Playing before bed time

Madison loves to play peek-a-boo with her Daddy. So last night I was putting her to bed and Tony came in to say good night and she started to "play" with him. It was so funny because neither of us prompted her to do it. Needless to say we were able to get some of it on video! Enjoy. . . .

An Early Birthday Surprise!

MY PINK POODLE ROCKING HORSE!!!!

Yesterday there was a large package on our front door step and it had Madison's name on it! Her Gammy sent her an early Birthday Present. So I called my mom and asked if she wanted me to save it until July for her actual birthday. She told me to go ahead and let her play with it and take lots of pictures for her to see. We opened the box and it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen; besides my most adorable baby in the world ! I let her touch it and then when I put her on it, she was like Oh My Goodness this is so much fun. She would shake her legs to try and make it "work". I had to hold onto her and make it rock at the same time. Looks like I will have toned arms if we play with this everyday. Thanks to Mom for the gift and Madison for the extra workout!

As usual all my family and friends are in my thoughts and prayers, may God continue to bless you everyday in everyway. . . . .

Much Love from our little corner of the world,
Erin Davis

Aquarium of the Pacific

We took Miss Madison to see the Fishies on Saturday. We stared off by stopping half way and having Chick-Fil-A!!!! We live an hour away so it was a big deal. We got her picture with the Cow Man and she never even cried. She was just trying to figure out what it was?? If it had been me at her age the trip would have been over! We got to the Aquarium and she woke up so it was smooth sailing. She got to see all kinds of Ocean life forms and the Sea Lions were like big water dogs. She and I leaned over the Shark Tank to get a good look and she reached her hand out. Just as she did a Great White came up out of the water to get a better look too! The people standing around had been there for a bit and they were saying that was the first time that any of them had come out of the water. So it's official Madison is a yummy temptation. I have always told her she is gonna get eaten for being so sweet. I would have had to jump in the water and "Slap a Shark" if it came any closer to my baby's hand. Madison wasn't bothered; she was like make it come up again Lady. We got to see some baby stingrays too and they didn't want to come close enough to be touched by Madison. The workers said we could "pet" them with two fingers but Madison ignored that rule to "play in the water" with both hands. They had a baby tiger shark in there too. The lady in charge told us it didn't like to be petted and it wouldn't bother us. However, every time Madison put her hand in the water it would come really close so it must have liked our baby a bit more than the lady realized. She liked the fishes and different colored lights in the exhibits. We stayed about 2 and 1/2 hours and then it was time to turn around and head home. It was short lived but it was nice to do something different. Of Course I took many many pictures that day but when I uploaded them to my computer from my camera; I had a major fiasco! I named them and the computer numbered them the same as another folder in my pictures. I was trying to organize some of my pictures and when I tried to combine them together; my Aquarium pictures were over-written. The only pictures I could recover are the ones on the slide. Unfortunately, I could only get two pics with Dada in them back. I even had one of all three of us; but the overwriting distorted it too badly to see, along with some other great shots. I am just glad they weren't all lost and I learned a big lesson! Thankfully I married a computer Geek because if he wasn't here with me I wouldn't have even recovered the ones that you are viewing now! God I love my man! Although, we took some video I still wanted my pictures and we both worked on the long process for 7 hours yesterday into the wee hours of the morning! Needless to say I was hurtin' for certain when I had to get up with 4 hours of sleep. Okay well I will write again soon. . . . .


Duck Family

Sea Lions



Sea Lions Part Two




Sharks




Baby Stingray's

She's 10 months and Cruising!

Yep my little angel had no sooner learned to crawl on all fours when all of a sudden she had to start pulling up (ON EVERYTHING) and creeping around! The books call this "cruising"; she loves to stand! You can't put her in the floor without getting down there with her. She just won't stand for it. She starts crying and fussing if you try . . . .not so easy anymore. My activities are properly planned around her awake times. It goes a little like this: 5:30am-7am Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bakey, Breakfast between 7am and 8am, Play Play Play, Nappy around 9am (Sweet Sleep) until 11am or 12pm, Lunch, more Play Play Play, Nappy #2 about 2pm until 4pm or so, 5pm Dinner, Play Play Play, 7pm or so, Nite Nite. I try and get her to stay asleep until 7am but lately the Sun is kicking my butt; if the sun is up she thinks she has to be up with it! Today she woke me at 5:50am so I decided she would go yardsaling with me. I try to do my cleaning and working out during her two long nap times; they are a blessing to me (I know they will fade here pretty soon). She sure does need them too; she is a cranky little booger when that time approaches. She is a funny little girl the first thing she communicated with me was to shake her head NO. You could ask her anything and the answer was a forceful head shake NO! "Madison is your name Madison?" Her reply is a forceful head shake NO! But after many long months of showing her sign language, I am very happy to announce that she made her first sign last Sunday (the first of many; I hope). She smiled, waived and said something that sounded like hi! Then on Thursday she made the sign for Milks; Saturday night she made the sign for Eat! It is a great feeling that she is learning something so valuable from me. We will be understanding each other so much better now! I found her about a week later standing on her own for 3-5 secs, and then promptly hitting the ground on her bottom. I don't care what anyone else thinks; after the 3rd time it's gotta sting a little. That's all I can think of that's new for now but I have some pictures posted here of the things we have done since the last update.

We went to an awesome streetbike and motocross stunt show on base. The Riders were amazing and they were so awesome to the Marines and Families. They gave away prizes and signed anything and everything you would want autographed! It was amazing the stuff they were doing. The first set of jumpers were "Riders for Christ" and the street bike guys were famous from the Speed Channel. I don't know their names though. The Motocross flips in midair the Streetbike surfing; absolutely awesome! Afterwards we met with a friend of mine that I have not seen in 4 years and had dinner with her and the fam! It was awesome to see them and meet her children. It was a long day but Baby Madison was such a trooper through it all. . .

These are some great photos of our playgroup friends: Peachy and Jane; Katelynn and Jenn; and Madison and Me. We try and meet with them once a week. They are a great bunch of ladies and babies and it's a wonderful way to socialize for both Madison and Mommy! Thanks to Aunt Shelly Madison's pink car is always a hit with the kids too. No matter what age they love going in the car and being pushed "faster" and "faster". It's so popular Miss Katelynn is getting one after she has her tubes put in her ears. Her mom thinks the car will be a wonderful treat after the scary ordeal.

Tony and I threw a last minute BBQ. The first of the Season. Some friends came over, the Mcbrooms and the wives (me, and Monica) played with the baby and cooked. Lindsey and Joey Buffamonte, showed up later with her friend she traveled with. It was fun just getting together and hanging out. A few weeks later we met up with the "Buff's" for a little relaxing poolside. We took Baby Madison to the big pool for the first time. She had a blast! We dunked her underwater and she didn't cry, or drown. I was so impressed with her. She had a good time splashing around and driving her little water car. The pool had a timed sprinkler and I ran through it with her. The water was freezing but I sucked it up for my baby! Tony just wanted to get a tan but he was beet red by that night. Sunscreen babe? Miss Madison was just as white as the day I had her; good job parents, good job!

We hung out with The Sutton and Douglas Families for Cinco De Mayo. We had Mexican food and a few Mexican Beers to celebrate. The Baby was enjoying herself and spending a little time in the ball pit (we gotta get one of those)! I got a stomach bug the very next day and have been sick ever since. It wasn't from the food I ate because no one else got sick. . . .Probably from some baby germs that my sweet daughter shared with me; I am just glad the worst is over!

Today was pretty hot and we are trying to be conservative with the air conditioning. The desert is a really expensive place to live for electricity. To beat the heat I got a pool for the baby to cool off in. She had a such a good time! Even though the water was super cold to begin with, the patio concrete heated it up after a quick dip. I put my feet in the water and that helped to cool me off too!

When I was out yardsaling today I bought the husband an RC Monster Truck. The gal I bought it from said she got it to chase her dogs around with for them to get some excercise. She said her dogs didn't budge so she was getting rid of it. I did get it for Tony but we decided to see if our dog would "chase after it"! She loved it! She was hopping after it like a gazelle. Too bad it broke after 10 minutes of play time. The best $40 dollars I spent at a yard sale. . .well that's not true; but it was fun while it lasted!

We love and miss you and hope to hear from you soon. She will be 11 months in one more week. We have decided to stay in CA for her birthday and she will have a Chuck E. Cheese party on the 5th or probably the 12th. We will let her dive into a cake on the 3rd so she won't have to do that a Chuckies!

We will be in touch!

9 Months going on 10 years :) And the longest Blog Ever!

Miss Madison turned 9 months old on Thursday. We had her well-baby check-up and her stats are: Weight= 18lbs, 4.2 oz, Length= 28 in, and Head Circum.= 17.2 in. She is progressing very nicely around 50th percentile in all categories. So we are blessed that we have a healthy baby! She has 6 teeth, is crawling on hands and knees, can click her tongue and will do it back if you do it to her, does not like being told, "NO", is waving hi/bye and just started to pulling up on things. On Friday we lowered her bed to the bottom notch when I noticed she was standing when I entered the room; frightening! Tony found her messing with the DVD player this morning. She had the Disc Drive open all the way and was pushing all the buttons; aaaah we have a GROWING CURIOUS BABY!


We have been busy with site seeing this week. We took Missy to a Wild West Show, and a few hikes. All the actors are volunteers and they pay for all their own costumes. The "Old West" town is an old movie set that was used and can be seen in lots of the Western Films from the 1950's. Gene Autry and of course "The Duke", John Wayne; as well as, even earlier movies with Barbara Stanwyck as Annie Oakley were filmed there. It was kind of neat being surrounded by so much movie history. Tony and I have been to Pioneertown before, to Pappy and Harriets; which is like a biker honky tonk with live music and great bbq. This was the first time we had walked through the little town and saw the show. It was their first show of the season and it was a little rough but alright for unpaid acting!

The first hike we went on was 49 Palms Oasis; in 29 Palms. We took the Bailey Dog with us but it was against Park Rules to have her on the trails. Don't tell anyone; please :)! She had a good time but we won't take her again because we could have been fined. It was a great to day to go because the wild flowers were blooming and the weather was wonderful. We had a nice breeze and it was late enough in the afternoon that the sun wasn't going to FRY us to death. It was a very treacherous hike (I didn't remember it being so tuff) the baby and dog made it a little more risky. I guess that is part of the adventure. We all made it out safe and sound. Bed time was right around the corner when we got home!

Today we went to Tahquitz Canyon; in Palm Springs. After today that makes Madison's 5th hike to date. She has decided that she loves hiking but that stopping stuff has to go! We tried the toured hike in the Canyon today and she was none too thrilled with our tour guide stopping to explain the desert flora and fauna every few steps. We ended up ditching the guided tour and just visiting the Water Fall by ourselves. Oh well, you take what you can get with a little woman! We found out before we ventured off on our own that Tahquitz was a bad Native American. He actually was a bad man that would steal the souls of young maidens and some of the male's of the tribe too. The Story is that he was not about promoting health and well being for the other tribe members so they banished him to the canyon. He supposedly disappeared in a green puff of smoke to the top of the ridge. Some of the tribe members would say they could see him on the ridgeline and would yell out, "Tahquitz leave this place and leave our souls they are not yours", they say he still lives there today. We decided we would kick his butt if he tried to take our "young Maiden" from us! Thankfully for him we didn't see him today ;)! Our biggest problem is trying to get Madison to keep her hat on! She doesn't like it at all so we have to do a "hat check" every few feet. It is usually off or covering her face -it's a little big still. But I like it because it has a big brim and keeps the sun off her face and arms when it sits right! Really important in the Desert. . .

It was really hot out there but when we got to the waterfall it was perfect! The water is very cold and you are allowed to go swimming in it if you dare to. We dipped the babies feet and hands in the water, but she didn't like it. She started crying when we put her feet in it. . .too cold for her. It was a neat little hike. About 1.8 miles and on our way back we met up with our group again. We would have never made it if we had stuck it out with them! The guide was a good at telling stories so we missed that but I don't regret a thing about today. It was great; enjoyed the scenery and all the wild flowers, seeing all those colors was neat. We were told that some blooms haven't been seen in 50 years so that was a real treat!


I have included pictures from the circus and the cookout with our friends at Luckie Park, in 29 Palms. Missy had Cotton Candy for the first time and she was trying to figure it out. She didn't quite understand why it went away once it got in her mouth. But she liked it because she opened her mouth for more! The Circus was very small but I didn't mind because my camera battery was dying on me. I didn't get a pic of the little Palomino Pony :(, oh well I will get one from someone else that went and got it. At the BBQ chasing bubbles was a blast and her little pink car was a hit for her boyfriend Peyton. I know his mom will use the pictures she got oh him in the car later for torture when he starts dating!!!! We had a good time that day and as usual the grass was cool and a great change from our sandy/dirt yards!

Hope you were able to see all the pics and read all the info. I know I put too much information in one blog. Happy Reading and I will upload more video now that I know how to do it!

Love and Miss you all

Babies 1st Easter and Update!

So here it is Babies First Easter! I can't believe it, she will be 9 mos old next Tuesday. She has 6 teeth (cutting them 3 at a time), she is crawling on all 4's and blessing our days with joy and happiness! Her favorite game is Peek-a-Boo, played with a blankie or some cloth covering her eyes. She will pull it off your face too for you to peek-a-boo her back; so cute! We got her 9 mos pics made two weeks early, with St. Patty's Day, and Easter being so close we just combined all three. We also got her Pic made that day with the Easter Bunny; she of course wouldn't smile for us. I swear she smiles and is happy, just not in any pictures that we pay for =)




On Saturday Madison was invited to Chuck E. Cheese's for her friend Parker's 2nd B-day. It was a big deal since it was Madison's first time to C.E.C's. Tony and I got lots of pictures and it seemed that Madison had a good time. She rode on the Bob the Builder ride, the Carousel, and a Barney Train thing. I got to play ski ball and Tony played some pin ball! We were pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was. We were happy to be invited; thanks Parker!

Saturday night we decorated Easter Eggs at our house! I set the table up and we made sure to let Madison get in on the action. I had to help a little bit! I boiled 2 dozen eggs and only 3 cracked but we dyed them anyway. I hope Tony likes deviled eggs since he is the only one here that eats them LOL!! We had fun with Madison and she liked trying to eat the stickers; we liked putting them on her =). The Easter Bunny came the next morning and brought her a cute pink basket with a Tu-Tu wrapped around it that is detachable for future dress-up play. Inside the basket was a Disney Movie" The Aristocats", Pooh Bear Bubbles, her cute Purple Easter Dress with Bonnet, A peg stacker, a very sweet card, some white bunny ears to wear and some yellow bunny peeps! I would say the Easter Bunny was very good to her and he will be a big hit next year. We then went to Easter Service and to brunch afterward. This Mom liked that because I got to eat a variety of foods and it didn't create any work for me! It was so much food though and I ate too much. It made me so sleepy so when Madison took her nap I did too! Just before I put Madison down for the night we had an Egg hunt in the Living Room; she was ready for bed after that. I think she was just as tired as we are!

It has been busy and I am looking for a little down time. We are going to have a yardsale in the middle of April so I am preparing for that -no rest for the weary. . . .

I will update again soon!

Few More St. Patty's Pics

For your viewing pleasure I have a few more pics of the baby! Enjoy these were from Sunday as I apparently thought Sunday was St. Patty's Day. To the point of arguing with my mom (sorry) and convincing my husband that it was Monday already too! It was pretty funny but as Parents we didn't really plan on doing anything that day; it was just a good opportunity to take pics of Madison.
As if I need another excuse for that =). I just love that little baby. She has decided to cut three more teeth all at the same time. . . .Poor girl, she has her mama's all or nothing attitude.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Enjoy the pics of the Wee Leprechaun!

Erin Go Bragh!

Hope a little luck of the Blarney Stone comes your way!

Grey Poupon?

"I say good Sir, Have you any Grey Poupon? I have
a taste for the finer side of life!"

Sitting Pretty

Hey everyone,

Madison is 8 months old today and I thought I would share her newest accomplishment. I can sit her up and she doesn't lose her balance immediately! She can sit up but not put her self in a sitting position without assistance. I never thought kids/babies were that impressive; but when you see your own child growing and learning right before your eyes it's quite amazing. I also never thought my house would turn into "Romper Room" but what EV! Raising babies has changed my outlook on success; a great day for me is one that Madison stays happy, takes her naps and the Tooth Fairy doesn't cause her too much pain. So far so good on her Teething, she has one the bottom and two on the top, not fully in yet. She is getting two more on the top next to the one's in the middle, they haven't poked through the gums yet but I can feel them and see their outline. Poor little baby, ouch! Tylenol helps with most of it; but we use everything we can, Hyland's teething tablets, baby orajel, motrin etc. . . .She is learning to use those teeth already; she bit Tony the other day when she demanded 2 more oz of milk after finishing 8 oz. She was hungry! She won't let me see her teeth either; little Stinker! Baby food is going better as well; still having issues with orange flavors and strangely enough she loves Squash. . . . I don't know who she gets that one from? So she is just growing like a weed. We haven't tried to crawl so far but I am counting my blessings on that one; then I will really be in trouble!






Love you all and miss you, hope to hear from you soon!

Erin Davis and Madison the Magnificent Baby