David and Nile

Mackenzie Mary...in 3D!

2011-02-17T21:11:00.005-05:00

It's crazy to think that two days ago (February 15th), I was exactly two months away from my due date with Mackenzie. I have no idea where the time has gone!

Today I had a 3D ultrasound and we were able to catch some cute photos of our little peanut! She was facing the perfect direction for the photos, but unfortunately the umbilical cord was in the way most of the time, so getting that perfect, unobscured shot was tricky! I did get to see her yawn, smile, swallow and stick her tongue out though which was really neat!

The sonographer took some measurements while I was there and she said everything looked great! The heartbeat was 131 which she said was good, and based on the measurements it looks like our little girl is weighing about 4 lbs, 5 oz! Three more pounds and she'll be good to go! :) I seem to be able to gain that in a week these days, but I'm thankful she isn't plumping up quite as quickly as her mama is!

We were given a DVD of ultrasound so we have everything that was captured. Here are the pictures that were printed out for us.

Here's a "standard" ultrasound photo she gave me that's a profile picture of Mackenzie, with her head on the right side of the photo...

The umbilical cord crept into these two photos over Mackenzie's eye (on the right side of the photo), but they are still adorable!

And these two photos are my favorite! At the end of the ultrasound, she fell asleep and was resting her head on her arm. And the umbilical cord managed to stay out of the way for just enough time to capture the moment! She's a cutie pie!

We are getting really excited to meet Ms. Mackenzie and are having fun putting her nursery together. Well, I should say that it's actually been David putting the nursery together so far and he's done a fabulous job! We have the crib and dresser in place and will hopefully be bringing the glider into the room this weekend and maybe putting Mackenzie's name up on the wall above her changing table (like how it is in Maddie's room). Slowly but surely we are getting there!

My next checkup appointment is on Wednesday the 23rd. It's so strange to think that I have an appointment two weeks after that and then I'll be 35 weeks and go for weekly visits. It is all getting so close!

We love you!
Nile, David and Maddie with a special guest appearance by Mackenzie in 3D!

Our Gold Medalist

2011-02-17T20:37:00.006-05:00

I'm so sorry that it's been an eternity since we posted! January 29th was Maddie's last gymnastics class - the course was 10 weeks long but it felt like it went by so quickly!

Looking back to when Maddie began the class, and where she was at the end of January, was so great - she had accomplished a lot in those weeks and was doing so much more than when we first began. She used to hate walking along the balance beams and would lift her legs up high so that her feet wouldn't touch the beam. On the last day, she walked along those beams and at times wasn't even holding David's hand! She had overcome that fear and hesitation and did such a great job on her own! I think the only thing she continued to dislike were the rings, but that's ok! She did them and enjoyed climbing through the rest of the course, including a small rock climbing wall. And of course, her favorite thing from day one until the very end was the trampoline. That girl can jump! She absolutely loves it and would've been completely content spending the entire class time on the trampoline!

At the end of the last class, they had an awards ceremony for all of the kids. We took some long overdue photos that day of the different activities Maddie did in class, of her teacher (Ms. Gail) and the ceremony. The ceremony was really cute - they had Olympic music playing in the background and they gave each kid a gold medal to wear and a wand to hold up during their time on the awards stand. We were (and are!) proud parents!

Here are some of our favorite photos...

Maddie on the balance beam - they start off walking along the slightly higher beam (to the right of the one she's on here) and then hop down to the lower beam. I am so proud of her for the progress she made in this area! She had no hesitation that last day of class!

Here's one of the rope swing...someone is always holding on to Maddie and the rope as she swings, so it's not nearly as dangerous at it may sound!

I hopped into the class quickly and walked alongside Maddie while she was on the balance beam. After the rope swing, there's a tunnel the kids can crawl through and then a balance beam to walk on that brings them back to the line for the rope swing. That is the balance beam she was on here.

Maddie never stayed still long enough on the trampoline to get a picture of her that wasn't blurry! She was just constantly jumping and loving every second of it, as this blurry photo will attest!

Here she is flopped down on the mat at the end of the trampoline, with a fuzzy Jonah landing by her side.

Maddie is swinging on the bars here. This was another area that she hated in the beginning and was much more open to by the end. It still wasn't her favorite and the rings followed the bars, which didn't make it any more appealing (since she still dislikes the rings!).

Maddie popping out of the circular tube for a great photo op!

Here she's starting up the rock climbing wall, following her classmate Jonah who has made it to the top (those are his parents beside him)...

Maddie is sliding down the ramp here, sitting on top of a little skateboard type thing that glides down the ramp - she really liked this!

After getting off of the skateboard, she would walk down a ramp to where the large rings were...

And here she and Jonah are looking at each other in the rings!

Here are a couple of Maddie with her wonderful instructor, Ms. Gail...

And now she's sitting contently with Daddy waiting for her turn during the awards ceremony...

And her moment of triumphant glory! Isn't she adorable?!

We love you all!
Nile, David and our little gymnast (aka Maddie)

A Trio of Girls

2010-11-30T19:16:00.005-05:00

I am so sorry that it has taken me 4 days to get this post up! I was having trouble getting the ultrasound photos to load and those are half the post!

We had our 20 week ultrasound for little peanut on Monday morning and found out we're having a girl! The ultrasound technician said there was no doubt in what she saw and there were definitely "girl parts" out and visible! We are so happy and excited! I absolutely adore my sister and the relationship I have with her and can't wait for Maddie and little peanut to experience that amazing sisterly bond. Maddie is going to be such an awesome big sister!

The ultrasound technician printed out a bunch of photos for us. She said the baby is growing right on track and is weighing 12 oz, the size of soda can. I have been able to feel peanut moving around for about 3-4 weeks (right around my 17th week) and it's so fun to feel those movements. While the ultrasound was being done, peanut kicked around and I was able to both see and feel the kicks - so weird but so neat too! We got to see peanut drinking too - her little tongue was moving back and forth a lot! I don't remember seeing Maddie's tongue moving, but it was really cool!

And here we go, on to the photo show!

A profile of our beautiful baby girl...

You can see peanut's arm reaching in front of her face her...

You can see her torso here...

And her early acrobatic skills! She is laying on her back with her legs lifted up over her (so her toes are near her face). Oh to be that flexible!

And a cute little foot...

We're now working on figuring out a name for our peanut and having fun looking into nursery design ideas. I still can't believe that we're already at the half way point for this little one! It has gone by so quickly!

Love you all!
Nile. David and Maddie

Halloween

2010-10-31T20:16:00.007-04:00

As we all know, Maddie is an early to bed, early to rise little girl. So staying up for Halloween is tricky because it gets dark past her bedtime. Add to that the fact that Maddie woke up this morning at 4:30am instead of 6am - and did not fall back asleep - and keeping her awake for the festivities was a very long shot! We decided to dress her up tonight though as we still wanted her to be in her costume and we went outside and had a great time running around with her all dressed up! She hates having anything on her head so we knew that the hood on her costume wouldn't stay on for long, but David was able to catch a few shots of her in full gear! She missed going door-to-door, but she had a ton of fun in her giraffe costume! And she looked so darn cute too! Here are some of our favorite pictures from tonight...

Isn't she just the most beautiful giraffe you've ever seen?!

Happy Halloween!
Nile, David and Maddie the Giraffe

Our Peanut

2010-10-31T19:55:00.007-04:00

We have shared our exciting news with everyone, but I realized we never officially announced it here! This April Maddie is going to be a big sister! We are so happy and feel so blessed! We are so incredibly thankful too that we didn't have to go back through the infertility clinic and routines in order to be blessed with this little peanut. Maddie was absolutely worth every appointment, pill, shot, poke and prick it took to get her, but I am very happy that we didn't have to do that all over again! We affectionately named Maddie our "bean" and this little one is known around the West household as our "peanut"!

It's still hard to believe it's real...and how close April is already feeling! Maddie is going to be such an amazing big sister though - I can't wait to see her interact with a little one! At Ms. K's right now too she recently went from being the only one there to having a little 2 month old there with her. So she's getting a lot of great experience being a big sister there too and learning how to softly touch babies, etc. She's also getting used to sharing Ms. K's attention - she really loved having that all to herself!

Maddie is doing really well and has recently learned how to nod her head "yes" and also figured out how to do a somersault all on her own about 2 weeks ago! We are looking into a local gymnastics club that offers classes for little ones. We think she would love having a place to tumble and jump around!

Here are our most recent photos of the little peanut that were taken at the end of my 12th week. I have a checkup appointment on November 4th and then the big gender-telling ultrasound is scheduled for November 29th - I cannot wait! It's so crazy to think that I'm almost to that half way marker!

I know ultrasound photos can be hard to decipher, so hopefully these descriptions will help orient you! In this one, the baby's head is on the left hand side of the picture and the baby is looking up. The white you see extending above it's belly is an arm.

The baby is in the same position in these next two photos too...

Here's a foot!

On this one, the baby's head is still on the left hand side, but it is now looking down instead of up - you can see the whole body though! The round circle underneath the baby's belly is an arm and you can see the legs and feet off on the right hand side. It's so amazing!

We love you!
Nile, David and Soon-To-Be Big Sister Maddie

Fall Festival

2010-10-31T19:33:00.006-04:00

We have been having such a great time with Maddie and were excited to really get into the fall season with her! On the weekend of October 9th/10th, we took Maddie to a fall festival at Butler's Orchard, an orchard that's about 20-30 minutes away. The weather was amazing for an outdoor fall trip - I think it wound up being close to 80 degrees! The festival is set up with a huge area with games for the kids, animals and a big pumpkin patch. A lot of the games were geared for kids older than Maddie, but she had a great time seeing the animals, playing in this huge open barn with hay and at the pumpkin patch. Here are some of our favorite photos from that day! There are a lot, but I have such a hard time narrowing down photos of her - they are all so adorable to me!

Watching the chickens and roosters...

And the black pigs...these guys were cute, but there were stink bugs everywhere which mommy did not enjoy!

Having fun with a painted pumpkin...

Her favorite animals were the goats! They were very mellow and friendly and would walk up by the gate so you could easily pet them. So fun!

She had an absolute blast in the barn with hay! There were a lot of older kids running around and jumping off the hay bails (which I'm sure she'll be doing in no time!), but we were able to grab a quiet corner for her to play in and she had so much fun! I think we must've spent at least a half hour in there!

This one just cracks me up! Maddie's expression is so priceless! She was smiling all the way through and then we have someone take a family photo and the stern look is all she gave the camera! I guess we were taking away from the real fun and she wasn't very happy about it!

My sweet baby girl...

Here Maddie is in the pumpkin patch. She loved walking around and wanted to pick up all the pumpkins. She was surprised to find out how heavy they are!

And this is her winning pumpkin! Maddie's first pumpkin!

We love you all!
Nile, David and Maddie

Summer Updates

2010-09-29T20:02:00.010-04:00

Boy, it has been way too long since I've posted! This post is packed with lots of goodies...an status report on the 18 month check-up Maddie had today, some pictures from the summer and an awesome video that David put together of Maddie. So, away we go!

We had Maddie's 18 month check-up today. Let me start off by saying that I cannot believe we have an 18 month old! Wow! All of her stats were great...she is up to 23 lbs, 10 oz which is awesome and she is now 32.75" tall. Her weight gain put her just beneath the 50th percentile and she's tracking at almost the 90th percentile for height! This little girl is one day going to tower over David and me if she keeps growing at this rate!! I asked about moving Maddie to 1/2 Pediasure and 1/2 milk since she is gaining weight, but the doctor would like us to stay on 100% Pediasure. I was hoping I could make the Pediasure stretch farther since that stuff is so darn expensive, but no luck there!! The doctor said that while she was really happy with the weight gain, there's still a big discrepancy between where she's tracking on height (90th) and where she is on weight (50th), so she wants us to keep giving her all those extra calories. If only I could get on a diet like that!! :) The bad part of the visit was when the shots came out. Maddie now knows - even before a needle is unwrapped - that something bad is going to happen. It breaks my heart having her cry and having to hold her still while they poke her. I know it's for her good, but heavens!! They really need to make all vaccines in liquid form!! She had a total of 4 shots today - 2 in each arm - and was such a great trooper! Since our last post was about 2 months ago, I haven't said this all that recently (well, at least I haven't posted it here!)...we have the best, sweetest, most wonderful daughter ever!!

For the wedding David performed at last weekend, he learned this beautiful song called "Little Hands" that they sang for the father daughter dance. The lyrics are so touching and ring so true with what we hope for Maddie. David put together an incredible video of Maddie - from ultrasound photos all the way through our most recent pics - and set it to this song. So turn up your speakers and enjoy the amazing song and video!

Now, on to the photos! We downloaded all the photos we had and I've included all my favorites below. Be forewarned, there are a lot of them! I am making up for lost time! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Back in July I think, we had one of many hot days and decided to blow up an inflatable pool that we had bought for Maddie. Let me tell you, blowing up those things manually is a lot harder than it sounds! Oh, how I wished we had an air pump! Well, we finally had it inflated and brought it out front for Maddie, filled it with water and let it sit in the sun a while so the water would warm up. Then the comedy of errors began...we realized the pool was really sloping downwards and one end of the pool was completely dry while the other end had a foot of water! We tried to move the pool around to more even ground and quickly realized it would've been a lot better to do that before putting water in it! Needless to say we didn't make it too far, but Maddie had fun in it nevertheless!

Over the summer I tried to capture this great daddy daughter moment that David and Maddie had. David sat down on the floor and played the guitar while he sang for Maddie. She joined him and helped him along on the strings and got an up front seat to all the action. As luck would have it, all the photos I took turned out blurry...which is why I'm not normally the photographer for the family! I wanted to share these anyways because they make my heart smile!

Of course, with college football season starting, we wasted no time in making sure Maddie knows who she's rooting for! She loves taking David's baseball hats and putting them on our heads (especially David's!). We try them on her too...she normally pulls them off her head pretty quickly, but we were able to catch this cute photo. Geaux Tigers!

A couple weekends ago we had a beautiful spring like day and brought the camera with us to the park. David caught a ton of adorable photos of Maddie at home that day and at the park. There are a lot here, but I just couldn't narrow down my favorites any more than this!

Doesn't this expression just make you smile?! I love it!

We love you all!
Nile, David and Maddie

Playing Around

2010-07-22T07:12:00.002-04:00

Over the last couple of weekends we've captured some great videos of Maddie!

Here's one we took when she just started walking. She is now zooming all over the place!

Maddie is just playing around in this one! We still have her jumperoo upstairs (with the basement in utter disrepair!) and she's been hitting the buttons on there to get the music going and will then stomp her feet to it! She's also really gotten into "throwing" balls around and this shows her having a great time with that new skill!

And she's also adopted one of the sofa pillows as her "princess pillow"! She picks it up, carries it around the house with her, puts in on the ground and then rests her head on it. She'll also sit on top of it, as if it's her little princess throne!

She also has this shoulder dance that she does sometimes and it is the funniest thing! She'll stand and move her shoulders up and down, so that her right shoulder is up and left shoulder is down, and then vice versa. Sometimes she even throws a little tummy thrust in there. It's too cute!! Maddie is just so much fun!

Maddie's also becoming quite the little builder! We have a set of giant legos and she loves to build with them! I have so much fun watching her do this too! You can see her thinking about which piece she wants to grab next and playing with where she'd like it put. I love it too that she doesn't bat an eye if it falls over or something doesn't work. She just starts over and builds something completely new and is totally happy building that! We may have a budding architect on our hands!

We are having an awesome time seeing her personality emerge and playing alongside her!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie the Movin Machine

Where Has the Time Gone?

2010-07-11T19:44:00.003-04:00

I can't believe that our little girl is 15 months old already!? I honestly don't know where the time has gone!! She has become a wonderful little girl and has left behind her baby traits. Her personality is really emerging and it's so neat to see the little person inside her!! She is a determined, happy, independent, loving and stubborn little girl! She's wonderful and so much fun!

Last weekend (July 4th weekend) Maddie officially became a walker! Yep, all of a sudden, she decided that would be her primary mode of transportation and she does so well at it!! She barely falls, balances and catches herself from falling and can get around pretty quickly! It's so fun to see her waddling through the house and to come walking into your arms!! I love it!! She's also giving kisses now, which is so sweet!! They're a little slobbery at this point, and they sometimes involve teeth and turn into more of a love bite, but they are just the best!! Gosh, I just love our little girl!!

Maddie's picky food habits are continuing and I am still praying that it's just a phase!! Her meals are a smorgasbord of items, not knowing what she'll eat or not want to eat at that particular moment. Right now, her go to foods are...

1) Eggo multi-grain waffles
2) Scrambled cheesy eggs
3) Finger foods: graham crackers, multi-grain cheerios, baby goldfish and yogurt drops
4) Bananas
5) Avocados (that's my California girl!!)
6) Cheese...this girl loves American cheese!
7) Yogurt
8) Kraft Mac & Cheese
9) Gerber Mac & Cheese with chicken and veggies

We just tried goulash tonight and she liked it! So that's definitely going to be in her lunch bag for tomorrow! We also tried a fruit smoothie for the second time today and this time she loved it! At first she turned her nose up at it and didn't want anything to do with it, and then when I walked into the kitchen to get her something else to eat she decided to try it and ate every last drop! I was so happy!! The only bad thing about those is that the noisy blender scares her!

We had her 15 month check up on the 29th and she has grown 1.5" and is now 31.5" tall, which keeps her in the 75th percentile! I think Papa Bob's genes may be coming through in that area!! Her head circumference is right on track at 50% and our little string bean gained just under a half pound and is now 20 lbs, 2 oz. This part dropped her from the 25th percentile down to the 10th percentile! Because of this, our pediatrician asked us to stop having her drink whole milk and juice and instead to use Pediasure to bulk her up on the extra calories. Pediasure also has all the vitamins she'd get from fruits and veggies if she was eating a balanced diet, and since she's become quite the finicky eater, she definitely needs those vitamins added to her diet! The doctor's office also gave us a list of ideas on how to add calories to each meal - adding butter to things, stirring powdered milk into items, etc. so we've been doing that as well. We are going back on August 4th for a weight check and I just pray things are heading in the right direction!!

Our doctor also let us know that at this age, they are generally looking for children to be saying 3 words. That said, she understands that each child is unique and has their own timing for everything. Maddie only says 1 word right now (mama!), so our doctor suggested that we have Maddie evaluated and see if she might need some speech therapy. Our county had a great infants and toddlers program, where they will come out to your house to do the assessment and if they find that she needs any therapy/services, they will provide them for free! I'm so thankful that something like this exists!! I honestly think Maddie is just taking her time in the language area, but I am very happy that our pediatrician is proactive and that we're having Maddie's development evaluated. If there are any areas of concern, we'll be catching them and addressing them so early on that I know Maddie will be in great shape by the time kindergarten rolls around. Wow, it's so strange to think of her being a kindergartner one day! Maddie's assessment is scheduled for the 29th, so I'll be sure to post an update on what they see and suggest for her.

Other than those two things, the appointment went well! Well, up until it was time for shots that is! Maddie was able to anticipate what was coming and was not so happy about having to endure the shots! Not that I blame her one bit!! She did great though! I forget which type of immunization it is, but there is one that is a liquid that they just have her swallow...some serious money should be invested into making all shots available in a good tasting liquid form! It would save a lot of agony!!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

No Mama, No!

2010-06-25T17:03:00.002-04:00

Maddie is officially entering her toddler stage! Over the weekend, Maddie took her first step into toddlerism, by refusing to eat any of the pureed Gerber food we had in the house and only wanting big girl food. I have absolutely no problem with this, the only thing is that she eats so few things that it's impossible for her to have a well rounded diet! I thought, well, she eats things with Ms. K that she won't for me, so Ms. K will have better luck than I'm having. Come Monday, I found out that assumption was wrong! She was refusing all her "baby" food with Ms. K too! So I have been on the hunt, trying out as many new things as I can think of for her, but she is proving...at this point at least...to be one picky eater! So far I haven't found a single vegetable she'll eat, the only fruit that she'll touch are bananas and avocados and she will eat bread, cereal, graham crackers and anything dairy. That's her entire diet right now! Normally, I would say that she's a girl after my own heart - loving carbs and diary - but I really want her to be healthy and have some fruit and veggies in there! If anyone has suggestions on foods to try, please let me know!

Her second step into toddlerhood happened on Wednesday night. David and I were at the kitchen table feeding Maddie dinner (and trying to get her to eat, or at least try, some fruits and veggies!) and while we were doing that, she started shaking her head in the "no" motion. As in "No, Mama - I do not want to eat that piece of watermelon you just tried to give me!" It was the funniest thing! It was right on cue and just made us bust out laughing! She's done it a few times since then and she loves getting us to laugh from it! I think she has fun doing it and sort of making herself dizzy too by moving her head back and forth quickly! Then she charms you with this smile where she scrunches up her nose so that her eyes are almost closed. Oh my goodness, it's the cutest thing ever! We'll try and capture a photo of that for everyone!

Maddie's also getting more independent and confident in her walking skills. She's still crawling primarily, but all on her own she'll take 5 steps or so. We haven't been getting down and trying to have her walk to us...she'll just decide to let go of the coffee table and walk towards what she sees. She normally ends up getting about half way there and then deciding to crawl, but it's a big step that she's deciding to do it all on her own!

We have her 15 month check-up this coming Tuesday, so I'll be sure to update everyone with her new stats. She has to get a couple more immunizations, so it won't be a fun visit for either of us!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Lots & Lots of Pictures!

2010-05-22T19:43:00.016-04:00

Boy, do we have a lot of photos to catch up! My apologies for not keeping on top of this better! This post has a bunch of photos from Easter Day when the Dawson family, Matt and Brittany came over, from a park visit the following weekend and our beach vacation the week of May 8th - 15th.

We are having so much fun with Maddie - she is such a joy! She is talking up a storm and is now starting to use mama and dada when referring to David and myself, rather than in the midst of babbling. When we're eating too, I've been giving her her own spoon to play with and she's able to bring it up to her mouth - so she has the beginnings of being able to eat on her own! True to my California roots, she is loving avocados and she eats a half avocado every morning on the weekends when I have them in the house. She's now eating graham crackers and cheerios too and loving them both!

Here we go on our picture parade...

Auntie Dawn gave Maddie this adorable dress for her birthday and it was warm enough on Easter day for Maddie to wear it. She looked so darn cute!

Here's a great family shot...
And one of the Dawson and West girls...

The weekend after Easter we went to a local park to play. You can tell it had cooled off a bit...we went from having Maddie wearing a sleeveless dress on Easter weekend to a fleece top and jeans the following one! Here she is enjoying the swings - she loves to swing!

We also slid down a slide with her for the first time - it was an instant hit! Here we are after our first ride down the slide...

And a Daddy and me moment too...hanging out up high in a tree!

Enjoying the grassy area at the park...

Last week we rented a house in Bethany Beach, Delaware and my parents flew out to join us on our first family vacation! The weather didn't end up being the greatest, so we weren't able to enjoy the beach and outdoors as much as we had hoped, but it was wonderful to just hang out and relax for a week. I would love to go back again! The house we stayed at was amazing too! Here's a picture of the back of the house, taken from the street between the house and the beach...

The Sunday after we arrived was Mother's Day and it was so neat to spend that with my mom and Maddie! That was the first Mother's Day we'd spent together since I moved away in 2004, so it was long overdue! Mother's Day is so much more special now that we have Maddie. It has always been a wonderful day to tell mom how much I loved her, but after having Maddie, the day has a whole new meaning because you now realize just how much your mom loves you and the insane amount of love, time, nurturing and care she has given you. Thank you to all of you moms!

On Mother's Day we visited a neighboring town, Rehoboth Beach, that has some amusement park rides on the boardwalk. We lucked out that the weekend we arrived is the weekend that the boardwalk and rides had opened up for the summer season. Most of the rides were geared towards kids older than her, but there was a cage ferris wheel that she and I went on, and also a merry-go-round that she and David went on. She seemed to love the rides! I have a sneaking suspicion she is going to love roller coasters when she gets older!

Here we are on the ferris wheel and merry-go-round...

In the downtown Bethany Beach area, there was a great park with a lot of kiddie swings and little slides. We went there a couple times and Maddie loved playing and watching the other kids that were out there too. She and Papa Bob had fun riding the horsey that was there too!

We also visited Ocean City one day and walked along their boardwalk. Along the beach there are wooden play structures that the kids can go in. Here Maddie, Papa Bob and me climbed into a big 4x4 truck and pretended we were four-wheeling down the beach! Just off the back side of the truck is a little kiddie slide that she loved!

Our last full day there turned out to be beautiful! It was our one day of sunshine and we didn't waste any time getting outdoors and enjoying the beach! This was the type of day we had hoped for all week long and I'm so happy we were able to soak in one day of sunshine and sand!

Here we are hanging out on the beach, with Maddie all suited up for the sun with her hat! We wanted to protect that peaches and cream skin and keep the peaches from turning into strawberries! Even with SPF 70 sunblock on her she started to get a little red after about 30-45 minutes. She has definitely inherited my "no tan, only burn" skin! Maddie, I am truly sorry for this!

Here we are getting ready to dip Maddie's feet into the ocean water...

And the smiles that came afterwards!

There weren't really any waves that day, but David had a great time playing in the water and bodysurfing (hence the wet suit since the ocean was still about 55 degrees I think!)!

And last, but not least, one of Maddie, Grandma Paula and Papa Bob on the beach...

We hope to post a lot more pictures this summer and I promise to work harder at getting them up in a timely manner!

We love you all!
Nile. David & Maddie

The Maddie Crawl

2010-04-23T19:38:00.002-04:00

We finally captured our munchkin's crawl! For all of you that have seen Maddie crawl, you know that she has a style all her own! She can get around like nobody's business and is fast as can be! We love her way of scooting about and wanted to make sure we got it on tape before she starts walking and we never see her adorable little crawl again!

So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

We love you!
Nile, David & the Maddie Crawler

Maddie's Birthday

2010-04-10T08:10:00.009-04:00

Ok, I am giving myself the "Worst Mom of the Month" award for getting this post up so late! I'm so sorry about that!

I've now had a few weeks for everything to sink in and I still can't believe that Maddie's one already! We had a wonderful time celebrating her birthday. Her birthday day was gorgeous - sunny and in the mid 70s I think! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for her party. Maddie was surrounded by love with all the friends and family that celebrated with her - thank you everyone!

The party started at 2:30pm, thinking that would give her enough time to take an afternoon nap before the festivities began. In good 'ol Murphy's Law style, she slept beforehand but only for a half hour or so, so she was a bit exhausted going into things. I think seeing all the people and kids kept her on her toes though!

Here are Maddie and Anna playing together. Don't you just love Anna's curls?!

Maddie lit up when she saw that Ms. K was here and she had so much fun playing with her!

A great photo of Ben and Zack!

I think this is Tim holding Dylan (or is it Tanner?!). I'm so sorry that I'm still learning to tell the twins apart! They are both just gorgeous babies! I have already added them to the list of approved boys that Maddie will be allowed to date when she's older!

This was the cake that all of us enjoyed! We had a small round cake that was just for Maddie to smoosh too, so she could get as grubby as her heart desired without depriving anyone else of a slice of cake!

She got her fingers in the frosting and ate some of that and then she started crying. She never made it down to any actual cake! I guess at her age though, the frosting is probably the best part! She still has one adorable cake face!

Dawn caught some great photos of Maddie while she was here too and I'm going to work on getting those posted up. I don't know where she got it from, but she is one photogenic girl!

On the Tuesday following Maddie's birthday we went in for her one year check up and she did great! She gained about 2 pounds and grew 2". She's now 19lbs, 3oz and is 30" tall! She's in the 75th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight so we have a tall string bean on our hands! We got the ok to switch her to whole milk so she's been on that now for about two or three weeks. David and I are happy to no longer be buying formula! She seems to really enjoy it and didn't have any problem transitioning over to milk. She's now also eating more adult style meals. Before, her bottles would act as her meal or snack and now she's eating 3 meals a day with 3 snacks in between and drinking more to curb her thirst than as a meal in and of itself. She's not able to eat much table food yet, but we're working on it. She loves anything that easily smooshes though like bananas or soft bread...a girl after my own heart who loves carbs!

Just the other day Maddie started smacking her lips! I don't know where she picked it up from, but it's the cutest thing! She's also starting to incorporate "s" sounds into her babble. I can't wait to hear the words she's going to say and learn what she's thinking in that cute little head of hers!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

First Steps

2010-03-17T14:49:00.003-04:00

This past weekend (March 13th and 14th), our little girl took her first independent steps! On Saturday morning Maddie and I were playing in her bedroom and she had pulled herself up to standing next to her dresser. I was sitting on the floor beside her and as she looked over her shoulder to me, I reached out my arms to see if she would walk to me (just about one step away). She turned herself around while holding onto the dresser and then took one step! She faltered a bit after she had her foot down, but she had definitely let go of everything and took a step! She did it a few more times over the weekend and made sure to show daddy her new skills too! Her little hybrid crawl is still her favorite means of transportation, but I don't think that will be the case for long!

I can't believe that our little sweetheart is going to turn one this weekend. This year has just flown by and been so amazing. We are so blessed by Maddie and have so much fun with her every day. She has the sweetest laugh and such a great personality! I couldn't love our munchkin more!

Love,
Nile, David & Maddie

Snow, Snow And A Lot More Snow!

2010-02-14T10:18:00.009-05:00

We have officially survived the 2010 DC blizzard...part one and two! This last week has been just insane for us! I think this snow storm may have ruined my chances and thoughts that our parents may one day move out this way!!

Here's our adventure with some photos along the way...
The storm started last Friday night (February 5th). Ms. K had decided to close for the day in anticipation of the storm so I stayed home with Maddie. David had worked a double shift on Thursday night so that he could leave Friday afternoon before the storm kicked in. We made it through Friday night with no problems and woke up to a white wonderland! When David went out to shovel the snow, it was already up past David's knees...and the storm wasn't even over yet! After David had cleared our walkway, we brought Maddie out to take a few pictures - the snow was taller than she was!

Here are some more photos outside our house from the MIDDLE of the storm!

The tree outside our house...

Our roof...

The view of our next door neighbor's house...

The back of David's car...

My car, with snow all the way up to the door handles!

Then, at about 1:30pm, our power went out. We didn't have any trouble keeping Maddie entertained and we lit candles that night. We bundled Maddie up really well and she slept through the night without any trouble, despite the cold. Have I mentioned what an awesome baby we have?! When we woke up though, our house was 52! Yowsers!! It's one thing to have the temperature drop to 52, but another to have that as your starting temperature. Especially when our overnight lows for Saturday night were forecasted for the single digits! David started digging out my car...we were thinking that I had a full tank of gas and if need be, we were all going to sleep in there with the heater running on Saturday night. It was strange to feel so trapped and helpless. Our streets hadn't been plowed and all the two wheel drive vehicles that had tried to make it down the street had gotten stuck...at one point we had a line up of six cars I think, all stuck one behind the other! Then, our angels of the day swooped in and saved us! Joe, our good friend and neighbor, called to check in and see how we were doing. He let us know that a family friend of his had a four wheel drive van that was able to maneuver the streets and could come pick us up, and bring us to his sister's house (who had power and heat). Oh my goodness, we jumped at that! So while we waited for the van to get here, Maddie and I played in the back seat of my car with the heater running.

Here's my car (the rental) dug out of the snow and Maddie and I playing inside it...

Once the van was nearby, there was still a lineup of cars stuck on our street, so we had to walk ourselves up to the main road to get meet the van. I felt like we were in the Dennis Quaid movie "Day After Tomorrow"...we were trekking through three feet of snow with all our belongings and Maddie bundled up tight. It was just crazy!!

We spent that afternoon and night at Joe's sister's house (Angela) with her family and Joe's mom (Ms. Patti) and had such a good time! We were so thankful for heat and to be able to let Maddie play in someplace warm! Angela has three children and was so well equipped too - she had a pack and play, high chair, toys, you name it! Maddie was in heaven! We felt so at home there and couldn't have been more appreciative! And David was especially happy that we were able to watch the Superbowl and see his Saints take home the trophy!

Then...just three days later...part two of our winter blizzard hit! On top of the almost three feet we had already, we got another foot or so of snow! So crazy!! And this storm was more of a true blizzard with wind gusts up to 45 miles an hour. David went out throughout the day to try and shovel and keep ahead of the snowfall and as soon as he shoveled a foot of snow away, the wind blew eight inches back in its place. The wind just cut right through you too, making it even more uncomfortable and difficult to be in. But, thankfully, with this second storm our power stayed on and we enjoyed our nice toasty warm house! You can see in these pictures how bad the visibility was with the high winds...

So all in all, I think we got about four feet of snow at our house! I am so thankful that we are on the other side of it now, and for the amazing friends we have who helped us through it all. This storm broke a 111 year old "snowiest winter" record for DC that was set back in the winter of 1898/1899 and I am seriously hoping we don't have another storm like this for another 111 years!

Love you all and stay warm!
Nile, David & Maddie

Peek-a-Boo

2010-01-28T07:25:00.002-05:00

Maddie's favorite game right now is peek-a-boo...she just loves it! We've been playing it with her for a while, and we would lift something up in front of her face and then drop it down while we said "peek-a-boo!". As of this past Sunday, she has now mastered the peek-a-boo game all on her own! For the first time, she grabbed a little lovie blanket we have and she put it up in front of her face for a second and then dropped it down. David and I both looked at each other and said "peek-a-boo!" and she had a big smile on her face! She kept doing it over and over again - it was so cute! She would lift the blanket up...sometimes even on top of her head and not covering her eyes at all...and then lower it down and smile and laugh when we said "peek-a-boo!" to her! It was so fun playing a game with her! And one that she initiated! We sure do have a smart cookie on our hands!

Another new favorite of hers is to turn off the light switch. Every night when we're getting ready for bath time, we play in the mirror a little bit. The light switch for our bedroom is right next to our full length mirror and a few weeks ago she noticed the light switch and was interested in it. So we started practicing turning the lights on and off when we went to play in the mirror. She is officially a total pro at turning the lights off! As soon as she does it, she gets excited and starts patting your shoulder - it's so adorable! We're still practicing the motions for turning on the lights, but she has a great time turning them off!

All our love!
Nile, David & Maddie

Is That Music I Hear?

2010-01-24T09:20:00.005-05:00

For Christmas, Mama Teet gave Maddie a baby sized grand piano and it has become one of her favorite toys! She loves to hold on to it and pull herself up to a standing position and then bang away like a crazy little baby! She normally does all of that with something in one of her hands too...so she can really hit those keys hard! She loves the piano and we are having a great time listening to her and encouraging her to play...I am seriously hoping she inherited David's musical abilities! Mine leave SO much room for improvement!

David was able to record one of her concerts and we wanted to share it with you! In this video she is playing while holding on to Ms. Bear, a blue plastic block and a bathtub book! We are going to try and capture a duet to share too...Maddie on keys and David on guitar (or both of them on the guitar!). They did this the other night and it was just too cute! Of course we didn't have the camera handy right then, but we'll be sure to capture it soon!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie the Pianist

Our First Family Christmas

2010-01-11T12:52:00.007-05:00

I first have to apologize that it's taken me so long to get this post out! Life has been busy, but fantastic!

This Christmas was especially fun for us as our first Christmas as a family. Maddie made the holidays so much brighter and more special. It is wonderful having a baby around to share the joy with! We travelled out to California to spend the holidays with my family and Maddie was such a trooper! I was a little worried how she would do on such a long flight (and one we had to wake her up at 4am for!), but she is proving to be an awesome little traveller! She handled both flights really well. I think her hardest obstacle when traveling is getting used to sleeping in someplace new. She had a rough time our first night, but was into a good routine by the second day. We can't ask for much more than that!

We had a fantastic time seeing everyone while we were there! My mom arranged two big family get togethers - Saturday was a belated Christmas celebration with my mom's side of the family. Maddie absolutely loved playing with her cousins Paige and Emma! There were about 20 people at the house and she didn't bat an eye at all the new faces and people. She was her cheerful self and charmed everyone she met!

On Sunday, my mom hosted another open house (thank you mom and dad and Dawn!) for my dad's side of the family and our family friends. I think there were probably 20+ people there too and she had a great time! She was able to meet Addy, the daughter of Dawn's friend Courtney, who is just 2 months younger than Maddie. They had a lot of fun together!

On Monday, we visited mom's office and showed off our Maddie girl - she was a huge hit! That afternoon we went up to see my friend Deb, and her two little boys. The boys had grown up so much! On Thursday, we had a fun girls lunch with Kerri, Liz, my mom and some of her girlfriends. Kerri is my oldest childhood friend (I think we've known each other since I was 8...yikes, that makes me feel old!) and I've known Liz for almost as long! Liz, her mom (Karen) and her son (Jack) all traveled down from the Sacramento area just to see us at lunch that day! Thank you to everyone who came! Maddie loved playing with Jack's cars too and she may have developed her first crush! She loved watching Jack and laughing and playing with him!

For our Christmas gift, Dawn, mom and dad got us a professional photo shoot with an amazing photographer, Ashley Maxwell. David and I both fell in love with her eye and style and were so happy that she was able to do the shoot for us! We went over to Capitola on Tuesday and spent a few hours taking photos there and then had lunch in downtown Santa Cruz. It was a gorgeous day - probably about 65 and sunny - and it was so much fun to capture the family and Maddie at this stage. Thank you Dawn, mom and dad for this awesome gift! These photos will be treasured for a long, long time to come! I've included some of the favorites that Ashley had posted on her blog - I just love them!!

Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas visit so special and wonderful! We had an incredible time!!

Maddie is doing great too! She now has 3 teeth, is babbling up a storm and loves to pull herself up to standing on things! She has taken a few steps while holding on to the couch (or other object), but isn't quite standing on her own yet. She is just so much fun and such a joy! We just love, love, love her!!

And now, on to the great photos!!

'

Love you all!
Nile, David and Maddie

An outSTANDING Day!

2009-12-18T19:32:00.002-05:00

When I went into Maddie's room yesterday morning, she greeted me in a whole new way - standing up in her crib! She may have done it before, but it was the first time I had seen her standing in her crib! She had pulled herself up with seemingly no problems and was just standing there, holding onto the crib, waiting for me to come in with her breakfast!

Today we also had Maddie's 9 month check-up and she is doing wonderfully! In the last three months, she has grown 3" and gained 3.5lbs! She is now 28.5" tall and weighs 17lbs, 4oz! Wow, she's gotten big!! Everything looked great and was right on track. She's even tracking above average in height...I'm still not sure where that came from, but I think some of Papa Bob's genes may have gotten in there!

Our pediatrician let us know today too that we're now ok to start feeding her small, well cooked (soft) bits of table food along with the Gerber food that has meat and dairy. We also get to start introducing her to a sippy cup so that hopefully when she's a year old, she'll be done with the bottle and using only the sippy cups. With her first tooth coming in (slowly but surely!), we get to start a new bedtime routine - brushing her tooth and gums! We completely forgot about it tonight, but we'll start tomorrow.

I just can't believe how much she's growing and what a little girl she is becoming! She is the best daughter ever!!

Love always,
Nile, David & Maddie

Look Ma, No Hands!

2009-12-14T16:43:00.002-05:00

Maddie is learning so much, so quickly these days! Her favorite thing to do these days is to pull herself up...on just about anything and everything...and she's been practicing it nonstop! She is a pro! She can walk herself up to an object when holding on to it too, and she loves to dance and bounce around while holding on to things! Her newfound confidence also led her to pull herself up this weekend, and then let go so that she's standing without holding on to anything! She did this with David on Saturday and a couple times with me yesterday. Holy cow!! We've always had our hand under her so that we can catch her if she falls, and this has given her a little balance when she's standing alone, but oh my goodness! I hadn't expected her to do this so soon!

Our little girl is growing up so fast!

Love,
Nile, David & Maddie

Giggles Galore

2009-12-10T21:09:00.005-05:00

Maddie's laughter instantly brings a smile to my face! It is honestly one of the best sounds I've ever heard! If you're having a bad day or just want to smile, all you need to do is watch this video! She is just the sweetest girl in the world!

Hope you enjoy the giggles of Ms. Maddie as she plays a tickle game with Mama Teet!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

There Go The Bumpers!

2009-12-08T10:38:00.004-05:00

It is insane how quickly Maddie is learning to do things! Yesterday K let me know that while she was at daycare she pulled herself up in the crib by holding onto the crib rails! So, off came the bumpers last night! We had lowered Maddie's crib down a couple weeks ago - just in time it looks like!

This morning we were also playing around and I decided to have her practice standing up against the sofa. I took off one of the bottom cushions so that the ledge wouldn't be too high for her to reach. Maddie easily pulled herself up to standing against the sofa and then spied the tv remote control on the cushion next to where she was standing. The tv remote is one of her favorite toys, so off she went! She started moving herself over to the higher cushion, moving her arms and legs to sort of pull herself over there while holding onto the couch! Holy cow! Her legs weren't strong enough to support her the whole time, so I held her up, but she had all the maneuvers down and was able to get over to reach the remote! Wowzers!

Our girl is learning so much! She is going to be zooming all over the place in no time flat!

Love you all!
David, Nile & Maddie

It's Been a Big Weekend!

2009-12-06T20:01:00.003-05:00

Maddie had three firsts this weekend...

*Saturday was our first snow and we took Maddie outside to take some pictures and enjoy seeing everything blanketed in white! When we were taking the photos, it was hard to catch a smile because she kept sticking her tongue out to catch the snowflakes! She looked so adorable all bundled up and little snowflakes perched on her eyelashes. That is a precious memory I hope to never forget!

*Today her first tooth broke through (see post below for more details). It is going to be strange not seeing that gummy smile in a few days but I know she is going to look so stinkin' cute with a tooth!

*And...today, she stood up for the first time! She's been crawling for a while now and even before she started to crawl, she would stick her tushy in the air so that her legs extended fully. We were down on the floor playing and had our suitcase out (sad, I know, that this is still out from our Louisiana trip, but I'm glad it was!) and we had Maddie near it. She went from a sitting position to a standing one, with her hands perched on the top of the suitcase, all by herself! She kept doing it over and over and had such a great time! She has all the moves down on how to go from sitting to standing...now she's just looking for something taller that she can tackle! Our little girl is growing so fast! We are so blessed to be her parents!

We love you all!
David, Nile & Maddie

Yep, There It Is!

2009-12-06T13:01:00.007-05:00

At Maddie's mid-morning feeding today, she was sitting in her highchair having some fruit...and what do I see? A tooth peeking through on her bottom gum! I washed my hands after we were finished eating and rubbed my finger over her gum and it is bumpy! It is definitely there! I can't believe our baby is getting her first tooth! It is her left center tooth on her bottom gum. I have no idea how long it takes for the tooth to come all the way up, but it has broken through the gums! She has been such a great baby too - no crying or anything to even let us know all this was happening!

This is much belated, but we want to thank everyone for the wonderful Thanksgiving visit we had in Louisiana! We had such a great time! While we were there, we were able to catch Maddie laughing on video too! We've been trying to capture this for a long time, but each time we turned on the recorder, she would stop laughing. We caught her enjoying a game with Mama Teet though and she was loving it too much to care that we were taping her! David is going to put the video together and as soon as it's done, I'll post it up.

In the meantime, here are some photos of our little munchkin in Louisiana...

We love you all!
David, Nile & Maddie

She Did It!

2009-11-15T06:57:00.002-05:00

It's official! Our little girl is not so little anymore! Yesterday she crawled for the first time!! She's been working up to it for the past couple weeks and yesterday she took three "steps" to crawl across the playmat and grab Cali (her octopus stuffed animal toy). It was so amazing to see! Now the baby proofing really needs to begin! Once she realizes she can do that repeatedly, there will be no stopping her!

Love you all,
Nile, David & Movin' Maddie

Well Hello There

2009-11-05T21:20:00.004-05:00

Maddie truly surprised me on Tuesday morning! She started her morning conversation around 5:30am and I went into her room to give her a paci so she would fall back asleep. When I go into her room that early, I tend to peek around the corner so I can get an idea of how she's positioned...if I can give her the paci without her seeing me, then she'll fall back asleep quicker and won't think I'm coming in to pick her up or play. Well, I peek my head around the corner and there is Maddie - SITTING UP - looking right at me! Oh my goodness! She has been sitting up on the floor for a while when we put her there, but she has never gotten herself into that position from lying down! She was just sitting there like it was no big deal, just waiting for me to come around the corner! It was too funny!

She has also perfected the art of getting herself up on all fours. She does it in no time flat! She'll get herself up, rock back and forth a bit and then either falls down, or sort of lets her bottom fall into a sitting position. I have a feeling she is going to be zooming around the house in no time flat!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Boo!

2009-10-31T17:55:00.002-04:00

Today is Maddie's first Halloween! It's too bad that she's going to be asleep before the festivities even begin! But we still got her dressed up and she makes one adorable pumpkin! On the back of the pumpkin piece, it says "boo to you" across her tush - so cute!

Here's our sweet pumpkin...

Happy Halloween!
Nile, David & Jack-O-Lantern Maddie

Sitting Up

2009-10-21T09:32:00.003-04:00

It's official - our little girl can sit up on her own! For the last couple of weeks, when we've laid her down in the boppy, she's been pulling herself up to a sitting position. And she can now balance herself well enough to stay there on her own! We've been having her sit up in her little bath tub too and she loves that she can now reach for her toys and play with them more. She is really enjoying being able to splash around too - she has definitely picked up on the kicking skill that we've been practicing in swim lessons!

She has also started doing a backwards scoot too when she's on the floor playing. She will lift up her torso with her hands and then slide herself backwards a bit. It's fun to watch! It is crazy to think that she will soon be crawling and scooting herself all over the place!

She is truly a bundle of joy! We are the luckiest parents!

Love you all,
Nile, David & Maddie

Jumperoo

2009-10-19T07:31:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago we set up the jumperoo for Maddie and she loves it! It's amazing how much she's learned in just a few weeks too. When we first had her in it, she couldn't quite touch the ground...just her tippie toes made it...she wasn't able to turn herself around in the seat and was still learning all the new toys that are attached to it. She can now easily touch the ground - and jumps off from it really well! She can also turn herself around in the chair, start the music on her own (by pressing the buttons on one side) and reaches out and grabs all the toys hanging from the bars. She loves it!

David was able to catch a few minutes of her bouncing around in the jumperoo! He put together this video of her most active moments. She is starting to become less shy of the camera so there are some fun smiles and expressions from her!

All our love,
Nile, David & Our Bouncing Bean (aka Maddie)

Feeding Firsts

2009-09-29T09:47:00.007-04:00

A little over a week ago, on September 20th, we introduced Maddie to her first solid - rice cereal. We were a little curious as to how she would react because we've heard it's not the tastiest meal, but she loved it! We took photos of her eating the cereal twice - her first time we didn't have the greatest light, but we wanted to capture the momentus event regardless! So some of these photos have her wearing a short sleeve shirt (her first feeding) and some have her in a long sleeve short (a subsequent feeding)...but they are all adorable!

This past Sunday we introduced her to her first solid with some flavor! Sweet potoates won out as her first tasty food and she loved it! We have some great photos of her orange face! On Thursday we'll be able to start her on the next veggie...I think it may be green beans, another favorite of David's and mine!

Here is a great rice cereal shot from her very first try...

She loves helping out and grabbing a hold of the spoon to feed herself...or knock around to play drums with on her tray table...or drop on the floor!

And some from our second rice cereal photo op...

Right now she loves looking at things upside down! So instead of turning around to see something, she lean her head all the way backwards and look at it upside down. We had definitely lost her interest in eating at this point, but it was funny to watch her doing this!

And her first tasty veggie...attack of the sweet potatoes! The lighting in these isn't too great either...our Pizza Hut chandelier just isn't cutting it! They are cute though! Her expression in the second photo just cracks me up!

All our love!
Nile, David & Maddie

Swimming with Daddy

2009-09-23T11:53:00.004-04:00

My apologies that this post is a little late getting up! On Sunday Maddie had her second swim lesson and David went in with her this time. I tried to get photos that were as great as the ones that David took of us. Mine aren't quite as good, but I did manage to get a few cute ones!

Daddy and Maddie just before the swim lesson...

Maddie enjoying the water with Daddy...

Maddie smiling for her humpty dumpty time and being lifted up high as she "falls" off the wall...

Just chilling with Daddy and taking in the views...

Maddie practicing her swimming technique...

Having fun with the big orange ball at the end of class...

Sunday was also Maddie's first day of eating solids! She tried some rice cereal and loved it! We took some fun photos of her eating too that I will post as soon as we get the photos uploaded.

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

First Swim Lesson

2009-09-14T10:56:00.010-04:00

Maddie had her first swimming lesson yesterday and she did great! We found a really nice facility that focuses on children's lessons and keeps their pool heated to 92 degrees, so there's no temperature shock for anyone - got to love that!

We signed up for a series of six lessons and each lesson is a half hour. The time went by very fast and Maddie seemed to enjoy it all! She just sort of laid back and went along with everything and soaked it all in. She's going to be a little fish in no time! Check out what a babe she is in her swimsuit too!

The teacher we had was really nice and did a good job at modifying each of the activities for the little ones. Here's a shot of our whole class...

Here we are getting our feet wet...

After everyone was in the water, we started out by singing "It's raining, it's pouring" and dripping some water over their heads. Then we worked on the skill of blowing bubbles. We walked around in a circle singing "Ring around the rosy" but instead of "ashes, ashes we all fall down" we sang "splashes, splashes, we all blow bubbles". Since Maddie can't blow bubbles yet, I bent down and blew bubbles in the water so she could see what those are.

The teacher then had us work on kicking and I rested Maddie's head on my shoulder and then kicked her legs for her. She did so great! She hasn't quite gotten into the "splash around and get everything wet" mentality, but I'm sure it'll come soon!

We walked around in a circle singing "Pop goes the weasel" too and would pop the babies out of the water when we got to that part of the song. I think we worked on floating next and we just took her around the pool holding her belly up.

They had us work with them on going underwater too which freaked me out, I have to say! Due to Maddie's age, we just did a partial dip, but it still scared me! The teacher came by and showed me exactly how to do it. We would count to three and when we got to three, I blew in her face. As soon as she made that funny look like "air has just gotten in my eyes" I would do a quick scoop, taking her under water (so that it just covered her nose) and bringing her in close to me. She did great with it, but I was nervous! You can see I was holding my breath too!

We sang "Put your right arm in" and went through all their body parts too! That was fun - it brought me back to my junior high days at the roller skating rink! That's the only place I've ever sang that song before!

Then we sang Humpty Dumpty and put the babies up on the "wall" of the pool and had them "fall" into the water when Humpty Dumpty fell. It was all so fun!

Then it was time to get dried off and change into her dry outfit. Isn't she just a sweetheart?!

David is going to do Maddie's lesson with her this weekend and I am going to do my best to take pictures as great as the ones he took!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Our Little Swimmer

6 Months of Perfection

2009-09-08T12:20:00.002-04:00

Today Maddie had her 6 month check-up and the doctor said she is absolutely perfect! (insert image of mommy smiling ear to ear when she heard that!) She grew an inch and is now 25.5" tall and gained about a half pound so she's now weighing 13 lbs, 13 oz. Both of those kept her along the same path she was last time - 50th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. Her head measurement was right on track too and kept her in the 50th percentile there. Wahoo!!

When she turns 6 months on the 20th, we get to start introducing her to solids. I am so excited to do this and see her reaction to foods! The last couple of weeks she has been really noticing when David and I eat and watching what we're eating or drinking so I think she's going to love having something of her own to eat! We are supposed to start out with rice cereal and give her that once a day for a week and then introduce her to all the veggies. We try each veggie for three days before introducing another one so that if she has any reaction to the food we can easily pinpoint what caused it. We can give her as much or as little veggies as she likes, as often as she likes. Once we run through all the veggies then we can move on to fruits. I know this is going to be insanely messy, but I'm really looking forward to it!

I was also able to reach my goal of nursing Maddie until she's 6 months. I'm so happy I was able to do that and we've had such special times together while she's feeding. With her 6 month birthday though, we're going to start weaning her from breastmilk and slowly introduce formula to her. We're going to introduce it slowly so that it hopefully doens't upset her tummy and we can make sure she's adjusting to it ok. The plan is to have her completely on formula by mid-November.

So all in all, everything is going great! We couldn't have been blessed with a more wonderful daughter!

Love you all,
Nile, David & Maddie

5 Month Photos

2009-08-29T21:00:00.006-04:00

We took some new photos of Maddie recently that we wanted to share with you! She just gets cuter every day!

Bundled up in her towel after her nighttime bath...

Last weekend she wore the cutest outfit - this double layered skirt and matching tank top - she was so adorable!

If you have ever been curious about Maddie's favorite toy, Mr. Lion, we finally got him in a photo with her (all be it from behind!)! Maddie loves playing with him during all of her car rides!

Hanging out with Tami...

Her first trip in the baby bjorn as we took a walk around the neighborhood today...

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Bring on the Bottle

2009-08-26T10:34:00.001-04:00

When I picked up Maddie yesterday Ms. K told me that she had a great day - she held her bottle all by herself for a few seconds! Ms. K has been working with her on being able to hold her bottle and yesterday was the first day she did it without any help from Ms. K! It was only for a few seconds, but that still counts!

It is so crazy to see how much she is learning each day. We have a smart little cookie on our hands and we couldn't love her more!

Love,
Nile, David & Maddie

An Incredible 5 Months

2009-08-19T09:18:00.008-04:00

Today is Maddie's 5 month birthday! I don't know where the time has gone and am just amazed that she is almost half way to her first birthday! She is such a joy in our lives and it's been so neat to watch her grow, change and learn new things every day!

Our little peanut is doing so much these days! She loves...

• Rolling over in both directions and lift her head up really high (stretching an arm or two out in front of her so she can lift her head up even higher)!

• Smiling when you see her and talk to her...this one just melts your heart!

• Laughing almost every day...still haven't figured out what makes her laugh but I love hearing it!

• Relaxing in the bath...she is just about too big for the infant hammock that is in the tub, so she relaxes one leg (and sometimes an arm!) off the side and lets it dangle in the water. She gives off the beach vibe...just sitting back and chillin!

• Noticing the little things...when I change her diaper, she is now noticing my wedding rings and my watch and wants to touch and feel them. To see her curious about new things like this and exploring what they are is so fun to watch!

• Reaching out and grabbing onto things...her carseat toys (Mr. Lion is her favorite!), Mr. Monkey that we play with at home, her pacifier, my hair...just about anything she can reach!

• Sitting in her bumbo chair and showing us all what a big girl she is! When we put the tray on and give her toys, she loves to reach for them, then move her hand to her side and drop them on the floor! She's enjoying the "throw them overboard" game and having us bring the toys back to her.

• Waving goodbye to daddy when he drops her off at daycare every morning! I haven't been able to see this yet, but I know it must be so sweet!

• Learning to hold her own bottle when she's being fed at daycare - I can't believe she's almost able to do this on her own already!

• Being completely entertained by Baby Einstein and singing along at some points! Her current favorite is Baby Van Gogh (which of course I love!)!

• Standing up on our laps and exercising her legs! We will hold her up, but it's really just for balance at this point - she's able to stand and hold up all her weight on her own!

• Hating the booger sucker and now being strong enough to push my hands away when I try to use it! I can't blame her on hating it, but those boogies must come out!

She is the most amazing little person and is so precious to us! What a blessing it is to be her parents! We love you Maddie Lou!

Love,
Nile, David & Maddie

Moving In All Directions

2009-08-17T14:18:00.003-04:00

Maddie is now moving all around! On Saturday she learned how to roll from her tummy to her back, so she can now flip around in both directions! We had been working with her on that for a few days but I honestly didn't think she'd pick it up so quickly! When she first started trying to roll from her belly onto her back, her stumbling point was that she would the bottom arm out to the side. So we practiced a few times and reached her arm up above her head, so that she was able to roll over easily. And low and behold, just a couple days later she was doing it all on her own with no problems at all!

The first time I saw it was on Saturday morning when she first woke up. I went in to get her and she rolled from her tummy to her back. I thought I was going to help her along in the move, but she did it all on her own! I was clapping and congratulating her and she had this look on her face like "what's the big deal?!" And then she went on to show me the move a few more times to prove how easy it was for her!

Our little girl is growing up so fast! It's so neat to see her learning new things!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Our Rollie Pollie Bean (aka Maddie)

There Once Was A Belly...

2009-08-14T06:53:00.009-04:00

...and actually there still is! I think my belly may be stuck at the five month stage right now, but hopefully that will go back down to the early pregnancy size soon!

When I was pregnant, we took photos of my belly each week to chronicle the pregnancy and see the belly progress. I think we started taking photos when I was five or six weeks pregnant and took our last one the week before Maddie arrived. David has animated all thirty some-odd of those shots into a video so you can see my belly growing and changing!

Hope you all enjoy this! We thought it was a great way to capture the pregnancy and the wonderful time leading up to little Maddie's birth!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Rolling Around

2009-08-08T08:49:00.004-04:00

As much as Maddie doesn't like cameras, David was able to catch her rolling over! We were playing on her activity mat in the living room and she started rolling over again and again! She generally rolls to her left side (so her right side is coming up in the air and flipping over). She hasn't rolled the other direction yet, but she has been starting to get herself up on her side from her tummy, so soon she'll probably be rolling from her tummy to her back. It's so incredible to see her learning all these new things!

In the video you can also see that she has discovered her feet and just how flexible she is! She brings her feet up to her mouth and has actually tasted her toes a few times!

The last couple nights she has slept primarily on her tummy - she turns herself over and stays content that way. It still freaks us out because of SIDS so we've been up checking on her through the night. I know we can't keep that up, but it's a little nerve wracking to know something could happen to our precious little one! So far she is doing great though and loves to show off her new found talent!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

New Moves

2009-08-04T09:08:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Maddie had her first day with Ms. K at her permanent daycare and it went great! She was all smiles and so happy when I picked her up which was awesome to see! I have to admit though that I missed having her with me on my drive into and home from work - the car is so lonely without her! She had a really good day though - slept well, watched her first Baby Einstein video (Baby Van Gogh - I love that it was an art one!) and enjoyed being in the swing. It was the best of a first day that I could have asked for!

Yesterday Maddie also made a move - rolling over from her back to her tummy! I looked in on her at 6am yesterday morning and then went to get ready. About 10 minutes later she started talking and doing little cries. When I go in to her room, I see that she has rolled over onto her tummy and is now stuck there! She didn't roll over at all at Ms. K's house so I thought it might be a one time fluke like last time. But early this morning, our little love bug rolled over three more times! In fact she kept me up from 4am - 5am trying to roll over instead of falling asleep on her back! Here's what happened...she had started talking at 4am today so I went in to look on her and there she was on her belly just chatting away! For the next hour I tried to get her to go back to sleep, but she wanted to keep practicing her rolling skills instead. So around 5am I let her roll over completely and she cried once she was flipped over. She fell back asleep in little 15 minute chunks until 5:45am and then she had an early breakfast at 6am. I put her back down a little after 7am so I could get ready and when she woke up at 7:40am she was on her tummy again! So, I think we officially have a roller on our hands! It's so neat to see her learning these things...a little hard at 4am...but still incredible!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Growing Oh So Big

2009-07-28T17:34:00.004-04:00

Maddie had her 18 week check-up and everything went great! She has grown 2" and is now 24.5" tall! That put her in the 50th percentile for height which is awesome! She gained a little over a pound and is now 12 lbs, 7.8 oz - so just about 12.5 lbs which is the 25th percentile. Her head circumference is still in the 50th percentile too so that little brain of hers is growing right on track! Our munchkin is getting so big!

I asked about some dry spots she has near her elbows and it looks like she has baby eczema. The doctor just said to apply vaseline to it and it should be ok. It doesn't bother Maddie at all, so that's good!

Her new trick this week is lifting her legs up high so she can see her toes and then grabbing her toes and pulling them all the way up to her mouth! It is crazy to see how flexible she is! If this keeps up, she may follow in Auntie Dawn's footsteps and be a great gymnast!

Everything else is going pretty good. She is still fighting off the last bits of her cold and is sneezing and coughing here and there. Even though she isn't bothered by the cold too much, she still isn't sleeping well at night and is waking up often. So we have to be better about letting her cry it out for a little bit before going in to soothe her. Heaven help me with that one - I am awful at doing this! I just hate hearing her cry! I know it's important though for her to learn how to soothe herself to sleep and not rely on us to soothe her. So we'll see how that goes!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Chitter Chatter

2009-07-19T20:36:00.017-04:00

Maddie is talking up a storm these days! She loves to talk with us when she's lying on the changing table, sitting with us on the sofa and at the end of her feedings. We were able to record some of her jibber jabber - she had a lot to say during our talk this day! This is just a short snippet of our conversation!

We also heard Maddie laugh for the first time today! It was so incredible!! She was very responsive too - she would laugh when I was done saying something, like she understood what I had just told her. It was awesome! We're going to try and catch this on audio too. Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh are about the two greatest things in the world!

I know we have been remiss on photos too! So to help get us caught up here are a few we took over the last couple weeks. It feels like she has a grown a ton lately - just really filled out and gotten a good bit taller I think. Her next check up is on the 28th, so I'm really curious to see how tall she's gotten and how much she weighs now. She is still our little love bug, but she is getting bigger by the day!

We took these first few photos a week or so ago. I love her red cherry outfit, but she's sadly outgrown it! She is now wearing her 3-6 month clothes!

This photo is a little blurry, but she was having such a great time in her bumbo seat sitting up like a big girl!

We took the rest of these photos yesterday and if I do say so myself, they turned out great! Thank you Daddy for these fantastic shots! Have we mentioned how beautiful she is?!

Our little diva!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

We Are Rolling!

2009-06-23T13:14:00.003-04:00

Maddie is rolling! Well, only three times so far...and all on one day...but she was rolling like crazy! This past Friday (June 19th), Maddie rolled over three times from her back to her tummy! After work, I put her down on her activity mat and she rolled onto her tummy there. Later that night, we put her down in her crib. When David went in to check on her, she had rolled over and was sleeping contently on her stomach! It of course freaked me out because she's supposed to be on her back to help prevent SIDS, but she was happy as could be! We flipped her over though and right when David went back in to check on her again, he saw her rolling onto her belly! She hasn't done anything since, but it's exciting to see her developing and starting to learn new things!

I just found this new background too...isn't it sweet?! Just like our little Maddie - sweet as a cupcake!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

All Smiles!

2009-06-16T14:30:00.013-04:00

I am so sorry for being delinquent in my posts! Things have been busy, but wonderful! Maddie is just wonderful and fast approaching her three month birthday this Saturday! Her one year birthday is going to be here before we know it!

Maddie is doing awesome and is smiling a lot! She loves our playtime together on the changing table and in the crib and is just full of these great smiles! Of course, once the camera comes out to capture one of them her smile turns into a scowl! When Dawn was here visiting though she was able to catch a few of her smiles and they are so darn cute!

Her hands have also found her mouth and she loves sticking her fingers in there and sometimes her entire fist! You'd think her hand was covered in chocolate by the way she sucks on it - she just can't get enough! It's really cute - and a little slobbery!

Ok...some more photos! Here's a great one of her and Dawn - Maddie's expression just cracks me up! Contrary to what it looks like in the photo, Maddie loved spending time with her Auntie and gave her lots of smiles too!

While Dawn was here, we took some family photos too!

This past Friday I took Maddie in for her 12 week check-up and the pediatrician said she's perfect! We of course already knew that, but it was great to hear it being confirmed! :) As of Friday, she weighed 11 lbs, 2.4 ounces and was 22.5" long. Both of those put her in the 25th percentile which the doctor was happy about. Her head circumference was in the 50th percentile, so she's bound to be a smart cookie!

Monday marked my first day back at work and Maddie's first full day at daycare. We both did really well I think! We had arranged to do a few "transition" days with Maddie last week, leaving her with daycare so she got used to the people and surroundings, so she wasn't shocked on Monday when she had to be there for 10 hours. Well, I found out that I needed those transition days more than Maddie did! It was so hard to leave her that first day - I prolonged my goodbyes and had the toughest time leaving her. Dawn and I were both bawling when we left, but I am so glad that Dawn was with me to keep my mind occupied while we were away. Maddie did wonderfully though and charmed her caretaker with her smiles and chitter chatter! I really like the woman who is taking care of her (Grace) - she is very sweet and kind and you can tell that she loves children. She's continuing to do well there - not sleeping much during the day - but she's happy and enjoying herself!

Lots of love to everyone!
Nile, David & Maddie

Maddie's Firsts

2009-05-25T18:24:00.007-04:00

This weekend we took Maddie to her first two bbq's and had such a great time! She did so well and everyone kept asking us "Is she always this calm?" The answer was of course "no", but she was definitely showing off for us and made our outings with her very easy!

On Saturday we went over to Christina's house for a bbq dinner and we got to see Chaplin again. I hadn't seen him since he was about 7 weeks old (he's now almost 16 weeks)...he has gotten really big! He is a cutie though and it'll be a lot of fun to see the two of them playing together when they are older. The bbq's were also the first time we dressed her in true outfits and oh my goodness, did she look cute! Here's what she wore over to Christina's house...

Trying on her sun hat and striking a pose...

Her complete outfit (the onesie is a custom "Maddie" creation by my boss' wife and Christina gave her the skirt - so cute!)...

On Sunday we went over to my boss' house (Mike and Deb) for a bbq they were having. Everyone there had children and a couple of the babies were just 2 weeks older than Maddie. It was fun getting a glimpse into what our bbq's and future parties will be like with the kids running everywhere - we can't wait!! Mike's wife, Deb, is the one who created the Maddie onesie in the picture above - it is really adorable on her!

Her outfit for Mike and Deb's bbq...

We wanted to share some other "firsts" with you too...
* Her first freckle appeared about a week or two ago! It's a really small one, about the size of a pin prick, and is on the top of her head!
* About a week ago her eyelashes turned brown and are no longer strawberry blond...her eyebrows still are though!
* On Friday she sucked her thumb for the first time! We're going to try not to encourage that, but it was really cute!
* That night she got her first boo-boo, a little scab on her forehead from her seriously sharp fingernails. Thankfully its no larger than the new freckle!

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Maddie in Action!

2009-05-18T22:21:00.004-04:00

We are so sorry that we haven't posted in a while! Maddie has kept us busy and on our toes! We haven't taken many new photos to share with everyone, but we promise to get better about that. To help make up for that I took some video of Maddie this morning hoping to catch one of her big smiles on camera. She has the best smiles! There are great big ones where she opens her mouth big and the smile just takes over - I love those! They may be caused by the gas in her tummy, but they are just the cutest! She does wonderful small smiles too that touch our heart and let you know that she's a happy baby! On the video I wanted to catch one of her big smiles, but of course she saved the big ones for after I had turned the camera off! We hope you enjoy these though and listening to her talk with me. I love these conversations that we have!

We want to say thank you to everyone who has visited us too! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family - grandparents, aunts and uncles - who travel out to spend time with us. You are all loved and appreciated very much! Thank you, thank you!

All our love,
Nile, David & Maddie

6 Weeks Already!

2009-05-01T19:58:00.005-04:00

Maddie turned 6 weeks old today! I can't believe that she is almost 2 months old now and that my maternity leave is half way over. Time is really going by quickly!

We couldn't have asked for a better check-up appointment today. Dr. Madden said she is doing perfectly and was happy with all of her stats. She now weighs 9 lbs, 6 ozs...up 2 lbs from her last appointment 4 weeks ago! She's also grown 2" and is 22" tall! Her height and weight both fall in between the 25th and 50th percentiles (so I guess around the 38th percentile?!) and her head circumference is in the 50th percentile so everything is right on track. She received her first series of immunization shots today too and was such a champ! She's been sleeping away most of the day and has been a cuddle bug, not wanting to sleep in her crib but on our chests instead. How can you say no to that when you look at a face as precious as hers?!

Papa Bob and Grandma Paula were in town this past week and we all had such a wonderful time! The visit went by way too quickly, but it was so neat to see them with Maddie and loving their role as grandparents! They were also a huge help to me in watching Maddie while I slept, showered or just took a moment for myself. Thank you both so much!

Here are a couple photos from the past week...Maddie is such a cutie pie! Her expression in the photo with Papa Bob and Grandma Paula just cracks us up!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T22:12:00.007-04:00

Today was our first holiday as a family of three! It was a beautiful day here - sunny with a light breeze and about 60 degrees. We couldn't have asked for a better day! We took Maddie for a walk and her first trip through the park near our house and just relaxed together the rest of the day. It was perfect!

Joe bought Maddie an adorable "baby's first easter" outfit (thank you Joe!) and we were able to get some photos of her in it. She is such a sweetheart!

A close-up of the onesie...

And one of the feet on the pants...what you can't see here is that on the backside of her pants she also has an adorable cotton tail! So cute!

And a couple others..,just because!

Maddie has been doing great this week! Her neck muscles are really getting strong and she's lifting her head up a lot more! She's also able to see her crib mobile and follow the butterflies with her eyes as they move around. It's amazing to already see her growing and changing in these ways! I also read that within the next week or two she may start to make cooing noises and begin "talking" - that will be so neat to hear!

Love you!
Nile, David & Maddie

Maddie's 1st Video!

2009-04-10T11:07:00.003-04:00

Maddie made her first video debut this morning on her 3 week birthday! David grabbed his flip camcorder and captured some really cute moments of her wiggling around in the crib, doing some tummy time and hanging out on her activity mat. She is a squirmy worm when she's waking up and you'll see her showing off her morning aerobics routines! David edited the video and set it to music, so please turn your speakers up! Our baby is such a cutie pie!

Love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

2 Weeks Already!

2009-04-03T17:41:00.011-04:00

I can't believe it, but Maddie is 2 weeks old today! I am hoping that time will slow down for the couple of months I have off!

Today we had Maddie's 2 week check-up with the pediatrician and she got a perfect bill of health! She is now weighing 7lbs, 7oz so she's 3oz more than she was when she was born. We have a healthy eater on our hands! And with that, I will say, we also have a healthy pooper! Oh my goodness, can the girl go! On Wednesday I think it was, I had my first experience getting pooped on by her. It was a classic welcome into motherhood! I was changing her diaper and as I wiped her hiney, she shot out some more for me and just covered my hand! Thank goodness she is such a sweetie and David was there to grab some wipes for me! We were just cracking up!!

Maddie is a champ at breast feeding and things there are going really well. We did find out that today that she probably has acid reflux which is what's causing her fussy periods and why she sometimes has trouble falling asleep when we lay her down in the crib. The pediatrician gave us some ideas on how to help this (sit her up more when she's feeding, elevate one end of the mattress, etc.) so hopefully these will help her (and us!) feel better soon.

At the pediatrician appointment, they also did a heal prick to test for a metabolic disorder. For the first time, I thought I may harm someone! Maddie's foot didn't bleed enough to get a sample with the first prick, so the technician had to prick her foot again and then had to keep squeezing her foot for about 15 minutes to get the sample. All the while Maddie is screaming bloody murder and it was so hard to see her in such pain and not be able to make it go away! She has to get some vaccinations at her next check-up and I already know I'm going to be a mess when that's over!

Today Mama Teet and I took Maddie for a quick walk around the neighborhood (just about 3 houses down and back!). It was a beautiful afternoon and it felt great to get outside. Here are some new photos we took we've taken this week.

Maddie just looking sweet as pie earlier this week...

A shot from last night's sponge bath...this must've been her one calm moment before the storm because she does not like (aka absolutely hates!) sponge baths!

Maddie all bundled up for the walk we took today, with her signature furrowed brow...

Some snuggle time with Mama Teet...

Maddie's cute little feet...they actually aren't that little, but are narrow and long. There's no denying they are cute though!

The last few days Maddie has proven herself to be quite the lady, always crossing her legs when we're holding her just like this (by the way, aren't the mary jane socks cute?!)...

We love you all!
Nile, David & Maddie

Our First Week

2009-03-28T16:08:00.006-04:00

I can't believe that Maddie turned one week old yesterday! Time is already flying by too quickly! This week has been a big week for us, being home and really learning one another. I never realized how many things you juggle with a newborn and that the phrase "sleep when the baby sleeps" really means you'll only get about 45 minutes of sleep every 2 hours! Maddie is such a wonderful baby though and we couldn't be happier! I think the only thing we could really ask for at this point is more sleep, but from what I've heard, we won't be getting that for quite a while!

On Thursday, we went to see a pediatric orthopedist who took a look at Maddie's right foot. She had a positional deformity there upon birth from being scrunched inside of me. The area beneath her ankle was slanted in to the right and her toes were pointing back towards her knee rather than straight out. Our pediatrician's office suggested that we see the orthopedist just to make sure everything is ok. And thankfully it is! Within about 2 seconds of seeing Maddie's foot, he said "She's perfectly normal!" My eyes started watering as soon as he said that! He confirmed that it is from being inside and that the muscles haven't returned to the normal position yet. He showed us a little muscle rub we're to do a few times at each diaper change and he said her foot should be back to normal in no time! Wahoo!! We'll be going back in three weeks for a follow-up just to make sure everything looks ok, but all is good!

On Thursday too, Maddie's umbilical cord stump fell off! I'm not sure when that normally happens but I wasn't expecting for it to happen so soon. We can now see her adorable "innie" belly button!

Here are a couple new photos we took of Maddie last night to mark her one week birthday. Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?!

We've been having fun figuring out whose traits we think Maddie has...you'll have to let us know what you think! We think that the shape of her face and her eyebrows are like David's. She also has David's toes where the second toe is a little longer than the big toe! She definitely has David's cute little ears too! I think she may have my lips and eyelashes. Her eyelashes look long to me and that's one trait of mine I wouldn't mind her inheriting! Right now her hair is a reddish brown so it'll be interesting to see what the final color ends up being. She may have picked up some red hair from Mama Teet and great grandma Mary though!

Our first week has really gone by quickly! David will be going back to work on Monday and I know Maddie and I are going to miss having him so much! He is such an incredible husband and dad - Maddie and I are so lucky to have him!! Mama Teet is coming into town this week too and we are so happy to have her here! She will be a big help to me with David being back at work and I know all four of us are going to have a wonderful time together. Thank you Mama Teet!!

This coming Friday (April 3rd), we'll be going back to the pediatrician for Maddie's 2 week check-up. I can't wait to hear how she's doing and see how much weight she's gained. When we went on Monday, she had dropped down to 6lbs, 4oz which they said was totally normal. She should be back at her birth weight by Friday though. She is a good eater, so I'm hoping that she may even be beyond that! I think she may also get a couple shots that day which will probably be harder on me than on Maddie!

We love you all and thank you for all your prayers and support!
Nile, David & Maddie

Madeleine has Arrived!

2009-03-23T10:58:00.006-04:00

Late Thursday night/early Friday morning around 2am I started having some contractions and over the course of the morning they became more regular. We ended up calling my OB's office and got the go ahead to go the hospital at 11:30am and we headed right over. We were able to get checked in and squared away with no problem, but when they examined me, I was still 1-2cm dilated...I hadn't made any more progress since my check-up appointment the day before. The OB asked me to walk around for an hour to see if that would help things move along and sadly it didn't. But when the doctor examined me, she was checkin to see if I was 2cm, and I opened up to 3cm. At that point, they said I could either stay in the hospital or go home for a while and come back when the contractions were stronger. I was really uncomfortable so we decided to just stay at the hospital and I'm so glad we did! I couldn't imagine driving back out a few hours later with the more intense contractions going on! I ended up dilating to 4cm about 2 hours later, they broke my bag of water and things moved well from there. I requested an epidural as my contractions had become a lot more painful and all I can say is thank the good Lord for allowing someone to invent that!

About 3 hours later the OB came in to check my progress and I was fully dilated and ready to go! I pushed for about a half hour and then the OB had to step out to deliver another baby, so we were on hold for about an hour. When she was back, we started pushing again for another 2 hours and made good progress. The OB had to step out for another quick procedure at this point, so we waited out some of the contractions and when she came back we did our last half hour or hour of pushing. That was the hardest hour of my life! I was physically so exhausted that I didn't know where the strength would come from, just that it had to come!

Maddie arrived...absolutely perfect...on Friday night, March 20th, at 11:05pm! She weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 20" long. She is so beautiful!! We couldn't be more in love! Here are a couple quick pictures for you!

This is Maddie's very first photo!

These are some cute close ups of her adorable face!

And of course, when we dressed her to come home yesterday, we thought that showing her early love for the purple and gold LSU Tigers would be perfect!

Right now, we're back at home getting situated and realizing what is truly meant by "lack of sleep"! As soon as we have our feet underneath us again, we'll be sure to post more.

Love you all!
Nile & David

39 Weeks - We're Almost There!

2009-03-19T12:27:00.003-04:00

Today I had my 39 week check-up and everything went well! Maddie and I are both doing good. Her heartbeat was great and measuring in the upper 130s/140 and my blood pressure and weight were good. Believe it or not, the last two or three weeks my weight has held steady at 170 lbs. I am surprised that I'm not gaining weight, but I know it's normal not to at the end. I was just thinking that with just about all of my appointments I was a little above the standard weight gain, so I hadn't really thought that mine would level off, but it seems to! As long as we're healthy, I'm ok either way!

In terms of labor, Maddie and I are in about the same position we were last week. I am pretty much fully effaced and 1cm dilated. The OB did a gentle membrane stripping which wasn't uncomfortable at all, so we'll see if that will make any difference. From what I've read, it can help kick start things if you're body is ready or if it's not ready yet, it really won't have an effect. While she was doing that though, I started dilating to almost 2cm (just from her feeling around), so she said things should move along easily once the contractions start. I just need the pesky contractions to get things going!

I also confirmed today that our induction date will be Friday, March 27th! I am the first person on the wait list for that day, so one person will need to go into labor before their scheduled induction in order for us to be induced on the 27th. They said though that this happens 99% of the time, so there's only a 1% chance that our induction date would get moved. If for some reason it does get moved, I'll have another check-up appointment next Thursday or Friday and will then be induced probably the following Monday (March 30th) if nothing has happened by then. So either way, we will be blessed with a March baby!

Our prayer request this week is that the contractions will start and everything will begin moving along. Please also pray for continued health for Maddie and me. This last week or so I've started to become really nervous over little things, just wanting everything to be ok with Maddie (is she moving enough, are her movements strong enough, etc.). Everything has been great so far...I just need to relax and not worry (hard for me to do!).

Thank you all for your love and prayers over these last nine months! It's so strange to think that our next post will probably be one announcing Maddie's arrival! We can't wait to meet our little girl!

Love,
Nile & David

38 Weeks...Getting Closer!

2009-03-13T11:00:00.003-04:00

I had my 38 week check-up today and Maddie and I are doing great! Maddie's heartbeat sounded perfect and they said that she's doing really well. Wahoo!! She's staying around a -1 station so she hasn't fully dropped yet. I am still about 1cm dilated, but am now 90% effaced (up from 80% last week). The doctor said my cervix is very thin and if she pushed things, she could open it up to be 2cm dilated. She said that all I really need are contractions...those will cause Maddie to fully engage (drop) and will make me dilate more. The OB said she wouldn't be surprised if something happened this week, but also said that those are famous last words, so who knows!!

I asked about having her strip my membranes, which is something they do to loosen things up in there. Some chemicals are released by your body when they do that which in most cases will help bring on labor. The doctor said that she has an aggressive technique for that and didn't want to do that on me this week, but said next week it would be ok (although I'm seeing a different doctor next week, so we'll see what she thinks!). So we'll see how all of that goes!

My doctor also said that we want to set-up a game plan and chose an ending point for the pregnancy, if I do go past my due date. She suggested that we schedule an induction for either March 26th or 27th. I think we are going to go with the 27th if it works out, as that day will be best with our schedules and it's also just a fabulous day (both Ms. Teet and I were born on the 27th day!)! I should be getting a call later today or on Monday to get that scheduled. The OB doesn't know that I'll end up needing this, or going this far past my date, but just in case she said it's good to have something scheduled.

So that's all for now! Our prayer request this week is for lots of contractions so that Maddie drops down and my body dilates more. I'd love if she were to make her debut sometime this week!

Love you all!
Nile & David

A New Look

2009-03-11T15:01:00.002-04:00

With Maddie's arrival getting closer, I thought we'd try out a more girly background for the blog! I'm not sure if this is the perfect one yet, but I thought it would be a good one to start with and we'll see how it grows on us!

I can't believe we have just 10 more days until our due date! The countdown is on and I am secretly (or not so secretly!) hoping that she arrives early because I am so anxious to meet her!

Hope you all are doing well! We love you!
Nile & David

37 Week Waddle

2009-03-06T14:20:00.002-05:00

I think my waddle has officially set in! Before this week I would catch myself waddling every now and then, but this week it has become my de facto way of walking and getting around. I am now a true waddler!

I had my 37 week check-up appointment today and it was fantastic! Thank you to all of you who have been saying prayers that things would progress - they did! Maddie dropped a little more and is now at a -1 station. I'm also 80% effaced and 1cm dilated! Wahoo!! I am so happy that we are making good progress!

I also made up for last week's below average weight gain, and put on 3lbs this week! So I am now up to 170lbs (38lb weight gain overall). The OB wasn't concerned at all about my increase in weight and let me know that at this point it is mostly water weight and retention which is normal. The first reading on my blood pressure was high too, but when the assistant took it again, it was back down in a normal range. The two of those things combined (the weight gain and initial high blood pressure reading), made me a little worried about pre-eclampsia since Michelle had that. The OB wasn't worried in the least and said that blood pressure readings can get screwy towards the end of a pregnancy too. But just to make me feel better, the OB had some blood taken that they'll run tests on. The OB is 100% sure I don't have pre-eclampsia though since these two things are considered normal and I don't have the other symptoms, but was very sweet to accommodate me and alleviate my worries!

So everything is going really well! I couldn't have asked for a better appointment today. I am thrilled to know that things are progressing and we're getting that much closer to meeting our little girl! It's strange to think that we're only 15 days away from her due date!

Love you all,
Nile & David

36 Week Update

2009-02-27T10:53:00.004-05:00

This has been a busy week for us! On Wednesday we met with a pediatrician (Dr. Madden) who lives near us and both of us really liked her! She was very straight forward and clearly outlined things to expect, visit schedules, good things to have on hand at home, etc. I really appreciated that since this is a whole new world for both of us! Both she and the pediatrician we met with about a month ago (Dr. Fusner) seem great. They have two different personalities and approaches, but we know Maddie will be in great hands with either one of them! Right now, we are leaning towards Dr. Madden. We decided though that we'd try to fit in one more pediatrician visit. After seeing how different the personalities are, we thought it may be best to just meet as many as we can. We are very lucky to live in this area and have so many great pediatricians around us. We found out that the DC area has the highest ratio of pediatricians in the US! So, we have our last appointment with another pediatrician (Dr. Kulp) on March 19th. It scares me a bit that the appointment is so close to our due date, but that was his only availabile time before our due date so we jumped on it. I'll be calling his office back every now and then to see if any other dates have opened up!

Last night we had our car seat bases installed and it was really informative - they showed us how to remove and re-install the bases on our own (should the need arise) and also had us work with a doll to practice putting someone in the car seat. Once we had the doll in, they showed us how tightly we need to pull the straps on her to make sure she is secure. And boy, do we have to pull those suckers tight! It's probably going to freak us out the first few times we do it, but we want her safe! I think this may be David's job for the first few weeks!! We are good to go on this front though, and it's been fun today seeing a little car seat base in the back seat of my car. I can't wait until we have something to put in that base!

This morning I had my 36 week check-up appointment and everything went well! My blood pressure was up a little bit, but they said that is normal at the end of a pregnancy. It wasn't too high, or in a worrisome range at all, so there's nothing to fret about there. Maddie's heartbeat was good and strong too, measuring in the 140s. I was hoping that there would be big changes in my body this week, but unfortunately things are moving slower than I had hoped! I know it's only been a week, but I was wanting to see big progress since I'm so anxious to meet this little one! Maddie is at a -2 station, which is the same as last week. I have effaced a little bit more and am now at 60% (vs. 50% last week). I haven't started dilating yet either, but I know we still have three more weeks to go. So here's to hoping that we'll see some more changes next week! Oh, and I only gained a half pound this past week, so I'm now just a little over 167 lbs. This is the first time that I've gained less than the average - unbelievable!

From here on out, we don't have too much going on other than my weekly check-ups. We worked to have most everything done by the end of February so that we can just relax and take things easy in March. My next check-up is a week from today, March 6th.

I can't believe that our little girl is due to arrive just three weeks from tomorrow! We are so excited!

Love you all!
Nile & David

The 9 Month Marker!

2009-02-22T16:50:00.005-05:00

Saturday marked the first day of my 9th month! Wahoo! I can't believe that we are in the final month of our pregnancy - time has gone by so fast! We've loved every minute (so far!) and are so thankful for having such a great pregnancy. Maddie has been so good to us already!

Here's a new belly picture that we took last night to mark the start of month nine.

It's so strange to think that we have only 20-some days to go until we get to meet our precious little girl! We are both feeling so excited to finally meet her and be able to hold her!

All our love,
Nile & David

35 Weeks...and Progressing!

2009-02-19T10:01:00.006-05:00

I had my 35 week check-up today and it went great! My belly is measuring right on track, my blood pressure is good and I gained about 2 lbs, bringing my total weight up to 166.8 lbs I think. Maddie is doing wonderfully too - the doctor found her heartbeat right away and it was nice and strong, measuring in the high 140s.

I also had my first internal exam today to see how my body is progressing. I wasn't expecting anything at this point, but things are starting to happen! I haven't dilated any, but I am 50% effaced! That sounded like a lot to me, but she said that's really normal for this stage of the game. I guess there is a lot of work to do in these last few weeks! Maddie is starting to drop down too and the doctor said she's at a -2 station. She's not fully engaged in my pelvis yet, but she's moving that way! Wahoo!! This was a really fun visit being able to learn all these new things about what is happening with both Maddie and me.

We've been able to get a lot done around the house this last week too, which has been awesome. We have just two more loads of laundry to do and then I think everything will be washed and ready to go! We set-up her little swing last night, put the mobile on her crib and got the lightweight stroller all ready. This weekend David is going to put together the bigger stroller and we're going to get the car seat out and ready. We're definitely keeping busy getting all the little things together, but it's so much fun getting ready for her! It's so strange to think that she's due in just four more weeks!

This next week is going to be a big week for us too. On Wednesday, we are meeting with another pediatrician who was recommended to us. She works in a practice with 2 other doctors and I've heard great things about all of them. Their office is about a mile from our house, so its very convenient for us. On Thursday night we're going to have our car seat bases installed in the cars, so that we are ready to drive Maddie home whenever she arrives! Then on Friday morning I have my 36 week check-up appointment. It'll be interesting to see if my body has changed any more in the next week!

Thank you for all of your continued thoughts and prayers! We are all doing good and are so excited to meet our little one!

Love,
Nile & David

34 Weeks and Growing Big!

2009-02-12T13:45:00.004-05:00

Today I had my 34 week check-up and Maddie and I are doing great! My belly measured right on track and my blood pressure was good too (no pre-eclampsia signs which is always a good thing!). I also gained 4 lbs in the last two weeks, bringing me up to 164 lbs (32 lb gain overall). It was more than I hoped for, but I know that over the last two weeks I haven't been able to eat as healthy as I had wanted, so hopefully next week's appointment won't be so much! The doctors weren't worried about it though and said to just try and keep things to a total weight gain of 40 lbs.

Maddie was doing great too! Her heartbeat sounded good and she's been moving all over the place! The doctor confirmed that she is head down and has her back along the right side of my belly, with her feet wrapping around to the left side. I can't wait to see this little one!

My next appointment is a week from today, February 19th. Starting with that appointment, I'll also be getting an internal exam each time I go. I'm sure they're not the most comfortable thing, but it'll be interesting to see how my body is changing to get ready for the delivery.

We're working to get a lot of things done over the next few weeks too, so that we can just relax in March and wait for Maddie's debut! We're picking up the final baby things we need from the stores this weekend and will be doing a ton of laundry to get it all ready for when we bring Maddie home.

Our maternity classes have been going really well too! We took an infant CPR/first aid course on the 1st and then a breastfeeding class on the 3rd. Both were very good and informative, and were taught by really nice nurses. I am hoping we never have to use what we learned in the CPR/first aid class, but I'm really glad we went! This past Tuesday (2/10) we went to the first part of our babycare basics class and we're going to finish that class up this Tuesday (2/17). This last week we learned how to do sponge baths, change a diaper and swaddle a baby. It's been a fun class so far and I'm anxious to learn more next week.

Can you believe that we're only about 5 weeks away from our due date?! We are getting so excited!

Lots of love,
Nile & David

32 Weeks and Going Strong!

2009-01-29T11:46:00.002-05:00

Today was my 32 week check-up and we received thumbs up all the way around - a great way to start the beginning of my 8th month! My blood pressure was good and I've gained 3 lbs. in the last two weeks, bringing my weight up to 160. My tummy was measuring on track and Maddie's heartbeat was normal, so we were happy! I think Ms. Madeleine may have switched sides and is now curled up along the right side of my belly. My stomach feels harder over there and that's the side that my doctor found her heartbeat on today. I guess she's taking advantage of moving around while she can! There won't be room to do much in a few more weeks!

My next appointment is on February 12th and that will be my 34 week check-up. After that I begin going for check-ups every week! The weekly appointments also begin the internal checks, which I know aren't very fun, but it'll be interesting to see how my body is progressing and preparing for her arrival. I am excited too that we're getting so close!

Love you all!
Nile & David

The Big Reveal - Maddie's Nursery!

2009-01-25T19:16:00.003-05:00

Now that the shower has passed, we are ready to reveal Madeleine's nursery! We think it's beautiful, but of course we're biased! We hope you enjoy this video clip of her room! I love that David knows how to edit and create movies too - he did a wonderful job with this and has even set it to music, so turn your speakers up!

We love you!
Nile & David

Baby Shower!

2009-01-25T18:52:00.010-05:00

Yesterday was my baby shower and it was so amazing!! David, Maddie and I are truly blessed with such wonderful friends and family!

Tami did an incredible job with everything - the food, favors, games - you name it and it was great! My sister flew in from California and it was awesome being able to share this day with her! My mom wasn't able to make it because of her broken arm, but she was there in spirit the whole day! My good friend, Debra, also flew out from California and did the whirlwind trip where she landed that morning on the redeye and flew home that night...she was on the ground as much as she was in the air yesterday! I also had a wonderful surprise - Ms. Teet flew in for my shower! Lo and behold, she and David had been planning this since November and I had no idea whatsoever! David said he had to run an errand that morning for Tami, and come to find out he was picking up Ms. Teet from her hotel! It was such an awesome surprise! Many of my close local friends were able to make it too and the whole afternoon was just so much fun - thank you to everyone for making this day so incredibly special to me! I will never forget it!

Here are some pictures from yesterday too...

The beautiful cake (oh, and it was so tasty!!)

The baby shower girls (we are missing Julie in this picture...we thought of doing this after she left - so sorry Julie!!). From left to right we have Wendy (with Anna), Dawn, Debra, Tami, me, Christina, Bridget, Tonya and Ms. Teet.

At the end of the shower we had everyone decorate a onesie for Ms. Maddie (can't have a party without a little arts and crafts project right?!) - they are all adorable!

Thank you again to everyone who came, helped out, kept us in your thoughts (all my out of town friends and those who weren't able to attend) - thank you all so much! The day was absolutely perfect and I had such a wonderful time!!

Much love and thanks!
Nile & David

A Busy 30th Week!

2009-01-14T11:44:00.003-05:00

Today I had my 30 week check-up and everything went great! This is my first check-up in the "every 2 week" frequency and I have to say that I love going more often and getting to hear Maddie's heartbeat every 2 weeks instead of every month! I gained 3 lbs in the last 2 weeks and am up to 157 now. My belly was measuring right on track and the doctor said that Maddie was happy in there - she had a good, consistent heartbeat that was measuring between 145-150 beats per minute. So all is good! My next appointment is on Thursday, January 29th (32 weeks).

We have a busy rest of the week ahead too...tomorrow we are meeting with a woman who may be Maddie's pediatrician! We received her name as a recommendation from one of my bosses (Mike) who sees her for his 3 kids and said that she is absolutely wonderful! She has really positive feedback on online boards too, so we're really excited to meet her.

On Friday I am meeting with a home-based daycare woman who lives in our neighborhood. I met with a different person last week, so it'll be interesting to have a comparison point. I also have a third person that I'm meeting with next week, so hopefully between those three options we'll find someone who we really like and feel comfortable with!

And Saturday is our first prenatal class! We are doing an all day labor and birth prep class at the hospital I'll be delivering at. The class also includes a tour of the maternity ward, so that will be fun to see! I'm not really looking forward to sitting on the floor for 8 hours, but I'll be in good company! The labor and delivery process is the one thing that makes me nervous...I'm not sure if this class will make me feel more anxious or relieve some fears, but either way it'll be good to know what to expect! All I know is that I'll probably be requesting an epidural as soon as I'm allowed to have one!

Also, please say a prayer for my mom (Grandma Paula). On Sunday night she fell in the kitchen and broke her left arm, down near her wrist. She has been in a lot of pain and had surgery yesterday afternoon. They put a plate in her arm along with 9 screws, and then set her arm in a hard cast which she'll keep on for 6 weeks. Today is supposed to be her most painful day too. The doctor is guessing that she'll be out of work for 8-12 weeks, which is a very long time. And I know that having just one arm to do things with is going to get frustrating pretty quickly! Mom - you are in our thoughts and prayers!

Love you all!
Nile & David

4D Ultrasound Photos & Movies!

2009-01-05T21:13:00.021-05:00

We had our 4D ultrasound bright and early this morning and it was so neat! Maddie slept through most of it...we're not used to be up and active at 7:15am!! We were able to get some awesome photos and video clips though! We're posting a bunch of them, so beware that this will be a long post!

Everything was measuring right on track and her heartbeat was in the 140s which is good! The ultrasound tech was able to tell her size too and she is weighing 2lbs, 15oz...just 1oz shy of the 3lb marker! Yippee!! She's still in the head down position too and seemed to love nuzzling up with her arm by her face as she slept...I can't wait to see if that's a position she ends up liking after she's born. That would be so cool to see a trait she had in the womb carry through after she's born!

Because the ultrasound is taken through all the fluid, the images are sort of rippley and may require you to use a little imagination! The ultrasound also tends to chop off things...so you may see a hand floating around as if it's connected to nothing, but I promise that all of her limbs are joined together! In both the photos and video, her face is on the left hand side of the screen (just as a reference point).

Ok, so here we go...still photos first...

Here's a great profile shot of our beautiful girl!

Here's another profile photo...you can see a little bit of her arm up near her nose and mouth...

A view from the front (with her sleepy eyes closed) and part of her arm up near her mouth...

Another beautiful profile...

This one shows her calf and foot, with her foot pointing towards the right...with a calf like that, we may have a soccer player on our hands!

And now for the video clips...drum roll please!

In this video, you can see her yawning and her little tongue - so cute!

Here you can see her rubbing her eyes and face with her hands! This was towards the end of the ultrasound and I think we had worn her out trying to get her to turn in different directions for the camera!

In this last one, you can see that she covers her face with her hands...this was the very end of the appointment when she'd truly had enough and was saying goodnight to us...time to go back to sleep!

We hope you enjoy these as much as we do! It's so strange to think that the next time we'll see our little girl is in the hospital! We couldn't be more excited!

Lots of love and hugs to everyone!
Nile & David

28 Weeks and Counting!

2008-12-31T13:43:00.002-05:00

I had my 28 week check-up appointment today and everything went great! I gained 4 lbs, so I'm up to 154 lbs now. But it was my first appointment in a while where my weight gain was right on track (the last few months I've gained about 6.5 lbs) so that was good! I thought all the holiday eating might have done me in, but it looks like we managed pretty well!

Maddie's heartbeat was in the 150s which is good! When the doctor was checking her heartbeat, she was able to tell how Maddie was positioned too which was awesome! At that point, she had her head down, her butt up in my chest, with her legs curled around to my right side - so cool!!

Our next appointment is this Monday, January 5th - the 4D ultrasound! Wahoo!! It'll be so incredible to see Ms. Madeleine again! After that, I have my 30 week check-up on January 14th.

Thank you all again for your continued thoughts and prayers! Maddie and I are doing wonderfully!

Love,
Nile & David

The Home Stretch!

2008-12-27T17:01:00.005-05:00

Today is my first official day of my 3rd trimester! It is amazing to think that we'll be meeting Ms. Maddie in about 3 months - we couldn't be more excited! As of this week she is about 2.5lbs and is measuring 15.75" long from head to toe! Still tiny, but so incredible to know how much she's growing!

Here's a belly pic of me taken today too...please ignore the hair, lack of make-up, etc.! David and I are having a truly lazy Saturday which has been wonderful! You're lucky that I made it out of my pjs today! I am so happy to have a true baby bump!

My 28 week appointment is this Wednesday (New Years Eve) and it will be just a check-up. I am excited to hear her heartbeat again though and just know that everything is moving along as it should. The following Monday (January 5th), we're having our 4D ultrasound done which will be awesome! I think that they give us a DVD of the ultrasound, so hopefully we'll be able to post some of that here for you to see! I can't wait to see our beautiful daughter in just a little more than a week!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Lots of love and hugs,
Nile & David

Our First Christmas Tree!

2008-12-17T11:05:00.005-05:00

We are so excited to have our first Christmas tree this year! In the past we have always traveled at Christmas time, so we have never purchased a tree or anything since we weren't going to be home during the holidays. This year we decided not to travel for the holidays with little Ms. Maddie bean, so we are staying home and got to put up our first tree! And if I do say so myself, it looks great!

We decided to get an artificial tree because it was easier and next year will we probably want an artificial one anyways with Maddie crawling around everywhere (so strange to think we'll have a little one crawling at that point!). It's a great tree though and doesn't look fake at all!

The photo is a little dark (our house has horrible lighting!), but hopefully you can all see it well enough. The tree probably could've used another strand of lights too, but we like the way it looks now and it just wasn't worth the energy to redo things to add in another strand when it already looks great!

This year we're going to be celebrating Christmas with David's mom (Mama Teet) and we are so excited for her to come! This will be the first time that I've seen her in a year, so it's been quite a while! We are all looking forward to some time off together!

Love you all!
Nile

The Two Digit Countdown!

2008-12-12T09:50:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it, but as of today there are just 99 days left until Madeleine's due date!! We started out at 266 days, so we've come a long way! I think that after the holidays pass, time is just going to fly by and March will be here before we know it! We've registered for our prenatal classes and will be setting up pediatrician interviews for January.

We also realized that we're not going to be able to use a center-based daycare. The prices in this area are so high! So we've started looking into some licensed home-based daycares. I've spoken to a few already and there are three in our neighborhood that I really liked over the phone! So hopefully one of them will work out for us! I'm going to meet with them and see their homes sometime in January. I'm going to keep calling some others too just in case, but I feel good that I've already found three possibilities!

I received my 3 hour glucose test results back today too and everything was within the normal range! Yahoo!! So no diabetic diet for me!

Love you all!
Nile & David

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar!

2008-12-05T14:37:00.004-05:00

Well...I got the results of my bloodwork back the other day and I didn't pass either test! I'm not really worried about either, but I think it may be my first time failing a test! :) My bloodwork showed that I am low on iron, which they said is really common during pregnancy. I wasn't too surprised about this one either since I don't eat a lot of red meat. To help fix this, I'm going to be taking an iron supplement along with my prenatal vitamin each day. They are going to retest my iron levels at 35 weeks to make sure they are ok, and if they still seem low, I'll go up to 2 iron supplements daily for the rest of the pregnancy.

My glucose levels were also "slightly elevated"...they weren't skyrocketing, but they did come in a little over the acceptable level, so I am going to be doing the 3 hour glucose test this Wednesday. The 3 hour test is the definitive, tell-all test. I go in at 7:30am that morning and drink the substance and then they'll draw my blood every hour for three hours. The crappy part is that I can't eat anything that morning and I know I will be more than starving by the time I finish the test at 11am! I'm happy they are testing for it though and I know it'll be well worth it...if only my stomach can survive not having breakfast for one day!

I have known a lot of people who didn't pass the one hour glucose test but did pass the three hour one, so I'm not too nervous about it. And since my levels were just slightly elevated, and not through the roof, I think I'll do ok. I'm not sure when I'll get the results back, but I'm hoping I'll hear something by Friday of next week (December 12th).

On a totally separate note, we had the nursery painted this week and it looks great! I'm excited to get all of the furniture in place and start putting the room all together! As soon as we have things somewhat there, I'll be sure to post a photo!

Today is also Papa Bob's birthday - happy birthday dad!!

Hugs and smiles,
Nile & David

Registry, Oh My!

2008-12-04T18:47:00.003-05:00

We are officially registered! Yahoo!! It was really fun going through the store and picking out what would be Madeleine's! We were kind of surprised though at just how many baby things there are! We had walked into Babies R Us thinking we had it all together...checklist in hand of what we need to get, notes on the recommended products, etc...that we were totally ready and prepared to register...and we still got hung up on things! Thank goodness for the Baby Bargains book and all of their reviews on baby products - that has been a lifesaver! There are a lot little things to think about...but I am complaining, because I am so incredibly thankful for all the conveniences we have today - I know our lives will be easier because of them! We had a great time though and can't wait to make a home for Maddie!

If you want to take a peek, there is a link to our baby registry on the left, just below the countdown ticker.

Hugs and love,
Nile & David

24 Week Appointment

2008-12-02T13:25:00.002-05:00

Madeleine and I had a great appointment today! Her heartbeat was right on track at 157 beats per minute...and she was squirming all around! The doctor found her heartbeat right away, but about 5 seconds later she lost it because Maddie was moving all over! She found it again easily and said that it's great that she's moving around and the beats per minute are good. Yahoo!!

My tummy is measuring right on track too at 24.5 weeks. I also gained another 6.5 lbs since my appointment 4 weeks ago! They said my weight gain is right on track and I'm now at 150 lbs. I don't feel like I've gotten much bigger since my appointment four weeks ago, but that weight must've gone somewhere!

I had my glucose test/diabetes screen today too and they are also checking my iron levels to see if I need to take a supplement. I should get those results back tomorrow or Thursday. I am hoping that the glucose test is ok, because I really don't want to have to do the 3 hour version!

I've been feeling Madeleine move a lot more too and her kicks are getting stronger. David has been able to feel a few of her stronger punches which has been really neat! A lot of times she turns shy when Daddy places his hand on my belly though...she will have been kicking for a couple minutes and then the moment I put his hand on my tummy, she gets quiet!

My next appointment is scheduled for December 31st and I'll be 28 weeks then. This will be another check-up (no ultrasound) and then after that I'll start going every 2 weeks until I hit the 35 week mark. We also scheduled a 4D ultrasound for January 15th (30 weeks), which will be amazing!

Love to you all!
Nile & David

Photos of Madeleine!

2008-11-07T08:24:00.005-05:00

Here are our 20 week photos of Madeleine! In the first one, she is looking right at us, with her head on the right and her body on the left. About half way down her head, you can see dark areas on either side that are here eyes and the bright white area in the middle of her face is her nose. In this photo, it looks like she doesn't have a neck connecting her face and abdomen, but it's there somewhere! The two smaller round circles on either side of her abdomen are her arms. Isn't she beautiful?!

In the second one, you can see her profile. Up near her face, there are five little white dots that form a line and those are her fingers (she had one hand up in the air for this photo!). Just beneath her fingers are the outlines of her nose and mouth. On the far left of the photo, you can see her thigh coming up. The very top of that is her knee and then her calf was pointing out from there, but is cut off by the photo. Also, you can see a white line along the bottom contour of her abdomen and that's her spine.

We are so in love!
Nile & David

Madeleine's Heartbeat

2008-11-06T18:52:00.005-05:00

During our 20 week appointment we were able to record Madeleine's heartbeat. Just click on the arrow button beneath the photo if you want to listen to it! Her heartbeat was measuring right on track in the 150s (per minute).

Enjoy!
Nile & David

Drum Roll Please!

2008-11-03T17:24:00.003-05:00

We had our 20 week appointment today and found out that we're having a girl!! Wahoo!! We are so excited! I didn't think I'd feel shocked because I had been anticipating this day for so long, but I do feel this sense of disbelief and that it's all sort of surreal actually knowing what's in there!

The ultrasound tech was able to get all the needed measurements and everything was right on track. We were able to see just about everything on the baby which was so cool...spine, ribs, hands, arms, legs, feet, stomach, kidneys, heart (and its four chambers!), head, brain, eyes...you name it! I love modern technology!! I am on vacation this week from work, so I'm not able to scan in our ultrasound photos, but I promise to post them as soon as possible! She is already adorable!

My blood pressure and all my stats were on track too. I made up for lost time last month, and gained 7 lbs this month! They weren't worried by it at all and I'm right on track with where my weight gain should be.

So...in about 4 more months, we'll be welcoming Madeleine Louise West to the world! Madeleine ("Maddie") is a name that both David and I really liked before we even started talking about our favorite names. So that one was an easy pick for us! We are using the French spelling of it too which gives a nod to David's French Canadian/Cajun heritage. Madeleine is also the spelling for the French butter cookies, and this Madeleine will definitely be the sweet cookie in our lives! Her middle name is going to be Louise, after David's grandma. Louise is just such a wonderful, caring, loving and incredibly sweet woman! We will be lucky to have a daughter that grows up like Louise!

My next appointment is on Tuesday, December 2nd. This appointment is with the OB (no ultrasound) and I'll do the one hour glucose test at that appointment too. For that I have to drink an incredibly sugary substance and then wait and hour and have a blood test done. The test will tell them how well my body is processing sugar and my likelihood for developing gestational diabetes. At this appointment, they'll also test my iron levels to see if I need to start taking any iron supplements.

So, that is our news for now! Yahoo for a healthy and growing baby!

Love you all,
Nile & David

Belly Pic!

2008-10-19T19:04:00.003-04:00

Well, Saturday marked the start of my fifth month! It feels like my pregnancy is going so slowly and at the same time, I can't believe I'm already in my fifth month! Just two more weeks until we find out the gender - we are can't wait!! Both sets of parents think it's a girl, so we shall see!

Here's my first belly pic for you all to enjoy! This picture marks how I looked at the end of my fourth month and beginning of the fifth. I have a terrible profile, so don't look too hard at that! I am starting to wear regular maternity clothes and love how comfy they are! It's much better than trying to make my old pants fit, even with the life-saving invention of the belly band!

Love you all!
Nile & David

16 Weeks and Going Strong!

2008-10-06T16:00:00.003-04:00

This morning was my 16 week appointment! David was able to come with me which was awesome! He heard the baby's heart beat in person for the first time (I had recorded it for him at my last appointment) and he kept me very calm!

My big worry going into each appointment is that they won't be able to find a heart beat, but they found it right away and it was in the 140s! Thank goodness! After that, nothing mattered! I've gained 2lbs since my visit 4 weeks ago, which was less than I thought I would've gained. They say as a general rule of thumb to gain a pound a week, which means it would've been normal to be up 4lbs. They weren't worried at all that it was only 2lbs though. So, now I have an excuse to eat more!

My blood pressure was also good at 110/70, so nothing to worry about there. The OB did say that in my urine last time was a very small amount of the strep-b virus that they normally test for towards the end of the pregnancy. She said that about 30% of women have this and that it's nothing to worry about. The presence of it can come and go in urine samples, but since I had a really small amount already, they are going to just assume that I have it and give me antibiotics for it at the time of delivery so that nothing is passed on to the baby.

So all is good! Yahoo!! Now the 4 week countdown begins to November 3rd to see if we're having a girl or a boy!

Thank you, as always, for all of your love and prayers!

Love,
Nile & David

Our First Nursery Purchase

2008-10-03T13:56:00.004-04:00

Exciting news! Last night we made our first big purchase for the nursery - the crib and dresser/changing table! We are so excited!

The furniture is a lot cuter in person, but this photo gives you an idea of the style. And no big surprise, the furniture is a deep chocolate brown! Who would've guessed?!

It will take about 2-3 weeks to come in and we're hoping to have it set up before my family arrives in early November. We'd love for them to be able to see and then to be able to show it to David's family when they come to visit in December.

To finish out the room, we are planning on getting a low cubbie bookshelf that will go on one wall under a window, and will be filled with baby books and stuffed animals. In the far corner of the room, we're going to put a rocking chair or glider and then hope to add a little toy chest/storage bench for the toys the little one will play with. It's going to look so great!

Monday is my next appointment and it cannot be here quickly enough! I am really looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat again so I know everything is going ok in there!

Love you all!
Nile & David

My First Pregnancy Sighting!

2008-09-23T16:25:00.002-04:00

Our CEO's wife came into the office today for a visit and asked me if I'm expecting! Oh my goodness!! That is the first time that anyone has asked me that or been able to tell! It was a really neat experience. She said she could tell when I was sitting at my desk that my belly was bigger than normal and noticed it when I walked by her as well. So exciting!! There's no real bump there yet, but my whole torso has widened and kind of thickened. Hopefully the bump will make it's appearance soon!

Hugs,
Nile

Hello 2nd Trimester!

2008-09-20T09:05:00.003-04:00

We've made it!! Today is officially my first day in the second trimester! Wahoo!! I know there aren't any new guarantees as of today, but I am so thrilled that we've made it to this landmark! We couldn't be happier! One trimester down, just two to go!

I think we're going to celebrate this milestone by browsing our first baby stores this weekend! We haven't gone in any so far, not wanting to jinx anything, so it'll be really fun to look around!

Here's what's going on this week with our little bambino...the baby can now squint, grasp, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his/her thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, the facial muscles are getting a workout as his/her tiny features form one expression after another. The kidneys are producing urine, which will be released into the amniotic fluid — a process that will continue up until birth.

The baby is also stretching out. From head to bottom, he/she measures ~3.5 inches — about the size of a lemon — and weighs 1.5 ounces. The body's growing faster than his/her head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, the arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of the body, but the legs still have some lengthening to do. The baby is starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over his/her body. And baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and the spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Even though I can't feel any tiny punches and kicks yet, our little one's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

My next appointment is in about 2 weeks, on October 6th. This appointment doesn't include an ultrasound, but I will be able to hear the baby's heartbeat again with the doppler. My blood pressure and weight will also be checked during the appointment and I'll do the follow-up bloodwork to continue testing for abnormalities.

Thank you all for your prayers, love and support! We have made it to the 2nd trimester and are so thrilled!!

Love you all!
Nile & David

The Results Are In!

2008-09-16T17:13:00.004-04:00

I received the results of my NT (nuchal translucency) test back today and I am well within the normal range for everything! Our chance of the baby having downs syndrome is 1 in 2,105 and our chances of trisomy 13 or 18 is 1 in 9,123!

The reason that my chances for trisomy are lower is because it is not as common an abnormality as downs syndrome. I asked more about my downs syndrome number because even though they said I was within the normal range, the number scared me a little bit (since it was so much lower than the trisomy number). They let me know that based on my age alone, the chance of having a downs baby is 1 in 421. When you combine my age with an average bloodwork result and ultrascan measurement, my chances would be 1 in 304. So the fact that, with all my factors combined, my chance is 1 in 2,105 is great...I'm 5-7x less likely than the "average" person my age to have a baby with downs syndrome. So all is good!

At my next appointment on October 6th, they will do another round of bloodwork which will test again for these three abnormalities as well as spina bifida. I'll then have a final set of bloodwork done at my 20 week appointment (November 3rd) which will retest for everything again. The results of the three tests combined will give us a result with 95% accuracy (this initial test alone has an 85% accuracy rate).

So things are looking good and we're well within the normal range for everything! Thank you for all of your prayers!

Now I am just anxious for Saturday to get here...my first day in the 2nd trimester!

Love you all!
Nile & David

Wahoo - Good News!!

2008-09-09T13:33:00.012-04:00

Today I had my 12 week appointment and it has been the best day! The appointment started off with an ultrasound, which will help determine our chances of the baby having downs syndrome, trisomy 13 or trisomy 18. The baby was being a little stubborn and not quite getting in the right position, and at the right angle, for the measurements they needed to take but the ultrasound tech was really patient and was able to get everything she needed. We should have the results of this test in about 7-10 days.

The ultrasound tech said the baby is growing right on track and the heart beat was at 159 which is normal. We were able to see the individual fingers and toes which was so amazing and a view from above the head where you could see the brain! She said that seeing individual fingers is a good sign, as most babies with trisomy 13 have their fingers together and in a fist. So that was good news!

Not only was that awesome news, but she then went on to take a look at my fluid pocket...and it is gone!! 100% completely gone! I couldn't believe it! I told her I had been praying that it had gone down, but hadn't at all expected for it to have resolved already. I asked her if it had just gotten a lot smaller or maybe moved somewhere else, but she said it's totally gone and has been reabsorbed by my body!! Oh my goodness!! We couldn't have asked for better news than a growing baby and NO pocket!! Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Now, for the fun stuff...photos!! These photos aren't as clear as I had hoped, but she gave me a lot of them so I can't complain too much! I'll do my best at deciphering these for you, but you may need to squint and use your imagination a bit too!

This is a photo of the bottom of the baby's foot, with the toes pointing to the left and the heel on the right.
On this one you can see an arm, hand and fingers (the all white areas are bone).

A full body shot with the head on the right, a hand in the middle (almost looks like he/she is sucking their thumb) and legs on the left hand side.

And one more full body profile, just for the fun of it!
My next appointment is on October 6th (I'll be 16 weeks and 2 days) for just a meeting with the doctor. I'll get to weigh in, have my blood pressure taken and listen to the heart beat with the doppler.

Thank you all again for your love, support and prayers! We are so happy!

Nile & David

9 Week Ultrasound - Growing Strong!

2008-08-21T15:23:00.007-04:00

I am happy to say that the ultrasound went pretty well today! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers! The little bean is measuring just a day behind at 9 weeks, 4 days and its heartbeat went up to 182! Yahoo for a strong baby! The best part of the ultrasound was that I got to see our little one moving around! It was waving it's arm, saying "Hello, I'm doing good in here!" and was even scooting it's butt around (I couldn't see the legs, but the lower half of the body was shimmying around!). It was so neat! And I was able to hear the heartbeat again which is just the coolest sound in the world!

The pocket is still there and pretty much the same size, but I'm glad it's at least holding steady. The one large dimension (length) is the same size as before, but the other two dimensions (width and depth I'm assuming) have gone down a tiny bit, so we're hoping that means that my body is starting to reabsorb the pocket. She also said the pocket may have moved a little more "south" which is good too...when they're positioned down there (rather than up "north"), she said the chance for a miscarriage is less...wahoo! I'll take that!

So, my next appointment will be September 9th....these next three weeks will feel like an eternity! I will be filling them with prayers and positive thoughts! I will be 12 weeks at that point and will be having an ultrasound done that evuluates for your chances of the baby having downs syndrome or trisomy 13 or 18 I think. So during that ultrasound, they will also evaluate the pocket again and hopefully it has gone way down by then! The ultrasound appointment is at 9:45am on the 9th, and then I go back later that day at 1:30pm to meet with a doctor (and get weighed, etc.!). Depending on how things look during that appointment, we'll make a gameplan as to when (or if!) I need to come back in for more follow-up ultrasounds.

And, last but not least, our newest picture of the bambino! This one is a little harder to decipher than last weeks...I think the baby might have it's head tucked in (chin on his/her chest) so it's hard to differentiate the head from the body. You can see a little arm popping up (a white "stick" about half way down the body)! It almost looks as if his/her legs are crossed too (Indian style), but I'm not sure if that's the placenta or the actual legs!

Thank you all again for your prayers and support! Please continue praying for all three of us!

Love you all!
Nile & David

Our 8 Week Update

2008-08-14T14:23:00.001-04:00

I just got back from my ultrasoung and things went pretty well! I had a really nice technician who worked with me. We saw the fluid pocket and it is the same size as last Friday's...so the good news is that it hasn't gotten any bigger. When she measured the pocket, I was able to see where it was...it was sort of making a backwards "C" around the right hand side of the gestational sac. So it looked thin, but long...but at least it hasn't grown!

On the other hand, we were able to see the baby and it has grown and is right on track! So it's also good that the pocket isn't affecting the baby's growth. The baby measured at 8 weeks, 5 days which is exactly what I am, and the heartrate had gone up to 176bpm which was great!! So fluid pocket aside, all things are looking good! Oh, and this time, they did the ultrasound using a wand on top of my tummy so I was able to hear the heartbeat - it was so amazing!! We'd been able to see it flicker on the screen before, but had never heard it, and it was so awesome!

On this picture, you can see the baby's head on the left (even a little nose!) and the placenta floating up towards the top of the gestational sac. We are so in love with this little one already!

The ultrasound technician suggested that I come back in next week for another follow-up and then maybe every few weeks after that. I told her that the OB had mentioned coming every month, but I would much rather come more often than not (even if the ultrasounds can't help anything, it puts my mind at ease to know what's going on!). So I have another ultrasound appointment on Thursday, August 21st, at 2:15pm.

Thank you all for your prayers and support! Please keep praying for us and that as time passes, the baby will keep getting bigger and the fluid pocket will start to get smaller. I am hoping that by next week maybe it will have started to shrunk a little bit!

We love you all!
Nile & David

My First OB Appointment

2008-08-11T11:16:00.000-04:00

I met with my OB's office today and a very nice doctor there. We spoke about my fluid pocket and he really did not seem concerned. He said they see these frequently and isn't really worried. He asked that I schedule an ultrasound with their office this week, so I'll be going in on Thursday at 12:15pm for that (instead of going to my specialist's office). He said, from there, he would recommend coming back in 4 weeks unless something happens where I begin bleeding a lot, have cramping, etc. He said it's good that I'm not bleeding and that the baby's growth and size isn't being affected by the fluid area. He also said that I should stop taking baby aspirin (I had started taking this back in June to help me get pregnant)...as the baby aspirin has the opposite affect of what's needed for this. So, I will be stopping that right away and hopefully that will help us see a positive difference by the ultrasound on Thursday. I am also going to try and see my acupuncturist, as there are some "stop bleeding" treatments that he can do that will also hopefully help all of this.

So, I am going to try and follow my doctors lead and not be overly worried! He reiterated that I need to take things easy, so I will be doing that as much as possible too. I am just praying that the ultrasound on Thursday shows that things are heading in the right direction (pocket is smaller and baby is still growing as he/she should be).

Thank you all for your prayers, love and support! I am praying we have great news to share with you on Thursday!

Love you!
Nile & David

A Scary Day

2008-08-09T09:11:00.000-04:00

Well, yesterday was an emotional day! On Thursday night I had a tiny bit of bleeding. I wasn't totally surprised by it because at my last two ultrasound appointments, they let me know that I have a pocket of fluid in my uterus and women who have that may experience spotting and bleeding. I still didn't like that it happened though, so I called my nurse on Friday morning and went in for another ultrasound. The good news is that the baby is still going strong - great heartbeat and size! The bad news is that the size of the fluid pocket has grown. Between my first ultrasound appointment (July 28th) and the one I had on Thursday, the size of the fluid area had remained stable at 29x15x19. So that was a good sign that it hadn't gotten any larger. However, at Friday's ultrasound, just a day later, the pocket had grown to 48x13x20! Not so good!

When I spoke to my nurse about it, she gave me a good explanation of what exactly the fluid pocket is and the ramifications of it...

"The area is called a sub chorionic bleed. It occurs in many pregnancies early on and most of the time resolve on their own. As the placenta begins to form, there is sometimes a space or pocket between the placenta and uterine wall that can accumulate blood. Most of the time, as the placenta grows, these pockets flatten out and form a good seal with the uterine wall. On the other end of the spectrum, occasionally the pockets expand and a good seal is never achieved and a miscarriage can occur."

So, needless to say I am worried! On the positive side, the odds are in my favor and a good majority of these situations resolve on their own. On the down side, seeing the pocket grow in size wasn't what we wanted to see happening. We are trying to stay positive and focus on all the good! Needless to say, this baby has strong Pfaff/Dorian/Bordelon blood in it...we're going to fight this!

I have an appointment with my OB on Monday for an exam and initial meeting, so I'm going to get his thoughts on this as well. I will also be going back to see my specialist on Thursday for another ultrasound, so we can see what changes the pocket has made over the last week.

Please pray for us! Please pray that our little bean continues to grow in size and strength, and remains unaffected by this pocket. And that my body responds as it should, and this pocket flattens out and doesn't get any larger, so that a good seal is made with the uterine wall.

Thank you again for all of your love, support and prayers! They mean so much to us, especially at times like this!

We love you!

Nile & David

Our Bean is Growing!

2008-08-07T10:15:00.000-04:00

We got to see our little bean again today! And this time, he/she is actually looking like a bean! It's amazing how much our little baby has grown in just over a week! The ultrasound went perfectly...the baby's heartrate has gone up to 156bpm and the baby measured 7 weeks, 4 days (1 day behind)...so we are on our way! With this appointment, I have officially graduated from my fertility specialist and am now in the hands of my OB! I wish I didn't have to leave my fertility specialist so soon...I love the whole office...but I know it's a good thing that I am able to move on to my OB (who is also great!). The ultrasound tech snuck my doctor a print out of the ultrasound, and after I had gotten dressed and we walked out, my doctor handed me a card that had our ultrasound photo in it, along with a congratulations note from the team at the office! I thought that was really sweet!

On Monday, I have an appointment with my OB's office just to go over my medical history, have an exam done, etc. Then I'll have an ultrasound done the following Tuesday (August 19th) at which point I'll be 9 weeks and 2 days. The baby will have doubled in size by then! After that, our next ultrasound won't be until 20 weeks (first week of November) when we can tell the baby's gender!

Thank you all for your love, support and prayers!

Love you,

Nile & David

Our Baby's 1st Picture!

2008-07-29T10:08:00.000-04:00

We saw our little bean for the first time yesterday! We went in for my first ultrasound (at 6 weeks, 2 days) and were able to see our little one and his/her heartbeat going strong! The heartbeat measured 122bpm and we were told the average is 120bpm, so we're right on track! The baby measured about 5 weeks, 6 days but they said it's normal to be off a few days (either way) from how far along you really are. So we are all good! The doctor said everything looks exactly like it should for this stage! Our next ultrasound is on Thursday, August 7th. By that time, I'll be 7 weeks, 5 days so we'll be able to see a lot of growth! By that time, the baby will have doubled in size!

I've posted our first ultrasound photos too - we're already in love with our little one! The photos are a little hard to see and decipher, so here's our best shot at it! The black "hole" is the gestational sack and inside that you'll see what looks like a diamond engagement ring floating at the top. The ring part of that is the yolk sac that provides nutrients to the baby and the little "diamond" on top is our baby! And he/she is certainly going to be our diamond and treasure!
Thank you all for your support, prayers and encouragement! Please continue to pray for us and our little bean...that he/she continues to develop and grow as he/she's supposed to and that we're able to remain calm and enjoy every minute of this blessing!

Love you all,
Nile & David