Playtime

In the last month, Madelyn has really begun to love playtime. She has finally figured out those hands, and she loves to grab at her toys or pretty much anything else within her reach (including hair and earrings!). It is so funny how, when we hold something in front of her, she goes at it with her entire body. And once she has it in her grasp, it usually heads straight for the mouth! Her favorite toys right now are her move & crawl ball (thank you Justin & Emily!), her blender and rings (thanks Dede!), her rattles and teething toys - even though she is not teething, and her "Ocho."

You caught me!


Nom. Nom. Nom.

Those eyes...

Checking out her ball

Wordless Wednesday

(thanks for the cake Mom!)

Andrea's 25th!

This past weekend Andrea came up for her surprise birthday present from me. I think she knew all along, but I didn't spill the beans until we were on our way to see...



and

(that's Justin Moore, Stoney Larue, Gary Allan & EYB!)

Mom came along with us, and while I don't think she enjoyed the music as much as Andrea & I did, we all had a great girls night out! Justin Moore was great - LOVE his single, Small Town USA, twang and all. EYB rocked the house. Stoney was pretty kick ass, and Gary Allan was awesome. We ended up leaving during Gary Allan's set to beat the traffic, plus, we had already seen our faves.





This one's for you Bubba - we missed you!


It was also the first time I'd seen Stoney in concert. He was great, and I love that his band also does a cover of an old rock song...


And we had to try on our new EYB shirts as soon as we got home. I am so looking forward to rocking the moustache shirt! ;)


Happy early birthday Sister! I hope you had fun! :)

Wordless Wednesday

More Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We had to leave the pumpkin patch soon after our photo shoot with Stefani so that Anthony could get to work. We wanted to go back the next morning, but since it rained all that night, we decided to wait it out and go the next weekend (i.e. after the mud dried out!). We finally made it back out there yesterday evening. Our pics are nowhere near as awesome as Stefani's, but we are proud of them, nonetheless. We had so much fun with our sweet girl, and we are definitely going to make this an annual family event!





Check me out!





I was this tall this fall!

This pic is for Uncle Bill and our little buddy Bradley! We miss you both so much!

The good witch


We read a lot of Dr. Seuss books, so we had to take our picture here!

Not so sure this ghost would scare anyone...

Our Pumpkin

Two weekends ago we went to a local pumpkin patch for some photos by the wonderful Stefani Marcus. Madelyn was so fascinated with the pumpkins and all the people around her that she didn't smile much, but we still got some awesome pictures!

One of my nicknames for her is punkin' pie. :)

I also call her Chubby Cheekers (I know, I'm hilarious, right?)

And she got a kick out of picking the grass. Who cares about the camera in my face - there's grass out here!

Our family :)

Sara's Story

A few weeks ago, I came across this blog, and it struck a chord with me. I sat at my computer one afternoon and read the entire blog from the beginning, and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with feelings of sadness, joy, anger and happiness.

I have never met these people, yet I feel so drawn to them. Maybe it's because Sara was my age. Maybe it is because Sarah also just had a beautiful baby girl. Maybe it's because her birthday is one day after mine. Maybe it's because I feel like I know her, just by reading about her.

This woman had an awesome spirit, and she lived her life to the fullest up until the end. She was and is an inspiration to her family, her friends and even to complete strangers like me. I hope you are able to find some inspiration in her story, too.

Watch the video.

We all get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and take so much for granted. I know I do sometimes (well, a lot of times...). You never know how one day can change your life until that "one day" happens. I hope and pray that I am able to do some kind of good in this world, be it for my child, my family, my friends or strangers alike. I'm sure we all want to leave this world a better place. I don't think Sara could have ever imagined how much of a better place she would leave this world. But she did.