What I Love About Her

Our little monster is coming into her own. Her personality is shining through and coming in loud and clear. She is funny, mischievous, sweet and has a little temper.

Here are just a few things that we are loving about her....

I love how she claps for herself.



I love how she looks so annoyed because I am trying to take her picture and she is trying to play with the magnets.



I love how she is so into everything. Okay maybe I don't love this so much.



I love how she crawls as quickly as she can to the bathtub once I start the water.



I love how happy she gets when we give her a snack.



I love how handing her the remote to the TV calms and soothes her, it's the simple things.



I love how she screams as loud as possible, turns over and tries to crawl away every time I try to dress her. Yep, don't really love this one so much either. Sometimes I just give up and this is what you get.



I love her silly faces.



I love the way she looks at me when I call out her name.



I love that she is starting to eat table food. Only I don't love that I'm not quite ready for it yet.



I love her innocence.



Lastly, I love the way she pats my back when I pat hers and how she gives big, wet open mouth kisses. That is the best. Truly for a Mama it is.

I love my Sugar Booger!

Baseball and Books

We did it again...we went away and left our Maddie O. behind.  It was much easier this time leaving her.  I think because we were only going to be gone for one night and of course the comfort of knowing that she was in great hands.  This isn't something I want to get used to, leaving Maddie behind.  I don't like doing it at all, not one bit.  Team Bethel isn't complete when we don't have our Maddie Cakes. 

Ryan's birthday was in August.  His gift from Maddie and I was tickets to a Cincinnati Red's game.  Initially I planned on Maddie going with us but Ryan helped me realize that attending a baseball game is not a 10 month old's idea of fun.  I have to admit that while we were at the game I pictured what it would be like if Maddie was with us and concluded that Ryan was right. 

Ryan and I had a great time.  Just the two of us.





I enjoyed our conversations and acting goofy with my hubby.  It was just like old times when we would go to a bar, sit for a while, have a drink and just talk. 

Game time was approaching so we took this boat....



from here.....



to here.....



How cool is that? 



Along the way we saw this....



There ain't no way I would ever park my car this close to the water, while on an incline.

Quack.



A few weeks prior to the game we learned that the Reds and Major League Baseball decided to honor Pete Rose for his record breaking 4,192nd hit of his baseball career.  This made the game even that more exciting for Ryan.





Way to go Pete!



We enjoyed the game, our dogs and the beer.  It was a great night.







Isn't that the truth?

After picking Maddie up, her and I took a walk to the library.





Out of all the books at the library the one Maddie was in love with was a board book, with lift up flaps, written in Spanish.  It was cute.  Had no idea what it was about but it was cute.  So, I improvised and made up my own story.  She loved it all the same.



I couldn't believe the play area in our library.  There were puppets, puzzles, rocking horses, play houses, a train table and books. 





There were several other kids enjoying the play area as well.  Maddie crawled over to a brother and a sister as they were playing with the house.  I was thinking awe how cute Maddie is going to make some friends.  Then the brother pulled his sister away and told her that they needed to play "over here" because "that baby" was messing up their house.  Maddie then crawled over to the train table where two boys were playing.  Before she even made it to the table he stated to me "She can't play here because there aren't enough trains."  Geesh!  The kids in this town are jerks.  It's appalling to me that the moms of these mean heads just sat and watched.  Maddie was just trying to spread her love.  She didn't mind though that no one wanted to play with her because she had a puppet show to put on.



I love this girl!

A Post of Many Pictures

I know it's been awhile but we're still here rockin' and rollin'. I thought I would share pictures and a video that I have watched numerous times and can't get enough of. These were all taken over the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!

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This gal is so in love with her Daddy. It's quite cute to watch. So, I will set the scene for the video. Maddie and I are in the kitchen. I'm making dinner and she is playing. Maddie realizes that she can see Ryan mowing the yard out the window. Check it out....



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We made a second trip to the Children's Museum. We love this place! Madison was all over the place and couldn't get enough of what was around her.



The water table was her favorite this time. We both walked away wet since she realized how fun it is to splash with both hands, palms open.





Maddie's not really a fan of Barbie. I came to this conclusion after she tossed her aside like yesterday's lunch.



Giddy up!



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Our curious little gal is trying to see her mommy behind the camera. This makes picture taking a bit more difficult but it is oh so funny.





There was one question that didn't even cross my mind when we were looking at furniture for Maddie's room. I never thought to ask "Is the paint on this bed non-toxic?" Now I realize that this is a very good question since our child is eating her bed.



So, if the question ever arises and someone asks Maddie "Did you eat paint chips as a kid?" The answer is yes. Yes, she ate paint chips. We are working on a solution to keep our little monster from munching on her bed.

Yes, she has now gained the nickname little monster. Here is a little idea of what we are dealing with now.



It's so hard not to laugh when we see her standing next to the toilet with an "Oops" face. So, we are also working on our parenting skills.

Bye for now!