Christmas 2009

Settle in. This is going to be a REALLY long post. We got to spend Christmas week with our families in California. This year was so much more fun with Maddie. Last year, she was 4 months old and was content eating wrapping paper. This year, she unwrapped her own presents and made her surprised face (huge eyes, big open mouth) for each gift.

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It was so nice to have the whole week off to spend with both families. Maddie spent a lot of time at Grandma Eatough's playing with Chancie. Dog is her favorite word right now and she was in heaven.

Here are some highlights from Christmas week...

Lots of time to play with Grandma Eatough!

Late night, freezing cold Bocce ball games.

Shampoo mohawks in Grandma Milloy's tub.

Feeding puffs to cousin Jasmine.

Swinging at the park.

Sneaking up on cousin Jasmine to steal a kiss.Playing "Way Up High" with Grandpa Milloy- a beloved Milloy tradition.

Getting to love on sweet Annie Parsons- I love that baby smell.The weekend before Christmas, Jennifer and Patrick hosted a white elephant gift exchange at their house. It was so much fun and everyone ended up with GREAT gifts! Some of the gifts being stolen back and forth were a pedicure, the complete Transporter DVD series, and movie tickets. This was such a blast, it may end up being a tradition.

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After the gift exchange, the boys opened Derrick's gift (Jenga) and had a serious, cut-throat game. I don't remember who actually knocked it over, but it was so tall and wobbly, each brother tried to cheat and blow on the tower when it wasn't their turn. They look so sweet and innocent here... don't be fooled. And don't play Monopoly with Derrick - he hides $500 bills in his socks.Christmas morning started at Grandma Eatough's house where Santa left a pink, ride-on truck for Maddie. She got all kinds of other great gifts- clothes, shape sorting toys, and Disney books. I got an iPod from Kristen & the Willow Tree nativity set I have been coveting for at least 5 years. Brandon got his favorite thing in the world... Home Depot gift cards! Thanks Mom & Dad! Unfortunately, I have absolutely no pictures of any of it becase I forgot my camera. Boo.

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After Grandma Eatough's, we went to Milloys for Christmas #2. Maddie and Jasmine had adorable matching Christmas jammies (thanks Jenn & Patrick!).

Maddie opening super cute Nikes from her Aunt Jeka (Jessica).Christmas was so much fun with a 16 month old, but it is a lot of activity for little ones. She took 2 super long naps and was still grumpy later that night. Good thing Christmas only comes once a year.

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We finished up the night with a beautiful Christmas dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's home. Where I, again, forgot my camera. Sorry Milloy side!

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Some other fun pictures....

Great Grandpa Jim playing peek-a-boo with Maddie behind tissue paper. Silly Grandpa.

Great Grandma Sandi's house was the place to be - she has TWO dogs. Maddie about died and went to dog heaven. She chased the little dogs around for an hour chanting, "Dog, dog, dog." Those poor dogs are probably still recuperating. Maddie danced for grandma and snuggled with her. We love Grandma Sandi! Thanks for letting us terrorize your house!And finally, two milestones I have been trying to capture on film... spinning & waving bye-bye.

Keeping Maddie occupied on the 5 hour trip is a full time job. I sit in the back seat with her and we watch "The Little Mermaid" over and over again. She sings along with the songs and mimics the actions she sees on screen - it is so funny. She just learned how to pull her blanket over her own head to play peek-a-boo. She thinks she is hysterical. I think she's pretty funny too.

If you made it to the end of this post, thanks for sticking with me!

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Thanks to all of our family for putting up with us for 10 days. Thanks to El Burrito for the real Mexican food. Thanks to Starbucks for warm Caramel Apple Ciders.

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Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a very Happy New Year!

Dinner Time with Maddie

On the menu tonight... penne pasta with spaghetti sauce, corn, mandarin oranges, raisins, and cheese.

Maddie is obsessed with corn right now. I have to give it to her last or else she won't eat anything else on her tray. I'll remind her of this in about 5 years when eating vegetables becomes uncool.This is Maddie when I gave her another spoonful of corn. Seriously, I don't think she could be any happier.

We have so much fun with Maddie. She keeps us laughing all day. This week, she started to say, "Dog" although, sometimes it comes out as "Gog". Whenever she hears a dog barking outside, she stops and snaps her head around to the sound and says, "Dog!" It reminds me of the dog, Doug from the movie "Up" when he hears a squirrel.

Check out the right side of the blog for Maddie milestones and updates.

Thanksgiving 2009

We got to go home to Yucaipa and spend Thanksgiving with both families. We are so lucky; we got to eat TWO Thanksgiving dinners!

Mom prepping the turkey with the Macy's parade on in the background - an Eatough tradition!

Cousin time!

The only picture I got all weekend of Maddie looking at the camera -a rare moment.

The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Sullivan Park near the University of Redlands to play croquet and frisbee. I LOVE this park with its towering oak trees and tons of grass. Maddie had lots of fun roaming around, chasing squirrels, and finding acorns.

Cutest couple ever!Maddie swayed the croquet game score by moving balls around.
These are some serious croquet players.

A reflective moment.

Cliffhanger.

Maddie & Uncle Derrick on the slide!

After a four day weekend of fun and family, we all felt like this on the way home.

Thanks for letting us invade your house Mom & Dad Milloy! Thanks for the great Thanksgiving dinner and Beatles Rock Band fun Mom & Dad Eatough!

Maddie's Dada

Maddie is in love with her dada.
Here are some of my favorite Brandon/Maddie things...

•As soon as she wakes up in the morning, she starts calling out, "Dada! DADA!" As soon as he comes in her room, she starts jumping up and down in her crib. Then, she quickly grabs her binkie and blankie and puts her arms up in the air for him to grab her out.

•She only gives kisses to her daddy; no one else gets a kiss from Maddie.

We are discovering more and more every day how much Maddie is like her dad. Here are a few character traits Maddie has inherited from Brandon:

•She doesn't eat very much for breakfast, but always has a big dinner. Brandon very rarely eats breakfast, but loves having a good dinner.

•If she could live outside, she would. She has an absolute meltdown when it's time to come inside. I have always said, if there were a bathroom and refrigerator in the garage, I would never see my husband again.

•She likes to eat spicy foods.

•She inspects things to figure out how they work.

•If you are irritating her, she gives you "the Brandon face".

I love my husband so much more now that he is my daughter's father. Here are some reasons why...

1. He is so sweet and gentle with her.

2. He is patient with her as she learns new things.

3. He gets down on her level and talks to her face to face.

4. They go on adventures to Home Depot and the car wash together.

5. He sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to her in the car.

6. He is very intuitive of her - he knows when she doesn't feel well, he knows when she's hungry, when its time for her nap, and he understands her babbling and pointing language the best.

7. He watches "The Jungle Book" over and over again and still marches around with her when the elephants come on.

8. He gets up with her in the middle of the night when she doesn't feel well or when she is teething, so I can sleep.

I knew Brandon was a diamond in the rough when I found him at Yucaipa High School when we were 16. What I didn't anticipate was how perfectly wonderful my life would be with him and our family.

Moments like this makes my heart smile and my world complete.

Spaghetti & Baking with Mom

Here are some pictures of Maddie eating spaghetti, because every kid has to have a picture making a mess of spaghetti! She sucks the sauce off the noodles and then eats them. Silly girl.

I made some cupcakes last night and had a little helper. She found the leftover batter on the mixer and had a great time tasting it.

Halloween!

Maddie got to spend Halloween with her California family this weekend - we had so much fun. Here's a fun picture of Maddie in Grandma Milloy's bathtub. Look at that face, she is never happier than when she is in the tub. We grew up next to the greatest pumpkin patch ever and I was so excited to take Maddie there. First, we went to the petting zoo. I wasn't sure how she would react to animals running around her, but I should have known my dare devil Maddie wouldn't be scared. She hugged all the goats around their necks. Silly girl.

I love this picture with the goat posing for the picture and Maddie as happy as she can be.

Maddie riding a goat. Some more petting zoo pictures, because I couldn't just pick one. I love them all!Grandma Eatough & Maddie!

Sno-Cone!This was a photo-op spot and it was perfect with all the hay bales and pumpkins. I love fall time!There was a giant "Hay Castle" for kids to climb on. Here is Maddie at the top.Me & MaddieMaddie and Daddy carving a pumpkin. Actually, Daddy carving and Maddie throwing rocks and leaves inside the pumpkin.This is Maddie right after she tasted pumpkin goop. Yuck.The two cutest insects I've ever seen! Maddie's cousin Jasmine was a very pretty ladybug.Grandma and the bee.Grandpa and the bee. She was becoming a tired, angry bee at this point.Maddie chewing on her wings.