Interview with Madison Mae

After we got home from visiting Daddy on the boat, we spent the evening coloring.

I found this "Mommy & Me" interview online that I thought was pretty cute.  I've been waiting for Maddi's birthday to start it, but I figured it'd be neat to ask her the questions now and then again on her birthday (in seven months) to see how much of it changes.  She cracks me up!  Here is how it went.

Madison Mae at 3 years, 5 months.

I first asked her to recite her name: "Madison (long pause)  -I don't remember-"

How old are you? "Free" w/ 3 fingers held up

What is your favorite color? Purple

Who is your best friend? Ms. Suzanne's Girl

Favorite Animal: A horse

What do you want to be when you're all grown up? A frog that goes to school

What is your favorite movie? Tangled

What is your favorite book? "A Book of Sleep"

What makes you happy?  A toy

What makes you sad? When sister pinches and when she bites

What is your most favorite food to eat? California Roll Sushi

What is your favorite song to sing? "Friday"

What games do you like to play? Restaurant and playing with my ABC cards

Then I asked her to write her name for me which was just a bunch of squiggly lines =]

Now we're watching a little Upside Down show before bed.

G'night!

Changes

It's been a little over a year since I've posted on this blog.  I started another, but didn't keep up with the membership and it got deleted.  I thought about transferring the more recent posts, but with all that's been going on I never got around to it.

So much has changed. Chris is back on a boat. Maddi is THREE. Sydney is ONE. I'm a stay at home mom. Oh! And... we live in WASHINGTON!!

It feels like it's all happened in the blink of an eye. It may have. I'm still not even really sure it's sunken in.  At least, so far, we absolutely love the area and the weather has been amazing.  Contrary to everything we expected of WA weather. We were fully prepared for rain, and lots of it!

Chris' new job is going well. He loves being on a boat and I think we're going to love his new schedule.  The girls seem to be adapting well which I'm so glad about.  That was one of my biggest concerns.  I feel so blessed that I get to stay home with them everyday, even if I don't know what day of the week it is anymore. LOL

So... all in all, so far so good, but we miss our family and friends so much! Thank God for Skype!

Big Girl Bed - Round 2

We never got Maddi used to sleeping in her big girl bed during our first attempt around Christmas.  

Here we are 7 months later on day 4...

I decided it was time! Sydney sleeps so well through the night and I think she'd do just as well in the crib, which just so happens to be where the toddler bed is since the girls will be sharing a room.

I knew Maddi would fight me. She LOVES her crib. She cries for it!

The first 3 nights actually went a lot smoother than anticipated. It takes Madison quite a while to fall asleep so I purposely had her skip naps so that by bedtime she was actually ready for sleep.  

Night One: Bed at 8, cried for her crib and wanted me to sit there until she fell asleep. I was out by 8:30pm which is pretty much a record. She slept through the night and woke up crying the next morning at 8am.  Since she did so well I took her out to lunch and Toys R Us to let her pick out a new toy. When we got home I told her I'd open her reward and let her take it with her to her big girl bed for a nap.  She was all for it! She crawled right into bed and waited patiently for me to open her new Dora the Explorer cellphone. =] Well she didn't nap. She also never left her bed. Apparently she and Dora had quite a bit to discuss.

Night Two: Since she didn't nap it was bed at 8pm again.  A new world record. She was asleep and I was out of there by 8:20pm. She woke up, again crying, the next morning at 7:30am. No complaints here, I was up feeding Sydney anyway. So far so good, right?

Night Three: We ran her ragged that day with errands and shopping so no nap and bed at 8pm. Another 20 minute session of me reading to her, rubbing her back and explaining that her bed is beautiful all the while she's crying and pointing to her crib.  Did I forget to mention that was routine for the previous two nights?! The following morning didn't go as smooth. She was up at 5:30am!! She woke up crying for me again and ran straight to our room. We put her in bed with us and she DID NOT go back to sleep! She laid there and talked and stared and tried to get her sister's attention.  At 8am Chris got up and she followed. Shortly after she decided she wanted to "nap" with Mommy so she came back to bed.  She actually ended up falling asleep at 9am and slept until 10:30am.   

Night Four, tonight: After trying to get her to sleep in her bed at naptime and not being very successful we still tried to get her in bed at 8pm.  She fought me a little harder tonight and I think I was a little less patient. She fell asleep, I made my way out and she was awake, crying and making her way to the living room about an hour later. Back in I go... She held my hand and I rubbed her back until she fell asleep. Now she's sleeping peacefully and hopefully she won't be up earlier than this morning since that seems to be the pattern so far.

Wish us continued luck. Sorry this was so long.

Sydney at Two Months

She is just the smiliest little sweetheart ever!

Sydney at One Month

She is just growing way too fast!

We are officially a family of four!

Our second beautiful baby girl was born on April 28th at 4:53pm.
She weighed 9lbs. 1oz and is 20.5 inches long.

My due date was April 24, which came and went so we decided to induce on the 28th. We went into the hospital at 7:30am got checked in and hooked up. My midwife got there at 10am, she checked my cervix, I was dilated to 5cm and she broke my water. At 11:30 the contractions were still few and far between so they started me on a low dose of Pitocin. After upping the Pitocin dose a couple times I finally started getting some strong contractions and we were well on our way. By 2:30 my contractions were really bad and I debated getting the epidural. Chris kept telling me to get it already (I knew I wanted to it was just a matter of when I'd ask for it), but I wanted to wait and see what kind of progress I had made. I felt like we were close. The nurse came in and checked me, I was SURE it was almost time and much to my surprise I was only ALMOST 6!! Ugh! At 3pm I asked for the epidural because I couldn't take it anymore, the contractions were so close together and out of control painful. Just after they hooked me up, I think it was around 3:15 and before the epidural had even kicked in, the nurse checked me again. I was at 8cm! By 3:30 I was 9.5. It was almost time to push and finally the epidural had kicked in. Now all we needed was my midwife who was delivering a baby in the next room.

The nurse had me give her a "practice push" and right away had me stop because baby was coming, midwife or not. She called for my midwife (who was getting ready to stitch up the poor mom who had just delivered her baby) and said, "if you don't come now you're gonna miss the birth". It was GO time! Push one: Sydney's head was all the way out. Push two: I had a brand new baby girl.

So far she is an awesome baby. They heard a heart murmur in the hospital, but it has since resolved itself and she's perfectly healthy.

We feel so blessed and never realized there was so much love in our hearts. 

Madison is TWO!!

With my due date come and gone, planning a 2nd birthday party was just another urgent "to-do" on my list of preparations before Sydney's arrival (that's if Sydney decided to hold-off until after her big sister's big day).  Luckily there's a Chuck E. Cheese's nearby and it seemed like the perfect place to celebrate. 

I was a little worried that Maddi would be scared of the characters and just not have a good time.  Boy was I wrong! She had an absolute blast.  She hit the ground running the second we stepped foot in the place.  I'm so glad she enjoyed herself.  We invited a few guests and all had a great time. After today Sydney is welcome to make her debut any time...  

Sydney Paige in 3D

We simply cannot wait to see her precious face. We're already over the moon in love with her.

Big Girl Bed

My parents bought Maddi her first big girl bed and we got it all put together on Christmas Eve.  I went out and got her a dog/cat bedding set to make it all her own.  She loved it!  I thought for sure I'd read her a book, lay her down, leave the room and she'd be back out in the living room with us in no time, but that didn't happen.  The lack of a nap that day I'm sure had a lot to do with it.  I'm not gonna lie...I was pretty sad she didn't put up a fight. We did, however, get a nice little Christmas morning wake-up when she made her way to our room at 7:30am.

The excitement definitely wore off in no time though.  The next day (Christmas) when we tried to put her down for a nap she wasn't having it.  She'd grab her silky, binky and book and be right back out of bed before we had time to shut the door all the way.  My mom sat with her and rubbed her head until she finally fell asleep.  She only slept for an hour though and I'm sure the ability she had to get up at her leisure had a lot to do with that.  Christmas night was a no-go in the toddler bed.  I sat with her for so long before I gave in and put her down in her crib.

The next night was another no-go.  I finally got her to sleep in it again on the following nght, but again she wanted me to sit there and I could only make my exit when I knew she was completely asleep otherwise the sit and wait process started all over again. She did well through the night and slept until 8:30am which was surprising.

Last night was another no-go, but it was mostly my fault.  We got a late start on our bedtime routine and I couldn't "wait her out".  It was 9pm when I put her in her crib and let her fall asleep.  She didn't make a peep and went right off to Dreamland.

Wish me luck tonight!     

Baby Movement!

I've been feeling little Sydney move around for about a month now (since November 21st to be exact), but tonight Chris was able to feel her move for the first time when he put his hand on my belly.  I was about this far along with Maddi when he felt her for the first time as well.

It's so exciting.  Next comes being able to see the movements!

On another note, middle name options are still being discussed =]

It's a...

GIRL!!!

I'm so excited for Maddi to have a little sister.  I think it'll be so much fun for her (and me).

Now we can seriously think about names.  This is going to be tough.

I wonder if she'll look just like Madison. I really can't picture her any other way. Maybe she'll look more like Chris.

He'd like that =]

Christmas Pictures 2009

Nothing beats the smell of a real tree!

It's almost Christmas and one of my favorite things about this time of year is getting our tree.  I love the way it makes our house smell and I look forward to decorating it every time.  I can't wait for Maddi to be old enough to help and enjoy it just as much as I do.

Ta Da!

My Sweet Ladybug

It's time to go trick-or-treating and Maddi looks SO cute! I'm glad Chris was able to come home for the night and join us. Allie brought Brooke over and we attempted to take pictures of the girls, but they were far too uncooperative. They were such cuties though.

We were actually out for much longer than I anticipated.  I thought we'd make a quick round around the block and then head home to handout candy. Not so much... A few friends we've met through Chris' work came out too and we ended up staying out longer. Madison did so well.  I thought for sure she'd be over it pretty quickly.  She loved being out and walking around, until she'd catch sight of a scary costume.  She was terrified =[  Nothing her Poppa couldn't protect her from though.  She ran straight into his arms each time she was scared <3

We got home and had very few visitors.  We were stuck with tons of candy even after handing out handfuls to the few ghouls and goblins that rang our doorbell.  I'm sure we'll find someone to help get "rid" of it.

Her first REAL owie =[

I got the call at 5:05pm on my way out the door from work. Layne said Maddi had fallen, bumped her head and had a little blood. I could hear Maddi crying and pretty much freaked. I made it home in 2 minutes flat. When I walked in the door, he was sitting with her in his lap and she wasn't crying anymore, but still seemed upset. I noticed it wasn't really her head, more like close to her eye. At first glance, it didn't look too bad, but that's probably why I'm not a Dr. We loaded up and headed to the ER. (This was Rachel's second ER trip while she "vacationed" with us, sorry Rach)

I sent Chris a text on our way out since I knew he'd be off work soon and would want to meet us. He did. Work ran later than he would have liked and didn't make it to the ER until 7:30, which was fine because we were STILL waiting. At around 8:30 we finally got taken back. I was hoping they would be able to close it up just using that super glue, but no such luck. Because of the placement of the cut and the natural creases around her eye they'd have to stitch her up. My poor baby!!

They were very accommodating and even rolled in a TV to keep Maddi entertained while the numbing took effect. She loved Toy Story <3 The time to stitch her up came and I was absolutely not looking forward to it. We had to hold her down. The nurse held her head in place, while Chris faced her and pinned her arms still. He was able to try talking her through it as best he could. She was NOT happy. She was screaming and crying. I had the "pin her knees" job. While I didn't have to see her scared little face I was still heartbroken. I'm not gonna lie, I cried just about the entire time.

It wasn't over as fast as I'd hoped, but it really wasn't that long at all. We were home by 9:30 and 5 days later she'd have her stitches taken out.

She did really well for the next 5 days. The stitches didn't seem to bother her at all. We were able to take her in to see her regular pediatrician for them to be removed. Unfortunately, we had to re-live the baby pinning. Thankfully Erin came with us and was able hold Maddi's legs this time while Chris held her arms. The Dr. was done in less than a minute and Maddi was a happy camper again.

Let's hope this first set of stitches are also her last.

All better in her Daddy's arms.

As official as a referee with a whistle...

We're expecting a second baby blessing!!

We're shocked, excited, nervous, scared, anxious...I'm sure several more emotions would fit.

God has blessed us so much.

First Oatmeal

Madison had her first taste of baby oatmeal today.  She wasn't entirely impressed...

And we're ROLLING...

Although Maddi rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time at 4 weeks, it's still hard to believe she's growing so fast.  She rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time today.  I'm sure the milestones don't slow down from this point on.  Let's brace ourselves!

She absolutely knew she accomplished something different.  She had the proudest look on her face.

Maddi and her Daddy

Pt. Reyes Lighthouse

During one of our "Besties Weekend" visit we drove out to the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse to check it out.

"There are more than 300 stairs between the observation platform at the lighthouse station and the actual lighthouse below. Walking back up again is equivalent to walking up the stairs of a 30-story building."

Luckily Chris carried Maddi the whole way down and most importantly, up. I think I would have died.  It was quite a workout.