The little nomads..

2009-09-30T12:57:00.003-07:00

Momma & Papa just got back from Fiji 10 days!!!

First hawks game - eating appetizersnew sleeping bag - getting ready for camping!!

Kind of a blurred pic but perfect example of her pouty face

Summer.

2009-09-24T07:58:00.003-07:00

My Gosh!? Has it really been since mid July since I got around to posting news and pics of Mad? yikes. We have been, yet again, SO BUSY. Weddings, receptions, trips to Fiji ;), boating, camping, etc. etc. I'll post a couple sets of pics. These first ones are some fun Summer moments, playing at the park, with cousins etc.

4th of July in Oregon

2009-07-17T14:42:00.004-07:00

We were anxious about taking mad on the plane but she did pretty well.. she made some friends by staring uncomfortably at them from our laps and playing peekaboo through the seats.. made for some good entertainment. We flew into Portland where we met up with gpa/gma and set out for the blues festival. We spent the rest of the trip in Seaside where we played on the beach, watched madelyn try to be in the parade, watched fireworks, went on a little hike, and mama and daddy got to have a blast from the past playing video games at the arcade. good stuff.

Our weekend in Lake Wenatchee..

2009-07-17T12:39:00.006-07:00

Mad's first adventures at the lake, throwing rocks, canoeing -- very close to shore don't worry, playing with sticks and of course learning to snowboard on a piece of driftwood ;)

exploring...

2009-06-19T08:16:00.002-07:00

So far Madelyn's Summer days have been filled with exploration.. she loves having conversations with herself in her mirror, finding the wipes (grrr..), lounging on the new deck, and finding all sorts of sticks, pine cones, rock, etc at the park.

good times with my friends celia and miguel..

2009-06-18T19:36:00.003-07:00

first knee scrape..

2009-05-21T10:44:00.002-07:00

"Duuurt."

2009-05-17T10:14:00.004-07:00

One of Mad's first words and favorite pastimes.

Where to begin..

2009-04-26T09:20:00.002-07:00

Our month of April, the busiest yet, has included; Madelyn's 1st Birthday, Easter, the Mama's birthday, and a SURPRISE engagement! So exciting! Ryan and I wished Madelyn a happy birthday along with friends and family at our new home. Between parading around new toys and devouring a cupcake in a matter of seconds, we're both pretty sure Maddie had one of the best days ever! For Easter we spent time with Grandparents and GGrandparents hunting for animal crackers and multicolored plastic eggs. And for my birthday, Ryan and I took a (long postponed) trip to Winthrop to spend the day hiking and exploring. After finding the perfect picnic spot, looking out at the cascades, Ryan surprised me with a beautiful ring and asked me to be his bride! We're planning a destination wedding to ? and a reception in September. - pictures coming soon, i promise.

Tupperware Peekaboo

2009-03-07T16:40:00.003-08:00

MMMmmm..

2009-03-04T13:34:00.002-08:00

Baby Steps..

2009-02-23T09:49:00.003-08:00

MAd is taking her first steps! I'm not sure if it's the excitement she can read in our eyes or that she's just so proud of herself, but after taking a few cautious steps the thrill overwhelms her and she starts waving her arms and running to us... it's so hilarious and adorable at the same time.

Mustache Revolution

2009-02-23T09:44:00.003-08:00

Getting ready for "Uncle Joshua's Mustache Revolution Party" - Happy Birthday!

The big 10 Months!

2009-02-11T10:17:00.003-08:00

We feel like our baby has to quickly become a little girl. Everyday we try to soak in as many squeeks and laughs and snuggles as we can. We love you M.

I wish I woke up as enthusiastic as M..

2009-02-04T09:23:00.003-08:00

Mad wakes up soooo happy and excited.. for ? She begins her day by pulling down books (from momma and papa's bookshelf), talking, waving and clapping, opening and closing doors (including the dryer) over and over.. and over... and.... She loves playing with her refrigerator magnets, eating cheerios and bananas.. chasing momma around the house, and inevitably she ends up in the bathroom crawling up to stare into the tub (as if to imply she's ready to go swimming:).. then off for a nap to start all over.

Our new home..

2009-02-02T17:38:00.003-08:00

570 Saddle Rock Loop - We're soooo excited.

Madelyn and NEVIyah

2009-02-02T17:29:00.003-08:00

Up to no good ;)

HAPPY 9 MONTHS BABY GIRL!

2009-01-11T23:24:00.001-08:00

we are so very proud of you!

Waking up to smiles..

2009-01-05T10:43:00.004-08:00

Madelyn has learned to stand in her crib, so this is how we've been finding her, waiting for us talking and smiling .. We were thinking it was pretty cute until we realized she likes to chew on her crib!

Madelyn and some of Mama's friends babies.

2009-01-05T10:33:00.005-08:00

Crawling and a Tooth!

2008-12-16T15:05:00.005-08:00

Our lil' bug is scoot-crawling :) Mainly after things she's not suppose to have; the remote control, our cell phones, the Christmas tree! I'm a little nervous for what this will mean when she starts walking.. yikes! I have a sneaking suspicion that she'll be into everything. Ryan and I have been cuddling with Madelyn a lot the last few days as she has a tooth coming in on the bottom right. We're excited but sad to lose that toothless smile. Poor girl is hurting though.. chewing on everything and not feeling so hot. Wow.. how the time is flying by. This morning I was lying on the floor playing with Mad and she turned around and hugged my leg, then she grabbed my jeans tight and persisted to pull herself to standing! Oh my, what's next!

Christmas Tree Hunting...

2008-12-15T20:33:00.003-08:00

I love Christmas! I was so excited to take the new family into the hills to pick out a tree. After quite the search we finally found "the tree" .. but by then our girl was fast asleep. She awoke to find a tree in her living room?!! Probably strange to a small mind. (We gave her a small branch to play with, you would have thought it was a new flashy toy..) As the lights went up she grew more and more excited and now, at random times throughout the day, I find her staring at it in awe. Merry Christmas baby girl.

We want SNOW!

2008-12-03T16:05:00.002-08:00

Sorry for not keeping up to date with posts.. This last month has been crazy busy for us.. Filled to the brim with swim lessons, Seahawks games, concerts, dinners, birthdays, a car in the shop, shopping for a new bed and selling our old one;).. and a surprisingly clear weekend North, at Birch Bay.. We have had so much fun, but are exhausted. Madelyn has been growing like a little weed! And it's fun to see her little personality coming out. She's eating a lot more, (she would eat the whole fridge if we let her) and her sweet babbles of communication never stop, we love her squeaks and squeals and random dadada yayayayaaa's... (she even does this heavy breathing thing, it's hilarious!) Most days are filled with sleep and playtime, but she's improving her fine motor skills and LOVING her swim lessons and the water. I've even caught her throwing her head around at lightening speed to catch a glimpse of the water coming out of the faucet.. It's a sweet little obsession she has right now. She loves it when we help her stand up, and still bounces like crazy (about a mile a day I swear).. and I can tell that she desperately wants to crawl, which scares ryan and I because we are not even close to having our home child proof. I guess that will be another "to do" in December. I hope everyone is well.

The long awaited Halloween Pics!

2008-11-25T14:40:00.002-08:00

Our Lil Duck..

polkadot swimmin bug..

2008-11-03T09:20:00.002-08:00

Madelyn and Papa at swim lessons.

Ha-key.

2008-10-30T11:18:00.004-07:00

Wenatchee Wild. (hard to believe Wenatchee has a semi pro hockey team) The bank handed out free tickets and of course we were more than happy to venture out. Madelyn stared at the ceiling then fell asleep.. It amazes me how little ones can do that.

Trees, leaves, and bottles?!

2008-10-12T13:06:00.005-07:00

Yesterday, for Madelyn's 1/2 birthday:), we took her hiking. She really LOVES being outside. And we really enjoyed the time as a family as well.

Madelyn's 6 Months old!

2008-10-10T20:00:00.003-07:00

At Mad's six month appointment she weighed 15.3 pounds, and was 27 inches long! (30percentile weight/ 90percentile length).. She might be tall like her papa?! Her doctor, Darcy Jeffrey, said she's doing great and very energetic for six months.. uh oh ;)

Our little "baby peach"

2008-10-10T09:55:00.001-07:00

in training.. to run over that papa.. or should i say 'waluigi'?!!

2008-10-07T17:46:00.002-07:00

Papa has been teaching Madelyn to sit up. She's been doing really well, and only crashes when she lurches sideways to grab something of interest:) I can definitely see a desire in her to be more mobile.. sometimes she stares so intently at things that I swear she's trying to teleport herself over to them. We can hardly believe she'll be six months on Saturday!

grey skies and hoodies.

2008-10-06T14:30:00.003-07:00

What is it about the skies turning grey that makes us pause.. reminds us to slow down?

Maybe it's because we want to soak up the last of a season or maybe we're ready for a new season to begin... or possibly, we've just been waiting for an excuse to call in sick, drink coffee and contemplate life. For me the grey skies allow time to catch up on chores that seem all to quickly to accumulate these days.. And of course, my favorite part, cozying up with ryan and madelyn in my favorite hoodie. (it's a pretty good excuse to play mariokart too:)

Shades of pink.

2008-10-06T14:17:00.002-07:00

Mad's laundry.

A little daddy time.

2008-09-29T19:59:00.002-07:00

So while the older girls, including Mommy, decided to go to the opera...who goes to the opera anyway...Madelyn and Daddy got to spend the whole day together. Even though we had the whole day pre planned for us by Mommy (just kidding), we still managed to have some unauthorized fun. In between losing socks on our walk, refusing to take an afternoon nap, and having a little fussy session during dinner, we really did manage to have a great time. I can see a fun personality starting to develop, and she can sustain longer periods of playtime. I can't explain how exciting that is. Go Seahawks. Papa

A day by the river.. inspecting leaves

2008-09-23T13:24:00.012-07:00

I love watching Madelyn's face as she examines her surroundings.. she stares, furrows her brow, squints, moves her head side to side, and of course tries to taste everything. One of my favorite things is to ly her under a tree and watch her.. she looks above, in complete awe, and watches the leaves blow in the wind and the sun shine through them.. then she puts her hands out reaching toward the sky and moves her wrists back and forth, back and forth. I'm not sure why she does this but I love that she loves it so much. I laid next to her the other day and looked up into the trees. It was such a needed moment, both of us with no other cares or worries, fascinated with the small but incredible things.

Ryan & I have officially changed the spelling of M-A-D-E-L-Y-N's name..

2008-09-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

(and we're excited to hear people pronounce it correctly:)

FIVE MONTHS AND GROWING.

2008-09-15T13:52:00.003-07:00

When people ask me how old Madelyn is I often find myself answering 5 months.. and then immediately question my response, is she really 5 months? Did I just make that up?! no way, if that's right, next month she'll be half a year already! Oh. My. I'm finally starting to realize why everyone says they grow up so fast! Ryan and I are truly enjoying being parents, we have possibly the sweetest child (I'm sure everyone says that about their own, but it's true..) Madelyn keeps us on our toes, and more importantly keeps us smiling.. yes, even if it's at 1am with a poo-ey diaper.. If you haven't spent much time with our Madelyn it's hard to explain, she's funny, or amuses herself anyway (i'm sure she gets that from her papa:), and she's a total flirt, whether it's with her coo's, smiles or eyebrows she'll suck you in! Needless to say it's been somewhat of a struggle at times when she wants to be cute and play, and you need her to go to sleep. She's doing really well though and we are so very proud of her.

some of my cousins..

2008-09-15T13:45:00.003-07:00

Halle, Jones, Maia, & Madelyn enjoying the last days of Summer.

2008-09-08T13:38:00.005-07:00

Sitting, watching the Momma cook.

2008-09-07T21:15:00.002-07:00

Sitting up like a big girl, it's exciting but sad that she's growing so fast.

little water bug.

2008-08-26T13:50:00.007-07:00

We've wanted to take Madelyn into the water for awhile now.. this weekend we visited her Auntie Pat and ended up spending the afternoon in the pool. Mad seemed awestruck by the sun reflections in the water, and kicked her feet a bit.. but got a little nervous getting too far from the papa.

Momma & Papa @ Jack Johnson

2008-08-26T13:04:00.004-07:00

When we got tickets to jack johnson we contemplated taking madelyn but decided in the end that it wouldn't be the best environment for her, plus it would give ryan and i some much needed alone time.. It was a long LONG night, especially missing our 'little bucket'.. but i think we both agree that it's nice to be able to go out and do things that don't revolve around baby toys and diapers. (it's still sooo hard though).

cousins..

2008-08-13T10:12:00.002-07:00

Lael and Madelyn.

4 months..

2008-08-12T20:34:00.013-07:00

Mad turned four months yesterday... At her check up she was 13.9lbs and 24.5 inches long. Her new favorite things include; grabbing and trying to eat her toes, rice cereal with apple juice, being tickled under her chin, talking (sometimes at 4am)... she loves sucking her thumb and as many fingers as she possibly can, and Madelyn likes hanging out watching TV with her papa (which will soon be nothing but football:)..

Morning Nap..

2008-07-31T10:22:00.002-07:00

..or not so much.

Growing

2008-07-25T15:15:00.007-07:00

Mad is growing so fast. Has it really been over three months?

It seems like she finds something new to entertain her by the hour.. whether it's a pattern on a blanket, the ceiling fan, or a new toy.. She loves baths, she loves music, she loves lights and she loves kicking her feet.. matter of fact we've renamed them 'the feet of fury!' She's definitely ready for more adventure, bouncing up and down with her strong little legs while you hold her upright..

She hates to sleep though.. and it's not uncommon, during nap time, to find Madeline lying in her crib babbling and staring at anything that seems to cast a shadow. And even when she's absolutely exhausted she keeps the slightest crack open in one eye to make sure she knows what's going on at all times.. she doesn't want to miss anything. Unfortunately I'm sure this is all prompted from mom drinking multiple cups of coffee throughout the day to keep up with the little bucket! .. (but can I really give up something so precious to my day?) Anyhow Madeline is such a busy little bug. This picture was taken a couple days ago, after finding her, yet again, playing instead of sleeping.

the spelling of a name..

2008-07-25T15:07:00.003-07:00

Madeline, Madelyn, Madelin, Madelynn, we just can't figure out what we love best. We love the name.. it's just the spelling that seems to be up in the air. So just in case you see a little bit of it all for the next few weeks, bear with us..

North Cascades

2008-07-14T10:56:00.007-07:00

We had our first family vacation over the Fourth of July Weekend. Our journey started early Friday; heading toward Winthrop (stopping at a little coffee shop in Pateros that was, believe it or not, amazing). We spent the day walking around Winthrop, what a cool little podunk tourist town, then headed over the North Cascades Scenic Highway.. (I can't believe this place is almost in our back yard!) It was beautiful. Mad seemed to enjoy looking out the window in between naps and staring at her toys in the back seat. We stayed in a chalet nestled in the woods outside of Marbelmount. We hiked, roasted marshmallows, played some cards, and even enjoyed some guitar solo's from a campsite close to ours.. Our favorite part of the trip was watching madeline's eyes brighten with wonder in the outdoors. It's such an incredible gift to be able to introduce the world to her. Ryan and I loved our trip through Winthrop so much that we ended up heading back in the same direction. After a short game of put put, Sasha won of course:) and a bite to eat out on the deck of a neat little cafe we slowly.. drug our feet on the way home, stopping a few more times, just because we could. If you want to see more pictures; http://www.flickr.com/photos/26756913@N08/sets/

Madeline's new blog

2008-06-03T16:33:00.002-07:00

Here is our little bundle's new blog; to keep you updated on the progress of Madeline as she grows and grows (too fast for mom). This is one of my favorite pictures of mad and her papa.