Maddie - she is a'changin!

I cannot believe how quickly my baby girl is growing.  In three short days she will be 6 months old.  Over the last few weeks she has really started to change.  She loves to talk; in fact, she never stops talking.  Cat Bruce told was on the phone with me last week and asked if I had talked to the doctor about her squeal - she never stops, but it is so cute.

She also likes to shake her head from side to side.  This sounds crazy, but it is so cute!  We tell her yes and shake our heads up and down, but she just wants to shake her head no.

On occasion she will hold her own bottle - which I LOVE.  I know... all of you mothers out there are saying "there will come a day when you will want to hold her and give her a bottle."  I know I will miss it, but it sure is nice that she will hold it some of the time. 

She is in this new phase of wanting to be walked to sleep.  Most every night Scott walks miles around our house waiting on her to fall asleep.  She has no interest in rocking, being read to, or anything other than walking.  I am really ready for this phase to end. 

This is a picture of her after she fell asleep the other night.

Maddie loves to roll over from her back to her stomach - but then she HATES to be on her stomach.  One day she was trying so hard to get back over on to her back that she threw up! 

Her favorite toy is her Spohie the Giraffe.  She loves her, and we take her everywhere with us.  She has really helped us get through teething too.  Maddie now has two cute bottom teeth.  They are like knives!!  She has become addicted to orajel and smiles so big when you come towards her with it. 

Speaking of smiling, Maddie loves to laugh.  She is such a happy baby.  The other night I was working on my embroidery machine in another room.  Maddie began hysterically laughing when her daddy was calling her "Maddie Soy."  He was doing this because she smells like her soy formula.  She thought it was SO funny.  She laughed for so long that I got this video of her laughing. 

Our baby girl is growing so quickly.  She gets more of a personality every day, and we love to watch her grow.  I wish that I could push a pause button on these times with her.  I know that I will look back on this age with such fond memories of.  She is such a happy baby.  Her laugh is like music, and her squealing (even though it is loud) always brings a smile to my face.  God has blessed us so greatly!

It Runs in The Family

Spring Break ended yesterday and it is easy for me to say - MADDIE LOVES THE BEACH!!

We took our first vacation as a family to Amelia Island.  This is the beach that my family went to as I was growing up, so it was so special for me to take Scott and Maddie.  We left Tennessee on Saturday night and drove as far as we could.  About 2am we got a hotel room in Cordele - it was a little rough to say the least.  Scott put a chair under the door knob in case someone tried to come in and get us!  We had the plan to hide Maddie under the bed from the intruder :-) 

We got up early Sunday morning and finished the drive to Amelia.  I was so excite to see Amelia By The Sea!  We unpacked the car and headed out to lunch.  I needed some fried pickles, so we went to Sliders.  The weather was cloudy, but nice enough for summer clothes. 

After lunch we headed out by the pool.  I know people thought I was crazy because I had enough stuff with me to spend the week there.  Maddie loved being on her boppy by the pool.

It is a good thing that we went out when we did, because it started pouring about three minutes after this picture. 

For the next few days we rented movies and ate A LOT.  We found a great sandwich place downtown called Fernendeli.  It was so good that we ate there 4 times!  We spent a lot of time on the deck watching the rain.  Scott was so nervous about Maddie being close to the rails.  Every time I would put her out there he would come move her back - so protective!

On Thursday Scott went to play golf.  About 3 the sun came out and Maddie and I rushed down to the pool!  She LOVED it.  She immediately stretched out her arms and legs and started laughing and grinning.  We had about an hour before the sun went behind the building and we had to head inside. 

This is her in the sun - so cute!

Friday and Saturday were beautiful.  We woke up and got her ready early so that we could soak up the sun.  Scott had the great idea to take the chair part off of her stroller and take it by the pool.  It had a great shade that kept her face covered.  She played and played until we had to go in because she was so tired. 

Friday night we went to Brett's - my favorite!  There was a music festival downtown, so everything was packed.  Dinner was great and she was so good.  She just sat and played with her book and Sophie the Giraffe while we ate.  This is a picture of Maddie in her precious little summer dress ready to go out!

On our last day I snuck Maddie into her bikini.  Scott said that she HAD to keep her cover up on, but that did not happen.  She was so cute, and so many people complimented her bathing suit.

We went to The Surf on our last night.  It was yummy - good food, good music, and nice weather. It made me not want to leave.  After dinner I sat on the deck and rocked Maddie to sleep as the sun went down.  Scott and I watched the final 4 basketball games and packed the car so that we could leave as soon as Maddie woke. 

Amelia has so many of my memories.  I love that place.  It is such a wonderful place for families, and I hope that my family can make many more memories there.  Again, Maddie is SUCH a blessing to Scott and I.  Vacations will never be the same again, but it is so fun to watch her react to everything new in her life.  It makes me happy that she loves the beach as much as her mama, grandmamas, and great grandmamas!  She fits in well :-)