Too Cute Not To Post

I thought this video was too funny not to post tonight. I know, I know. I went for DAYS with no blogging... now I'm posting TWO in ONE day!! I think you'll agree that it's worth it, though... Here goes nothing:







I hope you enjoyed a little look into our spoon-usage lesson for the night!

Love you guys!! :)

Just an update

Well, we've been in Little Rock since Sunday. Not much has gone on. Here is a picture of Maddy in her carseat on Sunday when we told her that we were going on a roadtrip:



I didn't take one of her when we got here. That was a memory I didn't want to capture. I'd like to let it fade this week before we hit the road again next week. LoL. Needless to say, she was DONE sitting in the carseat by the time we got here!! :)

Last night we took Maddy to a Mexican restaurant here that is near the townhouse we rented when we lived here. We used to come to this restaurant pretty frequently as we enjoyed the food. The first picture is Maddy's new "evil grin". She sometimes makes this face, and, let's be honest, if you look at her eyes, it really looks like she knows that she's up to no good!! :)


The next picture is Maddy enjoying her chip at the restaurant while waiting for dinner...


I think she really liked her dinner. She had a cheese quesadilla with rice and beans on the side. I didn't know how she'd feel about the sides, but she really liked them. She let me feed her the beans with a spoon (THANK GOD... That could have gotten messy... QUICK!!)... and she chose to eat the rice one...grain...at...a...time... It was a slow and tedious process, but she seemed to enjoy it. LoL.

Today, we went to Best Buy and Toys 'R' Us. The Best Buy in Abilene in tiny and is located inside our "mall". We do not even have a Toys 'R' Us. Maddy, of course, made out like a bandit at the toy store. Well, actually, we got her a small toy and a bath toy (Bryan was pretty bent out of shape that I didn't pack any bath toys for her and didn't think that the 2 plastic cups and plastic spoon were enough for her highness). I also got a couple of things that I've been wanting to get for her that I couldn't find in Abilene (these certain bowls for snacks and new sippy cups).

Bryan is at work right now, and I'm cooking a Stouffers lasagna for dinner. He should be home in about an hour. Tomorrow is his checkride (hopefully if the weather cooperates). If all goes well tomorrow, he will officially be an instructor navigator!!! Woo-Hoo!! :) Once he files all of the necessary paperwork, we will be finished here. We are hoping to stay here for the weekend so we can go to the zoo and maybe do something outdoors (go for a nature walk or something). We'll just have to see how long the paperwork takes.

Our current plan is to leave here on Monday and head to Franklin to visit with Chris and April and Bryan's family.

I guess that's about it for us for now. Maddy's taking a little late afternoon nap, which I'm okay with. I changed her diaper a little while ago and out of nowhere she's got a terrible diaper rash, so I'm hoping a little rest will help heal that. I also think that one of her molars has started to cut through (could explain the diaper rash) and another seems to be on the verge. Poor kid... See? A late afternoon nap isn't such a bad idea now, is it?!?!

I hope all of you are having a good week... It's HUMP DAY!!

Love you guys (and see you VERY soon)!!! :)

First Leg Down...

...Five more to go!

We left our house around 8:15 this morning and drove all day to arrive here in Little Rock around 5 PM this evening. We're one step closer to visiting with everyone!! Bryan will finish his training this week (if all goes as planned), then early next week we'll be heading to Nashville to visit with Chris and April and all of Bryan's family. :) I'm so glad that we're finally on our big road trip!!

Maddy did exceptionally well in the car today. There were a few "hairy" moments, but all things considered, she did very well. We DID stop one more time than we had planned, but I think Maddy appreciated it. She was pretty "over" being in the car seat, so we stopped at a rest area, laid out a big blanket and let her crawl to her heart's content... for 15 minutes, then it was back on the road for us. We were really glad that we stopped when we did because about 20 miles down the road, we ran into some TERRIBLE weather. We made it through with no problems, but there was NO WAY we would have stopped during that weather.

After we got here, we got settled into the "hotel" on base (yes, Mom, it's the fancy-shmancy place where we stayed in December). Once we were settled, we went to our friend Carrie's house for pizza and a little chatting. Now, Miss Maddy is sleeping in her room (hopefully down for the entire night). Bryan and I are pretty worn out. Bryan is tired because he drove to Abilene yesterday to pick us up then did most of the driving today. I'm tired because, well, I have been chasing after a VERY mobile Maddy all by my lonesome for several weeks. I think we're both glad to have each other's company again. Parenting is really a job for 2 people. I think God knew what he was doing when he came up with that plan...

I realized that I am not sure that I ever shared with everyone what our actual itinerary is, so I'll leave you Atlanta folks with the part that pertains to you. You can plan to see us from Friday, August 14 until Monday, August 17. Bryan and I are hoping to take Maddy to the aquarium while we're there. Looking like Saturday will be the best day, but we're certainly flexible!!

Well, I think it's time to turn in for the night. Can't wait to see everyone soon!! Love you guys!! :)

Any Suggestions?

Hi all!! I have a home improvement question for you today. The other night we had a big storm here, and when I got up in the morning, I found that this piece of my roof was coming off. Now, I'll tell you that this particular piece was slipping out from under the shingles a couple of months ago, and Bryan slid it back under, and we completely forgot about it. Now that we've had the storm, it has fallen completely back out. What would your suggestion be? Should we tuck it back under and staple-gun it? Tuck it back under and nail it? Pull it off? Call a roofer? What would be your suggestion?? Thanks so much for the help!! I know I can always count on you guys for some opinions... ;)



If the pictures are too hard to see, you might try clicking on them to make them bigger. Hopefully that will help!! :)


With that being said, I'll leave you with this little photo I took of Maddy yesterday (sorry she's not smiling, she was still a little under the weather). I like to call this one, "Like Father, Like Daughter". Yep... Maddy flew Elmo's plane yesterday when we went to her friend Charlie's house!! :)



Love you guys!! See you SOON!! :)

Update

Well, last night was NOT a good night in our house again. Maddy was up and down all night long. About 2 AM I decided that we were going to the doctor today just to get a professional opinion on whether she is being stubborn about not wanting to sleep or if there is something wrong. Are you ready for this Mother-of-the-year moment?? Apparently, Maddy has an ear infection!! :( Now, of course, I feel like dirt since she's been suffering for several days. We've already had the first dose of the antibiotic, so hopefully she'll be on the mend very soon. The doctor also suggested that I give her some OTC allergy medicine before bed at night, and keep putting her lotion on her to help with the contact rash that never seems to go away. He thinks the allergies could be adding to the nighttime waking. Here's hoping that all this stuff will help!! Please say a little prayer for her that she starts feeling better VERY soon!!

Just wanted to update everyone on what's going on in our little world! Bryan will be home in T-3 days to pick us up to start our big road trip!! Woo Hoo!! See everyone soon!!

Love you guys!! :)

This Little Girl...

...is absolutely amazing!! We've had a VERY ROUGH (to put it nicely) couple of days and nights!! Maddy had all but quit sleeping. We spent two nights in a row "partying" for hours in the middle of the night. Then, the suggestion was made that I let her cry herself back to sleep, so Sunday night I let her CIO (Cry It Out). FOUR HOURS AND FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, she finally fell asleep. It was NOT easy, and I don't know if I could have handled another night like that!! Then, yesterday afternoon when it was time for her nap, I laid her down completely asleep and twenty minutes later she was awake, crying. I let her CIO again, and this time she only cried for TWO hours. Once she fell asleep, she was only asleep for about 20 or 30 minutes, and was awake again. By this time, it was just about dinnertime, so I chose to just get her and try again at bedtime.

We ate some dinner, then we had to go to Target because we were out of some essentials, and I had put it off as long as humanly possible (I was certain that one diaper wasn't going to last us until today)... While driving to Target, I tried to make a phone call on my cell phone and had a problem, so I opted to restart the phone. That was IT. The phone will no longer turn back on. So, the AT&T store was on the way to Target, so we stopped there first. The girl at the store told me that she did not know what was wrong with it. She told me that on August 21, I am eligble for an upgrade. In the meantime, they've given me a "loaner" phone. It's not the greatest phone, but let's face it, it makes and receives phone calls, so I'm not complaining!!

Back to the sleep thing. Maddy and I did our normal bedtime routine last night after we got home, and I prayed A LOT. God and I got very close. Also, once Maddy had fallen asleep in my arms (I like to rock her to sleep), we talked (well, I talked and she "listened") for a little while. I explained to her that she and I would both feel A LOT better if she slept. Guess what?!?! SHE LISTENED!!! She fell asleep around 8:30, and I didn't hear from her again until a little after 8 this morning!!! YAY YAY YAY!! And that, my friends, is why Maddy is just so dang amazing!! She knew that I was just about "over it", and she pulled through once again!!!

She's currently taking a little nap, and has been for about 45 minutes, so shhh... Don't wake the baby!!

In other news, Bryan will be coming home on Saturday to pick us up for our big road trip. I couldn't be more excited (especially now that Maddy seems to be doing better)!!! Let the countdown begin!!! This is also excellent news because if the "loaner" phone doesn't hold up, he and I will be together, so we'll have his phone which seems to be slightly more reliable these days... iPhones, here we come... ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!! Woo-Hoo!!

Oh, and today's picture is Miss Maddy on the move. She has really started to enjoy crawling EVERYWHERE. Watch out when we come visit you... She's ON THE MOVE!!!

Love you guys!! See you soon!! :)

Mobility...

...Aint it grand?!?!

Here are a few pictures of Maddy as she's been exploring. First, she found the DVD racks... Oh boy... We have TONS of movies for her to pull off the shelves. Fun times for the baby girl!!



Today, we found the Nintendo under the end table... That's fun to play with, too!!









We hope everyone's week is coming to a nice close. See you all VERY soon!! :)

I Scream, You Scream...

...We all scream for ICE CREAM!!!

Maddy and I hosted our "walking buddies" today for a little walk in the neighborhood, picnic lunch and ice cream social. We had a great time!! We met this morning and took a walk through the neighborhood. We were 4 strollers wide walking through the neighborhood. HaHaHa.

Once we got home, we had a little picnic lunch. The original plan was to do this outside, but we were pretty toasty, so we had a picnic on the kitchen floor instead... Here we all are:



Maddy tried a ham and cheese sandwich for the first time. I think she liked it, but I never imagined that a sandwich could be SO MESSY!! HaHaHa... I think she looks like a grumpy old man in the last picture:





Once we finished our lunches, we went outside for a little "pool party":




Then, we had a little ice cream. I supplied the ice cream and each family brought a different topping. Here is my friend Kristen's little boy Kelby enjoying his ice cream:




Now that everyone has left, Maddy is watching TV... If she keeps this up, she'll need glasses in no time!! Don't worry, though, I've since moved her away from the TV screen. She's a good 10" away from it now. LoL. :) I'm hoping she'll tucker out soon and take a good, long afternoon nap!!



I hope everyone is having a good start to their week!! Talk to you soon!

Love you guys!! :)

Mommy's In Trouble...

Hi everyone! It's Maddy! Mommy got up this morning, and found me like this:


I am normally laying on my belly when she comes in to get me... This sure surprised her!! :)


Then, once she was in my room, I pulled up to my knees like this:


Last night while we were watching TV, I pulled myself all the way up to my feet using the coffee table. Watch out world... Here I come!!

And now, a note from Mommy:

Hey! Isn't Maddy just the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?! :) Well, I won't steal her thunder, but she doesn't know about our road trip yet, so she can't fill you in on the details. I realized last night, though, that I never really gave our whole itinerary, so I thought you might like to know when the Williams family will be invading a city near you! :) Here goes:

Bryan will be coming home to get us around July 25, and we'll head to Little Rock with him on the 26th so he can finish his training. His training is scheduled to finish on August 5. If all goes well, we'll hit the road that afternoon and head to Nashville. We'll be there until Sunday, August 9 when we'll drive to South Carolina. We plan to spend a few days there, then head to Atlanta on Friday, August 14. While in Atlanta, we'd REALLY like to take Maddy to the aquarium, so if you're in Atlanta and would like to join us, we'd be happy to have you with us!! Then, we plan to start our journey home on Monday, August 17 arriving back in Abilene on Wednesday the 19th. I hope that if we'll be in a city near you that we'll be able to see you. We're trying to hit all the major cities (or at least the ones that are major to us) in the southeast on this trip!! SEE YOU SOON!!!

Love you guys!! :)

Need a Good Chuckle??

Well, here ya go...




Maddy had the hiccups tonight, and I started making fun of her. (I know, great Mom, huh?!?!) Well, apparently, she thought that was hysterical!! :)

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip to the zoo today:

Look, I remembered to put a hat on that bald head!! :)

MY favorite exhibit... THE PINK FLAMINGOS!!

Yep, you're seeing that right... Maddy's standing on her own looking at the giraffes!!

Now with a little 'tude... :)

And the ducks and fishies!!

We had a great time today at the zoo. I hope you've enjoyed yet another look into our lives!!

Love you guys!! Our trip is one day closer!! See you soon!! :)

Sketties

Well, Maddy likes spaghetti I think. What do you think:




Here are a couple of still photos of the skettie face:




I hope you enjoyed this little look into why we don't indulge in spaghetti very often!! :)

If you didn't see my last blog, it's a MUST READ, so you should take a look at it, too!

Love you guys!! :)

Check Me Out!!

Hey everyone!! It's me, Maddy, again!! I borrowed Mommy's laptop, and wanted to show you this little video that she took of me this morning!!




Yep... You're seeing that right... I'm crawling now!! Mommy and Daddy's world is about to be completely turned upside down!! :) I'M MOBILE!!!

Can't wait to see everyone in about a month!! Love you guys!! :)

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!! We've had a FANTABULOUS day!! Check us out!!

Here's Maddy waiting for the neighborhood parade to start:



Maddy also LOVES watermelon. Here she is at the neighborhood "block party" devouring her TWO HUGE slices!!





Here's a video of her eating the watermelon. Please pay close attention and listen for the "Mom, this is the BEST TREAT EVER" groans!! :)




After the watermelon at the "block party", we walked home. This is about 3 streets from our house. By the time we got home, this is what I found:


After a quick nap and wardrobe change, we headed to Maddy's birthday buddy's house (Mrs. Breezy), oh yeah and there's some guy that lives with her (Mr. Mike) for an ole fashioned bar-b-que!! Mommy got her cheeseburger that she's been craving... And we had lots of fun hanging out!! While we were there, Maddy played with Mr. Mike. Here they are sitting on the kitchen floor playing:



What do you think?!?! With this excessive drool, I really think we might have some more teeth coming in. PRAY FOR US!!!



I hope that you all had a WONDERFUL 4th of July!! Unfortunately, it seems as though our fireworks are going to be rained out. We have decided not to even venture out as the skies are looking UGLY and the wind is really picking up!! We love you guys!! :)

Here's What's New...

Here are just a few pictures to share with everyone so you know what's new with us...

First, Maddy's first birthday marks A LOT of changes. There are lots of new foods which can be introduced at this age... This is also the first acceptable age that we can turn Maddy around for car rides. She has been in her rear-facing seat since birth. I do not know that we will turn her around when she turns 1 (she's still really not that big), but while we were at Target today, we put her in one of the display models... And here she is!! Doesn't that thing just swallow her WHOLE?!?!


We also just bought this little booster seat for Maddy. We bought it for several reasons. One of those being that we sometimes go to friends houses for dinner, and we have no where for Maddy to sit. The other being that we're going on a road trip in about a month to visit folks all over the southeast. We have plans to stop in Nashville, South Carolina and Atlanta!! I hope we get to see all of you while we're traveling. Check Maddy out in her new booster seat. I think she likes it!! :)


Finally, Bryan gave Maddy a bubble bath tonight, and her new game is to put her face in the water. When she did this tonight, she came up with a goatee. It's hard to see in the pictures, but if you look closely, it's there!! (Also, my apologies for the sideways picture. Every time I uploaded it, it was sideways - even though it is the right way on my computer - so, we'll just have to deal.) Here she is:



We hope that everyone has a MARVELOUS 4th of July!! We plan to!! Love you guys... And we'll see you VERY soon!!