Dahills and quilt

Bill and Baird's good friends John and Rose Dahill are like extended family - here they're posing with Aunt Kelly and Madeline, who seems pretty relaxed.

Here's Rachel and Rose with Madeline in front of Madeline's beautiful quilt that was lovingly constructed under Baird's direction with help from many friends in NC.

And I had to include this one too just so you can see a great profile of Madeline's signature crazy hair. Of course, every time you push it down it pops back up, and the other day I pushed and held it down and our girl just didn't look like herself. It's uniquely hers.

Crazy Uncle Steve

Yes, Madeline has a crazy uncle... everybody needs one, I suppose. Here, Uncle Steve tries to eat our beautiful peacefully sleeping baby. We're just glad he didn't break her.

OK, this is more normal. Steve managed to be one of the only people Madeline didn't spit up on, but we had the burp cloth ready just in case. I'm sure it's a matter of time before she gets him good.

Again, I just love how Madeline manages to find the camera and pose. Here she is with Dave, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Steve.

Here, Madeline meets Aunt Kelly for the first time... and they're both pretty excited about it.

More with Grampa

Not sure what's happened in this photo, but I love the look on both of their faces.

Then, of course we have this great profile of Madeline and Grampa studying each other and getting a smile.

And this is a great one of Dave, Grampa and Madeline. Love the side shot of that crazy hair, too!

Back in NC

Our trip back to North Carolina last weekend was certainly bittersweet. The circumstances were sad, but as you can see we had lots of bright moments as well.

I love this picture of the 3 Bell men - Dave, Steve and Grampa with Madeline holding center court.

Then of course we have this darling shot of Madeline looking over Dave's shoulder. I especially love how her hair looks in this shot - you can't miss the way it just sticks completely up in the back yet is thick enouch to hold the cute little bow.

Kevin and Jule came all the way from SA, which was amazing.

Quilt and more!

The label reads, "'That's what little girls are made of...' Made for Madeline Baird Bell, my grand-daughter, with much love, Granny Baird Bell, August, 2009. Pieced by Baird Bell, quilted by Vonceal Kubler. She quilted a secret message on the quilt."

Bunny rabbit buttons!

As many know, Granny Bell is a master quilter, and we were all excited to receive one of the quilts for Madeline this week. Madeline took to her "Sugar, spice, and everything nice" quilt right away. We weren't able to photograph one of the nicest details - quilting (done by Granny's friend Vonceal) with secret messages. Madeline is also pictured with a lovely knit sweater from Granny Bell (check out the button details) and her very own Tigger from Uncle Steve and Aunt Kelly.

Dress up time!

Truth be told, Madeline spends most of her time sporting whatever onesie is nearest at hand when it's time to get dressed (well, at least when Dad is in charge of the outfit choices). However, we do get the chance to wear some of the nicer outfits from time to time. Here we have Miss Madeline showing off a lovely dress from her Grandma Torres. Best of all, Madeline has plenty of hair to handle her new bow!

Family Shots

Besides enjoying such a lovely visit with my girls, I especially appreciated Mandy taking these great photos of Madeline with Dave and me.

This one completely melts my heart. I love how they have the same expression!

Fun one of me holding Madeline.

What a great shot - Madeline loves looking at all kinds of light, and in this photo we're looking at the light reflecting off of a framed picture in her nursery.

And this is a fun one, too - thanks Mandy!

With Laura

Mandy also got some great pictures of Madeline with Laura:

I love Madeline's expression in this one - It looks like she and Laura are plotting something questionable.

And, here's one with the 3 of us girls as Madeline looks back at Mandy taking the picture:

Finding her Feet

First, let me say I'm obsessed with Madeline's adorable feet. I mean, look:

Madeline discovers new things to amuse her every day, and in turn amuses us. Mandy caught Madeline discovering her feet the other day while sitting in the back seat with her on our way home from shopping, and we were all lucky enough to catch her investigating them further later in the day. Thank goodness Mandy is such a great photographer and captured some images of it!

I had to help her get to her foot, since as you can see, she was about to fold herself in half to get a closer look:

Meeting Laura and Mandy

Godmother Laura and Aunt Mandy came to visit this weekend and meet Madeline. She was so excited to get to know her new friends that she had a bit of a hard time settling down to sleep over the last few days. But, she had lots of fun playing and being adorable, and even got out for a bit of shopping as well. Thanks, ladies for all of your help and the delicious food!!

Meeting Laura for the first time before the ND game Saturday. Love the crazy hair!

Bouncing on the ball with Mandy... note the purple bow to match the new purple onesie from Katie.

Holding Laura's hand.
Quick shot with the girls before heading out for a bit of shopping (and happily a nap in her stroller too!:)

Aquarium Fun

Madeline's crib has a great little aquarium that completely amazes her. It plays songs, lights up, and has little fish that move and blow bubbles. Last Monday I heard it turn on by itself, then turn off again, which seemed odd, until I went into her room and saw this:

As you can see, Madeline managed to wiggle out of her swaddle (we recently moved up to the bigger size, so I didn't have it as tight as it should be) and also managed to figure out how to turn her aquarium on and off by herself.

This week, she continued to be amused by her new recreation and Dave got these great shots.

The Week in Review, or Enough Hospital Time Already!

As Madeline becomes more and more expressive, she often spends all morning describing her life to us in great detail. If you listen closely, you can pick up on things, so I've let her give the rundown for this week's events:

"Mommy had a tummyache, so Daddy made us come to the hospital to get a 'real doctor' to check it out. Mommy and I met a lot of nice doctors who made her stay in the hospital overnight. That meant that Daddy and I were on our own. I thought we would order out and stay up late watching TV, but he just heated up leftovers [ed. note - frozen breastmilk], gave me my bath, and put me to bed. The next day, Doula April came and played with me so that Daddy could visit with Mommy when she had surgery. The next morning, Daddy had a surprise - a new outfit to wear to go to the hospital and pick up Mommy. Then we all went home together."

It's Dave again - we've learned a lot this week: that Rachel is as tough as they come, that Madeline is still a real trooper, that I can handle a couple of nights on call for one very special girl, and that angry gallbladders are better off as pathology specimens. We are very thankful for the crack team of gastroenterologists, surgeons, anesthetists, and nurses that made everything go so well. Special thanks to all the well-wishers and to Jule Chung for providing breakfast when Rachel could eat again! However, we've all decided that Rachel has met her quota of hospital procedures so we don't plan on doing this again soon.

The outfit Madeline mentioned is her new Notre Dame onesie, just in time for football season and a visit from Laura and Mandy. It arrived the same day of Rachel's admission. I was able to capture Madeline practicing the "Fighting Irish" cheer on her changing table: