Congratulations Uncle Steve and Aunt Krista!

On June 20th my brother Steven married the love of his life, Krista. It was a beautiful wedding and we were very excited to share the day with them. We were also excited to see so many family members again. Mady got to meet lots of her relatives for the first time, including the rest of her Beyer Aunts and Uncles (Allen, Amber, Wes, and Monica).

It was a very full weekend for Miss Mady. On Thursday we arrived in Cleveland, then drove down to Hudson for a Beyer family reunion. We were just missing one family and a few stray cousins. Mady was really well behaved through it all. It was nice to have some many people who were eager to hold her so Carrie and I could visit and enjoy our food. :)

On Friday morning our Joe and Kathy Beyer family got together for breakfast, which was also really nice. Our family has grown to 11 people, and that was the first time we were all assembled in one room. Afterwards some of us went to see Great-Grandpa Richards and took a picture with four generations. Back at the hotel Mady took a dip in the swimming pool. This was her first time "swimming." The water was a little chilly, but she seemed to enjoy herself. That evening was the rehearsal and the dinner, which were a lot of fun.

Saturday was the Big Day. Carrie had to take care of Mady on her own the whole day because I was in the wedding party and had groomsman responsibilities to attend to (riding in in party bus around Cleveland to take pictures). Mady did a great job during the wedding. The reception was very classy. Since it was going well past Mady's bedtime, we found a quite corner and hid her behind some furniture to try to let her sleep. :) Hopefully that doesn't make us negligent parents...

On Sunday we got to have brunch at the Faro's while the newlyweds opened gifts. Then we said our good byes and headed homes. Overall, it was a great weekend! We are very happy for Steve and Krista and we were excited to see the family again.

When we got back to Ann Arbor, I dropped Carrie and Mady off, then continued up to Traverse City for a week-long class on Higher Education Law (this is why it has taken me so long to get these wedding pictures posted). I basically learned about all the things that might get me sued during my career! It was a really fun class. I was only away for Mady for five days, but I swear I can notice some growth and changes in just that short period of time. Carrie thinks I'm crazy.

All of our wedding pictures are in the Picasa album for those who would like to see them.

Finally, ours prayers and deepest sympathies go out to Krista and her family at the recent passing of her Grandmother. Praise God that Steven and Krista had the opportunity to visit her on their wedding day and that she is now free of any pain and suffering.

Wilderness Explorers

We just returned home from a four day trip to the Greanya cabin in Northern Michigan. This was Mady's first overnight excursion and she did really well. We played lots of games, went for walks, and sat around a camp fire. We enjoyed visiting Carrie's Aunt Charmaine and Uncle Del, her cousins Nicole, Jared, and Anna, Jared's wife, Mariah, and Mariah's Father, Ken. Nicole's cats Legolas and Maximus Decimus Meridius (aka Dogfood) were also there. It was a very full cabin! Anna, Jared and Ken caught lots of fish (trout, bass, and bluegill). Uncle Del fried them up and we had a fish feast before we left. It was amazing. That was my first time having fish fresh from a lake.

We were worried that Mady wouldn't sleep well in an unfamiliar environment, but she actually slept much better (and so did we consequently) at the cabin than she does here. We had some problems the first night because our bed was really creaky. We had Mady in a little crib in our room, when she woke, we could get her down again pretty easily, but when Carrie or I climbed back into bed, the creaking would wake her again. On the second night, we just had her join us in our bed after she woke the first time, and that worked really well. On the third night, we woke to find her in bed with us in the morning and neither of us remembered bringing her there (I still think Carrie must have done it). Madelyn discovered some new facial expressions over the weekend that she kept everyone entertained with. She can now make a fish face and poutty face. One of the pictures on the right looks like a combination of the two. :)

There are a few more cabin pictures posted in the June Album. It was great to have such a successful trip with the baby. It gives us a lot more confidence about our upcoming trip to Cleveland for Steven and Krista's wedding this weekend.

May Videos

Here are some cute videos we took in May and we added some photos to the May and June photos in Picasa. Enjoy!

5 Month Birthday

Did you know that Madelyn Joy shares a birthday with Elvis Presley and Stephen Hawking? Well now you know. :)

Check out the poll that we posted in the sidebar and let us know your thoughts. This is a very important parenting question.

Mady just celebrated her 5 month birthday. As you can see in the picture, she is developing some fine motor skills. She has a very exciting month ahead of her. We will be taking her up north to visit the Greanya family in their cabin this weekend. Then the following weekend we'll be traveling to Cleveland for Steven and Krista's wedding. All of the progress we've made with getting her on a nap routine will go right out the window. :) Since she has never been out of the apartment overnight, we are looking forward to seeing how she handles it.

Last week we took Mady out to some neighborhood garage sales. We got her some fun new toys and a couple practical items too. We picked up a high chair that hooks on to the table, which will be very helpful when we take her to the cafeteria. We also got a backpack carrier. It isn't as easy to use as the front carrier, but it is easier on my back. All of the baby stuff seems to be crowding our small apartment. We'll be rearranging our apartment soon to make better use of the space and to get it ready for when she starts crawling in the next couple of months.

Below is a short video of Mady drumming her feet on the side of the tub. This is one of her new hobbies.

Standing Tall

As you can see from our pictures, Madelyn has found a use for her feet other than chew toys. She isn't quite able to stand on her own yet, but with just a little help balancing, she can support her weight. It is a lot of fun discovering new talents and mini-milestones.

Mady is definitely a belly-baby. If we leave her unattended on her back for a few seconds, she will roll onto her belly every time. She will even try to roll over when we put her down for naps. This complicates things a little because she likes to keep her head up when she is on her belly, and it is really difficult to sleep that way.

Naps have become our most recent challenge, but we are making good headway. Mady is a much more pleasant baby when she gets some quality naps during the day. Our goal is three 90 minute naps. Until recently, she was taking four, or even five, shorter naps. She often wakes right at 40 or 50 minutes. We've found that if we can soothe her back to sleep as soon as she wakes, we can usually at least double the length of the nap. According to the books, after a few days of this, babies adjust to it and learn to take longer naps on their own. So far it seems to be working. She has had a couple 90+ minute naps in the last few days.

We have a had a couple rough experiences with taking Mady out in social settings recently, where she has gotten cranky and has been very difficult to soothe. She is usually perfectly fine when we take her to church, or shopping, or to the cafeteria. She also is generally just fine with letting other people hold her. Hopefully she was just having a couple of off days. We'll be bringing her out to Cleveland for Steven and Krista's wedding in a few weeks and we are hoping that she will be good baby when she meets all of her relatives for the first time.

We finished adding pictures to the May album.