Birthday Party Fun

On Sunday, we went to Lexington to celebrate Dane's third birthday. Madeline had a blast! The party was at a great park with a big playground.

 Dane opening his presents from Maddie and Stella

Madeline eating a special treat- ice-cream! She's very serious here because we stopped feeding her to take the picture!

Swinging!

 Going down the slide with daddy

Happy birthday Dane! We love you!

We've decided that Madeline is a daredevil. She's not afraid of anything. You cannot take your eye off of her for a minute.  She'll climb anything in sight, run anywhere, etc. I'm happy she's curious and creative, but it's a little scary too.  For example:

Madeline has been doing this and laughing. I think she might be attempting a forward roll. (She is not usually on her chair.)  I'm planning to put her in 'mommy and me' gymnastics later in the summer and I think she'll love it!

Building a house...

The house building continues to progress! This week we: 

Dug the hole

 Placed the footers

 & poured the footers

This week we will get walls poured. Then soon, we'll start the actual framing. That's when it will feel like a house to me. I cannot wait!

Saturday was gorgeous! Madeline went for a dip in the pool and loved it. 

Being a silly girl... 

Maddie is having a great summer so far. She is learning a lot of new words and it is so fun watching her! Right now, she likes to say yellow, Zoey (her friend at school, pronounced Whoa-e), Gogurt (a favorite snack), and of course Stella. She goes next month for 18 month visit- I cannot believe it!

Have a great last day of your weekend. We are heading to Lexington to celebrate cousin Dane turning 3. 

BERMUDA!!

Last Friday, Chris and I closed on the house.  On Saturday, we left for our first official adults-only vacation. We'd taken a long weekend and spent a few days in Atlanta, but this was our first official week-long trip away from Madeline. After long weeks preparing to sell the house, we were due for a vacation. 

Bermuda exceeded all of our expectations! It was GORGEOUS, the weather was perfect, and Chris and I really enjoyed our time together. We cannot wait to go back. Here are a few photos from the week:

Beach after gorgeous beach

Oldest church in Western Hemisphere--from 1600's 

Traditional Bermuda home with roof designed to collect rainwater

 Hiking the South Shore beaches

It was so hard to leave little Madeline. I am a firm believer though that parents need some time to themselves and that kids need some grandparents-only time so I knew it was for the best.  She stayed with both sets of grandparents for four nights each. Chris and I are so grateful that our parents were able to watch our sweet girl for us while we had some "just for parents" time. We looked at pictures of her everyday...and I know she had a BLAST!

 Observing the action in the pool

Playing in the pool with her cousin Adalyn  (yes, I realize they are Adalyn and Madeline...I didn't think about that when we named Maddie, but I think it's sweet!)

 Swimming with grandpa Hartman

Happy Monday! Hope everyone has a great week!

It's time to build!

This morning we officially closed on our house! It was a little sad saying goodbye. We built it when we were engaged and moved in the day we returned from St. Lucia. It's been a great house and I'm sad to leave it. 

But--I'm VERY excited for the next house. We officially started building yesterday!

We cleared the lot and had the surveyor come out to stake. Next week, we're hoping to dig the hole and pour the foundation.

Chris took today off for the closing. He ran some errands and then brought Madeline downtown. We took her to the museum and again, she loved it.

 Going through noodle forest with daddy.

 Coming through the tunnel

 Going down the slide (daddy is at the bottom)

This week, Madeline learned the word "hair bow." Her teacher put her hair in a pony tail and Maddie loved it. She walked around grabbing it saying "hair bow." Here is her hair bow with her aunt Mercedes.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend! 

Many many thanks to those who serve and have served for our nation! 

Fun Friday and BUSY weekend!

Friday was the first day of my new work schedule. I worked four hours...it was FABULOUS! I worked 7-11 and then had a few hours before Madeline woke up from nap at daycare. I did some house things (returned the cable box & remote, changed our address at the post office, etc) and then went and got Madeline.

I took her to the Science Center downtown and it was a HUGE hit. I only was able to get a few pictures because I spent the majority of the time running after her! The Museum itself is geared towards older kids, but they have one section (and it's pretty big) specifically for kids under 7. Madeline spent most of her time in the raincoat (they have all sizes) splashing at the water section. She was SOAKED!

They also have a market with carts and food, a huge school bus that sings, an ambulance, a space ship, coloring and crafts, mailboxes for kids to deliver mail to, a place to climb, a place to build, a place to dress-up, etc, etc. I don't even know if we saw everything b/c Madeline mainly rotated between the water and pushing her baby around in the shopping cart. I'll bring Chris next time and get more pics. She could have played all day. The museum is getting an even bigger children's exhibit at the end of the month and I cannot wait to take her back.

Also on Friday, I took Madeline for her hearing test. She passed with flying colors. The tubes have made a world of difference on her. I'm so happy that she hasn't had an ear infection since. She'd basically had a lasting infection from 5 months to 13 months so this has been such a relief. A little pic from the audiologist's office...how cool is this bus?

I love my new schedule and love that I get to spend more time with Madeline. It's also nice to have a day that I know I can schedule appointments on. This Friday, we're closing on the house! FINALLY. We packed and cleaned ALL weekend. And I literally mean all day Saturday and majority of Sunday. The house is empty now. It's a little sad, but we are so excited for the next house. While we build, we are staying at nana and grandpa Hughes's house. They are so sweet to let us stay. I know it's an adjustment for them and we are so grateful that they accepted our big ball of crazy into their house!

Happy Monday!

A post from Maddie for Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day - the day you should celebrate your mommy! I'm giving my mom a break from blogging today and taking my turn at it. Here's what I've been up to this week:

Mommy bought me some gogurt but she made me eat my first one naked. I heard her tell daddy, "I'd rather not oxy-clean blue raspberry out." Whatever that means. It was awesome!

 I made this face right before I pooped in the bathtub. Mommy and daddy both screamed! In case you're wondering, that's macaroni on my face. 

 Mommy let me play at Pottery Barn Kids this weekend. I love that place! They have a lot of construction going on so they have no floor right now. At first I squatted while I played...

But then I decided to just sit on the floor. I knew I was going to get messy making my cake!

Mommy has a new work schedule where she leaves early on Friday. She told me we can go on fun adventures every Friday when she picks me up from school. This week, we went to the library and played checkers. I also pulled 6 books off the shelf but got in trouble. Whoops. 

This is a picture of my Stella. Normally she is really wild, like me. She is worn out in this picture, though. 

Happy Mother's Day to my mommy! Also, Happy Mother's Day to my grandma and my nana and my great-grandma! I love you all!!

A new toy!

Another great weekend in the books!

On Saturday, we went to a tile shop to start picking out tile and bathroom layouts for the new house. And, what I mean is, I chased Madeline around the tile store while Chris talked to a designer.

 Madeline carrying her purse around--wouldn't let it go!

Madeline would get in and out of one of the showers and scream as loud as she could. I'm not sure why...but she really enjoyed doing it. 

On Saturday, we watched the derby with Kyle and DAnielle, who just had baby Hudson. Madeline loved Hudson. She kept saying "hi baby!" and trying to get him to play with her.

On Sunday, daddy set up Maddie's water table. (I won't say how long it took him!) She loved it!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!