She's walking!

Maddie had been taking about 2-3 steps consistently for the past couple of weeks and I kept meaning to grab my camera and document it. I am too late! At church on Sunday, she decided to become a walker. She just stood up and walked all the way across the room! Now she is hardly crawling at all. It is so strange to see her little body upright and walking! She is so big!

Happy Birthday Uncle What-It!

Uncle What-It is Uncle Derrick in Maddie's language. She repeats all the sounds we make, so I guess Derrick sounds more like what-it to her. She crawls over to Derrick's door and bangs on it while yelling, "What-It! What-It!" She loves her uncle so much!

Back to Derrick's birthday... he turned 23 yesterday! Derrick specifically requested a pinata for his birthday. He loves it so much, he's not sure if he wants to fill it with candy and beat it apart.

I forget that every day is full of firsts for Maddie. For example, before yesterday, I don't think she has ever played with or even seen a balloon before. I think Maddie loved Derrick's balloons even more than he did.

She was absolutely enthralled. She laid on her back and watched the balloons for almost an hour.

And she was so thrilled that they were still here when she woke up this morning.

I know what to get Maddie for her birthday in a couple of weeks. :)

Look closely...all 6 of Maddie's teeth have finally cut through. Thank goodness.

We are all enjoying sleeping through the night again. :)

Lake Trip!

It was too hot this weekend to do anything but be in the water. We spent the record heat afternoon at Canyon Lake. Maddie got to try out her new turtle floatie toy. She wasn't too sure why she was in an inflatable turtle in the middle of the lake, but I think she liked it!

Here's a quick video of Brandon wakeboarding...

How do you catch a rabbit?

Hide in a meadow and make carrot noises!

Ha ha! :)

It's the only carrot joke I know!

I haven't posted much of Maddie lately because she is battling with her 2 top teeth and 2 more bottom teeth and she is not in the mood for pictures. We did find one thing that makes her teeth feel better though ... chewing on cold carrots! I'm excited about this discovery. She can get her vegetable intake and soothe her poor gums at the same time. I hate teething - it is so mean to my baby! I hope these 4 teeth cut through soon.

Grandma came to visit!

We are so lucky to have such a great mom and grandma! She drove all the way out from California by herself to spend some time with Maddie last week. Maddie had so much fun trying new foods, playing toys, and snuggling with grandma. Grandma made a special trip to the grocery store while she was here to pick out finger foods for Maddie. We tried all kinds of fun new foods: apples, carrots, Nutri Grain bars, applesauce, bananas, string cheese, mandarin oranges, Nilla wafers, and raisins. She LOVES feeding herself; she has no patience for pureed baby food anymore. Grandma also bought Maddie her own bowl, fork, and spoon.

Here's Maddie having some applesauce with Grandma. Everytime she eats with a fork, she inspects the food first and then eats it. She is so funny. In this video, Derrick is playing piano in the background & Maddie was a little irritable because it was getting close to bedtime. But you can still hear a little laugh when she hits the carrots off her fork; she cracks herself up.

A happy Maddie eating mandarin oranges.

Maddie is a happy girl when she is at home with her toys. Her latest favorites are a talking barn from her cousins Hayleigh & Logan, a singing seahorse from her Aunt Cindy, and a soft Pooh Bear from her Great Grandma Milloy. She has always loved her "Lovey Bear" - a homemade Care Bear that sings "Love at Home" from her Great Grandma Eatough.

Maddie is such a sweet baby. She gives us snuggles and kisses all the time. I'm so glad I captured it on camera. Maddie kisses and snuggles are my favorite things in the whole world!

This is my view while I cook dinner every night. I love those little bottom teeth!

BIG NEWS! While Grandma Milloy and I were playing with Maddie, she took her first step!!! She was standing up, hanging onto her exersaucer and she turned around, let go, and walked to me! It was so exciting! She didn't know what we were so excited about, but she clapped along with us.

In other news, I forgot to post Maddie's stats from her 9 month visit.

Weight: 16 lbs, 14 oz - 10% (She is such a skinny Minnie!)

Length: 27" - 25% (Looks like she's going to be short like her mom!)

Head: 17.5" - 50%

I am trying to capture some other things on camera - like Maddie saying "Uh oh", "Kitty", and "Ba" for ball. She also claps, waves bye bye, and is on her way to being a walker! Grandma - we miss you already and wished you lived next door so we could visit every day!

Canyon Lake

We went to Canyon Lake with our favorite May family yesterday afternoon and had so much fun! Maddie has decided she likes the boat now and she doesn't even mind her life jacket too much anymore. Here's Brandon rocking the wake surf... Easton & Maddie are boating buddies! It was Easton's first trip to the lake and he did so great! He looks a little stressed in this picture, but I think he liked it. While we were wakeboarding, we saw a bunch of big horn sheep. They blend in to the landscape pretty well... can you find the sheep? Brandon climbed up there to try to wrangle the sheep. This picture is when the sheep realized Brandon was coming after him. He looks a little defensive.
Here's Brandon trying to catch the sheep and bring it home. The sheep was too fast and he got away. It was incredible to watch the sheep climb down cliffs and walk along boulders without worrying about falling.

Havasu Trip!

We took a quick trip out to Lake Havasu with my family & we had so much fun! It was unseasonably cool for June, but Maddie didn't mind the 80 degree temperatures. She had a lot more fun this time than when we went a few weeks ago.

She loves to drive the boat with her dad and honk the horn.

I love her swimsuit - it's so girly and cute.
Maddie was completely enthralled by Chance, mom's amazing swimming dog for the entire trip. She can't quite say Chance, so she says Ts Ts. I love Chance's life jacket.Maddie's grandpa gave her a nectarine and she loved it.
And here is my baby brother Richard wake surfing! He has never done it before and he did so great! He stayed up for a long time - good job Richie!