Day at the beach

On Friday Marshall and I finally decided to take Maddox to the beach.  She went with me while I was pregnant- but I'm sure she doesn't remember!  Ha!  We decided that we didn't want to brave the tunnel to go to VA Beach, so we went to one called Buckroe Beach which is still on the Peninsula.

It doesn't look like a typical beach because it isn't surrounded by beach houses.  There were some beach houses down the beach a little, but in the main area there were parking lots and a large park with a Pavilion for concerts.  They show family movies there for free on Wed nights.  When we first arrived we noticed a large amount of police cars and police spread all through the park.  That made me a little apprehensive, but it ends up everything was fine.  I guess they just hang out there.

I felt like we really didn't bring that much stuff, but when I was watching Marshall carry it- it was pretty funny!  Maddox liked looking around and playing with the sunscreen.  She didn't care much about the water.  I think that the beach will be more fun with her next summer.

Funny face

Baby sunscreen tastes so good

Here is our set-up...see it's not that much stuff!

We didn't want Mdx to walk on the hot sand- which was fine, she wanted Daddy anyway. (You can still see the bruises on his arm from his "tacking-on" at Promotion...and his red neck.)

There was some seaweed in the water- and every time a wave came she'd pick up a foot.

She didn't last long in the water- she just wanted to keep walking!!

Right before we left I noticed her hair had made this little curl.  :)

time flies

In case you were wondering, I actually HAVE been chasing the baby for the past few weeks.  Every time I thought about sitting down and uploading pictures/writing a blog....there were other things to do!  All the same, we've had an interesting few weeks.

My friend Kelly from college came in town about 2 weeks ago.  We met up in Historic Yorktown and ate lunch and caught up.  She has a 6 month old daughter named Isabela, who is adorable!  Her friend Melissa lives close by and also has a baby Evelyn who is about 4 months old-and they came too...so it was a fun Mama/Baby day.  (Their husbands were there- but not in the photo- Marshall had to work- OF COURSE).  Kelly is teaching orchestra down in Fayetteville, where she grew up.  I told her I'm really excited about going back to teaching, but a little apprehensive about leaving Maddox with a sitter.  I'm sure it will be fine though.

Here is Melissa & Evie, Kelly & Isabela, Mary & Mdx

After Kelly's visit I was supposed to be going to Philadelphia with my Aunt Betsy, and my sister and her kids, to visit my cousin Jeff.  However, my grandmother ended up falling and hurting herself so instead of going to Philly we went down to Greensboro to see her and spend time with family.  Maddox loves playing with all the toys that Grammy keeps at her house.  She has amassed quite a collection over the years since Mdx is her third grandchild!  Mom keeps most of the toys in a big wardrobe in the side room, along with stickers, puzzles, art supplies, etc.

Here is a pic of Mdx riding on a little trike.  She could only go backwards though- it was really funny.

I also got it on video:

Maddox is getting so much more tired now that she is more mobile.  She passes out at night, almost an hour before she used to- which is great!  Also, now when she wakes up in the morning she sits and plays in her crib for a while before waking us up.  That is also great!

Here is Mdx in her funny new sleeping position- very strange.

She likes pushing buttons on the TV.  

And recently got her first ponytail!!  She did NOT like me tugging on her hair to put it in, so she might not have ponytails very often.

And to make you smile- a video that shows how hilarious Mdx thinks Marshall is.

more crawling fun

I need to remember to close to door to the kitchen.  It is so funny how Maddox is squealing with glee as she executes her plan to escape me and get into mischief.  It is not hard apparently, because I get so blinded by her cuteness.  I was thinking that the bulkiness of the Bumgenius cloth diaper might slow her down a bit...but no.  I think it makes her more daring because she has more padding.

life plan from now on: chasing baby

Maddox FINALLY started crawling on Tuesday July 1st when we arrived in NC.  Of course, I didn't take the video camera with us because I didn't really think there would be anything video-worthy.  Luckily she is still doing the funny crawl now that we are home...and this video was taken at 5:58 AM.  Early riser.  UGH.

The good part (I guess) is that with all the teeth and crawling, Mdx is using up a lot more energy and therefore sleeping longer during naps and at night!  We had to move her crib mattress all the way down since she likes to stand up to let me know she's awake.

AND- yesterday she tried to put her pacifier in the VCR.  We are going to have some serious problems around here until we get the house more baby-proofed...but that's the thing- we don't really know what needs to be done until Mdx shows us!