Our Sweet Girl

It has been too long since I have posted an update on our sweet baby girl, so here we go!

Maddie is more fun every day.  Everyone told me that I would love this age, and it has not let me down.  She will be 8 months old in about a week, and I cannot believe it.  At her last check up at the end of May she was 17.2 pounds - growing every day.  Most of that 17.2 is in her cheeks and legs, but I would not have it any other way (she gets that from me!).

Speaking of getting things from me, she loves to eat!  So far she loves carrots, avocado, bananas, pears, and apple sauce.  She is not a fan of asparagus!  She also loves Baby Mum Mums, teething biscuits, and any kind of puffs.  It is so fun to watch her make a mess of food. 

Maddie is sitting up now, but still not well enough to leave the room with her sitting.  We have to be close by for when she decides to make a dive for something.  She has not yet started to crawl but is trying hard.  I know that once she starts she will not stop!

This week I have kept another little boy three days.  I did not know how Maddie would react to another baby being around, or my attention being split - but she has been so good.  When I hold Easton and walk up to Maddie she dies laughing - such a flirt already.  She is having so much fun watching  him... I on the other hand wonder how mothers with twins do it!! You should have seen me walking into the gym with two kids, both in carseats and two diaper bags - a sight to behold.

Maddie says "mama" now, but only when she is crying!  We are working on that :)  She just yells "mamamamamama" over and over again - its sorta sad. 

I hope that she likes being my little girl as much as I like being her mama.  She makes me happier than I ever knew.  Being a mama is something I think I was meant to do - she fills my life with love and brings countless smiles to my face every day!

Maddie - she is a'changin!

I cannot believe how quickly my baby girl is growing.  In three short days she will be 6 months old.  Over the last few weeks she has really started to change.  She loves to talk; in fact, she never stops talking.  Cat Bruce told was on the phone with me last week and asked if I had talked to the doctor about her squeal - she never stops, but it is so cute.

She also likes to shake her head from side to side.  This sounds crazy, but it is so cute!  We tell her yes and shake our heads up and down, but she just wants to shake her head no.

On occasion she will hold her own bottle - which I LOVE.  I know... all of you mothers out there are saying "there will come a day when you will want to hold her and give her a bottle."  I know I will miss it, but it sure is nice that she will hold it some of the time. 

She is in this new phase of wanting to be walked to sleep.  Most every night Scott walks miles around our house waiting on her to fall asleep.  She has no interest in rocking, being read to, or anything other than walking.  I am really ready for this phase to end. 

This is a picture of her after she fell asleep the other night.

Maddie loves to roll over from her back to her stomach - but then she HATES to be on her stomach.  One day she was trying so hard to get back over on to her back that she threw up! 

Her favorite toy is her Spohie the Giraffe.  She loves her, and we take her everywhere with us.  She has really helped us get through teething too.  Maddie now has two cute bottom teeth.  They are like knives!!  She has become addicted to orajel and smiles so big when you come towards her with it. 

Speaking of smiling, Maddie loves to laugh.  She is such a happy baby.  The other night I was working on my embroidery machine in another room.  Maddie began hysterically laughing when her daddy was calling her "Maddie Soy."  He was doing this because she smells like her soy formula.  She thought it was SO funny.  She laughed for so long that I got this video of her laughing. 

Our baby girl is growing so quickly.  She gets more of a personality every day, and we love to watch her grow.  I wish that I could push a pause button on these times with her.  I know that I will look back on this age with such fond memories of.  She is such a happy baby.  Her laugh is like music, and her squealing (even though it is loud) always brings a smile to my face.  God has blessed us so greatly!

It Runs in The Family

Spring Break ended yesterday and it is easy for me to say - MADDIE LOVES THE BEACH!!

We took our first vacation as a family to Amelia Island.  This is the beach that my family went to as I was growing up, so it was so special for me to take Scott and Maddie.  We left Tennessee on Saturday night and drove as far as we could.  About 2am we got a hotel room in Cordele - it was a little rough to say the least.  Scott put a chair under the door knob in case someone tried to come in and get us!  We had the plan to hide Maddie under the bed from the intruder :-) 

We got up early Sunday morning and finished the drive to Amelia.  I was so excite to see Amelia By The Sea!  We unpacked the car and headed out to lunch.  I needed some fried pickles, so we went to Sliders.  The weather was cloudy, but nice enough for summer clothes. 

After lunch we headed out by the pool.  I know people thought I was crazy because I had enough stuff with me to spend the week there.  Maddie loved being on her boppy by the pool.

It is a good thing that we went out when we did, because it started pouring about three minutes after this picture. 

For the next few days we rented movies and ate A LOT.  We found a great sandwich place downtown called Fernendeli.  It was so good that we ate there 4 times!  We spent a lot of time on the deck watching the rain.  Scott was so nervous about Maddie being close to the rails.  Every time I would put her out there he would come move her back - so protective!

On Thursday Scott went to play golf.  About 3 the sun came out and Maddie and I rushed down to the pool!  She LOVED it.  She immediately stretched out her arms and legs and started laughing and grinning.  We had about an hour before the sun went behind the building and we had to head inside. 

This is her in the sun - so cute!

Friday and Saturday were beautiful.  We woke up and got her ready early so that we could soak up the sun.  Scott had the great idea to take the chair part off of her stroller and take it by the pool.  It had a great shade that kept her face covered.  She played and played until we had to go in because she was so tired. 

Friday night we went to Brett's - my favorite!  There was a music festival downtown, so everything was packed.  Dinner was great and she was so good.  She just sat and played with her book and Sophie the Giraffe while we ate.  This is a picture of Maddie in her precious little summer dress ready to go out!

On our last day I snuck Maddie into her bikini.  Scott said that she HAD to keep her cover up on, but that did not happen.  She was so cute, and so many people complimented her bathing suit.

We went to The Surf on our last night.  It was yummy - good food, good music, and nice weather. It made me not want to leave.  After dinner I sat on the deck and rocked Maddie to sleep as the sun went down.  Scott and I watched the final 4 basketball games and packed the car so that we could leave as soon as Maddie woke. 

Amelia has so many of my memories.  I love that place.  It is such a wonderful place for families, and I hope that my family can make many more memories there.  Again, Maddie is SUCH a blessing to Scott and I.  Vacations will never be the same again, but it is so fun to watch her react to everything new in her life.  It makes me happy that she loves the beach as much as her mama, grandmamas, and great grandmamas!  She fits in well :-)

I think we made it through!

Her first sickness that is...

March has been a tough month for the Givens family.  Maddie got her 4 month shots on the 7th, and they threw us for a loop!  She really did well with 2 month, but for some reason the 4 month round really bothered her.  She was up crying most of the night for two nights and was fussy for about three days.  Poor thing - it broke my heart to see her like that.  As soon as she got over the fussiness from the shots she came down with her first sinus infection.  Yes, she got mine and Scott's sinuses!  She got so congested that she was waking herself up at night because she couldn't breath.  We put a wedge under her mattress to try to help her drain, but for several nights she was up every couple of hours.  Scott's basketball banquet was the 11th.  She started to get fussy half way through so I took her in to the hall.  All of the sudden she started gasping for air.  I scared me so badly.  Scott was at the microphone announcing awards, and I interrupted the entire banquet to tell him that she was not breathing well.  I left and took her to the emergency room.  They tested her for the flu and RSV - thank goodness she did not have either.  They told us that it was just a bad sinus infection.  She is still coughing and has fluid, but she seems to feel much better. 

We found out yesterday that we are going to have to put my cat, Boo, to sleep on Friday.  Maddie could not understand why I was hysterically crying, and she actually found it quite funny.  I am devastated.  Boo has been with me since she was born - I was 14.  She has lived a good and very spoiled life, and I think it is time to say goodbye.  My hopes are that after Friday the months will get a little happier!  Maddie should be crawling soon and every day with her is a blessing from God!  I cannot wait to watch her grow - I just wish that I could watch her and Boo grow together.  I guess it is time for a dog - wink wink!

Maddie's First Meal

It seems like, for the last month, Maddie has been hungry all of the time.  On the way home from Georgia last weekend I called her doctor and asked if I could start giving her rice cereal in addition to her bottles.  Since she is four months today (where has time gone) he gave me the go ahead.  We had lunch with Scott's parents, and I decided on the way home that we would give Maddie her first meal tonight.  At about 5:40 I prepared the little bowl of what looked like slop!  I put Scott in charge of the camera and got Maddie situated in her Bumbo.  We got out the much needed bib and the little bitty spoon and the fun began. 

This is before the first bite - clean and cute!

For the first several spoons she could not figure out what I was trying to do.  She looked at me crazy and spit all of the rice back out.  I then gave her some on my finger and she seemed to like it! 

I decided that the best way to get any to stay in her mouth was to give her a spoon and then follow it with a few gulps from her bottle - it seemed to wash the rice down before it could be spit out.

In the end, I think she got some of it down - plus about 4 oz of formula.  Maybe this will fill her up for a little longer!  When Scott came with the rag to clean her up she gave him a huge smile and a pretty big burp - satisfied little girl :-)

It Won't Be Like This For Long

This morning as I was rushing Maddie through her morning bottle I flipped on CMT.  The song "It Wont Be Like This For Long" was playing.  I listened to the words and prayed for the world to slow down just a bit.  I started to think about rushing Maddie.  I have gotten into the habit of rushing her though her feedings, her rockings, and her life!  I looked at her sweet face and almost cried.  I love the stage she is at - even if it means fussiness and tough bedtime routines.  I cannot believe that she will be 4 months old this weekend.  Where has time gone?  I want to slow down.  I want to enjoy every second with her and quit rushing the sweet times.  At night I just want her to go to sleep - I do not enjoy that she wants me to hold her for thirty minutes before she sleeps - WHY DON'T I APPRECIATE THAT?!  I now realize that she will not want that forever.  I need to appreciate that she is not rolling her eyes at me at any sign of affection - or turning her back when I try to talk to her.  She smiles at the sound of my voice and loves being in my arms.  From now on I am going to treasure those moments.  I cannot believe how quickly my baby is growing - these moments are passing ones. 

Its a cruel cruel world

The last week has been one for the books.  As a family, we learned of the deaths of four of our friends parents.  It was a hard pill to swallow.  Two were anticipated, one happened a few years back (I just learned of it) and one was out of the blue.  It really taught us how fragile life is.  I also saw my grandfather, her great-grandfather, go into an assisted living home for Alzheimer's patients.  It was one of the worst things I have seen in quite some time.  I hate him being there, and I hate that Maddie will grow to know him there.  It just proves that sometimes things are out of our control.

Maddie went to her first funeral on Sunday.  She slept through the entire service.  I must say, I held her very close as I listened to the words that the preacher had to say.  I want to protect her from hurt and pain.  It is not possible, and I know that, but she is too sweet to ever feel hurt like I have seen in the last week. 

The preacher talked of the man who passed in a very inspirational way. It made me think of my life and what Maddie's life would become.  I pray that she is involved.  That she is friendly, kind, generous, selfless, and possesses all of the good traits that the preacher mentioned Sunday.  I am eager to teach her manners and to show her how to be thankful for family, friends, and loved ones. 

In this cruel world, I want to keep her innocence as long as possible.