8 weeks

My sweet little girl is now 8 weeks old! Next Tuesday we go for her 2 month check up and shots... not looking forward to that!

I had my post partum check up on Tuesday and all went well. My doctor said I was completely healed up from delivery, to the point where she couldn't even tell I had a baby!!! Plus, I've lost 31 of the 37 pounds I gained during the pregnancy. I'd like to lose more but I am very happy with that so far.

Matt's been teaching a band camp in Jackson this week so it's been just me and the peanut. She's been really good, plus we've been hanging out at my parents house so they've been a big help too.

This week is the fair and hopefully when Matt gets home, we can go. It's a tradition. We have to go to the fair sometime in the week that it's here. We walk through the animal barns, look at the rides, play some games and walk around enjoying the food and at night, the demolition derby! Can't wait!

Here are a few pictures from Madelyn's newborn photo shoot when she was 2 weeks old.She was crying on her changing table as I was changing her diaper and the photographer decided to keep shooting anyway - very cute, I think!


One of my favorites. She fell asleep as soon as Matt came and held her. I love this picture.
I love the color of this picture! She's wrapped in a blanket her Great-Great Aunt Joy made. Such a sweet baby and look at those blue eyes!!!!This was in our back yard. It was FREEZING cold in the middle of July!!! Oh well. We snuggled her up in her blanket and took a few outside shots. I love it!

time flie

Mady is 7 weeks old already! It's crazy! She has her two week check up on the 1st of September so we'll see how big she is then!

Lately she hasn't been sleeping during the day for Matt unless she's sleeping on him, on her tummy. So today, we're going to try to put her on her tummy for nap time while I'm at work and see how that goes.

I'll update more later, but I gotta nurse her before work!

6 weeks old!

My little peanut was 6 weeks old on Wednesday, which meant I went back to work on Monday. I wish I didn't have to go to work but since Matt still doesn't have a job, I need to work. It was hard, even though I only worked a half day. I snuggled with her all morning and then left at 12:45pm to get to work by 1. I cried the whole way there!!! Of course she was fine at home with Matt but this was the first time I had to leave her for this long! I got home around 5:15 and held her for most of the night! I worked every day this week and it's gotten easier, knowing she's being well taken care of .

Today is Matt's grandparents 50th Anniversary party. It's an open house from 2-6 and of course we will be there. My concern is that everyone is going to want to pass her around. Madelyn doesn't like to be passed from person to person and gets fussy when that happens. Matt said for me to just hold her then and tell people they can't hold her because she will get fussy but then people get mad at me and think I'm this uptight mom and rude. Oh well. We'll see how it goes I guess.

Sunday, Madelyn is getting dedicated at church. No, she's not being baptized but we're standing up in church and dedicating to raising her the way God would have us raise her and teach her and raise her in church. We're pretty excited because we really like our church and of course we want the support of our church family as we look to God to help us raise this wonderful, precious gift he's given us.

that's all for now. She's waking up and will want to eat soon. Then it's off to Costco to meet my mom for a little bit, before getting ready for the open house this afternoon.

Georgia Peaches

This past Sunday, Matt's dad, stepmom, brothers and sister made the 12 + hour trek from Georgia to visit with us and meet Madelyn. We had a blast! Matt's youngest brother is 5 months old, exactly 4 months older than Madelyn. It was great meeting him for the first time too!

Monday we all went to my parents cottage in Newaygo, about an hour north from our house. It was a little cloudy at first but then turned out to be a beautiful day. We went on the jet skis (yes, we. I went on them too, even though I probably shouldn't have), went tubing, tried to wake board and roasted marshmallows. Caleb and Michael took turns driving the pontoon boat at night and went swimming in the middle of the lake.

Tuesday we took some photos out on my parents deck and then wandered through the mall before saying goodbye. They had to head back to Georgia that afternoon but we all had a great time!

Here are a few photos from the week!My beautiful baby girl! She was sleeping on my lap when my mom took this photo :)


The grandpas! My dad is holding Madelyn and Stephen is holding his son, Zeke.


Stephen and Sharleen with all the kids! Matt, Michael, Caleb, Sarah, Zeke and Madelyn!


The first time they saw Madelyn and the first time I met Zeke!
On the boat during a beautiful sunset!

4 weeks

Yesterday was the four week mark since Madelyn was born. I can't believe how fast time goes! She's such a good baby, other than yesterday! She wanted to eat every hour in the morning, which made for a very tired mommy since it started at 6 am. But then in the afternoon she went back to her 3-4 hour naps between feedings and I was very happy!!!

In honor of my friend Rebekah, who now has two little ones and posted about a "tired mommy moment," here is mine - the first of many I'm sure!

I did some laundry yesterday in between seeing my best friend and taking care of Mady. I threw it in the dryer and thought nothing of it. Well, my wonderful husband brought it out of the dryer and up to the living room so I could fold it all. He proceeds to ask me if I was confused as to what kind of diapers we use. That comment alone made me confused so I looked up at him and there was a diaper (disposable, with a wipe!) laying on the top of the laundry pile!!! Somehow a diaper got in our hamper or Mady's hamper or something and went into the washer and dryer! No, I didn't notice it when I put the clothes from the washer in to dry, otherwise I wouldn't have let it go in the dryer. Well, of course I now worry that the washer/dryer was ruined but Matt went and cleaned them out and they still work... How do I know, you may ask, since I did laundry yesterday??? WELL..... my precious little girl decided to have a MONSTER blow out this morning as I was nursing her! It went through her diaper, sleeper and onto my boppy pillow!!! I'm so thankful the pillow itself is washable!!!

I went out to the gym today for the first time since I had Madelyn. Man, am I out of shape!!! I've lost 22 pounds, and have 14 more to lose but I'm hoping to get into better shape than I was before. I know I'm not supposed to work out until after my 6 week check up but I'm getting too frustrated sitting here and not attempting to work it off. So for now, I will take it slow and see how things go!

Below is a picture from our trip to North Carolina. 5 generations are shown (me, Madelyn, my great grandma Blair, my mom and my grandma Lemonds).

finally home

Madelyn and I made it home!!! We arrived last night around 9pm, after a long day in the car. She did great!!!! What a good baby I have!

We left at 6am on Tuesday morning and arrived at 9 that night. Wednesday consisted of relaxing around the house and taking the "5 generations" picture, which was the main reason for going there. Thursday we went shopping, where this little baby pooped through her clothes! Unfortunately, I didn't have another onsie in the diaper bag so she went in just her diaper on the way home! She had her fussy moments that day, in which every other woman in the house decided to "diagnose" her and tell me what to do for her. I ended up pretty frustrated and had to call Matt to calm down a little. Friday morning we left at 6am and she did great the whole way home!

I must say, one of the highlights, for me anyway, was getting to eat at Chick-Fil-A! Since we don't have those here, mom promised that we could go there if Madelyn and I went on the trip. We ate there Tuesday night for dinner and also at the mall on Thursday. YUM!

Well, Miss Madelyn is waking up and it's time for a bath and then time to eat. I'll post pictures later once I get them from my mom.

mini-vacay

Well, I'm pretty much packed for the little trip we're taking. The laundry is almost finished and then I can finish packing my bag and Mady's bag. Then I am taking a bunch of our stuff to my mom's tonight so the car can get packed tonight. We leave at 6am tomorrow morning and I'm just praying that she does well in the car. The plan is to stop every couple hours, not just to feed her but so she can get out of her car seat and just move around a little bit. We're hoping to find an outlet mall on the way there so we can not only get out of the car a little bit but find something super cute for my friend who just had baby boy #2 - Jackson is here!!!! I wish Indianapolis was on the way to North Carolina but it's not. I wanna meet this little guy and introduce them to Madelyn but that will have to wait I guess.
Matt and I are going out tonight for the first time by ourselves since Madelyn was born. Our 2 year wedding anniversary is tomorrow but since I am going to North Carolina in the morning, we're going out to dinner to Logan's and then to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert! I love Cold Stone - we went almost every night on our honeymoon in Hawaii (we got a ton of coupons for "Buy one get one" from a store we went to). So fun! Hopefully Madelyn will be good tonight while Matt's mom is here. We won't be gone long but even just a little time out together will be nice. Can't wait!