Happy Memorial Day!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours consisted of yard work, lots of pool time, and burgers with family. I am also happy to report that we can now call Madison a full fledged TODDLER! Once she figured it out she's been on a roll and walking very well, so well in fact that we headed to Stride Rite today to get her another good pair of walking shoes with a hard sole. And I had a coupon that expired today so that helped too, those shoes are expensive! She still crawls when she wants to get somewhere fast but if you stand her up she takes off on her own. A new phase of life is about to begin......Here's some pics of our weekend.

Walking hand in hand with dad


Chillin in the pool


What's better than a cold drink on a hot day?


Madison and her cabana boys. Yes Chase's dad is holding an umbrella over them so she doesn't get too hot, life is good!


The Ray Family


Baby Hayden's first time in the pool


Me, Madison, Jill and Kylie


Madison used the hallway at Chase's parents house as her own personal runway and walked up and down up and down....


Sitting in a big girl chair at my parents house


I think this picture is cute


Come on Uncle Michael let's go! Madison was all about walking around the back yard. I have to give a quick shout out to my brother who served a tour in Iraq with the Marines a couple years ago. Glad you are home! Thanks to all the service men and women out there.




Playing on the keyboard with Granddaddy-US Army World War II

Welcome Summer

This summer has already proven to be more fun and exciting than last and it's only May. Madison is big enough to play, splash, and really enjoy the pool so I know we will be there a lot. I don't have to worry about pumping every few hours, we have lots of friends to play with, I already have the beginnings of a tan (last year I didn't get much sun time), and best of all we are looking forward to some fun travel plans! Last year the closest thing I got to a vacation was a shower and a margarita so I'm pumped about going to the beach. It's been a joke between Chase and Madison that she wouldn't be able to go unless she was walking and apparently she's been listening because our busy little bee has been walking very well the past couple days. We shot some good video last night so I'll have to figure out how to load it and post that later. My aunt Tricia gave Madison some squeaky shoes for her birthday and she's finally figured out that if she leans back on her heels they will squeak, which has helped tremendously with her balance. Thursday is when it really started going well on the walking front. She walked from my closet all the way through our bathroom and half way across our room before she got to the ottoman in front of our bed, that is a long way! Last night at dinner she was squirmy so I put her down while we headed up to the counter to order and she did not want me to pick her back up. Normally she just gives us jello legs and won't even walk holding on to our hands but not any more. Therefore she squeaked around the restaurant while we found a table. She also walked around Firewheel with me on one side and Chase on the other. We got lots of laughs and smiles at those shoes! Pretty sure they'll drive us crazy before too long but at least she's making progress. Here's some more pool pictures from the last couple days.

Kinda looks like she's on a pink safari


Uncle Michael's home for a few weeks, yay!




Snack Time!


Cute little pruny toes


We had a pool play date with our friends and this baby pool was great because it was zero entry so the water gradually got deeper. Here's Jake playing in the fountain and Madison is behind him making her way over to her own fountain.


Madison's Kentucky Derby hat, ha ha. After working for a skin care company for 5 years I want to help protect that soft baby skin as best I can!


Madison thought it was hilarious to sit on the fountain


Playing with Carter


The Girls: Madison, Brinley and Ava

Pool Time!

I can't tell you how excited I am that summer is here and our neighborhood pool is now open! We took Madison to try out the baby pool this afternoon and I'd say she's a fan. It was a little colder than she's used to but after a few minutes we were both over the initial shock. Since it's only 1 foot deep I'm sure it will warm up as the summer progresses. She loved the little fountain and had a blast playing and splashing in it. I think it's safe to say we will be at the pool a lot this summer.



She also had fun floating in the big pool


These pictures are my favorites, the fountain was so fun!


Cheese!

14 Months

Our little monkey is 14 months old as of yesterday! She is definitely not a baby any more and is looking more and more like a little girl. I feel like she has already changed so much in the past two months since her first birthday. She is so spunky and always on the move. Here's some of the things she is up to:
-vocabulary consists of dada, mama, uh oh, bath-which comes out more as ba, and her new favorite word is bubbles, which she says really well. Other than that she still speaks in her baby language and is quite passionate about what she's saying!
-I feel like she understands almost everything we talk about
-has discovered that she can throw toys through the banister spindles upstairs and watch them fall down to the hard woods below, I'm not a fan of this new trick!
-saying bath around Madison is like saying walk around Arnie. You better not say it unless you mean because she gets really excited and says ba, ba, ba
-can point to all her facial features and her belly button
-completely over baby food and won't eat it anymore. The only way she will let me feed her is if I'm giving her a delicious treat such as pudding or ice cream. Other than that she wants to feed herself...all by herself... which leads to giant messes
-pretty much down to one nap a day
-her hair is getting so long and she's got cute little curls in the back
-I wouldn't call Madison a toddler yet but she's getting a lot closer. She'll take as many as 10 steps or so before falling to the ground.
-getting really good at standing up from a sitting down position all by herself without holding on to anything, still working on that balance!
-loves to dance and blow bubbles. She constantly brings me her bubbles, grabs my hand, and then puts the bubbles in it.
-grunts and points at what she wants
-gives sweet kisses and high fives on demand
-still terrified of loud noises such as the vacuum, hair dryer, roosters-see previous post, and any noise that startles her unexpectedly
-has been growling lately-random but funny
-6 teeth, 4 on top and 2 on bottom
-I haven't weighed her in the last week but she is close to 21 lbs

"I don't know," Madison has started shrugging her shoulders and holding up her hands


Taking her first bath with cousin Kylie, check out the purple water!


Cheeseball! Madison likes to chew on her wash cloths


And she LOVES to splash in the tub, we both end up drenched


She also loves to hug and kiss her baby


And her busy ball popper


Loves the air to blow in her, look at that funny face!


Sweet little curls


Fort Knox! I know this looks a little bit ridiculous but lately Madison's been pulling up on the TV stand and hitting the TV with her hand, a toy, her cup, etc. and thinks it hilarious. Eventually she's going to punch a hole in it so I had to do something. I used a playpin to keep her away but if anyone has any better ideas I'm open to suggestions.

The Farm

Yesterday we met our friends out at Owens Farm for a little adventure. It was a perfect day to go because there was a nice breeze and it wasn't too hot. We fed the goats, went on a hay ride, saw some other animals, and ate a picnic lunch.

Since we were headed to the farm I thought Madison needed to sport pig tails


Madison thought the goats were hilarious and probably would have been happy feeding them all day. This big guy was pretty aggressive and head butted the other goats out of the way so he would get the most food.


Come back goat! Mr. Pointer out in full force. The child points at everything!




Time for the hay ride


Madison, Me, Danielle and Jake


We got the hay ride driver to take a group shot for us


The babies all lined up on the hayride, aren't they cute!


Madison, Brinley and Whitt


Carter and Madison checking out the rooster


What a face! The rooster kept crowing and clearly Madison was not a fan. In fact none of the babies liked him too much and most of them started crying so we had to keep moving.


These little goats were just a few days old


Checking out the baby duck


Time for lunch!


Madison and Ava checking out the hay maze


Look at the hay mom!




Why sit on the hay bails when you can crawl on top of them?