Easter 2012

We had a wonderful Easter once again. The Bollengier family, Michael's parents, and my family came together to celebrate. We had a pot luck brunch with delicious food. The kids dyed hard boiled eggs and went for an Easter egg hunt. Connor also was showered with gifts from his grandparents and the Easter Bunny. Maddie even got some new clothes too! Poor Madeline was sick for her first Easter... stuffy nose, watery eyes, cough, and mild temperature. She was still in good spirits, just not her smily self. Hard to believe next year, CJ and she will be running around for the egg hunt. We are thankful for wonderful friends and family to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Glory to the Lord for all of our blessings.

Mommy and her boy!

Connor with Poppy and Mimi

Connor... very excited over all of his Easter gifts!

Daddy showing Connor his new Toy Story t-shirt from the Easter Bunny!

Cayden finding his easter basket in the dryer.

Auntie Mal with Cayden. Both are such cuties!

Mimi with her grand-babies!

The Louis Clan

Easter brunch with the Bollengiers

Egg Dying

Grandma Jill with Madeline  

Connor on the egg hunt! 

Poppy with Maddie

Baylee and Connor enjoying dessert at the kid's table.

Happy 3 Months to Baby Maddie!

Easter Egg Hunt with Friends

We had our 2nd annual Easter Egg hunt with our wonderful friends, Danielle, Heidi, Kirsten. We met at Danielle's home for a play date, followed by a walk to the park, a picnic lunch, and a hunt. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends! We had a great time, although Connor got hurt (I think he knocked the wind out of himself for the first time) on the playground which kinda put a damper on the rest of the outing for him. He's a trooper though! Just another fun tradition that we have with these wonderful girlfriends!

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!