Maddie is 3 weeks old, Shane is rocket obsessed!

OK, before I start I need to thank Jason - my soon to be brother in law - for updating the pictures on this blog and making it look so nice! Thanks, Jason!!!! When I first saw the blog and looked at the baby picture of Shane right next to the one of Madison on the top of the blog, I was reminded of how much they look alike! What do you think?
Life here is crazy! I am back working with National Board candidates - 52 of them! - and Dan is working with 4 math candidates! We are busy and tired! Madison was 3 weeks old on Monday and she is a great baby! She is weighing in at 7 pounds and 5 ounces and she is going 4 hours between feeds. Wait, let me clarify - she is going 4 hours from the start of a feed to the start of the next feed. Each feed takes about an hour so I am sleeping in 3 hour spurts at night. Not too bad! I am still pretty tired because my sleep is pretty interrupted and Shane is up at his regular time (7AM) every day. Shane is adjusting to being a big brother and dealing with the new restrictions on our lives pretty well. He is used to us doing something fun all of the time and now we hang around the house way more than we used to. Shane loves the Big Brother book "Auntie" Courtney sent him and we read it all of the time! He also started back up with his park district classes and we have had a few play dates with Alex & Connor so things are slowly getting back to our new normal.
We have been so blessed with so many friends and neighbors stopping by to meet Madison, making us some yummy dinners, and spoiling our little girl rotten with adorable presents and clothing! We love you all!
Here is our little Madison sleeping in her "Rock and Sleep" - it was the BEST investment we have made so far - She sleeps great in it and I LOVE it!

Dan has been a huge help with Maddie and Shane and even takes the middle of the night feeding a few times a week and on the weekend! Here is Shane feeding his baby sister (with a little help from his Daddy)!

I can hardly believe that I have 2 beautiful children! My TAC - Transabdominal cerclage and Dr. Haney - are the reasons for these healthy full term babies and I thank my lucky stars for them every day!
OK, time for more pictures! Here is a picture that Shane will one day hate me for taking! My dear friend Cathy and Shane's good buddy Alex came over for a playdate! They even brought lunch! Cathy also made us a yummy lasagna! Anyways, Shane spilled milk all over his shirt and pants. I stripped him down to his diaper and Cathy and Alex had to leave before I got Shane dressed. When they hugged each other goodbye it was way too sweet of a picture to not take - even with Shane in his diaper! There is also a great picture of Cathy and Maddie!


My cousin and friend Melissa stopped by to meet Madison as well! She brought lots of presents including an ADORABLE dress, a play mat, and super sweet socks! Her mom, my cousin Janice, also sent presents - lots of adorable outfits! See what I mean by how lucky we are! Here is a picture of Melissa with Madison!

My wonderful Aunt Joan and Cy came over to see Maddie and deliver a special present. They spent a Saturday evening with us and we feel so lucky to have them as such special people in our lives! Shane adores his Uncle Cy and he has so much fun playing with him! They are great buddies! Of course, Shane adores his Aunt Joan as well and always wants to call her on the phone! Joan and Cy gave Cy's neighbor is a woodworker and Cy had him make a carousel for Maddie and then Cy painted it for her - what a special and amazing gift! I know Maddie will treasure it for always and will have it for her children one day! I love gifts like that!!! For now Shane loves playing with the carousel and he thinks it is his! Aunt Joan and Uncle Cy brought Shane a super cool book - the picture spins and the animals change from one to another - ie the duck becomes a frog! He loves it and we love how special they have made Shane feel! Here are some pictures from our evening!








Last week Papa Carolyn came over to watch Shane while Dan, Madison, and I went to a planning meeting for Madison's Hebrew Naming and Baptism Ceremony. Mark your calendars - the date will be November 6th! Here are some pictures of Maddie and her Grandma!



Last Friday Kristine and Connor came over to hang out and meet Madison! They gave Madison some designer socks - she is going to be very well dressed! Shane had sooo much fun playing with Connor! They literally ran around non stop for the entire night! Here are some pictures - it was hard to get Connor and Shane to stop for a picture!


On Saturday Debbie came over with presents for Madison and Shane, lunch, and her famous fudge! See how lucky we are! She brought Shane a wonderful Elmo building set which he LOVES and she gave Madison beautiful clothing! Her lunch was delicious and was lunch and two dinners for us as well as a school lunch for Dan! We are spoiled! The biggest hit is always her fudge which Shane calls "Aunt Debbie's Chocolate!" Dan made the mistake of putting it on too low of a shelf and Shane tried to eat it for breakfast! It is almost gone! Here are a few pictures of Debbie and Maddie!


And here are some pictures of pour Madison hanging around the house and looking cute! Here she is after her bath and all wrapped up in a pink blanket my friend Anna brought over and in the stunning blue blanket made by Aunt Melanie - another present she will treasure for her entire life!





So what is new with Mr. Shane? Well he is truly his Daddy's son and his new obsession is watching rocket launches on the computer! He counts down, "3, 2, 1 Lift off" and then tells us the rocket is going to the sky or the moon! He asks to watch rockets all day long! It is so cute! Dan and Shane went to the hobby shop - Shane calls it the rocket store - and purchased a rocket they will launch this weekend! Here they are watching rocket launch videos!

Today my parents are here - Shane had Grandparents class with them! They have been so wonderful at coming over and making Shane feel special! He is so lucky to have them and so is Madison - I am pretty lucky too! Here are some pictures of everyone hanging out on our porch!





OK, and a few more funny Shane stories! He is now into his Hanukkah and Christmas books - he found them on the shelf and is loving them! When he first saw the Hanukkah books, he said "Happy Birthday - blow out candles" I have explained that we do not blow out Hanukkah candles and he seems to not be saying that as much! We have read the Hanukkah books - well one in particular - about a thousand times this week! It is so funny to watch him say things like "get presents, eat potato pancakes, story of the Maccabees!" I think he is going to LOVE the holidays this year! OK, my favorite Shane story is about a Christmas book. He chose a book called, "Mrs. Claus Goes on Vacation." Well, I started to read it and he instantly looked at Mrs. Claus and insisted she was "Papa Carolyn!" No matter how many times I told him otherwise he was insistent! We have now given up that fight and instead read, "Papa Carolyn Goes on Vacation." It is so funny to see him say things like, "Papa Carolyn go swimming, Papa Carolyn kiss man" (Mrs. Claus winds up under the mistletoe). Anyways, Mrs. Claus is a cutie in this story so Papa Carolyn will be happy with her likeness!

Madison is here!!!

It is official! On August 29th, 2011 at 8:31 AM, Madison Claire Greenfield entered our world screaming loudly! She was a whopping 6 pounds and 14 ounces and was 18 inches long! Her Apgar scores were an 8 and then a 9 (10 is the best and the nurse told me they do not give those out.) She looks a lot like her big brother and has stolen our hearts already! Here are the first pictures taken of her! Dan was unable to get one snapped in the operating room like he was for Shane (no bending of the rules this time), but he took them as soon as they left the room for recovery!



Here is the proud dad with his new baby daughter, my first time holding Madison, and our first picture together with her! I entered the OR at 8:13 AM, Madison was born at 8:31, and I was back in recovery a few minutes before 9 AM - not too bad!



And one more picture from the recovery room!

After hanging out in recovery for a while, we moved to a regular room and Dan got a chance to help out with Madison's first bath! So exciting! Here are some pictures!



Next it was time for the grandparents to get a chance to meet their newest grandchild! They all fell in love instantly! How could they not? She is a cutie pie!







After meeting her parents and her grandparents, Madison finally got to meet the most important person - her big brother Shane! We were pretty worried that Shane would be really jealous, but no - he was a champ! We should have expected no less from our perfect little boy! Seriously, how is it possible that SHane is as wonderful as he is! We sure are lucky! He met his "baby sista" and had no issues with us holding her or giving her any attention. He is happy to give her kisses and hugs and is super patient with us if we are busy feeding her or changing her when he wants/needs something. I am sure jealously will arise, but for now - there is none! Here they are meeting for the first time.


It may have helped that Madison was thoughtful enough to have a few presents for her big brother! She gave him a small one at the hospital and then had a big surprise for him when she came home (a train table - more on that later!) Here he is opening his first present from Maddie - with a little help from Grandma Judy.

Next, it was time to see how Shane did with Maddie in Mommy's arms - no problem there either!


"Aunt" Debbie watched Shane while Dan and I were at the hospital - she is such a great friend - and she came by to meet Maddie that first day!

Later on that evening Aunt Jorie and Uncle Jason came by to meet their new niece! Shane was super protective of his baby sister by then and kept saying, "No, Daddy baby sista!" He was not happy that Dan gave up his sister to Jorie and Jason and he really wanted her back in her Dad's arms. It was super sweet!


After that, Dan, Jorie, and Jason went down to get some dinner and Colleen, Aunt Geri, and Uncle John came by to meet Maddie! They brought adorable outfits (I especially like the Aunt one from Geri) and gave her lots of love! She sure was popular!


The next day Bella Baby came in do photograph Maddie for her first professional pictures! I love the pictures they take, but they are unaffordable outside of the hospital so Maddie had her first and only photo shoot with them. However, they had to leave for a few minutes before they started snapping pictures so we snapped a few ourselves and I must say, they are some of my favorites - especially the one with her head turned to the side.


Now, here are the Bella Baby pictures! We used many props for these pictures! We had a blue and white blanket that Dan's dad (Papa Bob) came home from the hospital in! What a cool thing to have! We also have hand made blankets from Grandma Carolyn, Bertha, and Melanie - what a spoiled girl!








Aunt Joan & Uncle Cy came to the hospital to meet Madison as well! They brought the cutest outfit with a matching blanket - we LOVE it! They also gave Shane a Monkey Truck book that he loves and refers to as the "Uncle Cy" book!



Grandma Judy and Papa Irwin came by that evening - no pictures - Dan had the camera. Then it was time for some more family bonding with Maddie the rest of the hospital time!




On September 1st we were released from the hospital! It was so exciting to dress Maddie in her going home outfit! She went home in the cutest dress and of course, had her Papa Bob's blanket over her! Here are some getting ready to go home pictures! Grandma Carolyn also made the adorable hat for her! She is so lucky!!!! Warning - there are a lot of pictures! My favorite is of Dan with both of his children! That one is already in a frame here! I also love the ones of Shane and Maddie - you can really see how gentle and loving he is with his little sister!















Once we got Maddie in the car seat and covered her up with the blanket, we realized just how much she resembles her big brother. Here is Shane going home from the hospital.

And here is Madison.

Here are Shane and Maddie packed into the car!

This is what we arrived home to - The big pink bird (as Shane refers to it). Dan ordered a stork for our lawn just like he did for Shane! We are so lucky to Dan! He is an amazing Daddy and a terrific Hubby!




Once we arrived home, it was time to settle into a routine! Miss Madison already had her first outing to see Dr. Lo - our amazing pediatrician! She got dressed up in an adorable ducky outfit from Grandma Carolyn! At the doctor we were releived to see that her weight is holding steady at 6 pounds 2 ounces. Little Maddie dropped 11% of her body weight in my attempt to breastfeed her. We are now breastfeeding, pumping, and supplementing and that seems to finally be working! OK, here is our little girl at the end of her first full day at home! Daddy looks pretty tired too!


Sunday brought lots of excitement to the Greenfield household! Shane received a very special present from Madison - his very own train table and train set! He was so excited to open it and help Daddy put it together! Maddie has good taste! It is a nice set with lights and sounds! Shane LOVES it! Here are the pictures from the day!







Later that day, Susan and Justin came over to meet their new cousin! Shane loves them, but would not come downstairs to say hi because he was so focused on his new train set. He was also a little crabby because he did not nap... Susan and Justin will be having their baby soon! 11/11/11 is the official due date and we can't wait to see if Shane and Maddie will have a baby girl or a baby boy cousin! Here they are with Madison!



Susan and Justin gave Shane an adorable puppy and he loves him. Unfortunately he would not even look at any presents when they were over. However, he is sleeping with his new dog every night and he loves him! Here are some pictures!


Here is a new picture of Maddie taken today! She is a great baby and Shane is the greatest of big brothers! When she cries, he comes over and says, "Baby sista, k?" and then gives her kisses on the head! He also tries to burp her with me! He is the best! I feel so lucky to have both of these amazing children in my life!