The Turners

Two Months Old!

2011-10-30T20:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe our sweet baby girl is already two months old! At her two month check-up she weighed in at 10 pounds 15 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long. "She's not the tallest one" according to Dr. Harmon so maybe she will be our little bit. We are working on getting on a better schedule, but right now she is pretty much on whatever schedule her big brother is on being dragged here and there. She is starting to smile more and more and that sweet smile makes my day. Maddox still loves her to pieces and is always looking out for her and wanting to hold her and "nuggle" (snuggle) her. I've said it before and I'll say it each and every day...we are so so blessed!

Storm Damage

2011-10-29T17:05:00.001-05:00

As if life with a newborn wasn't crazy enough, it got a whole lot crazier labor day weekend. That Monday night, the power went out around 7:30 or so. Fortunately, Maddox had already gone to bed because he hadn't had a nap that day and he was exhausted. Shortly after the power went out, we heard a really loud crashing sound and immediately knew something bad had to have happened. After looking around in the dark, we found the culprit....a huge tree from behind our house had fallen on the side of the house and my car. We were very fortunate that the bulk of the tree fell between the car and the house because it could have been a lot worse than it was. We did have a little shingle damage, bent gutters, smashed fence in two places, and a fair amount of damage to my car and a little to Blake's as well, but we were very grateful that the tree fell where it did....a little further to the right or left and we'd have had a lot more damage on our hands. Our power was out for several days, so rather than trying to entertain a 2 year old and a take care of a newborn in a very hot house, we took over (baby stuff tends to do that) RaRa and Poppy's house for a few days. So glad we had someplace to go and family willing to take us in!

And after several visits from the insurance adjustors, the tree removal company, gutter repairmen, roofers, etc., and after a week with Blake's car in the shop and six weeks with mine in the shop, things finally seem to be getting back in order around here.

Family Pictures!

2011-10-05T06:28:00.001-05:00

We had family pictures taken on the last week of September and I could not be more happy with them! Amanda did such a great job and they were better than I ever could have hoped for. I am so glad to have these pictures to look back on and remember our life beginning as a family of four. All of the pictures are posted at www.maddoxturner.shutterfly.com, but here are just a few of my favorites!

One Month Old!

2011-09-27T19:59:00.006-05:00

I can't believe my sweet girl is already a month old! She is getting so big so fast! We went for her one month well baby visit yesterday. She weighed 8lbs, 14oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. Maddox is still loving his baby sister and wants to hold her every chance he gets. Here are a few one month shots, although if I'm being honest, they're really closer to 5-6 week pictures!

We just took Hadley to Mobile for the first time this past weekend. Meredith, a good friend of mine from high school got married. It was a beautiful wedding and it was fun to see some friends I hadn't seen in too long. We had fun showing Hadley off to family and friends too. There was no shortage of arms willing to hold and love on her!

Happy Birthday, Hadley!

2011-08-31T16:24:00.004-05:00

We are so happy to welcome our newest blessing, Hadley Kate! She arrived on August 23rd at 2:57pm. After much anticipation (and a lot of family dying to know if it would be a boy or girl), we were so excited to find out that Maddox has a new baby sister. I think he was pretty excited too! Hadley came a little bit earlier than we were anticipating, although after our 36 week doctor's appointment, at which the advice of my doctor was to do nothing for the next several days, we kind of got the feeling she was probably going to make her debut a little early. I guess girls always love to make an entrance, ha!

I woke up around 3:00 am on Tuesday morning with a few sharp pains, nothing too major or out of the ordinary since it seems like I'd been having weird random pains for a while now. I dozed back off to sleep and woke up again around 5:00. This time I couldn't go to sleep, but the pain I was having still wasn't just awful so I really wasn't sure if it was anything or not. I did start timing my contractions and they were starting to become a little more consistent, but it was nothing like when I had Maddox at this point so I still just wasn't sure what was going on. I call the doctor when the office opened at 8:00 and they told me just to come on in for my 37 week appointment since it was the next day anyways. We loaded up the car with most everything we would need just to be on the safe side, although I figured if we did this, they'd end up telling us to go home. We waited at least an hour (during which my pain started to become a lot more frequent) before I was called back. When I went back they checked me and I was definitely having contractions. The doc said I was 4-5 cm, which was progress so they said we were having a baby that day...woohoo!!

We called the family to let them know what was going on and headed down to Labor and Delivery to get checked in. Once I got hooked up to the monitors and they did all of the initial paperwork, IV, etc. the doctor came and broke my water. Once that happened the contractions became a lot more intense. Fortunately my epidural came soon after and then it was pretty much just a waiting game. Blake's family came to the hospital to wait it out and Poppy picked up Maddox from school and brought him to the hospital. He looked like a mismatched ragamuffin when he got there because some kid from his class had spilled yogurt all over him, but fortunately we had his super cute big bro shirt that Aunt Jess had made for him to wear. Things seemed to be going fairly slowly which was good since my parents were on their way from Mobile and Jessica, Jackson, and Bailey were coming from Atlanta. Fortunately they were still packed from their last trip to Trussville since they had just left the day before. I guess Hadley couldn't have made it easy on them and arrived a day sooner!

Once I had my epidural and they started me on pitocin, things started progressing much more quickly and before I knew it it was time to start pushing. After about 15 minutes (so much faster than last time) of pushing, Hadley made her way into the world. We were so surprised and excited to find out we had a baby girl! Part of me had a feeling it would be a girl, but I guess I just couldn't imagine it since I was so used to just having a boy. Hadley weighed in at 6 lbs, 7 oz., and was 19 1/4 inches long...such a tiny little miracle!

Maddox was the first person to come back to see his new baby sister. He was pretty smitten right away! He was also pretty excited about the present Hadley had brought for him, a cool talking Buzz Lightyear. At this point no one knew but us that it was a girl and they were all dying to find out. We sent Maddox back out to share the good news. When asked what he got, he first responded, "Buzz". Then he was quick to let everyone know he had a "baby sister". My parents didn't quite make it to the hospital in time since Hadley decided to come so quickly, but we still waited and let Maddox tell them the good news when they arrived. I never thought I would want to be surprised, but it really was so much fun not knowing. Sure it made things more complicated as far as planning the nursery, buying clothes, etc. goes, but it was definitely an awesome surprise and so worth the wait.

We are so in love with Hadley...God could not have made a more perfect angel if he tried! We are incredibly blessed with two beautiful babies and could not be more thankful for these amazing blessings in our lives.

Here are a few pictures from Hadley's birthday!

Last picture as a family of three!

Not a happy camper!

Dr. Woods and Hadley...unfortunately Dr. Heaton wasn't able to deliver Hadley either, but we couldn't have asked for a better back up!

Loving on our sweet baby girl!

Here comes the big brother!

Maddox meeting his new baby sister!

Family of Four!

The Cutest Ring Bearer!

2011-08-13T19:22:00.010-05:00

We are so excited for Andrew and Heather! They are getting married next summer! I'm pretty sure Maddox already thinks of her as his aunt, but it never hurts to make things official. We love Heather and are so glad she is going to be part of our family!

Maddox is going to be a part of their special day too. He got his official (and super cute I might add) request to be a ring bearer from Uncle Andrew today.

First Day of School!

2011-08-09T17:23:00.014-05:00

Today was Maddox's first day of 2K at NorthPark. We met his teachers, Mrs. Leahia and Mrs. Nora, a few days ago and he is very excited about starting school. He is so ready to see his little friends again. I just can't believe how fast he is growing up and how big he is! Love this sweet boy!

Potty Trained!

2011-07-26T13:21:00.029-05:00

I am so so so pleased to announce that we are officially potty trained in our house!! Yay! I am enjoying these few months of no diapers before they make a reappearance in our house in a short few weeks. Maddox has really done an awesome job so I can't complain too much. Sure, those first few days and on a few random days in those first few weeks I wanted to pull my hair out, but overall it wasn't so bad. Before we started, we talked about the potty a lot and even sat on it a few times. We went to the store and let him pick out some new big boy underwear so he was excited about that. He already had some Thomas underwear that Gigi had given him a while back, so he picked out a pack that had his new favorites, Toy Story and Finding Nemo.

The first couple of days were filled with accidents because we ditched the diapers and went to underwear cold turkey, but it didn't take him long to start letting me know when he needed to go. We made a big deal out if it every time he made it in the potty...lots of praise and even rewards (like suckers and popsicles) made him excited about it. We even promised him a new tricycle once he became a big boy and could use the potty everytime. He's had his eye on a new tricycle for a while so he seemed pretty excited about that.

We are happy to announce that we have been accident free (even on road trips) for a while now and we are now the proud owners of a shiny red Radio Flyer tricycle. Let's just hope that this all continues and we don't have any major setbacks once the new baby arrives. We are so proud of our big boy!!

Helping Daddy Recover...

2011-07-08T15:49:00.003-05:00

Blake had his wisdom teeth removed yesterday or as Maddox says, "They fixed Daddy's teeth." He did really well and as always was quite funny when he was coming off the drugs they used to sedate him. Against my advice, Blake insisted on messing around on his phone on the way home and we discovered later that he somehow managed to delete all of his contacts, etc. off during that time. A lot of jello and mashed potatoes were eaten and of course there was a lot of napping too for a good bit of the day. Maddox even got in on the action and took a nap with his daddy to help him feel better. I just couldn't resist snapping a quick picture on my phone.

Welcome Bailey!

2011-06-28T10:12:00.038-05:00

Our beautiful new niece arrived on Saturday, June 25th! We got word that morning that she was on her way, so we loaded up the car and headed to Atlanta! Sweet Bailey Reese arrived at 1:25 pm weighing in at 6 lbs 12 ounces. She is a tiny little thing and she just perfect! She also looks a whole lot like her big brother, Jackson! I know everyone is excited that there can finally be pink frilliness and bows on a Turner baby now...hooray!

It is safe to say that Maddox was completely smitten with her. When we had to leave the hospital room for a bit for the doctor to come in, he cried because he wanted to go back in to see her. He also enjoyed holding her and loving on her and didn't really want to give her up when asked to let someone else have a turn. When we weren't at the hospital he kept asking to go back to "see Bailey" too. I just hope this is a sign of things to come when his little brother or sister arrives!

Our trip to Atlanta was short, but sweet! We enjoyed getting to spend time with family and Maddox and Jackson had so much fun playing together and building forts and tunnels. We are so thrilled for Scott, Jessica, and Jackson and can't wait to see our sweet little niece again!

End of the Year Party!

2011-05-30T18:34:00.002-05:00

Maddox's class had a fun luau-themed end of the year party. They had a picnic lunch with hot dogs (although Maddox only at the bun part) and pretzels and grapes (both of which Maddox ate more than his fair share). After lunch they ran around playing in the water. There were beach balls, a few swimming pools, and a water table. Most of them ran around like maniacs having a great time. We were very fortunate that the rain held off too. Most of the morning didn't look too promising, but it wasn't until they were heading inside that it began to sprinkle. They ended the party with popsicles too, which are Maddox's favorite. All in all it was a great way to end a great year. Maddox has loved his teachers and classmates and I know he will really miss them over the summer!

Jackson's 3rd Birthday!

2011-05-08T12:20:00.039-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, after our Baby Sprinkle, we celebrated Jackson's 3rd Birthday. His actual birthday was on Easter Sunday, but we celebrated yesterday since they were all in town for the weekend. Everything was super cute (as to be expected when Jess is planning something) and everyone had a great time.

The yummy cupcakes Donna made...

There were even a few canine party guests. This one was a good sport...

The birthday boy blowing out the candles...

Maddox stuffing his face with cake...

Water fun...

Right before present time, we amazingly got them all to sit in a row...

Jackson's new scooter (which I am pretty sure Maddox has already added to his wish list)...

More water fun in the front yard...

I can't believe that Jackson is already three! Can all of these sweet babies really be growing up this fast and if so, what can we do to stop it?

Baby Sprinkle

2011-05-07T15:19:00.051-05:00

This morning some wonderful friends of ours threw Jessica and me a "Baby Sprinkle". It was an outdoor brunch at Niki's new house. The weather could not have been more perfect and the decorations and everything they did to set up was so beautiful. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family to help us celebrate such exciting things like these precious new babies that will be here before we know it!

The very generous gifts from friends and family. You can't tell from this picture, but in the background are some very cute little signs with our names on them.

The mommies-to-be with all of the grandmothers...

Grandmothers again...

Not only did the food spread look great, but everything tasted delicious too!

How cute are these flowers hanging in baby bottles?

Jess and I opening gifts together. Since we don't know what we're having we got a lot of cute, but practical things that will definitely be put to good use. There was no shortage of sweet girly things for little miss Bailey though!

And somehow I did not leave with a picture of us with all of our wonderful hostesses on my camera, but we are so thankful for all of their hard work and love they put into doing this for us. Thank you so much Niki, Donna, Courtney, Brooke, and Jennifer!

Easter Weekend!

2011-04-26T19:27:00.012-05:00

We had a very busy Easter weekend! Before the weekend even started, Maddox had his Easter egg hunt and class party at school. He did a pretty good job racking up the eggs, but would have been much faster if he didn't feel the need to open each egg as he found it and attempt to eat the candy inside. Of course his teacher said he was one of the first ones to figure out that the eggs opened and that there were treats inside. It was all over after that. I had to convince him to put the eggs in his basket because he would run over to one, open it, take out the candy and then throw the empty egg shell back on the ground. I guess he did make sure to get the most important part so that's all that really matters!

Maddox's beautiful artwork he created with his sweet little hands...

On Saturday morning, our church had an Easter egg hunt for the kids. They were arranged by age divisions and of course since Maddox was with the two year olds, their eggs were basically just thrown in the middle of an empty parking lot. As you can see in the pictures, there were eggs everywhere (I am pretty sure there were literally 500 between the 15-20 kids in his age group). I think it's pretty funny that instead of reaching down to pick up ones that were right next to him, he would spot one across the way and run past about 30 eggs to get to it. He also kept up his same practice of opening his eggs as he went, getting the candy out, and throwing down the empty egg shell. If it were up to him, he'd have eaten every piece of candy in the basket.

That night, we also decided to brave dying some Easter eggs with Maddox. He enjoyed it, but didn't seem to understand the concept of being very careful with the eggs. We had many casualties along the way because he wanted to just throw them in the glasses of dye. He enjoyed picking out which colors to use and watching them change. He also enjoyed decorating them with stickers, although he enjoyed decorating himself the most!

The finished products! They probably won't win any awards or anything, but Maddox sure thought they were pretty great!

On Easter morning, Maddox woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had paid him a visit. He got lots of really great goodies in his basket. He was especially excited about the gummy bunnies in his Easter eggs and his new "choo-choo", Diesel.

Later that morning, we headed out to church to celebrate the true meaning of Easter before heading to RaRa and Poppy's house for some yummy food and family fun. Maddox had his third Easter egg hunt so he should be a pro by now. He again enjoyed finding eggs, but was much more interested in what was inside the eggs than in actually collecting them in his basket.

We also played down by the Cahaba. Maddox had a great time being pulled in the boat and throwing rocks in the water with Daddy and Poppy. We even had a rubber ducky race and Maddox's duck won the grand prize of twenty dollars (which will be used to buy him a new pair of Crocs for the summer).

Justin also brought his giant bounce house which pretty much took up the entire front yard so the little ones (and Andrew) enjoyed jumping and sliding. Maddox loves this bounce house and would probably have stayed in it all day and night if we had let him.

Our Little Peanut!

2011-04-13T22:25:00.017-05:00

Today we got to see our new little peanut for the first time. What a great birthday present for me! We got the wonderful news we were hoping for that the baby looks healthy and that everything seems to be going smoothly. We are praying that that continues throughout the rest of the pregnancy. We could have found out today, but we decided we don't want to know whether we are having a boy or girl. We decided that since it doesn't matter to us what it is anyway and that since we already have all of the basic necessities for baby since having Maddox, we would just be surprised. Basically we're all set if it's another boy and we'll just need some frilly pink stuff and clothes (which I'm sure we won't have a problem acquiring) if it's a girl. Everyone says it is the best surprise so if we can hold out, we're going to find out how true that is! We do have a sealed envelope that has the big news inside, so hopefully that won't taunt us too much over the next several months!

Pictures/video coming soon if I can figure out how to get them uploaded!

Birthday Party!

2011-04-12T19:31:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to our friend Tucker's 1st birthday party. The party had a dog theme and everything was so cute! The little ones even had doggie ears to wear. Shockingly enough, even Maddox wore his for a long time.

Happy 1st Birthday, Tucker!

After the party, we went over to Niki and Jesse's to see their cute new house and let the little ones play for a while. The boys (and by boys I mean the daddies) played wiffle ball, but Whit and Maddox enjoyed running around and playing outside too. They were pretty filthy by the end of the night!

My Poor Arm!

2011-04-08T20:08:00.012-05:00

Our poor sweet baby suffered a traumatic injury this past week. I am pretty sure it was more traumatic for Mommy and Daddy than it was for him, but I know he was hurting. Let's just say I probably cried as much as he did, if not more. Last Sunday night Maddox was playing in the backyard with our neighbors, having a great time. Blake had been cooking on the grill, but was all finished and we were ready to eat. Maddox ran out into the yard to say goodbye to his little friends and as he was running back inside, he took his turn around the patio table a little too wide and ran smack into the grill. He knows to stay away from the grill and always points at it and says "hot" so I don't know if he just didn't see it because it was getting dark or what. Luckily, only his arm hit, but he did hit so hard that it knocked him backwards on the ground. Needless to say the grill was still extremely hot and therefore, his arm was burned pretty badly. We stuck it in a bowl of cool water for a while and wrapped it up in a soft cloth (per Google's instructions). We called the doctor and they told us to go ahead and bring him to Children's to get it checked out, so we headed downtown. Nothing like the ER on a Sunday night! After a long wait, the doctors checked him out and said that it was a second degree burn, but that it was very superficial and should heal just fine...what a relief to hear that! They cleaned it and wrapped it up for us and sent us home with some supplies to use to change out the bandage. Maddox was so brave and was such a big boy! I stayed home from work with him the next day because it was such a late night for us and because I thought he might not feel well...boy was I wrong though! He ran around like a maniac most of the day and never really slowed down all that much. I am pretty sure he is going to be just fine!

A Day Out With Thomas!

2011-04-04T16:30:00.003-05:00

We took Maddox out to the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera this past weekend for A Day Out With Thomas. To say that he is a big fan of trains would be a huge understatement...he was in heaven! He loved just walking around looking at all of the trains. I don't even think he would have cared if Thomas hadn't been there, although that was a big bonus. They had lots of activities for the kids to do including a petting zoo, train tables set up that they could play with, coloring stations, and a musician that sang lots of kiddie songs. We also got a chance to ride on Thomas too! This was Maddox's first train ride. The ride was pretty short (only around 20-30 minutes or so) and the train just goes out in one direction and then goes backwards on the way back. Maddox thought it was pretty great though and he enjoyed looking out the window and waving to everyone and everything. What a fun day!

McWane Center

2011-03-25T20:08:00.003-05:00

We had a great time this Spring Break! We had some relaxing days and we also had some fun too! We made our first trip to the McWane Center with my friends Kimberly and Lauren and their little ones. Maddox had a great time and was worn out by the end of the day!

Playing a song on the giant piano...

Checking out the fish in the aquarium...

Pretending to drink the water from the water table...he thought this was so funny!

Best group shot of the all the kiddos I could get.

(Maddox, Kylie Grace, Matthew, and Tyler)

And then of course there was lots of silliness too. Lauren was entertaining them and they thought she was soooo funny!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

2011-03-18T11:46:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to a my wonderful Daddy!

Two Year Check-up!

2011-03-16T16:31:00.003-05:00

I can't believe my sweet baby is already two years old! It is amazing to see how much he has changed and grown in a year's time. He is a great big ball of energy and he is talking so much now. He will say just about anything you ask him too and he has an incredible memory. He knows what kind of car everyone drives, which way to turn to get certain places (and believe me, he lets you know to go that way), and basically just soaks everything up like a little sponge. He is loving school and all of his little friends. His best buddy this year is Henry and his teachers even say that whichever one is still asleep at the end of nap time goes and wakes the other one up to go play. He also claims to have a girlfriend, Claire (who he affectionately calls "Claire-bear") and he usually lets us know who gets in trouble at school and has to go to time-out (unfortunately sometimes he is on that list), ha! He just amazes us every day and we are so blessed to be his parents. He is definitely one of a kind!

We went to the doctor today for his two year check-up and he is still growing like a weed! He weighed in at 31 pounds and is 37 inches tall. He is a pretty big kid for his age (not sure which gene pool that's coming from right now, but I figure that will change at some point, just looking at Blake and me). We didn't have to get any shots at the doctor today which is always a relief. I know they are for his own good, but I hate having to see him get shots! They did prick his finger though and boy was that a bloodbath. He pretty much flipped out and try as I might to restrain his arms, he's a pretty strong little guy. Needless to say, the bandaid wouldn't stay on his finger and both of us were pretty much covered in blood by the time it was all over with. We were planning on going to the grocery store afterward, but since it looked like we'd been in a knife fight, I decided against it. It is amazing that so much blood can come from one little poke! Overall, we had a successful two year check up!

We can't wait to see what this third year brings!

Mardi Gras

2011-03-09T21:12:00.001-06:00

We took Maddox to Mobile this past weekend for his first Mardi Gras experience! For the most part, he really enjoyed it. He was a little leery of the costumes and didn't want much to do with Grandaddy in his indian costume at first. He eventually warmed up and gave him a high five though! He absolutely loved the parade though and was mesmerized by all of the floats and excitement. He also seemed to enjoy dancing in the street to the bands. By the end of the night he had quite a collection of loot which included a ton of stuffed animals. I think someone of every float threw him one...who could resist that sweet little face though?

We had yet another birthday celebration for Maddox while we were in Mobile. I am pretty sure he now thinks that it is always his birthday! We had a few family members over for cake and ice cream and presents, which included more choo-choos and other fun stuff too. I think Maddox could get used to being the birthday boy!

A New Addition!

2011-03-01T11:54:00.013-06:00

There is big news in our house...Our family of three is soon going to be four! That's right...Maddox is going to be a big brother! I'm not sure he totally understands yet, but he does know that a baby is coming and he seems pretty excited about it. We are sure he will be an excellent big brother! We are due September 12th (just 10 weeks after our new niece is scheduled to arrive), so it promises to be a long, hot summer! We are thrilled though and can't wait to meet our new little peanut!

Party Time!

2011-02-28T17:08:00.000-06:00

This weekend we had a little family party for Maddox's birthday. We decided to keep it small and simple since we are planning to go to Mobile next weekend to celebrate his birthday again with family down there. The weather on Saturday could not have been more beautiful. Maddox was actually in shorts and short sleeves because it was sunny and 70 degrees outside. We were able to hang out in the backyard for a while. The kids played basketball, played on the slide, and rode Maddox's little 4-wheeler too. We also had cupcakes and ice cream and Maddox opened some fun presents too. All in all it was a great celebration of his birthday!

The precious (and very yummy) animal cupcakes...
Playing outside...
Uncle Andrew and some of the kiddos...

A very solemn look while everyone was singing to him...
Mmm cupcake!! Although I think the mint chocolate chip ice cream was his favorite (Mommy's too)!
Opening presents! It couldn't be something Thomas the train related could it?
Enjoying one of his favorite presents, a lollipop. It's the little things!

Birthday Lunch

2011-02-24T19:51:00.000-06:00

Yesterday on Maddox's birthday I had a meeting at school during my break so I was pretty said that I couldn't go eat lunch with him. Blake went instead and brought a special treat for all of his little friends...yummy sprinkle doozie cookies that Maddox had picked out. Maddox enjoyed having his daddy there and he also enjoyed his cookie too as you can see from the pictures. After their lunch, Blake brought Maddox up to the school to eat lunch with me so I could spend some time with him on his birthday. I was so grateful to spend time with both of them and appreciate my sweet husband for making my day so much happier!

Birthday Boy!

2011-02-23T22:05:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday, Maddox!!

I cannot believe that my sweet little angel is already 2 years old! He has grown and changed so much in the past year. It amazes me to look back at pictures of him from the past two years and see how much he has changed. Over the past few months he has really began talking more and more. He went from saying several words to speaking in sentences in no time at all. They aren't lengthy sentences, but they are sentences nonetheless! He is able to communicate very clearly with us now to tell us what he needs and wants...sometimes a little too clearly! He can be pretty demanding!

Maddox is doing some very funny things these days. He does this funny thing where he shifts his eyes around and then just laughs and laughs. He has funny little expressions that he says too that sound funny coming from a two year old. He always talks about things being hot or cold and whenever you put his food in front of him and tell him it's hot he says, "Hot? Nahh". I said that one time and now he says it every time! Also the other day he bumped his leg and Blake asked him if it hurt. His response..."not so much". Cracks me up! He is also singing a lot these days. I'm going to have to try to get him on video. He loves singing You are My Sunshine, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, etc. It is so funny to listen to him sing because he pretty much mumbles the words and sings the last word of each line. It is very sweet!

Maddox used to be a very good eater. He used to eat pretty much anything you put in front of him. Now he seems to be boycotting meat (everything including chicken which he used to devour) amongst many other things. His foods of choice these days would be muffins (of course), cheese toast, yogurt, and waffles (avwafs as he calls them). He would literally eat these things every meal if I let him. I'm hoping he'll grow out of this stubborn phase pretty soon.

We still love our choo-choos and have accumulated more than you could even imagine. He loves playing with them on his "choo-choo table" and pretty much anywhere we go. He also loves racing around house with his fire truck. His favorite thing is to run under our legs through "tunnels" and to have his daddy race him with his dump truck. He still loves his basketball goal too and now that the weather is getting nicer he loves getting outside in the backyard. We are really looking forward to warmer weather and hoping it comes for good soon.

It is so hard to believe that two years have come and gone so quickly. We love you so much "Mad-Max" and look forward to seeing what this third year has in store for you!

Snow Days!

2011-01-17T14:29:00.000-06:00

Shockingly enough we had three snow days this past week! School is rarely cancelled so you know roads are bad if Trussville cancels for three whole days! We had a lot of fun and Maddox continually looked out the window each day saying "I see snow". We bundled him up and tried to get him out in it to play a little. It wasn't the best snow to play in since it was more like sheet of ice on top, but we were still able to do a little playing and sledding (if you can really call it that). Maddox also enjoyed walking down the snowy choo-choo tracks! While we enjoyed our days off, it is sad to think we will lose them this spring.

Family Christmases!

2011-01-05T16:38:00.009-06:00

It feels like we have been celebrating Christmas for a month now, and why not since it is after all, the most wonderful time of the year! We had a blast celebrating with family here in Trussville and then spending Christmas in Mobile with family too! Here are a few highlights (and pictures of course) of our family Christmases this year.

Trussville Christmas...

Having fun on the new slide from RaRa and Poppy!

Helping Daddy load up his new marshmallow gun...

...and eating a lot of marshmallows in the process!

Mobile Christmas...

Loving his new "big truck"!

A fun new race track!

Checking out his new fire truck. He loves zooming around the house with this!

Look what Santa Brought!

2010-12-23T22:47:00.000-06:00

Santa came a little early this year since we'll be in Mobile Christmas morning. Boy was Maddox surprised at what he left for him!

The big hit was of course the wood train table and the remote control choo-choo! He had a blast playing with it...so much so that he refused to open any other presents for a while. I finally bribed him into opening other gifts by giving him bites of cinnamon roll in return. Sometimes you do what you gotta do! :)

Here is Maddox admiring his choo-choo and watching it drive by itself around the tracks. He was pretty mesmerized!

Creating a Mr. Potato Head masterpiece!Yay for Potty Time with Elmo! This book has real flushing sounds and everything so Maddox really liked it. We are hoping it will get him prepared for what's the come this summer (hopefully).
Oh look....a brand new tee ball set!
And a special gift that Daddy picked out and has been wanting to get him...a metal Tonka dump truck (or "big truck" as Maddox likes to call it). Maddox loves pushing it around the house!What a sweet blessing this little man is! Since Maddox is so much bigger this year he has really been able to get in there and show his excitement over everything going on. It has been so much fun to watch! He is such a special boy and we are so blessed to be his parents!

Visit with Santa

2010-12-22T22:51:00.000-06:00

We had a rather unsuccessful trip to see Santa this year. I figured it would go that way since it seems like most 1-2 year olds want nothing to do with Santa. Well, Maddox was no different. When we were in line he would point at him and say his name, but he refused to let Blake put him on his lap. I even tried to bribe him with a cookie, but that didn't work either. He had a great time running around the store looking at the model trains and remote control trucks and cars though. He even got to sit on a "big truck" as he calls it. Hopefully next year we can get a real picture with Santa though!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

2010-12-16T22:05:00.001-06:00

Maddox's class had their Happy Birthday, Jesus Christmas party today at school. Blake and I both went and had so much fun. They ate pizza and decorated cookies with icing and sprinkles. Maddox really enjoyed the sprinkling. Afterwards Maddox had fun showing us everything around the room and we even went to the big playroom with him for a little while where he ran around like a maniac. Ms. Tara even went and got the big ride on Thomas train for him to play with because it's his favorite. He had a such a blast and now we have a wonderful Christmas break to look forward to together!

First Haircut

2010-12-14T20:33:00.004-06:00

Well Maddox finally had his first real haircut this evening. I know, I know...it's about time! I just haven't been able to bring myself to cut off his sweet little curls. His hair has gotten a little more than unruly though lately and was just all over the place so we decided to break down and do it. We took him to a place close to home called Hair Force because they have a little airplane they let them sit in and we thought that might help him do okay (to be honest we pretty much thought the whole thing was going to be a disaster). We put him in the airplane and enjoyed it for a minute, but he pretty much went ballistic as soon as the lady touched him. So we had to resort to Plan B, sitting in Daddy's lap. Surprisingly, he did very well. He was extremely somber and serious throughout the whole thing, but he never cried and he stayed very still. All in all, a success. And fortunately, his hair is still trying to curl up again in the back, so we haven't lost those sweet little curls just yet.

Here is a before shot of him checking out the airplane (before the lady touched him).

Before shot of the back of his head with his curls all brushed out. It looks so long without the curls.
Safely sitting on Daddy's lap. Notice his sad little lip in this shot. He never cried but he was visibly saddened by the whole ordeal!

Still a little unsure here.

I gave him a little sucker thinking it would take his mind off things, but he just stared at it the whole time and never would even lick it until we walked out the door. That probably was for the best because it most likely would have ended up with stray hairs all over it if he'd eaten it during the haircut.

Hooray, we all survived! That wasn't so bad after all. Maybe the dentist won't be as bad as I'm envisioning it being...yeah right!

Decorating the Tree

2010-12-01T16:15:00.004-06:00

We decided to go ahead and put up our tree this past weekend. Maddox enjoyed helping decorate with "balls", but the only problem was that he liked bouncing them on the floor. We gave him the very inexpensive (and non-glass) ones to put on the tree. He was so funny...he would walk over and set it on the branch and clap. When one bounced to the floor and made a funny sound he liked that so then he started bouncing them on purpose. There were a few casualties over the course of the decorating process, but we only had to run the vacuum a few times so it wasn't too bad. I did have to rearrange the ornaments after he was done helping and I made sure to put the valuable and breakable ones toward the top, but all in all he was a good little helper.

Thanksgiving Feast!

2010-11-29T14:52:00.002-06:00

Maddox's Thanksgiving feast was this past Tuesday. They had chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and rolls. Maddox pretty much only ate his roll (he's become quite the picky eater these days) but he seemed to really enjoy it! Blake and I both got to go and hang out with him and he thought that was pretty cool. He enjoyed showing us his toys and other things around the classroom. He was very sad to see us leave when we had to go back to work (Mommy may have been more sad due to the tears), but at least we had a 5 day weekend to look forward too. His teacher said he got over it pretty fast...nothing a few M&Ms couldn't fix.

I am so very thankful for so many things this year, but above all I am thankful for my wonderful family and am so blessed to have this sweet little man in my life. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Off to the Races!

2010-11-18T20:48:00.002-06:00

Daddy taught Maddox how to run a proper race, with "On your mark, get set, go!" commands and everything! He loves to race. The only problem is he always makes sure you win. Whenever you slow down to try to let him pass you, he slows down so that he won't pass you up. One day I'm pretty sure he won't be such a good sport about losing!

SEC Champs!

2010-11-13T22:44:00.001-06:00

Yeah, Auburn clinched the SEC West tonight after a great (and quite intense) game! Maddox loves to yell, "War Eagle, Hey!" now so I caught a few of his cheers on video. Here is his "War Eagle" minus the eagle. For whatever reason, he leaves the eagle out every time. I'm pretty sure the "hey" is his favorite part though!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-03T19:24:00.003-05:00

Maddox had so much fun dressing up this Halloween. I was unsure if he would wear his tiger head because he refused to wear it at all every time I tried to get him to put it on for the longest time, but the night before Halloween, he put it on and didn't want to take it off. Even when it kept falling in his eyes, he would just push it up out of the way and keep on going. He made such a precious tiger, especially when he would "Roar"!

The Saturday night before Halloween we tried to get Maddox and Jackson to wear their costumes so we could take some pictures of them, but unfortunately Jackson was having none of it. No amount of bribery could make him wear the lion head. He put it on for a split second, but was pretty upset about it the whole time. He was the saddest, but cutest lion you ever did see...

Here is one of the best attempts at a shot of the two of them together--Maddox just looking at Jackson (and not at the camera) while Jackson screamed for the lion head to be taken off. As you'd probably guess, Jackson won that battle...

On Halloween, we went to First Baptist's trick-or-treating event. They had tents set up and you could trick or treat at the tents instead of going door to door. They also had some little games for the kids too. The first thing Maddox got in his pail was a pack of fruit snacks. Of course, he had to eat them right away...
Found a peanut! Look who we ran into...Justin!
Checking out his goodies. He really liked that large spinner thing sticking out of his bucket because it had a pumpkin (his favorite) on it and it spun around and lit up when he pressed the button. I'm pretty sure he played with it the whole way home.
We ran into Mary Lee as a cute little bumblebee and we tried to get a picture of the two of them, but unfortunately bees are scared of tigers. Mary Lee cried as soon as Maddox got anywhere near her so Maddox just looked at her and slowly backed away. It was pretty cute and made for a funny picture too...
Look who FINALLY put on the lion head! After countless bribes and everyone pretty much begging him Jackson still refused to wear the head. They left and headed to the car and much to everyone's surprise at the car, Jackson magically said he'd wear the head and after that he didn't have much of a problem. Slightly earlier timing would have been better, but better late than never! He made a mighty cute lion too!

We finally got that picture of the two of them that we wanted. It's definitely not perfect, but they are both in the frame and facing the camera and that's about all we could ask for! I think we could open a super cute zoo with these little guys!

Taking a picture with RaRa before heading out...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my little tiger...

Carving Our Pumpkin...

2010-11-03T15:51:00.000-05:00

We finally got around to carving our pumpkin on the Saturday before Halloween. We got our pumpkin on our visit to the pumpkin patch several weeks ago, but had I left it up to Maddox (meaning, had we bought another pumpkin every time we went to the store and he pitched a small fit for one) we'd have had our own patch in the backyard. Maddox really enjoyed watching his daddy carve the pumpkin, and he even picked up a few tools and tried to help out himself.

Tired already? We're just getting started...

Quick drink break (although again, we were not very far into this project)...
Daddy working hard. As usual, he did a great job again this year..

What a good little helper...

Checking out the finished product...

Boo at the Zoo

2010-11-01T23:23:00.000-05:00

This past Friday night we went to Boo at the Zoo with several friends and had a great time. The kids loved the Halloween decorations, riding the train, the hay ride, and the carousel. They also enjoyed dancing (although Maddox just stood very still and watched everyone) at the Monster Mash and seeing and petting the animals in the petting zoo. The little ones were so cute! Maddox was a tiger (without the head of course), Jackson was a very stubborn lion who refused to wear his costume (despite several bribery attempts), Avery was a ladybug, Whit was a skunk, and Tucker was a sweet little lamb. We really enjoyed getting together with everyone. I know it would have been an impossible feat, but I wish we had been able to get a picture of all of the little ones in their cute costumes. Oh well...maybe next year!

Waiting in line for the train...

Family shot on the train ride...

Uncle Scott and Jackson ready to ride the train. Even though he wouldn't wear his costume, he sure looked cute in his sweet little pumpkin shirt.

Maddox enjoyed riding around on Daddy's shoulders.

Waiting in line to ride the haunted carousel...

Here we are riding the carousel. Maddox really enjoyed it. The carousel went backwards so it was a little different. They also kept cutting the lights on and off to make it more spooky. Each time they did this, everyone would scream. I was glad it didn't scare Maddox. It really didn't seem to phase him at all.

Admiring one of the many pumpkins ("paw-paws") he saw...

This cool little goat really enjoyed being petted. He came through the fence to us!

Class Halloween Party

2010-10-28T18:12:00.000-05:00

Today Maddox had his Halloween party at school. He dressed up as a tiger for the morning character parade. Unfortunately, I didn't make it by to see the parade, but his teachers said he wore his costume and did great. I did manage to slip away from work for a little while to go to his Halloween lunch party. I think he was surprised to see me at school during the day. He's used to me just picking him up. I sat by him at the table while they ate. They each got a Chick-fil-a kid's meal, juice box, and they even got yummy Halloween cookies with orange frosting and sprinkles. I think they really enjoyed their food. Maddox, of course, cleaned his plate. He wasn't going to leave behind any of that yummy food and I don't blame him.

After the party I stayed for a few minutes so Maddox could show me his toys and how he plays wiht his little friends. He really enjoyed pushing this dump truck around the room. His friend Tripp joined in too and they were so funny to watch as they raced each other around the room.

After the party, I had to head back to work. Maddox wasn't too thrilled about that and he got upset when I left (which of course always upsets Mommy too), but he got over it pretty fast and enjoyed the rest of his day.

War Eagle!

2010-10-25T21:41:00.000-05:00

We took Maddox to his first Auburn game this past weekend when they played LSU. He had a blast running around the tailgate playing with his football. He also started saying "War eagle, hey!" at the tailgate. He really likes the hey part so much that he just skips "eagle" and goes straight to "hey". I will have to try to get a good video of it. It's pretty cute to hear him say "Waaaaar hey!" Before the game we went to see the new arena, which is beautiful by the way. We managed to get Maddox to stay in the stroller and he was passed out asleep in no time at all. He needed to rest up before the big game I guess...

We took Maddox into the stadium before the game began so he could see the eagle fly and watch the players warm up. He was pretty mesmerized by it all.

Poppy took him down close to the field so he could get a good view of the eagle. They also did a flyover too, so he enjoyed seeing the planes.

Maddox watched most of the game back at the tailgate with RaRa, Lisa, and Justin, but it was fun to get to take him in to the stadium to see everything. He really likes football, so he was pretty captivated by all that was going on. Maybe when he gets a little bigger, he'll actually be able to stay and watch a whole game.

My Little Airplane

2010-10-20T20:25:00.002-05:00

Maddox's new favorite game is playing airplane with Daddy. Blake started it and now Maddox wants to play all the time. He will often just climb on top of Blake if he is laying down or sitting on the floor and he is very adamant each time he is thrown down that he wants more ("mo, mo").

Circle Obsession

2010-10-16T18:18:00.002-05:00

Maddox has been learning his shapes at school and lately he has become quite fixated on circles. Everywhere we go, he is constantly picking out all of the circles there are. I never knew there were so many circular things in the world! He also knows several other shapes like heart, star, triangle, and square, and he has pretty much mastered his shape sorter, but he is truly circle obsessed. Here his a little video of him playing with his play dough making none other than circles...

In case you're wondering, at the end of the video, he is desperately requesting his paci, pronounced by him as "pa".

First School Pictures

2010-10-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Here are Maddox's first school pictures. I'm surprised they got him to stand still and actually pose for a picture. He kind of has that deer in the headlights look, but they still turned out pretty cute. I didn't order them since I have so many other pictures of him that I would frame over this one, but I had to document the occasion, so I snapped a few pictures of the proofs with my phone so I could share.

Fun Times at the Park!

2010-10-14T19:14:00.000-05:00

I was off work on Monday, so Maddox and I went to play at the park. He absolutely loves playing at the park. He had a blast just running around and climbing on everything. He also loves to swing and slide. He used to hate the swings, but now it is hard to get him to get off the swing and do anything else. Here are a few pictures I snapped from my phone of him having fun playing...

Pumpkin ("Paw-Paw") Patch

2010-10-13T20:04:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, we took Maddox to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden. Maddox is absolutely obsessed with pumpkins (or "paw-paws" as he calls them) so needless to say, he really enjoying running around in a field of pumpkins. We rode a covered wagon out to the patch to pick out our pumpkin. He enjoyed the wagon ride, but was eager to get to the "paw-paws". He took off running from pumpkin to pumpkin trying to pick them up. He was able to lift a few, but most of them were way too heavy.

Once Daddy picked out a good one, Maddox insisted on helping him carry it the whole way to the car. I wasn't sure Maddox was going to let it out of his sight, but he did.

After we put the pumpkin in the car, we attempted to take a few more pictures with pumpkins before heading over to the petting zoo.

The zoo (if you want to call it that) was pretty lame overall. Most of the animals were way too far away to even pet, but this cool little donkey let Maddox pet him.
All in all, we had some fun times at the Pumpkin Patch!

Happy Birthday McKenzie!

2010-10-12T22:02:00.000-05:00

After the race in the morning, we headed over to Homewood Park to celebrate McKenzie's 1st birthday. It was such a perfect day for an outdoor party and we had a lot of fun. As usual Maddox really enjoyed the cake and ice cream part too!

The Birthday Girl!

And pretty much whenever we're outside I try to get some cute pictures of my little guy. I was actually pretty please with how several of these turned out. What a cutie!

Race for the Cure!

2010-10-12T21:40:00.001-05:00

We had so much fun doing Race for a Cure this past weekend. I am always amazed at the amount of people who come out to support such a great cause. It really is such an awesome sight! Even Maddox sported his pink gear for the occasion. Maddox was pretty much in awe of all the pink balloons that were everywhere. He is very into balloons these days and doesn't usually understand why he can't just have a balloon if he sees one (which also makes going to Publix a challenge since it seems like there are balloons tied to every cash register). I think just about everyone finished the race except for me and Maddox. During the race, Maddox refused to ride in the stroller, refused to walk, and refused to let anyone hold him but me. And he is complete dead weight. We made it over a mile in before I decided there was no way I was making it the entire race with him on my hip, so we cut out and headed to the finish line to wait on everyone. And of course what's a good race without a good meal afterward, so we all went to Chick-fil-a and Maddox even had himself an ice cream cone courtesy of RaRa and Poppy. All in all a great time!

Can you guess where I'm hiding?

2010-10-03T20:54:00.001-05:00

That's right...my newest spot is under Mommy's clothes in the closet. You found me! Time to hide again!!

Maddox loves to hide these days! We tell him to go hide and he usually chooses one of a few places..behind the curtains in the dining room, under the pillows on the couch, or behind our bed, but his newest spot he hid in the other day was under the clothes on our closet--a rather clever spot I might add. Sometime Maddox is a really good hider and he stays very quiet until he is found, while other days he jumps out before you have a chance to find him. Either way he has a lot of fun playing hide and seek (and Mommy and Daddy have a lot of fun playing too)!

Outdoor Fun!

2010-09-27T21:28:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we went to the Cahaba River Fry Down at Trussville Springs. Maddox had a great time playing in the water and he especially enjoyed watching the many "choo-choos" that went by. His recent obsession with trains has grown a lot over the past month. He is now very much into Thomas and Friends and loves playing with all of his toy trains. We look for trains every time we go over the tracks and his eyes just light up when he sees or hears one. Now every time he hears the train whistle he throws his arms up because he wants you to pick him up and take him to see it. He got used to this at RaRa and Poppy's house because he can see the train from the upstairs window. At our house he has to settle for opening the dining room window and sticking his head out to listen.

Watching the train coming down the tracks...

Family shot in front of the train. One day we'll get one where Maddox is looking...
Waving to the "choo-choo"!
In the Cahaba, throwing rocks with Daddy...
Whoa, I think I found a big one...

All in all, a day spent outdoors equals a day of fun! And an AU victory over SC helped make the day even better too. We watched the game at RaRa and Poppy's house that night and Maddox had a great time joining in with the crowd and cheering and clapping for the Tigers!

The Great Escape

2010-09-22T18:57:00.002-05:00

It was only a matter of time, but Maddox has now figured out how to wedge himself out through the doggie door. I was watching him the other day and he was sticking his head out and he kept getting a little further out of it each time, before he finally just decided to go for it and crawl on through. Now he constantly is heading out to the backyard and he prefers this door to the real door. It is quite entertaining for him to just go in and out the doggie door about a thousand times in a row. You'd think it would hurt his little legs, but he doesn't mind. Needless to say, when Maddox is awake, the doggie door has to stay closed off for the most part since he is quite sneaky and brave too!

Notice how patiently Milo is waiting to come back inside...

I'll have to try to get a shot from the front next time!

Mmmm...pudding!

2010-09-15T12:33:00.000-05:00

Maddox usually is much neater than this when he eats, but as you can see, pudding is a little messy (hence the reason he has no shirt on)...

So good, he had to lick the lid...

Curious George!

2010-09-11T19:04:00.001-05:00

Over Labor Day weekend we took Maddox to Huntsville to see "Curious George Live". It was a musical and the first time Maddox has ever been to something like that so we weren't sure how he'd do, but he loved it. He loves Curious George so we figured he'd love this, but we were a little skeptical of how well he'd do sitting still with other people around, but he sat and watched the whole thing and only wiggled around a little bit the whole time. The show was good (the facilities not so though) and there was so much going on between the dancing, singing, and flashing lights, that it would have been pretty hard for him to not watch. Before the show we went and ate at Red Robin with our friends Doug and Christi and their two little boys. I think the highlight of the trip was the balloon Maddox got at the restaurant. I guess we could have saved a little time and money had we just driven up to the Pinnacle for lunch..haha!

I didn't get any pictures of the actual show, but here are a few of Maddox enjoying his balloon afterward...

18 months

2010-09-07T17:28:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that Maddox is already 18 months old! He is just growing up before our very eyes! Maddox's daddy took him for his 18 month check-up last week and he did great! He weighed in at 29 lbs., 4 oz and was 33 1/2 inches tall. At his 15 month check-up they said he was 33 inches tall, but we are pretty sure that was off a bit since we measured him at home around a month after that and he was only around 32.5 inches. He only had to get one shot at his appointment and that was his flu shot. Hopefully we can avoid the flu this year. We've already been at the doctor, just two weeks after school started with bronchitis, so I'm hoping Maddox's immune system will hurry up and get used to being around so many little germs each day!

It is amazing to see all that he is learning and able to do these days. His new favorite word now is "no". He says no a lot of things like sharing his food or brushing his teeth (he still isn't enjoying this chore). It is pretty cute now, but I have a feeling the cuteness will wear off at some point. He also says "hot" and "cold" a lot. He will point to the stove and say "hot" or if he sees a candle burning he says it too. Another big favorite is "football" but he pronounces it more like the Europeans do and says "futbol". Everytime he sees a football, a helmet, or any clip on tv pertaining to football, he screams out "football". We are working on "War Eagle" also, but at this point it is just a "Waaaaaaaar E!"

His little personality is just coming out more and more and I just fall in love with him over and over again each day. How did I get so lucky to be blessed with such an amazing little guy?

Just Lying Around...

2010-09-05T07:45:00.000-05:00

Lately whenever Maddox gets tired he just lays down on the floor. Sometimes just straight on the hardwood floor and sometimes on pillows and blankets. I was running a bath for Maddox the other night and stripped him down. I went and shut off the water and came back to get him and this is what I found (warning: naked baby alert)...

I couldn't resist getting my camera and he proceeded to ham it up for me, but this time snuggling on his giant tiger stuffed animal.
After his bath, he went straight back to his tiger to snuggle a little more. I don't blame him though because this thing is pretty comfortable. The tiger is now his favorite snuggle spot. It has been with us a few weeks. That is what happens when you send Blake to Sam's for a few things...giant stuffed animals come home! Maddox is very thankful that Daddy is an impulse buyer though! :)

Big Boy Chair

2010-09-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

It guess it might be time to give up the high chair. Maddox now prefers to sit at the table like a big boy! Today at lunch when I told him it was time to eat instead of running to his high chair like he usually does, he ran to the table and climbed up in the chair. I will be getting him a booster seat soon, but in the meantime, this pot will just have to do I guess.

Maddox has also started trying to do things with his eyes closed lately. He closes them a lot and just laughs. Here he is attempting to eat his lunch with his eyes closed. A good part of his lunch was eaten without looking. Not sure why he enjoys this so much, but it must just be a funny new discovery for him!

Oh and as you probably noticed, Maddox is sporting his new jersey in honor of college football starting this weekend! We are working on his war eagle cheers. This morning he was running around saying, "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrr!" Maybe by the time football season is over, he'll learn the rest! :)

Maddox's School Days

2010-09-03T21:20:00.002-05:00

Maddox has been in school for a little less than a month now. This was the best picture I could get of Maddox posing with his school bag and lunchbox on his first day of school. As usual he didn't want to stay to still that morning.

Going to school started out good, went from bad to worse, and now seems to be going well again (so hopefully it will stay that way). Maddox ran on in the first day and didn't seem to have trouble saying goodbye to his daddy. When I picked him up his teachers said he had a good day, but that he had cried some off and on, mostly when other kids cried though. All in all, a decent first day. After that, drop-off became pretty terrible for Blake for a while. I am thankful that Blake is willing to do this dirty job, because I just am not sure I could leave him. I would be too tempted to just put him back in the car and head back home, and that would probably not go over too well at work. Maddox began crying before he even got in the building because he knew that Blake was leaving him. Blake said it was pretty terrible because he could hear him yelling "Daddy" when he was leaving...brings tears to my eyes even now as I type, so I know that made Blake feel pretty terrible. Over the past couple of weeks though, Maddox has run inside his classroom on his own and began playing without much of a fuss, so we are pretty relieved that he is doing better in the mornings now.

Maddox loves all of the fun things he is doing at school and always gets good reports that say he has eaten well, slept well (blows my mind that from day 1 they have been able to get him to lay in the floor on a nap mat and go to sleep), and been a cheerful boy during the day. Some of the fun things that Maddox has been doing at school include playing with bubbles in the field, going on buggy rides, playing in the soft-play room and on the playground, shaking out his sillies (this is a song they sing where they shake around--he loves this), reading books and listening to bible stories, singing songs like "Wheels on the Bus", painting and coloring. Each morning they always have a craft time where they paint pictures or color things. Maddox has brought home quite the collection of beautiful artwork--we may have a budding artist on our hands, haha! It is so funny to look at some of his work. Some of it is very colorful and detailed and sometimes it is just a full sheet of paper with one little scribble on it. This past week Maddox has been learning about the letter A and the color red. Supposedly partway through the year, they are going to start learning some Spanish too, so we'll see how that goes. I'm hoping he will get a little more English learned before then so I can understand everything that he is trying to say, because this is one little boy with a lot on his mind!

Here is some of the beautiful artwork Maddox has created in his first few weeks at school!

Goodbye summer...you will be missed!

2010-08-09T22:34:00.005-05:00

Summer has officially come to an end. I've seen it coming for a while now, but I sure hoped it would just never get here! Maddox and I had such a wonderful summer and I just can't believe it's over already. There is a lot that I am going to miss, but I am really going to miss getting to lay in bed with him in the mornings and snuggle (watching Curious George of course). He is just the best snuggler! And of course our fun day trips to the zoo and the park, the fun times playing in the backyard, swimming, or playing ball. Of course we will always have our weekends and that will just have to do for now, but to my sweet little man, thank you for making my summer one to remember and I am counting down the days until I can do it all over again with you! I love you more than you will ever know!

Tomorrow is Maddox's first day of little people school at Noah's Park. We went tonight to meet Maddox's teachers and drop off his supplies. I still cannot believe that my baby is a year and a half old. Blake and I were talking the other day about how he's just not a baby anymore...he is turning into a little boy before our very eyes and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do to stop it! I really think that Maddox is going to enjoy being around the other kids and playing with them each day. I am looking forward to seeing what all he will learn and pick up on being around little friends each day. Tonight, he ran right through the door and straight to a shelf of toys. He played the entire time we talked to his teachers and I'm pretty sure we could have walked right out without him and he wouldn't have noticed. Something tells me he is really going to enjoy it there, which makes me happy. If I can't be with him, I at least want him to be somewhere where he is happy and having fun!

Working on my form...

2010-08-09T21:44:00.002-05:00

We have recently become a little obsessed with basketball. The last footage seen of Maddox slam dunking (if you could call it that) was a little rough and it was clear that he needed some practice. Well he has been practicing a lot lately and although I am a biased mother who will probably always believe her son is quite talented no matter what, he really has gotten pretty good. He got a new basketball goal this past week and it is pretty tall so he has to stand on the bed or couch to shoot, but he's become a pretty good shooter. He also loves to cheer for himself when he makes a goal (and even sometimes when he doesn't make it too). It is quite entertaining to watch! Oh how I love him!

Faceplant

2010-08-03T22:32:00.002-05:00

Here's our new favorite thing to do and I'm pretty sure he would do it all day long if I let him..

Basketball Star!

2010-07-27T15:33:00.004-05:00

Maddox loves to play basketball! He really loves to slam dunk, although rather than slam it into the goal, most of the time he just gently places it in the goal. We may a future all-star on our hands, although judging by this video, we are going to have to work a lot on speed and form, haha!

What a Busy Weekend!!

2010-07-25T15:55:00.020-05:00

We had a very fun-filled weekend! Saturday morning, we woke up and took Maddox to the zoo. Aside from a somewhat disappointing sea lion show, Maddox had so much fun. And even though we have been to the zoo several times this summer, we did a lot of new things and saw a lot of new animals we hadn't seen before.

The first place we went when we arrived was the reptile exhibit. This was the first time we had been to see them. Maddox loved the little turtles. His daddy couldn't seem to get over the enormous rattlesnake they had. It really was huge!

We also checked out this cool turtle on the way to the reptiles. This was the first time we had seen him too!

We also saw this gator up close today! Usually when we've seen the alligators, they're very still and sometimes it's even hard to find them through that nasty water, but this one was swimming through the water right by us. Pretty creepy sight...

Next we went to visit the kangaroos. I wish they would have hopped around for us, but that still has yet to happen. This picture was in front of the kangaroo exhibit, although you can't actually see any of them in the background.

We then headed over to the sea lion show, which as I said earlier, was a total bust! We have watched them train the sea lions before and Maddox really liked it, so I thought the show would be pretty cool. Well, it wasn't and they really shouldn't even call it a show. For starters, they spent more time training some kid than they did the sea lions and I'm pretty sure the sea lions were much smarter than this extremely unenthusiastic kid volunteer. Maddox was ready to get up before the sea lions even started and when they finally did come out, the trainer had them jump up and touch a stick for about 2 minutes and then it was over. Needless to say, I didn't get any pictures of that.

After the sea lions we went to visit the monkeys. The Squirrel Monkeys were quite active hopping around all over the place. I managed to get one of them to stay somewhat still long enough to get in the background of this shot of Maddox (check out how sweaty he is) watching them.

We then went back to see the rhinos. Apparently it was "Rhino Day" at the zoo and they had all kinds of rhino activities planned for later in the day. We didn't stick around for those, but we did see a few of these enormous creatures. I tried to get a picture of Blake and Maddox with the rhino in the background, but they kept roaming around and wouldn't cooperate for me, so this was the best we could do...

After the rhinos we headed over to the predator zone to see the lions and tigers. Along the way we passed the big fish tanks. Maddox likes to climb on the step and watch the fish. We noticed this great big turtle creature in there that I had never noticed before and had a debate on whether or not he was real (because he really did look like a stone statue), but then he decided to settle it for us and start swimming around.We arrived at the predator zone and saw the lions. I love when we go see the lions because Maddox always roars when he sees them. He has a funny little roar that is more of a whisper than anything. As usual the lions were sunbathing up on the rocks.

We also got up close and personal with a bobcat today. The bobcat was pacing the glass in his exhibit and Maddox just thought it was so funny every time he would walk by.

We were also sad to find out that our white siberian tiger friend, Moti, had passed away since our last visit. I hadn't realized this and saw where they were turning his exhibit into a beaver (predator?) exhibit, but I just figured that they had moved him somewhere else, but on our way out we saw a sign with his picture that said "In Loving Memory, Moti 1994-2010". I didn't realize he was that old. I guess that explains why he was always sleeping when we saw him. Here is the only picture I have of him. We will miss seeing him!

Another cool thing we got to do today was feed the giraffes. This was the first time we had done this and it was really neat (for me as well as Maddox). I think Maddox was pretty amazed by his long tongue!

After we had seen all of the animals, we decided to let Maddox run around at the splash pad for a few minutes. He doesn't really like getting sprayed with water, so he was a little skeptical, but he had fun.

The very last thing we did before we left the zoo was ride the carousel. This was the first time Maddox has ridden and he seemed to really like it. We got a few smiles out of him, but overall he was pretty serious the whole time. When we got off though, he ran back over to it squealing because he wanted to ride again, so I know he must have really liked it!

We headed home after the zoo, and needless to say, Maddox was asleep in no time at all. I'm pretty sure he was worn out. After a nice long nap, Aunt Erin was in town and came by to visit. She brought Maddox an Elmo stuffed animal and book that has the buttons you push to make noises. He really likes it! His new favorite character (besides Curious George of course) is Elmo and he sounds so cute when he says his name. Thanks, Aunt Erin! It was so great to see you!

Later that same evening (as if we hadn't already done enough that day) Uncle Scott called and asked if we wanted to take the little ones to Pump it Up. Naturally it sounded pretty fun so we said, sure why not? Well, we went and had SO much fun. To our pleasant surprise we were pretty much the only ones there and we didn't have to pay a dime because kids 2 and under are free and they don't charge the parents to play either. Wish we had found this little jewel earlier in the summer! The boys (and by boys I don't just mean the ones 2 and under) had so much fun! I am pretty sure they had just as much fun as the little ones. RaRa and Uncle Andrew came and met us up there and played too so Maddox and Jackson had lots of people to jump and play with. I tried to get a few pictures, but with all the movement and so forth my camera didn't seem to want to focus so I only got a few, but I am pretty sure you can tell from them that we ALL had way too much fun!

What a fun time!! I am pretty sure we will be going back again in the very near future! After we left Pump it Up, we all went to Chick-fil-a for dinner before we finally came home and put a very sleepy Maddox to bed. A very busy Saturday combined with more fun on Sunday that involved more playtime with Jackson made for a very worn out Maddox. And just to show how tired he was, I had to go get him up at 10:15 this morning. Now he is re-energized and ready for another fun-filled week before summer comes to an end!

Belly Laughs

2010-07-23T23:12:00.000-05:00

Blake has always been able to get Maddox to bust out laughing and I just love the sound of that sweet boy cracking up. It has to be the best sound in the whole world! I really could listen to it all day every day. It (along with pretty much everything else about Maddox besides the temper tantrums) just brings the biggest smile to my face...

Learning to Jump

2010-07-22T21:45:00.000-05:00

So lately Maddox thinks that jumping is pretty funny. He holds on to the crib rails and jumps in his bed when I go to get him in the morning or after his nap. The other day I started jumping around and he thought it was the funniest thing and he started trying to do it too, so later that night I shot a short little video of it and I think it's pretty hilarious and cute if I do say so myself!

Our Little Handyman...

2010-07-18T22:25:00.002-05:00

Happy 1st Birthday, Justin!

2010-07-15T20:59:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we celebrated Justin's 1st birthday. The kids had lots of fun playing in the water and sliding down the slip n' slide. Unfortunately Maddox did not want any part of being hurled down the slip n' slide like several of the other little ones, but he did enjoy crawling and walking down it and splashing around in the pool of water at the bottom of it.

Here are a few attempts at getting Maddox down the slip n' slide. Uncle Scott tried hard, but it just wasn't happening. He wanted to participate, but only on his own terms.

Jackson, however, enjoyed getting all soaped up and sliding down...

Fourth of July

2010-07-13T21:37:00.006-05:00

We went to Gulf Shores to celebrate the 4th of July! In spite of the oil, we still had fun at the beach. Maddox enjoyed playing in the sand and in the pool. He did really want to get in the Gulf though and he kept walking toward it and pointing. I felt bad because he just didn't understand why he couldn't put his feet in this time, but hopefully next year the water and beaches will be clean and safe again.

Looking patriotic in his red, white, and blue...

Blake and Maddox had fun playing in the sand. They dug a nice big hole and built a tunnel that Maddox's truck could drive through.

Hanging out in the hole...

Most likely checking out a helicopter. I think the one bright side to the oil spill for Maddox was the abundance of helicopters. This kid loves looking for planes and helicopters!

Doing his part to help in the oil spill and heading to the beach to shovel up some tar balls.

Jeep Ride

2010-07-02T14:42:00.004-05:00

We went for a ride with the top down in Poppy's new Jeep and Maddox loved it. I think he loved being able to see everything and he seemed to like the wind in his hair too! Here he is posing for a few pictures in the driver's seat (and looking mighty sweaty and windblown I might add).

My Polite Little Man

2010-06-22T22:01:00.002-05:00

Working on my manners (and showing a glimpse of my little temper in the process)...

I Love You Daddy!

2010-06-20T13:43:00.006-05:00

Happy Fathers Day to the best daddy in the whole world! It was hard to narrow it down, but Mommy helped me come up with a list of ten things I love about you:

10.) You always let me have a prize when we go somewhere.

9.) You always give me sips of your yummy drinks and bites of your yummy snacks.

8.) You build forts for me with pillows and blankets.

7.) You throw me high up in the air and chase me around the house.

6.) You like to snuggle with me when I am sleepy.

5.) You make goofy faces and noises just to make me laugh.

4.) You like my sloppy wet kisses ("sugies") I give you.

3.) You always clap for me so I know you're proud of me.

2.) You love me more than anything else in this world and you show me that everyday.

1.) I could think of a million more things that make you the best daddy in the world.

Can I come to work with you, Daddy? I'm all ready to go!

I have some big shoes to fill if I want to be like Daddy one day!

Happy Father's Day, Blake! Thanks for being the most wonderful husband and father I could ever ask for! Maddox and I are thankful for you everyday and love you very much!

Mobile Trip

2010-06-16T11:52:00.003-05:00

We went for a quick trip to Mobile this past weekend. Blake had to be there for work so we made a little trip out of it. It was great getting to see lots of family and Maddox had fun playing in the baby pool too (or climbing in and out of it mostly).

Daddy got him a new squirt toy too and he really had fun with that.

We also experienced our first big temper tantrum (actually there were two of them) too while we were in Mobile. I still am not really sure what set him off besides being told "no", which he is told all the time I might add, but he completely freaked out on us. He ran and slammed the door, started throwing things, all while screaming and crying. This lasted probably close to a half hour before he simmered down. I guess he was just a little out of sorts being in a different place and around lots of people he doesn't see all the time. Luckily he was like a different child the next day. I guess we must be getting those terrible twos a little early. Uh-oh...

Summer Fun!!

2010-06-11T15:32:00.010-05:00

We have been having lots of fun times lately! This past week we went to the park a few times to play. Maddox can't do too much, but boy does he love to run around out there. As soon as we drove up this morning and he realized where we were, he was pointing and making his usual "ohhh" sounds. Today he went down the slide a few times (with me holding his hand) and he really loved that. He mainly just likes running around, stepping up and down on things, and running up the ramp and across the bridge. Unfortunately I still cannot get the kid to enjoy swinging. It might root back to the fact that he just doesn't like to be confined, but he screamed when I put him in the swing today. I tried pushing through for a minute to see if he would change his mind once he got going, but no luck. Last time we went, he did swing for about a minute and he was smiling the biggest smile, but that quickly turned into a very unhappy face. Oh well, maybe next time!

We have also been spending a lot of time in the pool lately. When I say pool, I mean our inflatable pool in the backyard. Maddox really enjoys splashing around in it. He typically just walks around in it playing with his toys, tossing things in and out and so forth, but he seems to have the best time!

Maddox wanted his chair in his pool. He reminds me of a little old man just chilling in his chair with his belly hanging out!

We actually swam in a real pool on Wednesday with our friends Niki and Whit. The boys had a great time and so did the mommies! Maddox really enjoyed splashing around in the big pool. The only problem was that he liked being thrown in the air and wanted to do it over and over again, which needless to say made for some really tired arms. Fortunately, Niki had a baby pool too so the boys were able to play in it a lot also. I think the highlight of the day was probably lunch though. Both of these boys love to eat! Too bad I didn't get any pictures of Maddox trying to mooch Whit's lunch (even though he had quite a yummy and hearty lunch of his own). Some things never change I guess!!

Maddox and Whit's play date...here they are playing together, or rather, near each other, ha!

There was a lot of clapping going on! I think Maddox is clapping for Whit here wishing him a happy first birthday (and probably thinking that birthdays mean cake)!

Whit sure loved playing with that sunscreen. Maddox also spent quite a bit of time just picking up the bottles of sunscreen and setting them back down on the table in different places. Why do we spend so much money on toys?

First Zoo Trip

2010-06-08T15:21:00.007-05:00

Look out animals, here we come!!!

On Thursday, Jessica and I took Jackson and Maddox to the zoo. They had sooo much fun!! We had fun watching them too! Maddox and Jackson saw all kinds of cool animals like monkeys, giraffes, tigers, camels, alligators, flamingos, and more. We even got to see the zookeepers training the lions!

I think this tiger was eyeing Jackson's Chex Mix...

And I just think this picture is funny, because come on, who can really concentrate on their goldfish snack when I tiger is three feet away from their face? I'll tell you who...Maddox!

Very serious faces watching the giraffes eat leaves from the trees...

And here's one of the giraffes we saw. Check out his tongue!

Beach Trip!

2010-06-05T20:53:00.000-05:00

We went to the beach for Memorial Day weekend and had a blast! Some friends of ours got married and we made a little vacation out of it. Maddox had soooo much fun! Probably because he got to spend 90% of the day outside at the pool and on the beach playing in the sand and probably because he got to stay up late every night, sleep with Mommy and Daddy, and he had his RaRa and Poppy there to spoil him rotten too! What more could he ask for?

Maddox and Jackson had a great time feeding the ducks with Poppy. Or rather, Jackson fed the ducks while Maddox tried to fathom why he was throwing perfectly good bread on the ground. As I predicted, Maddox ate his bread instead of sharing with the ducks.

Maddox had a great time playing in the sand. Last time we took him to the beach, it was pretty cold out so he couldn't really play in the sand like he wanted to. Fortunately he still loved the sand just as much as last time. In fact he didn't care that he was completely covered in sand pretty much head to toe. He was crawling all around in it getting filthy, but he didn't seem to mind it one bit!

As much as he loved the sand, we did have a few incidents where he faceplanted in the sand. He definitely got a mouthful of sand once or twice which couldn't have tasted too good. But surprisingly, it didn't seem to bother him too much other than the funny faces he made!

Maddox also loved the swimming pool too. It has been a while since he has been in a pool, but he had a great time. The condo we stayed at had a beach entrance pool so he had a great time just walking around in the shallow end. He seemed to enjoy just walking in and out of the pool the most. He also got out in the deeper water some with me and Blake and he had fun splashing around.We also spent a good part of our vacation pointing at the sky. We stayed right near an airport so there were several planes taking off and landing each day. It never failed that every time we heard one, Maddox would stop what he was doing, get a really serious look on his face and point at the sky. Sometime he would say "oohhh". He has been pretty fascinated with planes for a while now so this was a special treat for him!One other funny thing that he is doing now (that I suppose I am guilty of teaching him) is being very dramatic when he drinks. When he takes a sip of something it is now usually followed by a very loud "aahhh". This is mainly when he drinks out of a big cup, but sometimes with his sippy cup too. It really is so funny and cute to see. Here is a photo of him taking a drink from RaRa followed by his patented "aahhh".

And of course what vacation would be complete without a few cute beach pictures. I just had to get a few so we took Maddox out to the beach one night, only for about ten minutes while I quickly snapped a few pictures of him. It is pretty tough to get him to stay still for long so I had to take what I could get of him running around on the beach.

All in all, we had a great time and Maddox absolutely loved the beach so we can't wait to go back in a few weeks!

15 months old!

2010-06-02T23:14:00.001-05:00

We went for Maddox's 15 month check-up last week. He weighed in at 26 pounds and was 33 inches tall. He has hit a growth spurt for sure! I am not surprised though since he eats like a champ! He had three more shots (which he of course was not thrilled about), but he was brave and made it through.

Maddox is changing and growing more everyday. He sure does have a lot to say lately...he is constantly talking. I can't make out most of what he is saying, but there are several words in there I can understand. Some of the words he is saying besides mama and daddy of course are ball, bird, plane, boat, woof woof (for dog), bye-bye, eat-eat (his favorite pastime), shoes, side (slang for outside which is where he would spend all day every day if possible). He has also started saying please and thank you. He doesn't always say thank you at the right times though. Sometimes he says it when he hands you something, but he has also started saying it some when I give him something too so he should have it down before too long. And I guess I am in for it now because who could turn down that sweet little face especially when a sweet little please is involved.

He is also giving out lots of "sugies" lately. Pretty much anytime you ask for one (and sometimes when you don't) he plants a big old open mouth kiss right on your lips. It is just about the sweetest thing ever. If you want one all you have to do is ask, because he is handing them out right and left lately! :)

Here are a few pictures from this past Mothers Day that I never posted (oops). We did have a great day. Maddox enjoyed running around outside and he carried around Jackson's drumstick pretty much the whole day. It plays music when you tap on stuff. It was a big hit...I guess we need to find him one of these.

Random things Maddox has been up to lately

2010-05-07T21:46:00.004-05:00

We have been pretty busy lately with weddings, showers, birthday parties, etc. Blake went on a business trip to Orlando last week (too bad Maddox and I couldn't have tagged along on this one). Even though we were jealous that we didn't get to go to DisneyWorld, Daddy brought back lots of souvenirs for Maddox including his new Mickey t-shirt he is showing off below. He let me get a good shot of the back. He thinks Mickey is funny looking I guess because he always laughs when I show him the back of the shirt. Maddox also got a very cool Pluto stuffed animal and a Mickey soccer ball that he has enjoyed playing with too. We can't wait to actually take him to DisneyWorld when he gets bigger. I know he will have so much fun!

Last night I was vacuuming and I guess Maddox decided he better start pulling his weight because I looked over and he was helping me out. His vacuum is pretty cool because it plays music, but it's too bad it doesn't have suction power because I could really put him to work!

Maddox has a newfound obsession with kitchen utensils. It is rare to see him these days without a spatula, flipper, or wooden spoon in his hands. He has recently discovered how fun (and loud) it is to beat the utensils on just about everything around the house. He usually gets me to pick him up, points to the utensil holder on the counter and I bring him over and let him pick out which one he wants to play with. It's surprising that something so simple can bring so much joy.

In addition to kitchen utensils, Maddox is also obsessed with remotes, real remotes that is. You can't fool him with talking Elmo remotes...he wants the real deal. He knows how to use them too. He always picks it up and points it at the tv to try to work it. I guess he has taken good notes from Mommy and Daddy.

Birthday Parties!

2010-04-27T21:01:00.005-05:00

We had so much fun at Jackson's 2nd birthday party this past weekend! Maddox had a blast playing in the bounce house. He stood back and observed for a few minutes, but then he dove right in, literally. He was running around in there, falling down and laughing. Then he would throw himself head first down the slide. I wish I had a video of it...it was so funny! They also had a rather large ball pit that he had fun in and a super cute cake that Maddox of course found quite yummy.

Maddox loved the bounce house so much! Notice that even as he plays, he still keeps his little tiger blankie close by. That's love!

Maddox playing enjoyed playing in the ball pit.

And here is the birthday boy digging into the top tier of his cake! He really enjoyed it, but who wouldn't? I still can't believe this little man is already 2!

Later that same night, we went back to Scott and Jessica's for a surprise 30th birthday party for Scott. It was a lot of fun hanging out with a lot of family and friends, some of which we hadn't seen in a while. Scott was very surprised too, so it was definitely a success!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-11T11:01:00.006-05:00

Maddox woke up on Easter Sunday to find that the Easter Bunny had left him a surprise. He had a basket with a couple of new movies, some bath toys, and one of his favorite, teddy grahams. He didn't seem all too interested in checking out his basket, but once we finally got him to look at it, he enjoyed picking the stuff out of it.

Maddox's treats from the Easter Bunny

Naturally, the Teddy Grahams were the biggest hit.

Being silly with Daddy!

We could not have asked for a more beautiful Easter Sunday! We started off the day at church before heading over to RaRa and Poppy's house for some good food and fun. We spent most of the day outside (just the way Maddox likes it). He is constantly bringing me his shoes and going to the door saying "side, side" now. He just wants to be outside all the time now! We had fun walking down by the Cahaba River and even had a few rubber ducky races down the river. Maddox's duck even won the first race! All in all, it was a great day!

Hunting for Easter eggs!

Maddox enjoyed finding the eggs, even though most were immediately thrown back down.

Just walking around!

Hanging out by the water with Daddy!

Daddy even let him get his feet wet, which he loved!

Easter Bunny

2010-04-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

The week before Easter we went to visit the Easter Bunny to have Maddox's picture made. Even though this was his second Easter, this was his first visit with the bunny. He wasn't scared of Santa, but since he's a little older now, I wasn't quite sure how he'd react. When Blake first put him on his lap, he did what he typically does these days which was immediately try to get down. All he wants to do now is get down and walk around. He doesn't like to be held or stay still like he used to.

Well the Easter Bunny hoisted him back up on his lap and he sat long enough to get his picture made. Like with Santa, we weren't able to get a smile, but I was just glad he didn't kick, scream, and cry like the kid ahead of us.

Reading Mama a book...

2010-03-30T21:02:00.004-05:00

Sweet Maddox read me a story yesterday. I couldn't quite catch every word he said, but I definitely enjoyed it...

Walking

2010-03-29T21:17:00.003-05:00

We are getting much better at the whole walking thing! He has been walking around scaling the room for what seems like months now, so we were so excited to see him finally start to let go. Here he is a few weeks ago when he first started letting go and walking on his own:

And here he is tonight cruising around the house. He has gotten so much faster and so much better at keeping his balance. He hears Blake bouncing the ball in the other room so he is trying to get there fast. He may be running before too long!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

2010-03-18T19:55:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday to the best daddy (and husband) in the whole world! Maddox loves his daddy so much! His eyes light up when he walks in each day from work and he gets so excited to play with him. He especially loves when Daddy puts him up on his shoulders and does flips with him on the bed. Unfortunately Blake is away tonight (boo) at a retreat for work. He was chosen to participate in a leadership program for Southern Company and tonight was their first function. He would say it isn't a big deal, but I think it is and I am so glad that they recognize his hard work and see just what a valuable and important employee he is. Maddox and I are proud of you and love you very much!

Since Blake was going to be gone today, they celebrated his birthday at work yesterday with yummy cookie cake (Blake's choice of course). Maddox and I went and ate lunch with Blake and stuck around for cake. Naturally Maddox was quite the entertainer and as one would predict from his past experiences with cake, he loved it! Since it was St. Patrick's Day, the cake was covered in green icing and since the cake was covered in green icing, so was Maddox's face. He even had icing in his shoes by the time it was all over. Here are a couple of pictures that one of Blake's coworkers took with her phone.

Maddox also really walked for us for the first time last night. He was carrying around a spatula (go figure) and I think he forgot what he was doing and he just started walking across the room. He was still a little wobbly, but he made it where he was going and we clapped for him and he was so proud. He did it a few times at random, but still won't do it regularly. I wish I had captured it on video. I am hoping to get that this weekend.

Starting to walk, no more bottles, and new pictures!

2010-03-10T20:23:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a pretty big day for Maddox. He finally walked hands free for the first time. Sally said he was pretty much walking across the room holding onto his little blankie. Of course when I picked him up he wouldn't do it for me and he wouldn't do it last night or tonight either, but hopefully he will show me soon. I'm sad I missed it but I'm sure he will do it again for me in his own time. He did take a few steps for me, but after that he did not want to cooperate any longer. Yesterday was also our first bottle-free day. I was afraid to completely take him off the bottle because he is so obsessed with it, but it was actually quite successful. For the past week and a half or so he has been taking his milk with breakfast and lunch in a sippy cup and I have been holding off cutting out that last bottle for fear that he wouldn't do well at night without it, but I was wrong. Last night and tonight at dinner he drank his milk down in his cup easily and he went to bed no problem. Hopefully this will last!

On another note, Maddox's one year pictures are up. They turned out pretty cute, but what's not to love about a little one shoving cake in his face? Here is the link if you want to check them out: http://melissahardin6013.zenfolio.com/p592166146.

Maddox's Birthday Party

2010-03-07T21:16:00.005-06:00

Maddox's 1st birthday party was last weekend. We had so much fun and were so thankful that so many of our friends and family could come celebrate with us. Maddox was a little cranky before everyone arrived, but fortunately he snapped out of it pretty quickly and had a great time. Of course he enjoyed eating all the good food and he also had fun opening his presents. It seriously looked like Santa had come again and dropped off enough goods for the whole neighborhood. He got so many fun new toys, some big boy clothes, and even three new pairs of shoes (which is great because he didn't have any that fit him before then). We have tried putting shoes on him a little lately. He's not the biggest fan, but he has successfully worn them on a few occasions so we're going to keep working on this. Here are a few shots of Maddox opening his presents and having fun at his party.

I think Maddox's cake was his favorite part of the party. He had the cutest cake that my friend Kim made. I decided to go with a sock monkey on the cake since Maddox has pretty much been branded as the sock monkey kid. I thought it turned out great! It was almost too cute to eat!

Maddox even had his own mini sock monkey smash cake, which he didn't waste any time digging into. It is so funny to watch him eat because he still waves his hands in the air and makes excited whining noises when he sees you coming toward him with food. He started off by picking off each one of the icing polka dots before he dug into the rest of it. He ate a good bit of the cake and I'm pretty sure he would have attempted to finish it off if we'd allowed him too. He was a not too thrilled about having his cake removed from his tray before he had finished, but I think it was for the best!

Thank you again to everyone who helped make Maddox's birthday so special. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. And we are blessed beyond words to have the most amazing beautiful little man. We love you so much, Maddox and can't wait to see what your second year has in store for you!

One Year Old!

2010-02-23T21:51:00.006-06:00

Still so hard to believe that my little munchkin is one!! I took off work today to spend the day with him and we had so much fun just playing and snuggling all day. We went to the doctor first thing this morning for his one year well baby check-up. I'm sure Maddox was thinking, "Good plan, Mom...shots for my birthday!", but he got over it pretty quickly! Maddox is still growing like a weed, which isn't surprising since he is a little garbage disposal. He weighed in at 22 lbs (40th percentile) and was 29 3/4 inches long (50th percentile) so he is right on target for his age since he's tripled his birth weight. He had to get his toe pricked too to test his iron levels. He didn't mind the toe pricking part so much as he did the lady squeezing the life out of his toe trying to fill two vials of blood. He got a little agitated during that part. He also was very upset to have to have 4 more shots today, but I was able to console him pretty quickly. It does break my heart to have to lay him on the table and watch him get so upset while they are sticking him. I just want to do what mommies do best and make it all better, but those nurses make it hard.

Dr. Miller checked him out today and answered a lot of questions and gave us a lot of advice. We are beginning to transition to whole milk. Maddox drank a sippy cup full today and seemed to like it okay. It was no bottle though. He sucks that thing down no matter what's going on around him. With the sippy cup of milk he would take a sip and then chew on the rim, of the cup throw it down, and then start the process back over. We are going to keep slipping the milk in there so we can get solely on whole milk pretty soon hopefully. It should be a lot cheaper that's for sure! We are also going to be starting to drop his bottles which is probably going to be a challenge since he is obsessed with his bottle. When I say obsessed, I'm not exaggerating. He literally is beside himself when he sees you making it and he can't wait to get it. He climbs up your leg and whines and moans and waves his little hands in the air. It is pretty funny to watch.

Maddox isn't walking on his own just yet, but I doubt it will be too much longer before he is. He loves to walk holding on to furniture and the walls. He walks just about everywhere, but he just is too afraid to let go yet. Every now and then he'll let go and stand for a second, but he's not willing to try that first step just yet. These past few days he has started to get upset if he can't get somewhere by walking. He a big bouncy ball that he loves to play with (go figure he has a lot of expensive toys and his favorite is a $1.50 bouncy ball, haha) and sometimes when it rolls out into the middle of the room, he drops to the floor and puts his head down and cries because he can't walk to it. It's kind of sad, but he usually gets over it pretty quickly. It's just funny to see his little temper start to shine through and he definitely is developing quite a temper.

Lately, Maddox has been waking up during the night too, usually around 10:00 after he's been down a few hours. I talked to the doctor about it today and we're pretty sure it's night terrors that he's having because he cries out and he almost looks like he's in a daze or still sleeping when I go up there. Usually we can calm him down and lay him back down with his paci and his giraffe or tiger blankie and he's fine though. Hopefully he'll grow out of this pretty soon.

We now have another tooth breaking through. Hooray...it's about time! We have been waiting on some teeth to join those bottom two for quite a while. You can finally see where his front tooth has broken through. That should help with his eating, not that a lack of teeth has slowed him down any. One thing about Maddox for sure is that he is an eater. He will eat and eat and eat and he eats just about anything you give him. I typically have to cut him off because I sometimes don't think he will ever stop himself (I'm sure he would...he just seems so little to be eating that much). He will eat a whole sandwich for lunch plus a fruit cup amongst other little snacks. It just seems crazy the amount that he eats! We have been off baby food for quite a while. Maddox was never a fan of any of those Gerber Graduate foods. I guess once he got a taste of the real thing he didn't want to go back to those bland foods.

The picture at the top is one that Blake snapped of him on Sunday during his portrait session. We had his one year pictures made and he had a little personal smash cake for his pictures. It definitely wasn't anything to look at seeing how it was a homemade box cake with canned frosting and sprinkles, but he absolutely loved it (and it didn't take too long for it to be a pile of crumbs and frosting on his face anyway). He was extremely serious the entire time he ate it and as soon as he started on it he was focused on that and only that. I think he was trying to shovel in as much as he could before we took it away. We tried very hard to get him to smile, but it was pretty much impossible to distract him away from his cake. He went to town and he loved every minute of it!! I am sure he will do the same at his party on Saturday.

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Happy Birthday!!!

2010-02-23T15:15:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy! I cannot believe that you are already a year old! Has it really been a whole year since I held you in my arms for the first time? It seems like only yesterday, but then again it seems like you have been part of my life forever. I could never have imagined in a million years how much I would love you. You always know you're going to love your children, but I don't think you ever realize just how much. Maddox, you are such a blessing to your daddy and me. You have made this the best year of our lives. Seeing your beautiful smile and hearing you giggle always makes my day. I have enjoyed watching you grow and learn new things this past year and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for you. You are truly the greatest blessing I could have ever asked for and you are so much more than I will ever deserve. I love you to the moon and back!

Will You Be My Valentine?

2010-02-17T18:39:00.004-06:00

I may be a little biased, but I think I have the sweetest Valentine of all! We had a pretty uneventful Valentine's Day, but that's the way we like it. We enjoyed just spending the day together! And it was a plus that it snowed and that schools were closed on Monday!

Maddox enjoyed playing with his giant monkey balloon that Mrs. Sally and Mr. John gave him. He also got some more Valentine treats from his grandparents. I'd say he has plenty of admirers!

Here's a better look at his balloon. It was super cute!

Snow Day!!

2010-02-13T23:22:00.006-06:00

We finally got some real snow on Friday! Last time it was forecast, it was a big bust, but this time we had a lot (for Alabama that is) of snow. We got out of school at 11:00 which is always a huge plus, and Blake even got to leave work at lunchtime too. Maddox enjoyed watching the snow out the window. It really snowed hard for a long time and was so pretty to watch. We even went out to play for a little bit. Not being able to walk made it a little hard to get Maddox in the snow because I knew he'd be sopping wet if he sat and crawled around in it, so we loaded him up in his wagon and rode around the yard while the snow was still falling. He had a lot of fun just taking everything in and of course it was fun for us to watch him too. We can't wait to see him throwing snowballs next time!

And here is Maddox on his last snow day. Last time we really had snow, Maddox was just 5 days old! Hard to believe how much he has changed since that last snowfall...

Workin' Up a Sweat

2010-02-09T21:08:00.002-06:00

Here is Maddox playing around with Daddy before his basketball game last Friday night. For someone who doesn't like hats anymore, he sure did have fun in that sweatband!

When I Grow Up...

2010-01-17T23:44:00.003-06:00

I want to be just like Daddy! At least Mommy hopes so!

Mobile Christmas

2010-01-03T21:35:00.001-06:00

The day after Christmas we headed to Mobile to celebrate Christmas with my family. We had a great time! The night we arrived we had a nice steak dinner and did our family Christmas which of course involved several more fun gifts for Maddox. The next day Maddox opened more presents from his great-grandparents (I was hoping that he wasn't going to get used to having presents everyday since we were now on day 4 of gifts, but he has adjusted to no presents quite nicely...ha!) That night we had most of our extended family over to my parents' house. It was great to get to see most everyone, however there were several people we missed that we would have loved to have seen. Hopefully we will get to visit with them again before too long! We even got to have a short visit with my friends Melissa, Christina, and Kate. This was actually the first time that Maddox had met Melissa and Kate so it was great to get to introduce him to them. All in all we had a great trip and are so thankful for wonderful family and friends!

Maddox posing with his first present. He doesn't look excited yet, but just wait!

Ooh a cool V-tech nursery rhyme book from Gigi and Grandaddy!

Gigi helping me open my presents (or probably keeping me from falling over since I climb on just about everything now)...

A cool activity table from Aunt Erin along with a jammin' band resulted in lots of smiles...

Doing a little "talking" (in this case yelling)...

Goofing off with daddy...

Christmas Day

2009-12-27T22:59:00.001-06:00

We had so much fun with Maddox on Christmas morning. He slept in until a little before 8:00, which was great because we were up really late the night before. When Maddox got up he was his usual cheerful self smiling and "talking" up a storm. We headed into the kitchen and passed by Santa's cookie plate to see what the damage was. He did a pretty good job on those cookies...

Look what Santa brought! Santa did not go overboard this year since Maddox pretty much doesn't have a clue, but he did get a few cool things. He got a ball pit that he loves climbing in and out of and a brand new wagon. He also got a toy that is like the dashboard of the car so he can steer it and honk the horn. And Santa brought him a few new pairs of pants as well. A couple of the other toys in the room were gifts he'd opened the night before but that he still had fun playing with on Christmas morning.

"Wow, did Santa bring that all for me?"

Here he is playing in his new ball pit. At first he was a bit skeptical, but after a few minutes he was climbing in and out and even tasting everything as well. He loves crawling underneath things so I think he likes that it has a roof. He also likes that there is a hole in the roof so you can drop the balls through while he's in there. This toy has become a big hit already!

And of course we had to get him a wagon because everyone needs a wagon. He has already enjoyed going for wagon rides around the house. We haven't been able to take it outside yet because it has been so cold lately, but as soon as it warms up, we'll be taking it for a spin.

Playing with his new car toy...

And one of the biggest hits was the new snack cup filled with puffs that Santa left in his stocking. Santa could have saved a lot of money by just bringing a few snacks (have a mentioned how much my little man loves to eat?)

After playing with his toys from Santa, Maddox got a bath and put on his nice clothes and we headed back to Ra-Ra and Poppy's. We had a great time having lunch and visiting with everyone. The adults played Dirty Santa and Maddox, Jackson, and McKenzie of course had a few more presents to open as well.

We really enjoyed Christmas with Maddox this year. Being 10 months old, he really was the perfect age for a first Christmas because he could actually participate somewhat. It was so fun to watch him have fun and play with his new toys. I am sure that it will only get better (and more expensive, haha) each year as he gets older.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-26T21:56:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas Eve at RaRa and Poppy's house this year. After going to evening mass we headed over to their house for dinner and presents. We had a great time--it is so much more fun now that there are kids to watch open gifts. Jackson was very excited (and expressive I might add) about opening his presents and he even helped Maddox open his too. Maddox wasn't all that interested in opening his gifts but he had fun playing with them once they were opened (and I am pretty sure that we took out every toy he got from his box so he could play). Maddox also loved all of the boxes that his gifts came in...wrapping paper, not so much, but he loved banging on the boxes and attempting to climb on top of them.

Christmas Eve family photo

Maddox pulling the tissue paper out of the bag to see what he got.

It was a parade of zoo animals!

And a cool activity table! I am pretty sure Maddox opened and shut the laptop on the table about 50 times. That was his favorite part!

Showing Jackson his new table. Aren't they cute in their semi-matching outfits (Thanks, Aunt Jess!)?

Daddy helping him ride on his new car from Uncle Scott, Aunt Jess, and Jackson.

And the biggest hit of the night was probably the beverage tub that I got. Maddox had a great time climbing on it and beating it like a drum over and over again. He had the best time!

Maddox also got some cute clothes and this great hat from Uncle Andrew and Heather. Too bad he keep trying to pull it off, because it looks so precious on him!

One of the sweetest smiles around...

Once we finally got home, we couldn't forget to leave some yummy cookies and milk for Santa.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T17:49:00.000-06:00

Meeting Santa

2009-12-24T22:44:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Christmas we took Maddox to meet Santa and have his picture made with him for the first time. We decided to try the Santa at the Bass Pro Shop because several people recommended it to us, and let's face it, no one wants to subject themselves to mall traffic the week before Christmas. We were glad we went because it was great! Maddox loved looking at the big fish tank and stuffed animals around the store and he actually didn't mind Santa too much. I never really got a smile, but he didn't cry so I would consider that a success. It was so funny because he would look back and forth from the camera to Santa with this "Who in the world are you?" look on his face. Hope he does this well next year, but something tells me it will be harder!

Waiting in line to meet Santa...The handoff (crossing my fingers that he doesn't cry)...

Dad, I'm not so sure about this. Why are you handing me to this funny looking bearded fellow?

So this is the guy who brings all the toys. I wonder what he'll bring me...That's a cool beard. I'd love to get my hands on it...

And of course we had to get a picture with the big scary bear. Maddox was really fascinated with his claws!

Yummy! Yummy!

2009-12-23T00:26:00.000-06:00

Maddox still only has two teeth on the bottom, but he is a wonderful eater! I don't think there is anything that he has tried that he doesn't seem to like (way opposite of both of his super picky parents). I hope he keeps this up! We have been giving him mostly solid foods for the past several weeks and he loves it! He is our little garbage disposal...he just has such a good appetite! Yesterday we went to visit his daddy at work and he ate an entire grilled cheese among other things. His first love is still his bottle, but he is definitely a big fan of food! Here are a few pictures I took of him the first time I gave him one of those Gerber biter biscuits. What a mess!
I guess eating is much harder work now than it used to be. Maddox was worn out after eating that biscuit. This is the only time I have ever seen him fall asleep sitting up in his high chair. And yes, that is his daddy's hat he is wearing...doesn't quite fit just yet.

First Thanksgiving

2009-12-17T23:40:00.000-06:00

Yes, I realize that it is almost Christmas and I am just now posting about Thanksgiving, but it's just been one of those kind of months! We went to Mobile for Maddox's first Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. Everyone was thrilled to see Maddox again and see all of his new tricks (like crawling and pulling up). At his Gigi and Grandaddy's house he was fascinated with climbing up on the brick fireplace (anything unsafe of course). He also had fun jumping like crazy in the doorway jumper they had for him. Overall it was a great trip and we look forward to going back just after Christmas.

Maddox also had fun cheering on his Tigers in his first Iron Bowl. He actually slept through the entire first half, but he sure was a cute fan! Sadly his cheers weren't enough, but there's always next year!

Nine Months!

2009-11-22T21:14:00.006-06:00

We went for Maddox's nine month check-up on Friday and he is still growing like a weed! He is up to 19 lbs 11 oz. and is 28 inches long. What a big boy!! Everything checked out okay and he was up to date on all of his shots (which he and I were both pleased to find out). He did get his flu shot though since he hadn't had one yet, but one is certainly better than the four we're used to getting at these appointments. He was a very brave boy though. His sweet little sad face and cries break my heart every time he gets a shot, but fortunately he gets over it pretty quickly. We also finished up his antibiotic today that he has been on for a sinus infection and Blake has gotten over his walking pneumonia so I think we are finally all well (cross your fingers).

Dr. Harmon also told me that Maddox could eat from the table now so we are going to be starting that pretty soon. I still can't believe my little man is big enough to start eating real food...it just doesn't seem right! Tonight he did eat some banana that I smashed up into little pieces and he ate one of those Gerber wagon wheel things so he is off to a good start. He wasn't too sure about it at first though. It was funny because every time I tried to stick a little bite of banana in his mouth he would shudder and make these awful faces. I figured it was his way of telling me he wanted to eat from a jar and take a bottle for the rest of his life....haha! But after a few attempts he seemed to enjoy it. One thing I can tell already though is that meal time is about to get a whole lot messier! I can't wait!

Maddox also went to his first basketball game on Friday night. We went Birmingham-Southern to cheer on Huntingdon's women's basketball team that Uncle Andrew coaches. It ended up being an exciting game--they only lost by one point in overtime. Maddox really watched a lot of the game too. He was pretty captivated by all of the movement on the court. He was proud of his Uncle Andrew too! As always, he provided a good bit of entertainment to the crowd as well.

We are headed to Mobile on Tuesday for Thanksgiving and are excited to get to see a lot of family we haven't seen in a while. And I know that they are excited about getting to see Madddox again. I'm sure they will be happy to see us too, but let's face it, Maddox is the star of the show now!

And what good would a post be without a sweet picture?

Look Who's Crawling...

2009-11-16T22:54:00.002-06:00

That's right...little man is crawling now! He isn't moving very fast yet, but he has got his form down. Before now he's been getting around from place to place in weird ways...scooting, pivoting, twisting in circles...but now he has figured out how to crawl up on his knees and everything. He still has to be enticed by something (typically phones, remotes, or pretty much anything that's not really a baby toy tend to work) or have something catch his eye before he heads off in crawl mode, but I am sure it won't be long before we are chasing him all over the place. I think it's probably a good thing for our sake that he's starting out slow.

Apparently this new crawling thing is wearing him out...today Sally said he fell asleep in his crib sitting up...definitely a first for him! He has gotten to the point where when you lay him down in the crib for a nap, the first thing he does is roll over and sit up or pull up on the side. Usually he lays back down after a few minutes and goes on to sleep, but apparently he forgot to lay back down today. This past weekend when I put him down for a nap on Sunday he stood right back up and yelled (happy screams, but screams nonetheless) at the top of his lungs. When I came back in to check on him after a while of this he busted out laughing...I guess he is coming up with new games. This should make naptime fun for everyone, haha!

I Can Pull Up!

2009-11-09T21:32:00.002-06:00

My little man is growing soooo fast! Today he pulled up for the first time (of course I missed it because I was at work...boo). He has been working on this for a while now. He tries to pull up in his crib and he tries to pull up on things around the house like the couch, even though he isn't quite tall enough to reach just yet. Sometimes I'll cheat and assist him, but that doesn't count. I was happy to hear that he finally did it on his own since he has worked so hard, but I'll admit I was sad I missed it. Hopefully he'll do it again for me soon. He still isn't quite crawling yet. He can get from place to place, but he scoots all around and does these funny pivot moves to get where he needs to go. He keeps getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth so I know he will take off any day now. I told him tonight when I put him to bed that he's not allowed to do anything else for the first time when I'm not around (we'll see how well he follows directions I guess).