Beach Bum

Grrrr, I can't believe I took this sideways! I need to break that habit! For those of you who are desperate to see Maddie's walking skills, get the tilt going on.

She is getting so good! All she wants to do is walk and climb the stairs. In the last two days she has mastered the art of getting to her feet with no support, and also bending over to get something and standing back up. She learns so quickly, it blows my mind!

This is the stance for getting turned around to go down on her belly... Splits!

She knows she's being silly!

Maddie loves to 'help' with the laundry.

I am amazed every day at how smart she is. She loves to give hugs, clap, make the indian sound with her hand and mouth, read books (turn the page), wave, and imitate everything we do. She says a few words (or her version, anyway) including Dada, Mama, uh-oh, and bye bye. Even more impressive is how much she understands. I am loving this age and watching her personality develop, although sometimes I look at her and wonder where my baby went!

Flashback Friday

I love watching the world wake up after winter. It's still pretty early, but I have noticed a few buds on the trees when Maddie and I go walking. It makes me long for my days back at the Morinda Gardens (a.k.a. Noni) where I lived in a lush and magical garden every day!

I'll admit, most of it was dirty and tedious work, but I loved it. I felt at one with nature, myself, and God when I worked surrounded by all that beauty. At the time I was pining for motherhood, and now that I have it, here I am pining for the gardens. It's the "grass is greener" idea... literally! :) I have to say, though, this little flower is the prettiest of all!

Lewis & Clark were rookies!

We love weekends when Daddy is home, especially long ones! We decided to venture out and hike in beautiful Red Rock Canyon. Although we got a little lost and didn't make it all the way to the waterfall, we enjoyed our expedition (there were so many forks in the trail... I know it's pathetic but I got confused. I would not make a good explorer...)

At the trailhead... Maddie wasn't so sure about this...

A rare family shot.

Maddie is looking very proud of herself because Daddy just taught her how to throw a rock in the water to make a big splash! Here's the same scene in action:

Sorry this one is sideways. Go Mike!

On top of the world (or just a big rock)

Someone had a snack attack!

After all that ridin', Maddie needed to stretch her legs.

The day would not be complete without some Maddie Cam, right? Daddy put a twist on this one--making Mommy RUN! Sorry about the scream at the end... would you like to see what it's like to be a bobblehead?

Sheesh, we're pooped! (You'll notice it was binki time when naptime passed and irritation set in.)

Zonkled! Poor baby, she was trying to sleep while holding her head up. I was not laughing, I assure you.

Wanna hug?

Well, here goes the latest installment of the Maddie Show. Can you tell our lives center around her? :)

Maddie loves to give hugs!

Daddy gave Maddie a Valentine present too. It's fitting she get her first Valentine from her first love!

On Saturday Maddie helped me garden in the front yard (or what we have of one--cement and rocks!) She doesn't get free reign outside very often and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. I should have taken a close-up of her knees--she managed to get pretty dirty!

Too bad we don't have grass to play in. It would be fun to run around outside whenever we want to. Walks and trips to the park will have to suffice for now...

Happy Valentine's Day!

To all our loved ones out there: {Mike gave me these singing ladybugs last Valentine's Day and Maddie loves them! However, this is about take 5 and she was getting tired of it, so she was kicking them out of her lap. }

Even Maddie has a Valentine! We babysat my friend's baby, Carson, this morning and Maddie loved him. She kept trying to give him hugs.

Then she gave him a lesson in how to use the playmat. None of this lying down stuff, you gotta shake it!

Here's one of Daddy keeping tabs on Maddie. She couldn't go far without her tights. :)

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Well... who am I kidding? I love every holiday. But there's nothing like eating chocolate all day and being told you are loved. Hope you all have a good one!

What's the square root of 121?

Maddie is 11 months old today! It's a good things she's taking a long nap because we had a hard day at church. I don't know if she is getting another tooth or doesn't feel good or what, but she was on the verge of tears and tantrums all morning. (Sorry Pryors, see if you sit behind us again!)

Yesterday, however, was a great day. It was so beautiful outside! To those who are suffering from winter blues in the northern country, now is the time to visit the Andrews Bed & Breakfast! To take advantage of the fine weather we went on a walk at Floyd Lamb park (veteran Maddie Show readers may remember our first visit to this oasis). Maddie loved all the wildlife! Following is Mike's photo journal of our adventure.

Last time we were there the peacocks wandered close to us. This time they were all roosted up in the rafters of this old barn.

Have you ever heard of a white peacock? We could only see the tail at first, but as we got closer I realized it was a bird. He was beautiful!

Here is a picture I found online of one with his tail open. Breathtaking!

Last but not least is a video clip of the honking geese.

Mr. Mike

This is for Jeanie & Megan, who both tagged me. I think it is pretty fun to learn more about the hubbies, since they don't usually get much blog attention.

What is his name? Michael Robert Andrews

How long have you been married? 5 years in May-whoa!

How long did you date? 13 months (an eternity in BYU time)

How old is he? 33

Who eats more sweets? It's about equal. We both have a bad sweet tooth, which is our healthy eating downfall. We're good about veggies and whole grains, and all that jazz, but we can't give up our sweets!

Who is taller? Mike

Who has more speeding tickets? Haha... MIKE! In his single days he was a bit rebellious in that area! Is it 30 or 31? I can't keep track. (I will clarify that some of those are parking tickets--he attempted to defy BYU parking police--but I don't know the ratio.)

Who can sing better? Umm... I don't know. I DO know that you all wish you could hear our FHE hymns. It takes us forever to find the pitch, and then Mike usually sings falsetto while I try not to crack up.

Who is smarter? Mike. His recall abilities are out of this world. Seriously, he has so much random trivia in his head it seems some of it would fall out. Ask him a question about any subject and he will know details. You should try it sometime. He has a very technical brain, which of course makes him good at engineering, building things, and computer stuff. My little sister calls him Jimmy Neutron... I think he's pretty handy to have around.


Who does the laundry? I do

Who pays the bills? Mike (yay for that!)

Who cooks dinner? I do... it's funny, he has asked me before if I would care to pay the bills, and I ask him in return if he would like to cook dinner. We both decline and feel relieved! I guess it works out.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

Who drives? Mike. I try to get him to let me when he is tired, but I guess he likes to feel in control. I don't mind, but I have to keep him awake!


Who is more stubborn? Mike can be very stubborn, but I can be too. Depends.

Who asked who out first? Ha, hard to say. Mike officially asked me out after 3 months of strong interest, but I kind of pressured him into it. Let's just say Mike moved at his own speed--slow! :)

Who kissed who first? Mike kissed me, finally. Another 2 months after our first date!

Who said I love you first? I did. I couldn't wait any longer. But I knew he felt the same way.

Who proposed? Mike did! Even though we already had a wedding date scheduled at the SL Temple and had picked out a ring together, he wanted to do a real proposal. He was very romantic, a little nervous, and the best part was the huge ringbox jutting out of his pocket! :)



Who has more siblings? Mike has 6, I have 4. Most of you know we both have fraternal twin sisters.

Who wears the pants? I like what Megan said... we each wear a leg, depending on the subject.

He is a goofball, a perfectionist, an avid BYU fan, a very hard worker, a sweet (and crazy) daddy, and I love him. I now tag Noelle, Lori, and Hannah (if you feel so inclined).

Pay It Forward

You all know the concept behind “Pay it forward”, right? My friend Joanna had this on her blog and it's already been paid forward a bunch of times. I don’t know where it started, but I wanted to be a part of it. What you do is pay it forward with other fellow bloggers. I will send a gift to the first three people who add a comment and want to participate- then those three people have to send a gift to three more people. Make sense? The gift can be anything from a couple recipes compiled to a handmade craft, or even a sweet treat. You really can do anything as long as it fits in the mail. Then if you participate, you have to put it on your blog and try to get three others to pay it forward. Would you like to try it??

P.S. I already got my gift and I love it! Thanks Jo! What a fun idea.

First Steps

She did it! Our little Maddie took her first steps into toddlerhood. It's a bittersweet feeling--I'm proud of her but don't want her to grow up yet!

We were watching the funeral of President Hinckley when it happened. Uncle Landon held Maddie up and she walked the 3 or 4 steps into my arms! This video clip was within seconds of the first occurence. Since then, she has taken about 5 steps in a row, but is mostly content to hold our fingers or her princess car for balance.

A 'good job' hug from Mom

Auntie Dana put my hair in a little pony and made me some bows!

This all happened while we were in Utah visiting our new little niece, Emrie Jade. She is a little angel. Isn't this a sweet mommy/baby moment? Noelle is doing great and I think it's fun to have another mom in the family--I feel more understood. :)

Brrrrrrrrrrrr...

We woke up this morning to about 8" of snow in Draper. With a winter storm advisory all day we decided to start home early--and good thing because we had a rough drive! A white out between Cedar City and St. George gave us quite the scare. Mike got us home safely!!!

I'm a big girl now!