Popsicle

Last night Madison ate ravioli for dinner so she was a complete mess. I stripped her down so she wouldn't get sauce all over the place and decided to take her outside for a popsicle since she was already sticky. She hasn't had very many in the past so it was a real treat. She kept saying "mmmmmmm" and of course Arnie was right by her side in case she decided to share, which she did.

I bought Madison this popsicle holder at Bed, Bath and Beyond a few months ago and this is the first time we have used it. It's supposed to catch all the liquid as it melts but she still managed to get juice all over her. It did help her hold it though so it was a good buy.






All gone. Look at that face, she wanted more.


Straight to the bath tub!

Baby Shower

This weekend I flew down to Houston for Katie's baby shower and it was a nice little getaway for me. This was the first time I've ever been away from Madison overnight and must say I fully enjoyed over 24 hours baby free with no diapers! The shower was wonderful and I had so much fun catching up with Katie. She looks precious as always and has a cute little baby bump. Baby Parker is scheduled to arrive early September and I can't wait to meet him!

Super Star

How cute are they?


1 going on 5


Helping daddy in the yard


I promise Madison has a bathing suit for each day of the week but apparently it's way more fun to run through the sprinklers in her clothes. I'm blaming this one on Chase because I left the two of them playing in the backyard so I could fold laundry and then this is how I found her. Drenched from head to toe and looking mighty cute in her super star sunglasses.

16 Months

Wow, is my baby girl really 16 months old today? Madison is full of energy these days and runs around the house constantly babbling in her baby talk. She's easy to lose if you turn your back for more than a second but don't worry she's either half way up the stairs, climbing on the fireplace, playing in Arnie's water bowl or trying to eat his food, pulling everything out of the drawers and cabinets that aren't baby proofed, trying to get in the bath tub, pushing the button on the front of the TV turning it on and off a million times, getting into my make up and jewelry box, playing in my closet, or completely destroying her room. Don't you want to come spend a day at our house, ha ha! She's at the age where she's fearless and wants to do everything all by herself.
Her favorite thing lately has been balls and her new discovery is bracelets. She puts her links on as bracelets which I think is quite creative and realized she can open the drawers on my free standing jewelry box so she pulls out all my bracelets and wears them around the house. I need to reorganize so she doesn't lose anything I actually wear. Here are some other things she's doing:
-her new favorite word to say is "NO" and says it when you try and get her to eat or drink something she doesn't want or if you ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, like give us hugs and kisses =(
-she twirls to her music box music and to the Backyardigans because she watches them do it on TV
-working on family members names and sounds animals make
-points to all of her facial features and body parts
-she's been sporting a front side pony lately because her hair is getting so long
-blows kisses
-when she sees me putting on lip gloss she runs over sticks up her lips so I'll put some on her too
-loves to play outside
-likes to push her baby in the stroller, share her milk with her baby, and tickle her baby under the arms while saying tika (tickle), tika, tika and laughing. What a little mommy!
-She's quite the sponge and mimicks what we do and tries to repeat what we say
-doesn't like to sit in high chairs for very long when we are out at restaurants
-doesn't like to sit in shopping carts or her stroller which makes errand running without a second pair of hands a thing of the past for now

wearing her links as bracelets


crawling up her ottoman to get to her chair, what a little monkey


Giggle box


Playing in her sand and water table. She's been eating the sand lately and then looks at me and laughs because she knows she shouldn't do it and thinks it's funny


Going through my jewelry. I have to laugh because Madison pulled out about 8 different bracelets but only wanted to wear the sparkly ones. Diamonds are a girls best friend!




CHEESE!


Sweet Girl!


Do we have a future soccer player? Madison likes to kick balls around the house and she attempts to to throw them but most of the time she throws them backwards behind her head.


Getting into mischief. No Madison those aren't balls you can play with.

How much is that baby in the window?

After Madison's check up we went to North Park and while I was checking out at Eddie Bauer my mom took Madison to walk around the store because once she's out of her stroller there's no hope of getting back in it. On my way out I found her in the store front window smiling and waving at all the passers by. A cute baby in the window would make me want to go in a store how about you? =)

15/16 Month Check Up

Today we went to see Dr. Hieber for Madison's check up. She is 5 days shy of 16 months so it was really more of a 16 month check up than a 15 month check up. She cried of course as soon as I put her on the scale to be weighed and wasn't a fan of being measured or checked out by the doctor. No shots today so there wasn't anything to cry about, Madison just doesn't like the doctor's office! Here are her stats:
Height 32 3/4 90th percentile
Weight 21 lbs 8oz 35th percentile
Developmentally she is right on track and perfectly healthy. There's still only 6 teeth in that cute little mouth of hers but Dr. Hieber could feel her top molars so I'm sure she'll be getting more teeth soon.

Fun Playdate

Today we went to play at Amy and Brinley's house. They have lots of fun backyard toys like a baby pool, sand box, water table, and a big beach ball sprinkler. Of course my child wanting nothing to do with any of it and just wanted to go up and down the porch step a million times. Go figure!

Madison and Carter sitting on the fun porch step


We tried desperately to get a group picture but these are the best we could get. Trying to get 6 very mobile babies to stay put for a picture is next to impossible!

Sprinklers

Tonight we played with the water hose in the backyard and hooked up Madison's Nemo sprinklers to see if she would run through them and she LOVED it! These pics are hilarious, she seriously had a blast. Madison is beyond drenched in her clothes because I didn't know if she would really run through the sprinklers so I didn't put her in a bathing suit. The water from the sprinklers is more like a mist and it was spraying right in her face so her eyes are closed and she's laughing hysterically in most of these pictures. She's also trying to catch the water droplets on her tongue so her mouth is wide open.

Running through the water




Absolutely soaked!




Action Shot








Can her mouth open any wider?




My little curly sue






Time for a bath! I stripped her down outside since she was literally dripping wet. Next time I think we'll skip the suit all together and let her go in a diaper.

5 Years

Yesterday Chase and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary and it may have been a rainy evening but it was definitely bright and shiny inside the Culp household. Chase surprised me with a beautiful watch, which I love. This is a big year for us because we are celebrating 5 years and in September will both be turning 30! We have talked about going away for a few days to celebrate everything at once so we weren't going to do anniversary gifts. I decided I should probably at least get him a card and when he opened it his exact words were, "Now I feel bad because I didn't get you a card," ha ha! Not 5 minutes later he walked in the bathroom, where I was getting ready, holding a white bag with a big grin on his face. I scolded him for getting me a gift and he said it's just something silly. When I threw out the tissue paper and saw the signature crown on the box I knew exactly what it was and couldn't open it fast enough. He told me after 5 years and a baby later he thought I probably deserved it. Thanks Babe I love it! We then went to dine on a delicious dinner at III Forks, love that place. It was so nice to actually enjoy a meal and sit for longer than 10 minutes and have a normal conversation with my hubby. Happy Anniversary Chase!

Gym Dandies

Since Chase was off work today he came with us to our Gym Dandies class to see what it was all about. I think Madison enjoyed having him there because she was a little more animated than usual so it was fun. Afterwards we went for burgers at Twisted Root. Dining out is not always the most pleasant experience right now because Madison is very strong willed and does not want to be confined to a high chair. It's a struggle to get her in the chair and occupied for longer than five minutes before she stands up and tried to jump out. This means Chase and I have to take turns chasing her around and mouthing at the other one to eat faster so we can get a bite in here and there. I guess this will pass....eventually right?

Will someone please show me how to hula hoop?




Crawling to the top with Kylie


Circle Time


Leanne and Carter, us, Jill and Kylie


Playing the "drum"


Parachute time


Shake it!




Underneath the parachute




This picture is actually from last week when she crawled through the tunnel


This is random but I never gave the last update on our baby bunnies. As soon as we got home from the beach I ran outside to check the nest and they were gone, woo hoo! They had pretty much outgrown their bunny hole before we left so I was hoping they would hop away. I know they are alive and well because Arnie chased one through the bushes that same evening. I've seen a pair of bunnies in our front yard numerous times over the past month so I feel like it's probably the same ones. Beware of dog little bunnies, I've saved you once but I may not be able to save you twice!