Happy Birthday Madison!

It seems like just yesterday I held you in my arms for the first time.

And gave you your first bath.

You started walking and talking and before I knew it you were 1.

When you were 3 1/2 you accepted the role of big sister, a role I know God planned for you because you are so good at it. You are the perfect big sister as you are a good role model and love and protect that little girl like no other since the day you laid on her
These five years have flown by way too fast. I am so blessed to have such a special daughter. I am honored to have been there to say your first words, take your first steps, to laugh with you and cry with you and to comfort you when needed. I am so honored to be your mother and pray that God will guide you through life as we watch you grow. I can't wait to see what God has in store for you in the years to come.

Happy 5th Birthday my sweet girl!

Beautiful Weather

WOW! Today was gorgeous! It was the best weather, so we decided to take a trip to the science center. While there the zoo keepers were nice enough to get a bunch of anima lout for Madison to pet. She was so excited. This is the first time we have been since Ellie has been walking good, so she had so much fun getting to crawl through the tunnels and walk up to the animals.

We went to McDonalds for lunch ( I had promised Madison she could get an ICarly toy), and even brought it home and ate outside. Ellie took a nap and we went out for more fun on our swing set. We have been couped up in this house for weeks because of snow or sickness. Madison just got over strep, and her tonsils will not go down, so we have to really watch her for sleep apnea. It is very scary. I just hope this weather stays around for a while. I am so sick of the snow!

Winter Wonderland

Old man winter has come to town with a vengence these last few weeks. We woke up to almost a foot of snow two weekends ago. A few days after the snow, the temperatures warmed up nice and we got to get out an play in it a while. While this was not technically Ellie's first snow, it was the first snow she got to play in. She loved it and actually cried when we tried to pick her up. We all had the best time, with daddy getting to stay home and play with us. Even the dogs loved playing in it. We have definatley had a hard winter this year. It has been really cold and we have had lots of winter weather. While I love the snow, I am a little sick of it, and really ready for some warmer weather, and for the pool to open.

From the Infirmary

WOW! The stomach bug has entered our house with a vengeance. It started on Thursday, with Ellie. My dad coaches the middle school girl basketball team at Dan's school, so since Madison had her pre-kindergarten test we thought we would stay and watch them play. Just as the end of game buzzard sounded I felt something wet on my hand and the next thing I know Ellie puked everywhere. All down the front of my shirt, all down my pants, all over our coats, and all over the bleachers. IT was disgusting (the smell alone cleared out the bleachers). We had no choice but to ride home in puke. I put her in the bathtub immediately and no knowing Madison gets in the tub with her. Well she then proceeds to puke in the tub. So, the poor baby doesn't eat for the next 4 days, and has diarrhea.

Fast forward to Sunday I woke up at 4am feeling a little nauseous. I went back to sleep not thinking much of it. Then about 8 I woke up feeling really nauseous, and decided not to go to church. About that time in walks Madison and pukes in the middle of the floor. We stay home and around lunch time I started puking. Dan took Ellie and went to an anniversary lunch for his grandparents, and got home around 2. About 3 he started puking. So everyone in the house has had it.

We are slowly getting back to normal. None of us have eaten since Saturday night. We are starting to feel better, we just don't have much of an appetite. Hopefully this will be the end of a very long sick season for us.

Come on Spring!

I am loving this weather we are having. After 2 weeks of freezing temperatures we have had a wonderful week of awesome weather. Today it was 60 degrees and sunny, and we had nothing to do, so of course we spent the day outside. We went to the Science Center and then went to eat lunch and then got to play outside.

Ellie had been struggling with ear infections for the last 4-6 weeks, and I feel so sorry for her she has been on 3 antibiotics. Well, today we went back to the doctor and her ears are clear. She does have all 4 molars coming in, so the doc said she would be in a little pain. So we are dosing her up on Motrin for a while to keep her comfortable.

It is hard to believe my baby will be in Kindergarten in the fall. We filled out her application to go to school with daddy, now if we can just come up with the money. She goes on Thursday for her preK testing. Hopefully everyone will stay well and we can enjoy this week of beautiful weather.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Yeah Yeah! I know it is a few days late, but better late than never right? Ellie has been sick again. She has another double ear infection and another infection around her eye. We went to the doctor and saw a nurse practitioner who I swear is way better than the doctors. We got to talking about Ellie and it came up that she is American Indian. Well apparently American Indians are prone to ear infections due to their facial structure, so we have to go back in 2 weeks to have her ears rechecked to make sure the infection is gone, to it is on to the ENT.

On Sunday Dan and I took a trip to the beach for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. It was a nice break, and hopefully an annual tradition. It was a wonderful time to go to the beach because there was hardly anyone there.


We had a wonderful Christmas. I love seeing the girls open up their present, but this year was especially fun. Madison has been talking about bunkbeds for a while, so we broke down and got them for her this Christmas. It was really hard keeping her out of her room for 2 days, but we did and it was worth all the fussing. She woke up Christmas morning and I told her to go in her room and see if Ellie was awake yet. The reaction was priceless. We can't keep her out of her room now, and the girls get to share a room which she has always wanted. We really had a nice time with all of our family and friends, and we hope you did also. Remember who this Holiday season is all about our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we have Lift off

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and are so grateful that both of our families are here and we get to spend time with both on the Holidays. We had lunch at my parents and dinner at my Dan's parents and it was such a fun day. My mom talked me into going to Walmart at 2:30 for Black Friday. Lets justsay it was probably my last experience. We did get some really good deals on toys, so I guess it was worth it.

Over the last few weeks we have been waiting for Ellie to take off. She has been standing on her own and takes a step every now and then. Well she has finally decided to walk. She has had an eye infection for a few weeks. We though it was just allergies until it got really bad this last week, so she went to the doctor. They gave us their best guess as to what it is and told it was probably contagious (which after 3 weeks no one else has got it). She is on antibiotics and will hopefully be better over the weekend.

Meanwhile while waiting for Ellie to walk, Dan was training for his first 5k. He ran in the Greensboro Gobbler on Thanksgiving morning and did really well. We were there to support him the whole way, and very proud of daddy. By the way, Madison's favorite part of the race was the huge tubs of oreos they had (she snuck a few).