Six Months

I've been a mom for half a year now! It's been the best six months of my life and I can't believe how lucky I am to be Madden's mama. He is the sweetest little baby and every day he does something new that makes him even more lovable. We just can't get enough of him! Mad is getting so big and grown up already, here's what happened this month...

It's hard taking pictures of a 6 month old!!

1. When I put him in his crib, he rolls straight over to his side and falls asleep.

2. Our last week in Missouri, we took him on a walk to see his first firebugs. There were hundreds and it looked like he was having fun watching them.
3. He is starting to scoot around on his tummy. For someone who can't crawl, he sure finds a way to get to where he wants to go! He looks like a little snail, scooting around with his little bum in the air.

4. Madden starting sitting up while holding himself up with his hands on July 14th. We're still working on sitting up with no hands.
5. At six months he weighs in at 18 lbs 10 oz and is 27.5 inches long

6. On August 1st I heard Madden wake up and start fussing early in the morning. When I went in to get him it was still dark so I felt around for him in the crib and realized he was sitting up!! What!?? I wanted to push him over, he's too little to be doing that already! Stop growing up!

7. Lately he's been sucking in his bottom lip, it's so funny and stinkin cute

8. We have a tooth!!! First tooth pooped in on August 2nd, it's his bottom left. The tooth right next to it is starting to break the surface. Other than being really really drooly, he really hasn't seemed too bothered with teething yet.

9. This boy is going to be a fish. He LOVES the ocean and the beach. It doesn't take any work to get him to smile there. It probably helps that the Gulf is like bath water.

10. He also loves the pool, he kicks like crazy and looks so surprised when his face gets splashed. He hasn't made the connection yet that he's doing it to himself.

11. We've started vegetables! Loves squash, carrots, peas, sweet potato, green beans. He gags on avocado though, it's pretty hilarious. We're still working on that one.

12. Loves sucking on watermelon, and has even started reaching for it when I'm eating some.

13. Loves holding my phone when it's playing music

14. Madden did soooo great during the move. I'm so grateful that he was not mobile at the time, it made my life so much easier. He's such a trooper- he's like his dad and is always ready for the next adventure.

15. He knows that Jeff's face is always scruffy and winces when he nuzzles him. Now he won't let Jeff touch him with his scruff, and pushes him away with his tiny hands when Jeff come close to him. Even when Jeff is shaved, Madden still doesn't trust him!

16. Loves to play with water bottles and is even starting to try drinking from them, although most of the water ends up running down his face.

17. Moved to size three diapers, and I'm starting to move him into some of his 6-9 month clothes!

18. Makes the cutest little dinosaur sounds, and is getting noisier and more talkative by the day. He tries to talk by making a "pthhhh" sound, and he laughs when he mimick him.

19. This kid loves my face. He's constantly grabbing fist full of my cheeks, ears, nose, eyelashes, whatever he can get his hands on. And he must love how I taste because he still turns and gives me huge kisses and chomps on my jaw bone. I've gotten a few hickies from this little monster too, I'm going to have to watch him in about 18 years!

20. Madden wants to stand alllll the time, he has such strong and chubby little legs. They are starting to get so brown too from them sticking out of his canopy while he's in his stroller. This boy will be a brown bear, that's for sure!
21. Whenever Madden wakes up from his nap, Jeff and I race to his room to be the one to see him first and get him out of his crib. It's resulted in a few wrestling matches to see who can get there first. It's our favorite thing when he wakes up, we miss him when he's sleeping! And as soon as we come into the room, Mad pops up his little head and gives us the biggest smile ever, so heart melting.
22. As soon as we moved to Florida, Madden was moved into his very own room. Sad day for me! I'm starting to get used to it now, but the first week I was worried that he was lonely on the other side of the house all by himself. He's fine though, and he's even sleeping a lot longer through the night now that he's in his own room.
23. We love our Madden, he is the light of our life and we're so happy he's ours.


Well we finally made it to Florida! We miss Missouri a lot, but we're excited for this new adventure too. Jeff survived boards, hallelujah they are over! Those stupid tests have consumed our life for the past two years and it feels soooo great to have them over and done with. I'm so grateful for how hard he worked and studied, he has always kept our family as his first priority and sacrificed so much for our future. Our whole life is different now that boards are done, Jeff started work in the hospital and he's loving it so far. Happy to be out of the classroom and finally getting his hands dirty. We've been exploring the beaches and fun places in our new area, and it's overwhelming and exciting living in a place where people come to vacation! We've been fishing off the pier and have caught some weird things, we've tried some fun restaurants, found a killer walk close to our house, played tennis, gone swimming, watched a lot of amazing sunsets, and enjoyed having some much needed family time.

Madden and I are loving spending our days together playing with toys (although my kitchen utensils are more fun than his toys now I guess), reading books, going to the pool, making yummy dinners, snuggling, and planning our weekend family adventures. I love being a stay at home mom, and I know I'm really lucky to be able to be home with Madden. He's growing so fast, and I'm blessed that I haven't missed any of it. 

Love you all!

Five Months

Photo shoots with my five-month-old have changed quite a bit from when we was a newborn…back then I could point and shoot for hours and get about 500 of the same exact picture because he would only move about an inch every five minutes. Nowadays, all my pictures are severely blurry because this little one is on the move! Well, I guess he’s not really on the move-he’s nowhere near crawling- but he is the wiggliest, squirmiest, rolliest baby, and I am loving it!

 

Lately Jeff and I have been having frequent, “Ahhh, he’s not a newborn anymore” moments, and it’s crazy looking back at Madden’s pictures from just two months ago and feeling like he was a completely different baby. This month we have witnessed a personality exploding from our little man. He is constantly making us laugh and smile, and we can’t help but feel blessed that he’s ours.

My list of happenings is getting longer and longer each month because his life is starting to entail more than just eating and sleeping. It’s beginning to be hard keeping up with our little adventurer. My new favorite thing is watching Madden take in his surroundings, and I can already tell that he’s going to be a “go-go-go” type person, just like his dad. He loves everybody too, which I guess is a good thing but I secretly wish he only ever wants to be held by me. Just so long as he’s being held, he’s totally happy with new places and faces.

So, here are this month’s happenings…

1.       Madden loves counting. We count in the bath tub, at bedtime, during feedings, when we walk, pretty much all the time. I have no idea why he likes it, but he gets the biggest smile on his face and starts shaking his arms all crazy as soon as he hears 1!

2.       Still loves looking in the mirror, and yes, my mirror is still dirty with baby prints and now baby slobber too- he’s started mauling himself.

3.       Usually is asleep by 8:30 and wakes up around 7. For some reason he has started waking up around 3:30 again. Just when I was starting to enjoy sleeping all the way through the night again, he goes and switches it up for me! I usually just bring in into bed with me, I think he just wants to snuggle!

4.       Rotates around in his crib all night long, and he sticks his chubby little legs through the slats and sleeps with them hanging out over the side of his crib. It is so adorable.

5.       Loves staring and sucking on my fingers because of my nail polish. He loves the bright color, and it’s great for me because it’s like having a toy attached and available at all times!

6.       He is becoming a nasty little biter. And he bites hard too!! I’m kind of dreading the day he gets teeth!

7.       Madden has the most perfect, flawless skin. I look so old and haggard next to him!

8.       Does not like his bumbo at all. Sometimes he’ll deal with it, but he’ll moan the whole time until we get him out. I think it’s just not made for his manly physique. He inherited the Willardsen baseball thighs, and it’s a two person job spreading the leg slots apart to get him shoved in there. Can you blame him for not like it?! How humiliating!

9.       Mad loves being outside, and he loves staring at the trees behind our house and on our walks. I love to lay him back in his stroller and put the canopy down so he can stare around at everything. We go on walks a lot to the nature sanctuary near our house, and I always get him out when we get to the waterfall. It’s so peaceful and I think he loves being there too.

10.   Loves to suck on my finger wrapped in his burp cloth. He starts to fuss when it gets too soggy and he’s ready for a dry spot. Hey, it keeps him quiet in church!

11.   I put him in his bouncer in the kitchen while I cook dinner, and every time I turn to look at him, his eyes get huge and he squeals and smiles. I love it so much but at the same time it makes me feel guilty that I’m not playing with him.

12.   Still hates being laid down on his back. Now that his little neck is strong, he pulls his head up like he’s trying so hard to sit up. Looks like it’s a great ab workout, I should join him!

13.   One of my favorite things is when I nurse him, he’ll look up at me and hold my face and just smile. He kind of thinks it’s a game, and I can get some good giggles out of him.

14.   One of the funniest things he does is he does not tolerate anyone talking while he’s eating. If me or Jeff starts to talk, or even whisper, while he’s eating, he’ll look up at me and give me a face that says, “Who told you that you could talk?” It’s so funny, but it’s kind of an inconvenience because I used to get all my phone calls done while I nursed him. Oh well, I guess he’s the boss.

15.   He is noticeable eating less now. I keep thinking he should still be eating every 2 hours like a newborn, but now he can go about 4 hours inbetween feedings. He’s also awake so much more during the day, and he’s falling into a two nap schedule.

16.   Standing up so strong on his little legs! He can even stand and hold himself up on the couch for two whole minutes! Jeff timed him.

17.   Madden is the best kisser, ladies look out. He’s not shy either, he’ll attack you with an open mouth wet one any chance he gets!

18.   Madden loves singing. His new favorite is the  “I love the mountains, boomdeeada song”

19.   Ate cereal for the first time on June 26th. It took about a week for him to warm up to it, but now he adores cereal! He makes the funniest smacking noises when he eats, and he pulls my hand and the spoon toward his mouth before he’s even finished with the last bite.

20.   He is always grabbing his toes and it’s the cutest thing ever- he’s such a rollie polie. He rubs his feet together too, and sucks on his toes!

21.   Swam for the first time at Grandma GG’s pool while we were in Colorado. The water was much colder than his bath water so it took a little getting used to, but overall I think he liked it!

22.   For a couple days he would study our faces when we stuck out our tongue at him, and all of a sudden he started sticking his out too! Cutest little copier of all time.

23.   Mad did great with the fireworks on the 4th of July. I wondered how he’d react to the noise, but just like with everything else, he’s was a trooper. He actually slept right through the whole night. Our neighborhood goes a little bonkers with fireworks, and I was shocked he didn’t even stir in his crib. We’re so confused though how he can sleep through booming fireworks, but when the door squeaks he is up and ready to party.

We love our baby more than ever! He makes every day an adventure and we don’t even have to leave our home. Happy five months little Mad Pup, we love you so much!!

We are just about ready to leave Kansas City and try out life in Florida for a couple years. We’re so sad to leave because our lives changed for the better here. We explored this awesome city, Jeff got two years closer to becoming a doctor, we made some lifelong friends, and we became parents to the most perfect boy. We made some incredible memories here but we’re excited to start a new adventure!

 

 

Four Months!

Four months have come and gone, and my little guy is growing up faster and faster! We've had such a blast with Madden and we're wondering how much more personality this boy can get! He is the sweetest and funniest little four month old ever and we can't get enough of him!

 This past month....

1. Madden proved again that he's a hefty little sucker...weighing in on May 24th at 15 lbs 5 oz and 25 3/4 inches. And today, June 1, he weighed 16 lbs 6 oz and 26 inches long. 80th percentile in weight and 86th percentile in height. (We got 4 month shots today, boooo)

2. On May 31st, Mad rolled over for the first time! From his back to his tummy. You'd think he had just lifted a semi truck by the way he was breathing. Rolling over is hard work! That night he was a mad man in his crib. I kept hearing him shuffle around most of the night, and every time I went to check on him, he was facing a new direction! The next morning I found him laying with his bum pressed up against the side rail, with his little feet straight up and almost hanging over the side of the crib. 

3. Started grabbing his toes. It's the cutest thing of alllll time. He's even started sucking on his feet now! And to think I was worried about him sucking his thumb...

4. When he eats he has gotten into a bad habit of swinging his arm around in circles and smacking me in the face. There's nowhere for me to go to dodge the blows, and if I hold his arm still he just gets mad. So I pretty much just sit there and take a beating to the face.

5. Back to me worrying about his thumb sucking... This month he's figured out that he can fit more than just one finger in his mouth, so that little thumb has been left in the dust. 

6. Some of his recent loves are playing with his toys, boxing with dad, playing airplane, reading his books, being outside, staring at the blue sky, wind in his face, being held outward so he can see what's going on, the lights in the chapel at church, going on dates with his girlfriend Elle, and going 

on walks in his awesome new stroller! 

7. Madden is also becoming quite the drooler. He's the king of spit bubbles and he's started making a growling noise that send slobber flying. I don't know how else to explain it. It's messy but adorable.

8. He's is also becoming a biter/aggressive kisser. He likes it when I hold him cheek to cheek, probably because the second I let my guard down, he turns and starts going to town on my face! He just can't control his love for me that's all.

9. Madden also loves the mirror. Everyday we sit up on the counter and and watch Madden smile and laugh at himself. I'm sure he's so confused but he seems to love it! I have the cutest little hand and foot prints all over my mirror that I can't get myself to clean off. 

10. Last trick of the month...it's actually kind of a problem, but Madden has learned how to cover his face with any blanket, towel, or cloth that he can get his baby hands on. If I'm not looking, I hear tiny grunts and turn around to see his head completely covered and his hands and feet squirming all over. He can never just be normal with a blanket! He either kicked it completely off or covers his whole face with it. Good thing summer is here because I think he's about to be banned from blankets! 

We love Madden more than we ever could have imagined and we are so lucky that he's our baby! On to another month of laughs, smiles, and baby kisses! 

Three Months!

Our baby boy is three months old! I can't believe how fast these past months have gone, and I think it's safe to say it has been the best time of our lives! Madden is growing and changing by the day and we've discovering his sweet little personality. He's always so smiley and even starting to show off his adorable little laugh. We sure love our Madden, and can't wait to see what this next month brings!

 

 

Here are the fun things our baby boy did this past month...

 

 

1. Mad started sleeping through the night right at 2 months, so this past month has been very nice for Jeff and me!

 

2. Coos all the time, and it's so cute to watch him because he puckers out his top lip when he does it. Now that he's talking more, he doesn't make his grunting noises and dolphin sounds anymore. I kind of miss them!

 

3. Had his 2 month shots and it was the worst thing that ever happened to both of us. Nope, I don't even want to talk about it. Jeff is taking him from now on.

 

4. At 10 weeks, Madden was a hefty 14 lbs 2 oz, and 24 inches long. Growing boy!

 

5. Love to be held so much, but doesn't like to be cradled, and hates when he is put back down. He cries and cries when we lay him down on his back. I think he's realizing that the ceiling is too boring to look at nowadays.

 

6. He's starting to suck on everything!! Blankets, his clothes, my clothes, burp cloths, my arms, my clavicle, his whole hands, and....his thumb!! I'm not sure how I feel about his new thumb sucking tendencies. I keep taking it out when I see it in his mouth, but I think that's making him want it more!

 

7. He's not a huge fan of tummy time, so I've been really bad at doing it. A few weeks ago, Jeff asked me if I was doing it and said he was concerned his neck isn't getting strong enough. So the next day I decided to try it again, and as soon as he hit the floor his little head popped up and he's been holding it up like a champ ever since!

 

8. Laughs in his sleep a lot, it's adorable.

 

9. Follows us with his eyes, and stares at the door until we come back in the room.

 

10. So far he's done really well at church and at my presidency meetings. When I'm not holding him, he recognizes my voice and looks around until he finds me. It's the best being his mom!

 

11. Mad got his first little cold! So sad but it wasn't too bad, he just had a stuffy nose. He hates his nose sucker though.

 

12. Likes it when we read to him. He got a bunch of new books, and he just stares at the pictures and sits still until we're finished reading. I also made little color and shape flashcards to give him something else to looks at. And it's kind of interesting because he focuses so hard on the blue flashcards and doesn't pay much attention to the red or yellow colors.

 

13. I never swaddled Madden as a newborn, he's never like being bundled tight. Every morning when I get him out of his crib, he is completely sprawled out with his blankets kicked off at the bottom of his crib!

 

14. I'm not sure how much use we're going to get out of his bumbo. He's still a little too wobbly to sit in it, and it's a two person job trying to stuff his chubby thighs in the leg holes!

 

15. Like to be held upright looking over my shoulder, and he doesn't lay his head down on my shoulder that much anymore. He holds his head up and looks around at anything and everything.

 

16. When he's eating, he is so wiggly and flails his arm around in a circle the whole time.

 

17. Likes to sit out on the patio in the morning sun while I eat breakfast.

 

18. He's pretty ticklish. He pulls his legs up to his chest and smiles when we tickle his sides.

 

19. Laughed for the first time ever on May 8. I'd been waiting for a laugh to come out of this baby boy for a long time. He smiles constantly and I knew it was only a matter of time before he let out a laugh. We were sitting on the front porch singing the ABC's and he let out the cutest little laugh I'd ever heard! After that, I couldn't get much out of him until we went to Colorado last week. My mom is the queen of making him laugh. While we were home, I was in my mom's bedroom and all of a sudden I heard Madden make the sweetest belly laugh sound, and then my mom screamed for me to come see him. I ran with my phone ready to video him and caught the tail end of the cutest laughing episode ever! Way to go mom!

 

20. Still acts shocked when we put him in the bath, and it takes a few seconds for him to remember how much he loves the bath. He's starting to kick and splash a lot more too.

 

21. Likes to sit on top of the kitchen table with mom and dad during dinner.

 

22. Fascinated with any lights and fans. And while we're on walks he is mesmerized by the bright blue sky.

 

23. Loves when we sing the Jungle Book song, "Bear Necessities."

 

24. Starting to move much more, and wiggles his hips like crazy when we sing!

 

25. Took his first ever airplane ride to Denver and met his Grandma and Grandpas, great-grandparents, aunties, and uncle, and lots and lots of cousins! He loved all the smothering and attention. I was a little worried that he's freak out in a new environment, especially since  the only voices and faces familiar to him are mine and Jeff's. But he did great, we have a trooper baby.

 

26. Madden did great on the plane ride to and from Denver. Both ways, we were on one of those stupid two-seater planes that rattle and roar, and feel like a wing is going to break off at the slightest turbulence. Jeff was with me on the way to Denver, and Madden did great...slept like a baby the whole time. On the way home, I was flying solo (Jeff had gone home a few days before). Our plane was supposed to leave at 5:30 pm but because of an incoming storm we idled on the runway for TWO hours. YIKES. And once we got clearance to take off, they realized we had run low on gas because we had been sitting on the runway too long. So of course we had to turn around and fill up. All in all, it took 5 1/2 hours to fly home to Kansas City. Madden is the best baby. He was a perfect angel the whole time and even made some new friends on the plane, smiling and laughing at everybody. I feel like an invincible mom now...if I can handle sitting on a plane for 5 1/2 hours with a baby, I think I can do ANYTHING!!

 

27. We blessed Madden on Mother's day, May 12 at my parents house in Denver. It was so great having all of our family with us! The blessing was so thoughtful and sweet, I have a pretty great husband. Madden was a little upset and sleepy right before the blessing, but the second Jeff took him from me, he calmed right down and didn't make a peep during the whole prayer. My Grandpa Dick told me that during the blessing, he peeked down at Madden and saw that he was staring at Jeff the whole time. I think this baby of ours loves his dad. The whole week we spent in Colorado with family was so much fun, and we can't wait to see everyone again!

Madden lights up our life everyday and we're having so much fun watching him grow. I find myself wanting to wake him up from his naps because I miss him when he's sleeping! He is so fun to get out of his crib in the morning because the second he sees me, he gets the biggest smile on his face. It's the best way to start the day.

Jeff just finished his second year of medical school, and he's studying hard for boards in June. And I'm starting to think about packing up and getting ready for our big move to Florida this July. We're excited for the fun things ahead!