Happy 1st Birthday Madilyn!

1 year old......
just a few days old!

Look how much you have changed in the last year! We love you baby girl!!!

Long Weekend

Paul took a long weekend this past weekend and we had such a great time. We explored Sundance,- including taking Madilyn on her first chairlift ride (which she loved), and also had a picnic
Madilyn got to walk around and climb trees to her hearts content.




We also spent an afternoon at Snowbird, just lounging on the lawn and having lunch. Grandpa Larry came along with us and we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.


Paul and I went to see Jack Johnson, but unfortunately were right by a bunch of REALLY LOUD people, so we had to move to hear the music...we were so frustrated! Who buys tickets to a concert to just talk the whole time??? We had a great date despite the crazy people.
Aunt Jaime and her boyfriend Joe hung out with Madilyn and Madilyn had a great time with them! Aunt Jaime brought her tons of balloons and a HUGE card for her Bday, all which Madilyn loved and is still playing with.

Grandpa Larry and Grandma Joan took us to the Cheesecake Factory for Madilyn's 1st bday! Madilyn got more balloons from Grandma Joan and was delighted by them.
We also went swimming and visited with Grandpa Dan and Grandma Penny. We are having Madilyn's 1st Bday party this Saturday and can't wait to celebrate the awesome year that we have had with Madilyn. More pictures to come!!

Two Steps....

Yesterday Madilyn took 2 steps before falling down! We are getting closer and closer each day! We have been having fun preparing for Madilyn's 1st birthday. We went to Toys R Us yesterday to look at toys and Madilyn had a ball. She got to meet Geoffry (Toys R Us Giraffe) and she absolutely loved it. It was hilarious. We also went to Ikea and got her a few things for her bday. Today we spent the day at Sundance (a beautiful ski resort). We rode the chair lift and took small hikes and let Madilyn walk around- she also played in the dirt, picked flowers and leaves, and waved to all the other fellow hikers. She loved the chair lift and playing around in the grass. We will post pics of the day soon, as we got some great ones. We can't believe that our "baby" turns 1 tomorrow at 6:10pm! Oh what a day that was just one year ago. Now we get to look forward to the toddler years and beyond :) Can't wait.

Walking?

Madilyn is now taking ONE step when she stands up before she falls down!!! The first one happened outside yesterday evening while we were talking to our neighbors and the second was just now!! It is really exciting :)

Simplify Supper

I am so excited about a website that I heard about on TV this morning!! I am always "struggling" to decide what to make for dinner and to make the list to do the grocery shopping, etc. It kind of stresses me out...really it does. Anyway, this website helps you plan your weekly/monthly meals and even does the shopping list for you. I am really in love with this website :) Thank you thank you to the ladies that started this!!!

http://www.simplifysupper.com

Cousins

Growing up, my sisters and I did not have any first cousins close in age to us, and we really always wished that we did. This is why I really, really want that for Madilyn as she is growing up. Which leads to why- As most of you know, I am always "complaining" about how Madilyn doesn't have any cousins her age yet (i.e from either of my 2 sisters, or from Paul's brother and sister). As, I know in time, she will :) I am just impatient sometimes!!

Well, Madilyn has tons of second cousins pretty close in age to her on Paul's dad's side of the family from Paul's first cousins. We were all fortunate enough to get together this summer and it was cool to see everyone and to realize that Madilyn DOES have cousins close to her age around :)

Little Bathing/Swimming Beauty

We have been having a blast this summer taking Madilyn swimming because she just loves the water so much. This was this past Sunday. We stopped at Grandma Joan's for lunch before heading up to the pool. Thanks for this awesome picture of Madilyn G. Joan. (We finally found our camera later that night.) Also, thanks to Grandma Penny and Grandpa Dan for always letting us come up and use the pool!!!

Thanksgiving Point Petting Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Cocanour

Last week on a rainy Tuesday, Grandma and Grandpa Cocanour took us to Thanksgiving Point to the Gardens and Petting Zoo. My camera was MIA (actually up until 2 days ago), so these pics are all courtesy of Joan. Thanks for the great pictures!!

We had a great time looking at the animals there.
Our favorite was this cute baby cow with the huge brown eyes. Madilyn had fun feeding him corn with Grandpa Larry.

There were some pretty sad looking chickens there...almost scary. A lot of them were missing feathers and just looked horrible. The look on Madilyn's face says it all. It kind of looks like she is thinking: "AHHH is that what chickens really look like?" EWWW! They almost made me never want to eat chicken again, and chicken is one of my favorite foods.

I was so excited to take Madilyn on the "hay ride" pulled by 2 Clydesdale horses. I knew that Madilyn would really enjoy it and she did.
We also had fun relaxing and walking through the beautiful gardens. Here is Madilyn's "Tiger Face"...haha. Kind of reminds me of a face that our cousin Nick makes. :)

(Look familiar?....this was taken a couple months before Madilyn was born, so she hasn't met her cousin Nick in person yet, but you have to admit that their "Tiger Face" is pretty similar) Madilyn fits right in!!! haha

First Tooth

Got a perfect moment to catch a picture of Madilyn's first tooth! She also has another popping through on the bottom!!!

Priceless

Visitors! We love our great family :)

Last weekend cousin Tori and her dad Barry were here for a night on their way back from Wisconsin. Madilyn met Tori for the first time and we had a great night visiting. Madilyn was a little fussier than normal, as she is working on her second tooth. I never knew that teething would be so hard!

Auntie Jeannine was here camping with the "Pathfinders" group that her son Robert is involved in. (similar to the Boy Scouts) We met at Thanksgiving Point and were able to visit for an hour or some while the kids were at an IMAX show. It was such a great surprise to see beautiful Auntie Jeannine again this summer! What a treat!!! We had such a great time shopping with you Jeannine! Why don't you live closer???? Madilyn adores the gifts that you got her!

ON and OFF

A new favorite activity is turning on and off the water to the bathtub. She is loving opening and closing things (doors, cabinets, etc), taking things in and out, and turning things on and off. It really is scary at this age because she is into EVERYTHING...literally!!! I can see "toddlerhood" on the horizon and it is a little scary...where did my sweet little baby go?

All that Hair!

It goes without saying that Madilyn has A LOT of hair! It is always all over the place and unruly. This is after her bath...I can't look at this picture without laughing :)

From this picture, it is hard to believe that her hair gets so crazy just moments after her bath!

Standing on Her Own 2 Feet

This is Madilyn's new favorite thing to do. She just squats and pops up to the standing position...I am so impressed with her muscles!! It is cute, because it really looks like she is surfing. She has great balance! This was a Grandma and Grandpa Cocanour's house last weekend. She was wearing a dress and it was getting in her way, so it is tucked up under. We think that she will be walking soon...we'll keep everyone posted.

The Zoo

We took Madilyn to the zoo for the first time last weekend. It was so much fun. She is only 11 months old, but is really starting to love animals, so we thought we would take her to see them up close and personal. She loved seeing the monkeys, the giraffes, and elephants. She especially enjoyed standing on her own and looking up at the tall giraffes.

We took her on the carousel and there were 2 other babies her age that were terrified, but Madilyn LOVED it! She is so adventurous (we will be in trouble when she gets older!), so I just knew that she would love it. It was so great to see her happy face the whole time.
Watching the giraffes.

I love the looks on their faces as they watch the cute monkeys!



Here is video of Madilyn on the carousel. She was delighted!