Oh Maddy!

Well hello!

I know it's been about a month since I posted so I've posted a ton of pictures to make up for it, hopefully. =)

I won't bore you with a long post with the details of what's happened during the last month but I will tell you that everything is great! My new job is WONDERFUL and I won't be at my little, tiny branch until the end of June. Nick has been wonderful with all of his love and support through this big change!

Maddy is growing up so fast! We were warned this would happen but didn't think it would really go by this fast. The pictures will explain what she's done over the last month.

enjoy!

Even though I call her "Munchkin", she's still my little cupcake.

Our first airplane ride was down to see my older sister, Niki and her family on April 19th! We stayed for 4 or 5 nights and had such a great time. After I gave notice at Chase, I got the next 2 weeks off and took full advantage of them. Niki and her family had not had the chance to meet Madeleine yet!

The airplane ride down there and back? Just her and I? I'll save the story for another time. ;-)

She loved playing with Uncle Walt!


Joshy LOVES babies but really loves Madeleine. We got to play with Joshy quite a bit on this trip since him and Carley Bean were out of school for spring break!

Aunt Wendy! Madeleine got to taste red wine for the first time thanks to her. Just kidding.. but it was a good picture. =)

Ahhh... Aunt Niki. It was great for me to see her with Madeleine and watch her be the natural mom that she is. Well that and Niki let me get a few naps in while I was down there!

Beaner! She has so much energy.

She surprised us with a picnic lunch one day when we walked to the park.

And then we're back in Washington.

Nick really missed the both of us but he really did enjoy the quiet time that he had and all of the sleep. =)

I think the cats enjoyed the quiet time too.

Chester soaking up the sun. Silly cat.

Gizmo still looking for that perfect hiding spot.

No swaddle!!!

While we were down in CA, she slept with one arm out of the swaddle. A week later we tried it cold turkey without a swaddle and she slept through the night. She does wake up around 4 every morning but is back asleep within 15 minutes.

5 months later - she's sleeping without a swaddle AND rolling over on to her tummy by herself. On Mother's Day she rolled over both ways about 10 times each. It was that night that we tried it without the swaddle since I was worried about her not having her arms out.

No teeth yet, but they are going to be here soon.

She LOVES to suck on ice cubes in this little mesh holder. She will go through about 3 ice cubes before her hands are so cold that she can't take it anymore.

GIGGLES!

Our friend, Keri got Maddy to giggle a few weeks ago while we were camping and Nick and I have been trying ever since to get her to giggle.

We got her to giggle and it's awesome!!

She wants to put everything in her mouth including dad's nose!

Madeleine hanging out with her PEEPs.

=)

We went up to the tulip fields the weekend before Mother's Day.

It was freezing outside and Maddy was in her stroller nice and warm!

Maddy's first camping trip up to LCP!

Like the cute outfit?

It was chilly outside and she didn't sleep well at all in the trailer (pack-n-play) but we're working on that. We're up here again this weekend and will be up here for Memorial Day weekend so I hope she gets use to sleeping in Woody!

It's not camping without the IceHouse.

Maddy came home the other day with 7 tattoos. Yes, 7.

She spent the day with her Aunt Renee and they must have gotten bored or something. ;-)

We got a couple of funny looks while we were at Target the other night.

The Tinkerbell one is Maddy's favorite.

See the one on her tummy?

She has some on the front and backs of her legs too!

5 months old already!

The End!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Now that Madeleine is a little over 4 months old we think that she may be starting her first of many teething stages! Eek. We're trying a few different things with her at this point including ice cubes in a little mesh holder and this teething ring. She's also taken to the pacifier again which she had given them up for about 2 months. I guess this is a perfect example of .. once you get use to something or think you have some sort of routine down.. it all changes! Madeleine is really growing and it feels like she is changing or picking up on something new every day! Today she discovered my nose and likes to grab it now. She's still giving us kisses with her mouth open but we're working on that. This picture was taken after spending some time with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Mike. She was all tuckered out.

On Wednesday the 13th, Madeleine had her 4 month well-baby check up! She got 2 different shots and took them like a champ. Her face did turn bright red after the second one but she calmed down pretty quickly. I find that it really helps to nurse her after the shots to calm her down. She now weighs 16 pounds, 8 ounces (95th percentile) and she is 25 inches long (90th percentile). I didn't have much to talk to the doctor about since everything is great. She's sleeping really well and we're having fun with her. I did talk to the doctor about breastfeeding her until at least 6 months and asked when we should introduce solids. He said that we could breastfeed exclusively until a year with some vitamin supplements. We're going to continue breastfeeding her until 6 months and take it from there. All in all, Madeleine is happy and healthy!

Madeleine and Nick after bath time!

Bedtime already?!?

A wonderful visit from Grandma Ronnie and Grandpa Bruce! Sue (Nicks' mom) had foot surgery this last week so Bruce and Ronnie babysat her on Friday! It was a wonderful visit.

Oh yes. She's managed to fit her whole fist into her mouth recently. She's constantly putting her hands in her mouth or anything else she can get her little hands on.

I LOVE this picture.

Aunt Julia made this hat for her and YES, it's Husky colors!!

Thanks Aunt Julia. It's perfect.

Julia's Madmad about to give her kisses!

Going for Aunt Julia's nose.

I spy Chester.

So... I also have some big news to share. I'm no longer a manger at Chase Bank! It all happened very fast and 3 weeks ago I wasn't even looking for a different job. I'm now a manager for BECU!!! The location of my new branch is perfect! It's about 15 minutes away from our camping lot that we spend most of our weekends at during the summer. I had been with Washington Mutual / Chase Bank for 13 years and it was very hard to say good bye to the branch and staff that I care a lot about. Like I've always said.. there's been blood, sweat and tears at that branch since I took it on as manager 3 years ago. Here's to changes and something new! I'm very excited about my new job and the challenges that are going to come my way.