intollerance from her father:) I'm bummed because I love cereal and milk. I'll surivie without it though and would much rather she be a happy baby.

I've begun attempting more errands with Madelyn in tote. We've gone to the grocery store, Target, soccer games and lunch dates with dad at Land Design. I never realized the task could take so much time and energy to simply get out the door. So much planning goes into a 90 minute trip-my shower, doing my hair, makeup, Madelyn's feeding, packing the diaper bag, changing the diaper, getting her dressed, tending to her fussiness and then of course the last minute poopy diaper as I'm about to walk out the door. By the time we're actually in the car, I've pretty much lost all desire to get to my destination. We went to have lunch with Robert at work last Friday and within 20 minutes of being there, she blows out her diaper and all over her nice, clean outfit. The only 2 times she has had a blowout, have now oficially been in public.

With all that said, I sure love this girl more than anything. She sure is quite the blessing and I couldn't imagine her not being around. She's my girl and I love spending my days and nights tending to her every need. She's my beauty!!! :)