Uncle Stan

Madelyn just loves her Uncle Stan. We see him almost every Tuesday when we get adjusted by him at his chiropractic clinic in Lincoln.

Madelyn gets regular adjustments and has since she was a couple weeks old. I think chiropractic care is amazing and truly believe it helped me conceive and have a healthy pregnancy.

Here's Uncle Stan adusting Maddie Mae:


And after:




Thanks, Stan, for making us all feel better!

Photos

This week I've tried to take a photo of me and Madelyn every morning before work. I thought of this on Tuesday. Here they are:

Tuesday:


Wednesday:


Today: (the best one because of her smile)

Date Night

Last Saturday, Jason and I had our first date out since Madelyn was born.

We went to the outdoor Stir Concert Cove at Harrah's Casino in Council Bluffs where we saw country singer Gary Allan. The weather was beautiful and it was such a fun show. It was great going out with Jason and feeling like his woman instead of Madelyn's mommy (not that I don't love being that!)



Here's his video for The One, my favorite song of his. Jason played it for me when we were dating. Love the words and the sexiness of his voice. He didn't play it at the concert though.



Jason's mom stayed with us and watched Madelyn while we were out. We love it when she visits!!!!!

Here she is reading Madelyn a book:


On Sunday, I went to my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law's family wedding shower at my aunt and uncle's cabin in Fremont. It was great fun.

Here's the happy couple:

Highs and Lows

So last week I talked with the nurse practitioner at the Pope Paul VI Institute about the brain fog I was experiencing. I've been having a lot of trouble getting my words to match my thoughts and it was really causing problems with my work and with my relationship with Jason. I was seeking advice on what I could do to treat the problem.

She thought I was experiencing some post-partum depression, which surprised me because I didn't really feel depressed and I thought PPD happened right after delivery ... not 5 months later. But I followed her lead and have resumed my progesterone shots over the course of last weekend and this week. Since being on the progesterone, I actually had a bad bought of depression this week. I woke up Tuesday feeling very sad and cried off and on throughout the morning. I'm not really sure what was making me feel sad - maybe because I can't stay home with Madelyn every day or because I'm not happy at my job anymore and I feel the stress of trying to decide what to do about that; maybe because my pants still don't quite fit me right; maybe because Jason and I have struggled to resume our intimacy; or because I am strugging to maintain my milk supply. Probably all those things combined.

The strange thing is that the next day and today I've felt completely fine. I'm trying to think positively about things and remember that my dreams have come true and my prayers have been answered: I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful, healthy baby. Madelyn is a joy and Jason is a fantastic father and does so many great things for me.

I plan to continue to work with the PPVI to decide if I need to go back on some of the medications I was on before I got pregnant in order to feel more like myself. The only downside to that is that I'll have to stop breastfeeding.

On a happier note, Madelyn is 5 months old on Saturday and she's thriving! She's rolling over, talking, smiling, sitting up and doing great on tummy time (thank goodness, cause I don't know how much more funky neck junk I could take!) and most likely teething. No teeth have appeared yet, but she drools a lot, has had low-grade fevers and a stuffy nose.

Hope you and your families are doing well!!!!

Father's Day weekend

We had a really nice weekend. Friday night we took Madelyn with us to Red Zone BBQ on 120th and Blondo. Madelyn just sat in her carseat and watched us eat. The restaurant had Friday Night Lights playing, so we also got to watch our favorite show! Then we went to JCPenney’s at Westroads and Jason bought some 9.99 polos. After we put Madelyn to bed, Jason and I stayed up and watched Crazy Heart. I love that movie!

Saturday morning we hung out at home, watched the College World Series games, went to the grocery store, bathed Madelyn and had our friends over for dinner. It was great to see them one last time before they move this week.

Sunday after Mass, I made Jason breakfast, then watched baseball and the race, made him lunch and played with Madelyn. Also did laundry. We ordered sushi from Hiro for dinner. It was delicious!!!!!

Madelyn got her daddy a card and tickets to the Zac Brown Band concert. She also wore her #3 Dale Earnhardt jersey for the first time. She looked so cute!



She loves it when Daddy reads to her.






Here's what she's wearing today.


And a family photo.

Time flies

Wow, I cannot believe it's been 4 1/2 months since Madelyn was born. Our lives our so consumed by her that it's hard to remember that she is new to our family. Daily we enjoy her octave-ranging babbles, her giggles, smiles and adorable body movements of constant kicking, rolling over and toe sucking. I am so grateful to God for answering our prayers and the prayer of others and blessing us with her life.

She continues to grow. At her 4 month appointment 2 weeks ago, she weighed 12 pounds and was 25.5 inches long. She's still long and skinny - in the 94th percentile for height and 17th for weight.





Jason's been doing some more landscaping to our front yard. Last weekend, he built a flower bed around the tree and he planted flowers. I love flowers, but don't have a real green thumb, so I appreciate his assertiveness in handling those kinds of things.





Last Sunday we celebrated my nephew Henry's baptism in Lincoln. It was a beautiful day with family. Madelyn was a hit with everyone. They all wanted to hold her. She was such a good girl.

Memorial Day Weekend

Thanks to windy and rainy weather ... and a diaper blowout, our weekend plans of planting flowers and doing landscaping came to a screeching halt last weekend. Still, we enjoyed our time together as a family and spent much of it playing with Madelyn, eating good food ... and by good I mean tasty .. not healthy, and relaxing.

Saturday morning Madelyn and I went to my friend Lisa's house to hang out with her and her two kids, as well as with my friend Angie and her son, who were visiting from Illinois. It was the first time all three of us were together with our children and for a moment I sat there and thought about all we'd been through together to get where we are today - road trips, Bible study, break ups and weddings, and now parenting. How wonderful it is to have such close friends.

On our way home, we stopped by my coworker Ashlee's apartment to get a tour of it, and although it was a short visit, we were happy to see her!

We returned home to an organized and cleaner garage, thanks to Jason. But when he told me had thrown away Kiara's bike (we'd been keeping it for her, but she hadn't used it in years and we are no longer in contact), I freaked out. I don't know if it was because it was the last thing I had of Kiara's and getting rid of it meant she and I really were over (sounds and felt somewhat like a breakup) or that I just felt bad that a perfectly good bike was going to be wasted. After a lot of complaining on my part, Jason was sweet and went back to the dumpster he had thrown it in and brought it home. I immediately took it to Goodwill ... and felt happy that another little girl could have a bike to ride this summer.

Here's Jason doing an awesome job cleaning.


And here's the bike in question.


I brought my work camera home with me this weekend and shot some super cute photos of Madelyn playing. Here's a sample:













Note the photo of Madelyn in her swaddle. It was the only time this weekend that she was swaddled for nap or bedtime. Since she can now roll over, we aren't swaddling her (for safety reasons). She doesn't love it, but is getting better. Yesterday she didn't do so well at daycare, though, and only slept an hour for naptime all day!

I also almost finished my book club book, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." I rarely read murder mysteries, but this one was FABULOUS! I just skipped the first 100pages (it was slow) and was happy.

Jason grilled steak one night for us (I love how he prepares steaks) and then shrimp scampi another. We also caught up on our Grey's Anatomys and Friday Night Lights episodes.