Foto Friday - Straws are the New Sippy

We love that M can drink from a straw now! :)

Fire Pit Update

Work on the back yard patio fire pit has been...s l o w...mostly because my husband is a busy, busy man. It's understandable.

So a few weekends ago, he started building the fire pit.

On Day 1, our friend, Rick, was back to help...he was the "mud mixer."

And, here's Josh in action laying the brick.


He got about half way done that day...and resumed the following weekend with help from my Dad.

Future tuckpointer??? (I'm talking about M...not me!)


ALMOST done. He cleaned the brick. We...I mean, Josh has to install the lintels (metal things that go on top of the brick over the openings (we wanted openings for air flow), then we'll have the concrete caps made to finish it off...then...he'll have to finish laying the patio flush up to the fire pit...THEN we'll be done! Well, besides all the clean up and fixing up our yard more! Geesh...that is a lot to do still!


I'm guessing we'll get it all completely done sometime in September :).

But, that's ok.

Fall bon fires are the best! :)

Yes...Another Video...

Yes, I've become that obnoxious Mom that posts too many videos of her child. :)

This video shows M displaying a bunch of her "tricks." She just learned to shake her head yesterday. In this video she's also walking, hugging, waving, and making her "scrunchie" face. Too bad we didn't ask her to show off her dancing, too.

Wow...I'm kinda demanding, huh?!

Josh and I are just SO proud of her! Enjoy! :)

Foto Friday - Makin' a Mess

Makin' a mess in the kitchen.

I have no clue why plastic bags (and apparently aluminum foil) are so tempting for babies.

At least she's cute.

2 Videos of the Cutest Baby Ever!

Yes...I said it. M is the cutest baby ever. :) See video proof below.

Video 1) Feeding Winky

Don't ya love how she brings her hand to her mouth to fake eat the cheerio before throwing it down for Winky!!! :)

We now have to keep the doggies out of the kitchen when she's eating, or all she'll do is share her food with them! Drives me crazy!!!

Video 2) Kissing Her Book

Seriously, is this not so sweet!?!

So, would you agree...isn't she the cutest?! (Or if you love several babies out there...she's one of the cutest, right?!)

11 Months

*sigh* I don't even know where it begin.

Our baby girl is 11 months old today. Eleven. Only 1 month away from being 1 year old. I really can't fathom that...

Madison is about 22 lbs. and 28-ish inches tall.

And, she finally succeeded in breaking my camera. :( I went to take her pics this morning and when I turned on my camera, the screen was just bright white. After some investigation, I discovered it still takes pictures...I just can't see what I'm taking...anyways...

Here she is!

After all the camera issues, she was kinda over her photo shoot...and she pulled off her sticker.

Ok, on to random updates and a couple random pics in no particular order!

She is officially a walker...it's crazy to see her walking. She's still wobbly and falls a lot, but she's definitely walking...it's crazy...oh, I've already said that...yeah, it's crazy! She'll walk across our living room, and she'll "chase" the dogs. Nowadays, she usually tries walking first and once she falls she'll either get up and keep walking or sometimes just resort to crawling.

She still hasn't said, "Da Da," and that makes Josh sad...but we think she says, "Ba," for ball. She babbles often, and sometimes hums/sings.

She loves picking the grass.

She squeals and sometimes screams at the dogs (I think she gets that from me...oops!).

She dances and then claps for herself. It's SO cute! I gotta get that on video.

She likes being chased. It's pretty funny...she'll crawl as fast as she can and will keep looking back to make sure you're following her.

Pickin' up her sippy cup.

She has another tooth finally coming in! It's the one on her right on the top.

She loves rolling a ball back and forth with someone.

She kisses the phone when someone is talking to her...especially when it's her Daddy.

If she is holding something, and I hold out my hand as either ask her to give it to me or drop it, she usually follows my command. I love that! She usually smiles though and whats whatever she gave me back though...haha!

Well, I feel like I'm forgetting something...I hate that feeling...

Foto Friday - Built by G'Pa Tom

Josh worked on Adams Elementary this summer, and he learned that this brick planter was built by his Dad. I had to get a photo of the two of them of course!

M's Shoe History: From Birth To Now

From what I've researched...babies learn to walk best without shoes on...so...I haven't really bothered with them.

But, she's getting to the age where I do think it's kind of noticeable when we go out and she doesn't have shoes on...and now that she's learning to walk, she'll obviously need them since she'll be spending lotsa time on her feet.

So, here's her shoe history...

*Flip flops from G'pa Dave...too tight on her pudgy feet...but they sure were cute for the 20 seconds she wore them. I think this was back in May.

*Sneakers from Great G'Ma Bev...they fit her...but I think she needs to be a bit more steady on her feet to wear these comfortably...and I probably need some thinner socks. It took about 10 minutes...per foot...while bribing her with Puffs to shove her pudgy foot into them. But...hey...I got my picture. :)

*Her first outfit with her Carter's rainbow colored heart shoes...size 3....perfect for her pudgy feet, but a bit too long. I had to bribe her with Yo Gabba Gabba on TV and another pair of shoes to play with just to get them on...but she left them on...success!!!

*These all white Carter shoes were too loose...again, size 3 too big, but size 2, too small...annoying. Oh, and wearing socks with her sundress and these shoes just wasn't cute.

Josh's cousin had a good idea to simply stitch the elastic across the top to make them a bit tighter. That of course never crossed my mind...(thanks Courtney!).

I don't really have a good picture because all she wanted to do was pull them off...I think because they were too big. Oh well. I got an action shot of her throwing the one shoe anyways...

*Sandals I finally found at Target. Perfect fit! Gotta love velcro! Of course I'm bribing her with Yo Gabba Gabba on TV and my camera for this picture.

Hey...did you know they have baby shoes in the SHOE section at Target? Oh, you knew that...yeah, I didn't. I had been looking at Target all over the baby section (on several occasions) with no luck...but the thought never crossed my mind to look in the shoe section until my friend's mom recommended that. (Thanks, Sherri!)

I blame this silly oversight on 'Mommy Brain.'

Anyways, she quickly discovered them and wanted them off immediately.

But, I've been putting the sandals on her whenever we go out for the past few days, and I think she's getting used to them. Yay!

*Conclusion 1: I'm glad it's summer and she can still go barefoot a lot.

*Conclusion 2: I think I bribe her too much for silly pics for this blog. :)

Foto Friday - Cankles

M's rockin' these shoes...I think they really highlight her beautiful cankles.