Our Little Climber

Now that Maddie is crawling, it's hard to keep her still! :) Yes, she still loves to be held by mommy, but when she's not cuddling, she is all over the house. Her newest discovery is the stairs. For a while she would just sit in front of them and stare up (we think she was contemplating how to get up them), but now she is ALL action. One night before bed she just decided she would try to climb up them..she almost got to the top of the first flight of stairs (we have a split level apartment). It is so hard to believe how quickly the whole process started. We waited and waited for her to crawl and then one day she crawled from the living room all the way into the kitchen--who knew!?!? She had it in her the whole time, i suppose, but she's such a good natured baby that she was okay with "point A" and didn't really care about getting to "point B". But now the fun of baby proofing begins, especially since she thinks that stairs are free reign for her now--Mom and Dad have to watch her pretty carefully...

Here are some pictures of the journey...

Day One: Sitting close to the stairs...


Day 2: Attempting...still a little unsure


Day 3: Success!



(notice I'm spotting--she's still a little shaky)


almost there--"I think I can, I think I can"
(her face is very determined here, I think)

She is just growing up TOO fast! Her little personality comes out each day and she is sooo quirky and funny! She loves to dance, and will even dance to commercial jingles. Her favorite show is American Idol (with High School Musical 3 being her favorite movie), and she will dance right along to the music as she watches it faithfully. She's our musical prodigy. lol. She also LOVES to clap, wave, and literally say "ha" (hi) to anyone who looks at her. What a social butterfly!! Each day is a new experience, that's for sure, and Maddie is definitely keeping us laughing.

Spring is here! And with it comes outside activities...

Now that the weather is beautiful here, we decided to take little Maddie to the park for the first time. It was a BLAST! She had so much fun going down slides and on the see-saws, but her favorite above all was the swings! I sat her on my lap while we swang and she squealed and laughed the whole time. It was fun to watch her enjoy the park so much--we'll definitely have to continue going during the summer.

In other news, my parents have been here this week and we've had a blast. They initially came to help my brother with some job hunting searches, but he quickly found one that suited him so we were able to enjoy their company. Maddie's got to know her grandma and grandpa pretty well, too. My mom was quick to take her during the hours that I work and Maddie warmed up to them in no time. She really enjoys their attention and love. :) We'll be going to the zoo on Saturday since it'll be in the 70's that day. Stay posted for more pictures!

But here's two cute pictures that Spencer took with his phone while we were at the park. (My mom has better ones from her camera, but i don't have access to those quite yet.):

The good, the bad, and the cuteness...

There's ALWAYS something happening with the Empeys, that's for sure. This weekend, however, the happenings were sickening, literally. A flu "bug" has been traveling around at work, and unfortunately I caught it. Needless to say, on Friday I spent the night with a bucket next to my bed. Hopefully I will get to feeling better, but for now i'm trying really hard not to get my little family sick.

My family will be here on Thursday! Very exciting to have them spending time with us on their spring break!! :)

And, as promised, here is a picture of the b-day present we made for my mom. As you can probably tell, the butterfly wings are maddie's precious little handprints. Her footprints are on the back, along with a copyright title for "Madisen's Creations." We had a lot of fun making it and are planning to go back and make more for other family members and for ourselves too! Spencer was the creative master for the border and I did the detail work for all the bugs, etc. GREAT teamwork! What do ya think?!?

And here's an updated picture of Miss Madisen. She is getting cuter and cuter and her little personality continues to shine brighter. Her favorite activities now are "peekaboo" and "pat-a-cake". And she absoultely LOVES talking with Grandma and Grandpa on our new webcam! :) (Thanks again for that great gift!)



Since it's daylight savings time already, I better get ready for bed--hopefully i'll be able to make it to church tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!