Seaside with Maddie

We were blessed with the opportunity to spend the weekend at a time share thanks to some amazing friends, and daycare parents of ours. We were given a two night stay, so Allan and I decided to go down by ourselves on Friday night, and the kids stayed with grandma and grandpa Christopherson. It was our first time being away from Maddie for the entire night, but we had a great time getting away. Then on Saturday, the grandparents drove down with the kids to meet us, and spend the day at the beach. We had such a good time. We got to go out, play in the sand, walked up and down the boardwalk, and had a great lunch before the grandparents took off to head home. We spent a lot of time exploring all the opportunities the timeshare had to offer, and enjoyed some time away, if even for just a few days. Maddie got to ride on her first carousel, and enjoyed watching the ocean. We went and got ice cream, and took lots of walks. On the way home, we decided to stop by Cannon Beach, and take some more pictures, and let the kids play in the sand one more time before heading home. It is hard to believe this was only Maddie's second time going to the beach. Hopefully we'll be able to change this, and get over to the coast more to do fun things at the beach. Here's some photos of Maddie's mini vacation for the weekend!

Maddie's FIRST big road trip

Well... I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted anything on here, however, I thought I would take the time to update some of our adventures over the summer.

As some of you know, this was a very hard summer for us, financially, so we didn't get to do as many small trips as we normally try to do during the summer. But we did uphold our big family trip to Silverwood Theme Park that we try to do at the beginning of August every year.

Maddie had a good time, though living in an RV for four days is not the easiest for a baby. Nor is an 8 hour drive. But here are some fun pictures of our trip! Enjoy!

A Day with Family!

Maddie got to meet lots of extended family this weekend. We had a good time visiting!

Well, as Maddie gets older, and we visit the zoo more often, she becomes more and more involved in our trips. On our last excursion, she decided she was ready to get out and see the animals, instead of being confined to just her stroller. I thought I'd share a few of her adventures.


The Beaver, for the first time in a LONG time, was out in the water, swimming. Normally he's just in his little lodge sleeping, where you can't see him. But Maddie was SO fascinated with him. He swam up to the glass, I think because deep down inside, he wanted to attack us. And Maddie would just reach up to try to grab him. She really likes animals. She was just glued to him as he swam up and down the glass, scratching away at it.










She also got out to look at some of the fish and turtles. She wasn't as excited about them, but it was still a fun and new experience for her.






And of course, she had a lot of fun playing in her stroller as well. She was so happy and content, just to be out in the nice sunny weather. Made that trip a lot of fun. We're planning another trip coming up this Thursday. Can't wait! I love having a zoo pass!

Maddie's 1st Fourth of July

This year we celebrated Maddie's first Fourth of July by attending the Hillsboro parade.


With all the floats going by, the music, and the occasional loud sounds, she actually did quite amazing and had a good time. She got a few toys to play with, her favorite being a little flag that they were handing out. She wore her best red, white and blue, and had a wonderful time. She lasted all the way until the end of the parade, when it started to get so unbelievably hot, and she just couldn't take it anymore. We're hoping to make this a family tradition, considering we've gone every year since Ethan was born. Fingers crossed!!!

Happy Father's Day

I know it's a little late, but Maddie wanted to share her wonderful Father's Day adventure. She had a busy Father's Day weekend, with a trip to Woodburn on Saturday, and Salem on Sunday. But she broke out her best Father's Day shirt to celebrate her dad, whom she loves so much.

Because Allan wanted to spend Father's Day with his family at Enchanted Forrest, she was able to have her first trip at such a young age. Though there wasn't much for her to do, she was in such a good mood, and was so happy to just be out in the fresh air, even if it was a little chilly.

Me and My Big Brother!

Here's Maddie and her big brother!

It is so funny to me, how they can look so much alike, yet look so completely different. I'm realizing at this point, how I remembered Ethan having so much hair when he was a little guy, but truth is, he had nothing compared to his sister, who can already have her hair pulled back in to ponytails. But I'm thankful for how different they are! They are two wonderful kiddos to have.

My baby is 6 months old...

So we're here... Maddie turned 6 months old on May 18th - - I can't believe how fast things seem to be going by. Overnight she got SO big. She's fitting in to all of her 6 month clothes, she's eating cereal and fruits and veggies, and occasionally a cracker here and there. And her head is just FULL of beautiful brown hair. She's still rolling over like crazy, and is fighting as hard as she can to get as little tummy time as possible. (We're hopeful she won't fall in her brother's footsteps of scooting all over the place on her bottom!)
We decided to take the kiddos in to get their pictures taken, since it worked out perfectly that her 6 month fell right when Ethan was turning 3. She had SO much fun, watching them throw toys around and making noise, just to get her to smile.
She got in to a couple of different outfits, and had a few different back drops...
She loved all of the props used, and made sure that each one was appropriately introduced to her mouth! Even if she couldn't pick it up, she'd bring her mouth down to it.
She has a wonderful and infectious smile and I am so grateful to have such a beautiful baby girl!
At her 6 month appointment, we learned that she is doing just fine! Still no teeth broke through yet, but they are sure she is teething. She has moved in to the 65th percentile for height, and the 75th for weight, so she's broken out of that "tiny" phase. We're excited for the months ahead, as she moves in to getting teeth, to eating more solid foods, to using her hands more, and of course, crawling, and on to walking, and so forth. She's such a great baby girl!

Maddie on the Moo-ve!

Well... since the sun has come out, we've found it more and more difficult to sit still. And of course, there's a lot more community activities to take part in once that big yellow ball in the sky starts to show it's face!

So we decided to take Maddie and Ethan to the Saturday Farmer's Market in Hillsboro! Maddie was just basking in the sights, sounds, and temperatures that surrounded her. We also decided to stop by and see the county building where dad is going to start working on June 1st. And while there, we decided to stop by the BIG Sequoia trees that were once planted by Maddie and Ethan's great-great-great... grandpa?? John Ramsey Porter. They are right next to the Courthouse. It's amazing how much of their heritage surrounds them. What with having an entire street named for them just off of Hwy 47 in Forest Grove, and another giant Sequoia that stands on the corner of B street and Pacific Ave in Forest Grove.

Yum!

Well... we've reached that wonderful point... Introducing SOLIDS!

Admittedly so, we have not been on top of this as we were with Ethan. But we're slowly and surely getting there. At about 4 months we started giving this little munchkin rice cereal. To which she was NOT a fan. And at about 5 months we felt it was okay to start with fruits and veggies, and juice. And once we introduced those foods, she started taking to the idea a lot more. Of course, she's just like her brother, and has had a hard time adjusting to the solid foods, but we're working through those issues!

Maddie's First Easter!

Well, we got to have a lot of fun experiencing Maddie's 1st Easter this year. We put together a fun little basket for her. Instead of candy, which is what you would think to put in a basket, she got containers of baby food, which she will get to start eating in a week! She also got a fun little Bubble Machine, a teething toy, and some hair ties, which she'll be using in no time. We also got to get a picture of her in her little Easter dress with cousin Lilly and brother Ethan.

It was actually quite funny to see her reaction when we first turned on the bubble machine. She sat for a moment, taking it all in, and then her expression changed to fear when she couldn't figure out why these little wet things were landing all over her. But it was a lot of fun, regardless. I was just excited that I finally got to put her in an Easter Dress!!! Looking forward to doing that more in the future!