Fathers Day

Our Fathers Day was pretty quiet, Andrew always makes present buying easy because he buys himself whatever he wants, but I wanted to start the tradition of Madeleine buying Daddy a new tie every year for Fathers Day. So he technically got a card from his li'l squirt and a new tie to proudly wear. After church we went to Anne and Shaun's house to celebrate with Andrew's family with a Cafe Rio feast - yum!!! The kids love playing together, and I love seeing them having so much fun. Later that night I made a rendezvous over to my parents to wish my own padre a Happy Fathers Day.

P-H-I-L-A-D-E-L-P-H-I-A

(Geno's famous Philly Cheesesteaks)

Okay, so not my favorite town (Elsa, wouldn't you agree?), but I loved the people in it! At the end of May I flew up to Philly to see one of my dearest friends from my Ricks' College days - Elsa! It has been several years since I had seen her last at that time her oldest boy was just a few months old, now almost 5, plus two more cute boys to the mix (and when I say cute, I mean CUTE)!

(Elsa with Samson, Sean ducking for cover, Jacob in front with Me and Madeleine on my back)

Sad to say one of the highlights of our time together was riding around town in the pimped up minivan I rented - maybe someday we'll get one - man times have changed! It was seriously fun though - Jacob, her oldest, couldn't get enough of the buttons to open & close doors and having the space to all be together was a blast.



(Samson almost 6 months & Madeleine almost 10 months)

While there we reminisced on our good times together, I played Lego StarWars with Jacob (and man, he is good!), we went to the Smith Playground, which is a fun park for kids and they have this great indoor wooden slide to go down, ate "authentic" Philly Cheesesteaks (I think I'll stick to my Philly Connection down here in GA - I like sauce), visited the very steps that Rocky ran up (classic!), and roamed the Reading Terminal Market.




(Sean, Jacob, and Elsa with her amazing mom skills holding a 2 year old and a 6 month old while sliding down the big wooden slide)

I'm so glad I was able to see Els while she is living (for the time being) on the east coast. We had a blast spending time with her and her cute family - and I give a lot of credit to her boys for getting Madeleine to really build her confidence on her walking.

Pigtails are the BEST!

My baby is almost one!!! It has been a little depressing, I am so sad that she is no longer a baby. Yesterday for church I attempted pigtails for her hair, and we have... SUCCESS! Andrew had already left for church so it was his little surprise when we walked in with her new 'do.

At 11 months she is a fast walker/runner. No "real" words yet, but she definitely knows what you are saying. May favorite "tricks" she does now: she knows where her head is (thanks to head, shoulders, knees, and toes - however the shoulders, knees, and toes are yet to be found), she is taking after her momma in her dancing abilities (what a great booty shake she has!), if you talk on the phone or say "hello" she immediately puts her hand to her ear like she's talking on the phone, her wave is being perfected from a hand flop to an open and closed palm. My not-so-favorite new tricks include: throwing everything (and I mean everything) on the floor - I don't do the constant retrieval so once it goes overboard, she does not get it back, she transfers all her toys all over the house (I find little things everywhere!), and she is becoming the biggest handfull at stores always wanting to get down and then run away (I can only imagine what people are thinking when they see this midget baby running through the stores). Luckily she is still a great eater, she eats just about anything you but in front of her and she loves ice cream, cheese, and crackers (not all together) I have a sweet tooth on my hands, and I don't restrict too much - hey, I want to have her forward-facing sometime before she turns two!!! I am counting down the days when I can get rid of the formula (man, what a pain!!!) and for bottles and pacies to go away.

All in all we are so in love with our little monster.