Madeline at the playground

Madel's Beach Day! (31/5/2011)

I am SO SO sorry for my lack of posts lately. Life over here has been ridiculously hectic lately (and our ISP was screwing us; we cancelled service) so I haven't had a chance to update really.

May 31st, Madeline and I decided it was time to go to the beach the first time! Jacob was hiking at Myakka, so I went to my mother's house and from there we went to the beach.

My mom has a beach parking pass, so we went to Treasure Island Beach and made the ridiculous trek to the water. Once at the shore, I rented an umbrella (because Madeline is the whitest person I've ever met), laid out our blanket, and bee-lined it to the water.

 I introduced her to the moist sand first - she wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do with it. Then, after much coaxing and convincing, Madeline sat in the water and began her first real beach experience.

After she splashed around a bit, I ran up to our spot and grabbed her water wings (disclaimer: I know about the risks of inflatable flotation devices and I know that water wings aren't meant for babies. I just wanted her to at least have something that would keep her from sinking if I were to get eaten by a shark or something.)  so she could come out a little deeper with me.

After we 'swam' around a bit, we went back up to our spot and Mimi (my mother) and I sunned our non-driving arms and Madeline played with her sunglasses. 

Oh, and here's to manning up and wearing a bikini to the beach, 6 months post baby. Personally, I think this alone is worth taking the time to click the banner below. =P

Graduation Night!

On May 7th, Jacob and I each celebrated the graduation of an immediate family member.

We went downtown to the Tropicana Stadium to watch St. Petersburg College's 115th Graduation Ceremony; to watch my mother and sister-in-law walk!

It was quite the ceremony, the opening  prayer/speech was so honest it made me cry a little.

Madeline was perfectly well behaved, granted, she played with her toys and slept most of the time... But still.

I was also a bit surprised by how many other babies around her age were there.

Jacob's sister, Jessica, graduated majoring in Public Saftey Administration.

And my mother graduated (with honors!) majoring in Nursing.

After the ceremony, we drove to the restaurant his family was having celebratory dinner at. Once his family arrived, we took some pictures of Madeline with her auntie Jess while we waited for my mother to pick Madeline and me up to go to my family's celebratory dinner.

My mom brought us to meet with the rest of our party at a favorite Thai place of ours and we enjoyed a large (15 person!) and widely amusing dinner. Almost 'everyone' was there: Roberta, Dae, Jen, Darren, Bill, Grandma, Alex, Kyle, Joe, Laura, Dad, Juli, Mom, Madeline and -obviously- me! My sister, Laura, wore Madeline in the Moby during dinner, and afterwards Miss Maddle was passed around to visit with 'extended family' members. (I left my big camera in the car, and very few of the P&S photos came out good enough to upload, sorry!)

All in all it was a glorious night, I'm so proud of my mom. Really, I don't think I can accurately convey my level of pride.

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Madeline's first Easter.

Jacob's family is big on celebrating religious holidays with a family dinner, so this year for Easter, Jacob, Madeline and I went to the Larkin house for Easter dinner. Interestingly enough, last Easter was when we broke the news to Jacob's family about Madeline.

It was nice to get together with the family and eat, we had Turkey, mashed potatoes*, corn, cranberry sauce, and yam chips. It was like a light thanksgiving meal. We all hung out and bonded until it was time for us to go and stop by my family's house.

*Steamed and pureed cauliflower.

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Madeline's 4 month checkup!

Madeline was wonderful at the doctor's today, while we waited, she was 'talking', smiling, and laughing her little heart out.

We got called back and the nurse took Madeline's temperature, weighed her, then measured her height and head circumference.

Shortly after that, Dr. V came in, and did his thing. He said that he wanted to re-measure her height because the nurse's numbers seemed off (according to her, Madeline was 25.25 inches, in the 85th percentile). Dr. V measured Madeline and corrected her sheet. We discussed our few minor concerns (poop things and such) and the doctor suggested that Madeline begin eating rice cereal in the mornings with a second feed of vegetables in the afternoon. (this is exciting because Maddle has been very interested in our food, and often mimics us when we eat. Jacob and I were going to ask the doctor about possibly starting her on solids as is!)

Madeline then had her 4 month shots, and we were good to go!

Madeline at 4 months:

Height: 24.25 inches (65th percentile)

Weight: 14 lbs, 3 oz (66th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16.25 inches (61st percentile)

Since the doctor's office is so close to our families, we stopped by Jacob's mother's house for a bit, you couldn't even tell that Madeline had just gotten two shots. She's so sweet.

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Madeline is 3 months old!

Madeline and Jacob.

Jacob and I figured that we should have a minor celebration for her 3 month 'birthday', especially considering it's kind of a milestone. Having previously celebrated her 1 month birthday, we also plan on celebrating her 6 month and then 12 month birthdays. So Tuesday,  Jacob and I grilled some chicken breast and made (lemon butter) mashed potatoes and had a little cake in her honor.

Three flowers, perfect.

We got this cake at Publix. It was fantastic.

She watched her daddy light the candles.

We lit the candles and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. It was fun and she smiled so big when we both sang to her. After we sang about her being three months old, Jacob helped Madeline blow out her candles.

After the main festivities, Little Miss Maddle got to wear one of the hand-made hand-me-downs from my grandmother. We took tons of pictures, but here's my favorite:

 She looked so sweet in this dress.

Sorry it's so photo heavy, but I have so many pictures I love! 

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