Our Little Lion

Costume Sneak Peek...

We forgot to snap the bottom... oops... we'll have it fixed by Halloween though! :)

Saturday in the Park

Saturday morning, Daniel went fishing with my dad and Mom was watching Tucker for the day. So Mom and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take the boys to the park. This was Maddox's first park experience, but don't worry, Tucker showed him the ropes! They had fun playing and I am sure we will be making many more trips there soon!!

Looking Ahead...

I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about the next year of our little family's lives. There is potential for huge change around here and it gets my wheels turning. Daniel will finish grad school in August which means the job hunt will start long before that. We have lots of decisions to make, one of those being when to put our house up for sale. I love our little house. I bought it soon after we started dating, it's the first house Daniel and I started out in, and it's the house we brought our first child home from the hospital in. This house has so many memories already. As much as I love it, it will be so nice to have more room. I am definitely not one of those people that wants a huge house and I cringe at the thought of having a massive home to furnish. I want a cottage style house that has just enough room for our family and has a "homey" feel to it. I think about this often. In my head, I've started making a list of wants/needs for our future house and I get excited thinking about it! I love thinking about our future. I like to look online and get ideas about things and this is my "dream kitchen" that I have come up with. To most people it probably looks tiny, but I love it!

I love black/white kitchens and especially black/white floors. I love these floors. If you look closely, it looks like they painted over the wood. Anyway, I would love to have this kitchen...it's so bright and cheerful!

Ages and Stages

I distinctly remember taking Maddox to church for the first time on a Sunday morning when he was 3 weeks old. I had taken him out to nurse him and a friend of mine who was pregnant at the time came in and sat down next to me on the loveseat. She has lots of kids of her own and has raised them well. She asked how things were going and I told her all about it (She probably was looking for a "Oh, just fine"). At the time I was frustrated because we had been having a tough several days. After talking to her for a while I felt much better about the stage we were in and I was so thankful that I had actually opened up to her and told her how I was feeling. She said a phrase to me that morning that really stuck with me. She said, "Just remember... ages and stages!" Wow, how many times has that phrase come to my mind lately. She is so wise!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Maddox has been doing great napping in his crib. He was going through a phase where he was doing so well that when we would go into his room, if he was tired, he would actually lean towards his crib and as soon as I put him in it he'd almost immediately fall asleep. Sometimes he naps for 30 minutes and other times it is 3 hours...you never know with him! :) Well, in the last week or so, he has gotten so much more aware of things. You can't get anything by him! He loves for me to be close to him and he will actually pull towards me now. If we are playing in the floor and he wants me to pick him up, he will try to crawl into my lap. So sweet! But in the last day or so, he does NOT want to go into his crib. It's kind of cute, actually.

I take him into his room and we stand next to the crib for a second. This is where, used to, he'd start leaning toward the crib. Well, now, he refuses to even make eye contact with it. He completely turns and looks the other way and then he wraps his arms around my neck so tight and gives me hugs, "begging" me not to do it. As sweet as it is, I do it anyway. As soon as I peel him off of me and lay him down, he lets loose. You'd think I was torturing him! It's so sad b/c he will roll all the way over and watch me walk out. :( The good news is... the crying doesn't last long if he's truly tired and then he's out like a light.

My friend was definitely right... "Ages and stages!" By the way, I am loving this stage!

Fall Breakin'

This past weekend we traveled down to Blue Mountain Beach with my family for a little vacation. This was Maddox's first beach trip and he did awesome! The weather could not have been better and the water was crystal clear! We went out to dinner, played games, shopped, walked on the beach, and just had a fabulous time! I think I have decided Fall is the time to go to the beach. It was not crowded at all, nor was it super hot. I did not take many pictures, but here is a little bit of our trip...

It's The Little Things...

...in life that make you happy! Case and point: a new purse. I have been wanting a new purse for months now and have not taken the time lately to find one that was in my price range or was exactly what I wanted. Until today. After I left work I had to run a couple of errands and I found myself in Target (this is a regular occurance). I was not there to look at purses, but before I left I decided to browse their selection. I have been wanting a purse that could double as a diaper bag... something I could keep all of our loot in and still be halfway fashionable. When I found this one, I instantly fell in love. And I fell even more in love when I read the price tag... very affordable! It has so much room in it and has a "place" for all of our stuff. (It is much bigger in person). Love it!!

6 Month Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, we had Maddox's 6 month pictures taken at the Covered Bridge in Opelika. We used a girl that I ended up knowing from College and to say that she was awesome is a total understatement! We LOVED her and her pictures of Maddox turned out so good! Here is the link if any of you are interested in looking at them.

http://jenniferyoungphoto.com/index2.php

Click on "Proofing" at the top and the password is maddox10

I hope you all enjoy looking at them!!

Live and Learn...

...and then get LUVS! Last weekend, we started having trouble with Maddox wetting through his diapers during the night. He had not done this since he was only a couple of weeks old so I thought it was kinda strange. I thought the first night might have been just a fluke, so I decided to give it some time. After 3 nights in a row of the same problem, I started asking friends what they thought and what they did if their little ones had the same problem. I decided to go up a size in diaper, and to try a different brand. I had seen the LUVS commercials for forever and didn't give it much thought, but when I saw on the package that there was a money back guarantee, I figured we had nothing to lose. I bought them and didn't have much confidence in them that night when we put him to bed. They seemed so thin I didn't see how they were going to last 10-11 hours without a change. Well, the next morning when I went in to get him, Maddox was dry as a bone! I have been hooked ever since! We have been using them for 4-5 nights now and I love them. We are still using Pampers during the day since we still have them, but we might be making the change permanently when we run out of them. Some of my friends have also mentioned that they love Target brand, so we will see. Anyway, I am so thankful to have a dry baby again!!

What We've Been Up To

Last weekend, I went to my 2nd Kids Clothes Connection. I just love going to these because you can find such great things for so little money! I made a list prior to going so that I would know exactly what I was looking for when I went. If you don't do this, you could easily spend all day there. I bought Maddox several articles of clothing and some toys. But these were two of my favorite purchases...


1.This bath ring is something we have been wanting for a while now. Maddox LOVES sitting up and we thought baths would be even more fun for him if he could sit up. He thought it was a pretty good idea, too!

2. We thought he would really enjoy his own swing since he loves to be outside so much. Daniel put it up yesterday and this was his first time in it. (He was intrigued with Chloe at the moment.)

And the last bit of news for the past several days, but by far the most exciting.... Maddox is officially a crib napper now! I am soooooo excited about this because I have been wanting him to nap in his crib for so long now. He has outgrown his swing, so that left us with no options. It is amazing how much better I stuck to it this time since I had no alternative. We started with him on Thursday and each day has gotten easier! I thought about trying those blackout shades, but wanted to give it more time and see if he got better, and he did!

Farmer in the Dell

Today, Daniel and I took Maddox to Farmer in the Dell Pumpkin Patch in Loachapoka. Daniel's parents came in town and were able to go with us. We had a blast meeting up with friends and browsing all of the different size pumpkins, taking pictures, etc... I am sure we have started a tradition that Maddox will grow to love. He was such a trooper and really enjoyed being outside in the beautiful Fall weather. Thank you, Lolli and G, for coming with us!!