Best Friends

Jumparoo Time!

Happy Half Birthday!

Today was Madalyn's six month birthday which we celebrated by a visit to the doctor's office. She is 16.2 pounds and 26 inches, which makes her right on track. Babies are supposed to double their birthweight by six months, which would have made her 17 pounds but she is way within where she should be. Of course she got her shots, which she hated... but she only cried for a minute as opposed to the 10 minute she has cried in the past. But when she stopped crying and saw the nurses were still in the room, she stuck her lower lip out and started the water works again... little miss drama queen. She was actually really good today after the shots and wasnt too fussy, which was nice.

Madalyn Months 4 and 5

Vacation Slideshow

Summertime...

As far back as I can remember the beach has been my favorite place to be. This summer my mother decided to get a hotel room on Longboat Key in Sarasota for her birthday week. It fell on a weekend I was off and I did a trade time for Monday so I had a whole 3 days to spend with my family on the beach. It was such a great weekend. Jenna and Savannah came down from Riverview and my Dad came up when he got off work Saturday afternoon. We had such a great time.... with Savannah and Madalyn playing together especially. Savannah calls her "Ladaly" and is so affectionate with her baby cousin. She is going to make a great big sister come February!

It was appropriate that it was the first day of Fall while we were on the beach because the weekend itself felt like a summertime wrap up.

My mom, or Gigi as the babies call her, bought Miss Madalyn a raft for the beach and the pool. It is a little froggy raft with a palm tree that hangs over it for some shade. Madalyn absolutely loved her raft, especially when we took it in the ocean. There Maddie had her first surfing lesson, where I pushed her into the waves. She also loved dipping her fingers in the ocean and sucking on the salt.

Madalyn also discovered what a great nap she could have while rocking back in forth on the waves. While we were out in the Gulf she put her head down on her raft and fell asleep. It was the cutest thing. I have put my head down many times on my surfboard and taken a quick nap because there is nothing more relaxing then sleeping with the ocean waves there.

When we came home and I gave Miss Madalyn a bath she stuck her fingers in the water and tried to suck on them.... looking for the salt I assume. Obviously shes a beach a baby.... like Mommy like daughter....

More pictures

5 months old

Yesterday was Madalyn's five month birthday! She has grown up so much. This past week she was able to sit on her own for the first time... first on our bed and outside in the grass where it is a cushiony surface, then today she sat on the floor on her own! She also can roll over both ways... back to tummy and tummy to back. So now we lay her on a blanket on the floor and between rolling around and "scooting" (her version of crawling she makes it all over the place. It is so adorable.

Sweet and Delicious

Baby Bath and Bed time

Time to take a bath.... yay for the sink~


I'm helping Mommy, getting all clean!


Can I eat it?


Time for a massage Mommy... my favorite!


Time for bed.... nighty night!

20 Weeks old~

Madalyn got to experience eating celery this week... she seemed to enjoy gumming at it. She is also obsessed with cups.... whenever you have a cup by her she pulls it to her lips and tries to drink from it. It is the cutest thing. Gigi bought her a walker this week, and even though she is a little too short to walk in it now, she likes to play with the toys on top of it and make it sing to her. She also got her own phone today and likes to chew on it! Everything new to her goes right into her mouth. Madalyn has also discovered how fun it is to pull Mommy's hair!

She's LAUGHING!

This afternoon I think I laughed harder than I have in a LONG time. I was on the floor playing with Madalyn and Allie wanted to join in, so she went and got her football. She was running around with it in her mouth trying to get someone to chase her (her favorite game!) Well, Maddie though this was the funniest thing and she took one look at Allie with the football in her mouth and she started giggling, then squealing. It was the most adorable thing. She kept doing it every time Allie came by. Allie loved the attention and kept bring the ball to us which made Maddie laugh even harder, then she started grabbing at Allie's jowls and trying to pet her. I can tell they are going to be great friends. :)

Long overdue update

Whew! Its been almost a month since I posted on here! We have been super busy trying to get the new house ready to move in to, as well as move out of the old one. We are in the new house now... still trying to find things and unpack and sort things out. Even though this house is bigger it actually has LESS storage than the old one, so we have had to get creative with organization and all. But it is coming along.... as much as it can be with us working and having a 4 month old.

Maddie is getting so big! She turned 4 months old last Wednesday and is such a cutie! She is quite a little chatterbox and spend the entire day talking, from the time she gets up until she goes to bed at night. Notice I didnt mention anything about nap time in there.... she has it in her head that she will miss something if she dares fall asleep in the daytime! Sometimes if I am lucky I can lay her on our bed with me and get her to fall asleep, then I have to sneak off the bed without waking her. But that usually only lasts for 20 minutes or so until she wakes back up. We need to get her in a napping routine... but right now it works for her to be up during the day. She is always in bed asleep by 7:30 or 8 and most nights sleeps until 6 or 7 in the morning. So, cant complain there.

She has discovered how much fun toys are... and as of Sunday can roll over on her own. She had done this a few times on our bed or in the crib, but now if she is on her back she rolls herself immediately on to her tummy.... then cries after about 5 minutes because she wants to be on her back. But when you flip her back over.... she rolls to her tummy again. She knows how to roll from her tummy to her back, but she would much rather have mommy or daddy do it. She also loves to laugh.... Shawn has been very successful at making her giggle... and today for the first time I made her laugh by blowing raspberries on her belly. Her giggle made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes! She is such a happy baby... always smiling and squealing.... she is such a joy.

This past weekend my parents came up and Maddie saw her Papa Hill for the first time since she was 8 weeks old. They had a great time together.... I was so happy he got to be here to hold her and play with her. She is so much more personable now than she was 8 weeks ago... it is amazing how much she has grown since our wedding, never mind since her birth!

Last Wednesday was her checkup at the doctors (I mean, what better way to spend your 4 month birthday than going to get shots?!) She is 14 pounds, 8 ounces... and 24 1/4 inches. She is right on track to double her birthweight by 6 months, which is the goal for babies. Her doctor said she is absolutely perfect (which we knew!) She loved drooling on him... (she actually likes to drool on everything right now. we change clothes 3 times a day!)

Dr. Benton gave us the go-ahead to try some baby foods when we are ready, so last night we gave her some sweet potatoes. She seemed to like them, though I only gave her a few spoonfulls to let her get the idea of eating off of a spoon. She is also really interested in cups... whenever I am holding her with a cup in the other hand she leans forward and puts her mouth on the lip and tries to drink from it.

Allie and Madalyn are getting to be great friends.... she pulls on Allie's cheeks and pats her on the back whenever she can and Allie loves to lick her face and her feet.

I will update more as I get the time....

Its been awhile....

I havent updated in awhile... mostly because we are super busy at the new house because we have less than 2 weeks until we need to move in. There is still so much to be done! It IS coming along though... slowly but surely I guess. There just seems to be so much to do... but I guess that is the joy of home ownership- alays some project to work on. Shawn loves that! He is especially proud of his yard... it is absolutely gorgeous grass thanks to lots of Weed and Feed.

Miss Madalyn is now 14 weeks old and is growing so much! Now she grabs at everything and tries to get it in her mouth. She holds her head up on her own... and is interested in everything going on around her. She is also teething so she goes between being a happy baby and then being fussy when her teeth are bothering her.

3 Months Old!

Playing with Daddy...


She's laughing at Daddy!


What is that silly doggie doing?


Hanging out with Auntie Amber.


Sunday was Miss Madalyn's three month birthday. She is getting so big! The last two nights she has slept through the night, so we are crossing our fingers that she keeps this up because we LOVE the sleep. Her Daddy taught her to make "fart" noises with her mouth, which she loves to do as well as loves to blow bubbles. (Thanks Shawn!) She has learned to hold her ball on her play gym in her two hands and shake it back and forth... its the funniest thing. We have also put her in her Jumparoo... which she is a little too small for, but she does like to swat at the toys.

Ive been a bit of a slacker as far as posting lately... we have been swamped working at the house. Moving day is coming quickly.... and we still have so much to do! Today Amber came and babysat Miss Maddie so we could get some work done. I painted her bathroom, and tonight Shawn laid the tile on the floor. All of the tile work is done except for a few pieces along the wall which will require some cutting.

Happy 4th of July!

Here she is all decked out in red, white, and blue!

Madalyn 12 Weeks