Happy Graduation Aunt Lin!

With doctors permission (I was going anyways) we all made the trek down to ECU to see Lin graduate. I was in charge of pictures at the ceremony and Gamma took ones after so she has most of the goodies. We all had a blast and it was so much fun to be all together again for such a great occasion! Congrats Lin! or as Maddie says “go Lin go, yaaaaaaaay!”


Fan section:

A Not-So Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Card Reveal!

My cards are out and already been received by most so I figure I can officially reveal what we did this year! Here are a few pictures that almost made the cut this year . . .

. . . and April and Donny didn’t think I would post this one, ha!


Oh, I know you are wondering, how did we ever pick our faves? Well, Donny was pretty particular about the ones he wanted, and well, here is what we came up with:

front


back


We were so fortunate this year to have our great friend April or AFC Photography (haha) do our pictures this year – as usual she did not disappoint! April, thank you so much for doing this for us, everything came out amazing. Keep that camera ready for when this baby comes – birth announcements – get ready!!

Shutterfly Christmas Card!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Jump!

Donny had the day off today so we decided to try and do some fun stuff with Maddie. I had heard about this place called Jump! from some people and thought it would be fun to try out. Well, for $4 (adults are free!) Maddie got to play endlessly on the “jumpy jumps.” The place had no other kids there which was great. However, most of the things have slides (3 of the 4) so Donny did have to climb and slide with her or help her on them. I obviously would have but this whole pregnant belly thing would have gotten in the way. Here are some highlights of our stay.
Needless to say, these two took great naps that afternoon!

Santa Baby

Maddie was one lucky girl today because we got to go and see Santa at school, she got to see her buddies there too, and we got to meet Dada for lunch! Last year I don’t think Maddie ever really saw Santa, she had her dancing little “ta-ta” that we carried around everywhere but that was it. This year, she is obsessed. We have Santa slippers, a Santa cup, two Santa's at the house, it goes on and on. So, needless to say we were pretty excited to have Santa come to school and see him. However, when it came down to it, she did not want to be near him, or sit on his lap. So we got to talk to him to see if he could sweet talk her into sitting with him.

Please ignore the fact that I look like “frosty the noman”


. . . and we try to move a little closer . . .

Then I told Santa I was going to stick her on his lap and take a picture anyways, like all good parents. Neither Maddie nor Santa were a fan . . .


But then we had cupcakes and Maddie could run around with her buddies so all was right again. Oh, and she also would circle around in front of Santa and say hi, or bye every five minutes or so.

Sitting like a lady.


Waving to Santa


Playing with our jingle bell from Santa.


Off and running.


Worn out after all that Santa activity!


Phew. . . and we have another party tonight to go too!

Wordless Wednesday: A Multitasked Snack

Frosty, Trees and Jake

We had quite the fun-filled morning! We got up and had a big pancake breakfast and headed out the door in search of our first Christmas tree! Last year we were in Boston with my parents so we didn’t do a tree here at home. We did make a quick pit stop to pick up some shatter-proof ornaments before we got the tree. Meanwhile in the back seat Maddie kept saying “Frosty, noman, noman!!” The Christmas tree stand in front of Tanglewood Mall has a huge “Frosty” out front that Maddie had been looking forward to seeing all morning. So of course we had to take our picture with him!

How big is Frosty? So big.


And then . . . the highlight of Maddie’s day, she saw a buddy from school. I said, “Maddie, who is that over there from school?” to which we quickly replied while pushing away to get down, “Jake!” Maddie loves her some Jake. They go to school together Tuesdays and Thursdays and she always tells me how she plays with him. She also stole my phone the other day and told me she was calling him! Of course we had to get a picture of the two of them with Frosty as well.

Yes, Jake is trying to hold her hand, so cute!


Also, awhile back when their class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch, these two buddied up. Pretty much Maddie tried to win him over by continuously feeding him goldfish. Smart girl!

. . . and it’s been Jake this and Jake that ever since.

Oh, and yes after these two played for thirty minutes or so we did manage to find a tree and get it home and set up successfully. Tomorrow we are hoping to decorate!

“I dip!!”

Yup, Maddie is a dipper. She loves to dip weird things into other weird things. Like macaroni and cheese in ketchup or fruit in her maple syrup. Whatever gets the food in her, right? Well of course the other night when I gave her a cookie she started banging the cookie on the high chair saying “dip it, dip it.” Donny responded, “oh, she wants some milk, she’s seen me do it like that.” To which I thought, “how often are you guys eating Oreos and milk when I am not around?” Anyways, Maddie dipped her cookie until her little heart was content, but then, the next disaster occurred – her hand was dirty – another trait she gets from Donny. Of course, the hand had to be cleaned immediately, you can’t just lick off the chocolate residue left on your hand.

Steps to eating an Oreo, Maddie style:

1. Dip it.


2. Eat it.


3. “Uh oh, Mama. Clean?”


For the record, Donny looks just like this when he finishes eating his Oreos too.