Quick visit with Momma Pat & Aunt Debbie

Mom & Aunt Debbie came up to Nashville for another quick visit. They were here for less than 24 hours! Uncle Dave had a business meeting in Nashville so they rode up with him to see Madison Claire. They couldn't believe how much she had changed just from our trip to Atlanta 2 weeks ago. She is talking up a storm - all day long, smiling like crazy, and just being such a good baby! Mom tried to sneak out of the house with Madison in her luggage but it didn't work! She called me today to say that she and Aunt Debbie couldn't stop talking about what a good baby she is and that Ryan and I don't know how blessed we are! I think we do know - but I guess without having a difficult baby it is hard to truly appreciate...but we are trying!!!

Other big news from Madison's 10th week of life for those interested:
*Her poop is now back to yellow - praise the lord!
*She has started to try to make the "motorboat" with her lips and it is precious!
*She slept through the night 2 nights in a row (from 9:30pm - 6:30am)
*She is giving us big smiles where you can see her whole upper gum
*She is talking up a storm
*She is still spitting up what seems like all of her food! Notice the picture below -it was my shirt last night....gross!

CANCER FREE!!!

Ryan had an appointment with Dr. Roth this morning and we can finally say that he is CANCER FREE!!! WOO HOO!!! It is so hard to believe that it has been 5 years since he finished his treatments. God is so good & faithful to us! We took Madison Claire with us so she could meet Dr. Roth and he was smitten :). There was a couple that had been in earlier that morning with their 3 month old twins to meet Dr. Roth. They had to use IVF to get pregnant so it was an incredible reminder of how blessed we are to have Madison and to have gotten pregnant without needing fertility treatments. God is good! As we reflect back on the last 5 years, we are reminded of how amazing our family and friends were while Ryan was sick and how you have continually supported us, we are reminded of Dr. Roth & Linda Bates and how they are blessings from the Lord, and we are continually in awe and thankful for all of our blessings! Please join us in thanking God for answering our prayers of healing for Ryan!!

Visit with the Haleys!

Our good friends, Don & Julie Haley, are headed to South Korea for 2 years with the Air Force. They stopped in Nashville for 4 days on their trip across the US before they head out next month and we had such a fun time! It was crazy at our house - imagine me, Ryan & Madison Claire PLUS Don, Julie, Kenzie (4 years old), Joshua (almost 2 years old), and Titus (a golden retriever)!! We had a great visit with a lot of fun & crazy memories including: great dinners, Don & Julie keeping Madison so Ryan and I could go to small group without her one night, Kenzie applying for our nanny job - she was such a little helper and wanted to help with everything!, Josh having a hard time sleeping (bless his heart his schedule was completely thrown off), Don & Ryan missing each other at every turn, the Haleys car needing work on it (pray their transmission gets fixed), Julie joining Ryan and I for our P90X workouts (she was such a rock star!), toys toys everywhere, one night all 3 kids screaming at the top of their lungs, and did I mention that Don & Julie brought an entire trailer worth of stuff for us? I'm not joking - we now have a jogging stroller, big baby swing, bouncer, exersaucer, and like 10 bags full of clothes, shoes, hairbows, bottles, you name it - it's there! I don't think I need to buy one more thing for Madison Claire!!!

In all seriousness, we had a great visit with our dear friends and are going to *SO* miss them the next 2 years. Please join us in praying for their safety as they travel to South Korea and for their safety while they are there. Pray for Julie to find some good friends and for the kids to adjust well to the time & culture change. WE LOVE YOU HALEYS!!!

A Blast from CPA past!

Meredith Hardin, Leah Webster, and Katherine Douglas (some of Ryan's favorite students from CPA) brought us dinner tonight and spent time with Madison Claire. They just finished their sophomore year of college and were so sweet to think of us! They are great girls and we pray that Madison Claire can grow up to be as sweet and thoughtful and beautiful inside & out as they are! THANK YOU Meredith, Leah & Katherine!!

Angel Baby, Sweet Pea, Punkin, Sweetheart, Precious, Doll Baby, Sug, Round face

All nicknames for Madison Claire. Round face is one of Ryan's and I keep telling him that is not an acceptable nickname! Looking at these pictures can you see why we are so in love with her?

Madison's 2 month appointment

Madison had her 2 month doctors appointment on Tuesday morning.  We were nervous about her getting her first shots but she was such a champ!  The first 2 she didn't even cry - she just let out a little wimper with a frowny face.  The third one put her over and she let out a scream but it only lasted about 10 seconds and she was even smiling and cooing by the time we left the doctors office!  Praise the Lord!!

As for the rest of her appointment - she weighed 11.3 pounds and was 23 inches.  That puts her in the 70% for height and the 58% for weight.  We were a little concerned about her weight gain because we have been weighing her at home once a week and she weighed 11 pounds about 3 weeks ago so it seems like she isn't gaining as much as she should.  She is still eating like a champ but she has been spitting up a lot and having some nasty green liquid poops (sorry if that is TMI!) so they are going to have us come back in 2 weeks to do a weight check to make sure that nothing is wrong.  I'll update again after that appointment.

The shots haven't seemed to impact her demeanor - she's been her sweet little angel self the past 2 days and didn't even run a fever when they had prepared us for it to get up to 102.  Once again - much to be thankful for!

Visit with Keatyn!

Our good friends Dustin & Tasha Wuest had a sweet little girl, Keatyn Marie, on May 4th.  She was born 3 weeks premature and is such a little doll!  Madison & Keatyn had their first visit last week and we look forward to many more visits to come as Madison & Keatyn grow up together in Nashville!

Sorry bloggers for the late updates!

I just posted a bunch of new updates so make sure you scroll down to see them all! You might even have to click on older posts to see all of them. Sorry for the delay - things have been crazy around here!

Off to a crying baby I go....

Lauren