Mommy day at the zoo

Today was mommy day at the. Maddie and I spent the morning at the zoo with some of my favorite mommies and their little ones. We had so much fun! Here are a few pictures...

Ashley Visits!

My girls...

Always fun to attempt some self timer shots...

Maddie gives Eva her first "haircut"... one day those will be real scissors in her hand. Scary thought!

Eva sits up! ... sort of

Eva's first vegetable... green beans

Miss Ashley and Mr. Glenny-Poo came to visit us! While Patrick enjoying his quiet time on the sofa at home alone (doc said he had the flu - riiiiight), the girls and I got to visit with our favorite northerners... the Mohr family!

Ashley and Eva

Mr. Glenny Poo and Maddie

Running from the waves!

Firsts

My little baby Eva is growing up! She has changed so much from the first months of life. Now she smiles constantly, leaving us all feeling like we are a family full of comedians. In fact, we are about to hit the road and start our own gig. We must be funny, the girl won't stop laughing, especially at big sis, Maddie. On Friday she laughed at something hilarious that I did, and there it was... her FIRST TOOTH poking through!!! She has been handling it like a champion until today. Today was a rough day. First thing this morning, she had her first projectile vomit as I held her cozy in my arms. As clearly disgusting as it was, she was too pitiful and I felt so bad for the poor little thing. Of course, afterwards, what else could she do but smile.

Today I played with my camera and had a fun little photo shoot. As you can see by the pictures... I am still figuring out my camera! I have a lot of learning to do. Nonetheless, the girls had fun!

Eva was very sleepy.

Only momenets before she plummeted head first, I caught her just in time!

Contrary to how this may look, she actually enjoyed the boa

So much she tried to eat it.

Trying to figure out the lighting here but thought it looked kind of cool!

Maddie loves the camera being on her...

And the camera always loves her :)

... that is all that is new for now. Each day we continue to count our blessings and become more and more in awe of the miracles God has given us.

New Orleans

Patrick and I just got back from New Orleans (Patrick's anniversary gift to me.) We had SO much fun! We got to spend time just the two of us and really just enjoy each other. It is hard to find time to do that these days! We were able to enjoy New Orleans but by day 3, we were both eager to get home to see our girls. Patrick and I at Pat O's:



Meanwhile, both Maddie and Eva were being spoiled ROTTEN by Nene and Pawpaw. Luckily for us, Maddie is now old enough to tell on Nene and all the spoilings that occer. Nene, seriously, she is three and does NOT need to be rocked!

Patrick took Maddie for a beach trip the other day. He covered her with a "sand body". Apparently she knocked over the "two additions" he tried to give her before he could snap the shot. Good girl Maddie! Shame on you PJ.

Patrick took Maddie "driving" in front of our house. I was scared. But not enough to resist the urge to break out the camera for a quick pic!

Other news:

I got to see a friend of mine, Lindsey today and her adorable little boy, Chandler. He is only four weeks old and has been through so much already. He is certainly a trooper. His mommy says he doesn't sleep. I think he is making up for lost time where he was couped up in NICU and not in mommy's arms. So, Lindsey... you hold and rock that baby all you want and you don't feel guilty. He's too little to be spoiled! (I forgot my camera and am NOT happy about it.) I am so excited that Chandler and Eva are going to be BFF!

Maddie has a little cold that we are trying to shake. For some reason she loses her "listening ears" and brings on some attitude when she gets sick. So we're trying our best to deal patiently.

Eva slept through the night last night. We are keeping our fingers crossed for two in a row!

My little big girls...

I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated this!

On Monday, Maddie will start in her new classroom of three year olds. She will now be a butterfly. This is slightly traumatic for her, as she says "she wants to be Maddie, not a butterfly." We're sill working on convincing her that is not physically going to turn into a butterfly on Monday.

Eva is growing faster by the minute and has become the sweetest, laid back little girl. She can roll over now and prefers to be on her belly looking around than on her back. She is getting some active legs so I don't think it will be too long before she begins her army crawl. She goes in for her four month check up in a few weeks. We are curious to see how she is doing with her milestones and weight/height. But we are dreading the vaccines! Eva has now slept through the night TWO nights in a row!

Calvin is the same big brother he has always been. Uninterested. He gives kisses when Maddie blows on his nose but that is about all the attention they get from big brother. Calvin is much more interested in following Patrick around until he caves and takes him on a walk.

I hope to do better at updating this...

Maddie welcomes little sister Eva to the family!

We welcomed Eva Maitland to out family on April 27th. She is a beautiful, sweet little baby so far.

Maddie's 1st Haircut

We got Maddie's first hair cut today and she loved it! Whatever girls love about pink, glitter, and flowers... well, it starts early.

Back in the Swing of Things

Maddie is certainly feeling better. We were able to make a trip to the park today where she was almost 100% back in the swing of things. She is back in her own bed after over TWO weeks! Doctor on Thursday where we hope he'll say she can take off her brace. (it is under her sweater in these pictures.)

Missing Maddie

I am babysitting tonight so I am missing my little girl. Patrick is on "daddy duty" and putting her asleep as I type. Tomorrow we will visit the doctor to see if she is doing better but I can tell she is feeling much better. I am sure she is going to miss the spoiling but she loves being back to her old active self.

In a few weeks I go to the doctor to see if Lil Baby is still doing wonderful. Then after that I'll be at the doctors office every two weeks! He/She has been kicking like crazy and likes to do it at the most convenient times... while I am sleeping, in a meeting, or in the middle or church. I often wonder if this is a preview of Lil Baby's personality!

All in all, the family is doing wonderful. We thank God each day for all the blessings he's put into our life.

(Her teachers fixed her hair like this one day. We thought it was adorable!)

Silly Maddie

Maddie is back to her silly self despite the brace and broken bone. We go back to the doctor Monday for a follow up. We are looking forward the weekend!

Broken bones

It's so hard to feel so useless! Poor Maddie broke her collar bone a few nights ago after she fell out of her bed. She's a tough girl though. I think it's harder on her daddy and I. Hard to look into her big blue eyes when she hurts. And worse, know that there is little we can do. So of course, she is getting spoiled beyond belief. Almost to Nene status. I'm bending every rule, and sometimes breaking. There is NO such thing as too much ice cream. NO such thing as time out. And the commonly used word "NO" has been close to absent from my vocabulary. I have become her new bed buddy. Meanwhile... her daddy is getting some great sleep :)

Our Family...

This is our world, Madeline or "Maddie". As you
can see, she looks forward to becoming a big sister. I hope to keep everyone posted on what is going on in our lives through this blog. Happy New Year!