Madison is Growing Up...

Madison has done several things lately that I don't want to forget. Keep in mind she just turned 2 on January 19th of this year, 2008. First, we used to go to the gym and it would be a nightmare to drop her off at the daycare. She would cry and cry and then I would often get paged to come get her sometime later because she couldn't settle down. Early this April I dropped her off and she said brightly, "Bye, Mommy!". As I looked at her, stunned, she said, "Wait" (which actually sounds more like 'whey') and as my heart dropped momentarily she came back to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She then trotted off without a look back. It was so sweet I teared up right there. And she's been easy to drop off at the gym daycare ever since. Who knew? Second, she will sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the car almost perfectly all by herself. And then she recites her ABCs and numbers up to fifteen and claps for herself (along with me, of course, the proud mom that I am). I keep telling Dave we have to get that on tape sometime but we never have the camcorder in the car when she does it. Third, the other day at Canyon Creek preschool Madison was walking off towards the road. I yelled, "Wait!" not expecting her to react to me (as she does most of the time because she doesn't understand me) and she actually STOPPED AND WAITED! I couldn't believe it! A major breakthrough has occured. The glimmer at the end of the tunnel of toddlerhood has begun to glow. Will life get exponentially easier from here? Only time will tell, but things are looking up! Next on the roster, goodbye diapers. Wish me luck on that one...

Mackenzie's 5th Birthday party! Grandma Linda was visiting from Arkansas and we were so glad she was with us. We had a small blowout over what Mackenzie was going to wear. The leopard print dress was very cute but not with the 'Unicorns and Fairies' theme. Dave solved the problem by suggesting the Princesses nightgown outfit aunt Suzanne had given Mackenzie. Yes - a compromise!

When everyone arrived, the girls got to decorate their own fairy crowns and scenes using foam stickers. Those things are awesome. Then I read the girls a book about a little girl and her ride on a unicorn. Then we played pin the horn on the unicorn, followed by a hunt for the tooth fairy's lost coins. Madison loved that one!

We set up the camcorder to connect to the tv and show the girls on tv while they danced with fairy outfits on. Next we opened presents. Mackenzie really loved all her gifts.

My friend and neighbor, Lisa Lannan, told me about this awesome 'cake lady' who makes amazing 3D cakes. Sooooo, I got one. Isn't it adorable? She matched it to Mackenzie's party decorations from birthday express. Mackenzie blew (almost) all the candles out by herself and then everyone got to choose between chocolate unicorn cake or cookie cake. Just before cake time we had lunch: sandwhiches, fruit, salad, and chips. We didn't want the girls to bounce off the walls on sugar highs. ;)

On a separate note, the next day Wendy, Dave and I ran the Austin AT&T Half Marathon. Wendy had flown out from Charleston for it. Wendy and I had started training together with Rogue the September before but then she moved in January. The airlines lost her bag and she was such a trooper! She borrowed my extra shoes, bought new clothes and ran it anyway. I was totally impressed. I ran it in 2:06:13 which was 7 minutes faster than last year. WOOHOO!

Madison turns 2! I can't believe she's no longer a baby. We had an ice cream cake for her and afterwards, Mackenzie helped Madison open her presents. Sometimes a little too forcefully. It was a good lesson for Mackenzie to have to watch someone else open presents. She realized that if you want someone to share with you, you need to share with them, too. Happy Birthday Madison!

Happy Birthday to Dave, Happy Birthday to Dave, He's still in his thirties, Happy Birthday to Dave.

Christmas Day 2007 in Texas. We got to have our own Christmas together before taking off to the airport. This year we had the Christmas tree (minus the middle section) set up in the formal living room. It worked out very well in keeping the ornaments out of Madison's sight, and therefore, attached to the tree and unbroken. We had a great morning and then packed up and took off for Alabama. The Huntsville and Tennessee pictures were actually after this.

A Tennessee Christmas. This was our first year without Grandma. We miss you! It wasn't the same without her. I still can't believe she lived to be 77 with all the health problems she faced. She was determined not to leave us, I guess. We had the family reunion at Deana's church building and then met back up at Grandma's house. Me, Dave, Wade, Stacy, Wendy, and Jon and Wade's boys all went for a walk up to the old plantation house. Dave got to see the old graveyard with headstones citing dates as early as 1776. It's hard to believe there were people settling the area by then. After that we had the gift swap at Grandma's house. We missed Mike and Chris as they had to leave that morning to get back to work. But everyone else was there this year. Somehow I didn't get a single picture of Deana - the planner of all things. How is that possible??? It was a really fun reunion, especially with Wade, Stacy and his boys there. They don't get down to Alabama that often.

Christmas time in Huntsville, Alabama. We all got together at Dad's house and had a ball. It's the first time in many years all 3 of us kids and our families got together. I learned how to play Guitar Hero and got hooked. Nicholas showed me the ropes and we played against each other. I asked Jon, the true guitar pro, what I was doing wrong and he gave me some good stance tips. ROCK ON!!!