Good times with my cousin...

Maddie got to spend some precious time with her cousin Claire this weekend. Claire was born on May 24th, so she is a bit bigger than Maddie. They have so much fun together, and we are excited for them to be friends for life. In case you didn't know, there were 4 "grandkids" born this last summer: Claire, Parker, Elsa, and Maddie. We will be having a photoshoot of all of them (and James) in November when everyone is in town for Thanksgiving. Grammy Karen has a Noah's Ark bench she wants all 5 of her grandkids to sit on for a picture...it will be her "new best day."

Below are a couple of cute pics of the cousins playing this weekend. Happy Birthday Jayme! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day.




Have a great week! We plan on joining in on Thankful Thursdays starting this week! See you then. The Naslunds

Maddie's One Month Photoshoot...

Maddie seemed nervous to have her 1 month photo shoot (done by mom and dad of course), but after giving her each of our fingers (see above), she squeezed hard and we found out the nervousness was really just gas:) Really though, she wasn't thrilled to model with props, but the Anne Geddes in me forced the situation. After putting Nils to bed for the night, the fun began. It all started with the wash basin. Then, I brought out a really cute pink bow and tied it around her. She is the best present we could have ever imagined. Then, we went a little too far with the decorative corn, but I don't think we will ever regret it. It will be fun looking back at these when she is all grown up and wants to know why she has such an aversion to corn! We thought we would share these few pics...believe me, there are many more where this comes from.

P.S. Thanks for continuing to pray for my mom! She is a rock, and she is a great example for us all! She and Maddie have had some great Grammy time:)

Brother Nils takes a back seat...

Like promised, here are some pics of a jealous older brother. Thanks so much to Jeff's dad for taking Nils for about 2 weeks. We had several friends recommend giving Nils a blanket Maddie used for a couple of days, so he could get used to her scent (roses of course) before coming home...it worked...Kinda! He loves to sniff her and wants to be in the middle of everything:)

Also, another side note. Thank you so much to those who have been praying for our family these last couple of weeks. (1) my mom, Kari, had her surgery on Thursday, and it went well. Please continue to pray for her! (2) Maddie saw the doctor on Thursday as well for a weight check. She gained a whole pound in the last week. She is now 7lb6oz and cuter than ever.

Thanks again for all of your support!

The Naslunds (yes, Nils counts too!)

Two Weeks In...

The last two weeks have been rewarding, exciting, and very challenging! We are so blessed to have a happy, healthy baby girl. I was so lucky to have a great "labor." Everything went as planned and was relatively "easy" :) It is amazing how much you can love someone from the moment you see them, it is unexplainable. The moment Maddie arrived in this world, Jeff commented to Dr. Fine (an amazing Dr!), "If a person doesn't believe in God after seeing this, they are really missing something!" Dr. Fine agreed.
We definitely had our challenges though...I have had some serious difficulty with breastfeeding because I was not blessed to have a great "milk supply." So...I have been taking herbal supplements (Phenugreek and Blessed Thistle), a prescription (Reglan), pumping every 2 hours, drinking insane amounts of water and still no luck (I don't even have time to describe the SNS contraption the lactation specialist set us up with). We are giving it a great fight but we are having to supplement with formula, we will continue for another 2 weeks but then we are leaving it up to the Lord :)
Jeff has been so great and so busy. School is in full swing and football season is here. He is an amazing Dad, Maddie is the luckiest little girl I know. His love for her is amazing, the way he looks at her makes me smile. Jeff wants to be the dad for Maddie that my dad would have been for me...that says something! Maddie and I have been to 3 football games so far (2 Varsity and 1 JV game). Maddie is 1-2 in her football ventures thus far; however, with how competitive her parents tend to be, I am sure she will finish well above .500:)
I am also so thankful for my Mom. She is such a blessing to me, and I hope that I can be the same for Madison. She was there for me during labor; she was there helping me recover in the hospital and helped me at home. She was able to be here for us when Jeff was at football and was doing everything from laundry to cooking dinner and taking care of Maddie so that I could get some rest. She is such a giving person and she gave 100 percent, even though she is fighting breast cancer herself. For everyone who reads this blog if you could pray for my Mom on September 18th, she is going to have surgery to remove the cancer. I know she will be cancer free after fighting the battle but everyone's prayers are much appreciated and we will all focus to have a 99.9% positive attitude (as my Dad would have said). We will keep udating with pictures as we have time. Who knew it takes until 1pm to get yourself showered, a baby a bath, and get everything packed up ready to go. Thanks so much for thinking of our family and for all the support we have received. We can't wait for all our family and friends to meet this amazing little girl!





Pics of Maddie meeting her older brother Nils are on the way! We just brought Nils home from Grandpa Roger's house yesterday.
Love,
The Naslund Nest