Auntie Em

My lil' sis Emily came to visit for the week. We're having a great time! Maddie is soaking up all the attention and I love having a playmate and built in babysitter. Mike & I might even get to go on our first date since Madison was born -- Wahoo! These pictures are from our fun in the sun. Maddie is getting better at swimming in the cold water. It helps to beat the scorching heat!

Random Sampler

There are so many things to post about, it's all going to be jumbled together. Hope you're ready for a long one! This is what we have been up to.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Mike loves to kiss Maddie while she's sleeping. It takes a bit of doing when she's in her crib.

This is the book Maddie and I gave Daddy for Father's Day. The link below should take you to a preview of the first 16 pages. It ended up being 60 pages total...we have so many pictures of this girl I just couldn't stop!

http://www.blurb.com/images/uploads/catalog/42/89342/57733-33552796f380bf73866e7b917800909d.pdf

Yesterday was Dana's and my 25th birthday. We are 1/4 of a century old. Dana thinks she found some gray hairs but I don't believe her. This picture of us was taken last August at Noelle & Zak's wedding.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINER!

Maddie dressed up for the occasion. Okay, she was mostly not dressed, but her bib says it all. (Also note that she clawed her cheek recently.)

Mike baked the cake. What a sweetie!

Here's Maddie and Mom during birthday festivities. Mike spoiled me, as usual. We went out to dinner, watched a movie at home, and he gave me new scriptures (mini ones - the less weight to lug around, the better), the flip flops I wanted, and money for decorating the house.

GARDEN WOES

I planted some veggies in a tiny plot in our back yard just to see if I could conquer the desert heat. My squash and cucumber are doing great, but my tomatoes are woeful. They got caterpillars which I had to pick off, and then the leaves got a yucky black coating and started falling off. I pulled them out yesterday but I was delighted to find one tiny tomato. Isn't it cute?

Call for wisdom

Okay you people that know something that I don't. Explain things to me.

What do people mean when they say my baby is a momma's girl? It seems sort of negative, although I guess they are just telling me they wish she wouldn't cry when they hold her. Well, what can I do about it? She doesn't see many unfamiliar people except from a distance! I am the one that feeds her, plays with her, bathes her, rocks her, and loves her (Daddy does this too but obviously he is at work during the day). Is there a way to prevent this from developing? Should I introduce her to more strangers in the street? Should I quit babying her? Wait--she is a baby! Truthfully, I love being the center of her world. . . it melts my heart that she likes me best.

Well, onto other things, Madison is officially 3 MONTHS OLD! We can't believe how time flies. She is getting so smart (warning: parent pride ahead). On her 3 month birthday she reached out for her toy for the first time and now she is grabbing things like crazy, including her own toes. Her little personality is developing and she likes to talk and play. She is also working on some great thunder thighs, all the better for nibbling! We love her.

An Oasis

Last night we took a family outing to a beautiful state park. Little did we know, it is just a few miles away from us! It felt like a different world...an oasis in the barren desert. First there are tons of trees, and not just any trees, but huge old shade trees with leaves that whistle in the wind. There are two or three big reserviors fed by Tuley Springs where you can fish and see all kinds of wildlife. A gaggle of geese ran at us thinking we had food, and I'll admit they scared me! There were so demanding and aggressive! Mostly I was scared for Maddie, but she was safe in her stoller and Mike laughed at me for being scared of a goose.

Mike enjoyed taking pictures of everything. The following two pictures are standing in exactly the same spot, just facing different directions:


There were also ducks, a crane, and tons of peacocks! Right before we left I caught sight of a peacock fanning his feathers and Mike ran over to get a picture. I was surprised how familiar they were with people getting close to them.


We really enjoyed the cool evening breezes as we walked around the trails and had a picnic. Madison seemed to enjoy it too. Mike and I were just talking about how we need to recreate more often--this world is so beautiful and has so many things to see, and here we sit too often staring at screens that make us go blind. Even in hot Las Vegas, there is hope of refreshment in nature! Someday we'll take it up a notch and see the Grand Canyon, or maybe Lake Tahoe (Hawaii is just a mirage).

Blog Surfing

I got caught up today looking at my friends' blogs, and then their friends' blogs. It can be addicting! I also noticed that Maddie's new videos have been watched an incredible 150+ times, and I began wondering...either my devoted family and friends watch them over and over (and over), or I have lots more visitors than I realize! So now I speak to all those who read my blog, maybe without me knowing: leave a crumb! Anyone is welcome to make a comment, and then maybe I can get a better idea of how many fans the ML's have! :)

Since I've never written a post without a picture of my babe, I better add one. This is a funny picture of her squirming her way out of her swaddle. Now that she is starting to use her hands, I have been trying to leave one arm out of the burrito to see if she can still fall alseep. So far, so good.

Kicks & Giggles

Madison laughed for the first time on Wednesday! I was singing Old McDonald and she just got a kick out of it. We tried to catch it on tape today but we only got an excited coo.






E-I-E-I-O from mlandm on Vimeo

We also caught a moment when she almost rolled over. She is getting so big and strong!






Shake Rattle & Roll from mlandm on Vimeo

I love this picture of her inspecting her hands. She is starting to realize that they're hers and sucks on them all day long.