Maddie's Birthday!

Even though Madison doesn't really understand what a "birthday" is, I still wanted to make it an extra special day. I've seen cute ideas on Pinterest with balloons in various locations when the birthday kid wakes up, and I wanted to start a tradition of doing balloons in a different way each year. Since I'm pretty sleep deprived these days and hit the sack instead of blowing up balloons added to Madison's unpredictable night time wakes ups, I decided to just blow them up in the morning after we all woke up. I blew up about 20 balloons, and she had a blast playing with them! Don't tell her, but we are slowing popping and trashing misplacing the balloons one at a time.

After we ate lunch at home, we went and had frozen yogurt at 3 Spoons. She LOVES going there and picking out her toppings (all the healthy stuff of course- M&M's, gummy bears, sprinkles, etc).

Our next stop was Walmart. I know, I know...that's no fun on someone's birthday, however, while we were there Maddie got to pick out her own birthday ball! The purple one with stripes won out...I tried to show her the pink one, but was overruled. For dinner, we all went out to her favorite place- McDonald's! Not the healthiest choice, but if Subway had a slide made just for her, then we would have been there instead. Get with it, Subway! ;) After chowing down her cheeseburger, we got her a bowl of ice cream, covered it in sprinkles, lit the candle and started singing her "Happy Birthday!" Her reaction was priceless, as seen in the picture below! SOOO adorable!! Instead of blowing out the candle she tried to grab the flame, so I did the honors.

I mean seriously...how cute is that?!?!

Since Maddie desperately wanted to go through the tunnel system (only done once previously and had to be rescued by Grandpa Kurt) I decided to be Super Mom and go with her. It was actually not a claustrophobic as I was expecting. Then after several adorable "peases" from the Birthday Girl, everyone else took a turn going up and coming down the slide as well! And what's a classic story without some documentation, see below:

Thankfully, staying busy kept me from tearing up for the majority of the day. I truly can't believe it's already been two years! Here's to many, many, many fun birthdays!!

Our Baby Girl is TWO!

Dear Madison,

Oh my, Baby Girl, two years old?! I simply can't believe it! I guess my "baby" is officially growing up. *tear* Just remember- no matter the years, I will always call you Baby Girl! ;)

You have grown up so much in the last year. You're taller, more independent and have more hair! Yay! Still not a whole lot of locks, but what you have is simply beautiful! Your smile melts our hearts, and with your fun loving personality it really doesn't take much for you to show off your pearly whites!

Speaking of teeth, you now have 16 chompers, and you love to brush them! You can say soooooo many words! I can't even begin to list them. You have even started saying 2 and 3 word phrases, and you have wonderful manners! You say "peas" and "tank ooo," and you even say "scuse me" when you need me to move out of your way or if you toot or burp! It's hilarious!

You became a Big Sister this year, and you ROCK at it! You are so sweet to Reid. You like to rock him in the rocker and say "shhh!" when he's sleeping. You try to put his paci in, but it's more of a "shove this thing in his mouth" technique so I try to intervene quickly (thanks for helping though!) You give him about twelve hundred kisses a day (I get slightly jealous, I'll admit,) and you squish hug him any chance you get. I never would have believed how good you are with him. It's a beautiful thing to see how much you love him already! Your favorite thing is to get right in his face and say "Hi-yah buddy!" So cute!!



You gave up your paci this year and have never looked back! Even though Reid uses one, you know it's for the baby and not you...so mature! We moved you into your toddler bed (that was heart wrenching for me) and you loved it. At first. Then Reid was born and it's taken us a good 6 weeks to get you to stay in your room for the night. We are still working on that. (Secretly I'd be ok with snuggling with you every night, but all the "experts" say I'm not supposed to do that. Boo.)

Things you love:
1. Minnie and Elmo (notice they are in a dead tie.) You watch Minnie at home and Elmo at Nana and Pa's house and would do so 24/7 if we let you!
2. Fruit Snacks. Our day is officially ruined if we leave the house, and I forget the fruit snacks. They stay stocked, and I'd make a midnight run to restock if I had to!
3. Anything with tomato sauce. You still eat pretty much anything, but chicken is a least favorite- too dry. However, if it was covered in tomato sauce you'd probably eat it in 2.3 seconds!
4. Bubbles and balloons. They are just so fun, no explanation needed.
5. The slide at the park. You call it "wee," and tears come pretty fast when we have to leave the wee.
6. Stickers. You put them everywhere! I even found them on our bathroom drawer knobs. I guess you figured we needed fancier hardware. ;)
7. Baby dolls. A recent favorite, I'm assuming brought on by the arrival of your little brother.

Things you can do:
1. Talk A LOT!
2. Understand A TON! You do so well with directions, too!
3. Run and "fly" ;) Still working on jumping- one reason we started gymnastics this month- which you LOVE!
4. Hang from a bar and swing. Which we discovered in gymnastics.
5. You can poop and pee in the potty, you just choose not too. You did it 3 times and then just stopped. I guess you knew how much I'd miss changing your diaper. ;)
6. Independent and pretend play. It is SO cute! You put things to "sleep" like your Elmo, Minnie, balls, spoons, etc. You name it, and you've put them under a blanket and said "night-night." You also use your kitchen phone to call people- mostly Chase and Boo, but every now and then you venture out and call different people.
7. Buckle your own seat belt. No worries, we still do a double check.
8. Sit at the table in a booster seat instead of a highchair and drink out of a regular cup. The sippy cup is still our go-to cup most of the time, but you do very well out of a grown-up one.
9. Eat pretty much anything. You can demolish a cheeseburger like nobody's business! The organic ones, of course!
10. Sing and dance. You're a show stopper already!

I know I've probably left a lot out. You've grown so much over the past year. You are an absolute joy to be around! I have loved every single second of being your mom, even during your hilariously quiet tantrums. You are so funny, so sweet and so stinkin' smart!! I thank God each and every day for blessing us with you and for each day He allows me to spend with you. Having you in my life has made me a better person, and I know God has some big plans for you. You will bless so many people, and I'm so excited to continue to watch you grow!

I love you sweet baby girl!
xoxo
Mommy

Reid {1 Month}

Dear Reid,

 

Welcome to our family sweet boy! You have been with us for a month now, and my how time flies (beware- I am likely to say that every month!) But seriously...I cannot believe it has already been a month. On one hand it feels like we were just at the hospital awaiting your arrival, and on the other it feels like you've been with us all along.



At birth you were slightly heavier and slightly longer than your big sister. I guess you want to make sure you get bigger than her quickly (which is smart for your safety) because my how you put on the rolls fast! You went from 6 lbs 11 oz to 8 lbs in just 2 weeks! I can hardly keep up with your strict milk demands! Thus the nickname you received from Papa Grayson- "Piglet."

That name not only fits your bottomless pit, but also the snorting sounds you make. They are so stinkin' cute!! It is especially funny (sorry for laughing at you in your time of perceived need) when you get so worked up for your bottle that your snorting gets to where you can hardly stop to eat.

There's not a whole lot in the milestone category to address quite yet, but you are starting to hold your head up pretty well (careful of overcorrecting) and focus more on our faces. I LOVE when our eyes meet! I pretend you are saying, "I love you, Mom" even if you're really saying, "Hey, if I'm awake I must need a bottle or a diaper change. How about you get on that."

"Eat, sleep, poop," about sums up your life and your responsibilities right now. We've addressed the eating- hungry, hungry piglet. Poop is about the same for all babies. Now let's talk about "sleep." You are a fabulous sleeper, during the day. How is it that you and your sister both had your days and nights switched?! I like your sibling scheming has already begun! Last night I got a solid 3 1/2 hours straight and it felt like I had slept for a week! Generally, you are up every 2 hours on the dot. Remember, you have this thing about eating...a lot. Thankfully God gave me the ability to function semi-normally on very little sleep. If you and Miss Maddie could please talk things over and be a little nicer to Mommy, I would definitely appreciate it! You might even get rewarded in the form of fruit snacks when you get older, just a thought. ;)

So basically, we are in love! It didn't take long at all for you to steal ours and everyone else's hearts. We can already tell you are going to be a sweetheart like your sister! We are a very blessed family of four!

xoxo
Mommy

 

Reid's Newborn Pictures

I'm not going to say much in this post because pictures speak louder than words, and these pictures are so lovely they might actually be yelling. ;) We wanted to get newborn pictures done for Reid like we did for Madison, and after asking/calling around I found Tiffany! She only books 2 sessions a month because she has a beautiful family of 5 busy children (yes, FIVE!) so I was quite fortunate that she agreed to do our pictures. We will cherish them forever!! Enjoy...

 

 

 

Now comes the hard part- figuring out which ones to print out and where to put them. I have so many favorites!!! Family/Friends- if you see any specific one(s) you would like a copy of, let me know, and I'll send it your way!