12 weeks & Easter!!

I really thought I would be so much better at updating this! I think it's because there are like 4 websites I have to upload pictures on that sometimes I forget some of them :)
Maddie turned 12 weeks this past Saturday! I can't believe my little peanut is 12 weeks old!! People are so right when they say they grow up so fast. I remember her being so tiny and everyone telling me just wait until she is 3 months old, it gets so much easier. I never thought we'd make it here!! But they were right! Maddie is such a joy! Her sleeping is so much better. She sleeps about 10 hours a night, and only wakes up once...I couldn't ask for more! She naps great as well. I have learned that my child loves to sleep. I was trying to keep her up because I thought she was sleeping too much...but I think I've finally figured out that she just likes/needs sleep! If we get her down at the right time she sleeps so nice and is so fun in between naps. Parenting really is all about trial and error and learning your own child. I have also learned not to compare your child to other babies...they are all so different!
We had a great Easter yesterday! I felt kind of bad because we didn't get Maddie an Easter basket, but we figured we'll save the money (on things she doesn't even know/care about now!) and put it towards later when she is older and can really enjoy them. She did get presents though...from both grandparents and her aunts! And she got a wonderful stuffed bunny from Tanya & Alexa :)
Maddie is smiling so much these days and has recently started laughing! It's the best noise I've ever heard!! Nate is really good at making her laugh. And we've learned that she is ticklish!! So darn cute! The weather is finally nice and I can't wait for the picnics and outside festivites to start! What a fun summer this will be :)

Daddy & Maddie :)

Chilling at my parent's house

Rocking it out on Easter!

My pretty little girl on Easter!

Mommy & Maddie

Family Easter photo

Easter wore her out! This is the very first time she stayed asleep in her car seat after the car stopped!!!

8 weeks!

I can't believe my little girl will be 2 months old next week! Time is flying by (even though some days feel like forever!). Since my last post, Maddie has been doing awesome at sleeping. She is sleeping entirely in her crib now! Nap time is wonderful!! She seems to have a pretty good routine down, as much as 2 months old can have a routine! Mommy gets to have good naps and get stuff done around the house. Night time was going great, but the last couple of days she has put up a fight to sleep. I'm pretty sure it's because Nate and I are strict at night time about have her sleep and then she gets over-tired. We need to work on that! Her max awake time is pretty much 1 1/2 hours right now, after that forget it. If I time it right she goes right to sleep. If not...I have to rock her and put her down about 3-4 times. But she has made such progress!
The biggest news recently is she has started smiling!! And not just when she is going to the bathroom like before ;) It's such an amazing feeling when I wake in her room and her whole face smiles when she sees me! Her daddy and I love it! She also took a bottle last night from Nate...and I was so excited I cried!! We have been trying for a couple of weeks now and I was worried she would never take one. But I'm going to go back to the daycare 2 days a week and she needs to be on a bottle for me to take her. And to be honest, I'm tired of having to do everything within a 3 hour span!! It will be nice to do things and just being able to give her a bottle now!!!
She seems to be doing something new everyday and we are just soaking it all in! She is so fun...I can't wait to see what she does tomorrow!! Here are some pictures of the recent weeks. I tried to get her smiles, but it's difficult to entertain her, hold the camera, and get it in time!! Close enough :)

I'm smiling at mommy!!

Play mat time!!

Looking for a hug!!

Mommy & her girl :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Maddie is now 5 weeks old! Some days it seems like she's been with us for much longer and than other days I can't believe she is already so old! She is definitely getting older, she is beginning to focus on things and people more and her faces are cracking us up! We keep waiting for that smile, hopefully to come soon!

Her sleeping is getting better too!! I've been working really hard to get her into the habit of sleeping alone and I think it's paying off. Last night she didn't spend any time with me in bed at nighttime! She was in her crib the whole time! I slept on her floor (not so comfy!) so her random crying wouldn't wake up Nate. Everytime she woke up I had to rock her back to sleep and it took about 2 or 3 times each of putting her down, her waking up, and then putting her down again. But eventually she would stay down and sleep until the next time she needed to eat!! And I did get to sleep in my bed about 4 fours total to to me it was a huge success!! I was pretty tired and sore this morning, but so proud of her!! I guess that comes with the territory of being a mom!!

Yesterday was Valentines Day and although we didn't really celebrate this year, I was so excited to have Maddie wear her cute outfit. Sadly we just went to church and she slept the whole time so not a lot of people saw it, but it was adorable :) I've included some pictures of bathrime, which she likes now that she can be fully in the water! She likes it...until we take her out! The last picture is one of my favorite ones of the Beckey girls!! Four generations...I'm so happy we are all here to take it!!!

My Valentine & me :)

Four generations of Beckey ladies!

Madelyn Grace Walker

She is here!! I know this is really late in coming, but it's been hard getting to it! I have to write the blog in the office and it turns out that is harder than I thought! Especially when little Miss Maddie doesn't like to be on her own!

Madelyn Grace was born on January 9, 2010 at 5:12pm. She weighed a whopping 9 lbs 1 oz and was 21 inches long! As soon as she entered the world she was wide eyed and beautiful!

I was so very fortunate to have a pretty easy birth. I use the word easy lightly because I don't think any birth is 'easy', but compared to other stories I hear...I'll take mine! My water broke at 7am on Saturday morning, went to the hospital at 10:30am. I got my epidural at 1pm (after some mighty painful contractions!) and was pushing at 4:10! I only pushed for about an hour and she was here! At the time, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do it...but it's amazing what you can do when you are forced to! Nate and Heather were there with me and wonderful coaches and supporters. They encouraged me and Heather even had to yell at me to buck up and that "I could do it!!". They were so great and I'm so glad they were there. The nurses were amazing and I'm so happy with the care and help we had at the Medical Center.

The last four weeks have been ... interesting. Wonderful, exciting, new...and sometimes frustrating. I think all new parents feel that way though. Madelyn is such a wonderful baby. Sometimes she is fussy in the evening (what baby isn't?!?), but she is so fun and good other than that. Except the sleeping!! I figured that sleeping would be an issue, since that is all that parents warn you about...but I wasn't expecting our trouble to be her sleeping on her own! She sleeps like a champ...but only if we are holding her. We've tried everything (swing, bouncer, swaddle, white noise, car seat, etc) and nothing has worked. We're hoping someday out of the blue she'll just sleep when we put her down!!

Nate is such a wonderful daddy. When he has her, I just stare and smile at them and know (again) that I made such a wonderful decision on marrying him!! He is so good with her and loves her so much. We are looking forward to the coming weeks when she starts gaining some new skills and watching her grow! The family is head over heels in love with her (seeing my dad with her melts my heart!!) and even Meme has gotten to hold her :) I promise to try and update more often!! Maybe when she finally decides to sleep on her own :) Here are a couple pictures, but for more you can go to this website. You have to sign up (just email) but you don't get junk email or anything! Check that periodically for new pics...I tend to do that site first for my family!! And I always update facebook :)

Here is the website: http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=948137027/a=1986344027_1986344027/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Her first picture :)

I look awful, but it's our first family photo!!

So beautiful!

A little older....

Already smiling...??