Happy early Valentine's Day!

This year, Chris and I have a new Valentine: MADDIE! Hopefully everyone remembers to tell their special Valentine how much they love them on Monday!

Maddie is getting SO big! I cannot believe she will be 7 weeks old on Monday. Here are a few photos from this weekend!

I took this one of Chris- he likes to set up a photo "station" complete with backdrops!

Modeling is hard work!

And!! To show you how big M has gotten- here's a comparison of her on her lamb chair. Look at how much she has grown from the photo above!

Maddie Update

Maddie is doing great! Since we've been given the all-clear to take her out, she's been out and about around town. She went to her first restaurant (Hometown Pizza) and slept the whole time. I also took her to the mall on Friday and pushed her around for over an hour. She slept the whole time. I know this great sleeping won't last forever so I'm going to take advantage of it the next several weeks! :) In other news, a lady at the mall asked me if Maddie was a boy. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? She was wearing a green outfit with pink and yellow flowers on it!

We're also working on establish her bedtime routine. She gets a bottle between 9:30-10 and then gets in her crib at 11. She sleeps til around 3:30. I am usually up with her feeding and changing her until 4. Then she sleeps til 7. I usually can get her back to sleep for another hour before she actually needs to eat again. I think that's pretty good.

We're also starting to put her hair bows on her- I think she likes them!

Have a great weekend!

Chris's pics of Madeline

We had Maddie's one month check-up today at the pediatrician. She checked out great and is gaining weight like a champ. She clocked in at 8 lbs, 3 oz; she's now moved up from the 10th percentile to the 25th for her weight. Her head circumference and length are both 50th percentile. She had to get a shot today and she HATED it. She's been pretty fussy tonight so I think poor girl is sore. :(

To celebrate Maddie's one month birthday, Chris took some photos of our little darling:

Our one month old baby!!

Sweet Madeline is 4 weeks old- where has the time gone?! We got back Maddie's newborn pics last night and I love them!! Take a look:

http://amandagravesphotography.com/viewing/

Click "Newborn"

Click "Hughes"

Password: Brittney

Enjoy!!

Maddie's first play date!

Tonight, Megan and Jon invited us and Dan and Sherri to their house for dinner. Jon, Dan and Chris all play hockey together so the three of us "hockey wives" have gotten to be good friends while spending each Sunday at the ice rink. :)

Sherri and Dan have a son, Rolfe who is almost 2. He is so smart and funny. Megan and Jon's baby, Soley, is 7 months. She is so cute and sweet. Then there was Maddie. She slept the whole time! I don't think she really understands what a "play" date is. She slept through dinner too. Here's a few pictures:

All bundled up to go my first dinner party. Look at my hat my nana knitted me!

Sleeping during dinner...

Sleeping while meeting new friends Soley and Rolfe...

Once we got home, Maddie woke up. Chris was at the hockey game so Maddie and I read from her bible stories book and played on her mat. I also tried to take a picture of her and Stella...it didn't really work. I'm not sure what they are looking at in this picture.

Soon to be best friends!

Thought you might enjoy...

So, about 15 minutes after I did my last blog post, Madeline decided to have a BLOWOUT. See bullet 2 in post below- here is proof that it is entirely possible to get poop up your back while sleeping. In this case, she was sleeping like that on me, so Maddie actually defied gravity with this one. I'm telling you- we've got an exceptional daughter on our hands! :)

After 2 washes, the stain is still there. I'm letting it soak for the third time now.

As I posted earlier, Stella seems totally at ease with Maddie. Our only problem is that she does like Maddie's things. This morning I caught her with a pacifier in her mouth. Madeline doesn't care that much for pacifiers but Stella really likes them...go figure.

Here I am at the park- my dad took me for some bonding time yesterday. We had a lot of fun!

Welcome to mommyhood!

The day after Madeline was a born a good friend of mine texted me and asked, "Have you had that moment where you realize all of your priorities in life just changed?" I was holding Maddie at the time and I knew exactly what my friend meant. Life has definitely changed for Chris and I, but we love it! I could just stare at Maddie all day long and love on her! Some days, when its just me and her and Chris is at work, I do. Ha.

Here are a few things I've learned the last 3 weeks.

• It's possible to weigh 6 lbs and have a double chin and fat rolls.
• It's possible to have poop come out of your diaper half way up your back while you're sleeping.
• It's not just boys that you have to watch- if you don't hold the diaper up over little girls, they will also pee on you! (or, in one case, shoot poop out onto mom's pj pants and the carpet at 3 a.m.)
• Finally, there is no "right" way to parent. Since we had Maddie, we've heard all kinds of opinions (for and against vaccines, The babywise method: controversial or legit?, self-soothing vs holding, etc, etc!). I've decided that every mom and dad have to come up with the parenting style that suits them and their baby best.

Every night we do some tummy time and some floor time with Maddie on her playmat. She loves it.

Chris says that he has seen Maddie roll over three times...below is after she just rolled from her tummy to her back. I let him know that babies don't normally do this for a few months but he thinks we have the smartest and strongest baby in the world! Such a proud dad! (Again, I've not actually witnessed the rolling, but I guess we have to take his word for it for now!)