car lover

it turns out mason isn't the only car lover in this house. his sister seems to have quite the affinity for them too!

she rolled and scooted her way off of the playmat and over to his basket of cars while i ran upstairs to grab her a change of clothes. not sure why she's lifting her dress... hope that doesn't become a trend! :)

backyard bouquet

yesterday was gorgeous. with perfectly blue skies and warm weather, mason and i took advantage of madison's naptime and  headed outside to kick the soccer ball around. we kicked the ball a couple of times before mason stopped in his tracks.

"look at all these flowers!," he exclaimed! "they are so pretty!"

the next thing i know, he is picking them one at a time and bringing them to me.

"these are for you, mom! aren't they pretty?!"

yes, son. there's never been a prettier weed flower than the ones you picked for me. this boy warms my heart.

(mason was using the reverse camera feature on my phone)

favorite photos

in february we met up with the wife of one of brad's state trooper buddies for some photos in old town spring. despite the freezing temperatures (37 degrees while we were shooting), we ended up with some cute shots. enjoy!

back to the grindstone

you might have guessed from the lack of posts in the past 3 weeks that i returned to work. apparently all good things must come to an end and my maternity leave was one of those things.

my first day back was feb. 21 and my team knew it would probably be a bittersweet day, so they had flowers and apple cinnamon scones waiting for me in my office. yes, they are always this thoughtful. week 1 flew by and honestly, so have weeks 2 and 3. the one constant about my job and department is that there is always plenty of work to be done!

madison is attending the same "school" as mason and is loving it so far! her teachers ooh and goo over her and comment daily about what a joy she is to have around. she smiles and coos at her new friends and has been eating and especially sleeping well while she's there.

meanwhile, i've discovered that if i wake up at 5:15 am, i can just barely make it to work at 8 am! :/  i keep telling myself i can sleep in another 18 years!

overall, the transition back has gone pretty well, and while i miss my days with my girl (and boy), i do enjoy the adult interaction. and it's nice to use my brain for something other than calculating bottles, naptimes, and diaper duty. :)

if i had a quarter...

if i had a quarter for every time i thought about how fast time is flying by, madison's college fund would already be in the bank! a quarter of a year has already gone by and our 3 month old is growing up!

new developments this month include smiling, rolling over from back to belly (1 day after the 3 month mark), sleeping on her tummy (see previous item), eating 6 ounce bottles 3-4 hours apart, going to "school," and babbling/cooing as we talk to her. she's still not sleeping through the night consistently (boo!), but we have noticed that she sleeps longer stretches on her tummy.

she remains very laid back and unless she's starving or has a little tummy ache from eating too fast, is quite content. love this girl!

happy 3 months, madison. we never knew what we were missing until you came along. we love you so much!

little ham

i took these photos a couple of weeks ago as madison was hamming it up with her daddy. the flash was a bit bright for her liking, so we mainly ended up with squinty eyes, but they still make me smile...

you are SO funny, daddy!

hi mom!

that's a seriously bright flash, mommy

my daddy is the best!

he's so funny i'm drooling on myself!

a milestone on mismatch day

at 3 months and 1 day, madison rolled over! she's been "practicing" for a few days and this morning after her bottle i changed her for school and put her back in her bed so i could get dressed for work.

i left the room and she apparently flipped over and went back to sleep!

please note that it is mismatch day on honor of dr suess week which explains her crazy outfit!

so proud of our girl!