Wait...weren't you just born?

Maddie had her first day of SCHOOL yesterday! Ok, ok, it's actually MMO (Mother's Morning Out), but they have an actual curriculum- we're talking shape and color of the month, and letter of the week- so it feels very school-like to me. She's in the "Frog" class and goes every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30-1:15. That's right, I now have almost 8 hours a week to do whatever I want! Pretty awesome.

We went to open house last week, and it went very smoothly. Mads was pretty stoked about the toy selection in her classroom, and would probably have preferred if I had just left her there that day. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't an option, so we came home and decorated her official tote bag. Alright, technically I decorated it and told her not to touch it until it was dry, but I decided to say that she helped me b/c I have the art skills of a 4 year old.



I hardly slept at all Monday night, but luckily Maddie slept like a champ, as usual, and was excited to start the day off right with some yummy pancakes and blueberries for breakfast.





I packed my first school lunch (which my mom gleefully reminded me that I would be doing for the next 16 years), but I guess Mads needs to get used to eating at school b/c everything came home except the oranges and juice box. She gobbled down the rest of it the second we walked through the door!



After refusing to cooperate for first day of school pictures, we drove to the church (less than a mile away, awesome!) and I dropped her off without a hitch. Miss Independent stayed true to herself, and although she definitely looked a little hesitant (it was utter chaos in the preschool hall), she told me bye and marched right in and sat down to start coloring with all of her classmates.





I really wasn't expecting to get emotional about her starting school- after all, we've spent time apart before (and way more than 4 hours, lol), and it's not even REAL school. But she just looked SO grown up sitting at that little table, and for the first time I left her, knowing that I wouldn't know everything that went on while I was gone, and knowing that she was in great hands but wouldn't be getting one on one attention while she was there. So I run/walked back to the car and burst into tears.





And then I enjoyed the heck out of my almost 4 hours alone :). When I picked her up, Maddie was happy to see me(yay!), but not crying like many of her classmates. She was very excited to show me the picture she colored, and then she came home, devoured her lunch while watching Yo Gabba Gabba, and then crashed for a full 3 hour nap. So I'd say day 1 was a huge success! I'm hopeful that she'll be excited to go back tomorrow!

And just for fun

Some pictures of Mads enjoying the summer!

Rockin' the cowgirl style:






And playing in her baby pool






Even happy when she wakes up!


Loving on Mia


Playing dress up



And that pretty much sums up our last couple of weeks!

Happy Happy Birthday...and then some

Well, I'm behind in blogging- what else is new? But I wanted to report back to share some pictures from Maddie's birthday party! It was a lot of fun, even if we did forget half of the food and cupcakes at home....oops!

The kiddos played on the playground for a little while first- it was fun, but OH so hot! Guess we have that to look forward to every year since Mad's birthday is at the beginning of August. After that, we went inside and enjoyed some food and drinks, then watched Maddie's 2 year video as we ate cupcakes.

This is how Maddie blows out candles, lol!


Yoooo Gabba Gabba!


Maddie and I went back to SC with my family for a few days after her party, and we did the 2nd part of her 2 year pictures there- Urban Toddler Style, haha! Here's a link to all, but I'll post a few of my faves.

One day, I'll be a year...then I'll be TWO, then three, then four

Well, amazingly enough it is almost Maddie's 2nd birthday! I swear, you blink and a year passes by.



Maddie had her 2 year appt today and she was SO good. She turns into such a little velcro baby when we're at the doctor, which is so unlike her. But once I convinced her I wasn't going anywhere, she sat perfectly still while the doctor listened to her heart/chest, she opened her mouth wide for him to look at her teeth, and she even giggled a little when he looked in her ears (I guess it tickled!). She had to get one shot (last one for a long time, yay!), and she was such a big girl. She didn't even cry, and got to pick a toy out of the toy chest for being such a great patient.



The doctor wasn't overly concerned about her speech, but agreed that it's probably time to get her evaluated, so we will be setting that up soon. I had a feeling that Mads has been doing a lot of growing in the last few months, and I was right- she is not so petite anymore!!! I guess her Daddy's genes are finally kicking in a little. She jumped from about the 20th% to 40th% in height, and from about 17th% to 30th% in weight!



Official stats:
Height: 33.5" 40th%
Weight: 25lb, 5 oz 30th%

Other than the speech thing, Maddie is doing great! She continues to be a great listener, and an all around happy, sweet little girl. We are seeing more and more of the terrible 2's (June was pretty much an entire month of awful behavior), but for the most part Mads is still a fantastic little toddler! Baby dolls/stuffed animals are still her favorite thing to play with, and Yo Gabba Gabba continues to be her favorite show/obsession. I will be updating again soon with pics from her Yo Gabba Gabba 2nd birthday bash!



In the meantime, these are some two year pictures that I took a couple of nights ago at Duke Gardens. The lighting was beautiful, the gardens were beautiful, and Maddie was somewhat cooperative and devastatingly cute. Here's a link to all of them!!

Beach week!

Some of my favorite memories growing up are from the week we spent every summer at Holden Beach. Now, I'm not exactly a beach person (as you may have guessed based on the transparency of my skin), but I still love the ocean and hanging out with my family for the week. And I was really looking forward to taking Maddie for her first official beach week!

She had a GREAT time. This child loooooves the water, and she was actually pretty chill on the beach. She knew exactly how far she could go into the ocean before the waves would start knocking her over, and she never crossed that line. She loved throwing her toys in the ocean and watching the waves wash them back up on the beach. We got a little baby pool and put it under our canopy, which was great so we could sit in the shade and Maddie could still play in the water. My little girly girl didn't like her hands being sandy, so much of her beach time was spent falling, getting hands dirty, then running to the water to wash them off.

Mads was a little bit of a handful at the beach- she has recently hit the terrible (almost) 2's, and her 'tude was in full force. She actually has been a bit better since we've been home, so I think it was partly just b/c she was so overstimulated and overtired (she woke up around 6:30 every day at the beach-ack!). But we still had a great time.

It was a much different beach experience, having my own kiddo there! I was expecting it to be exhausting, and it pretty much was, although honestly it wasn't that much more tiring than watching her at home, and we had built in entertainment a la grandparents and aunties, so it wasn't too bad. Overall, I think actually enjoyed being a parent at the beach more than being a kid at the beach-maybe not as carefree and relaxing, but it was so much fun to see Maddie enjoying herself so much. Plus, as an adult I got to enjoy a delicious strawberry daiquiri before dinner each night- can't beat that!

And now some pictures! You know I couldn't do a beach post without a plethora of pictures! Link to all of our beach pics here.

Walking with Momo and Papa on the beach

Tired and wet after playing on the beach

Strolling through the ocean

We can use our OUTSIDE VOICE on the beach!

Mom and Dad on their 30th wedding anniversary!

My pretty girl

Sisters!

Gathering some shells

Headed out to wash her hands

Walking backwards on the beach, lol

Hanging out with the Humphries fam