I've been slacking.....

Wow, it's been a while since I updated! Ryan was born on 7/30/11 at 8lbs 1 oz 19 inches long. He has completed our family and is the total opposite of Maddie. Where Maddie is petite, blonde and brown eyes, Ryan is big and has blue eyes & dark brown hair. He weighs about 18 lbs at almost 4 months and is already moving into 9 month clothes. He is a very happy baby & smiles a lot! It is just amazing how different the entire thing has been - his pregnancy, birth, looks have all been totally different than Maddie. It is really fun to watch Maddie interact with Ryan though - she has tried to kill him a couple of times (hitting him on the head with a remote or a doll) but for the most part she really loves him. Maddie gives Ryan kisses and tries to help by bringing Ryan whatever she thinks he needs when he cries (blankets, pacifiers, bottles, toys, etc...).

Maddie has also been talking a lot more...her main words are:
- mommy
- daddy
- momma
- dadda
- Ryan (ian)
- waldo (waa - woe)
- no!
- mine
- hot (ot)
- milk
- bye
- hi

She is quite a character and loves to dance & clean & has started immitating which means we need to start watching what we do! The other night I picked up a magazine and swatted the dog, next thing I know Maddie was chasing after the dog with a magazine trying to hit her!
It was a huge adjustment to go from one kid to two, but I will try to start updating more often. Right now we are looking forward to Christmas and will be decorating this weekend! All of the holidays have been so much fun this year! For Halloween Maddie was a ladybug & Ryan was a bat - we went trick or treating with cousins Caitlin & Emma & Maddie LOVED it! She was so excited, walking as fast as she could & squealing the entire time. Maddie also enjoyed the turkey at Thanksgiving and ate quite a bit.

Ryan Girard Fogle
Born 7/30/11 (37 wks 2 days)
8 lbs 1 oz 19 inches long
2 months - 14.13 lbs 23 inches

Madelyn Brooke Fogle
Born 1/7/10 (38 wks 2 days)
6lbs 15 oz 18.5 in
2 months - 03/09/10 - 10.7 lbs - 50th % 21.5 inches -50th %
4 months - 05/18/10 - 13.5 lbs - 33rd % 23.3 inches - 11th %
6 months - 06/28/10 - 15 lbs
7 months - 07/23/10 - 15.6 lbs - 25th % 24 1/4 inches
One year - 18.6 lbs 28 in
18 months - 23.10 lbs 31 inches
11/28/11 - approx 25 lbs

I will try to update more often and will add pics soon! Hopefully Ryan will start sleeping through the night soon as he is still waking up at least 1-2 times a night.

Maddie - 18 months

Last Friday was Maddie's 18 month appointment & she got her last shot until she is four! Yay! She now weights 23.10 lbs and is 31 inches tall. She has been talking more and loves to play with her "friends" (a bunch of stuffed animals). She arranges them all around her and moves them around to make sure they are exactly where she wants them. She also tries to carry as many as she possibly can at once and takes them all to bed with her. She is all about being a "big girl" and refuses to sit in her highchair anymore (only wants the booster), insists on brushing her own teeth, eating with a fork, etc... We really think she is ready to start potty training, but are hesitant to start when Ryan will be here very soon. She is more and more fun every single day & I am excited to see how she will react to Ryan.

As far as Ryan goes, we are now 36w5d & things are progressing well. My hands and feet are starting to swell, but my blood pressure has been perfect so far. We have pretty much everything we need for him and at this point just need to get everything organized and I need to finish packing for the hospital. It seems kind of surreal that Ryan could be here anytime over the next couple of weeks.

MADDIE 16 MONTHS....RYAN 26 WKS!

Last weekend we took Maddie to Port Aransas for her first trip to the beach! She was very leery of the ocean and I only got her to walk up to the water once and as soon as the water hit her feet she started crying. After that she sat with me on my chair for about an hour before she would finally start exploring the beach. She did this same routine everytime we would go to the beach. Once she started exploring though, there was no stopping her & she was all over the place! Overall, we had a nice long weekend trip and hope we can go back next year though it may be hard with 2 kids!

Maddie has 6 teeth now, she has 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. She loves to climb on everything and can climb onto & off of the sofa now. She waves, blows kisses, shrugs her shoulders & goes "uh oh" all the time. She has also started giving kisses with her mouth closed if you purse your lips at her. She is a very loving and affectionate little girl & loves to run up and give hugs and kisses & come up and lift up her arms for you to pick her up. She loves to be outside, torment the dog, dance, sit in the bathroom with me while i am getting ready & pull everythign out of the little cabinet. She is into everything, but is loads of fun & gives the best hugs! They recently moved her into room 200 at daycare, and she is still adjusting to that. The kids in that room are much more rambunctious and some are a lot bigger than her. At first she was stuck to the teacher like glue, but it seems like she is coming out of her shell more although she does cry every morning when I drop her off now.

Things are going well with the pregnancy & I really hope Maddie adjusts well to having a little brother. we still have to start work on the room and get it ready, which we will hopefully be able to do one of these weekends very soon. Next Thursday is the start of the third trimester, so time is quickly running out! It is amazing how fast this pregnancy has gone by compared to Maddie's & hard to believe that in 3 months our family will be complete & Ryan will be here (God willing).

15 Months!

Just wanted to give a quick update that last Friday, 04/15/11, Maddie had her 15 month appointment & she is continuing to grow like a little weed! She is now 20.9 lbs and 29 inches! The doctor said she looks great & the "humping" that Maddie likes to do to shopping carts, benches, my leg, pretty much anything she can is "normal" & we just need to deal with it until she is closer to age 2 when we can start telling her is not something we do in public....Maddie has been eating like crazy and I fear we are going to have a junk food junkie on our hands....she just recently had her first bite of chocolate and I think we have created a monster! It is amazing to watch her grow though. She now waves, blows kisses, gives high fives, points at what she wants, walks to her swing and tries to climb into it when she wants to sit in it. She also likes to play peekaboo and will poke her little head out from behind stuff and start laughing, she is really a lot of fun. Earlier today she was reaching in her toy box to try to get a toy and I looked over and all I could see were 2 little feet sticking out of it and Maddie crying...she had reached over too far and fell into the toy box, LOL.

The pregnancy is continuing to go well and Ryan has been kicking harder lately. His due date is exactly 4 months from today!

21 Wks

Last Wednesday, 04/06/11, we had out 20 wk appointment & ultrasound and everything looks great. They had no problem finding all 4 of the chambers of Ryan's heart this time and they said he is measuring a week ahead and everything looks perfect! His heart rate was 143bpm & they estimate his weight at 1 lb 1 oz currently. The dr said I can expect to really "pop" over the next month or so because of how fast he is growing. So far I have gained 14 lbs which is better than what I had gained with Maddie at this point. We are very happy that everything appears to be fine with him and are going to re-paint the kids room this weekend! Maddie is doing great too! Loves her swing outside and has been trying to run, but with not a lot of success. She has gotten her left front top tooth in and the 2 top teeth next to the ones in the very front are starting to come in as well. Right now she has a total of 4 teeth. She will say "uh oh", "mmmmm" when she eats something she likes and something that we cannot quite figure out if it is "thank you" or not. Also, when we take off her shoes we rub her feet & go "ahhh" & she will now say "ahhhh" when we take off her shoes. The other day she was sitting on the floor rubbing her own foot going "ahhh"...it was really cute!

The week before last (3/28-03/31) it was just the two of us because Dan was in Victoria for work, it really made me realize all the "little things" that Dan does that really help out with her. This past weekend we went to Grandpa Fogle's for his 55th birthday & although the pool was too cold to go in it should be warm enough next time we go up there. This weekend we are having an early Easter picnic at the park with Nana & Grandpa Bob & David & Toni & the girls. Ryan's 21 wk stats compared to Maddie's at the same gestational age: Ryan: 20w6d - measuring 22w2d - 1lb 1oz Maddie: 21w?d - measuring 21w4d - 14oz

Halfway there almost!!

Today we are 19 wks exactly and tonight Dan was able to feel Ryan kicking from the outside for the first time! Yes, you read that right, it is definitely a boy! We went for an ultrasound with the perinatologist on 03/17/11 and found out that he is a healthy baby boy! His heart rate was 153 and he was measuring at 9 oz. It was exciting to see him moving around and how much he has grown since the last ultrasound. When they were looking at his boy bits they put them up on the screen & the tech asked us what gender we wanted and I said "that looks like a boy!" and she said I was correct. They did give us a scare because the tech looked for all 4 chambers of the heart for about 20 minutes and then the perinatologist came in and looked for another 5 minutes before declaring that his heart looks good & he is "perfect". I was getting pretty nervous there for a while though, afraid they were going to say there was something wrong with his heart. Everything was measuring right for his age & I do not need to go back to the perinatologist unless something else comes up, which is good news. Our next appointment with the ob is 04/06/11, and they are supposed to do another ultrasound then.

I also think it is interesting that Ryan has the same due date as his dad did! I do think Ryan will come a little bit early like Madelyn did though....

Madelyn is doing great! She is a little walking fool and has finally gotten her top tooth in. She looks so cute walking around. She also tries to climb up on stuff now and rides her little riding toy around (but will only go backwards!). She also blows kisses now and kind of says "uh oh" if you say it first, but it is not very clear. She is amazing to watch and she always makes me smile! :-) She is truly the light of my life. Last weekend Grandpa Fogle and Daddy made her a swingset for the backyard & Maddie LOVES it! The higher you push her the bigger the smile...she definitely has no fear.

Other than that not much new....next week Dan is going to Victoria for work, so I will get a taste of the single parent life for a week. We are going to miss him and I am sure it will give me a new appreciation for all the things he does for/with us.

We have also planned a little weekend getaway to the coast in early May as a "mini-vacation", so I am excited about that & cannot wait to see how Maddie reacts to the ocean!

Quick update

Just wanted to post a quick update... had a drs appointment this morning - everything looks great! The baby was moving around a lot so it took the dr a while to find the heartbeat & when she did it sounded kind of muffled, which the dr said was because the baby was moving all around. Heartbeat was nice and strong at 163 bpm though! We are 17 weeks tomorrow and so far I have gained 9 lbs. They also took blood for the rest of the sequential screen to screen for neural tube defects. I also feel better after takling to the dr about our "increased risk of downs"...she confirmed that there are A LOT of false positives and our risk is still low. She said that most of the time the level 2 ultrasound will show any problems & for us not to get too worried or worked up about it as chances are the baby is perfect! We have the level 2 ultrasound next Thursday & hopefully everything will go well there and will show a healthy little baby in there....and we should be able to find out if it is a boy or a girl! The heartrate is up there where Maddie's was, so by the old wives tale, it would be a girl. We shall see next week!

In other news, Maddie has been eating up a storm and is starting to get a cute little "baby belly". She likes to poke her belly button with her finger and pick her entire belly up with her hands, it is pretty cute. She is continuing to perfect her walking skills and is doing great! She has also been giving high 5's since Uncle David showed her how to do it on Saturday!

Watch out world, Maddie is WALKING!!!

Over the last couple of weeks Maddie got to visit again with Great Grandma & Grandpa Bernstein & got to meet her Uncle Jason & Aunt Jara. It was nice to get to see everyone and watch Maddie interact with everyone. Of course, she was the center of attention and kept everyone entertained with her dancing & cuteness! It's amazing to think that next year when Great Grandma & Grandpa come to town we will have 2 little ones to keep us on our toes.

Maddie also started walking on 2/26/11. She has been walking around with her push toys for several months, but hadn't taken more than 2-3 steps on her own since. Well, on 02/26/11, we dropped her off at Nana & Grandpa's while we went for a date night and when we got back were surprised when they said she had been walking all around...and even more surprised when she started doing it for us and walking all around the house. It is the cutest thing, she is so proud of herself and gets the biggest grin on her face! Since then she has been walking a lot, but still thinks it is easier to crawl or walk with a toy.

Maddie has also been doing much better with the eating and has pretty much given up on jarred baby food. She always wants to try whatever we are eating, and really loves fish sticks, chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese, pudding, chips & cookies. She is still pretty picky, but is doing great overall. She has also gotten her top 2 teeth in finally & now has a total of 4 teeth! She had an extremely fussy couple of days before her teeth came in, and I am not looking forward to molars if her front teeth are that bad for her.

In other news, we had a get together with Nana & Grandpa, David & Toni & Caitlin & Emma. It is fun to watch Caitlin & Maddie play together, they do great together! For the first time Maddie actually got jealous when I was holding Emma & came over screaming and upset until I handed Emma off and picked her up. Hopefully Maddie will get over that by the time August rolls around!

Everything is going well with the pregnancy so far. I have an appointment on Tues with my OB that will probably be pretty uneventful (hopefully!) - they should just listen to the heartbeat with a doppler & take blood for the rest of the Nuchal Translucency test (to screen for spinal cord issues) - Dan thinks I should just skip it, and part of me agrees, but another part of me feels like I already did the first 2 parts, I might as well finish the test off. We already talked to the genetic counselor and declined the amnio, so we have a level 2 ultrasound scheduled for 03/17/11 & should be able to find out the gender at that time (I think it's a boy, but we shall see). Hopefully everything will look good on the ultrasound. Last week (week 15) I started feeling the baby move, which is a comforting feeling. I had forgotten what it felt like & wasn't sure if I was feeling the baby or not, but as soon as I felt it I knew exactly what it was!

How can I forget??? SNOW in San Antonio!!!

On February 4, 2011, we had SNOW in San Antonio! Of course, the entire city shut down, and we enjoyed a snow day. I have not seen that much snow since I moved to San Antonio in 1986, so it was quite an event! Maddie is NOT a fan of the cold or snow at all, so we only went out in it for a couple of minutes before she started crying and we went back inside, but it was definitely an event to remember!

Also, Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Bernstein arrived for a couple of weeks and we went up to see them. Maddie was kind of fussy when we went up there, but hopefully she will be feeling better when we go up next week.

I also put in some random pics from the last month as I have been slacking on the blog

Happy First Birthday Maddie!!

Wow, it's been a while since I updated the blog, but it's been a busy month! Maddie turned one on Jan 7, 2011, and to celebrate we had a small get together at the house....everyone showed up to wish Maddie a Happy Birthday, and it was a great time. Daddy smoked a brisket all night and we had grilled asparagus, potato salad & beans with it. Maddie was still not very interested in opening presents, but did enjoy playing with them once they were unwrapped. I tried to get Cousin Caitlin to help with the unwrapping, but she was being shy :-). It was really funny, when we gave Maddie her piece of birthday cake, she stuck her hand in the frosting, and then started screaming and crying until Mommy wiped it all off of her hand. Needless to say, by that time she was so upset that she wouldn't even try to eat the cake! We had a photo book made of the entire first year of her life, and I plan to have one made for her for every birthday so she can look back over the entire year, kind of like a scrapbook.

I really cannot believe how fast a year has gone by.....Maddie amazes us every single day & has grown and changed so much in the past year. Our little newborn is gone and has been replaced by an adorable, curious, loving little toddler. When she was a newborn I couldn't picture her looking any different than she did, but comparing the pictures now, it is clear that she has indeed changed, quite a lot, and that is why I put a pic of her as a newborn on this post. Maddie has completely changed our lives...all for the better! It seems like she has always been a part of us and I cannot remember what filled our time or thoughts before we had her.

Here are her 1 year stats:

18.6 lbs 28 in

birth:

6lbs 15 oz 18.5 in

A friend of mine once told me that your life can completely change in a year. I really didn't believe her at the time because I was single and the thought of having the family I always wanted seemed like it was never going to happen. Since the day I met Dan, my life has completely changed and I am so much happier than I ever thought I could be. We are a little family, and are very excited to announce that our family is growing again! That's right, in August Madelyn is going to be a big sister! Our due date is 08/18/11, which is the day after Daddy's birthday, and we are currently 13 weeks. We had an NT test last week & the sonogram looked good - baby was measuring 13w3d (5 days ahead), had a heart rate of 167 & is 3 inches long, and the doctor said everything looked good. Unfortunately, my labs showed an increased risk of Downs syndrome (1/123 compared to the average 1/240 for my age), which is still less than .8% risk, but we are now being sent to a perinatologist for a more in depth ultrasound and more labs. This is the same test that I passed on with Madelyn due to the high rate of false positives, and looking back, I should have passed on it again. We both have faith and are both optimistic that everything will be fine, but we will love our little baby regardless.