Summer Vacation!

We were on vacation last week and had lots of fun spending time together. We had a "stay-cation" at our house for the first part of the week. It was wonderful to be home in the middle of the week and just hang out. We went to our favorite local lake - Canyon Lake twice in the middle of the week. It was warm & the lake was empty. It was so nice! Maddie is not too sure about being on the boat or wearing her life jacket this season. She has a constant expression of concern/irritation on her face the entire time. In this picture, she's watching her dad wakeboard from the back of the boat.

Maddie got to go wakesurfing!She wasn't totally excited to be out there, but she wasn't completely terrified either. Brandon did a good job keeping her out of the water. When he let go of the rope, he held her high over his head so she didn't have to be in the cold water. What a great daddy! **UPDATE- I forgot the funniest thing about Maddie's wakesurfing adventure! Look in her right hand... she is holding a Cheerio. She would not let it go. She held onto it the whole time she was out there and then ate it when she got back in the boat. She is so silly.**

Here is Maddie & her dad driving the boat. She liked to honk the horn. I love the sunset in the background of this picture. We are so lucky to live so close to Canyon Lake - it is so beautiful!

While I was home, I made strawberry/blueberry jam and homemade bread with my friend Kristy. Everything turned out so yummy - it's always an exciting thing when the bread rises.

Here is Maddie and her Uncle Derrick playing the guitar.

The last part of the week, we met my family at Lake Havasu. It was fun to see everyone, but it was blazing hot and the water was super choppy - not good for wakeboarding. My poor Maddie got sunblock in her eyes and she was so hot. She was much happier at the air conditioned hotel eating Cheerios.

We still had a fun time with everyone and we are glad we went. I think we'll wait until Maddie is a little older before we go back.

Now, that its over 100 degrees, we have been trying to find ways to keep Maddie cool. We put her in her highchair and fill the tray with water. She loves to splash water everywhere. And she loves the sprinklers.

We are excited to see family this weekend for Laura's wedding!

Daddy's Girl

Madison has been a daddy's girl since day one. The second she was born, the doctor set Maddie on my stomach, and she looked straight up at Brandon and just stared at him. When she was just a few weeks old, she would follow his voice around the house with her eyes, then her head, and now she chases after him. Here are some fun pictures of the two of them...

Maddie helping her dad play the piano - looks like she's doing the upper hand.Maddie and her Dad racing across the house.And Maddie "wrenching" in the garage. Brandon is teaching her early.

She loves to be outside with her dad - especially in her pj's.

Maddie is a turbo crawler and disappears in seconds - usually heading towards the cat food bowl. She loves to eat Darla's food - so gross. Here she is in action... I love how she plops down from standing so she can crawl off somewhere. She tries to veer off towards the laundry room where Darla's food is, until I call her back.

This is Maddie's Leapfrog table she inherited from her cousins Hayleigh and Logan. She absolutely LOVES it. In this video, you can hear her say, "Mama." Actually, it's more like, "Mamamamamama."

We recently discovered Maddie's secret hiding place for her Gerber puff cereal snacks. She has been stashing a little food storage in this toy. She crawls right to this purple flip up door every time she wakes up from a nap. What a sneak!

Now, we make sure her improvised snack cubby is always stocked with Puffs.

Troublemaker!

Maddie has become a little mischievious this week. All of a sudden, it gets really quiet and we know she's into something she shouldn't be.

It started with her eating Darla's food! She had a mouthful and two handfuls of cat food. So gross. Then, we came out in the living room and saw this...
She thought it was so much fun to suck all the moisture out of the wipe and then throw it on the floor. Silly baby.

Milestone Alert! This week, Maddie started standing up on her own without holding onto anything. As soon as I capture it on camera, I will share. Love you all!

Maddie's First Easter!

We had so much fun spending Easter weekend with our families. Maddie had a great first Easter - she found eggs and got an Easter basket at Grandma & Grandpa Eatough's house!

Here's a picture of Maddie and her basket. The Easter Bunny brought her Disney princess easter eggs, a soft pink bunny, bubbles, and candy! She was especially excited about spreading easter grass all over the place.

Maddie loved finding eggs at Grandma's house!

And eating them too.

Maddie had lots of fun in Grandma Eatough's bathtub - this is my mom's favorite part of being a grandma!

On Sunday, we got to go to Jasmine's baby blessing. Jasmine is such a sweet baby and we are so happy to have her in our family. Here's a cousin picture - the first of many to come, I'm sure! The ever growing Milloy family!

Before the blessing, we had a family picnic at the park. The food was so yummy and the weather was perfect. Maddie got to go in a swing and she loved it. She liked the wind blowing in her hair.

The Milloy boys- I love pictures of the brothers.

Little Helper!

Maddie loves to come help me do dishes! She especially loves to find her spoons in the dishwasher. She pulls them out, puts them in her mouth, and crawls away. I love to watch her discover new things. Doing the dishes is an every day chore to me, but to Maddie it's a fun, new adventure. Oh, to be 8 months old again!

My Little Beethoven

We're starting her off early!

Maddie loves to cause things to make noise. She is really into crumpling and ripping paper, shaking Tic Tac boxes, and playing the piano. She loves that she is able to cause a reaction.

We are excited for Maddie to spend her first Easter with all of her family in California!

Oh my.

Can you guess what Maddie had for dinner last night?Prunes! Her favorite. It's a good thing she goes right into the bathtub after dinner.