Easter

We had a great Easter weekend. Initially I had a cold and wasn't sure I'd be making it to Lincoln to celebrate with my family, but Claritin helped and we were able to spend Easter with my parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles and nephews.

Here are some photos from the weekend:

Morning of photos

I took these photos of Madelyn this morning while I was getting her ready for daycare.

We have a mover ... this is where she was in her crib when I woke her up this morning. When I put her to bed at 10 p.m. last night, her head was on the burp cloth!

She's a drooler, too. Notice the yellow tint to her drool ... it's remnants of the Vitamin D drops I have to give her daily. They smell and taste gross.


Look at those long legs! And look how much she's changed:


This was taken this morning ...


And this is the one from the day after her birth ... As my coworker pointed out, I look the same with and without make-up. :(


And here is a video from my nephews' birthday party last weekend. William had already blown out his candles and it was Samuel's turn.

Runny noses and smiles

Madelyn and I have runny noses.

At least I can blow my nose. Poor Madelyn has to endure saline sprays and nose suctions twice a day. She hates them and scream-cries when they happen, which makes me hate doing it.

She's 11 weeks old today and is growing like a weed. She's just finishing up a growth spurt that had her drinking, fussing and sleeping more often than usual. My job was to keep up with the feedings. Up until last Friday, she'd been sleeping 8 to 9 hours straight at night ... and I was waking to pump once so my milk supply didn't drop. That's been a struggle, I think, but we're doing OK. She's waking once in the night to feed and I'm pumping once.

Despite her occasional fussy spell, Madelyn is a happy, smiling baby. She likes to talk, sit in her bouncy/rocking chair and lie on the floor or changing table.

This is my third week back at work and things are going OK. I just struggle with finding a balance between caring for Madelyn, keeping the house clean and meals prepared for Jason, and sleeping. I know it'll all work itself out with time.

Here's a photo I took of Madelyn this morning while I was changing her diaper and getting her ready for the day:

Weekend in North Platte

This weekend we took Madelyn out to North Platte to meet her cousin Corby and to celebrate Corby's first Communion. We had a great time and Madelyn was really good. She slept the entire way out there - except for our stop to feed - and on the way back - except again to feed. She was a hit and cousin Corby just LOVED on her!

See the fun we had:

Aunt Courtney hung out with us on Saturday.


Grandma cuddled with Madelyn


Cousin Corby played with Madelyn


And held her


Grandpa got his cuddles in, too


Madelyn got a pair of Nikes from Corby ... Grandpa sent her some last week.


Jason and I are very proud of Corby for making his first Communion. Jason is his godfather.


And these are just some cute photos I took of Madelyn before we left for North Platte:

CCCCUUUUURRRRRRLLLLLLLSSSSSSS!!!!!

Survived

So I survived the first day back to work. I did OK and was excited to be at work with my coworkers. Everyone was excited to have me back, and I was happy to write and do interviews. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about doing that since I didn’t miss it while I was off, but I still like my job. Jason and Madelyn sent me flowers yesterday (tulips and irises) and we had donuts this morning and celebrate my return. Oh, and I’ve received 2 baby gifts since yesterday - one from my boss and one from my old boyfriend Don's parents!

Madelyn had a great day yesterday at daycare. The teachers said she was very good. I checked in on her once yesterday using the webcam (I had to get permission from my boss to access it from my computer and then had t work with the IT guys all day long to make it work). She didn’t nap quite as long as usual, but that’s to be expected until she gets used to sleeping with the lights and noise.

Last night we had baptism class (our final one). It only lasted an hour and we were home in time to watch the final game of the tournament (I won my brother’s office pool - $25). I actually went to bed before the game was over but Jason stayed up to watch it.

Side note: Madelyn's baptism is set for May 7 at our church, St. Vincent de Paul. My Uncle Jim is doing the baptism and my sister Alicen and brother Brent are the godparents.

Madelyn slept 7 hours last night and only because I woke her up at 4:30 to nurse. I was nervous to go any longer physically for me and then I was afraid she would wake up and want to eat when I needed to be getting ready for work and would through the feeding schedule off. Probably should’ve just let her sleep until she woke up hungry. I’ll try to do that tomorrow night. I’ll just shower tonight. She was happy this morning – until I had to do her sinus rinse and suction.  I took her to daycare this morning at 7:30 which meant I had a half hour with her there before I had to leave for work. She I cuddled with her, changed her diaper and put her down for her nap. It was great!

Here are some photos from last weekend:

Daddy talked with Madelyn while she was in her swing (she finally likes it):


She and I talked on the bed:


She pulled off Daddy's glasses...


.... but he loved her anyway!


We walked around the neighborhood on Saturday:




This is Madelyn's typical state:


But she also makes funny faces, like this one:


Then Daddy and Madelyn watched the NASCAR race together:


We had a visit from my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Larry from Lincoln:


And here's Madelyn and us at her first day of daycare:

Last day

Today is the last week day I'll be home with Madelyn. I go back to work on Monday and I'm not looking forward to it. While I love to write and take photos and interview people, I'd much rather spend my days loving, playing and caring for Madelyn. However, we're not at that place right now where that's possible financially, so I'll suck it up and do it.

Madelyn and I have had a great day so far.

She slept awesome (from 9:30 p.m. to 2:45 a.m. and then until 5:30 a.m.). I wanted to do a trial morning today so that I'm prepared for next week, so I got up at 5:30 a.m. to shower. Madelyn was asleep when I got in the shower, but started crying pretty quickly - so it was a quick shower. :) Guess that is a lesson that I need to shower the night before since I'm never sure when she will wake up.

So Madelyn listened to her mobile in her crib and I finished getting "ready". I fed her at 6:15 a.m. and then we talked and rocked for about half an hour. I got her dressed and we headed to daycare - although we drove by and went to Starbucks instead. :)

She napped when we got home and I got some things done around the house, as well as laundry going. She hasn't been napping long today and I think is still tired when she wakes up so she's been fussy. But we've cuddled - which usually doesn't work, but today it did - and she calmed down. She's napping again today.

Here are some photos from today:

This is her listening to me talk while she laid on my legs in her bedroom this morning.


And then we moved to the couch for some more conversation.


Then my baby liked the swing - something she never does - in her rockin' leopard swaddle.


More conversation and smiles:








Then we hung out on the blanket after lunch.