That's What She Said: Happy New Year!

I can't believe Maddie is almost 5 months old! This past month flew by, as we were busy with Christmas and family fun. Maddie got to meet a lot of her extended family over Christmas, and she did really well despite all the noise and excitement. The Humphries family gathering is always one of my favorite days of the year, and this year didn't disappoint. Everyone kindly travelled down to Greenville so that Mike and I wouldn't have to make an extra trip (we were already in Greenville for the week). Lots of delish food, catching up and a very funny giftcard exchange. Everyone marvelled at Mom's awesome thousand foot tree, and Maddie had her picture taken a lot.

After just one too many pictures, lol!!!

The rest of the week was spent hanging out with my family, and it was great. Mike and I never understand how such a long trip goes by so quickly! Sarah got Rock Band for Christmas, and knew she was getting it, so we instituted a new "open a present on Christmas Eve" tradition, and all got to play Rock Band together on Christmas Eve, lol! Mike's pretty sure he's going to become a professional drummer now. We opened presents Christmas morning, and Maddie got lots of cute presents and books. She especially loved her Sophie Giraffe, although look how suprised she was to get stacking rings, lol!

After opening presents, we loaded up the car and headed to Lumberton to see Mike's extended family. Then we brought his mom back to Raleigh for a few days, and she loved spending time with the baby.

This past month, Maddie has really grown up a lot! The difference in her temperament is just amazing. She now pretty much only cries if she's hungry or tired, and we no longer have long afternoons of screaming inconsolably. She's almost always happy and grinning and squealing when she's awake. We can even go in the car and run errands without expecting a meltdown! Her new favorite noise to make is squealing/shrieking/screaming. For about a week, it was the only noise she'd make. Now, fortunately for our ears and glassware, she only does it a couple dozen times a day. Here's a video of her favorite noise....although this really doesn't do it justice. It's much more shrill in person, lol.

We finally took the infant headrest out of her carseat today! It made me sad, she looked like such a big girl in there! But I can't say I'll miss those first 3 months. I have some great memories, sure, but colicky baby= one stressed out mommy. I'm loving this stage we're in now though- she's still not mobile, but she's happy and very interactive. I'm looking forward to crawling, walking, etc, but I know I'll definitely miss these days!

We had some family pictures done right before Christmas by Lux Photography, and it was such a great experience! We had a great time and although I think Maddie only smiled twice the entire two hours, they still got some great pictures. Here's my fave- it's the only one of Maddie crying but it's just so her, lol! And a link to all of my favorites- sorry, I had a lot of favorites.