Quick California Trip!

Late Friday, we decided to take a quick trip home to California. Bennett & Gwynne closed on their new home in Redlands (yay!) and the boys couldn't wait to get Bennett's Camaro back to him so it was officially home in Bennett's garage.

I'm so glad we went - if we didn't, we would have missed this amazing sunset.

One of Maddie's favorite parts of Grandma Milloy's house is the swing in her front yard. She always runs straight to it and even makes sure to say goodbye to the swing whenever we drive away. She loves it when her dad lifts her super high, counts to three, and let's her go. Here she is ... focused with as much anticipation as a 2 year old can have.

Sheer joy. I love that Maddie smile.

We also went to the park for a night time rocket launch. Maddie had lots of fun running around in the cool air and green grass - we don't have either of those things in Arizona right now. And, what's that? A sweater? We haven't worn sweaters in Arizona in months. We sure miss California.

Ever since Maddie was a baby, Brandon has rolled down her window so she can feel the wind on her face and it also distracts her from the fact that she is strapped into a car seat. She loves it.

Thanks for the fun trip home and the cool weather!

A Thursday Evening with the Milloys...

Last night, after dinner, Maddie and I made some cupcakes. She can hear the sound of the Kitchen-Aid mixer from across the house and she comes running to "help, Mama, help." She grabs a chair from the dining room table, drags it across the kitchen, and samples the batter/dough/mix. She is quite the little baker - she likes to add ingredients and turn on the mixer.

This video is called, "It's So Yummy." That's her newest phrase when she's eating. She also brings out her excited arms and some excited jumping too! Her sugar intake was more controllable when she thought bran muffins were cupcakes.

After the cupcakes were in the oven, it was onto playing in Mom & Dad's bed. When we tell Maddie its bed time, she says, "Ga-night Mama Dada's bed!" and then runs off to jump in our big bed. She likes this new game she invented where she counts to three and falls straight back. She especially likes it when Mama, Dada, and Derrick all join in the falling straight back at the same time. She even tries to get Darla to join us. Silly girl.

Just another fun night at the Milloys with our sweet baby girl!

Quick Havasu Trip!

We met my family out at the river for a quick, fun weekend!

I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here's a fun one of a cheesy Brandon smile.

Me & Maddie Lovebug.

Maddie, Dada, & Derrick hanging out on the back of the boat. Maddie had lots of fun watching the fish swim around and throwing her Flounder toy into the water for Grandpa to retrieve.

Derrick exploring the bottom of Lake Havasu.

Do not be alarmed - this is not a dead body. This is Kristen- my tan obsessed sister soaking up all the UV rays she can. What a diva.

We had lots of fun visiting our family! We ate yummy food at the Golden Horseshoe restaurant and went cosmic bowling.

Some fun pictures from the drive home...

Like father, like daughter...

Derrick the road warrior.

I was the back seat navigator...

I love this guy...

Doctor's visits for both of my babies!

Last week, Maddie had her 2 year check up! She loves the fish aquarium in the waiting room and always looks forward to saying, "Heh-wo fish" as they swim by.

My independant girl did not want her throat looked at. She clamped her jaw shut when the doctor tried to check out her teeth and mouth. We had to pry her mouth open with a tongue depressor. She also did not appreciate having her ears looked at. She took the ear light instrument thing out of the doctor's hand, handed it back to her, and said, "No." I think I have a little firecracker on my hands.

Here are her stats:

WEIGHT: 22.8 pounds - 7th % - My litte string bean

HEIGHT: 35 inches - 80th % - I think she'll be tall like her dad!

HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE: 18.5 inches - 50th % -  A perfect little head.

 I couldn't believe how tall she's grown over the past 6 months... and how skinny she still is. Since her 18 month check-up in February, she grew two whole inches and gained 1.2 pounds. I hope all of my children inherit their dad's height and metabolism. It looks like Maddie may be headed in that direction!

Her check up also, unfortunately, included 3 immunizations. My poor love bug. It is so awful because she doesn't even know its coming and then she has no idea why she's being stabbed over and over again. Oh, it breaks my heart every time. Maybe one day she'll thank me that she never got polio or measles, mumps, or rubella. She quickly recovered after she got to pick some bubbles out of the toy treasure chest. Bubbles make everything better- even painful shots.

I also went for my monthly check up so we could see how the little sweet potato is doing in there. That's the size of Baby Milloy #2 this week - a sweet potato or 5.5 inches. I always like to get my weekly baby email updates so I can see what vegetable or fruit my baby is this week.

I am happy to report that we are both healthy and doing well.

Here is baby's heartbeat ... you can hear the nurse naming off the heart rate in the recording.

Next month, we'll find out if this sweet potato is a brother or a sister for Maddie. By the looks of our baby gender poll (top right corner of this blog), it appears the majority think Maddie will get a little sister. What do you think? Stay tuned....

PS- Check the right side of our blog for updates on Maddie's measurements & all the things she does that keeps us laughing.

An Arizona Thunderstorm

This week, we had a pretty impressive monsoon storm pass over our house. We got almost 2 inches of rain in just about an hour. There was plenty of thunder and lightning too! We went storm chasing in the Toureag and found lots of flooded roads and super heavy rain. We LOVE the rain - it cooled the temperature down from 105 degrees to 70 degrees within an hour.

When we got back, Maddie ran around in the rain until she was completely soaked. She had tons of fun jumping in puddles and spinning around in the rain with her excited arms. She called the thunder "airplane" - I guess thunder does sort of sound like an airplane. Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures and video... the camera was dead, so I took all this with my phone.

 

Belly Picture - 16 weeks

I feel like I have a respectable bump now that I am 16 weeks, so here is the first picture of "the bump". I have a doctor's appointment this week for a check up and then we get to schedule the gender ultrasound to see if Maddie will get a baby brother or a baby sister. What do you think it is? Vote in our baby gender poll at the top left corner of the blog. We'll see who guessed correctly in just a few weeks!

Maddie is TWO!

We had so much fun in California for Maddie's second birthday party this weekend! Her birthday party theme was hot pink, black, & rhinestones - because I love having a girly girl! We had her party at the Ridge's beautiful home and Brittany made the most amazing cake and cupcakes ever! She is so talented!

Here is the candy bar buffet for guests to take home sweet treats with them.

This cake was SO gorgeous! It was painful to cut into it!

Some framed prints of Maddie's 2 year photo shoot next to the cupcakes...

Close up of the cupcakes... They were beautiful AND delicious!

And here's the birthday girl!

If you have been following our family blog for any length of time, you know my Maddie refuses to smile on command. Most of her pictures are of her frowning or giving you "the Brandon look" (click here for an example). I am beyond excited to have a picture of a REAL Maddie smile. I wuv my baby girl!

The loot....

A picture of mingling at the party - I love our huge family so much! We ate Pizza Chalet for lunch and it was so yummy! We always find an excuse to get Pizza Chalet when we come home to Yucaipa.

The beautiful Ridge girls...

minus Emma, who was probably playing with Maddie. Those two are best buddies and have tons of fun together.

Opening presents!

Maddie got an Ariel Barbie doll from me and Brandon. Since I have the inside Mom information, I knew she would love it. She watches "The Little Mermaid" multiple times during the day and she also loves Barbies, so it was a perfect combination.

Grandma & Grandpa Eatough got her a Mrs. Potato Head - another hit! She loves Toy Story and instantly fell in love with Mrs. Potato Head. She spent the rest of the weekend assembling Mrs. Potato Head.

I should have had her open Ariel last because all she wanted was Ariel out of the box while we were trying to open the rest of the presents. Eventually, Ariel made it out of the box. This birthday was an Ariel windfall... she got an Ariel nightgown, Ariel birthday cards, & the Ariel Barbie. Some of the other fun presents she got were a Toy Story ball pit from Aunt Jessica (which Maddie & Jasmine lived in the rest of the weekend), tons of awesome books from everyone, and lots of super cute clothes. Thanks everyone!

Grandma & Grandpa Eatough and Maddie!

Maddie and her magnificent birthday cake!

Brandon & Derrick have discovered a new hobby in the past few weeks - rocket launching. They built this rocket and we have had several launches, including this one at the Yucaipa Community Park. It is way louder than you think it will be and it shoots so high in the air, you can't see it anymore.

Here is the group prepping for the rocket launch. I love how Jasmine is right in the middle of the action, checking everything out.

Some cousin love at the park ... these two are so fun together.

A video of the cousins at the park...

We also went swimming at Grandma Eatough's house. Maddie thought it was hysterical that mom's dog Chance will jump into the pool to chase balls, so she was content throwing balls for him all afternoon. Kristen & Richard came swimming too. Kristen has a rocking tan from working as a lifeguard at Pharaoh's all summer. And Richard has always had a great tan since he was a baby.

Richard tried to dunk me, but he forgot I spent 5 years on the swim and water polo teams. I handled him.

Thanks to everyone who helped pull together Maddie's party, to everyone who came to celebrate, & to everyone who brought Maddie fun gifts! We missed everyone who couldn't make it. We love you all!

Oh... and just in case you missed our last post...

Baby Milloy #2 is on its way! I am almost 4 months already. After the miscarriage earlier this year, we wanted to wait a while to spill the beans so we could make sure everything was progressing well. My due date is January 27th... but we all know this baby will not make its debut until February. Maddie was over a week late when she was induced! I am starting to come out of the nauseous stage - thank goodness.