Redneck Jungle Gym

After an eventful trip to Costco the other day, Mike and I began unpacking all of our groceries. Maddie was getting close to nap time and we were hoping that we would have 5-10 minutes of her occupying herself before she got too tired that the tears before nap time came. We put her in the living room with some of her toys and a few books. However, when we looked over we found that she wasn't sitting in the living room where we had just put her. Instead she had made her way into the hallway and began playing on the toilet paper and towels we just brought in from the car. Needless to say we stopped what I was doing....groceries can wait...and Maddie and played on the toilet paper for about 30 minutes. In the simplicity of the moment I was reminded at how our little ones don't need a lot of fancy gadgets and toys to play with. They need an imagination, a sense of security and a fun playmate to enjoy their time with.  All I can say is that I am SO glad that I get to be that playmate.

A few more pictures from our playtime together.

This is how we found her.....on top of the paper towel rolls.

She was DETERMINED to get on top of this. Notice her little pouty face lips? That is our newest face. We get it whenever there is a food or something that we don't want to eat.....or we are really concentrating on something.

Mike couldn't resist taking a picture of the little flower bloomers.

A proud little girl once she was able to stand up.

Maddie kept getting frustrated because her dress was just a little too long (it's a 6 month and she turns 11 months on Monday!) and she would step on it.

Needing a little bit of assistance from Mom when trying to walk across the top. Those paper towels aren't very stable.

Maddie and Daddy

We have had so much fun this summer with Madison.While I love my time with her and we have our special girls moments, she will have some great memories with her Dad as well. Mike has always been an amazing husband so I guess it is no surprise that he is an amazing dad as well. Here are just a few of my favorites Maddie and Daddy pics of the summer.

Hanging out on the big horse at Rod's Western Palace.

Learning how to buzz on Daddy's tuba mouthpiece. This is a lesson that he was giving at Music and Arts in Westerville. Maddie and I went out for a walk....to find some dogs to look at....during the lesson. Most of Mike's lessons are at the house. Maddie is going to miss them once school starts. She loves to go into the lessons and sit and listen. Sometimes she will just stand and watch. Sometimes she will dance as they play. My favorite though is to watch her crawl over and sit on Mike's lap as he teaches. Mike on a chair with his trumpet and Maddie just  listening. It's a wonderful picture.

An evening at Uncle Dom's baseball game. They won the district tournment and are headed to States next week. Looks like more baseball for us!

Cheering on Daddy at the softball field as he plays Friday nights.

Mike and Maddie after listening to Daddy play his tuba at Comfest. It was HOT that day. Maddie slept through the first part of the concert, but was up in time to dance and bust a grove to the final few numbers.

Uncle Vince

We had a wonderful, yet bittersweet evening at the Porretta's last evening. Mike's brother Vince is headed to Edmonton, Canada to pursue his doctorate in linguistics. While classes don't start until September, he is headed out this week to get settled in his new place before the rigors of school begin. We enjoyed some wonderful food thanks to Grandma Mary and just enjoyed our time together as a family.

Maddie got an early birthday gift as well, since Uncle Vince won't be here for her party in September.

She loved her dog birthday card and is in LOVE with her newest stuffed animal. She is all about dogs right now.When Maddie is not happy the one thing that gets her in a good mood is seeing a dog. She says 'doggie-doggie' and just grins and smiles.

We are so sad that we won't get to see Uncle Vince on a regular basis, but are so happy for this new phase of his life. Even though he won't be across town anymore we are excited to get to talk to him via SKYPE which Uncle Vince set us up with. Now thanks to our new webcam we will get to share with him all of our new words, dance moves and fun times as Miss Maddie grows up.

We Love you Uncle Vince!

Happy 4th of July

Maddie at the 4th of July concert in Bexley. Mike plays in the Bexley Meadow Band every 4th of July and Labor Day for their concerts. The last time Maddie heard the group play she was literally 3 days old. A little different this year for sure. She still got a little fussy and tired at the end of the concert like last time, but this concert she danced and walked all around the campus of Capital University. Here she is trying to figure out the pinwheels that lined the walkways.

We spent some time over at the Grandma and Grandpa Porrettas 4th of July weekend. Here is Maddie loving on Grandpa David. Notice the "Grandpas Rule" T shirt. It was pretty hot out so we put out the little blow up pool that Uncle Vince and Dom got her.

Here's Maddie showing off her new bathing suit. (Thanks Aunt Kathy and Cousin Erin). The little one already has the 4-H pose down. Norma Pitts would be so proud!

This is the closest that we ever got to actually sitting down in the pool. Most of her time is spent walking around and bending over and splashing. We still haven't made it to the 'big kid pool.' I am excited to get her into a pool where I can hold her and we can start to learn to kick and swim. I was such a water baby growing up. I hope that Miss Maddie has the same love of water as well.

Dancing Queen

Its no secret that Madison had a lot of musical experiences in her short 10 months. From sitting through countless piano lessons when I was pregnant to listening to me sing everyday in musical class she has had music as a part of her life from the moment she was conceived. Now music continues to be a part of her everyday life. If you come over to the house you will most likely hear her banging on the piano at some point during the day (sometimes in the middle of Mommy's voice or piano lessons). You will hear her singing with Mommy or listening to Mommy and Daddy sing nursery rhymes from her favorite jazz book. Madison sits and plays while Daddy teaches countless lessons in the front room ranging from trumpet to saxophone to clarinet. Maddie will walk in the from room, stare at the kids. Sometimes she'll walk over and want to crawl up on Daddy's lap and listen. The music never seems to bother her. It is a part of her everyday life and we hope that she will have a love of music just like her Mommy and Daddy.

So it shouldn't have surprised us when Miss Madison started getting her grove on to the music on my cell phone. She started bouncing around and waving her hand up in the air. Let's just say that Ellen might have a new dance partner for her talk show.