Who needs toys?

I've been feeling guilty because Maddie doesn't have a lot of toys to play with. My mom and I even made a trip to a consignment store to buy her some goodies. Well, I've started to realize lately that who needs toys when she has a whole house of things to explore. Now that she's crawling she wants to play with everything. She'll climb over her toys to reach the object she has her eyes on. It actually has been great because Maddie can now really entertain herself. Today was a busy day because our house was a mess and I had tons of laundry to do since I've been busy with Mary Kay lately. I spent most of the day cleaning and Maddie was happy as a clam to be right beside me and play with the laundry, or anything else within reach.

I love her outfit. Thanks Velz!



Playing with a cardboard box before bed. I kept her up an extra half an hour tonight so Jon could actually see her in the middle of the week. The cardboard box kept her happy :)

3 generation photo shoot

Maddie, my mom, and I had photos taken last week. Here are the pictures :)

Also, check out Kristin's blog to see some of the pictures. She also put Maddie's pictures in some sample Christmas cards in this post.

Gentry Farms

Maddie and I went to Gentry Farms on Saturday courtesy of the VHA. We had a great time! Unfortunately Jon was moonlighting and couldn't join us. We may go back with Jon.

Maddie playing with the big kids. She couldn't shovel the corn and wheat yet but she did try to eat a handful of it.

She loved watching the other kids!!

My attempt at a fall portrait.

Watching the Cowboys today. She crawled over to the TV cabinet and pulled up all by herself. Apparently she's already a fan. I guess the brainwashing from her Nana worked :)

"Oh no, the Cowboys are loosing!"

Stay tuned for pictures of my mom's visit :)

A week in the life of Maddie

Maddie is helping me with Mary Kay

Testing out a jumper. She loves using her legs so we played in one at playgroup last Friday.

Maddie's exploring her exersaucer from a whole new angle
I thought her hair was funny. I got her from her nap and she was standing smiling at me wtih her hair all over the place. I don't know what she was doing in her sleep.


JoJo always has to be right there.
She pulls up on EVERYTHING! I love just watching her. Then, if she wants to use both her hands, she'll try to figure out a way while still standing. She's so entertaining.



Maddie started crawling this yesterday on her hands and knees. My mom is in town and could share the excitement in this milestone.

Maddie's off and crawling!

Jon and I went to a concert on Sunday. As we sat on the lawn at Riverfront park, enjoying the beautiful day and listening to country music I decided that we don't get out to enjoy Nashville enough. We bought these tickets to see Dierks Bentley and Tim McGraw for just $20 a piece. It was a charity concert for the Children's hospital. Unfortunatley we had to leave before we even saw Dierks (who is Jon's favorite country singer) because I had told the babysitter we'd be home by 6:15 so she had made dinner plans. The show opened with a cover band that played for over an hour before any big stars hit the stage. Luckily we still saw Tim McGraw. Before the show started I noticed a man dressed in black with a cowboy hat taking some pictures about 15 yards away from us. I really thought it was Tim McGraw, out listening to music with his fans. I wanted to get my picture taken with him but we had good seats that I didn't want to loose so we stayed put. Anyways, it turned out he was a Tim McGraw look alike so I'm glad I didn't approach him. I wonder if everyone lining up to take his picture knew it wasn't Tim. They certainly knew it once Tim came on stage in a bright shirt with a bandanna around his head. Unfortunatly we forgot our camera so these shots were taken with my phone.

Our only siting of Dierks as he welcomes everyone and opens the show. I'm so bummed we didn't hear him sing.

The Tim look-alike in black.

Tim McGraw. I love him!!

We left Maddie with a babysitter for 5 hours! I have never left her that long before. I considered bringing her with us but didn't know what to expect from the concert. Other people had their babies there so next year we'll definitely bring her! I missed her while we were gone but I wasn't nervous about leaving her at all, mostly because we had a pediatric nurse practitioner watching her!

As I was getting ready for the babysitter I started to experience life with a crawling baby. I put Maddie on the kitchen floor while I prepared her supper, making sure the dog food was far enough away from her. I turn by back for a second and next thing I heard was the dog food being played with. I move the bowls and put Maddie back where she started. I ran into the dining room to put something on the table, when I return the dog's water is spilled and Maddie is lying in it. She kept trying to get up but would slide on the water. Anyways, she had me on my toes all day today. Everytime I'd put her down with toys around her she'd go for something else.

I get her after her first nap today and she's standing holding onto the rail. I've never seen her pull up to a standing postion before. I guess we should lower her bed again.

Ok, I think that's all to report.

8 months old

Maddie turned 8 months yesterday. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone!!!! Here are some pictures I took today. I got out the long sleeves and pants this morning because it was in the 30s outside. It felt great. Maddie and I enjoyed an afternoon at the zoo. I took her on the carousel for the first time, which she loved. On the way home the truck in front of us got into an accident. A car pulled out in front of him. I called 911 to report it, but noticed the lady in the car next to me on the phone and another guy on the sidewalk so I'm sure I wasn't the only one to call. I hope everyone was ok.

Good luck to Al and Elaine who leave for a mission trip to Jamaica tomorrow. I hope everything goes well.

I love this outfit!

Baby proof step #1: remove magazines from under the coffee table

"What mom, I'm not doing anything!"
Trying to attack the camera!


As I already mentioned in an earlier post, our cat is really mean. I think he realizes that Maddie is special though because he has never snapped at her. He looks like he's thinking about it in this clip!