The Cutest Halloweener in California

Well, I hope everyone out there had a Happy Halloween! We had Maddie's first one, as well as having our first here in California. Here is a picture of Maddie in her costume:

We dressed her up and took out for community fun. Weirdly (and I'm guessing this is going to be an on-going theme for San Diego) the weather was 90ish degrees on Halloween, so Maddie got a little hot! We got lots of smiles walking around with her, but most of the activities going on were a little too old for her. The kids in those bounce houses were candy-fueled maniacs!

Here is a picture of Maddie earlier in the week, just getting into the spirit of the season! :)

One of the coolest parts of Halloween was getting trick-or-treaters. I've never lived anywhere that was a trick-or-treat hotspot before, so it was especially fun to see all the kids coming around in costume. There were some HILARIOUS costumes (think 15 year old wearing only speedos and big ears, walking around with his little sister, around 7 yrs, who was wearing an inflatable sumo wrestler costume) And then there was our own little cutie(nice transition, huh):

Maddie didn't make it up late enough to help hand out any of the candy, but she did get her first taste of chocolate chip cookie, and she LOVED it! For a toothless little kid, she can mash her food with the best of us! :)
Here's one more cute picture, just because I like it:

Random Acts of Cuteness

These are just some cute pictures that I've gotten over the past few weeks. As Maddie starts doing new things, she gets into the funniest predicaments! Here she is after figuring out how to manipulate the baby gate, and then accidentally closing herself and the dogs on the wrong side of it! (neither she nor the dogs were very happy about the situation)

The next two pictures are of what is quite possibly my favorite new Maddie trick. She goes to the kitchen table and grabs a chair. Then she gets underneath it and does acrobatic tricks over the foot rests. Here's a picture of the beginning of the trick:

And here's how it ends:

And for the final cute picture, Maddie loves playing with Deacon, and Deacon's favorite toy is this ratty, disgusting snake. So, of course, Maddie loves the snake. Here is a picture of her playing tug of war under the baby gate with it and Deacon. Sometimes she will also wrap herself in the snake and then try to crawl away with it, giggling like a maniac the whole time, while Deacon holds onto one end of it. I don't have a picture of that because I can't stand to see that gross toy wrapped around her for long enough to snap the picture! (yes, I wash it, but it only stays clean for about a day. It's a losing battle!)

And that's it for now! Happy November!

Another Blog?? So Soon??

I know it's out of character for me to post TWO blogs within a week of each other, but I wanted to get the word out about a competition that I entered! I made a video for ConAgra foods and got picked to be one of 16 finalists!!! Woohoo! So now my video is up for voting here. I am currently in 8th place (last time I checked) so I really need your votes! My video is the thumbnail with me pushing Maddie in a swing (it says 'submitted by Jenny McDonald'). You can only vote once, so throw your vote my way!
The grand prize is a family vacation for $10,000, so you can imagine that I really want to win...and so does everyone else. :)

I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

Also, if you could repost my link on twitter, facebook, e-mails, your blogs, or anywhere else that people might see it, I'd really appreciate it!

http://apps.facebook.com/delicious-moments/ (it's the one of me pushing Maddie in the swing). Thanks!!!

And Now For Something Completely Different!

**The video that was supposed to upload would not load. :( I'll try again later**

Like....ravioli!! Maddie is eating big-people food now (kind of), and she shovels it right in! Here is a video of her eating puffs, but her favorite is the raviolis. I only give her those for dinner, and the only one who might like them more than her is Deacon! (He catches what she drops before they hit the floor!) She drains the sippy cup faster than I can refill it, and she gets 3 "bottles" a day. She's getting big! I can't believe how fast she's growing. It's weird to look over and see a shorty little person wobbling along the couch edge.

Maddie is walking along the furniture now. She still has not done belly-off-the-floor crawling, and I think she's going to be walking soon. ha! She's apparently got places to go!
Maddie got invited to a Halloween Party, and she'll be wearing a cute little flower costume (don't worry - I'll get pictures). Given my rate of posting, the pictures should be posted around Christmas time! ;)

In our life, Mike and I just did our first adventure race last weekend, and hopefully we'll be doing more soon. Mike's job is going well, but it's very time-consuming. I just took a job at a nearby hospital on day shift, and I'm excited about that. Otherwise, things are just the same! It's been beautiful weather here as Fall starts to break through...."Fall"....it's been 80-87 degrees.
Hope you're all doing well and Happy Halloween!

UPDATE: I thought this blog was sent about a week ago (really!). Maddie has since started crawling with her tummy off the floor. Apparently, she just wanted to show me what she could do! :)

Maddie's 1st Six Months! - update!

I have updated the video, after some constructive criticism from the viewers! :) So, anyway, the lowdown is that Sara and I have started a business called Divine Designs Media. We make custom, high-quality original photobooks, holiday cards, and videos (like the one above) created from your own home videos. We can convert your VHS or digital media and give you back all your original media on a dvd or HD-dvd as well as the edited compilation that will be your video! :)

In other news, Maddie is pulling up on things now! She can pull to standing, but has not gotten the courage to take a first step yet...which is o.k. with me! I'm working on baby-proofing the house for this new stage, and I don't want her moving faster than me. :) I put a picture below of her exploring the toy basket. (A whole world of fun!)
Hope you are all having a great weekend - I'll update more later!

And she's crawling! (kinda)

Maddie has mastered the fine art of the army crawl! Here is a little crawling clip:

I had a better one (or so I thought), but apparently the intricacies of the camcorder still elude me. :)

I did manage to get some good pictures lately though! I keep deciding that Maddie is teething (based on nothing except some drooling), so I bought some teething biscuits for her. This is what she did with them:

Which led directly into the post teething biscuit bath!

Baths always tucker Maddie out. And when Maddie sleeps, Daddy sleeps!

And finally, here is a shot of me and a sleepy Maddie. It doesn't fit into the storyline I've been following, but I want to be in the blog too! :)

Actually, I have one more thing to add: CONGRATS TO THE LOCAL LITTLE LEAGUE WHO JUST BEAT CHINA TO WIN THE LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES!!!
Now I'm done typing for real.

Visiting Texas

Maddie and I have recently returned from a trip back home, and we had so much fun! It was great to see all the family, and Maddie had an awesome time showing off her new tricks. :)
We started in Texas. Unfortunately, I have no Texas pictures because I stupidly forgot to take a camera. :( I have a sneaky feeling though, that I may get some in my e-mail, and if I do, I'll pop em in! I know everyone likes pictures, so I'm throwing in a few recent, random ones!
Alright, we had a blast in TX! Maddie got to see her first horse, and I'm sure she would have reached her chubby little arm out to pet it if her Mom weren't so afraid that the horse would suddenly become carnivorous and take a bite out of her. It was okay though, because Maddie, true to child form, was much more impressed with the cat that was stalking around the house than the horses. I'm o.k. with cat s, as I'm bigger than they are.
We also went to the BIGGEST used book store that I've ever seen/been inside. It had half a million books (literally), plus videos, dvds, and various forms of music. It was amazing. I picked an educational book series for Maddie that I had seen on TV (Your Baby Can Read) and bought it, only to get it home and realize that it was missing the accompanying dvds. It figures that, having a 1 in 500,000 chance to purchase a quality used book for Maddie, I chose the incomplete one. :) (I did get 3 good books for me though!)
Finally, we went with Gloria to her work and found a gigantic Clifford dog that Maddie thought was hilarious. She loves dogs, and her favorite color is red, so this was a double whammy for her. She had the whole store laughing along with her as she giggled contagiously at the stuffed animal. That includes me. I have been witness to several of Maddie's giggling fits, and I still can't help but laugh right along with her - usually at nothing at all!
Soon after the Clifford festivities, Gloria fell ill. Pat took this opportunity to pamper her when he could. When all else failed, he invoked some good old fashioned rib bing to pull some laughs out of her. It is always very sweet to see a couple laughing at/with each other, and Pat and Gloria are like a couple of flirting kids when they get going. Aside from being sweet, it's also just funny!
Soooo...Pat, Maddie and I hung out the next day, and the day after that I drove the biggest vehicle I have ever driven into Ft Worth to meet a friend. I think it was a Ford Navigator. Compared to my little Mazda 3, this thing was a monster! In fact, on the first exit ramp I thought that I was going to flip over. I didn't though, and I went to Ft Worth and back in one piece! I even confessed the near-flippage to Pat when I got back. (As far as I can tell, it is near impossible to disturb Pat. He is a picture of cool collectedness no matter what is going on. Admittedly, I haven't tried very hard to upset him because...well, why would I ?)
And this brings the Texas trip to a close. We hopped on a flight to SC the next day.
Isn't there something missing, you ask? Why yes there is! I have failed to mention that in just 7 short months I have been able to completely block from my memory the horror that is humidity. This left me a gasping, red-faced mess when I bravely decided to take myself for a run at Pat and Gloria's. "No problem", I thought. "A quick, flat 5-miler will feel great after that plane ride". Well, I don't know where the hills on that run came from because it sure looked flat when we drove it! Then there were all the road bikers sailing by me at 20 mph, all smiles and waves with their cute outfits and lungs full of air. I did manage at least a friendly nod to everyone though, and, on the bright side of the run, I don't think I have ever been so excited to see a pheasant-studded mailbox in my life! (that was my start and stop point)
Until next time, Texas - sionara, my friend!

Here is a quick picture of Maddie lounging at the pool!