Don't believe everything you read...

Last night, I decided I had hit my breaking point. From all I've read, by 2 months, babies no longer "need" to be fed in the middle of the night, they just expect it. So after Maddie woke up at 2 am, I decided it would be best for all of us if she went to sleep in her own bed, because according to what I've read (once again) babies tend to sleep better on their own.
Ha. I put her in her bassinet, and she was not having it. I remembered though that Kiley never enjoyed her bassinet either, but did pretty well once we moved her to the crib. So I thought, ok, I'll do that with Maddie.
Once again, ha! To make a long story short, at 4 am I had finally rocked her to sleep to the point that she did not seem like she was going to wake up. I turned her mobile and nightlight on, put her down, went back to my bed, and turned on the baby monitor....and could not fall asleep!!! Maddie was sound asleep, the only noise coming from her room at all was the lullabyes from her mobile, but I was wide awake. Finally, after about 15 minutes (I know because her mobile automatically turns off after that time and it turned off while I was still awake) I fell into a very light sleep, until 6:00 when Maddie woke up ready to eat. I brought her to bed, fed her, and here it is, almost 11:00 am, and she's still sleeping soundly...in my bed!
So, moral of the story: don't believe everything you read. Neither Maddie nor I slept better or longer with her in her own bed. I'll try again soon....promise.

Cosleeping

...and why I can't give it up just yet! As most know, Maddie has been a more "challenging" baby than Kiley was. One of these unique challenges is that she HATES her bed. Her beautiful bed that Casey and I picked out so lovingly:

When we brought her home from the hospital, she was napping in her crib if we chose to put her in it, and she slept every night in her bassinet. Then she started fussing if I put her back in the bassinet after feeding her during the night, and not soon after she started screaming if we attempted to put her down at all while she was napping during the day. I admit, I didn't push her too hard in the middle of the night. With me nursing, it's a lot easier to just have her right next to me in bed so that when she wakes up I can basically just roll over to feed her. I know all the pros and cons of cosleeping and honestly, they seem to cancel each other out. If I'm being completely honest, I also have a more selfish reason for continuing to cosleep:

Just look at this sweet baby in her pajamas relaxing in bed with us!

She's just too sweet! Maddie is the biggest cuddle bug, and I love snuggling up with her at night. Plus, we have a king sized bed, so she isn't really taking up any room.
Long story short, I think I'll let her stay awhile. I'm going back to work tomorrow, so cuddle time at night will become even more precious to me.
And besides, it's not like she'll want to sleep in bed with us forever...right?

It's amazing what you can accomplish while holding a baby...

The title pretty much says it all. It's a lesson I'm learning every day. As most people know, when I had Kiley I was fortunate enough to still live at home with my parents, so I had almost constant help with her. Fast forward 5 years and I'm married, living out on my own, and I have a baby. It's definitely a lot different scenario! Last night, Casey went out after work to get some candy-making supplies for his new business, Sugars and Spice (more on that later, I'm sure). He took Kiley with him, so I was left home with Maddie. No big deal, since I'm home with her every day right now. However, 5 o'clock rolled around and Casey had not returned. I knew I had to make dinner, but I have a very clingy baby who usually cries if I put her down for even a second. I "manned up" though, and managed to get a pot of spaghetti boiling and a homemade marinara sauce simmering, all while holding Maddie! Go me!
In other big accomplishments, Maddie also let me put her in her bouncer while I finished off the meal, and she even stayed in there for most of the time we ate dinner. I can't tell you the last time Casey and I got to both enjoy a meal without holding a baby. Maybe this super clingy phase is coming to an end...only time will tell.

Maddie at 2 months! What a stinker!

Starting out

Hey friends and family! I decided to start this blog as a way for people to keep up with what's going on with us, especially our precious daughters. Also, I'll be talking about the various fun activities we do in Nashville and the surrounding areas,so maybe you'll even get a few ideas of things to do with your kids. Hope you guys enjoy reading up on us!
As you know, we added Madelyn Grace to the family on January 17, 2011. It's been a crazy 9 weeks since then! Adjusting to having a newborn again after 5 years is a bit harder than we'd anticipated, especially since Maddie was nothing like her big sister, Kiley. Kiley was a pretty easygoing baby from the start. Maddie proved to be pretty challenging. We had two solid weeks of nothing but screaming while she was awake and not eating. Since then, though, things have improved. Maddie is mostly pretty happy nowadays. I think she may be a bit more of a challenge again later on though-she's already so eager to go go go all the time! She hates laying down, hates sleeping, etc. I see many days of chasing a very active baby around in our future. 
Kiley Hope is doing great and has adjusted so well to being a big sister. She started kindergarten this year, and is excelling beyond my wildest hopes. Already reading on a third grade level...she might surpass me in the reading department even! She's just so smart and funny. Every day she manages to surprise me with something she knows/does. I hope Maddie turns out just as well.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my very first post!