Twinkle Twinkle!

We took Maddie to see the Roper Mountain Lights last night.  We figured she would enjoy seeing all the light displays and we were right!  There is a place that you can get out and walk around.  You would have thought this child was five years old!  She was prancing around with her hands in her jacket pockets and trying to be miss independent.  She was talking a million miles a minute and didn’t want to be held at all!  She kept saying “twinkle twinkle” at all the lights and telling us what each display was.  Watching her look at all the lights I could just see the sparkle and joy in her eyes!  We just love taking Maddie places and having her experience new little adventures.  When we got back home Maddie told Mimi all about what she saw.  She didn’t miss a beat.  She was saying “twinkle twinkle lights, duck, penguin, Santa, Christmas tree, train”.  It was amazing that she remembered everything!  

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  Gabe is off from school for two weeks so it has been great!  We spent a couple of days before Christmas in Charleston with Gramma McCoy, which was really nice.  Maddie was just getting over an ear infection, so her sleep was way off, but we managed to get through it and had a fun time.  We traveled back to our house on the 23rd to take care of the last minute things.  Omi and Pop-Pop came up again this year, which is always so nice!  Christmas Eve was a whirlwind of cooking, chasing after two kids, and lots of chaos, but once again we managed to get through it in one piece .   When Maddie was happy, Carter was fussy and when Carter was happy, Maddie was not.  So that made for a crazy night of trying to exchange gifts, since we would not see Natalie, Ryan, and Carter on Christmas day.  Once all the presents were under the tree we couldn’t believe our eyes-I have never in my entire life seen SO much stuff.  I think we may have gone overboard for these two babies!  Nonetheless, Maddie had a great time tearing into her presents-we didn’t even scratch the surface of the stuff, because we saved most of it for Christmas day!

When Maddie woke up on Christmas morning we took her downstairs and the look on her face was priceless.  She ran right up to her cozy coupe and then not even two seconds later she spotted the kitchen and bolted right for it!  She immediately started to cook for all of us!  So much fun!!  We spent a couple of hours playing with Santa toys and eating a nice breakfast.  We then headed to Christmas morning church service and once we got back Maddie ate lunch and went straight to bed for a long nap.  She didn’t wake up until 4:00 and that is when we finished opening up the rest of her presents (and ours, too).  By the end of the day, we were all so exhausted!

I can’t believe Christmas is over!  It went by so fast this year!  Now we are gearing up for a birthday party.  I have not planned anything yet.  We will probably keep it small this year.  I seriously can’t believe that my baby girl is going to be TWO!!!

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and will be blessed for a fantastic New Year.  I know I am excited to see what this new year has in store for us!  Here are a few pictures from Christmas.  You can check out more here Christmas 2011

 

 

Yay Santa!

It is the beginning of December and we are in full holiday swing.  Our house is almost decorated and we will be getting our tree in the next couple of days.  I am busy wrapping presents and working on Christmas cards.  I am doing pretty good by staying on task this year and not waiting until the last minute.  We took Maddie to the library for a fundraiser to see Santa.  It was no mall Santa, but she was excited.  On the way there she kept saying “Yay Santa!”  She sat on his lap for the longest time.  She was never scared, but just sat and took it all in.  It was hilarious.  She never once cracked a smile, but we did get her to say “ho, ho, ho!” and hug Santa when we left.  As soon as we got back into the car she said “YAY SANTA!”  Yep, she was a little late on that one.  It should be lots of fun this holiday season with her.  I can’t wait to see how Maddie reacts this year to Christmas morning with all the presents!

 

Photo Card

Initially Merry Christmas

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Thankful

Most days I get wrapped up in what I don’t have at the moment.  Our lives have been kind of at a stand still for the past four years while Gabe has been in Medical school.  We have moved several times and just have never felt settled.  Life right now can be so stressful and it is hard to just take a step back and realize that we should be thankful in what we do have.  I have a husband who works his butt off every day without getting paid then comes home and goes above and beyond to help out around the house.  I have an amazingly beautiful daughter who makes me laugh at the silly things she does.  I have a mom who is helping to support us while Gabe finishes up school by allowing us to live rent free and helps us with Maddie ALL the time.  I have a wonderful sister and brother-in-law and a gorgeous nephew who makes me so happy.  I have grandparents who are always there for us and an amazing family who I love dearly.  Not to mention great friends who I can always count on.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  It is getting brighter every day!  I am excited to see what the future holds for us.  Only three more months until match day {when we find out where Gabe will be for Residency}.  He is busy with interviews-he has two this week in Virginia.  I am definitely thankful for interviews, because that means a job for him soon!

We spent Thanksgiving in Georgetown.  What a wonderful weekend we had sharing with our family and eating lots and lots of delicious food!  Gabe fried a turkey again over the weekend and if you haven’t tried fried turkey you are missing out!  My Omi has officially said “no more oven turkeys EVER again!”  On Saturday we celebrated a Carolina football win against Clemson for the third year in a row.  We are THANKFUL for a win!

 

Soak it in

While Maddie was in the bath tonight and was brushing her teeth {we usually let her brush her teeth while in the tub} I had to stop and just stare at her and smile. She probably thought I was crazy, but as she was brushing her teeth this overwhelming feeling came over me and I thought “she is not my little baby anymore”and I just wanted to cry right there. She is becoming independent and wanting to do everything on her own. After I got her dressed and we started reading our books I began to reflect on just a few things that she has said recently that has made me smile.

The other morning after I handed Maddie her milk she looked up at me with a cheezy grin and said “thank you!” My heart just melted. It was the first time she had said ‘thank you’ on her own without us prompting her to say it.

Every meal I ask Maddie “what do you want to eat?” I try and give her choices and she never has answered me straight up. Well yesterday I asked her “what do you want for lunch?” and she stared at me for a few seconds and then said “GRAPES!” I was shocked! Thank goodness we had grapes in the fridge!

Today while we were in Cracker Barrel for breakfast she was looking at the toys and she went up to these big stuffed horses and picked them up and said “camel!” This really threw me off guard considering camels is not an animal we talk about often. I had to think about where in the world she got camels from and I finally realized that a camel is in one of her picture books. I don’t even remember the last time we read it. She doesn’t forget anything.

While I was rocking my sweet girl, I held her especially close, and reminisced about when we first brought her home from the hospital. She was just a little peanut then and now she is overflowing out of my arms. She will never be this little again, so for now I just have to soak it all in each and every day.

Happy Halloween!

Maddie the Monkey was in full force this year for Halloween.  She had lots of fun going trick or treating.  She caught on real quick as what she needed to do to get more candy!  With little prompting she would say “teet” (treat) and “ween” (Halloween).  Whenever she went to the doors she would say “knock knock” and we would ask her “what does a monkey say” to get her to say “eee eee” to the people.  Of course everyone thought she was super cute!  Maddie made the perfect monkey, because she loves “monk monks” and it is the first animal sound she could ever say.  Remember what she was last year?    Wonder what she will be next year?

 

Matching Monkey cousins!  Carter was not as thrilled as Maddie about Halloween.

 

Trick-or-Treat!

Right after we took this picture she said “Daddy” and ran over to Gabe and said “cheese”…this daddy’s girl wanted a picture with her daddy, too!  It was too sweet!

 

checking out the loot!

 

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween this year!