All Sorts of Fun Things

Here are some pictures from the last few days. Nothing majorly exciting going on…just the usual kid stuff.

Maddie had fun hanging out with Dad on Saturday.

He was busy studying, and Maddie was busy reading right next to him.

Maddie got a couple of hats from Marilyn…a friend from church who watches her and Mackenzie sometimes. She just loves playing with her new hat…and she loves putting it on “Kenzie,” too.

Our jazz combo is back together again! We first played together for my graduate recital and have had a couple of gigs here and there. We have our first official paid gig coming up in early November, so we’ve started rehearsing. Last night we rehearsed in the garage…so much fun!

And here is Maddie drinking her very first hot chocolate…she loved it of course!

Here is a video of Maddie reading to Mark as he was studying on Saturday…

A Couple of Videos

Here are a couple of videos that I got of the girls…kinda fun.

Time to Update Again!

My mom and niece got a great deal on airfare and planned a one-week trip to California! We’ve been trying to pack in as much as possible for my niece, who hasn’t been out here since she was maybe 5 years old. Below are some pictures of our time with them as well as the latest interactions between Madelyn and Mackenzie.

Maddie is so proud of herself, holding little cousin K.

One of Maddie’s favorite things to do these days is feed Mackenzie.

so happy!

Maddie loves to watch herself on videos on the computer…she could sit and look at our blog all day if I would let her!

We picked up Gma B. and Cousin C. from L.A. and Maddie crawled into bed with them in the middle of the night.

No, Mark is not a giant…we just forgot to bring the bottom pole of our beach umbrella.

Maddie loved walking along the shoreline with Gma B. and C.

Maddie was exhausted after a day at the beach! She cried so hard when Mark picked up her “bed” when it was time to leave.

Gma B. reading a story

More of Maddie feeding Mackenzie

Here’s a short clip of Maddie giving her baby some medicine…

And here’s a video clip of Maddie’s goofy side…

Recent Happenings

We have nothing majorly exciting going on, but I have some fun pictures to share. The first one needs a little explaining. It’s my birthday gift from Mark. He told me that he would take as long as it took to make an arrangement of picture sizes on our wall so we could finally get some family pictures up! We spent an hour or two working on our arrangement, and here’s our result. I can’t wait to post the final arrangement with the frames and the pictures!!

Mackenzie was so cuddly and actually fell asleep while we were working on our “tagboard pix arrangement.”

Maddie all cozy with Cheryl after swimming at Eva’s birthday party

This is probably one of my all-time favorites…so sweet seeing the two girls at the piano. It reminds me of my friend Kendra and me (even though we didn’t know each other at quite that young of an age).

showing so much concentration…even the tongue is sticking out

We got the sling that I had borrowed from a friend, and it came with a little hat. Even though it was about 78 degrees in the house, we had to put it on Mackenzie for a picture.

Maddie had a blast at a “playdate” organized from a friend from church. Thanks for opening your home and yard, Patty! We had a great time.

This isn’t the greatest quality picture, but I just love the shot of the two girls.

I LOVE this one! Aliyah is fascinated with babies and just loves hugging, kissing, and putting her fingers in Mackenzie’s mouth. We love you, Aliyah!!!

Maddie kept saying “dress dress” this morning, so I gave in…nice choice for playing in the dirt, huh?!

Maddie the “Mommy”

Here’s a video of Maddie attempting to give Mackenzie her sippy cup…

Trip to Montana!

Mackenzie and I went on a slightly last-minute trip to a wedding in Bozeman, Montana and had a blast. Mackenzie couldn’t have done a better job the entire trip, which made it so much easier for me. It’s pretty stressful traveling alone with a baby, but I have nothing to complain about. All Mackenzie wanted was to be held and cuddled, which fit well with our couple of days since we spent most of our time on the airplane.

Here are some pictures of the weekend…

Mackenzie in a sling that Rachel Treur let me borrow…It was awesome and worked perfectly for flying, and Mackenzie loved being in it! (Thanks, so much, Rachel, and I will wash it asap and get it back to you)!!

I had to get a shot of our rental car. Here’s Mackenzie by it in her carseat, all smiles the afternoon of the wedding.

It was so great to see Kari, and doesn’t she look absolutely beautiful?! Unfortunately, Mackenzie wasn’t so agreeable in posing for the picture.

This is a random picture I took of Mackenzie on Sunday after church. She’s in a dress that my sister Vonda let me use…so cute!

Nick, Julie, and Eva were over…Maddie and Eva had a blast together. Here they are kissing each other good night…so sweet.

An Exciting Day

It was a big day in the Leonard house…Maddie made the transition from baby to “big girl.” Thanks to some friends from church, we just got a twin bed. We hadn’t really figured out when we’d make the switch, so it just worked out well that one just fell into our laps…we’re so thankful!

It was kinda funny putting Maddie to bed tonight. We thought it would have been different putting her in a real bed for the first time, but she just crawled in and kept saying “night night” over and over again. We were trying to savor the moment by making a huge deal of Maddie being a big kid and all she wanted was to just go to bed! I got a few pictures before she nearly kicked us out of her room.

I took these last two pictures earlier this afternoon. Maddie LOVES to “hold it,” as she refers to holding Mackenzie, and Mackenzie is sort of like Mina…she just puts up with it.

Videos

Here are some videos taken in the last week or so.

The Latest Happenings

You’ll see that most of the following pictures involve water…both the girls enjoy swimming, baths, and anything else related to being in water. I was giving Mackenzie a bath the other day, and Maddie wanted to help, so I let her hop in the tub, too. She had a blast…actually, they both did!

Mackenzie has just started on solid foods, and this is her feeding station for now.

Maddie loves her little sister…and her toys!

Maddie’s all ready to go swimming, and she does very little without her baby.

Swimming in our little pool in the backyard

Mackenzie enjoying watching it all from her cozy bouncy seat

A Fun Weekend

The pictures I’m posting are from the end of last week through today. We had a fun weekend in Escondido where I played for church, and we also went to the San Diego Zoo. I didn’t get pictures of the animals, but I tried to capture some of the excitement of that day.

I know she’s showing a bit more skin than is appropriate, but cut her some slack–she’s little and is still growing into her outfits!

Mackenzie is sitting in the jump-a-roo, thanks to the Schenkels who are letting us borrow it.

Play Doh and bubbles…two of her favorite things! Then you throw Daddy into the mix, and it’s just perfect.

There’s a swimming pool at Paul and Danae’s house, and Maddie loved swimming and jumping off the side to Daddy.

Mackenzie enjoyed watching everything in her bouncy seat in the shade. Even though she didn’t go swimming, it was still fun to put her swimsuit on.

The next set of pictures are of our trip to the zoo…

As you can see, Maddie and Caleb are pretty excited to get going!

This was taken during the sea lion show.

One of our highlights of the zoo was the “tree lady” who walked around, blending into the trees. Can you spot her in the picture above?!

Debbie Southworth was in Redlands for a short time, so we got together for a Starbucks and a nice visit. It was so fun to see her. It almost looks like my girls could be hers…all those blue eyes!!

And the following video is of our cute little “bat-girl.”