Just a Quick One...

...To share some new pictures and videos!

Here's a video of Maddy sitting on her hippo that I got at that consignment sale a couple of months ago. Bryan was delayed coming home yesterday from a trip, and we were struggling to stay entertained, so I decided to get it out and give it a shot. I think she liked it!!





Here's a still photo of her on the hippo:



This is a video of Maddy playing in her piano exersaucer. Notice the skilled use of the microphone... :)





Tonight we took a family photo of Bryan in his flight suit and Maddy and me in our squadron shirts. Maddy's onesie is a little snug, but she managed to squeeze into it one last time. LoL. Here we are:



I took a couple of just Maddy and Bryan. Here's one of those:



Finally, Bryan gave Maddy a mohawk during her bath tonight. I'm so glad she's enjoying bathtime again!! :)



I believe that this is the "what the heck did you do to me??" look. LoL! :)


I hope everyone's week is coming to a nice close. We plan to babyproof the living room and kitchen this weekend. How fun, right?!?! I'll try to take pictures of our babyproofing of the entertainment center. It should be interesting. I also need to take a picture to show you the new fence gate that Bryan made. The old one was in desperate need of replacement.

Talk to everyone soon! Love you guys! :)

As Promised...

... Here's the video of Maddy doing her sign language. When she's "all done" she raises her hands in the air to tell us. (Secretly this is so that she won't rub her hands all over herself and make a bigger mess!!) Check her out:




Isn't she AMAZING?!?! It's ok, you can admit it... I think she is, too!! :)

Love you guys! Have a great day!!

Splish Splash...

...Maddy was takin a bath!!

We bought Maddy her first bottle of bubble bath this weekend, and she LOVED it!! Until very recently, pediatricians did not recommend giving babies bubble baths for a myriad of reasons, but Johnson and Johnson's has come out with a new baby bubble bath that is approved for babies. I was a little worried because I've heard of some kids being afraid of bubble baths, but Maddy didn't have the first problem with it!! Check out some pictures of Maddy in her first ever bubble bath:





In other news, we are sad to say that Bryan's commander is moving to another base and another job. The McIntyre's have been WONDERFUL!! We will miss them more than you can imagine. Col. and Mrs. Howard will be taking over command of the squadron. I plan to go to a "meet and greet" for Mrs. Howard tonight. She's got some big shoes to fill. I hope she's up for the challenge!! Before the McIntyre's left, though, there was a HUGE farewell party this past weekend. Maddy went with us. Check her out in her ADORABLE halter dress:





After the farewell party, the newly promoted Captains hosted the "after party". This is the part of the blog where I'd like to congratulate Bryan on his promotion!! Yes, he is no longer Lt. Williams. He is now CAPTAIN Williams!! Congrats!! :)

Maddy has been working on a bit of baby sign language with us too. She has already learned "all done" to tell us when she's had enough to eat. Now, we're working on "more" when she wants more to eat and "milk" when she's thirsty. I'll try to get a couple of videos to show you. I'm so amazed at how quickly she's picked up on this. I had my doubts, so I decided to learn the signs myself and teach them to her rather than sign up for a class. We may think about the class now that she's picking up on it so quickly!! Way to go girly!!

Does everyone remember my friend Heather who was having complications with her pregnancy?? Well, I have good news. She delivered a beautiful, healthy baby girl this past Friday. Isabella was born 5 weeks early at 5 pounds, 2 ounces and 11 3/4 inches. She's a tiny little girl, but overall is doing very well.

My final note is to let everyone know that today Maddy turned 8 months old!! Can you believe it?!?! Only 4 more months until the BIG CELEBRATION!!!

Sink or Swim

I was approached yesterday by one of my former coworkers at the YMCA about enrolling Maddy in a new swim program. Pam, the aquatics director, wants to start a new program is that designed to teach babies 6 - 12 months old how to survive if they fall into the water. I call it the "sink or swim" program. She told me that it's a 4-6 week class that is 5 days a week for about 10 minutes each session. She is not yet certified to teach the class and would need a "guinea pig" to become certified, so she asked if I would consider letting Maddy help her out. The class is normally pretty pricey for a few reasons (1) it's time consuming for the instructor, (2) it's pricey to train the instructor and (3) it's one-on-one. She would teach Maddy at no cost if she were the "guinea pig". Here's a short video about the program. I have to talk to Bryan to see how he feels about it. I have very mixed emotions. I know that it could truly save her life if she were to ever fall in the pool, but the training just seems so scary. Do any of you have any experience with this program or one like it? I'm just so torn! Thank goodness babies have 2 parents... Some decisions just need more opinions than Mommy's. :)

I think it might be time...

...to start baby-proofing...

Check out this video of Maddy trying to pull herself up on her exersaucer:





And this video of Maddy rolling around reaching for the surround sound system:




What do you think?? Time to start baby proofing?!?!

Hope your week is going well... Talk to you soon!

Love you guys!! :)

Cheeeese

Here are a few pictures and videos of Maddy from dinner tonight. She's really developing a personality and becoming SO MUCH FUN!! I can't wait for everyone to see her again. She's changed so much these last few months. I can't believe it, but I have to call this week to schedule her 9 month check up!! She'll be 8 months old NEXT WEEK!! It's crazy how quickly the time has gone by!!

Miss Maddy has become very independent when it comes to mealtime, too. She started turning her nose up at the jars of baby food while we were at the beach. I finally realized that she just really wanted to feed herself, so tonight she had a Gerber Graduates meal. They make little TV dinner type meals (like a Lean Cuisine). The box says that they are for toddlers, but with her 8 teeth and determination, she's ready!! Tonight she had carrots with mashed potatoes, chicken pieces and gravy. She ate every bit of it. Then, she ate some peas. She finished up with a half a graham cracker. You think we might be getting ready to hit a growth spurt?!?! She's also started drinking out of a sippy cup. She's getting pretty good, and with a little guidance, she holds it all by herself!! :)

So, long story short, here are some pictures and videos of tonight's dinner...

Her new nickname is cheeseball... She cheeses for the camera:





Now, cheese on command Maddy:





I hope everyone's week got off to a great start. Maddy and I are flying solo this week. We hope to have our family back together by the weekend...

Love you guys!!

Has it been a week already??

According to my blog page, it seems that it has been a week since I last blogged. No good excuse other than the fact that life got in the way. LoL.

I also have been without my laptop since Saturday. (Apparently it's very sick... a couple of viruses and a trojan... Let's hope it comes home feeling better... and SOON!!) I'm currently using Bryan's laptop, so I won't be posting any pictures today. If you only read my blog to see pictures of the most perfect baby in the entire world, then I'll catch you next time, and you can go ahead and close the window. ;)

Speaking of the most perfect baby in the entire world, she's napping at the moment... THANK GOD!! Our morning got off to a rough start... and didn't really get better until a friend of mine stopped by for a little while. As my friend was getting ready to leave, Maddy dozed off. That was about an hour and a half ago!! Thank goodness for distractions! :)

Mostly I just wanted to check in with everyone. Since we've been home from the beach, we've given up on feeding Maddy baby food out of jars. We realized that we were throwing away more than she was eating, so we're done with that. We've moved on to table foods. So far we've tried lots of cookie/cracker type foods... bread of several varieties... lasagna (that was a sight to see)... peas... sandwiches (jelly, cream cheese, melted american cheese)... Does anyone have any other suggestions?? I think I'm going to try mashed potatoes soon. Tonight, Bryan and I are having marinated chicken, some type of veggie and maybe some pasta or something. I am hoping to give Maddy a little of everything that we're having (no marinade for her, though). If anyone has any suggestions of things to try, I'm all ears (or eyes as the case may be). Miss Maddy is getting more independent by the day, and thoroughly enjoys feeding herself, so finger foods are QUICKLY becoming our friend!!

I hope you all are wrapping up the week nicely. I know I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Love you guys!! :)