Grandma Arrives (Day 12)

Daddy's baby's mama's mama arrived today to spend some time with us. It is nice to have the extra help and attention for Maddie. Here's Grandma with Maddie.
Cara Silverman also stopped by this morning to visit. She and her husband Mike are expecting a boy in February!Daddy went to work today and was a little exhausted (probably not as much as Mommy). He made a goofy face for the camera.
We're almost at two weeks and we are seeing Maddie gaining strength in her head. She is starting to be awake for longer periods of time. She is also getting more cute with her expressions and little Ewok noises - or maybe she sounds more like a gremlin.

Daddy's Last Day @ Home (Day 11)

Daddy has to go back to work tomorrow so Dee and Maddie will get some quality alone time - for the first part of the day. Grandma is coming over tomorrow afternoon which will be a relief. We saw a coyote today right behind the house. I guess we'll have to get a fence up once Maddie can play in the backyard.
Cindy & Nancy saw a deer swimming across the lake behind us - never knew deer could swim! Uncle Rob came over and we showed Maddie how to work the keg. Her first words may be "Spotted Cow". Aunt Jean recommended a pacifier for Maddie's constant need to suckle, so we started the Binky and it has helped settle her down and give Mommy some relief.
Almost forgot - the Wii results are in. The other day we weighed Maddie in at 7.5 lbs and tonight she clocked a full 8lbs! Elyria and Will Lee made us a wonderful dinner tonight - thank you so much!

Sleepy Sunday (Day 10)

Mommy and Maddie slept for three hours this afternoon. Daddy put 6 confidence points on the Bears and lost. Maddie was very irritated this morning and Daddy discovered pushing her legs into her belly relieved the pressure. A simple game of pull-my-finger would have also worked.
Cindy and Nancy brought over dinner for us (again) and also had this Barack Obama cookie, delicious and presidential!

The Great Madini

No matter how well Daddy swaddles the girl, she always manages to break out of the burrito.








She is determined to break free because of the need to explore the world, or maybe it is just gas.










We call Maddie the Great Madini after the master escapologist Harry Houdini.

Mommy's first post (Day 9)

Auntie Mimi and Amy Halliburton (the "original") enjoying time with Maddie. Auntie Mimi's little boy will be arriving early next year. We can't wait to meet him!


Aunt Donna with the swaddled Maddie. She was tired!


Grandpa Freise holds Maddie in front of the warm fire. It was cold in Chicago today!

Today we had lots of visitors. Grandma and Grandpa Freise came by with Aunt Donna, and Auntie Mimi (Amy) and her sister-in-law Amy flew in from Tulsa to visit. It was great to have extra hands to hold Maddie and she loved every minute of it.
Feedings are getting a bit easier, but it still is challenging to get Maddie to open her little mouth BIG. Mommy has had lots of support from friends and family encouraging her to stick with it and it will get easier and Daddy is a great coach. Maddie has been more alert between feedings today and goes for 2-3 hours (sometimes 4 at night) allowing good naps and adequate sleep for everyone.
Lisa and Mike brought over more food for dinner and breakfast. We continue to be overwhelmed with the amount of love and support we have received from the neighbors, friends, and family. They say it takes a village to raise a child and we feel like we've got a great village supporting us.

Friday (Day 8)

Maddie continues to challenge Mommy in feeding. However, we don't think she is underfed as evident by her chubby cheeks. She still has remnants of jaundice but we should see it clear up entirely in the next week or so. Daddy is going to use the Wii Fit to weigh Maddie today by first weighing himself and then holding baby and weighing again. We were thinking of creating a Mii for Maddie, but we would have to change it too often to match her physical changes; we'll wait a couple years. Thank you Peggy and Bob Plohg for bringing us dinner. The muffins were awesome. If you don't mind, could you please send the recipe? Thanks also Cindy and Lowell Stoelting for dropping off breakfast. What great neighbors we have!
Here Maddie shows us how she rubs her hands together to warm them up - just like Grandpa Freise does.

Thursday (1 Week)

Today we visited the doctor again to make sure the jaundice was still healing. Everything checked out OK, and in fact, Maddie weighed 6 lbs. 15 ounces - nearly one pound more than when we left the hospital last Saturday. Apparently, this is quite remarkable. She must getting her aggressive eating habits from her father. Thank you Lisa & Mike Fleischer for the wonderful dinner!