9 months

At the end of July Madelyn turned 9 months old! Wow! That's how long she was in my tummy! Nine months with a baby seems longer than nine months of carrying a baby!

We went to the doctor for a well-visit. Madelyn weighed just over 20 pounds (75%) and was 28.5 inches long (80%.) Her check up went well; she's growing and developing just as she should be!

In honor of the 9 month milestone we had portraits made. She was so cooperative, smiling and even laughing at the photographer! I was so pleased with all of her sweet pictures!
BTW- Mrs. Cindy Sager smocked Madelyn's precious dress! And this was the first time I put a bow in her hair and it stayed; so exciting!

The Girls

How fun it is to have two babies in the family! My niece, Autumn, is 26 days younger than Madelyn. Those two are a handful! We hope they will have fun growing up together, being so close in age.
They do a lot of the same "baby things," but my, how different their personalities are! Autumn tends to be more of a looker and thinker; she likes to interact with people and cuddle. Madelyn is more of a do-er; always moving around and getting into things, finding something new to do!
When Mom, Holly, and Autumn visited us for a few days, we decided to do a little photo shoot. (Yeah, right!) Here are some of the pics of our two cuties!

A: "Take my picture." M: "Oh, what's this?"

"Hmmm??"

"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!"

A: "My Mommy is silly."



A: "Who is touching me?" M: "She has hair too!"



A: "Uh...hello?!" M: "Don't mind if I do!"




"Get us out of here!!"

Playing Babies:

Skating Babies:

(had trouble uploading video, so click here!)

July

Here's a quick post about what we did during the month of July!

On the way back from our beach trip we stopped in Bham for the weekend of the 4th. It was a super quick trip, but we mananged to squeeze in some face time with family. Here are a few pics...

Maw Maw Stanford must have the magic touch! Madelyn does not go to sleep on anyone!

Hanging out with Maw Maw and Paw Paw Burrell.

The Girls!

The girls and their Paw Paw. :)

I mentioned that Madelyn started crawling around the time we were at the beach. So when we got back to our house it seemed like we brought back another baby... a mobile baby! We quickly realized that we had to baby-proof everywhere! And she's off....

Within a week or so of crawling, Madelyn started straightening her legs as if to stand up! She got a new view of her feet and thought it was funny!

This cracked us up... One day Madelyn decided to get into her toy basket (which was a first) and she proceeded to take out ALL of the toys, but didn't play with them. Just took them out.

About the middle of the month I made a discovery. When I went in to get Madelyn up one day, I noticed that the crib rail was scratched up. I figured it was from my belt buckle when leaning over, except I don't ever wear a belt.

Sure enough...

It wasn't my belt at all; it was little teeth!! That girl was standing up in her crib!! And chewing on the rail!

And ever since then she has been crawling all over the place and pulling up on anything and everything! It all happened so fast! :(

We were glad to have Steven's parents up for a few days. They had tons of fun playing with Madelyn and she was loving all the attention. (She's not waving, just crazy timing with a wild arm!)

And we went on a date!!!

This was our quick family pic before taking Steven to the airport. He was in CA for the last week of the month. Those are long weeks (but only happen a couple of times a year.) And we missed him like crazy! I sent him a pic of Madelyn everyday so he got to see his little girl! :)

Madelyn and I did our thing for a few days while he was gone. Then we were so excited to have my mom, sister, and niece up for a visit. Crazy times! (I'll give "the girls" their own post.)

Also, at the end of the month Madelyn turned 9 months old! I'll post her portraits later. :)

July was the month of Madelyn on the move! It all happened so fast!! Our lives will never be the same. :)

Beach '09

At the end of June we packed it all up (and I mean it all) and headed to Destin! There was no way we could make the 11 hour trip in one day, so we broke it up by stopping overnight in Bham both going down and coming back. It was so nice to get out of the house, out of KY, and to sunny shores!
Now, I tried to prepare myself for going on vacation with a baby (is there such a thing?!) Silly me thought that Steven and I would sort of get to do our normal vacation stuff (like sleep in, lounge around the pool, lay out on the beach, go out to eat, etc.) and just bring our baby along with us. Sounded simple enough. Wrong! I quickly learned that unlike vacations past, Steven and I wouldn't be able to do whatever we wanted...a certain little someone would dictate that for us! I know everything changes when you have a baby, but can't going on vacation be the exception?! :)
Ok, so the beach is the beach- you don't need me to go on and on. Basically, we were in Destin for 5 days- it rained for 2.5 of them. Due to rain, fair baby skin, nursing, and naps we didn't leave the condo very much. Let me state the obvious: I did not get a tan. It was Madelyn's first time to FL, first time in the pool, and first time on the beach. She turned 8 months old and she started crawling! :)

Every morning started like this...."Daddy, wake up!"

We took this pool on the beach to contain our crawler. She was just testing it out!

First time in the pool...loved it!

We had this domed tent for our big beach outing...sweet set up I must say!

For a minute I thought she would take a nap and I could just soak up some rays...wrong!

Steven took Madelyn to the water to put her feet in...

It didn't go so well. A wee little ripple splashed her in the face. Yucky salt water!

The beach was a no go, so we spent the rest of our time at the pool. She was a happy camper!

That little blue dot is our tent! HA!

Someone sitting in my chair...

Didn't like the chair! :(

(I think this pic is hilarious!! I was putting the camera down so I could catch her falling and I must have pushed the button.)

Beautiful beach!!!!

Hanging out with Daddy...

Showing all my teeth! (it was around this time #6 came through.)

My sweet, good looking husband :) (and the kid is cute too!)

BTW- a couple of people at the pool asked if my baby was a girl. seriously?! pink, hearts, hello!

Funny! Her hair was looking a little like those trees!

Another storm was blowing in :(

The Happy Hydes!

Mirror, Mirror

I mentioned that Madelyn started crawling during our trip. One day we put her down in the floor and she made her way to the mirrored closet doors. Oh my! What a show! She and her "friend" had a blast talking and playing. Take a look...

Rain or shine, Destin was beautiful and a wonderful getaway. I truly enjoyed being down at the beach with my sweet family. We had fun just being together! I look forward to the next time we can take a special family trip, wherever it may be! :)