Alayna's Stats

Alayna had her 2 week appointment yesterday. She is now 19 3/4 inches long, which means she has grown 1/4 of an inch. Our biggest surprise was her weight. Our little piggy now weighs 8 pounds and 6 ounces. The doctor said that they only expect infants to be back to their birth weight by the 2 week check up. Her birth weight was 6 pounds 13 ounces. So she has gained about 25 ounces since she was born. I guess we know that Alayna is getting plenty to eat! Here is a recent picture of our little one.

"Baby Cute"

That is what Maddie says all day long about Alayna. She loves her baby sister so much. She wants to hold her and she is always rubbing Alayna's head. She asks about her every morning when she gets up and says "night, night Alayna" every night. It is just too cute to see them together.

Maddie "holding" her sister


Alayna hanging out


What a sweet face


Almost a smile


All bundled up

Maddie Meets Alayna

Our New Addition

Even though today (January 18th) was the new baby's due date, she joined our family a few days early. Alayna Marie was born on January 15th at 12:14 AM. Big sister Maddie had told us that her new sibling was going to be born on January 14th (she didn't "tell" us but picked the date twice on a calendar). When they decided to induce me on the 14th, Jon was thinking that Maddie should do all his betting :-) Unfortunately we were 14 minutes late of Maddie's prediction. However, we were blessed to have Alayna join our lives on any day.
She is a very good baby and is a little piggy. Big sister, Maddie is so protective of her baby sister. She loves to be near her, and help feed and burp Alyana.
We are all so thrilled that baby Alayna is finally with us.

Our Little Singer

Maddie Facts

Here are some facts about Madelyn.....

~she has a very sweet and gentle personality
~she is an includer. She will make sure that everyone is included in what she is doing but it must be on her terms :-)
~she is very caring. As I am struggling to get my pregnant self off the floor, Maddie asks "You stuck Mommy?" and always tries to help me up.
~she is a little chatterbox.
~she loves Dora, Diego and Mickey Mouse
~she loves getting in the bath but hates getting out.
~after waiting for almost 2 years, she does have hair. And it is curly, especially when it gets wet.

~she loves to sing. Her favorties are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Dora theme song.
~she loves to dance - she gets her moves from her mommy :-)
~her smile and laugh are contagious.

~We never get tired of her hugs and kisses, her saying "love you mommy" or "love you dada". We feel so blessed everyday to have her as our daughter.
We Love You so much Maddie!

Christmas time!

We had a great Christmas. Despite not being able to travel and see all of our families, we did have the grandparents and Aunt Mary visit us. Maddie loved having them all come play with her. After months of shying away from both her Papas, she played with them both, let them hold her, gave them kisses and sat on their laps. We all got a lot of nice gifts and really enjoyed spending time with our families. Next time we see everyone, we will have a new family member!

Our Christmas tree just after Santa visited.


Maddie and Grandma


Maddie and Papa (yes, she IS sitting on Papa's lap)


After many years they still dress alike - how cute!


Maddie and Grandma looking at the Dora musical book for the 100th time.


Maddie and one of her favorite gifts - her bracelets.


Maddie and her absolute favorite gift - talking Dora backpack. (thanks Papa Wayne)


Looking for more gifts.

Merry Christmas

Jon, Maddie and I hope all our friends and family had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2006


Christmas 2007


Christmas 2008

Taking Christmas Pictures

Getting Madelyn's Christmas/2 year pictures taken was definitely a stressful event. At the beginning she was not having any part of looking at the camera. She just wanted to play with the props. She would say "cheese" as she looked down at the ground. Then she would get off of the little platform where she was sitting. The lady taking the pictures tried using some tricks but again Madelyn was having no part in it. We thought we were not going to have pictures for this year.
Finally, Madelyn realized that she could see herself as she took her picture. That changed everything! She laughed and smiled, and we got a few good pictures.
Life with a 2 year old is never dull!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Madelyn had a great time celebrating her 2nd birthday. We cannot believe that she is already 2! Time really does fly by! She got a lot of great presents and enjoyed playing with her cousin Alex. She liked putting her hands in her cake but did not want to eat any. She fed her piece to her dad. I guess I shouldn't complain that she doesn't like to eat cake, but who doesn't like cake?
Madelyn loved playing with all of her balloons. She still plays with them everyday. I guess we could have saved some money if we only bought her balloons for her birthday.
Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Early Birthday Celebration

Maddie celebrated her birthday with the Cochs over Thanksgiving. She got a lot of Dora stuff (her favorite). She did not want to eat the cake, so I had her piece as well as mine.
The last picture is of Maddie and her favorite things to wear at Grandma's - rosary beads. Of Course, Grandma loves that!

Thanksgiving

Our second Thanksgiving was spent with Jon's family in Pennsylvania. Maddie had so much fun playing with her cousins, James and Jack (or as Maddie calls him, "Jacket").
The guys spent a lot of time watching football. Grandma and Aunt Mary spent a lot of time watching Mickey Mouse on the computer. Cory and I spent a lot of time shopping. It was so wonderful to all be together because we do not get to see each other a lot over the year.