Birthday #36

It was my birthday April 28Th. I turned another year closer to 40 as I look at it. I'm not to crazy about that, but I do like to celebrate. I woke up to some nice gifts from the family and had a nice dinner with the kids.

I woke up to find...



A red velvet cake



A card from the kids



My good friends Sherry and Anna took me out to lunch. They brought me a cake and some very nice presents.







Madison was there too...



A candle for each decade Anna said, LOL...



Presents!!!




Thanks girlies!!!

Now it's Anna's turn to be showered with some birthday love. Her special day doesn't come until July, but it will be here before we know it.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts. I loved it all.

Madison 9 Months Old

Madison is 9 Months Old today! Three more months and you'll be one. Wow! I can't believe it.




Sitting you next to your sign each month is getting harder and harder. You will not sit still and want to crawl away. You don't want to sit for pictures, you would much rather be standing.




Here is what you can do now:

• You can CRAWL and you are starting to get pretty fast at it.
• You pull yourself up on just about everything.
• You stand for long periods while holding onto something.
• You bump your head everyday, we joke about getting you a helmet.
• You say, Mama, Dada, Baba.
• You hard learned to wave bye bye.
• You are staying away for longer stretches and taking less naps.
• You are eating cut-up bites of table foods like mac-n-cheese, peaches, banana's.
• You love getting into things and will open drawers/cupboards to see whats inside.
• You reach for people you know well.
• You sleep in your crib at night.
• You laugh at yourself and anything that is funny to you just out of the blue.
• You sit in a new carseat but still hate to sit there for long rides.
• You keep Mama real busy these days, but we love how you are becoming a big girl.

First Trip to the Park

Last weekend we were able to get out of the house and enjoy the park. It was Maddie's first experience and I think she loved it. I know she really loved the swing and playing with her Brother and Sister there. I took some video of Madison on the swing. She was kicking so hard, being so excited and loving it...I just had to capture it. It will be uploaded soon.

The Great Outdoors

When everything is new to a little one, just sitting in the grass can be exciting. Here's a short clip of Madison enjoying the outdoors.

Been Caught Standing

Here's another video for you guys. I hope you're not board of them yet. Sometimes it's just easier for me to show you Madison in action. She seems to be doing everything all at once.

Here I caught her standing for the first time in her playpen. I know she's pulling herself up in her crib, but the playpen was more difficult. She seems to master everything with ease these days. Thankfully I had my camera out and ready to film.

She's a cutie!

Jareds Halo Battlescene

My eight year old Son made a short video of his newly built Mega Bloks Halo toy set. One that Halo fans like him can really appreciate. :) He did such a great job with his tour I thought I'd share it here.

Coming to you Live

Today I thought I would post a short video of Madison. It's short because they take forever to upload off my computer. I don't know what the problem is? So here is Madison who has just learned how to pull herself up in the crib. Jared and I playing with her.

Spray Paint Project

My old outdoor furniture needed a big make-over. I was tired of looking at it this way. The harsh Winter weather out here left them faded and dull. Instead of buying a new set, I thought I'd try to paint them first. Since I had some time over Spring Break this is one of my projects I was able to get to.

This is what the table looked like in the beginning.



I used this spray paint that's formulated for use on plastic. I needed 4 cans of the paint to get the table & chairs covered. I also recommend getting the handle attachment so you don't kill your fingers on the nozzle of the can.



With a fresh coat of brown spray paint this is how it turned out. TA-DA!




Looks a lot better doesn't it? I think so. I'm planning on spray painting my other plastic chairs around here. I hope they come out just as good.

Spring Break Recap

Spring Break is over for us and it's back to life as usual. The kids are back at school and I'm trying to play catch up. Especially with this blog. I wasn't on the computer much. We had a fun filled week even though we stayed close to home. I tried to take small trips out of town and visit places we haven't been to in awhile.

Here's is the wrap up of our week.

We spent time at our favorite book store.





My favorite section..Hobbies & Crafts



Jared found the toy section of course.



We shopped at Target and couldn't leave without one of their icee.







Here is a very short clip of Jared and Madison. 10 seconds to be exact. I accidentally recorded this and just thought I would include it in today's pictures. Nothing to exciting other then Maddie opening her stroller safety tray with her foot. Yea, that's safe! I'm going to have to super glue it close or something. She is going to fall out one day.



We saw a couple of movies.






We ate at one of our favorite kid restaurants, Chick Fila.







We also watched Jared practice with his new team for baseball season. His games start up really soon.

Miss Maddie was there too, looking all cute in her little sun hat.

I worked on some craft projects that I will show you later.

That's about it. Gas Prices were not that bad in my neck of the woods. They did go up a little but we managed to do alot on the cheap. Can't wait till Summer so we can do it all again and more.

This Is How We Roll

This is how we roll, through Wal-mart at least. Maddie is big enough to sit in a shopping cart like a big girl now. That is great except for all those germs that are spread all over them from kids who sat their before. I don't even want to think about all the gross stuff you could find on the handle. So I purchased this cart cover that goes in the seat. It's handmade by a girl I found online. I picked out the colors/pattern I wanted and she did the rest. She even made a little pillow for her to use if she gets sleepy while shopping. So cute! I get so many stares and questions about this cart cover when she's in it. People just love it. Maddie loves it too.



She's nice and cozy in it. Plus a whole lot safer because it comes with it's own seat belt and latches to the cart so she can't jump out.



It makes shopping more fun. This day we were looking for a new car seat. She's outgrown her infant one.



I choose another pink car seat (big surprise there). She's lovin her new big girl seat and it's been perfect for the short trips we've been taking this week.