Where has the time gone?

Well, once again we have failed to update! It has been a wild few weeks here but I decided tonight this was a MUST! Little Miss Madelyn is growing like a weed! It is hard to believe she will be 4 months old next week! I am not really sure where the time is flying off to! We are loving every minute of parenthood and are totally in love with our sweet girl! Every day seems to bring a new facial expression, sound, or movement. There is nothing better than going to get her up in the morning and being greeted with a HUGE smile! Our days are filled with playing, singing songs, tummy time, and her new favorite activity, bouncing!

Madelyn is getting stronger and stronger every day! I remember when we would get excited over her simply turning her head and lifting it every so slightly during tummy time. Now she is holding her head and chest up for long periods of time! She is a serious wiggle worm! Here is a video of tummy time from last week:

We have been snapping tons of pictures! I will share a few at the end of this post. We are looking forward to our frist trip back home to Ohio with the baby for her baptism! I will post for sure after that to share pictures! I know this post is a bit weak buuuut I have a sweet girl who is ready to play! I leave you with some pictures!

Madelyn and Mommy on Mothers Day!

Biiiiig Smiles!!!!

Little Crabby girl (not so crabby... haha)

Madelyn LOVES to play in her new bouncer!

Madelyn and Daddy on Fathers Day! 

Madelyn in her shades ready to hit the pool!

Madelyn Has Arrived!

It has been too long since we last posted an update! As you all know, Madelyn arrived on March 6, 2012 at 12:20 p.m. She was 7lbs 10 oz, 20 inches, and absolutely perfect! Matt and I can not even begin to explain the love we have for her. It''s funny how you think you know what love is but the moment you give birth to your children you realize you really had no idea! Sure, we have loved family, friends, and our spouses but the love for our sweet Madelyn tops all other love!

Mommy holding Madelyn for the very first time!



Since we last wrote Madelyn was born, came home, and has started to adjust to life in the Critell household. She is growing like a weed! Yesterday we took her to the doctor for the 2 month checkup and she was already 10lbs 10oz and 23 1/2 in long! It is amazing how much she has changed over the course of 2 months. She is really developing a cute personality and is starting to show her true colors (I mean after all she is a red head like her Momma... haha).



Miss Madelyn loves opening her beautiful blue eyes and taking in as much of the world as she possibly can, and boy is she headstrong! Literally, her head is really strong. She was propping her neck up the first time she was on her belly for her first bath. (Mommy can support that because she felt that head bashing her ribs for at least two months.) She has rolled over to her back a few times as well! Granted, she was not always in the happiest of states when she made the flip, but a roll is a roll and we'll take it! Madelyn has also begun her modeling career because she loves the camera. One of the parents in Matt's class gave us the beautiful gift of a newborn photo shoot. We can't thank her enough for them and they turned out wonderful. We'll leave you with a sample of some of the pictures. Thanks for stopping by, and we'll try to be better with our posts. For those with children, you understand. For those that don't, you'll understand some day! ;-)



Waiting on Madelyn

Well, we are getting close to Madelyn's arrival! Only 4 weeks left till her due date! It has been a while since our last post but we have been pretty busy! First up, I finally found the motivation to sew the curtains I have been dreading for weeks. While they are not perfect, they look pretty good and really add to the nursery! I got a bright idea to put a wooden cornice above the window and this great idea turned into a nightmare for Matt and Madelyn's Godfather, Doug. Two days (and lots of supplies) later the project was completed and seriously looks amazing! Together we made one rather pretty window treatment, if I do say so myself =) Here is a picture for you to see for yourself:

Since our last post we also had the pleasure of spening a morning with Kristy Kaliope Photography. We spent hours taking maternity pictures and I am pretty sure we never quit laughing. It was so much fun and I can't wait to have Kristy capture more memories in the near future! Here are a few of our favorites:

This past weekend we spent a lot of time relaxing as the past few weekends have been so super busy! I did get around to starting the rocking chair cushions but they are not complete yet, so look for that fun project in our next post! 

Getting Closer!!!!!

Today marks 33 weeks =) It is hard to believe we are only 7 weeks away from Madelyn's due date! It seems like just yesterday we were jumping around just itching to share our big news with family and friends! Over the past two weeks we toured the hospital (which I must admit made things VERY real) and attended a couple of classes offered by the nurses. Apparently by next week we should have a hospital bag packed and the car seat installed into the car (yikes!) Things are in full swing preparing for our sweet baby girl's arrival. My 32 week appointment went really well, I am measuring right on time and the heartbeat was clear and strong. The best part of the appointment was that the doctor gave us a no-charge ultrasound  to check the spine since we were never able to get a good image of it due to Madelyn's love of being in a ball with her tiny toes up over her head. While the tech was doing the scan, Matt (the genius that he is) asked about 3/4D ultrasounds which lead to a 15 minute session in 3/4D which was simply amazing! Here are a few pictures of Miss Madelyn Kate:

32 Weeks



Sleepy baby yawning away!

My plans to sew curtains and making a new cushion for our rocking chair sadly got put on hold when I had to order the fabric since they did not have enough of what I wanted in the store. I was pretty bummed about this but maybe the nesting stage will arrive with the fabric so it doesn't seem like such a chore! This weekend Matt completed his project for the nursery which was sanding and repainting an old wooden rocking chair. I think it turned out wonderful and it will look even better with the new cushion whenever that is finished =)

Sanded down and repainted... Suuuuch an improvement!

I am sure my post is already boring you to death but I feel like the history of this chair is a must tell story! Matt and I did not know each other until high school but we shared a mutual friend in an amazing woman, Sr. Jacqueline. As we approached our high school years she began telling both of us when we arrived at Mooney we needed to find each other because we would be such great friends. Thinking, as teenagers do, we both thought she was crazy! A few years later, Sr. Jacqueline passed away after a horrible battle with cancer. No joke, almost instantly Matt and I met through a friend and instantly became best friends. Over the years we have always thanked her for our wonderful relationship. During my first teaching job, I was on the hunt for an old wooden rocking chair. Sadly, they were impossible to find. The principal of the school happened to have Sr. Jacqueline's rocker in her office and told me I could have it, not knowing she held such an amazing place in my heart. Shortly after getting the chair, Matthew proposed to me in my classroom while sitting the in the chair =) Sooo after a long story, you can now see why it is so important for us to have that chair in Madelyn's room. It will be great to be able to share the stories of Sr. Jacqueline with Madelyn as she grows up.

Well, now that I have put most of you to sleep, I will go on and finish up the post! Hopefully the fabric arrives this week so that next week I can post pictures of the drapes and completed chair. Enjoy your week and check back soon for new updates =)


Keeping up with Miss Madelyn

Matt and I have decided that creating a blog would be a great way for our family and friends near and far to keep updated with our adventure into parenthood with Madelyn Kate. While I have no idea what I am doing here, I am hoping I will learn and that you will get to see some fun pictures and videos as we prepare for and welcome Madelyn into the world. Here is the most recent ultrasound picture at 24 weeks. She sure has grown since then!



We have been working hard to get things ready for her arrival. Thanks to our amazing families and friends we were blessed with a beautiful shower in Ohio. It was nice to see everyone there and it was simply overwhelming how loved we are! The gifts we received were more than we could have ever imagined!



One side of the gift table!



Daddy and Mommy excited for Madelyn!

When we got home from Ohio we started building swings, cribs, strollers, and more. Clothes,blankets, and towels were washed and put away. We still have lots to do but we are off to a great start!

Well, that's all for tonight! Check back every now and again for updates!