Madison and the Boats

Last Satuday was a beautiful day, despite the fact that most of Houston was iced over the day before. We went to Galveston for dinner that night with my parents. We ate at Fisherman's Wharf to take advantage of the last day of Galveston Restaurant Week. I love anytime we get to go places with Madison...she is the best shopping/restaurant buddy! When we got there, they sat us at a table by the window, which is always nice. It didn't take Madison long to notice the window and the big boat, The Elisa, docked outside the window. My dad held her and she looked outside forever taking in every part of the boat and the other boats passing by. 

Madison also had a couple firsts that night...she sat in a high chair and ate baby food! It is so amazing to me how fast she is growing right now! It's seems like every time I turn around she is doing something new. We have been wanting to try her in a high chair, but didn't think she was ready yet. She was still a little wobbly when she got tired of sitting, but overall she loved getting to be part of the table and look out the window. 

While we enjoyed yummy good, Madison entries squash! She wasn't sure of the taste or texture at first, but ended up loving it!

 Since then, she had apples starting on Wednesday and loves those also! We weren't planning to start her on baby food yet, but she seems to be liking it. We have been giving her some rice cereal and some baby food. I am having trouble finding good information on how much baby food a baby should eat at 4-5 months. Eric thinks she should have 1/2 a container at all 4 meals but I'm thinking that's too much. We have been trying to do 1/2 a container of baby food at breakfast and some baby food and rice cereal at dinner. 

{Five on Friday}

Happy Friday friends! Everyone in Houston is getting ready to hunker down for the "Polar Express"...meaning there is a possibility of a quarter inch of ice and snow. ;)

{One} As I'm writing this, we have a late start day tomorrow morning in anticipation of the possible ice that may develop overnight. I'm still hoping for the whole day off of school. I wouldn't mind having a pajama day with Madison. 

{Two} So, last Thursday night I made a trip to Toys R Us at 9pm in my pajamas...hot mess express party of 1. Madison got the best little musical/interactive puppy toy for Christmas. She got 2 of the from different people, so my grandma Diane (GiGi to Madiosn) gave me the recipt so I could exchange Lilly the Puppy. While at Toys R Us, I started talking to a parent from my school who works there. I did the exchange and left. Fast forward to 8:45pm, I was unpacking my stuff from the day and realized that the person who rung me up didn't put the original receipt back in the bag. Knowing that there were tons of other Christmas presents on the receipt and that the store closed at 9:00pm, I grabbed my keys, ran out the front door and told Eric I would call him in the car. Thankfully Eric has gotten used to my crazy and doesn't really question it anymore. I made it back to the store about 5 minutes after they closed. I was able to flag down an employee and tell him what was going on. I found the parent from my school and got the receipt back...crisis averted! 

{Three} Confession time...the past 2 weeks have been very hard for me with balancing being a working mommy. I love going to work and enjoy what I do each day. I know Madison is having fun at school each and her teachers love her. But, when 4pm rolls around each day my anxiety starts to creep up and all I can think about is when I can go get Madison. When we get home, I want to spend the short amount of time I have playing with Madison, not worrying about washing bottles, cooking dinner etc. Eric and I run around like crazy at night and still never get everything done. I don't know that anyone really ever figures out how to balance work and being a mommy, but I am looking for advice! 

{Four} We had a wonderful time last weekend celebrating Leslie and Nana's birthdays. On Saturday, we went on a party boat out of Kemah for a surprise party for Leslie. It was a beautiful day, a wonderful day date for Eric and me, and a chance for us to catch up with friends. 

{Five} On Sunday, we went to Nana's house to celebrate in true Konesheck fashion...with about 25 people. We had a potluck lunch, ate on the front lawn in folding chairs & plastic tables and enjoyed time together. It was a day that will definitely be a special memory for a long time to come. It was the first time that any of Eric's extended family was able to meet Madison. She is the 13th great grandchild for Nana. We took a big picture of the family and it was really amazing to think about how all this wonderful family came about from Nana.

Of course there can't be a post without some pictures of Madison! Here's what she has been up to lately!

Memories with Madison

We are having so much fun with Madison the past couple weeks! She has started to develop so much and it is amazing to watch her grow and change.  

She is loving her rice cereal and sitting in her high chair.  She will sit in her high chair for at least half an hour every night and babbles the whole time. She love to watch us cook dinner, eat at the table and watch us do dishes. We have been feeding her rice cereal each night around 6pm. At first she wasn't sure what to do with it, but now she will get excited and make little noises until she gets the next bite. 

I am so proud of how well Madison is sleeping at night! She usually goes to bed by 8:30 each night. Sometimes she will stir a little around 11:00 or 4:00, but usually goes right back to sleep. This week we have only been getting up once at night or not at all.  When she wakes up in the morning around 6:45 to 7:00, she will lay in her crib and entertain herself for 20-30 minutes before we get her up. A couple nights ago she fell asleep on my lap, which hardly ever happens. I loved it! 

It has been funny to watch her sleep now that she can roll over. Every time I look at her on the video monitor, she is in a different spot.  Sometimes on her back, sometimes stomach, turned sideways...we never know! This morning she had turned 180 degrees in her crib, so her head was where her feet usually are. 

We are so in love with her and amazed that we made this wonderful little girl. I have been struggling with guilt lately about balancing work and home. No matter what the stress of the day, when I walk into her class in the afternoon and she gives me a big smile, all the stresses of the day disappear. 

{Five on Friday}

Happy Friday friends!  It has been such a busy week for me at work.  I am looking forward to getting to spend some good family time this weekend with Eric and Madison.

 

 

 



{One} I finally got Madison's 4 month birthday post together.  I may be 10 days late, but I found some time to download pictures.  Her 4 month pictures turned out adorable!  Eric had the idea to take some outside and they look wonderful.  She looks like cotton candy in all her pictures. Here is the link to read all about her 4 month birthday.

{Two}  We have 4 different birthdays for people we love within the same week, so there is a lot of celebrating to be had this month!  Happy Birthday to Leslie, Brandi, Tripp and Nana!  We are celebrating Leslie and Nana's birthday this weekend.  We have to miss Tripp's 2nd birthday party, but look forward to making a trip to Louisiana in the next few weeks to see them. 

{Three} Since I leave for work earlier than Eric, he spends time with Madison in the morning and takes her to daycare.  I love the time they get to have together in the morning.  Each day he sends me a picture of what she is wearing.  The pictures crack me up because half she always looks unsure or has a crazy face.  Here are some of her recent outfit of the day pictures.

{Four} For the past week, Eric and I have been following a Dr. Oz meal plan to cut out wheat and dairy from our diet. Eric and I originally heard about this on Holly Stanfield's blog.  I told Eric about it that night and we watched the Dr. Oz episode from earlier in the week where he explained the plan.  As soon as it was over, Eric went to the store to get a couple things that we didn't have.  While this is not something we plan to do long term, we wanted to give it a try and see how we felt.  We are a week in and it is going well!  We both lost exactly 6 pounds the first week.  The first 2 days were rough...headaches and no energy were the biggest side effects.  We later learned it was a "wheat detox".  We have been following the plan pretty closely and plan to continue it for the most part.  We decided to allow ourselves to have certain things we like every now and then so we don't get burned out.  I miss cheese, milk and peanut butter toast...I have gone 8 days without peanut butter toast for breakfast and can't wait to have some Saturday morning. 


{Five} Last night I went to Toy's R Us at 9:00pm in my pajamas...we will save that story until next week.  :)

Madison's 4 Month Birthday

 

 

Happy 4 Months to Madison!  Mommy is only 10 days late in posting this...  I feel like Madison looks so grown up all of a sudden this month! It is beginning to be exciting to see how she is changing each month compared to the previous months.

 

Here are Madison's past 4 months:

 

Madison's Birthday

 

Madison's 1 Month Birthday

 

Madison's 2 Month Birthday

 

Madison's 3 Month Birthday

 

Madison– You have grown so much developmentally this month!  You are moving out of the newborn stage and into more of a baby.  We love watching you grow and change!

Date: January 6, 2014

Weight: You weigh 14 lbs. 2 oz. and are 25 in. long! Even though you still fit in some 0-3 month clothes, we have moved you to 3-6 months. Most of your 0-3 month pants are too short since you are getting longer.  You are still in size 2 diapers.

Sleeping: This month you started sleeping from 9pm-7am! While it was nice to know we would get a good night sleep, you woke up often during the night-usually at least 3 times.  We would give you your Wubbie and you would go back to sleep. 

Eating: This month we moved you to eating 6 oz. every 4 hours.  Daddy feeds you at home in the morning, you eat twice at schooland 1-2 times at home after school.

Milestones: You love to roll!  You can easily roll from you back to stomach, which the doctor says is advanced.  You are still working on stomach to back.  You are grabbing toys, studying them and bringing them towards your mouth.  You love to hold onto a blanket or your Wubbie.  You have found your voice!  We love listening to you babble and squeal.

Special Moments: This month we celebrated Christmas and New Years.  They were such special days to celebrate.  You got many wonderful presents from all the people that love you. We also celebrated Tegan’s 8th birthday.  Mommy and Daddy started making you a playroom for all your new toys. You love to sit in the door jumper and play with Lilly the Puppy.  Your favorite toy right now is by far a set of plastic, colored rings.  You got a stomach bug this month & had to make a trip to the ER for dehydration.
 

 

 

 

 

 

{Five on Friday}

Happy Friday friends! I have to say I am very thankful that it is Friday. 

1.  Madison turned 4 months old on Monday! She is started to develop into more of a baby and less of an infant. While it makes me sad that she isn't that little baby we brought home from the hospital, it is so fun to see all the new things she is doing. She love rolling! She is getting more vocal, grasping and reaching for toys and wanting to out things in her mouth. 

2. We have been attempting to take her 4 month pictures all week. For one reason or another it hasn't worked out...tired after shots, dirty clothes after daycare, etc. Thursday night I decided to change her when we got home and take pictures. She wasn't having any of that...

I guess we will try this weekend. ;)

3.  Madison went to the doctor on Friday for her four month checkup and shots. She weighs 14 lbs. 2 oz. and is 25 inches long! The doctor said she is doing great. After her doctors appointment she stayed home from school with my grandparents for the day. I'm so thankful they were able to watch her because when I got home from school she still looked a little puny from her shots.

4. This momma is tired! I am so glad it is Friday. This was my first week back at school after Christmas break and it has seemed like a long week. I am looking forward to hopefully sleeping and a little bit tomorrow a.k.a. 7 AM instead of 5 AM. We don't have much planned for this weekend, so that will be nice.

5. At the young age of four months, we have already had to make a play room for Madison. She got so many wonderful toys for Christmas and we wanted to have somewhere to keep them. We spent last weekend putting together storage containers from IKEA and going around town to take pictures to hang and her playroom. We are hoping this weekend to get the pictures hung. Her playroom is just getting started but it already looks so cute. Here is one of the storage containers for her toys. I'll post more pictures once we get everything finished. 

Have a great weekend!

Five On Friday {Happy New Year}

Happy Friday friends! It's the first Friday of 2014 and we are coming to the end of Christmas break. I have had such a nice 2 weeks at home with Madison, but its back to school for both of us on Monday!

1. We celebrated a wonderful New Years Eve at home this year, just the way we like it. Michael, Heather and the kids came to spend the night and we had a great time with them. We cooked dinner, made appetizers & dessert and celebrated with a New Years countdown at 8pm. We were in our pajamas by 10 while we watched the Texas A&M game...what a game! Tegan and Cainan performed "magic shows" with their glow sticks. We couldn't have asked for a better night. 

2.  New Years Eve was also the day that a year ago we found out we were pregnant with Madison. It is amazing how things can change in a year! 

3. I went back this week and recapped our year into one post. It was so fun to look back over our year. At dinner for New Years Eve we all said what our favorite thing was about 2013. Besides Madison (obviously!) everyone agreed that our trip to Disney World was the winner. 

Read our Year in Review.
 

4. Madison has grown developmentally so much over the break! She rolled from her stomach to back on Christmas Eve. On New Year's Day, she rolled back to stomach and stomach to back multiple times. She will now automatically roll to her stomach any time we place her on her back. She is also grabbing for toys and putting toys in her mouth. She sat in her high hair at the dinner table, played in her door bouncer and the Exersaucer. She will be 4 months old on Monday!

 

5.  Eric and I aren't big on New Years resolutions, but we definitely have some goals for ourselves this year. Our main goals are to clean up our eating, stick close to the budget we created for ourselves and be more intentional/efficient at work and home so we can spend more time playing with Madison.