Monday, May 31, 2010

Horse Play

This is just a quick post to put up a few pictures of the kids playing together. After getting horsey rides from me, Patrick now thinks it's fun to give them to Madelyn. And even though Madelyn looks like she's trying to remain calm and hope it all just ends, she really does seem to enjoy it as well. It's really funny to see them interact and they do it more often now that Maddy's getting older. I can't wait to see how they play together in the years to come.




Also, Madelyn is rolling over from her back to her tummy now!! She started doing it earlier this week but tonight has been doing it over and over again. We got a few videos so I'm sure one of them is blog worthy. I'll try to post it later this week.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Two Fun Weekends

We've had a couple very fun and busy weekends in a row. Two weekends ago was Mother's Day weekend. We headed up to a cabin in Bent Tree with the Suskays and spent Saturday exploring the area. We went to the little beach they have there where Patrick got to play on the playground, run around in the sand and throw rocks into the water in an attempt to make them "bounce." His favorite part was going to the stables though. He got to see a bunch of horses and a couple ponies. He wasn't so sure about petting their noses when they came over but he kept trying to butt heads with them because that's what he thought they were trying to do to him. He was also very intrigued by the barn cat and wanted to know where it was at all times. Right before we left the stables, they let the horses out to run in a group and we got to see them play together.

On Sunday, Ang and the kids came back from the cabin and I met them at the house after I played for church in the morning and had brunch with my Mom. We spent a nice relaxing afternoon at home and got Angie's favorite Bruster's ice cream and dinner from her favorite Italian restaurant near us. Also, this picture of Madelyn has nothing to do with Mother's Day but it's cute to me. There are a few more of these in the slideshow at the end of the post :)

Last Saturday, we took Patrick to the Georgia Aquarium. Meme and Papa had given us this gift before Madelyn was born but due to Madelyn's early arrival, we never quite made it. So, they watched Maddy for the morning while we had some one-on-one time with Patrick. He loved every second of the aquarium. We got to see whale sharks, albino alligators, manta rays, sting rays, an octopus and tons more. I don't think Patrick's pointer finger has had that kind of workout since we went to the zoo. He wanted us to see EVERY fish there and was constantly saying "Look Mommy! There's 'nother one over there! WHOAH, big fish over there!" He also wanted all the other aquarium guests to appreciate the sites. There was one tank that had garden eels in with the fish. They basically look like small tubes coming up from the sand. Patrick saw them, got down on his belly to get as close as possible then screamed to everyone around us "Look kids! Worms!" as if he was leading a school tour. His mind was racing the rest of the day with everything he saw. He got to bring home a stuffed Beluga Whale that he hugged the whole ride home and sleeps with every night.

Once we got home from the aquarium it was nap time. After nap, we went to Nora Mayer's second birthday party. Our good friends Mark and Megan moved back to Georgia after spending a few years in Arizona. They too have grown their family by one member recently. Their daughter Audrey is a little over two months older than Madelyn. We're excited to have them back and looking forward to the kids getting to play together. They had just moved in a couple days before Nora turned two so we took the kids to their neighborhood playground to check it out, eat some pizza and cake and play. The kids had a blast running around and playing on the two big playgrounds. It's very cool that Patrick and Nora are only a couple months apart in age and enjoy playing with and doing the same things. And Maddy and Audrey can chill out and coo at each other.

On Sunday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate my Mom's birthday and Mother's Day. Madelyn and Carson got to lay on the floor together and stare at each other and for the first time, I think they both realized the other one was there and started "talking" back and forth. Grandpa made awesome hamburgers and we spent a lot of time running around the back yard. Patrick never gets tired of watching Lily chase a Frisbee. He was also introduced to Grandma's garden and all the spices she is growing. Grandma showed Patrick each one around the yard and he loved pulling a piece off, smelling it then taking it to everyone else to smell.

So, that's the last couple weekends of our lives. Madelyn continues to roll over from her tummy to her back and try as hard as she can to go the other way. She smiles and coos constantly and is just starting to figure out the whole laughing thing. Patrick is talking more and more (and more...and more) every day. You can tell he's excited about speaking in full sentences and all the new things that skill allows him to communicate. Every time we take him to school or pick him up at least one teacher stops us to tell us what a fun, smart and chatty kid he is. Somehow, we never get tired of hearing it:) Also, I had to include this picture of Madelyn because it's probably my favorite picture in the world right now. She's such a happy little girl! Anyway, here's a slideshow of the last couple weekends or if you want to see the full gallery without the slideshow you can just click here.


Monday, May 10, 2010

Happiest Baby on the Block

Last Friday, our little girl turned three months old and reminded us just how quickly she and her brother are growing up. It's hard to believe it's been three months already since we met Madelyn.

The last three months with Madelyn have been amazing. She's one of the happiest, most easy going babies I've ever seen. She can fall asleep anywhere, she smiles at everything, she sleeps through the night, she eats faster than anyone else in the family and she can get anything she wants with a curl of her lips and a bat of her long eyelashes. I'm hoping all the playing we do together now builds up my immunity to her charms so by the time she's old enough to know how to use them I won't be so weak.

The hardest part of having Maddy, for me, really has nothing to do with her, but everything to do with the time I get to spend with her. Our busy schedules, my work and already having Patrick make giving Madelyn the attention she deserves more difficult. Being the second child means a lot of things and one of them is that you probably don't get the same amount of attention the first did. I knew that would be the case going into this but I didn't realize how much it would effect me. I wonder daily if I'll ever not have that guilt in the back of my mind and the feeling that Maddy's getting the short end of the stick sometimes. I have to remind myself that she only knows what she knows. Her beautiful, toothless smile reassures me that she's doing just fine and loves us just the same even if we can't spend every waking second staring at her chubby little face like we want to.

In the last month, Madelyn's attempts at talking have increased too. She squeals with happiness when she sees someone or something familiar and gabs at length at anything in her line of sight. She's also started reaching for things lately which is fun to watch. She reaches for whatever she can and clumsily tries to grab it with her clenched fists. When she sleeps, she either likes to have her hands up by her face or she'll fold them across her tummy. Her modesty has gone right out the window as she now loves diaper changes and the cool breeze they bring. Madelyn and Patrick are still getting along very well and only have occasional bumps in their otherwise smooth relationship (read: Patrick sometimes wants her to know which toys are his. And he thinks they're all his.)

Here are a few more pictures of our sweet girl from the last month:







Now if you'll excuse me, the little girl who's been napping on my lap while I typed this just woke up with a big stretch and an even bigger smile. Time to play!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Things We Do While Daddy's Away

Toby was at a bachelor party last weekend in Asheville, N.C. for his friend Alex. A few months ago he told me a bunch of guys were going to rent a cabin for the weekend. In my mind I pictured a log cabin, hiking, maybe a bon fire or two and all kinds of outdoorsy stuff. I was happy he was able to go since he very seldom has guys' nights and very rarely sees Alex, one of his best friends since childhood (they met when Toby was 5 and Alex was 4). Friday I received a picture of the "cabin" the boys stayed in...


I hope they managed in such a primitive setting. Ha!

I had mentioned to my parents that Toby would be away for the weekend and asked them if they wanted to hang out a bit. We had toyed with the idea of going to the cabin in Blue Ridge but decided to stay here since the weather forecast did not look too promising. Saturday morning the kids and I showed up to Meme and Papa's house and this is what we saw...






It was seriously like a mini carnival. There were games and toys and food and music and oh yeah, A BOUNCY HOUSE! Patrick had a blast going from one thing to the next and goofing around with his Aunt Mollie. By the end of the day he was saying things like "C'mon Mols" and "Mols, where are you?". He enjoyed doing puzzles and counting frogs and lizards with Meme. Patrick and Papa also had fun assembling a red motorcycle so Patrick (and eventually Madelyn and Creighton) can have a bike just like Papa.

We then went on a long walk to some green space that is someday going to be a park (when it's all growns up). There we saw a front end loader which Patrick was able to "drive" with Papa's help. I was also schooled by my Dad on how those things work and what buttons and gadgets did what. I need to know these things because, believe me, Patrick will ask. He already looks at me like I am some kind of fool because I don't know all (and I mean ALL) the dinosaur names like Daddy. Sometimes he'll hold a dinosaur up to quiz me and if I hesitate even a moment he"ll shake his little head and mutter "ask Daddy." I don't want to be the loser Mommy that doesn't know about tractors and trucks too!



Miss Madelyn had a very fun weekend too. She spent most of it outside with us watching Patrick go bouncy house crazy and swim in the pool. She loved the cool breeze and looking at all the trees. She also got some quality time with her Aunt Mollie, Papa and Meme. It was so sweet watching her coo and smile at Mollie when they were playing on the floor together. (Click here for a video of our Chatty Maddy.) Here are two of my favorite camera phone shots of Maddy from the weekend (all the pictures of the kids in this post were taken with my phone. See here for why):