Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful first Christmas with Maddy! Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks. Our camera had to be replaced, which sadly left us with a few weeks of missed moments. Not to worry, we are back in action thanks to a late birthday/early Christmas gift! :)

Thanks to Lance, we were able to use the timer on the camera to snap our little family picture :)
Having fun with black and white photos

Hanging out with Daddy!

I *love* this picture! She loves her Daddy!

Cheese!

On the 22nd, we had the chance to run over to Orlando from Crystal River and visit my good friend Sarah. She FINALLY got to meet Maddy. Her son, Jackson (who will be 2 in Feb), also got to meet Maddy, and donned her with her very first smooch! :) We hope they grow up to be good friends, too!

This is just a neato picture because we first met and became friends waaaay back in 9th grade when we were just 15 years old! Fast forward 13 years and here we are!

Christmas Day at the Tegens with all sorts of family there to join us. Grandma Rapacz couldn't wait to squeeze those little cheeks!
That's okay though...

...because Maddy had the last say in that! :)

Maddy loves all her new toys that light up and play music. She also likes to try and put them in her mouth along with everything else.

Daddy had to get some playtime in with the new toys, too!

Aunt Rachel took Maddy for a few minutes so mommy could eat some Christmas dinner of her own :)

Hanging out with Great Grandpa Powell...

...but not for long, because Great Grandma Powell had to have her share of time, as well!

Maddy thought it would be a good idea to share her fingers with Great Grandma, too. After all, Christmas is all about giving! :)

The Tegen women! Thanks to Grandma Tegen for hosting a wonderful dinner (as always!). We had the chance to spend the week before Christmas with Tegens as well, so Maddy had lots of time to bond and love on her Grandma aside from the busy-ness of preparing and cooking a Christmas meal!

Uncle Mike, Aunt Rachel, Grandma Rapacz, Mommy, Maddy, and Daddy! We missed you, John!

Maddy with her other Uncle John!

Maddy isn't quite ready to play on this independently just yet, but Grandma Tegen put her on for a preview of what's to come...I think Maddy is already enjoying this one!

Grandpa Tegen was the one who found the way fun rocking horse--they had some good talks about other fun toys to come...mommy and daddy are going to need lots more batteries, I think.

Maddy got to try out another fun gift--a doorway jumper. She doesn't quite have the idea yet, but we can pull it up so that her feet don't touch the ground and swing her around--she really likes that. When we do let her feet touch the ground, she kind of pushes herself around. I'm sure she'll figure the jumping/bouncing part out very soon, though!

All tired after a busy morning of playing with all the new toys!

She seems to have grown so much this week! This morning, I picked her up and she just seemed bigger, somehow. Funny how that works :) After sleeping in the pack and play all week at the Grandparents' house, we came home and put her straight in the crib without the bassinet--success! She is officially in her crib now--hooray! She is trying desperately to sit up. She still needs support, but is so close to being able to support herself. She is also very close to rolling over on her own. She can do it with a bit of posturing from mommy, and just loves it once she finds her way back over. She has figured out all sorts of things that require a pull to make noise and is a fan of the plastic links. But her most favorite playthings are her feet and toes! They haven't quite made it into her mouth, but I'm sure that's on the way as well! And with that, I shall leave you with one final picture and bid you farewell until the next post! Happy New Year!

All sorts of stuff!

Today was Maddy's 4 month check up. She is now 13 lbs 9 oz, and is 24.5 inches long! The doctor was happy with how she is developing and had no concerns at all. The only not-so-happy part of the visit was that Maddy received her second round of vaccination shots...Daddy got to join us this time and endure the pain as well. He was braver than Mommy (she teared up again). Now we don't go back until Feb for a 6 month check up.
Lance has finished up school for the fall and has a month off--YAY! He's off until January 5 (our anniversary!), and then returns for the spring semester--I'll also be returning to school in the spring on a part-time basis, so life should be interesting to say the least! At any rate, we hope to enjoy the next few weeks together as a family. We hope to visit some friends and family and just savor the free time!
Here are some pics from random things over the past couple of weeks...


We've had a good week sleep-wise. Maddy has slept through the night most nights, and others, wakes up once after 5 or 6 hours, feeds, and goes back down for another 4 or 5--it is grand! :) As of this past Monday (12/1), Maddy has been sleeping in her room! We had to trick her into it, though, by putting her bassinet into the crib. We'll keep that up for a bit longer and then slowly transition to the crib during naps or something...we'll see how that goes.

Maddy hanging out with Grandpa Tegen at Thanksgiving. She loves standing up on his lap!

Grandma Rapacz with the little Tegen clan!

Since Maddy has been wanting to bear her own weight and "stand," I tried her out in the bouncer play thing this week...she can just touch the bottom with her toes. She has to lean forward or backward, so she's not quite ready, but I'm sure she'll be ready soon enough!!!

We put up our Christmas tree today! Lance's parents were kind enough to drive up this past weekend and bring it up for us, as we had it stored at their house. Maddy enjoyed watching the lights go on--I should have snapped a pic then, but the camera wasn't handy :o(.

Family and Friends

We have had a busy, but wonderful week! Thursday night and Friday, Suzanne and her family were able to come and visit. For those of you who don't know, Suzanne is my cousin whom I've not seen for about 7 years. We spent a lot of time together when we were young--while my aunt and uncle lived here in the States. Suzanne now lives with her husband and three young boys in France where they are serving as missionaries in a church plant in Lyon. They have been in the states raising support and while in Huntsville, Alabama, made a point to come down to Tallahassee for a visit. It was so good to see her after all these years and to share our families with each other!

Sunday night during Fellowship Group, the kiddos had some time to play together after worship--we caught some cute pics of them interacting--well, as much as they can at this point! The other two boys are both about 6 months old, but Maddy wasn't gonna let the age difference stop her from participating! :)

I can do new things!

Hello Again!
Here are some pictures of Maddy's new and emerging skills and talents...I still need to get a picture of her standing up w/ help--will come soon!

I like to grab my toys!

I pull on them and sometimes get frustrated that I can't get them in my mouth!

But I can get this in my mouth! I hold it in place with my hands and feet!

Check this out...I can almost get the whole thing in there!

My new rattle fits in there pretty good, too!

A long-overdue hello!

Hello All!
I apologize for the delay in posting...I've been having issues with getting videos up and so I just abandon postings all together following the frustration...I'll get that figured out eventually (if anyone can offer help, please do!!).
Anyhow, we are all doing well! Maddy is so much fun these days! She is so much more alert and interactive lately. She has found her hands and loves to suck on them--she often tries to stick her entire fist in her mouth--it is the funniest sight. She is starting to play with some of the toys we have. She'll grab on to things, pull them towards her, or try and put them in her mouth. All we had were a couple of plush dolls that played music, so we bought a cheap plastic rattle. She's not as amused, but its better for the slobber...easier to clean :) She is able to bear her weight on her legs if you hold her up. She loves to "talk" to us, especially after feedings. The biggest news comes this week--she laughed for the first time! She's only done it a few times, but it has got to be the best sound in the entire world! Other big news is sleep--she is getting better and better!! In fact, she's sleeping for 6 and 7 hour stretches now!!! We just need to get bedtimes earlier. She's falling asleep about the time we get to bed--around 11:00, sleeping through to 5 or 6 and then going back to sleep after she feeds--and will sleep for another 4 hours or so. It has been such a blessing to have that sleep!!! We're waiting for it to become a bit more consistent and then we'll see about moving her from the bassinet in our room to the crib in her room. She has such a pretty room and she hardly ever uses it!?!?! :)
Maddy had a chance to meet her Uncle John (Rosemary's brother) for the first time in the last couple weeks (unfortunately due to a visit to see our grandmother who is in the hospital). They both had a great time getting to know each other!
Mom and dad are doing well--Lance continues to do well in school. Balancing all his new fatherly duties has been a challenge, but he is doing a great job. Rosemary is working to integrate all her new responsibilities as Mother with those of Wife and Student as well (returning to school part-time in Jan, but getting some work started ahead of time). We are just so happy to have Maddy in our world now, and couldn't imagine it any other way.
We'll try and get updates up more often!
Love,
Lance and Rosemary

Reading with Daddy
Tummy time with Mommy...look out for the cat.

I tried to eat my rabbit that plays a lullaby and lights up...not so good.

I may not look thrilled at this precise moment (I smiled just a second later!), but I love my Uncle John!!!

I'm just cute!

It's been a while!

Hello All!
I can't believe that it's been over a month since I last posted...boy does time fly. Maddy is doing well...just growing and getting cuter by the day! :) She is all about social smiles, learning to take turns "talking," and almost ready to roll over. Here are some much awaited pictures! These are from the past week--we went down to see Grandma and the Great Grandparents :) ENJOY!

Hello All,
So, it's been another couple of weeks since I've posted...and boy have we been busy! Lance is in full swing with school--he has his first exam of the semester this Friday, so intense study mode has commenced.
Maddy and I are working on getting into some semblance of a routine. So far, we're still up for most of the night, but early mornings seem to be for sleeping. I can sometimes get a few hours between 7:30-10:30 if I'm lucky. :)
Maddy is doing well...we're still trying to work out the breastfeeding thing, but she's getting her necessary fill of food between pumping and formula! She's nearly 10 pounds now...a healthy little bugger! :) She's starting to play with her voice a bit more now, so it's fun to hear her start to vocalize and make new sounds. She's also pretty strong--she can hold onto my fingers while I pull her up from a lying position and maintain decent control of her head and neck. We do it once a day :) She is also very good at scooting up my chest and then pushing herself up in a little push up so that she is nose to nose with me :) It is too cute! I think she's not too far off from rolling over in the crib. She's started rolling onto her side to sleep.
We still can't believe that we actually have a little baby here--its crazy to think that she was in my tummy just 4 short weeks ago. We're having fun getting to know her! Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks!
Love,

Lance, Rosemary, & Maddy I love this face! She makes it from time to time.
She likes sleeping on mommy's shoulder.
Looking pretty in her dress!
Mouth breather just like Daddy!
Hmmm...
She had fun with the towel after a sponge bath!

This is how daddy studies w/ Maddy if mommy needs a break :)
Just hanging out!