A letter to Maddy on her wedding day

Dear Maddy,
Yesterday you told us that you are going to marry Jack at church on Sunday. A surprise to us because we are not sure if Jack is your imaginary friend or someone in your Sunday school class. But that's not important, what is important is that at 3 years old you described your wedding in great detail. I want to remember those details so that 20 years from now on your actual wedding day we can look back and see if your vision at 3 years old ended up as your "dream wedding." I hope it does because this sounds awfully sweet.....

"I want to wear a white dress with a princess crown on my head, Jack has to wear black pants and a tie. I want to carry purple flowers and have a white cake with strawberries and whipped cream on it. We dance and have a horse and carriage drive. Everybody is invited but you have to wear ties and pretty dresses."

Maddy, your dad and I can't wait to meet the guy that steals your heart. Since the day you were born we knew that whoever takes you as his wife will be someone extraordinary, just like you. You will always be our "baby Maddy" twirling around in your pink and white polka dot dress.

Now I gotta go, time to start clipping coupons, purple flowers and carriages aren't cheap. :-)

Love,

Mommy

Snowmageddon....

The last time the girls and I were in Washington DC it looked like this.....

Snowmageddon February 2010

That was the week it snowed over 3 feet and we were basically house bound for 7 days. Only crazy people, like my father, attempted to leave and actually go to work. Well the snow is long gone and the girls and I are heading out Monday (early) morning to visit Nana and Grandaddy in Washington DC. This trip is long over due because the last time they saw Kate she looked like this and like to sit in her swing.

Won't they be surprised to see this cute drooly little monkey.

And won't Maddy be surprised when she gets there and there is no snow and it's not Christmas. She told me today that Nana and Grandaddy still have snow so it's Christmastime at their house. They may not have snow but I bet they have lots of fun and surprises planned for us.

Maddy and the Library

I had to run a bunch of errands today in preparation of our big trip to Washington DC next week and one of them was to get a library card and check out some books for Maddy to read while "we are on 'cation". She thinks any trip that requires spending the night is a vacation.

As we were applying for our library card it occurred to me that Maddy had never checked out books from the library. While we were in Greensboro we would occasionally go for story time but we never stayed long enough to check out books. So as we were selecting a few books to take with us I tried to explain that we would take a few books home, borrow them for a few weeks, and then take them back in exchange for new ones. Well the only part Maddy heard was "take them back." As you can imagine that ignited a small "Maddy Meltdown"... A quick trip to the bathroom for a "time out" solved the problem and we spent the rest of our time reading books. For those of you wondering what Kate was doing, she was in her stroller chewing on a toy.

In the end Maddy checked out a bag full of books. I'll let you know what happens when we have to return the books in two weeks.....

Weekend in Review.....

It appears that everyone survived the weekend. I know that I had a lot of fun in Atlanta but I sure could have used a little more sleep this morning. Anyone else feeling that way? While Mimi, myself, Aunt Kimmy, Uncle Charlie, and Ms. Peggy were away doing "business" at market Poppi and David were busy at our house. Not only were they watching Maddy and Kate but they also had all the dogs. So there were a few times over the weekend the guys felt more like zookeepers than babysitters, but they did a great job. According to Maddy this is what they did over the weekend:

• "had pool party"


• "went to the moose for dinner" (I think that means they went to Loco's)


• "got a bath"


• "we got ice cream"


• "Poppi made pancakes, but he didn't make bacon"


• "daddy workout"


• "Poppi run"


• "Kate cry at dinner cause she scared"

So it sounds like they had lots of fun. And Poppi gets a gold star because on Sunday he ventured out to the grocery store with Kate and Maddy by himself. A task attempted only by myself and now Poppi.

Thank you Mimi and Poppi for a fun weekend. It's nice to have a break from the girls, but its even nicer to come home and get a big hug from Maddy and a huge smile from Baby Kate. I don't have any pictures of the girls over the weekend but I will share this picture with you.

Chef and Food Network star Tyler Florence was at market this weekend. He did a great cooking presentation with his dad and then signed cookbooks. I've always liked his TV shows and have tried some of his recipes so it was a fun treat to meet him. Very personable and eager to talk about yams and sweet potatoes. :-) I'll let you know how some of his recipes turn out.

Zack and his little ladies....

This morning it struck me that we have a three children: Maddy, Kate, and of course Zack. All three were waiting patiently at and around the kitchen table for breakfast while mommy made her cup of coffee. And yes it was the perfect photo opportunity but it was early and you have to charge the camera batteries sometime....

As we traded in the Pathfinder last week I was reminded of the day we drove to Bellville, Texas to pick up Zack. We were young naive newlyweds that thought raising a Labrador in a one bedroom apartment was a good idea. Well we should have known better. Not even 10 minutes into the drive back to Houston he tried to jump out of the car and about 2 months later we got a note on our apartment door that said we had to move because Zack exceeded the 25lb weight limit for dogs (we were really shocked because all of the office staff loved him). Eight years have gone by and Zack is still our baby even though he sheds a lot and is sometimes stinky.

Zack is the perfect dog for our family. He's protective and loving all at the same time. He lets Maddy and Kate sit, roll, and tug all over him and never gets mad. He may get grumpy but even then he politely gets up and goes upstairs to our bed. Zack doesn't ask for much just a walk or swim every day and to sleep in our bed. Which of course we let him, no kids in our bed because Zack sleeps in the middle. Always has, always will. He's a good dog and I can't imagine our family without him.

By the way, no more blog entries until next week. I am leaving tomorrow for a fun weekend at Market in Atlanta. My babies are staying home and being watched by Daddy, Poppi, and even Uncle Fireman Ben. Please pray for a safe and fun weekend for all. I'll let you know how the guys did next week....

Kate - 6 Months Old

Yesterday Kate went to the doctor for her 6 month checkup. She weighs 18lbs 2 oz and is 26 3/4 inches long. And of course the doctor said she's perfect...but we didn't need anyone to tell us that. Of course she's perfect! While we were there she got her routine immunizations and as Maddy said "she doesn't like shots, let's get out of here"....

My poor baby had band aids all over her legs. And yes, she's got her paci because that's just the kind of day she was having after all that. Obviously it didn't bother her for too long because she was soon doing this....

Pretty soon I am going to be chasing two little girls. Don't think I am quite ready for that.

Twirling is dangerous.....

Last Wednesday night we found out that "twirling" can be dangerous. Yes, I mean the cute little ballet twirling that all 3 year old girls do in the living room is dangerous. After dinner Maddy was dancing in our living room to her new favorite song "Jumping Jack Flash", you can thank David for that. David was out walking Zack while I was upstairs changing Kate when Maddy walks into the nursery and calmly says "I think I need to go to the doctor." All I see is blood dripping from her chin. I very calmly tell her to sit down while inside I was freaking out trying to figure out what happened and where I could put Kate.

I take Maddy downstairs, she's still not crying. In fact she's almost excited. David comes home and agrees that the gash on her chin is pretty bad and needs attention. So I grab my purse, a few snacks (we could be there awhile), and Gigi and we head out to the after hours Peds office, thinking that we will probably end up at the ER for sedation and stitches. Maddy is still not crying, I think she was excited to go somewhere with Mommy without Kate.

We arrive at Peds after hours and within 10 minutes we are in a room with a doctor. The nice doctor looks at Maddy and asks "what happened?" Maddy's response is "I was dancing like a princess". Doc says "oh, are you a good dancer?" Maddy with all the attitude of a 16 year old girl looks up, rolls her eyes and says "no!" Like "well duh, obviously I am not a good dancer if I am here." We all laugh.

Luckily the cut is not nearly as bad as David and I had thought. No stitches, just a little dermabond glue and a band aid. That sounds easy enough, right? Well when it came time to hold Maddy down she got scared and started kicking and screaming. It took two nurses and mommy to hold her down while the doctor cleaned and glued the cut. I am sure the people in the waiting room must have thought she was being tortured. When it was all over she got 3 lollipops, 2 stickers, and a princess bracelet, wonder if insurance will pay for the prizes.... :-)

We were back home and ready for bed within an hour of the "twirling"... The next morning when Maddy looked at her chin she told me two things:

1. "I was a very brave princess"


2. "Twirling is dangerous"......