Happy St. Patrick's Day

We had a lovely St. Patrick's Day this year. Grandma and Pops came up for the weekend and we celebrated by spending the day in Old Sacramento and watching the St. Patty's Day parade. Maddie slept through the parade, but Connor enjoyed every minute of it! We feel pretty lucky to have such great grandparents for our babies!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. We've been having fun!

Aunt Diane and Ron came to visit and meet Maddie

Madeline is fairly tolerant of tummytime... especially when Connor entertains her.

Connor loves to cuddle Maddie in the mornings.

Connor and Mimi making brownies

Poppy snuggling Baby Madeline

Madeline is 2 Months Old!

It's hard to believe Madeline Emma has been here for 2 months already, yet it's hard to imagine life before our family of 4. She is such a joy... smiling and cooing so much now. She really brightens our lives.  Connor and Daddy often get the best smiles from her and she seems just on the verge of laughter. She's still a pretty content baby... She nurses well, usually around 8 times a day. We try to give her a bottle once every few days just to keep her willing to take it. She's sleeping well at night, usually falling asleep around 8pm and sleeping until 2 or 3am and then sleeping again until 6am. She sleeps in a cradle right by our bed, but she's a quiet sleeper for the most part so it's not too bothersome. I feel very blessed to be getting a little sleep. Connor is still an amazing big brother... helpful, loving, patient. He just adores Madeline and wants to protect her and make her happy.

We had Maddie's 2 month appt on 3/8/2012. She weighed 11lbs. 1oz and was 21.5 inches long. She's perfectly healthy and growing like a champ! The only issues noted were some dry areas on her skin including cradle cap and a plugged tear duct on her right eye. Minor issues that will clear up quickly! We are so blessed!

Madeline's birth announcement

Our happy, smiley girl!

Toy Story on Ice!

Grandma and Pops treated us to Disney on Ice... Toy Story 3! Connor was so very excited! When the characters came out, he yelled, "Are you serious!!!???" Michael and I both said that his reaction was absolutely priceless! We had a great time, and Grandma and Pops spoiled Connor with treats, photos, and toys at the show.  Madeline was a gem and slept through most of the show.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The "Meet Madeline" Open House

Dave and Jill hosted a lovely open house for family and friends to have them meet Madeline. It was a beautiful day and it was wonderful to share our sweet girl with so many friends and family. She of course was spoiled with many unexpected gifts, and Big Brother Connor got some cool new gifts too.

Madeline is 1 month!

Happy 1 Month Birthday Baby Maddie!

Connor feeding Maddie a bottle

Daddy with his babies!

Madeline's first trip to the zoo. Connor showed her all the animals! We went with our friends Danielle and Kirsten and their kiddos. It was a lovely day!

Connor is 3 1/2!

We celebrated Connor's half birthday yesterday! Hard to believe our baby is 3 1/2 and already a Big Brother! He is a wonderful big brother too. He loves to hold Maddie, feed her bottles, rub her head, etc. He's very attentive to her and just adores her. It will be so fun to see their relationship develop over time. Connor continues to be quite the gem... he is lovable, social, friendly, and has an amazing sense of humor. He's always making us laugh. He recently told us, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a girl... and I will have boobies so I can feed Madeline." Hysterical! He's become quite the story teller and often our dinnertimes are filled with him telling stories about his day. Connor has recently become very interested in games... Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Jenga, Dominoes, etc. We play LOTS of games! Connor loves to win, but is also developing his sportsmanship skills. He continues to enjoy books and likes to "read" books to us too. He's been enjoying the warm weather with trips to the park and opportunities to ride his scooter and his tricycle. Overall, he continues to bring such joy to our lives. We love you Connor Michael!

Week 3 with Baby Madeline!

Connor likes Maddie to wear the Giants hat that belongs to his teddy bear.

2 weeks old!

First bottle taken 1/30/12 and she took it right away and drank 4 oz of breast milk!

Big Brother Connor adores her and wants to hold her all the time!

Auntie Mal giving Maddie her second bath.

Look at those baby blues... beautiful girl!

Sleeping baby... I can't get enough of her!

Madeline's first week at home

We've been enjoying getting to know our sweet Madeline. She is just so precious and perfect in every way. She is a happy baby and seems to be more alert and awake each day. She is nursing like a champ and usually nurses every 2 hours during the day, and goes 3-4 hour stretches at night. Michael is back to work already, and Auntie Mal has been helping with taking and picking up Connor from preschool, so I can be with Madeline at home. Mondays and Fridays are what we've termed "Mommy-Connor-Maddie Days" and I'm enjoying my time with both of my babies on those days. Thanks to those friends who have sent gifts or brought food for us. Your support and love mean the world to us!

Madeline Emma is Here!

Our sweet baby girl is here. She arrived Saturday morning, January 7th at 8:24am. She weighed 8lbs and 4oz and was 20.5 inches long. She is healthy and every bit of her is perfect. She came very quickly, which suprised us all! I began feeling labor pains between 5-6am that morning. We left for the hospital soon after 7am and arrived there at 7:55am. To all of our surprise, she was born 30 minutes later. Michael just made it into the delivery room because he had to stay out with Connor while I was admitted. Mandy and Chad made it to the hospital just in time to take Connor so Michael could follow me into the delivery room. She was born minutes after getting into the delivery room. She is such a blessing from god and we are so thankful for her health.

Connor is completely in love and is such a good big brother. He is patient with her and often says, "It's okay Baby Maddie" while stroking her head if she's upset. So far she's been a gem. She sleeps often and loves to be snuggled by all the friends and family who have been visiting. My mom and Michael's mom have been rotating to stay with us and help out as we transition to a family of 4. Mallory is up here now too and helping with "the night shift." Our friends and neighbors have been amazing... we haven't had to cook a meal since we've been home. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner have been brought to us by our lovely friends. We are truly blessed. I will certainly try to continue posting pictures, but as you can imagine, it's hard to make time for computer-time while I have this beautiful baby girl here. Thank you Lord for all that you've given us.