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.

Christmas Celebrations with The Louis Side

Connor checking that Santa enjoyed the cookies and milk and checking out his gift that Santa brought... a new basketball hoop!

Per Connor's request, Pops Dave and Connor making banana pancakes Christmas morning.

Connor really enjoyed opening all of his gifts! He's so spoiled by his wonderful grandparents.

Connor loving on Gigi Mary!

Connor snuggling with Grandma Jill!

Hanging with the cousins at the Harden's house.

Cousins

These pictures deserve a post all by themselves. On Christmas Eve, Connor got to hold Baby CJ for the first time. He's been anxiously awaiting this day, and has been very patient and careful in his interactions with CJ. Because CJ was born early, Mandy and Chad have to be very careful with limiting his exposure to germs and a 3 year old in preschool is pretty much a test tube of germs! Connor was thrilled to hold CJ. He whispered "It's okay" while rubbing his head and kissing his forehead. Connor really loves CJ and it's going to be so fun to watch them grow up together and become friends.

Greeting Santa at the door. Connor was so excited!!

Connor telling Santa what he wants for Christmas... a space station and a train set.

Connor with Cousin CJ meeting Santa for the first time. CJ is our miracle this year!

I feel so very blessed for my family. The only thing I could ask Santa for is a healthy baby girl to add to our clan!

Saying goodbye to Santa! Until next year!

Christmas with the Bollengiers

This past Friday, we enjoyed a wonderful day celebrating Christmas with the Bollengier family. Baylee and Connor were best buds and were pretty much inseperable the whole day. Our day finished off with a surprise visit from Santa Clause. Those pictures will follow next!