4 Month Checkup

Madison had her 4 month checkup today. She weighed in at 16 lbs 10 oz and is 23 1/2 inches long. Her doctor said she is growing just fine, and everything looks great. She got her next round of shots. She didn't even notice the first one, and it only took her a minute or two to forget the second one. Hopefully we can keep up with the Tylenol so that she can stay comfortable. We go back in September for her 6 month checkup...my time is just flying!

Back from Texas

Well we made it back to Gillette late Sunday night. We had an uneventful trip home. Madison was awesome the entire way home...what a relief. Brandon drove a 26 foot long U-Haul trailer filled to the brim with his grandmother's things. We were able to really get most of the packing done. We didn't bring any of the furniture, and there are still some things there we left, but we really made a huge dent in the amount of things that will need to be brought to Gillette.

We really worked our tails off this last week, which is why I didn't get any new posts up. I am glad to be back at home, sleeping in my own bed, and able to take a couple of days off to rest.

I am just amazed at how wonderful Madi was the entire trip. She really was the Belle of the Ball, stealing everyone's hearts. She was content playing on the floor or in her Jumperoo while we packed boxes. What a precious little angel she is!

Madison was able to try out some new foods this last week or two. She seems to like everything we offer her...carrots, green beans, bananas, and peaches so far. She is an independent little girl, and wants to feed herself already. Here are some pictures of her helping...




This was our first meal in her high chair today...



It went really well, but as you can see, she was covered!

Madi is getting really good at sitting up. Her daddy had her sitting up unassisted the other day, for 30 seconds or more at a time. Great-Gram's bar stools were perfect for this little angel to sit in. (With mommy's constant eye!)

Madi is really starting to love her daddy! She gives him the biggest smiles and laughs. She loves to cuddle with him. Here they are playing on the computer.

Daddy wanted a Hooters' shirt for himself, and found this bodysuit for his little girl:

Well, I really need to put my house back in order. We were given quite a lot of Brandon's Granddad's things for our basement, and the boxes are strewn throughout the house. Madison goes in for her next checkup on Wednesday...more shots for our precious one. :( I will post again after her appointment. Until then, Jami

John Deere

As we are packing up Brandon's Grandma's house, we are finding all sorts of treasures. Here are some of the highlights we have found so far.

Brandon's Great-Grandfather moved to the United States from Crete. We have found some of his old Greek books, including an old mining regulation book that is written in five different languages. We also found a musical instrument (we think it is a mandolin) that came with him from Crete.

Brandon's Grandma still has her bouquet and napkins from her wedding in 1960. There were also several corsages in the box from the celebrations.

Brandon's Granddad loved to play golf, and was quite good I think. We have found several pairs of his golf shoes, along with his set of golf clubs that he played with.

Brandon has been talking about his Granddad's John Deere riding lawn mower since the moment we started talking about bringing things home. He loves this tractor. This was about the first thing Brandon was ever allowed to drive by himself.

There is one story that is told the most about the mower. Brandon's Granddad took the mower to a repair shop to be fixed. The repair shop was going to charge him quite a bit of money to deliver the mower to the house after it was fixed. So instead, he drove the mower home...two miles on the city streets of Odessa. Brandon was visiting at the time and he rode his bike down the street to meet his Granddad with the mower. His Granddad and him switched rides and he got to drive the mower back the last three blocks. He was probably about nine or ten, and this has been an awesome memory for him ever since.

All it took was a new battery and a little cleaning and the mower started right up...

Brandon immediately started mowing the front lawn. Madison came out to join him and went on her first tractor ride with her Daddy.



She even got to "drive" it herself. The picture didn't turn out very well but it was precious.

Well I suppose I should get back to work...We are about half way through our stay in Texas, and still have a lot to pack.

Our Texas Vacation Part 1

Madison turned 4 months old on Sunday. She celebrated by entering her 5th state, Texas. (In order: Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas.)

We left Gillette for Odessa on Saturday morning and traveled to Raton, NM for our first stop of the trip. This was Madi's first hotel stay. Here she is in the hotel's crib...note to self: bring in the pack-n-play from the car next time, the crib mattress was harder than the floor and way too short for the crib. After adding a blanket to the mattress, Madi was a little more comfortable and slept pretty easily.


We did go swimming in the hotel pool, and Madi was much more comfortable in the pool than her first experience in Gillette.

We hit the road again early Sunday morning and made it the rest of the way to Great-Gram Marie's house in Odessa. Madi was so very excited to be out of her car seat! We put her in her jump-a-roo after we unpacked, and she nearly jumped out of it she was so excited. I am glad that we will be here for two weeks before we have to put her back in the car for another two days.

This week we have been packing up Gram's house to move her things to Gillette where she is living with Brandon's parents. We have been busy packing and have already made a big dent in the packing process.

In between packing, Madison has had a few new experiences. She had her hair done in a pigtail for the first time Tuesday. My sister and I always called this hairstyle the "bam-bam". I think it was really Pebble's hair style from the Flintson's cartoons.

We have also added some vegetables to Madison's diet. She had some carrots for the first time yesterday. She had a taste Tuesday afternoon and more for dinner. She seems to like them and did a nice job of eating them. She is getting this eating thing down.

It sure is a lot warmer here than it has been in Gillette. Most days have been over 100 degrees so far. The heat really takes it out of Madi, and she has been taking awesome afternoon naps. The down side is that she wants to be up and visiting with us in the evening when it starts to cool off a little. She has really been an awesome little traveler this week.

To help beat the heat, we decided to all go in on a pool. Brandon worked all day to get the pool set up and we couldn't wait to get wet this evening. Madi was actually smiling this time in the pool and we were able to get some better pool pictures.



I am glad that I am finally able to meet and get to know Brandon's extended family. It is sure nice to put some names with faces. I have met most everyone already, with just a few more cousins left to meet. Here is Madi with her cousin Briley, she is the closest in age to Madi at a year and a half old.

I am sure that Madi is missing her grandparents who are still at home in Gillette. I will try and post pretty frequently while we are in Texas so that her Grammy Tammi, Grampa Bruce and Grandad Rick can feel included. Our internet was connected this afternoon and so I was finally able to write a post.

Beach Baby...minus the beach

Madison went swimming for the first time this week. Brandon has been really looking forward to taking Madi swimming. So we loaded Madi up and went to the water park at one of the new hotels in town for our first swimming experience.

Madi wasn't quite sure about the pool at first. There are a lot of water falls in the park and that made it super loud in the pool.

But after a while she started to feel safe in the water and she started to stretch her legs out a little bit.

Brandon finally got to take his little girl swimming. He has been wanting to take his daughter swimming since the moment we found out she was coming to us. We went to Deadwood, SD for Halloween this past year, and Brandon was up at the crack of dawn swimming. He let me sleep in so he was swimming by himself. When he got back to the room he said he can't wait for the baby to come so that she could go with him to the pool in the morning.

We really made it a family affair. Grandad Rick, Uncle Brad and Aunt Amber joined us in the pool. Grammy Karen came to watch, and even Grammy Tammi was able to sneak off from work to come and watch. We put the Grammys on camera duty and we all had a great time.

Madison is sure the center of attention everywhere we go...I think it will be good for her to get some compitition this fall when Brad and Amber have their baby. So far the ultrasounds say they are having a boy, so it will be fun to have one of each for Christmas this year.

Mommy and Daddy and Madison

Mommmy, Daddy, Uncle Brad, Aunt Amber and Madison

Madison sure loves her Daddy! She found his beard this week and grabbed hold. I had to come and pry her fingers out of his beard. Brandon said he might have to shave it off...maybe it is just time to shorten it a little.

I am a big fan of this baby float. It really allowed her to feel comfortable in the water, and I felt a lot less nervous with her in this than just in my arms.

This is about the only picture we were able to catch when she didn't have her fingers in her mouth.

Madi with Uncle Brad and Aunt Amber

Somehow I suspect that we all just wanted to go swimming and Madison made a good excuse.

Brandon and Brad playing basketball.

Madi was sure ready to take a nap when we were done swimming. She sat with Grammy Karen and Grandad Rick with the rest of us went and played. The water park was pretty cool, with two waterslides and a lazy river.

We are leaving for a long vacation to Texas on Saturday, and I am sure that Madison will get to go swimming quite often to escape the 100 degree heat. (Texas in July...I think we are crazy!)

We haven't exactly had what you would call heat around here. Our temperatures have averaged in the upper 70's to mid 80's lately, with lots of evening thunderstorms. We had a very long hail storm early this week, it hailed for probably 30-45 minutes. We had drifts of hail.

My flower beds were filled with the pea sized hail...luckily no damage.

Along with the hail was some pretty significant rain. It flooded the feilds all around our house.

Well I supose I should get back to packing for our trip. We are leaving early Saturday morning for two weeks. I will try and post a few times while we are gone. I know that Grandad Rick, Grampa Bruce, and Grammy Tammi will be dying for updates and pictures while we are gone.

Book Worm (plus some random pictures)

Madison is really getting into story time. She always gets to read at least one story every night before bed. We also try to read at other times during the day. We have been reading a lot of books lately that have places to feel different textures. This has helped Madi start reaching for the books and "petting" the pages. I love watching her read a book with me.

This afternoon we were visiting Grammy Tammi and read "The Foot Book" by Dr. Suess. Grammy grabbed the camera and captured some of this precious time.





Here are some pictures my mom took of us getting ready to go on our Colorado vacation in early June.

It was quite the challenge to fit all of our luggage into our Tahoe.



The three girls in the back of the Tahoe ready to hit the road.

These pictures are from Memorial Day weekend, I think...





Man, she has changed quite a bit in the last month. It is fun to get to go back and look. Thank you Grammy Tammi for the pictures.

(It is really hard to type Grammy Tammi. I always want to type Grammy Tammy...I think I double checked them all, if not, sorry :) .)