Who Needs Sleep?

That song kept running through my head last night as apparently Hadley did not need to sleep! After Jim and I were saying last night that Hadley has been such a good baby so far and very easy, she decided to tell us we spoke to soon. Let's just say I think I slept for possibly 2 hours and it was not two consecutive hours . Hadley did decide to sleep for 3.5 hrs this morning. Of course, that was negated by the fact that she fell asleep right after Madeleine woke up. Hopefully tonight will be better!

Madeleine is doing fairly well adjusting to having a baby sister. In fact, she might be adjusting too well. At first she was scared to touch Hadley but now we are really having to stress being "gentle". She loves to get right in her face and yell "Hi Baby". It really is too cute. It is also cracking me up that she can say Hadley so well but really can't say her own name. Gracie came home today and Madeleine is making sure she does not get too close to Hadley. Madeleine was getting quite upset at Gracie and telling her to move when Gracie was investigating Jim holding the newest member of our household. The hardest thing has been that I can't lift Madeleine yet. It is so sad to see her walking around with her arms up and having to tell her that I can't hold her... which is usually followed by Madeleine laying down on the floor in tears. But we have been able to distract her from that fairly easily and I'm feeling better everyday so I don't think holding her is that far off.

Well I started this post on Saturday when both girls were sleeping but did not get to actually post because two girls sleeping can only last for so long. I am happy to report that Hadley did sleep last night and I did get one stretch of 2 hours in a row and only one long awake period.

Here are a few more pictures. Madeleine did not like the bouncy seat attachment bar when she was an infant but she sure is fascinated by it now.

Home At Last

Erin's c-section kept us in the hospital for the mandatory 4 night stay, so our family has been split up since Saturday. Grandpa and Grandma Miltenberger watched Madeleine Saturday and Sunday nights while Butch and D tried to keep up Monday and Tuesday. But it sounds like everyone had a great time and rumor has it Butch actually made it home from work the last 2 nights by 5:30!

Meanwhile, Gracie has been sleeping in beds, getting bathed, eating who-knows-what, and being spoiled rotten by kids at Bart and Tanya's. I'll be picking her up this weekend. Or maybe not.

Everyone was supposed to arrive home earlier today, but Hadley's temp dropped a little this morning so our departure was delayed. An hour under a warmer and she was back to normal, if not a little overheated. We hung out at the hospital until 5:00 for a few more temp checks just to be safe, then found a wired Madeleine waiting for us at my folks on our way home.

Unsure on what to think at first, Madeleine seems to be warming up to her little sister and can already say 'Hadley' pretty well. Of course, "Hadley's" gift of a baby stroller (strikingly similar to the one Bart and Tanya gave her for her birthday and hidden until now) didn't seem to hurt.

A few pics from today:

Hadley Rose

Erin's actual due date was 3/4 and her c-section scheduled for 2/25, but our baby had different plans.

Hadley Rose was born Saturday night a little after 8:00 PM. Big sister Madeleine was born on July 4th and we think the newest Krewet wanted in on the holiday fun as well... so now we have 4th of July and Valentine's Day girls! And I have no excuse if I ever forget a birthday.

Hadley weighed in at 5 lbs 14.8 oz and measured 18 inches long. Mom and daughter are doing great and we all head home Wednesday.

A few pics from the weekend:

Madeleine's New Bike

I've never been a huge Surly fan, but I bought a Karate Monkey off Craigslist a few weeks ago. It was built as a singlespeed with a lot of nice parts and the price was right. I needed (read: wanted) a bike to tow Madeleine around and figured this was a good start.

The KM, as I bought it, was built as a singlespeed and had a bunch of high-end items including Mr. Whirly cranks, Surly hubs, an ENO "Trials" freewheel, and more. I kept the frame, fork, headset, handlebars, seatpost, and stem and ebay'd the rest. At that point, I was in it for a whopping $50. Not bad considering the frame/fork alone retail around $500 and were in "like-new" condition.

If I hadn't had to deal with the previous owner's use of red loctite, this would have been one of my better CL buys. Seriously, who uses RED loctite on bike parts!?! Still, the end result is a pretty nice ride:

older 950 series XTR shifters/levers and derailleurs (the front being key for a KM)
BB7 disc brakes
new XT cranks
new XT hubs laced to Mavic 719 29er disc rims rolling Maxxis Overdrive street tires
Thomson post/Bontrager seat (with Travis' special touch)
Ritchey Pro bars/stem
Cane Creek S-8 headset
9 speed Ultegra 12-25 cassette to make it fast
my favorite WTB dual compound grips

OK, so it's not Madeleine's bike... but she does get to ride behind it!

I finished this little project a couple weeks ago but weather and time prevented a test ride. When today's high hit the mid-60 mark, I hooked up Madeleine's trailer and we were off. We zig-zagged through a bunch of side streets and eventually found our way over to Grant's Trail and the playground at the trailhead. One of Madeleine's baby's kept her company and both really seemed to enjoy the ride, pointing out dogs and other bikes along the way. The big slide at the playground was an even bigger hit.

I can't wait for the weather to get warmer! I imagine Madeleine and I will be making many trips to the Custard Station while Mom deals with #2.

A few pics from todays ride:

Dad's new ride:



Madeleine's stylin' Duck (or "Crazy Chicken"?) helmet:



Pre-ride prep:



Q: "Dad, are you sure about this?"
A: "Yes Madeleine, we're cool.":



And we're off!:



And we're back!: