Welcome . . . Madelyn Dawn

Wednesday evening after we returned home from church - my water broke. Less than 4 hours later I had a lovely epidural in place. 13 hours after my water broke, our adorable daughter joined us. Just like my delivery with William, I had a relatively easy delivery - less than 5 minutes of pushing. Thank you Jesus.

Madelyn came into this world on Thursday September 20th at 9:19am. She weighed 7 lbs 14oz and is 21" long. She has a head full of black hair.

She looks a lot like her big brother when he was born.

William gave Madelyn some love and held her for a good 15 seconds.

Madelyn (above)

William at birth (below)

Bigggg Belly

. . . and inside is a fabulous little girl who probably already has a pink ribbon and pink polish on her nails. Her pink striped room awaits her.

William kissing my belly.

37 weeks. 5 days. But who is counting????

It's time!!!!

Day at Palm Island

So mom and dad took a beach vacation to a very secluded island. They invited Steph and I to come down because they wanted "us" to enjoy a day at the beach . . . translation . . . it had been over 48 hours since they had been with their grandbabies and were going through withdrawl. If we could have shipped the kids down their alone - I think they would have liked that just fine!
We had a great time on the beach! To our surprise - SoSo loved the sand. She sat and played in it for quite a while. William on the other handled his love for the beach differently. Throwing sand, rolling around in the sand, digging in the sand, covering PopPop's feet with the sand, trying to bury SiSi in the sand. Much fun was had by all.

Palm Island

Little Poses

So when William was 6 weeks old, I thought getting a professional picture of him was hard. He was screaming, I was all alone & sweating, the photographer was edgy, the end result . . . a picture that will embarrass him in front of his friends and girlfriends (girlfriend part being 25 years down the road, but it will happen) for years to come. I don't know why I even bought them. To remind me of the fabulous experience???
One infant has nothing on multiple children.
I learned this after Steph & I spent a morning trying to get William to stand still and Sofia happy and both looking at the photographer at the same time. Steph was crouched nearby holding on to Sofi's pacifier ready to rip it out of her mouth; I was holding a prop in front of William in hopes of keeping him entertained and still. Then simultaneously Steph ripped the paci from Sofi, I pull the prop away and "click". William starts to run and Sofi is ticked.
I now have a whole new appreciation for those of you with multiple young children and good looking family photos. Somehow, we got a sweet Easter photo of William and Sofia and a live bunny. All still for a microsecond - but it was long enough to capture a great memory for a lifetime.

Sunset at the Beach

Brad is gone one weekend a month for school. On those weekends, I try to do something different with William. Yesterday we went to watch the sunset at Picnic Island. We had a great time. We watched the birds (William calls them "duckduck" - close enough) and played in the sand and picked up broken shells. It was a little windy so we cuddled up together while we watched the sky change into this beautiful orange and pink.
As the sun hit the horizon, I told him to wave goodbye to the sunset. He waved goodbye and said "byebye @*^!#". That's not him cussing - I just couldn't understand what it was. It was a two syllable something. After it set, we got up to leave. Every couple of steps he would stop and turn back to the ocean, raise his arm to wave and said "byebye @*^!#".
It was a sweet and memorable time.

When we first got to the park, he was so excited. Smiling and laughing and running. It was so cute.

He's not a big fan of the sand on his feet and between his toes. He kept wiping them off and then wiping his hands on my jeans.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all. Today was a funny & sweet day.
It started out with cleaning up what we call "shooey" off the playroom floor. It was actually funny. I looked over at William, without a diaper on (not typical attire, but we were headed to the tub), and noticed him sitting with something between his legs. As I walked closer, it was "IT" - what I've heard happen to other girlfriends, had happened to me. Then . . . William stuck his finger in "IT", held it up to me and said, "PooPoo". Yes, my sweetheart - that is "PooPoo". I couldn't help but laugh. "PooPoo".
The day ended with another bath (no potty stories to tell) and a story. After we prayed, William squirmed out of my lap and walked to the crib and pointed inside. He was done cuddling and loving - he was ready for bed. Sad, but ohh so very sweet. I can't believe the little 5 pounder that came home from the hospital - like yesterday - can walk to his crib and communicate that he is ready to go to bed. Does that seem weird to anyone else? Tell me I'm not alone on this.

My sister recently had her first child. We were talking a couple days before Sofia arrived, and Steph was telling me what she thought Sofi's personality would be like. I never thought about that. At least I don't remember wondering what our little guy's personality would be. Well, William may be "all Brad" when it comes to his physical makeup - but his social behavior isn't "all Brad". Though - I'm not sure it's me either. He is truly one social little guy. As his vocabulary blossoms it is more apparent. A couple weeks ago I was strolling him down the sidewalk on the beach in Ft Lauderdale. As people came into William's view he would raise his arm and very clearly and loudly say, "HI". Usually they would respond. After they passed he would lean out the side of his stroller and say, "Byeeee". It made me smile every time. We went to an indoor playground recently - William starts running through saying HI to everyone. It was so cute. I especially like watching him get in older toddlers faces and smiling so big . . . like he's saying, "Hey, you look pretty cool. Wanna go tear it up out there????"
I'm sure if I had thought about his personality prior to his birth - that would not have been how I would have imagined him. He's so much better and more fun than either Brad or I could have dreamed. I remember my dad telling my sister and me when we were kids, "I like you guys." (On a side note: he liked me best :). Brad and I feel the same about our child - we really like him.

Merry Christmas to all

Merry Christmas!!!!
What an exciting day. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. William was a blast as he opened up his presents. He didn't grasp that he was supposed to open one, admire it, and move on to the next. That will come.

(William on his talking pony. Can you tell he likes it???)

(William playing with his BIG lego-alikes.)

(Aunt Rae & Uncle Rick bought William another NOISY toy - his own piano, guitar & mic)

(opening gifts from Uncle Steve - he would get side tracked with tape on his fingers.)

(This is what William's initial response was to his football from his uncle Steve!)

Thanksgiving, thankfully

We traveled to NYC again this year for the Macy's Day Parade and all the crowds imaginable.

(Dan holding William at the parade)

It's not a lifestyle I'd want to live everyday, but boy the crowded sidewalks and stores are invigorating for a couple days. Of course, it helps to have a good family brawl to keep the blood pumping in that FREEZING cold weather.

(William bundled up in his stroller: snow suit and thick blanket)

OK - not fighting with each other - more like ALL protecting ONE. It happened at the parade. It started with my sister defending my mom. Then Dan defending his wife. Then me defending Dan and threatening to call the cops over. It was fun. For those who know the entire family - it's easy to imagine. My sister describes it as "fiercely loyal". And we are. We love each other - we have so much to be thankful for.
At dinner every year we go around the table and tell what we are thankful for. The prevailing #1 - our relationship with the Lord. We get teary as we listen to each others recollection of the year's events. We are truly blessed.

(William holding PopPop's hand at Thanksgiving dinner.)

(Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Time Square.)

(Us having fun at the parade.)

(Family Picture at dinner.)

(Me, mom, and Steph (Sofi's in there too!))

(PopPop and William)

(Me and the one I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving and every day!)

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We visited a pumpkin festival in Bradenton. We had a great time for only having an hour to play since we got there one hour prior to closing.

William was overwhelmed by all the orange "balls". He kept saying, "Ball. Ball.". It was very cute.

Sweet boy.

William found the fence a challenge. He pulled and pushed trying to get it down. I think he saw the open field and so many possibilities.

Brad and William.

Me and William in the pumpkin patch.

William on the fire truck. He loved the gadgets.

Birthday Boy

Wow! I can't believe it has been 1 year! I'm sure all parents say that. I look at William and wonder where my baby went. My little 6 pounder. His entire body fit in my lap. And now he's big and crawling so fast. He is cruising on the furniture. Walking is in the near future. He is so much fun. He laughs and giggles and smiles and flirts. Oh, he is so fun.

These are his official 1 year pictures. I saw the piano prop in the studio and thought it said so much about William - his love for music, love for banging on the piano, his musical heritage. It just goes.

William and Cousin Lindsey.

Auntie Sisi lovin' on W.

Uncle Ferrel holding W.

This would be William checking out Miss Jackie (Fred and Dawn's little girl).

Birthdays are fun for the little ones - but the adults have just as much fun (probably more).