A New Way to Drink

In Andrew's quest to invent The Comfort Cord, we found this bottle. The Podee bottle allows your baby to drink milk without having to hold the bottle. Since Madeline has a hard time holding still long enough to drink anything, I decided to try the Podee. And she actully liked it. She drank her milk while she played in her room. She just let the bottle drag behind her while she dug through the things in her closet and carried around this wonderful puzzle piece. Maybe I could invent a little backpack to put it in and she could have a little baby Camelbak.




So, if you have a baby that has a hard time being still, maybe you should give the Podee a try. I have also read that it is great for multiples.

Happy Birthday Nathaniel!

My brother turns the big 3-0 today. (I bet he wishes he had my help to blow out his candles today. :)) Thanks for being such a wonderful brother, great friend and fun uncle. We hope you have a wonderful day!

For Uncle Bubba (aka Nathaniel)

My brother graduated from Virginia Tech. So, here is a little shout out to all you Hokie fans.

GO!!!!


HOKIES! Hokies are number 1!


All that cheering makes me so tired. I hope Kathryn Sink will still be my friend. :)

Genvec

Madeline and I went to visit Andrew at work today. Madeline got to see all of Daddy's friends.

She showed off her walking skills a little bit. (She was really just trying to get to the box of donuts.)



At first she didn't want anyone, except her daddy, holding her. (But, she certainly didn't mind everyone looking at her.) After a while she let a few people hold her. But, only briefly.


Leila had very pretty jewelry to play with.

Everyone was so nice. Someone gave her a cute Zebra to play with. And someone else even gave her part of their lunch, a Baby Asian Pear. She gnawed on it for a long time. It was the perfect size. Yummy!

It took her a minute to warm up to Chris.

But, then she really liked his silly faces.

I think she was sad to go. All of her adoring fans are gone and she is stuck with just mom. :)

Our Little Musician

Madeline is developing a love for the piano. Several times during the day, she will walk over to the piano, stand on her tippy-tippy toes while hanging onto the edge of it and fuss until I pick her up and put her on the bench. She doesn't stay long. But, it is quite beautiful while it lasts. In fact, if you haven't checked out her first recital yet, go check out her videos to the right.

Kim and Britt's Wedding

We went to Roanoke this past weekend for my cousin, Kim's, wedding. She was a beautiful bride and it was a beautiful wedding.

Madeline had a great time at her first wedding. She stayed in the nursery during the ceremony. But, she came out for party time.

All that partying can wear a girl out.

Granny B and Madeline before the wedding.

Britt is a member of the volunteer fire department. So, they had a special getaway car.

My cousin, Will, got to sit on the front of the fire truck!

After the wedding, they came over to my grandparents' house to take a few pictures.

This reminds me of Father of The Bride. Anyone else remember her shoes in that movie?

First Steps

Madeline has been doing a lot of this lately. But, last night she took her first 2 steps, all by her little self. Of course, we don't have any pictures of it since we weren't really expecting it.

We got back from Roanoke around 10pm last night and tried to lay her down for bed. But, she would have nothing to do with that since she had just slept for 4 hours in the car. So, she got to stay up for another hour and play. She was walking back and forth between Andrew and I while she was holding our hands. But, then Andrew let go and she took 2 whole steps to me. Usually, if you let go of her hands, she just sits down and starts crawling. But, this time she stayed up. I know, two steps isn't that much. But, it counts! She still has a ways to go before she can be called a walker though.

Scrunchy Scrunchy

When Madeline gets very excited or happy she makes this face. Aunt Donna (pictured below) named it "scrunchy scrunchy".

It is so sweet to see our little girl so happy!

Michigan

We just got back from a trip to Michigan to visit Andrew's family. They live near Grand Rapids on a beautiful lake. Madeline went on her first plane ride to get there. We flew up during her bedtime and of course she didn't fall asleep until the plane, literally, touched down in Grand Rapids. Oh well, she caught up on her sleep and was a very happy girl the entire time.

We were living it up on the lake for a long weekend. Madeline really enjoyed the boat. She liked the wind blowing on her.


Andrew did a little wake boarding.


We did a little Sea Dooing...

and tubing. We were so sore from holding on for dear life.

Andrew's parents even enjoyed a little kayaking one morning.

One day, we headed out to Lake Michigan. The water was much colder than the last 2 beach visits we have had this summer. Those crazy Michiganders still got in the water. My feet were pretty much numb after 1 second.

We had a little fun playing on the dunes.

Madeline really loved the grass and flowers around Aunt Donna and Uncle Roger's house.

But, we mostly enjoyed just being with family. Madeline got to hang out with her Nana and Papa Paul...

meet a lot of new cousins (or are they really our 5 other secret children ? ?)...

and have constant adoring fans.

We had a great time. If it wasn't for the awefully cold winters, maybe we would consider moving to Michigan. But, I think we will stick to the south for now (if you can call, Maryland, The South).