Oregon Part 3: Playtime at Lauries

During our stay in Albany, I would exercise at Curve's with my mom. Madi got to play with the wonderful Laurie D.B.! Laurie is one of my absolutely favorite people ever!! If I had two mom's, she would so obviously be my second mama!! She is super sweet, and also the mother of my bestest friend, Courtney! She has been very sweet and helpful to me in so many ways over the many years I've know her! I was very excited that she got to spend time with Madi while we were in town. I would really love for Madi to know her as she grows up. The last day Madi spent at Laurie's, I sent the camera with her so we could see all the cute things that Madi does.

First thing every morning, Madi would eat dry cereal and watch Olivia with Laurie. I was told Olivia was the only TV show Madi paid any attention to. Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks!

Anyone who knows Madi, knows she just adores all animals! This is Mona, one of Laurie's kitties! I'm actually surprised she put up with Madi! Madi tends to get pretty excited and screechy, but I'm so glad we have these photos!

What a priceless expression! She just loves those wittle kitties!

Madi still hasn't grasped the concept of fake fruit. Laurie said she loved banging these apples together. I was also told Madi insisted on having one of each color!

Tasting the apple, just to make sure!

Madi is such a good kitchen helper! If you have containers in your cupboards or drawers, she is more than happy to help you remove them!

Ooo, she found the frosting cupboard! "I want this one please!"

Playing with the toy trains!

This is the beloved Laurie with my precious babydoll! I absolutely adore both these people and hope they get to spend more time with each other in the future!

Oregon Part 2: Fun at Grandma's

Here is the second batch of photos from our stay in Albany. We had such a great time! Though it rained quite a bit while we were there, there were a few days that we were able to go outside and enjoy Grandma's large yard!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of Madi's bedhead! Her hair is getting longer and doing crazy things! It's all John's fault. And I think it's super cute!

We were very lucky to have Uncle Kenny come play with us! Madi loved to play on the swing with Kenny! I think Uncle Kenny enjoyed it just as much as she did!! :)

Most of the grass was pretty tall, and therefore hard for Madi to get through, but she loved running around exploring the neverending backyard!

After coming inside, Madi found the ever loved "stop sign chair". This chair has been in our family for who knows how long, and is loved by all of us! I just remember it being bigger.... :)

This chair is well worn and well loved. I couldn't begin to try to describe it, so I thought I would take a picture to save myself the trouble.

Stay tuned for more pictures from our trip!

Oregon Trip, part 1

Alright, I know it's been way to long since I last updated, but we had our big trip to Oregon that lasted almost 6 weeks. Since we've been back we have really been in recovery mode; Madi got sick for a week, and we've been focusing on apartment hunting, and packing. Even now, I don't have time to post all of our photos so I'm doing it in shifts. This first little set is from fun at Grandma's house.

Madi Had fun playing with grandpa and his silly hats when he came home from Seattle.

Madi is all about food and all about being in the kitchen. Whenever dinner was being made, she really wanted to be part of the action. And a taste tester! :)

Madi also loved that grandma's kitchen has LOTS of drawers she can open! One of them holds the aprons, so madi pulled this out and asked to put it on. She was a great little helper!

I know it's short, but more will come in time. :) Enjoy!

Easter Fun!

Madi and I dyed eggs this Easter!! Well, I mainly did it, but she helped color the ones with crayon on them! It was loads of fun and I don't know why everybody doesn't do it every year!

This is our set up! It seemed like it went really fast, probably because I was enjoying it so much!

These are all our fancy eggs! I really like the look of drawing on the eggs with crayons first, then dying around it!

We were trying to get a picture of Madi in her super duper cute Easter dress, but she wasn't staying still AT ALL. So I jumped in and tried to help. This is a miracle shot that we are even looking at the direction of the camera, and all eyes are open! Haha. What adventure it is trying to take pictures of a toddler.

This is one I took after we decided all hope was lost. I had started putting things away, and Madi finally sat down (to pout). So i tried to descretely whip my camera back out and snap something before she moved. Unfortunetly my hand was in front of half the flash, so thats why there are odd shadows.

Kix Tasting

I discovered recently that Madi is tall enough to reach ontop of our table, and almost our counters. So this was my lesson on putting things farther away from the edge of the table. I admit, it was so cute I had to let her jsut do her thing and take pictures from the side. She actually didn't make that big of a mess!

I LOVE this! Looking in to see right where she needs to find them

Those Kix are so yummy!

She spilled some, so she started cleaning those up too!

So, I'm basically trying to back track, and post all of the cute things Madi has been doing for the last month. I know I should be better at this blogging thing, but sometimes, time just gets away from me.

These first pictures on Madi helping me ..."sort" the recycling. :) What a good helper!

She looks a little guilty in this one. :)

This set is of Madi's first taste of Chocolate pudding. Well, any chocolate really. I must admit of been depriving her of the goodness, because I know it's not good for her. I want to do a better job at keeping her healthy than I have myself.

But how on earth could I resist this face?!

She just had the smallest taste, but she REALLY liked it!

Scrounging for Leftovers

This is one of Madi's many daily rituals! When she gets done eating a meal, she has to go looking for the pieces she tossed overboard. She is such a nut. Sometimes I wonder if she is purposfully throwing them over to "save them for later".

I do try to pick most of the food up before she gets down, but sometimes she gets to it before I do. Look at that little guilty face!

Caught in the act of finding cheerios! But man is she cute!