FL trip-Summer 09

On Jun 26 Jeremy's best friend Brent got married back in MO/KS but he asked us not to come to the wedding, but to their honeymoon! Crazy people! They stayed in my parents condo for the week. So we went down and spent a few days at the house and then a few days at the condo. Maddox's trip started off pretty bad as she had had a fever for 3 days, and when we got there on Saturday developed a rash. By Sunday the rash was worse but no fever for the past 2 days but I figured we better take her to Urgent Care to find out of she had strep or something that needed treatment. After 2 hours in a very empty office we found out she just had a virus that had to run it's course. She was pretty grumpy for a couple of days though. Her throat was very red (so the doc said), and she slept a ton and wouldn't eat. By Tuesday she was all better. Some lizards snuck into the pool area at the house so of course I had to catch them to freak Jeremy out. Maddox is like me, she couldn't have cared less about them.

On Monday Jeremy, Papa, Maddox and I went to the Naples zoo. She was pretty subdued about it, but her throat still really hurt that day and wouldn't eat. But she enjoyed checking out some of the animals.

Daddy's artistic picture, or so he thinks. I posted this one just for him.

Feeding the ducks. I'm feeding them cheerios, not Maddox.

On Tuesday Maddox stayed home with her Grandma and Papa the whole day while J and I went to the Everglades and Miami with Brent and Heather. That was the first time I've left her that long (left in the am and got home about midnight). She of course did great and was feeling much better. She got to go to the imaginarium with Grandma but she didn't take pictures. She also learned to love key lime pie while with Grandma. So here's the 4 of us on an airboat in the Everglades. . . .

. . .where they attract wild alligators right up to your boat. Made us a bit nervous.

Then we drove on over to Miami, did some shopping and went to a Marlins game where the attendance is absolutely terrible! It was crazy! The game got called in the 7th because rain moved in and it poured. But we saw a Marlins win!

We moved down to the condo on Thursday and spent some time at the beach. Maddox was aboslutely terrified of the rough water cried and insisted we hold her. After about 30 minutes of acclimation she was better and willing to go near it but still nervous. By the end of the week the water was much calmer and so was she. She was walking around in it, playing in the surf.

The day the water was so rough Brent and I threw the net but didn't catch tiny fish, we caught big fish! He caught a baby tarpin (adults get about 230 lbs), 2 black drums, and this one is a pompano. We threw them all back. We hoped we wouldn't catch a shark, it's been known to happen! Little ones, but still sharks.

Heather and I walking with Maddox along the beach.

Maddox and her Dad dug a big hole in the sand.

When we were in Miami I bought Maddox her first baby doll. I couldn't leave her all day and come home empty handed could I? So she's started getting into that, feeding the baby and things. Here she is with her baby and her baby's baby.

We put Maddox to bed and the guys made some adult beverages for Brent and Heather's last night there. Oh yeah, the girls also kicked the guys butt at Catch Phrase . . . AGAIN. It makes them so mad. Especially when they lose on the sports/games category.

On the fourth of July we left Maddox at home with Grandma and Papa so Jeremy and I could go to Naples for a 7am race. It was a 5K, finish time of 18:22, and 2nd in his age division.

They met us in Naples later for the parade. Maddox was quite a cutie there and got lots of candy. She was popular. It was her first parade and she sort of figured out that she was to gather the candy from the street and put it in the bag. Organizer that she is, she was good at that. She was very cute waving her little flag around.

On float gave her new sunglasses.

After we went back to the condo for naps we went out for dinner then back down to Naples to the beach to watch fireworks. She loved the beach by now and played in the surf.

Family time at the beach at sunset.

M watched some of the fireworks from Grandma's lap. The beach was full of people for miles and a local radio station played patriotic music so people brought their radios out. It was a lot of fun. Next time we'll make an evening of it with swimming suits for all and a picnic.

Sunday the gulf was really calm so I put Maddox in the floaty and let her ride the waves. She enjoyed it and even got a wave over her head when she got too close to the shore and didn't really care.

I took Jessi to the dog beach in the afternoons during Maddox's nap. It's not really a great place for 1 yr olds with all the dogs and their excrements. Jessi loves it, running around with the dogs and swimming in the water. It's pretty fun to take a chair and watch everything going on. The amount of beach there depends on the tide. Sometimes there's just a slim strip of land that you have to wade to and sometimes there's a very wide strip at low tide. Of course, because of the holiday weekend, it was a really fun place with lots of boats and music and drinks. Isn't this a nice pic of Jessi and Jeremy?

Cuddled up with her baby for the long drive home.

Maddox woke up around 9am after sleeping almost all night. She was awake about an hour from 3-4 but just sat there watching. She woke up with a smile on her face . . . not the same look from her parents who drove all night.

When Maddox is feeling silly she has this crazy inhaling laugh. We laugh at her when she does it so she does it more. She's a goofball. I finally caught it on tape, I was playing peekaboo behind the camera to get her to laugh.


Maddox definitely found her voice on this trip. She has started talking like crazy! Still jibberish but tons of it and most of the time. It's so cute to listen to. I guess it's just the next step before that jbberish starts turning into real words. She did add "baby" to her vocabulary and a couple other words. She also found a bit of independence and has started throwing tantrums. If she doesn't get her way she'll sit down right where she is and lay down on the floor and scream. I just let her until she's done. Yesterday I changed her diaper (which she hates) and she started a tantrum so I left her sitting in her room and told her to come eat lunch when she was done. She came to eat lunch but wasn't quite done. Let's shorten this by saying she threw her cup of peaches on the wall and she ended up in bed for a nap with no lunch.

We had a great time in FL. It's so nice to get up and just head to the beach or the pool with Maddox, and show her new things. The 3 day turn around before the FL trip was a bit short but I'd rather have that than not go at all! Now I have about a 4 day turn around before Jeremy's mom and sister come for a week! Busy summer! I love it!

IA/MO Vacation

Last week Maddox and I went to Iowa for 6 days to my sister Suzy's house. My other sister, Jennifer came up too with her daughter. We had a houseful of sisters and cousins and no men (except Matthew). No adult men. Then we all headed down to St. Joe, MO for 3 days to attend the Hatten's 50th anniversary party. Jeremy had to stay home by his lonely self. We're going to FL in a couple days so he couldn't take 2 vacations that close together.

Maddox played in the dress-up box with Katherine.
Maddox was trying to be Katherine's helper while K was trying to build something.

This one's just for her big blue eyes (which look gray here but when the pic's bigger they look blue.)

One night we went to a campground to cook out. Emily and Maddox had their own little chairs by the campfire.

Then Maddox started doling out kisses.

Getting lazy in her chair. "I wish it reclined!"

M with silly Aunt Suzy.

Storytime around the campfire, at least for the little ones.

Now let's all read a book, quiet time. That lasted for about 30 seconds.

Another day the little kids and Matthew played in the backyard in the pool and with water balloons.

The last night in Iowa my sisters, a couple of Suzy's friends, and I went out to a dueling piano bar called Blue Moon. We all shared a fish bowl and luckily the bar is a couple blocks from the house. Just kidding, one fish bowl for 5 isn't bad. We drove the 2 blocks. It was a fun night of singing out lungs out though!

Emily and Maddox playing in the bathtub.

Back in MO we went to a Royals vs. St. Louis game. I wanted to check out the K's renovations and see the rivalry game. Here's M putting the hat on her own head.

We met Jeremy's brother James and his family, Angie, Gabbie, and Hayden for lunch on Saturday. At least two out of three are smiling . . .

Sunday morning in church Maddox went up with Katherine for the children's sermon. It was her first children's sermon so I had to take a picture. I'm sure she learned a lot.

The trip was fun and it was so nice to see some family. Sorry we didn't get to see more but between limited time and not having a car we did what we could. We had a lot of late nights and Maddox refused to sleep in ever so she got pretty tired toward the end of the trip. Luckily, even when dead tired, she doesn't get very grumpy. Just a little more clingy. Maddox worked a lot on her animals sounds (moo, baa, cack cack, woof, a high pitched meow) and a few other words like fish and shoe during the week. She still says none of those consistently unless she's in the mood and it's just me around. She's so shy and doesn't want to be put on the spot. Oh yeah, she also went to her first movie! We saw UP. She saw about half of it and slept the other half but sat quietly on my lap. She also loves to ride in the red wagon. We don't have one yet, but IA house does and she loved it. And on the plane she did great, read a magazine, books, or slept both directions.

Friday night we leave for 9 days in FL so lots of naps and quick recovery from the last trip. We'll probably have more pictures then!

Fun in the Sun

We'll start with her love of animals. One day last week she was really loving toward the dogs and kept following around and hugging them or laying on them. Luckily they both tolerate it and sometimes even like the attention. She does this to Gabby all the time too. (the cat) Pets her or just lays her face on her. Gabby just meows but never leaves. It's really nice that maddox has such good animals around her. This one's Bella, the Bacon's dog.

This morning I decided to go for a wog (walk/jog) and push Maddox in her jogging stroller. In the seat was one of those tiny Bibles someone on the street gives you. The whole time I ran she turned the pages and "read" the Bible. She would even point to the pages, talk, and then point to houses or up in the sky and talk. Maybe a little minister! When we got home I decided to wash the car and the dog so Maddox helped me. Gotta start by organizing your things:

Time to get the car clean. Gotta get her squeedgee wet.

"I'm doing a tire, got a problem with that?"

After washing the car it was time to wash the dog.

She knew she had to get water on her squeedgee then rub Jessi.

She's such a good helper. She puts things away in the kitchen, pulls laundry out of the washer to hand me to put in the dryer, picks the clean clothes that I drop off the floor and into the basket, follows me around and closes all the doors and drawers, and loves to wipe things down. If I keep training her right she may turn out to be a big helper! Maybe she does need a little sister or brother!

In this video she's washing the dog. It's so nice to have a dog that will stay when told to0000000000:

And lastly, this video is from last week when apparently Jeremy was training our daughter like a dog. "Lay down . . ." and she would and they'd tickle and laugh. She loved getting the laughs and did it over and over!