Madelyn Turns 3

Madelyn turned three on September 30 and we celebrated with a party on the 29th. She picked Ariel from The Little Mermaid as her theme. Although a few days before her party she was telling people that she was having a Lion King party, but this mama had already purchased the cake pan, cupcakes, and Ariel decorations.
For something a little different and fun we sponge painted t-shirts and it actually went over pretty well. However, without the help from my paint regulating team, Jeanne, Neha and Rachel, we would have really had a mess on our hands-or maybe I should say all over the deck. Madelyn had a great time with everyone and of course she seemed to get everything that she could have possibly wanted-its almost sad that birthdays are starting to out-weigh Christmas! Also, thanks to her Nana and Nani, she has now received her first vehicle at the ripe age of 3-a Barbie Jeep. She and Jacee were hot stuff driving around in that thing with the radio on...fast forward 13 years and it's actually a pretty scary thought.
At the end of the day, it was nice to celebrate with everyone. Lucky for us, birthday parties for little ones are still fun and cute for those of you without kids. In a few years you will all be saying..."not another birthday party...". So for now, thanks and Bless you.

Madelyn Takes On The Mountaineers

It was only a matter of time until our miniature Mountaineer fan started asking to go with her daddy to the WVU football games. We knew the season opener was definitely a "nada" simply because of the massive crowd, excessive partying, and I'm sure language that a three year old should probably avoid. Let's also not forget, its the greatest game of all season and there they would be, Jeremy and Madelyn, eating chocolate chip cookies, sipping on capri-suns, and passing a Dora football, all the while watching friends play cornhole while eating pepperoni rolls and enjoying cold beverages. I believe that is what we call a "No Brainer." So, with that in mind we decided on a game that we figured would be more of a low key atmosphere, possibly more families and still with the nice football weather, which by the way could not have been any more beautiful. WVU vs East Carolina was our pick and she was psyched. By weeks end, she had the staring line-up memorized, okay, so not the entire line-up, but this little girl knew White, Slaton, Schmitt, their positions, and was ready to see Coach Rod-let me tell you, I was impressed. She knew more than I did--sadly that's probably not saying much. We woke at the absurd hour of 5am (5am for a football game-WHAT?!) and at one point I remember thinking to my exhausted self in the shower..."this has got to be how Jeremy feels when I ask him to go Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving... I will never ask him again."
We were out the door by 6am, met Mindy by 6:30a, and was safely in Morgantown by 9am. We all truly had a great time. Maddy hung with the guys, sported her new Slaton jersey, and "played" cornhole until game time. During the game she was mesmerized by the marching band, sticky from head to toe from her Zules frozen lemonade, and determined to see Coach Rod and his players. Although she and I left at the half I think her fun-filled day was a true Mountaineer experience-toddler style.

Pumpkin Patch

Baby Showers

Here are a few recent pics from our baby showers. We had a "sprinkle" hosted by some family friends and my step-mom, Kim, in August and then a nice brunch shower given by friends and mother-in-law, Mindy, in September. We received a lot of nice things for the baby and were able to finally complete his room. Thanks to all who helped, came, and celebrated!