Sunglasses

Madelyn is loving daycare! She is so happy when we get there & her teachers say she's happy and smiley throughout the day. This week she started grabbing & holding onto things. It's so fun to watch her grow up & see all the new things she is doing! She got her 1st pair of sunglasses from my mom ~ they are so cute. At first she wasn't sure what to think but after she had them on for a little bit she didn't mind them!

Love this picture

Sporting my new shades!

So stylish

So content

3 Months Old

Madelyn was 3 months old on July 13th. Wow, time flies! She has really grown up in the last couple weeks and is much more content when she is by herself. She smiles, laughs and is a happy baby. We knew having a baby would be awesome but we had no idea how amazing it would be! She is the love of our lives!!!

She also had her 1st trip to the dr this week (not counting her well baby checks). She had an eye infection. I knew she would get sick by picking up germs at daycare but I didn't realize it would happen after only 3 days. My parents took her to the dr as Ryan & I were going boating (boating got canceled because of the weather) and she got some drops. She was better in 24 hours and is much better now.

The first week of daycare went better than we could have ever imagined! Her teachers are absolutely wonderful - she smiles at them when we get there. It melts my heart & makes it so much easier to leave her there.

Our Happy Baby

1st Day of Daycare

Today was Madelyn's 1st day at daycare. She did awesome! Her "teacher" texted me with a couple updates/pictures throughout the day which was so reassuring. They said Madelyn was smiley & snuggly. She was rocked by all of the teachers - I think they loved it as much as Madelyn! She is the youngest in the infant room but she got the most lovin' today! I know it's only the first day but we are very happy with our daycare decision.

I wasn't as sad as I thought I would be today. I think the transition (having my mom & Ryan's mom watch her while I transitioned back to work) helped make today not as sad. I got teary eyed thinking about how much Madelyn has grown up in only 3 short months!

Ryan is so sweet to me - he/Madelyn sent me flowers at work today! What a fun and wonderful surprise! Of course that brought tears to my eyes thinking about how lucky I am. I have an amazing husband & such a sweet baby girl!

Hanging out with Daddy before heading to daycare

Off to daycare!

Look what I found!

We had a great week & weekend! This week my mom watched Madelyn on Wed morning and then Grandma Emily came up and was here until Friday. What a fun week for Madelyn.....hanging out with both her Grandmas ~ doesn't get much better than that! We are so thankful that it worked to have the Grandmas watch Madelyn so we didn't have to send her daycare yet. I think the Grandmas really enjoyed it too :) This week reality will set in when we have to take & pick up Madelyn from daycare. We have been spoiled so far!

On Saturday we were at our friend's cabin. So fun as there are more & more kids there every year. Madelyn did great! She slept on the car ride out and was very happy to just chill out at the cabin. It was a perfect day to be at the cabin as it was hot & humid but thankfully (at least for us, since we have a 3 month old) the sun wasn't out so it was easier to keep her in the shade. Madelyn was exhausted from the fun day with her friends that she slept all the way home! We love being included in this annual event!

Today we hung out with Auntie Carla & Cousin Bishop. Another fun day! We haven't seen them for a couple weeks and it's always so fun to see Bishop. He lights up our life & is such a joy. He loves Madelyn and Madelyn is so content when Bishop is around. Then we had a fun surprise -- Papa Barry came up to visit! Bishop just lit up when my dad came and Madelyn gave Papa smiles too! Later on Uncle Luke stopped by on his way back to the cities. What a fun day hanging out with everyone!

Tonight Nana Sharon is coming, which we are very excited about too! We are so lucky - my mom is going to watch Madelyn on Mondays for the rest of the summer. It works out perfectly.....Madelyn gets extra loving from Nana and Nana loves spending time with her grandkids!

This weekend Madelyn found her thumb! She has been putting her fingers & hand in her mouth but on Saturday she started sucking her thumb and then today as she was sucking her thumb she fell asleep on the floor.

So precious!

She also started sitting in her Bumbo. She does great but is still getting used to it.

Bishop in the Bumbo - so fun playing with Madelyn's toys!

This coming week will be my 1st whole week back to work. So far it's gone well ~ everyone is right, it gets easier everyday. Around 2:00 is the hardest time for me as I miss my little sweetheart but luckily then it is only a couple hours to go!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July! We were home and got a lot of things done around the house/yard while hanging out & playing with Madelyn. We met up with one of my college friends and her family for breakfast on Saturday. They have a daughter who is 6 months old -- so fun to see the changes between a 3 & 6 month old. Pretty incredible!

Madelyn has learned how to grab onto things so she spends a lot of time grabbing onto her shirt, clothes. She pulls them up and puts them in her mouth. The "putting everything into her mouth" stage has started!

She loves her mobile! She lays in her crib and laughs/makes noises as it goes around and around. It is so cute (of course we think everything she does is cute!).

Back to Work :(

My maternity leave came to an end on June 30th as I went back to work. I knew it would be hard to go back to work but I never dreamed it would be as hard as it was. I was sad to leave my baby for the whole day. I had left her for a few hours at a time but not for the whole day. I wasn't sure if June 30th at 4:30 pm would ever come! Thankfully my mom watched Madelyn on June 30th & July 1st plus then we had a 4 day weekend ahead so those things made the transition back to work a little easier.

Madelyn & I had such a great time while I was off work. We were busy almost every day. We visited Auntie Carla for lunch a few times, we had play dates with the Papke's and some of my other friends as well as lunch dates. My mom came up quite a bit which was fun for all of us.....she was able to spend time with Madelyn & I was able to rest and do some errands. Ryan's mom, Emily, came up and spent a couple days with us and we met Ryan's family at the Mall of America in May. We visited Great Grandpa & Grandma Bishop and Cousin LeeAnn for lunch one day. The time went so fast. I know everyone says it but it is amazing how quickly Madelyn is growing up and all the things she has learned to do in only 11 weeks!

This is why I can't wait to get home!

Professional Pictures

We had professional pictures taken when Madelyn was 8 weeks old. They are awesome and turned out better than I could have ever imagined! We are having a hard time picking out our favorites!

Father's Day

Ryan's parents were here over Father's Day weekend. Ryan & his dad put up a screen door, I did some projects around here and Ryan's mom watched Madelyn. They came up on Friday and left Saturday afternoon.

Sunday we were home and celebrated Ryan's 1st Father's Day, just the 3 of us. We had a great day! We went to Fat Nat's Eggs for breakfast and then just hung out at home. Ryan is such an amazing dad and as I have said numerous times in prior posts, Madelyn just lights up when she sees or hears her Daddy! They have so much fun together. Ryan, thanks for always making your girls so happy! :) We love you!

Random Pictures

I love my Daddy!

All smiles!

One of my favorite things to do is stand

On the Go in the Baby Bjorn

Sleeping on Nana, another one of my favorite things to do!

Happy Madelyn

So happy!

Hanging out with Mama

2 Month Appointment

Madelyn had her 2 month check up on 6/14/11. She was 24 3/4" long (97% percentile) and weighed 12 lbs 6 ozs (90% percentile). She is a healthy little baby! She got her 2 months shots. Poor thing, she didn't know what was about to happen. She was laying on the table (very content) and after her 1st shot she started screaming but nothing came out as she didn't know what just happened. She ended up sleeping the rest of the day as she was wiped out. The next day she was back to herself which was great!

Bishop Family Shower

We had the Bishop Family Shower for Madelyn on May 14th.  It was such a fun day and so special that so many came to celebrate Madelyn!

Great Grandma Marlys and Madelyn

Poor Bishop fell on the driveway and scraped his nose :(

Great Grandma Darlene loving on Madelyn

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A few more firsts

At 3 weeks Madelyn started grabbing at my shirt

At 4 weeks she started "hugging" her daddy, she was very alert in the morning and she slept for 5.5 hours during the night!

Around 5-6 weeks she started smiling

On 6/2 she rolled from her back to her tummy. She must have been so tired from her big day because she slept from 9:30-5! That hasn't been the norm since but she usually only gets up 1x/night, usually somewhere between 2-4 am.

Rolling Over!

I did it!

Lately she has started "talking" and is really happy in the mornings. She just LOVES her daddy! She lights up and smiles, laughs, giggles, talks whenever he is around. She is definitely daddy's girl which is so fun! I love when I am upstairs or in a different room and hear the two of them interacting. It brings a smile to my face and tears to my eyes as I think about how lucky I am!