It's Been Busy Around Here...

It's been awhile since we updated the blog...we've been really busy. I began working at the Ayco Company last Tuesday, assisting the Vice President of Sales and Marketing. There's a lot to learn, but it's exciting starting a new job. Of course I'd rather be with Madeline more, but she's having fun at daycare and we think it's important for her to be around other kids.

Daycare has been going well. The first day back was a little rough, but she hadn't been there in over a month, so she was excited and didn't want to nap. She became overtired and crabby. The second day our daycare person was hit with a stomach bug and couldn't watch her; luckily Grandma Peggy was able to take the day off from work to watch her for us. Our daycare person said that she was great the rest of the week. We even get compliments from Pat's (our daycare person) kids that Madeline is a joy.

This past Memorial Day weekend was busy. Our friends across the street had a birthday party for their daughter Hannah. It was fun and Madeline seemed to have fun...she smiled and bounced on mom and dad's laps.

Sunday we had Grandma Peggy over for dinner. She brought kabobs, and Madeline was in one of her moods where she cried when anyone came near her. She was fine with Peggy on Wednesday, I guess it's just one of those things.

Today was supposed to be relaxing, but I got it into my head to do our gardening, so I planted flowers while Matt was in the house with the baby. I decided to also cut our hedges (not sure where I got that energy from), but it's done now. I also packed away all of the clothes Madeline has grown out of. Thank God for Space Saver bags! I can't believe how many clothes we had for her. So, today was busy, but at least we got a lot accomplished. Next Sunday Matt leaves for a week-long motorcycle trip, so I wouldn't have had any time to get things done.

Here are some current pictures of Madeline we took today. Her six month check up is this Friday...more shots. :(

We also made a trip to Orland Park two weeks ago to visit Uncle Ken. It was so good to see him, as he hasn't seen Madeline before. We had a great visit, and Uncle Ken seemed thrilled to see us. We went to say good bye to him in the lunchroom and everyone was stopping us to talk to Madeline. It was great that she was able to bring some joy to others. We took Carolyn out for lunch and had a great time!!

Back to Work for Vicky (Full Time)

Well, the time has come. I'm now going back to work full time. After leaving ACS, I had wanted a part time job in order to spend more time with Maddie, but the part time jobs were few and far between and didn't pay very much. After much searching, I was offered a full time position at The Ayco Company, which is a division of Goldman Sachs. They offer financial counseling to Fortune 500 companies. I will be assisting the Vice President of Sales and Marketing. The position sounds great, it's not too far from home, and daycare is on the way to work.

I was supposed to start tomorrow (5/14), but the office manager got called away from work, and my boss will be out of the office until next Tuesday. So, I will be starting next Tuesday instead.

The hardest part will be leaving Madeline for 40 hours a week, but I think that it's a great opportunity for me, and I think Madeline will benefit being around other children. Plus, when I worked part time before, it was mostly at night, so Matt and I didn't have any time together as a family. This way I have nights and weekends with Matt and Madeline. I thought going back to work full time after 12 weeks would be hard, but now it's almost 6 months! I'm sure it will get easier with time.

Happy Mother's Day!

Being that this was my first Mother's Day, Matt and Madeline sure made it special. Flowers were delivered to the house on Friday...a beautiful arrangement of iris and tulips. (Maddie has good taste, what can I say). I had mentioned to Matt that I would like a digital photo frame, now that I'm going back to work full time, so he bought me an 11" photo frame and downloaded a bunch of pictures of Madeline to it. It will be a nice addition to my desk at work.

On Mother's Day both sets of Grandma's were over, along with my sisters. We had a nice dinner and dessert. Madeline is still going through a phase where she only wants Mommy and Daddy holding her, so we're hoping that it is a phase that will be ending soon. Luckily she does not cry at daycare (but she hasn't been there in over a month), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all will be well when I start work next week.

Hope all the moms had a great Mother's Day!

Some New Pictures

Grandma Peggy is asking for additional pictures of Madeline, so here are a few that we've taken over the past week. The weather has been so nice, we try and take Maddie out in the stroller if the weather is nice. We had her sitting outside over the weekend, the only problem is that we have wasps in our neighborhood. They appear every year and the last thing we want is for the baby to get stung.

Anyway, here are some newer pictures of Madeline.

Who, me??
She loves her bouncy chair...
I love the Flamingo shirt I found for her at Old Navy!

Maddie has no problems falling asleep. We find that when she is tired, we put her in her crib, she turns on her side and falls asleep. This is how she sleeps every night in her crib.

Look Mommy, I have toes! :)

We wish we could sleep this easily!!

Thanks for the quilt Cousin Kathi!

Great Warm Day

Today was the first day that the weather was over 70 degrees. Matt and I took Maddie for a walk in her stroller, and we learned that she loves the wind. Her cold is almost gone, and she was in a really good mood all day.

Maddie has also learned to roll over. She loves sleeping on her side at night, so we knew it would only be a matter of time before she rolled over. She rolled over for the first time earlier this week. The picture above was taken by Matt when we walked in the door from work.

Madeline's Baptism

As most of you know, Madeline was baptized this past Sunday, April 13th. It was a nice day as far as the sun shining, but it was pretty cold!

Lauren was Madeline's Godmother, and Matt's best friend Ben was her Godfather. Ben flew in from Seattle to attend, so we are very thankful that we have such a good friend.

Madeline did better than expected at the baptism. She rarely got fussy and even let Vicky's extended family (whom she never met before) hold her while they took pictures.

All in all it was a lovely day, and we thank all of you who attended. A special thanks to our friend/neighbor, Sean Gillette, who took photos for us.

(We'll post pictures as soon as we get them developed).

New Toy! (A Very LARGE Toy)

Prior to going on maternity leave, my co-workers threw me a baby shower and one of the gifts that I received was an activity center, which converted into a walker and then converted into a walk behind toy. Needless to say, the toy is huge.

Madeline can almost touch the bottom with her feet, but she has learned to play the music and to work some of the toys. She seems to enjoy it for now (thank goodness, because this toy takes up a lot of room!)