Latest Update

I took Josh to PBS Kids in the Park to meet some of his favorite characters. It really should be called PBS Wait in the Park - we only got to meet one person - Curious George (who happens to be his favorite!) Josh seemed somewhat off that day, and I attributed it to the heat (it was in the mid 90's). We got home, Ben took Josh down to the pool to cool off. The next thing you know, Ben brings Josh home, and Josh gets sick and has a fever. Poor kid did NOT feel good.

This is what he looked like later that evening! I let him camp out a bit in the family room, and he passed out on the sleeping bag. It took another day or so for him to get back to his normal self. But, it's not like him not to share, so Maddie and Ben both ended up getting sick too! Maddie has her first ear infection, and Ben got the pleasure of having his fever almost reach 103! I was lucky enough to avoid the illness.

As far as Maddie goes, besides her ear infection, she had her 2 month check-up! I can't believe she is 2 months old now! She is smiling and cooing a ton, and is overall a pretty easy-going baby. Her cries crack us up, because she has what I like to call her "warning cry" first. It's not really a cry, more like a "meah", and then it seems she waits to see if we will respond.

Here are her latest stats:

Weight - 12 lbs (75th percentile)

Height - 22.5" (75th percentile)

In other random news - we have squirrels with white tails that live in the woods behind us. I have never seen a squirrel look like this before!

Big Helper and Big Smiles

Josh is a great big brother. For the first time he asked to feed Maddie, and it was so cute. He's been really gentle with her, and only showing a small amount of jealousy so far. Tomorrow is a big day for Josh, he will go to his first swimming lesson! We'll see how it goes, since he doesn't like to get his face wet.

Maddie now smiles, other than in her sleep! I love the big toothless grins she gives us! She's also started to coo more, and when I can try, I will get a video of it so you can hear. Until then, just enjoy that smiley little face!

Maddie's New Stats

Madeleine Claire - 1 month check-up (but really almost 6 weeks old)

Length - 22" (75%)

Weight - 9 lbs 13 oz (50%)

Head - 13 1/2 (50%)

Looks like our little girl is growing well. In fact, the outfit she is wearing in the picture is the one she came home in from the hospital, and it fits well now! Doctor said she looks great, and is doing well. Next appt is when we will get the first round of shots.

In other Groff news - Josh is loving living here. There are 2 boys who live behind us that he loves playing with (Michael and AJ), and now another little boy around his age moved in across the street (Alec). He played with the boys all weekend long off and on. And, he swam at the pool - a lot! Ben loves to take Josh down to the pool, so they went both days this weekend. If you are visiting us anytime soon - bring along your suit!

Boring Video, but she's cute

ahh - little boys... sigh

 

Little boys can be so cute and loving. Here is a picture of Josh with his friend Erin. They're so close, they act more like siblings than friends. Here they are riding on a toy train together. So cute!

But then, boys can be SO messy. We went to Aunt Barb's for Memorial Day for a cookout, and we had a great time. Josh and Logan played well together. Josh really likes to help Logan get into boy stuff - say for example, dirt. The boys played in dirt almost the entire time. While I don't know what Caryn's bathtub looked like after Logan's bath - here's what ours looked like!
 
Maddie is getting bigger everyday it seems, though she's still a little peanut. I think we have days and nights figured out, and when she is fussy, we have discovered she likes Coldplay. I was ok with it at first, but after hearing Vida la Viva a few million times, I would welcome a different artist. Perhaps I should introduce her to The Beatles or U2!

Fashion Show

 
 
So while my sister and I were putting away Maddie's onesies - I realized just how many she had in this size! She probably has enough to wear one each day until she gets into the next size. So I decided to take pictures of the outfits. Here are two from this week!

 
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Pics from the past weeks

We're still trying to settle into life now since Maddie has joined our family. She still has nights and days confused, which is harder on me that her! We've had lots of help from my mother-in-law and my sister over the past weeks while we are adjusting. Today I decided to dress Josh in his Cubs jersey that his aunt gave him since she had hers on! Here's a cute picture of the two of them.

 

We have disccovered that Maddie likes to sleep on her belly on people right above their heart. Here she is napping on daddy.

 

Not much else is going on. I'm just happy its getting nice outside because Josh loves to play outside, and it helps get his energy out!

She's Here!!!

 

 

Madeleine Claire Groff
April 21st, 8:34 pm
7 lbs 7 oz
19.5" long
She surprised us by deciding to come earlier than planned! Tuesday morning, while Ben was in Ft Wayne, I started to have contractions! Luckily, Paula was over for a playdate that day and Ryan was in town. Ryan came over to watch the kids, while Paula drove me to the hospital and stayed with me until Ben got there. After much discussion, itt was decided to do the c-section that night.
We got home on Friday, and everyone is adjusting nicely.

The Little Girl's Room

 

 

 

So I thought I would post pictures of the kid's rooms, but I haven't made Josh's bed this morning, so I am only posting pictures of our baby girl's room (we still don't have a name). I am thrilled with how the room has turned out. It's pretty girly, which was a surprise coming from me, but I love it. I owe a huge thank you to my sister for painting the room for us, and to Paula for helping me decide where and how to place the butterflies and flowers on the walls. For that matter, she gave me the idea for the butterflies and flowers, so I owe her a thank you for that too!

I also included a recent picture of Josh. He got to build and paint a helicopter the other day, and he was pretty proud of it.

One more week, and hopefully we will get a chance to post pictures of our newest arrival!

Other updates

So I haven't been updating this enough with what's been going on. So, here we go...
We did move into the new house. I will post pictures once I feel like I have things set up enough. Who knows, that might now be until next year, but they will come, I promise.

Then, the weekend we closed on our house, we had another major event. Ben and I were asked to be Jacob Wagner's godparents, and we happily accepted the offer! So, that weekend was the baptism, which was done at Nativity. The service was lovely, and we enjoyed being there with our new godson! That evening, we went over to the Wagner's for a yummy dinner of pot roast and all the fixings. It was an enjoyable Sunday that we won't forget!

Josh went to his first dental appt, which suprisingly enough, went well! He even let the hygentist scrap tartar off of his teeth. His teeth weren't cleaned because he hasn't really figured out the spitting thing, but he was a trooper!

Other than that (and the previous update of the c-section date), not much else has been going on. I know the next 2 months will be crazy, so there may be less posts for a bit! But don't worry, when this little girl gets here, there will be pics!

Mark your calendars!!!

My doctor and I set the c-section date today!! (I have to have one since I had one with Josh, and well, she thinks it will be best). The date is April 24!!!!!

Awesome Video!

Ben's cousin Caitlyn, who also happens to be our favorite baby sitter, made this really cute video of pictures of Josh to music. She put it to the "Life is a Highway" song by Rascall Flats, and while I am not a country fan, this is a perfect song for Josh - since one of his favorite movies is Cars, and he loves all things associated with cars, trucks, etc. Anyway, I just had to post this, it was way too cute. It really took me back! How time flies...

snow... Snow... SNOW

 

 

 

We have gotten around 12 inches of snow in the past 24 hours, and Josh couldn't wait to get out and play. So while Ben dug us out of the house, Josh went out and played in the snow (and tried to help Ben shovel a bit). He could barelly walk, one because of the snow suit, and two because of the depth of the snow, but he still had a great time!

Afterwards, he got to have some hot chocolate and marshmallows. Notice the lovely hat hair in the picture! We have to enjoy this time here in the snow, as it will be our last in this house. As of last night, we accepted an offer on this house after only showings! And all 4 showings resulted in offers! We consider ourselves very lucky!

New House

Ben and I found a house that we fell in love with, and decided to go ahead and buy it. We are super excited and nervous at the same time. We close on it in about a month, and we have started the process of decluttering the current house to have it ready to show. We took Joshua to the new house, and he was very excited, though for some reason he thinks he's moving to his friend Erin's house. Guess he'll figure out that one when we move in.

Packing while pregnant is neither easy nor fun, but I know several of my friends who have done it, and I can't imagine why I can't. So, we are taking the leap of faith and moving out of Perry township over to Franklin township. In the end, this is what we wanted for our family.

Random Post

Just thought I would post a small update about the goings on here. We had Erin for a night this month while Paula and Ryan brought home Jacob. So in the morning, I got to style Erin's hair, which was my first time doing a girls' hair. Poor girl, she was my guinea pig.



We also celebrated Christmas with my grandmother and sister and brother-in-law in Crown Point this month. Melissa got Josh legos, which I have had a lot of fun with and reliving my own childhood. Today's newest structure is shown below.


Other than that, not much has been going on. I'm half way through the pregnancy now, and getting more excited about meeting the newest little addition to our family!

Christmas in Florida!

The three of us went down to Naples, Fl this Christmas and met up with my mom's side of the family and my sister and Steve. We had a wonderful time! Josh loved the beach! He would spend all day there just digging in the sand and running in the ocean. The only mishap that happened was that my brother-in-law got stung by a sting ray, which apparently is very painful! We had a great time, and it was truly the first vacation I can remember in a long time that was relaxing!

New Year's Eve

 

 

 

The Wagner family came over on New Year's Eve and celebrated with us. We made homemade pizzas, and the kids helped make their own as well. We made the dough into gingerbread people shapes for them to decorate, which they enjoyed doing. Then, while the kiddos were watching Wall-E, the adults got to play Euchre, and I won't talk about the winners, becuase I am sure they cheated somehow.

Happy New Year everyone!

The results are in...

The votes show most thought I was having a boy (though Ben voted many times... )
The ultrasound results are in..
and
it's
A GIRL!!!

The craziest company party ever

So Ben and I just returned from Orlando, FL. We were there for his company's christmas party. His company is based out of Orlando, so they flew EVERYONE down there, and paid for us to stay at this really nice resort, the Gaylord Palms.

That, in itself, was above and beyond anything we have ever seen. But then we went to the party, and it was the most extravagent thing I have ever seen in my life. There were 2 women on stilts at the doors to the ballroom with 10' high butterfly wings on that were lit up! The tables were had blue lights underneath them so everything had a blue glow to it. At the end of the dinner, but before the dancing, there was a performance by a group called Cirque de' Mystique.

I forgot my camera, but if we get any pictures from Ben's coworkers, I will post them. But in the mean time, I took one from the Gaylord Palm's website.

All in all, it was a fun time, but it was SO nice to get to the airport and have Josh see me across the room, run to me with his arms open, saying "Mommy!!!" Melted my heart...

What is your guess - boy or girl?

So, our ultrasound for the new baby is scheduled for December 16th, and I thought it would be interesting to do an informal poll to see what the average Joe on the computer (ok, my friends and family reading this) were thinking. Am I having a boy or a girl? I am going to keep my feelings to myself, but just so that you know, our house is divided in their opinions. Vote for which one you think we are having using the link on the left!

I will let you know who was right and who was wrong on Dec 16th!!!