Happy 4 Months Madi

Ms. Madi is 4 months old!  She weighed in at 8lbs and 8 oz last week.  She had her first cold as well.  We took her to the doctor after two pretty bad days of coughing and the doctor did an RSV test on her, which came out positive.  My mom was with her and the dr was pretty distressed at this result since we had decided not to continue the RSV vaccination (at $1700 a shot) so after re-testing her, luckily the subsquent tests came back negative. Not sure what happened in the lab, but it was a moment of concern. She is still not pooping as much as she should but we have phased her off of the Zantac.  At this point, she is gaining weight, so I would rather not keep shoving medication into her.

 

She is laughing so much more now and I just melt everytime she smiles.  With her, I am getting more of an infant stage and I think I am getting spoiled.  I want her to stay a baby forever.  She loves staring at her sisters and being outside. She still wakes up a 2-3 times a night, but she nurses and goes right back to sleep immediately, so I am finally getting sleep.

Mr. and Mrs. Shelley

Looking back, I am so glad I decided to head to PA with Matt for Mel and Shelley's wedding. We had a great time watching two very close friends begin a new chapter of their lives together.  Matt and I were lucky enough to witness their friendship evolve into something greater so it seems apropos to witness this great even too.  Of course Mel was a stunning bride and the entire wedding was beautifully planned. 

 Mel's sense of humor and Shelley's interesting interests made themselves known during the ceremony- it was hysterical!

The beautiful Mr. and Mrs. Shelley

 It was so nice seeing friends from Hawaii and those who have moved from Hawaii. Here is our "Relocated Hawaii Friend" picture. 

 The MC tried to incorporate some Hawaii themed activities.  Here are the groomsmen doing a "boat race" to the Hawaii 5-0 song (although I do remember from college that boatraces involve beer and are usually a bit messy).

We had a great time and didn't want the night to end.  Actually for some, the night didn't end until 3am the next morning after an interesting, fully clothed swim in the pool (no, this breastfeeding mom sat that one out).

Reuniting with Old Friends

We arrive in PA a bit late to make the rehearsal, but we surely made it to the rehearsal dinner.  It was great to see old friends from Hawaii. The MacDonald girls and the MacPherson girls got so big.  Of course they didn't remember me, but all the memories of seeing these little ladies as babies rushed back and I realized how lucky I was to have so many friends in Hawaii and to be able to watch these babies grow up. 

Madi was very well behaved and had a great time people watching.  

Easter Morning

Luckily we were able to hold off on the Easter basket hunting until we had the whole family up and moving.  My nana came to visit so for the 2nd year in a row, she was around to witness the craziness that is the Hoffman Easter morning.  Mia only wanted to watch Diego, so Matt had to walk her around looking for her basket.  I guess the Easter bunny did a good job hiding it because Daddy had to ask for hints.

Madi got her basket full of binkys, car seat protectors and headbands

Our big bunny

 This video is hysterical. Makaela is so excited about her basket and gifts, but she can't recall what the gift is called. I love her enthusiasm.

 Mia ate 8 tootsie rolls and then proceeded to steal and eat everyone else's chocolate bunnies.  Now we know how she manages to keep those cheeks so chunky.

 The Easter bunny brought Makaela her own box of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. She has been eating all of her dad's so he thought he would take the box as payback.  She would have none of that.

 Apparently Bailey didn't like his basket all that much so he decided to commandeer Leila's instead (or maybe he just likes pink dog toys....we don't judge).

My mom came over and brought us Easter brunch and by the time we were done eating, we had missed 10 o'clock mass.  We decided to go to noon mass, but it was all in Spanish...it's difficult to tell Makaela to be quiet and pay attention when I don't even understand what the priest is saying.  Makaela just kept saying, "I don't speak Dora's language" and a few people chuckled at her. Then Mia got bored and started to pratice her jumping skills on the steps of the kids' room which then enticed some of the other little church goers to join in. Mia tried to turn the room into a nightclub by shutting the lights off, turning them back on, shutting them off, turning them back on... and after all of that I never got to get communion because Mia decided she was going to beeline it across the church which we were waiting in line.  I ran off, grabbed her and then quickly exited the building. I think I will be sainted for this. Needless to say, that was an interesting experience and I think I earned that glass of Sangria I will be enjoying later on.  Happy Easter everyone!

Coloring eggs

Coloring eggs with three kids is a lot more difficult than I imagined and I was exhausted after it.  I had to leave to deal with Madi and when I came back, Mia had painted her legs.  The girls enjoyed it and I realized we had not boiled enough eggs to keep up with their creative tendencies.  Regardless of ho hectic things are, it was fun to watch them "design" their eggs.

Community Easter Egg Hunt

Family Easter picture

On Saturday, our community hosted an Easter Egg hunt for the kids.  All our neighbors were out and it ended up being the first warm day in quite a while. I had so much fun dressing up all three girls in coordinating outfits and since they were in white, got as many pictures as I could before everyone got dirty.

My little Navy girls

 They had a little petting zoo and the kids were very brave. Mia stuck her finger in a cage with a hen and her baby chicks and one of the chicks came over and pecked at her finger.  I thought I was going to have to deal with some crying, but Mia turned around and said, "the chicken kissed me".  So cute.

 Mia measures size according to "baby", "mama" and "daddy" sizes- baby being small and daddy being the biggest, so it was fun listening to her referring to the animals as daddy bunny, baby bunny.

 Mia decided she was going to enter the hula hoop contest but since she can't hula hoop, she improvised. She took the hoop and just spinned around.  People were amused by her and a journalist there took a bunch of pictures of her for the newspaper.

Getting ready for the hunt

 Mia was good and wasn't too greedy.  She picked up a few and once she realized they had candy in the eggs, she sat down and started raiding them. 

Makaela getting ready for the hunt

and she's off!

 Now Makaela is my hoarder. She grabbed as many eggs as she could and when her basket was full, she was trying to hold them in her hands.  I had to tell her to stop and leave eggs for the other kids- I wonder where she gets her competitive streak from??

Madi had a relaxing afternoon for sure

Happy Three Months Madi

Madi turned three months on 3/28/13. We have been running back and forth to doctors to deal with her reflux and her size. Two weeks ago she was 7 lbs 6 oz and then a week ago she was 7 lbs 7 oz so her doctor referred us to a nutritionist to discuss her diet and weight gain. I had to drive to downtown Jacksonville and I wasn't thrilled since I didn't think we could learn anything new, but the nutritionist did make some recommendations.  The nutritionist changed her formula (we need to add Gentlease to the breastmilk) and we need to increase the amount.  I also mentioned that Madi doesn't poop- in the past month, she went three times. I was told not to worry, but she suggested that I stop drinking milk...I'm not sure how that is going to play out since I am addicted to cheese and yogurt. After the appt, my mom thought she would take matters into her own hand since Madi hadn't had gone in 8 days and used a supository and sure enough, Madi pooped 3 times in a 12 hour span.  Needless to say, she slept peacefully and was all smiles after she went.  Sometimes mothers (and grandmothers) know best.  The good thing is now Madi weighs 7 lbs 11 oz so at least we know she is gaining.  She is still our little nugget. 

I love that she smiles now!