Around the House in February

Some of my favorite moments on camera from the beginning of February. Maddox just turned 3 and Magdalen just turned 1 month. Cuties!

Computer usage starts early nowadays. Blessing and a curse.

Already sharing with sister. Notice the Little Debbie Matchbox car on her chest. Maddox kindly placed it there because he thought she wanted to play. =)

Sweetly sleeping. Her darling sheets from Grandma Marlene and her fluffy pink blanket from Jackie (Degrave) Duffy. Love it!

Watching Brother play. So content.

"This is Dusty." From Handy Manny. Don't you know?

Fell asleep watching me and Maddox play.

Her adorable little pink & green elephant outfit.....from me! 

Another of my favorite outfits (from me again) that I bought for her and Chad. =)

Pink blanket that Maddox gave her the day she was born. She sleeps with it every night. 

Funny story here. I was trying to get out the door to go somewhere. As usual, I wasn't prepared beforehand. I was racing around the house looking for diapers, wipes, phone, keys, shoes, etc. and Magdalen was trying to scream in her car seat. I was yelling down to Maddox to "give her the paci and rock her chair, Buddy!" and he so graciously did. And with the softest little voice to go along with it. "It's okay, Maggie. Here's your paci."PRECIOUS BOY. You can see him rocking with his right hand and paci-ing with his left. 

I guess she liked it. Haha!

As hard and long as my days are, these two together still make me laugh and beam at the end of the worst ones. I love them more than they will every know.

Maddox's 3rd Birthday (Actual Weekend) 1.31.09-2.1.09

Maddox, Magdalen and myself were in Chattanooga for Precious Man's 3rd birthday. He was still overcome by the whole "I'm a big brother now" idea and a birthday was sort of second to that. He needed the attention. We were already planning a party for later, but we had a little one for him at Mom's house. Here are the pics of the day he turned three! And yes, like every mom, I couldn't believe it had gone by so fast. That pretty much goes without saying, right?

Maddox & Me. My cousin, Ryan, and his son, Xander. 

Hot dogs and Cheetos. What more could a birthday boy want?

Sister Magdalen made a short appearance. This was her one month birthday. She doesn't look so thrilled with all the commotion. 

Xander & Ryan again. Xander is like a Mini Ryan. Reminds me SO MUCH of him when we were kids. 

Ahlfeld's showed up so Kaden could play with Maddox. Micheal, Kaden, and Shawn eating here.

Blowing out his THREE CANDLES on the impromptu Handy Manny Cake. This kind of cake would usually annoy me, but his face lit up so bright when he saw Handy Manny that I was glad I grabbed it at Wal-mart. Very last minute. 

Micheal Ahlfeld using peer pressure. "Come on, Maddox, lick all that frosting. Mommy won't care."

Then Micheal handed him a spoon to eat frosting with! Maddox is laughing because I kept saying "Micheal. Stop it! He's going to get sick!" And Micheal just kept on...

Makes me sick just looking at all that icing. But, he was a happy birthday boy with all attention on him. =)

Kaden thought the whole exchange was hilarious also.

Maddox opened up some very sweet, cute gifts with Kaden's help. And then they played with the new trucks in the kitchen floor. Or should I say, they did siren screams and raced the new fire trucks on the floor, and were giggling like maniacs. They had a blast!

Josh & Becky were sad to miss Maddox's birthday, but they had sent a package up for him. He got to open it while they watched on Gmail chat. That was really nice and Maddox was so happy to show them his gifts. 

A tired mommy of a newborn and 3 year old and a happy, happy birthday boy. 

Steve kept Magdalen down in the office while she slept on the ottoman so that the focus from everyone else could actually be on Maddox and his birthday. Thank you, Steve!

On his actual birthday, I got some pictures of him outside. Just him being three.

He kept wanting to hide his train in the leaves. He thought that was so great. Haha!

My big boy.

Humoring me by looking up a little.

And last but not least, he said that I had to take a picture of his train for him. Here it is.

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!! I love you and am so proud of the little man you are growing up to be. A wonderful son, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, and lately, an amazingly intelligent, mature big brother with a heart of gold. I have watched with happy tears in my eyes as you've taken in your baby sister and never once acted rude or mean to her. We couldn't ask for more and thank God for you every day. =)

Magdalen Meets Chattanooga (4 weeks old)

I was ready to travel when Magdalen reached 4 weeks old. The same week that Maddox turned 3! (Maddox was also 4 weeks when he first visited Chattanooga. You will start to see a trend here....)

Chad helped me load up the Jeep bright and early that morning, wished me luck (ha!), and sent us on our way. As always, traveling with Maddox was a breeze and I was pleasantly surprised that Magdalen did just as well. I seem to birth good travelers, they are both easy to take along on short/long trips.

Here are a few highlights from my trip:

Mom set up a craft for Maddox one morning. He needed some activity since I hadn't had the opportunity in the last month and I needed a desperate nap. Thank you, Mom!!

Steven, my mom's first cousin, came by for a first peek at Magdalen. He was so proud that he was her first Chattanooga visitor. =)

Her first real bath happened at Mom's house at 4 weeks old. (Just like Maddox.) Mom printed this picture out and when I saw it lying on her table a few weeks later, I thought that it WAS Maddox. I know, can you imagine how horrible I would have been with actual twins?!

Mom started her out so I could take some pictures. I like to compare them to how it all went down 3 years previous. 

Yes, I did some of the work. =)

Maddox had recently discovered computer games, so we used them to our advantage when we were desperate. So while Mom was at work, Magdalen was napping, and I was trying to shower, he got to play BigFoot Presents Meteor!!! Woohoo! So intense here.

Mom cuddling her granddaughter. 

Steve getting to know her a little. We have many shots of him holding a baby Maddox in this chair. 

My precious baby in a cute little outfit from Nana. She wore it once because she was growing so stinking fast. Not too happy about that, but glad that she is so healthy. 

And everyone wore her out for naps which was AWESOME. 

Ready to go and wearing her Baby Tevas that Papaw Steve got her. They are soooo adorable. I can't believe how small she was. Except that she was big for her age. Go figure.

Mom wanted a picture with both kids so badly. It was harder than we thought. 

Mom will hate this, but I totally got a picture of her in the crib at her house. Haha! I had gone in there to lay Maddox down. (He still wanted to sleep in the crib there since he was in a crib at home.) That bumper was knotted and I could NOT get it undone. I was getting VERY angry (in my no-sleep, aching body, irritable way) so Mom crawled in and of course I had to have a picture. ;) Love you, Mom.

Thanks for such a wonderful weekend of rest, laughs, and fun for Maddox. 

More Two Weeks Old

A few of my favorite snapshots from the week Magdalen turned two weeks old. 

So tiny.

I love pink now. =)

My boys cleaning up in the kitchen. 

Must have been a haystack night!!