March

 We once again had another busy month full of traveling, Madi milestones, and visiting with family. 

Our month started off with a weekend in Portland, where Cody had a hospital board retreat. Madi and I tagged along and snuck in a trip to the Portland Zoo. The weather was wonderful and the animals were enjoying it as much as we were; Madi loved seeing all of the animals. 

A few weeks later we drove to Seattle where Cody attended a conference. We were able to drive up a few days before the conference and spent some time with my cousins. We had a fun-filled weekend with Mark, April, and Whitney, and Eric, Ilene, and Addie. Madi got some playtime in and enjoyed seeing her second cousins again. We then checked into our hotel in downtown Seattle and Cody worked while Madi and I played. We went swimming on the roof of our hotel which had a view of the waterfront, and Cody was able to join us for shopping at Pike's Market, and fish and chips at Ivers. 

The day after we got back from Seattle, Madi and I flew to Utah, and a few days later Cody flew to Chicago. It really was a month of traveling! Cody was in Chicago for 5 days for the annual ACHE Congress. He was able to catch up with a few school friends and even squeezed some time in to shop for me and Madi- Madi loves her crocs and I am enjoying my Ghiradelli chocolate :) 

Madi and I had a great time in Utah, she was very excited to see her grandpa, grandma, uncle Ryan, and aunt Melanie. While in Utah we were able to celebrate grandpa's birthday, attend 'Pride and Prejudice' (Melanie was in charge of all of the costumes), shop, get together with my high school friends, eat Cafe Rio, visit Melanie in Provo, go on a lunch date with Megan and Sammie,  and go on lots of walks around the park. We met Ryan, his girlfriend, and her kids and dog at a park and Madi loved playing with their dog and started saying 'woof woof' when she saw him. Madi is an animal lover. 

A trip to Utah is not complete without Madi getting new teeth and this time she had two molars come in! She now has 12 sharp teeth in her mouth- do not stick your finger in there!

Madi now prefers walking over crawling, if she falls she stands up and walks again. She is enjoying her new freedom :) Now that Madi is stable it was only logical to buy her her first set of golf clubs, we splurged and went with the plastic kind :) Although she now has her own, Madi prefers to use Cody's clubs, and Cody doesn't mind one bit- he's ready to train his protege.

 Some of Madi's favorite things to do: paint in the bathtub, raise the toilet seat up and stick her hands in the toilet, play with her magnetic animals that stick to the fridge, help me unload the dishwasher, use a fork while she eats (she doesn't know how to use it but she likes to hold it), turn lights on and off using the light switch, and drink from drinking fountains.

What a busy and fun-filled month! We are so grateful to have been able to spend this month with so many friends and family members. 

 Turning the light switch on and off

Snuggles with uncle Ry

Playing piano with grandpa

Feeding the ducks at Liberty Park

Playing at Liberty Park

Eating her new favorite candy- Sixlets 

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Madi loves being outdoors 

Our sweet Snow White

Grandpa teaching her how to climb- hopefully this doesn't catch on!

A walk around the park with uncle Ryan

Madi is a big fan of shoes, she knows that we are going outside if we put shoes on

Painting in the bathtub

Peek-a-boo

·     

February

I was under the impression that moving to Oregon meant very little to no snow. Well, I was wrong. In total we got a foot of snow, which meant that our town shut down and the schools were closed for three days. The snow only lasted for a few days, but it was enough to give us cabin fever. We did enjoy playing in the fresh powder and Madi got to make a snow angel. 

This month Madi went from walking a few steps to walking around the house all by herself. She also now prefers walking and if she falls down she stands back up and walks again. This has posed a problem at church because she would rather practice walking than sit with mom and dad. We can't wait for her to be able to go to nursery, and I think she will have more fun in there too.

     Madi loves to carry things around. She is constantly trying to figure out how to stack things so she can carry more. She likes to carry pens, balls, paper, and magnets. On a recent trip to Target, Madi stacked four tomato soup cans on top of each other and she probably would have stacked more if she had them. Madi also likes to carry around Cody's golf balls and golf clubs. Cody can't wait until he can start teaching her how to swing a club.

Teeth have not been good to Madi this month, she got three more- her top right molar, bottom front right, and bottom front left. She now has ten teeth- six on top and four on bottom.

Cody and I worked very hard to not say the word 'no' around Madi. Instead we would say 'don't do that' or 'let's do ___ instead'. Our efforts failed us and Madi's new favorite word is 'no'.  :(  

Our silly Madi still won't eat fruit. She would rather eat the orange peel than the orange, which has happened :) I have discovered that she will eat banana pieces but only when they are covered in graham cracker crumbs. A few times she has sucked off the graham cracker and spit out the banana. We also discovered this month that Madi likes to eat marshmallows, another food to add to the list of foods only given to Madi right before bath time. 

14 Months Old!

Ready to play in the snow 

Madi opening a Valentine's Day package from grandma  

 

Busy Walking 

Always carrying things around 

Our future engineer 

The before picture from Madi's first hair cut. I forgot to take an official after photo. 

A beautiful day at the park 

At the driving range with dad and cousins John and Michael

Cousin John

Cousin Michael

Madi helping mom open her birthday presents 

The big 26 

Madi quite enjoyed the ice cream cake

January- a little late

I have come to the strange realization that my baby is no longer a baby, she is a toddler! 

Madi had her one year check up after we came back from Utah and she is growing! Madi weighs 20 lbs 14.5 oz (67%) and is 29 inches tall (35%). Our doctor told me that Madi can give up the pureed baby food and eat mostly what we eat (which she loves), that we can try to get her to use a sippy cup (which she loves), and Madi can start having whole milk (which she and daddy love- Cody drinks as much of the whole milk as she does). 

A trip to grandpa and grandma's house wouldn't be complete without getting a tooth. It seems like every time we go another one comes in! This time when we went for Christmas, Madi got a molar and we didn't even notice until we were home in Oregon. Madi was her normal happy self on our trip, so it came as a surprise when Cody spotted her top left molar. 

Our baby  toddler has also become more mobile this month. She started the month of January by standing all by herself when she was distracted. She would stand holding her bottle, dance, or hold a phone, but when she realized she wasn’t holding on to something she sat down. As she practiced more and more she was able to consciously stand and eventually took her first steps! By the end of the month she was walking from the coffee table to the couch, which is a few steps away. Madi also mastered getting off (sliding off) the couch all by herself. The trick is to now help her understand that she can't turn around and slide off everything- she has tried getting off the bed and counter this way with negative results. 

This month we went on a hike up to Silver Falls with Jay and Brit and their family. We kept saying how strange it was to be outside hiking in 50 degree weather in January while our friends were back in Minnesota enduring negative degree weather. We had a great time walking to and behind the falls, it was great to be outside. 

Cody's fellowship at the hospital is going well and he was offered an interim position as the manager over the sleep center. Madi and I were able to visit Cody at work, check out his new office, and have dinner together. Madi and I are so proud of Cody and grateful that he works hard to provide for our family. 

 Waiting at the doctor's office

 Our sippy cup expert

Madi's first chicken wing from dad's favorite- Buffalo Wild Wings 

Where's Madi? Camo jammies courtesy of Papa and Nana Mangum

 Silver Falls

Visiting dad at his new office

 Madi has figured out the nesting bowls and is pro at stacking them together

Friday afternoon at the park with dad. Madi's favorites are the swings and the slide. 

So glad to have cousins around to play with- playing with Michael and Evie 

Relaxing with dad