Eating pears & almost crawling!

There was a big event at our house this week... Maddie ate pears - her first real food!

Here's the before picture of my nice, clean baby.And, the after picture. After each bite, she flaps her arms in excitement. And if I don't get the spoon out of the way in time, I end up covered in food too! She thinks it's fun to eat food, but she made some bitter faces. Her attitude is, "This food is fun to eat and play with, but where is my bottle?"

Maddie has decided it is time to crawl. She rocks back and forth on her hands and knees. She can put an arm or a knee forward, but she hasn't quite figured out to do those movements together. It's only a matter of time before she is everywhere!

This picture is so funny to me.

I was trying to take pictures of Maddie and myself, but I didn't see her facial expressions until I downloaded the pictures. This is one is my favorite. She looks like she's saying, "Knock it off. Stop taking pictures of me Mom." I have a feeling this attitude and look will resurface when she is a teenager.

Rice Cereal!

Maddie has so much fun when she eats rice cereal, we just had to make a movie and share it with everyone!

She eats rice cereal every morning and loves it. She gets to start fruits and veggies in a couple of weeks - we can't wait to see her face when she tastes all these new foods for the first time. We can't believe she's almost 6 months old already! It has been so much fun getting to know her little personality and her preferences. She has adopted a favorite "blankie", figured out how to put her binky back in her mouth, and says "Mamamamama" at the top of her lungs. We feel so blessed to be her parents - she brings so much happiness into our lives!

Shoes, Talking, Rolling Over, ZooLights, & the Exersaucer!

Little Baby Nikes! Uncle Derrick bought Maddie her first pair of Nikes before she was even born. They are still a little too big, but she loves the bright colors. I think they are more fun to chew on than to wear. Maddie has found her voice in the past couple of weeks. She likes to join the conversation when everyone else is talking. She also likes to yell over the sound of the vacuum cleaner. She hasn't quite figured out volume control yet. This particular night, she got so excited when she was talking, she gave herself hiccups and spit up!

Maddie is getting pretty fast at rolling over. She travels across the room by pivoting and rolling and she is quick!

We went to see the ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo this past weekend. It was cold so we all bundled up and had tons of fun!

Maddie's newest toy is her Exersaucer. She feels like such a big girl standing up and spinning around in it. I love that it's pink!

Maddie's First Christmas!

We had so much fun visiting both sides of the family this past weekend for Christmas! Here are some fun highlights of Maddie's first Christmas...

What does a 5 month old want in her stocking on Christmas morning? BINKIES! She was so excited, she tried to eat through the packaging to get to them.

This was the look on Maddie's face every time she opened a present. She was enthralled by the bright colored wrapping paper and the crunching sounds it made when she grabbed it.

Opening gifts at Grandma Milloy's house. She got pretty good at tearing wrapping paper.This is one of her favorite gifts - it's a "My First Doll" from her Aunt Jennifer & Uncle Patrick. She snuggled the doll into her face as soon as she opened it.

I don't get to see my "wombmate" very often, so it was a treat to get to spend some sister time with Robin.

Maddie & Great Grandma Sandi. I love the staple Santa hat Grandma Sandi always wears. It just wouldn't be Christmas without it!
Kim & Brandon
Maddie & Great Grandpa Milloy

Maddie & Great Grandma Milloy

Maddie & Aunt Jessica

Maddie & Grandpa Eatough

We miss you all so much already! Thanks for letting us invade your houses - we had so much fun! We are so blessed to have such a HUGE family and have so many people to love Maddie.

I can't take enough pictures of this baby!

Now that Maddie smiles on demand, we are having tons of fun taking pictures of her. Our friend, Katy came over and took some beautiful pictures of Maddie a couple of weeks ago. Here are some of the best ones...

I dressed Maddie up in her Christmas dress so I could take her Christmas pictures last night. She was a good sport and gave me lots of great smiles. Towards the end, she started to notice all the lights and colors in the tree. She was trying to grab a branch and chew on it. I love her chubby cheeks and dimpled hands! Here are some of my favorites...

Quick trip home to California!

We took a quick weekend visit home to visit family and we had so much fun! Maddie got to spend time with both sets of her grandparents, and some of her great-grandparents too!

Maddie with her dad in Grandma Milloy's kitchen

Maddie with Aunt Kristen in Great Grandma Sandi's kitchen

Maddie was the centerpiece at family dinner on Sunday night. She had lots of fun watching everyone eat lasagna. She loves Uncle Derrick!

Thanks for letting us invade your house - we had so much fun! See you soon!

Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a fun Thanksgiving! All of our Milloy family from California (except for Jen, Patrick, & Baby Jasmine- we missed you guys!) drove out to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had so much fun visiting with everyone and we are so grateful they were here.

We took 6 pictures of everyone at the table, and this was the best one. So, I apologize in advance for closed eyes, weird smiles, and blocked faces. And Derrick was taking the picture so imagine him in there too!

Here are some Maddie pictures - she is so much fun! She is starting to laugh and it is the absolute cutest thing ever! It's my favorite sound in the world. When she gets better at it, we'll make a video of it.

Maddie & her Grandma Milloy!

Maddie and her Aunt Gywnne!

Some of the Milloy girls (Mom, Jessica, Gwynne, Maddie, & I) ventured out on Black Friday. This is a picture of Maddie during our shopping adventure. Apparently, she was not too impressed by all the door buster savings!

We missed our family who couldn't be with us this year - we love you and will see you soon!