Climbing steps, plus much more :)

Maddie can now climb the steps. We don't have a gate installed at the base of our stairs yet so I placed chairs there to stop her. That just slowed her down a little.

Shortly after this shot she was climbing the stairs.

"Dad, you're too slow. I think I'll feed myself now!"

Pretty smile.

This is a good tooth shot. She has four teeth, soon to be six. There are two more popping through her top gums.

Being silly. Maddie's new game is handing us stuff and then taking it away. It's hilarious.
It's confirmed, she is Jon's daughter (eyes closed during a picture)and she is my daughter (loving mac and cheese)

Momma

Maddie called for me the other day, and I came running!!! She got sick on Saturday (starting with a not-so-pretty throw up incident at Opryland). She also got sick a couple times at home that evening. She went to bed at her usual time but woke up at 9pm and wouldn't go back down until midnight. I was downstairs taking a 5 minute break when I heard "mom, mom, momma" We thought she said it earlier that morning (before she was sick) but this time she definitely called out to me. She's still not feeling well and had a diaper this morning that seemed to explode everywhere! I hope this passes soon!

We had a nice treat on Thursday. Janna came to visit us. She had some time off work and flew in for a long weekend. We had fun doing some Nashville things like the Belle Meade Plantation and Opryland, as well and just hanging out at home and playing with Maddie.

Below are some more pictures from our Dallas trip. To see all of our pictures go here.

On the plane ride. Don't worry, we were still parked at the gate.

Back at home.

JoJo trying to tell me something

"Hey JoJo, I appreciate you not smelling my diaper!"

"I'm not letting you up until you agree!"

Janna playing with Maddie on her favorite toy.

Meeting a baby goat that was the same age as Maddie. It was very sweet.

Christmas comes early!

Al, Elaine and my parents gave us an early Christmas present, a Nikon D-40 digital camera! It's the best present I could ask for. I didn't like my other camera at all and every time I was with Elaine I'd use her camera and download the pictures. So now I have the same camera as her, with a few updated changes with the newer model. It's so wonderful and I'm having a blast learning how to use it. I can now take pictures instantly and not wait 5 seconds like my old camera.

We're currently in Red River with the Schneiders. It's a beautiful town and their condo is so cozy. Maddie did great with all the traveling. We flew to Dallas on Friday night. The flight was at 7:05 so I hoped Maddie would sleep on it. No such luck. She didn't sleep at all, so I was really glad with our decision to stay at the hotel in the airport. I don't think she would have made it on the car ride to the Schneider's. We left for Albuquerque the next morning. The highlight of that day was definitely seeing the Gilles! After a lunch with our good friends (I wish it was longer) we drove 4 hours to Red River. Maddie slept for about 50 minutes on the plane in the morning and about an hour on the drive so by the time we pulled into Red River she was starting to fuss and was ready for bed. The next day she took 3 naps to recover but now she's back to her happy self and has been enjoying time with her grandparents and uncle Jeff. Here as some pictures with my new toy.

Jeff carried Maddie on our hike into the mountains.

Introducing snow to Maddie.

It snowed all day on Sunday. This is the Schneider's condo building.

She didn't like her hat.

We took Maddie into the snow. She didn't really know what to think.

The camera has a "child" feature. This feature is supposed to give the child's skin tone a soft, natural finish.

I slowed down the shutter speed for this picture.