Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy birthday to the very best husband and daddy around!  We love you so much!!

2 1/2

On September 23rd, our not so little Maddox turned 2 1/2.  I seriously can not believe how much he has grown and developed since he was born (which seems like yesterday, by the way!).  One day he looks like this...

 

 

And the next he looks like this...

 



I can't get him to cooperate most days for me to take many pictures of him anymore, but that's life with a toddler, right??  We love Maddox so much and are so glad he is ours!

Some things about Maddox at 2 1/2:
-Still napping in the afternoon although it is taking longer for him to fall asleep these days.  Not ready to give up those naps yet!
-His favorite toys are trains and train tracks
-Talking so much and will say anything... he is extremely verbal and can communicate anything to you
-We are in a very whiny stage, but the "spells" don't last long. 
-Time-out works very well for him
-He started preschool in August and goes 2 mornings a week from 9-12.  He loves it!
-We are contemplating starting over with potty training soon... but I would not mind waiting until closer to age 3.  So... not potty trained yet!
-He loves to sing songs he learns at church and preschool.  His favorite song at the moment is "You Are My Sunshine".
-Still pretty shy overall, but is coming out of his shell a little more these days
-Can say his ABC's all the way through and loves to sing them to us
-Knows most of his letters most of the time
-Knows most of his colors
-Is really into drawing right now
-Not a great eater, but we are hoping this gets better with age

I am sure I have left some things out, but these are the highlights!  We love our sweet boy to pieces! :)

Friday

A couple of random things on this beautiful Friday...

-Before naps today the kids and I were playing in the playroom and Maddox got out his Magna-Doodle. He was "drawing" several things and then he said, "I draw the number t"...

Obviously we don't know the difference between numbers and letters yet but I thought that was pretty good!

-This little thing has decided she loves cheerios.  This makes my life much easier when I am trying to prepare dinner... she loves to sit in her high chair and feed herself.  Precious, I tell you...

Thankful, yet again, for the weekend!

Paint!

One of Maddox's favorite things to do is paint.  The other day when he got up from his nap I decided to take this activity outdoors.  It was a beautiful day and both he and Maclain love being outside.  I grabbed his easel, (washable) paint, brushes, some water, and we were good to go.  He loved it and it was a nice change from painting inside...

Before things got too messy

"Look, Mommy!"

Concentrating hard

His masterpiece!

Can't believe I will have a 2 1/2 year old this month!

A Rare Occurence

It is a rare occurence when I get a picture of Maddox and Maclain together.  I am sure that it has a lot to do with their ages, but last night before heading to small group it happened.  They are the most precious blessings and I am so lucky to be their  Momma!

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

One of the things on Daniel's list to get done yesterday was wash the back porch... it was in desperate need.  Maddox loves to "help" Daddy do just about anything he can, so he jumped at the chance.  It was quite cute to watch from inside, I must say.  He loves to play in water so this was a perfect way for him to help out.  He was so proud of his work and did a great job (minus the time where he thought it would be fun to smear soap all over his face and eyes). 

Meanwhile...

This girl wanted to play on the stairs... with me right behind her of course!  She can actually go all the way up on her own and sometimes when she gets to the top she will lay herself out facedown on the floor to rest.  It's pretty cute.  Don't worry... we have a gate at the bottom of the stairs and we only let her "practice" when we are there to prevent a trip to the hospital.

A Break

We got a temporary break in the rain yesterday for long enough to go outside and play after naps.  The temps. were a tad cooler with a nice breeze blowing every now and then.  Maclain loves to be outside just as much as Maddox did at her age and pulls towards the door every time we get close enough to it.  I love the days where we slow down enough to enjoy time doing the small things...

So happy it's the weekend and we have a whole lot of nothing planned... can't wait!

Labor Day 2012

We spent Labor Day in Orange Beach this year and had us a fabulous time.  It was relaxing and oh-so-fun!  We met all of Daniel's immediate family there and our kiddos seemed to really enjoy themselves.  As usual, I did not take many pictures but here are some moments that I happened to capture:

"All done... will you please pick me up now?"

 

Looking back I realize I need to be on the other side of the camera a lot more often!! :)