Happy Halloween everyone!! Little Madigan got her class picture taken today with her daycare class. They had a good turnout for the picture.. quite the little group! (she is the banana)

She also got some pictures taken on the porch with her pumpkins.

 The bib is from the Hille grandparents; the jack-o-lantern onesie is from the Gibbs grandparents. She loves to sit up with a little bit of support behind her. She would rather be sitting up and looking around than lying down. I can't believe how much she has grown and changed. The next big step for her is solid food. We are going to talk to the pediatrician and see when he suggests cereal. She seems really interested in food, and watches us eat. I can't believe she's old enough to be starting real, solid foods!! We hope everyone has a happy halloween- lots of love!!

The Hilles

our happy camper

This kid is all smiles!! There is nothing more rewarding than a baby smiling at you, it just reassures you that all is right with the world.

Just the other night, Madigan fell asleep on Brett just as she is asleep on him in the picture! She was sitting facing out on his lap, when she got really quiet... and we both looked and she was asleep! Arms back, legs sprawled, plain-old sleeping. She truly is my child, for her ability to sleep whenever she decides she wants to, and in whatever position she happens to be in. 

 My new job at the cath lab started last Monday, and I really enjoy it. I think I will learn a lot, and I really enjoy my co-workers. I also enjoy getting off work at 2 to 4 pm every day, and actually seeing my daughter when she's awake! Brett is still doing good in school and enjoys working at the bank with all the "women" (half of whom are pregnant! Poor guy has been surrounded by emotional women for too long!) He gets to enroll for classes this week for his LAST semester. Graduation will be in May. Don't worry, Dana and I are already planning the party... :)  Brett and I have joined a Co-Ed Badminton league at the YMCA that we are members at. We joked around that we would go in and be really competitive, but honestly, everyone there IS!! They were so happy to have a "local" league because most of them had been driving to Grand Island for the last year to compete!! WHAT?! We played 4 matches, and only won ONE game- and we don't stand a chance against the asian couples that are in the league. It's going to be a 6 week session in getting our butts kicked, but we have enjoyed having the time together. Madigan stayed with her first "babysitter" (besides her daycare girls) that night- a co-worker of mine named Trisha. (I guess a RN with ACLS training is a pretty good pick for babysitter) Trisha is actually the daughter of Madigan's daycare class head teacher Ms. Chris! So I guess her child-care is all in the family. I did get chewed out by another co-worker Jan (aka "Nana Jan")  for not asking her to babysit-so next time I guess Madigan is headed to Nana Jan's so she doesn't have to watch her parents get their butt's whooped by asians at badminton!! :) 

Just a quick update...

Nothing cuter than a slippery kid in a tub, no? She really does enjoy her bath time, but the bright flash distracts her and always makes her look so serious. She is quickly outgrowing the tub she has. I guess we'll have to invest in a bigger one soon....

And we can't talk about being cute without a picture of this super-cute outfit that we got from "aunt" Mandy! We got lots of comments that day about her cute polka-dots and the ruffles on the butt (you can't see them in this pic, but they were incredibly cute!) Unfortunately she does have "Gibbs Head Syndrome" and the headband had to come off... it left a dent in her forehead.

 Madigan is growing so fast and doing new things every day. On Tuesday she rolled over but I think it was kind of a fluke. She pushed up really high, and flopped down with her arm across her chest- then she pushed and rolled from front to back. I got all excited and rolled her back onto her stomach, and sure enough a few minutes later she did it again! I ran and got the video camera, and then all she would do was cry! :( Of course, she wouldn't do it for Brett, and hasn't done it since. I think it was basically luck of positioning of her arm, but it was still fun to watch and I'm "counting it" as her first roll. Don't try to convince me otherwise, it's already in ink in her baby book! She is still enjoying her "girls" at daycare, and has already made legend of herself as the "baby with the blowouts"!! She likes to save up and "get her diapers' worth" as we're told. We have been asked to bring more pants to keep on hand for the wardrobe changes. Ah, the things our children do that make us proud parents.  Also, we're looking forward to coming home the weekend of Nov 8th to do some wedding pictures, and Madigan gets to play "Baby Jesus" in BLC's picture production of the Christmas Story! Otherwise nothing is too new. I start my new job at the outpatient cath lab on Monday. I'm looking forward to the shorter, less-stress hours and no weekends or holidays! I will leave you with a little video of bath time. Nothing too exciting, but fun to see the munchkin in action none the less. Enjoy!

More Weekend Fun!

Lots more weekend fun at the Hille House! The whole Hille family came up to Kearney, and Madigan got to see her cousins Will and Max, and all her aunts and uncles. We went on Saturday to the Harvest Moon Farms pumpkin patch and picked a pumpkins and took a hay rack ride. That afternoon we went out to Geo. Spencer Vineyards for a little wine tasting. That night we bowled at the Big Apple! Poor Madigan was sacked out- she slept for 11 hours that night. I can add a couple pictures we took together at the park on Sunday afternoon, but somehow I managed to forget my camera for the pumpkin patch (maybe Suz or Ashley can e-mail me pics to put up!)

Madigan is getting big- over 14 pounds and 24 inches long. She is laughing so much and smiling all the time. She really likes MEN- deep voices and beards especially. She laughed at her uncle Willy this weekend when he would growl at her, and she thought grandpa Randy using his deep voice is sooo funny! (Her favorite line is, "MOSES- climb the mountain!" in his deep voice). Brett is enjoying his 3 days a week home with her, and I will start my new job soon so we're looking forward to that. Hope everyone is enjoying the fall!

Madigan's Big Weekend

Big weekend for the Hille Family!! We drove back to WaKeeney late on Thursday night, and left Friday morning for Salina and "uncle Zac's" deployment ceremony. This was the last time Madigan, Brett & I get to see Zac until his return from Iraq next year sometime. I bet she will be much different the next time she sees her uncle (and Godfather) Zac, but we'll keep him posted with pictures and keep him in our bedtime prayers until he gets home safely! She has her own "my soldier" button we have fastened on her car seat so she can see uncle Zac every day! Then we went to the McPherson Scottish festival on Saturday, watched the pipe bands, saw some vendors, and walked around. Great festival- everyone should go next year if they get a chance! Finally Sunday we went to church and then down to the Hille's house for cake and home-made ice cream! Yummy!! Even Madigan's great-great-grandma Josephine ("Gram") made it down for the day- five generations in one picture sure doesn't happen very often. By Sunday night Madigan had seen her share of action for the weekend, had a mini-melt-down, and sacked out for the next 10 hours. Poor baby... She recuperated fine, and we're looking forward to a big weekend the first part of October with the whole Hille Clan venturing north to Kearney for some action. I'm sure there will be plenty of pics to post of next weekend as well!! 

Little Love

What a difference a week has made!

Not to jinx it, but Madigan has been sleeping for about 6-7 hour stretches each night this week. I think it has something to do with the fact that she has found her hands, and subsequently, her THUMBS! That's correct... we have a thumb-sucker on our hands! (All of my family reading this will not be surprised; and NO, I don't plan on letting her suck her thumb through second grade like I did...) We hear her over the baby monitor start to stir a bit, then the quiet sound of "suck, suck, suck..." and back to sleep she goes! She has even started swatting her pacifier out of her mouth so she can push her thumb in. It's taken her a bit to get used to her thumb though, because she has gagged herself a couple times but just kept right on shoving the thumb down her throat. We had to pull her fist out of her mouth and let her start over. She has also scratched her face a bit from the thumb sucking, so we'll be trying to keep the nails nice and short from now on. 

She's also getting over her first cold, and the mucus seemed to bother her dad a bit more than it bothered her. (He had mucus issues as a kid, and doesn't want her to go through the same routine!) She has a well-baby check up Friday the 19th. I've also survived going back to work, but day 1 wasn't pretty! I had to leave a screaming infant and a hesitant father at 5:45 in the morning and then worry about them for the next 12 1/2 hours! But everyone survived once Madigan got a little food in her tummy and a cuddle from her daddy in the recliner (their favorite place). I'm just trying to remember to be thankful that I have a job to go to and a healthy baby to support with the money I'm making; plus a wonderful husband to be taking care of all of us in the mean time. Somehow Brett thought I was crazy for suggesting we sell our house, by an RV and live at a KOA so we can afford for me to stay home with the baby... Hope everyone's weekend is great! We all send our love!

Time Flies!

Wow, time flies!! Madigan is 10 weeks old... and the love of our lives! She is sleeping pretty well, eating like a champ, and growing like a weed! She has been on quite a few road trips, and travels pretty well. She started daycare, and seems to really love her "teacher" Chris! We're getting big smiles and giggles from her too... with a little bit of work. She's definitely the love of our lives and we're so excited to see how much she's changing and growing before our very eyes! The picture is of her first day at "school". I'm not very excited to start back to work this week, but I know that Brett staying home with her 3 days a week is the best option we have. Madigan and her daddy are like peas and carrots- sometimes all she wants is her mommy, but a lot of the time, she looks around for her daddy to cuddle her! (I'm a little afraid of what they'll be "up to" while I'm away!). I'm hoping to update this site a little more often w/ pictures so that people can check here instead of me bothering everyone with e-mails all the time. Hope you're all doing fantastic! Love, Sarah