Cheese!

Thanksgiving in Mexico

Madison visited her cousin Sienna on Thanksgiving, they both seemed to enjoy each others company. We left for Mexico on Wednesday, and the weather was perfect - - 75 and sunny. A sharp contrast to the frigid Motown. Maddie didn't know what to do with herself at first, but she eventually warmed up to the beach scene and loved it.


After the usual 20 attempts, we finally got her to strike a pose...



The waves came up and splashed into her feet, after which she jumped frantically and fell onto her bum... she wasn't particularly delighted with the temperature of the water. Nonetheless, this is the first time she touched the ocean.


Before we headed down to the beach, Madison and Sienna were anxiously awaiting to go downstairs and play.

Time to go!

A pic in front of the S's house, before we went out to lunch.

The food exchange: Sienna feeding Madison...

....and later that day at the S's, Madison returned the favor.

On the way home, one of us enjoyed pure comfort for the entire flight...

The Little Artist

Madison isn't shy about showing off her special aptitude in artistry... she sure loves her crayons.

She doesn't limit her artistic skills to just paper and coloring books either... I think she is trying to tell me something here. Unfortunately the crayons are washable, and this low cost hair replacement came off in the shower.

Happy Halloween!

It was Madison's first Halloween out of the house. It was also 'orange and black day' at daycare, and mom choose a nice outfit to kick off the festivities...




We decided to go with Minnie (she loves her Minnie doll at home) - - and Minnie has made its way into Madison's expanded 20+ word vocabulary.

Next house!

After an hour of trick-or-treating, which included a grand total of 3 houses, we decided to come back home. Somebody thought outside was still the better option, as indicated by her cute hand gesture.


We quickly grabbed our candy supply to divert her attention - - funny how soon she forgets with sweets in front of her. She loved her kit-kat, we gave her a half a stick.

H2O?

Here's Madison and Isabella cooling off with some refreshing drinks, way after bedtime. You can tell its late, as Maddie is sporting her fashionable "diaper only" attire - - the transition before pj's.

The Next Steve Tasker?

Jeremy took Avery to his first football game... and apparently was sacked by his 5 year old son in front of the stadium. Avery already has the pose down, as he leans on his father's foot and smiles after the sack.

Blake's Cider Mill

Maddie and her friends took a trip to the cider mill yesterday, perfect weather, everyone had a good time.

Maddie already started looking for her Halloween pumpkins...

Maddie, Ethan, and Isabella - just lounging. You should have heard the moms during this photo shoot - quite the scene. The kids were definitely entertained.

Why are we stopped, keep this wagon rolling. We've got places to be!

A Hallmark moment:

Not quite strong enough to move this... it sure "tired" her out!

A Day at the Park

We took Maddie to the park over the weekend, she sure loves to roam around.

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Hey, wait for me!

Maddie took the shortcut...

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Maddie and Daddy

Maddie and Mommy

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Here she is, just taking it all in... very peaceful. Don't fall for it, she's a good actress.

Cailee updates

Cailee loves playing in her play house. She's in and out of the door- looking out the window

Cailee is too much.... We sure have our handsful with this one. She is always on the go (like her mama)

And yes- she is still all her father (she rubs her belly like him too)!!!!

"Staged" Bike ride??

It looks like these two cute kids are having a good time in the summer sun... and growing fast! I can't believe they're already cruising around on bikes! Time flies...

Now Uncle Jeremy sent me these pictures of Avery and Chelsea on their wheels without any comments - so I figured I would provide more insight based on my observations.

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I was wondering if these were candid photos, as Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Jackie's home was framed nicely in each shot - either a rare coincidence - - or a professional camera man staged this photo session with each child, to make it look like they were having the time of their lives (centered precisely in front of their own home). Now I could be wrong, but just fyi - - the bar is set higher for photos that come in from Jeremy, I expect more "candid" creativity from a guy that has carried around a camera since he was 10.

Maddie in the Mornin'

Here are some older pictures of Maddie, mom is out of town for the weekend... with the camera - - so I had to pull some pictures from the Maddie archive. These were taken about a month ago.

Mamma Mia!

Grandma was in town for the weekend, we all went out for a family style dinner... forgot Maddie's bib, but we were able to improvise.

Is this baby cute or what!