3 months already....good-bye newborn, hello infant!!!

Hard to believe that our sweet girl is 3 months old today!! Wow how she has changed. Here is a list of the things that she does now:

• laughs all the time
• smiles constantly
• the chunky thighs NEVER stop moving
• coos and vocalizes vowels (Momma the speech therapist is proud)
• supports her head all the time
• lifts her head about 90 degrees when she is on her tummy
• "stands" on her legs when you hold her up
• sits up assisted
• sucks on her fists and fingers often
• melts our hearts more EVERYDAY!!!

We love her to pieces and we are looking forward to the fun months ahead!

Support Groups!!!

How young is too young to send Maddie to some support groups. The two that I had in mind were M.A. (Milkaholic Anonymous) and P.A. (Paciholic Anonymous)!!!

Maddie loves to eat (as evidenced by the pot belly she is getting in the picture) and to say she loves her paci would be an understatement!!!! So much so that it has impeded some sleep lately. Unfortunately she cannot put it back in herself yet so EVERY time it falls out she wakes up and expects me the Paci Fairy to put it back in....no lie...every.single.hour!!!! I spoke with the pediatricians office today and they did not recommend that I go cold turkey with the paci because since she is only 3 months old (today) she doesn't have a lot of self soothing techniques yet!! UGH...really!?!?!? She is beginning to suck on her hands and fists but cannot seem to find them in the middle of the night when she is already enraged!! Here's to hoping that she goes back to sleeping for longer stretches soon!!!

Wanted to share this picture that my sister-in-law gave me!! Like father, like daughter!! Can we say too old for a paci!!! Maddie will not have the paci as long as her dad did I can assure you of that!! I think he might have already started growing arm pit hair when he still had his paci!!

First trip to the beach!!!

We went to Hilton Head last weekend when the Ingerson's were here and took Miss Maddie for the day!! Well we only lasted about 2 hours and then she was ready for a nap and we wanted to get her out of the heat!! The rest of the family stayed longer to enjoy the beach and waves but I must say that Madelynn did so well and seemed to like the wind blowing and all that was going on. First time that I have ever been to the beach where I spent the entire time under the umbrella...no sun, no good book, no swimming.....oh how things have changed.

Neither Matt nor I wanted to put on sunscreen to go out in the sun because we didn't want it to rub off on Maddie so we decided to both huddle under the umbrella with her!! The one time that Matt wore sunscreen at the lake and then held her later she got a rash on her thigh from where he was holding her!! We have a little girl with sensitive skin just like her momma!!! So we had to be careful!! Next summer we will be fine because we can put sunscreen on her and enjoy all that the beach has to offer!!

We L-O-V-E our flip!!!

We got a flip video camera from Eric and Nora for Christmas in hopes that we could use it a lot with a little one on the way!!! We LOVE the flip...it is so easy to use and just as easy to save on your computer and share with others. Hope you enjoy the little video of Maddie. Hope to put up some more videos soon. We have now started carrying the flip in the diaper bag so that we can take some more!!

Smiles, smiles, and more smiles!!!

Just like everyone has said..it keeps getting better and better!!! She melts our hearts more every day. About two and a half weeks ago I got the first "real" purposeful smile and it was so cute. Now we get smiles very regularly and it never gets old!!! Madelynn is very happy in the mornings when she wakes up for the day and that is when she smiles the most!! Enjoy the photos!!

Next stop...Lake Norman, NC

We also went to visit my Dad and stepmom for the 4th of July weekend!! We had a great time and enjoyed the sun and the lake. Maddie even had her first boat ride (with a life jacket of course...that she preferred to suck on) and she thoroughly enjoyed it. The hum of the motor and movement of the boat put her to sleep both times we went out on it. Maddie enjoyed her time with Granddaddy and Grandma DeeDee!! They ate up any chance they could get to hold her, kiss her, feed her, rock her, and love on her. I am still very much a daddy's girl and it was very special for me to watch my dad with Madelynn and know that she will most likely grow up to be Granddaddy's little girl too!! I hope that she has a relationship with Matt silimar to what I have with my dad because words couldn't describe the closeness or how special our bond is and always has been. My mom is also my best friend so I hope that Maddie and I have a relationship that mirrors that too!!

We even took the boat out to watch fireworks and Maddie slept right through them. The sound did not bother her at all but I think she was exhausted and would have slept through WWIII starting!!!

Traveling all around!!!

We have been traveling like crazy lately it seems and Miss Maddie has done so well with it all. She is a great car rider and seems to not mind that we have been constantly on the go. First stop was Charleston and Folly Beach so that she could meet Grandad and Noni (Matt's dad and stepmom)!! They were able to be at the hospital for a little bit while I was in labor but had to catch a flight and missed her delivery by only 4 hours!! They were so excited to meet her and as you can imagine they loved on her the whole time!!!