Maddy's first bites!

At Maddy's 4 month check-up last week her doctor said she was ready to start cereal and fruits/veggies at anytime. So....we gave it a go!

At first it was a "yucky face", but on day 3 she gobbled it ALL down!

AND even better, she had her best nights sleep last night after a full belly (crossing my fingers tonight is a repeat since she ate even more). She slept 10 hours straight from 7pm-5am, then after nursing she slept 3 more hours!

Trying out her new high chair for size.
FIRST BITE!

Mom...what are you putting in my mouth???!! (add the gag sound!!)

Roxy's thinking...."hmmm.....another kid who eats!! YES!!!! Soon it will all be MINE!!!"

Awwww.....just cute with a messy face

And asleep!

Daddy & Maddy

Waking Daddy up! And holding his finger tight.

Survived the Hospital

Well, we survived ear tube surgery #2! We are all just glad it is behind us now and we can move on with our spring & summer activities!!

Here are some photos from the pre-op room while we waited for the doctor to arrive!

Abby's doing great! And woke up this morning 100%, just a little cranky through the day, but still not that abnormal from just being 2!! Hard to distinguish the difference at times.

What a look!

Abby is always up in Maddy's face! She seems to think the only way Maddy will hear her and see her is if she's LOUD and UP-CLOSE!!! I try to convince her otherwise, but it goes in one ear and out the other....like most things I say these days....oh the 2's!!! Nonetheless, Maddy is always entertained!

Daddy's back!

SO CUTE!

Out to dinner (with a mouth full of bread)

"CHEESE" Sharing a hotdog at Costco

Magnet Girl

So Abby has enjoyed learning how magnets work in the last few months, and the other day she decided Maddy might like some magnets too! So as I cooked dinner and had Maddy in the kitchen with me, Abby adorned her seat with 10+ magnets saying "here you go Maddy"!!

LOOK Who's 4 months old....ALREADY??!!!??

Our little snuggle bug is 4 months old now! And getting cuter and more alert each day!

She went to the doctor today for her checkup and got 2 shots!

Here are her stats: 15 lbs 2oz, 25.5" long! 80th percentile for both!

Her favorite toy right now is her fist, and she is working very hard to try to suck her thumb, even though we hope she doesn't figure it out (she still loves her pacifiers!!). She LOVES her big sister, and loves going for long walks in our new stroller! Seems to be where she sleeps the best!

4 MONTH Photo Shoot by Mommy

Together again.....tomorrow!

Well Mike finally returns tomorrow morning from his 8 week hiatus for work and we pick him up at 9am......COUNTING DOWN THE HOURS!!!!

I am so excited for him to see the girls of course and vice versa, but just for us to feel normal again and have him walk in the door each night after work...oh the little things.

Thank you to my visitors over these last trying 8 weeks while Mike was away training for work. The girls and I really appreciated the distraction, the help, and the company!

On top of our already busy weekly schedule of preschool, library storytime, and Navy playgroup, we managed to fit in a visit from my college roommate with her kids from DC, a weekend visit from Grandma Donna, and a weeks visit with the Reiss Great Grandparents!
And if that doesn't seem like enough to squeeze into 8 weeks, we topped it off with 5 trips to the doctor for Abby's ear infections (which is still ongoing.....arrrgggg) and scheduled ear/adenoid surgery for next Friday March 12th with the ENT!! Much anticipated just to get ahead of this ear trouble once and for all (for this year at least....fingers crossed it lasts longer than last time!!!) and hopefully enjoy the spring & summer to come!

Oh yeah.....and it snowed 5 times!!!! The snow was my least favorite visitor and is certainly not invited next time!!

Happy weekend......I know ours will be great!!! I think I will take a nap at some point to decompress (close enough to a vacation these days!!!!!)

Yes, it happened AGAIN!!! YUCK!

Did I mention I am officially NOT a fan of living in snow.....and its March!

I need some sunshine, even if the temperature only tops 55 or 60, that would be a relief!

This morning I woke up to WAY more snow than anticipated. Around 3am there was some slush on the cars, but no snow accumulation. Just shows the difference 4 hours can make to my surprise. Its supposed to stop by noon. But this is our 5th snowfall in 8 weeks!

A sucker for cute shots!

The fun & interaction of having two adorable girls never seems to end!

Abby sharing her dolls.....3 of them! Maddy was a bit overloaded.

All propped up to watch tv with big sissy!

Look, I can sit in my jumperoo!! But my hand is still my favorite toy!

So much fun.....Abby loves it too....maybe more at this point. She screeched when she woke up from her nap and saw this new contraption assembled in the living room-- I had to beg her not to play with until Maddy was up to avoid more noise!

Maddy ADORES Abby and lights up when she sees her....proof in the above photo

Sisterly love

Abby's probably saying her new phrase "hi, I abby"

Big Sister = I can do it too!!

Well Abby is getting a bit jealous of my attention to Maddy these days, recognizing that I get excited when Maddy does certain things. Sooooo Abby is in the "look at me" copy mode showing me she can do things too (she just doesn't know she's already been through these milestones!) Still fun to see how proud she is!

Look at me!! I can ROLL OVER!!!!

Maddy had a new milestone today as she figured out how to roll from her tummy to her back!! Abby and I were both impressed and made her do it a few times just to giggle at her! Our little girl is growing up WAY too fast!

Indoor weekend fun

We had a very uneventful and quiet weekend at home, so of course that involved the camera and some silly & cute faces!

Oh, so Abby's 2nd most favorite thing aside from Maddy simply touching her, is when Maddy pretends to sleep in her big girl bed with her. Maddy is always so chill sitting there while we clean up Abby's room at the end of the day and then Abby pretends she's tired and climbs in bed with her.

Tired eyes....almost bedtime!

Propped up on the couch....Abby came in and screached "ahhhh she sit up mommy" (as if she did it on her own!! too funny)

And we squeezed in some chalk time outside. Abby woke up from her nap and saw that it was sunny outside so I suggested some drawing. Requiring a jacket and sunglasses of course! She chose the blue and yellow chalk which adorns our back steps at the moment!

BUMBO time! I LOVE LOVE her thick little feet!

Maddy's 1st Coo's....such a doll!

Here is a quick video of Maddy cooing!

Sisters

Abby's most favorite thing in the world these days is when Maddy pulls her hair or touches her in any fashion! She gets so excited and yells running to tell me (EVERY TIME!!!) that she touched her (even if it meant shoving her face in front of Maddy or hanging her hair close to her hand). Little does she know, those hair pulls are going to HURT pretty soon when it is intentional!!

When I laid Maddy down on the bear rug, Abby asked if she could lay there too! Of course she was thrilled that Maddy touched her shoulder!!
Baby Mohawk!

...and the double chin!

This was just too funny last night. Her shirt got stuck as we were trying to take it off, and I just had to take a picture.....she actually laughed too!

I love my girls!

I made it in a photo!!! Abby's new haircut. We took off about 2 inches.
Maddy in her cute new bib my Navy friend Amy made for her! Too adorable and very appropriate since she is the spitiest baby ever! I don't know how she has gotten so chunky since she seems to spit half of it up! Oh well....healthy and happy nonetheless! And CUTE!

Final Moments with Great-Grandparents in February

We had a wonderful visit, lots of quality time with the girls, and lots of help for ME!!

I even got in a last minute pedicure this morning while they stayed home with Abby. Maddy came with me and slept thru her first nail salon experience. Her loss....my gain!

During their visit with us, Abby got her 2nd haircut & Maddy had a 1st as she started cooing/"talking"!

Abby & Maddy loved the attention!! There weren't very many moments of empty arms in this house this last week! Thank you for making the trip, and making it fun and enjoyable!