Florida!!! Fun in the Sun!!!

Maddy and I had the chance to travel to Florida (sadly, without Anthony) to visit his grandparents. We went with Anthony's mom and dad and his sister Anna and stayed for seven days. We had an awesome time!!! It was SO MUCH FUN to see Maddy in the sunshine! It took her a few days to warm up to the idea though... Whenever we would go outside into the sunshine, she would scrunch up her face and squint her eyes - poor girl had never seen such brightness! After she got used to it you could tell she really loved feeling the warm sunshine and the beautiful breeze. We had lots of adventures while in Florida - trips to the pool, the flea market, restaurants, and of course, the airplane! She as a GREAT traveler - she nursed each time going up and her ears never seemed to bother her. I was amazed, though, at how challenging it is to travel with a baby - I don't think I could have done it on my own!

Me, Maddy and ALL OUR STUFF!

Yep, she's cute in Florida too!!!

A beautiful picture of Aunt Anna,
and a not so cute picture of Maddy
:)

the swimming beauty

little toes in the sunshine

Nani teaching me to make spedini
(an italian specialty and a personal favorite!)

Papa Tony took such good care of Maddy all week

the sunshine girls

Maddy with her great-grandparents,
Nani and Papa

Baba was a life-saver, putting Maddy to sleep

It was such a wonderful trip - I enjoyed every moment of watching Anthony's grandparents enjoy Maddy. It was also so much fun to spend the week with Anthony's parents and Anna - I loved being with them, making new memories, and seeing them with Maddy. While we were in Florida, Maddy started doing some new things! She started randomly "chatting" during her awake time - like she just wanted to be a part of conversation! She also started to notice her toys and other things in front of her. Probably the most fun was that she started smiling at everyone - amazing how one smile can brighten a whole day!

As fun as the trip was, I was so anxious to get back home. I had missed Anthony so much and knew he was missing Maddy (and me) so much. I couldn't wait for him to see her again! Plus, I knew it would be great to get back into our own environment. We had a great homecoming and spent the first day back enjoying being a family together. Here's video of Maddy seeing Anthony for the first time after we got home...