No Joke!

April First 2015 Ladies and gentlemen!

This girl has decided she wanted my water cup no matter what! She pushes her elephant walker over to the table, climbs it, stands on it, and almost gets the water! We have a smart monkey on our hands!

And this is no joke!

Taste Buds

Im trying to catch up on some blogs here and there, but alas, I am falling behind. I am realizing that I need to blog as I go and not worry about the order! So jumping ahead 8 months haha...

Yes! We have reached the 6 month mark where we can start playing with foods! WRONG. Madison has hit every milestone fairly early, so I assumed that baby food would be a breeze! Man, was I wrong! For the past two months, I feel like we have tried everything! The only thing Madison has "consumed" was a buttered biscuit from Bojangles and all natural cheese puffs (judge me). So in reading online about baby led weaning, spoon PTSD, independent eaters, texture sensitive babies, etc, I finally come across a theory... Maybe she just doesn't like bland foods.  I mean, she IS our child... So I googled and found on Pinterest some healthy/salt free recipes for babies. I have found many, and we tried corn fritters for the first time! What are corn fritters you ask?! Basically, you put corn, a little bit of onion, eggs, flour, baking powder, basil and parsley in the food processor and grind it up until it is pancake batter! Then... Make pancakes!

I was super nervous that she was going to HATE these, but turns out she loved them!

 I believe we have solved at least part of our eating issue! The poor girl just wants real food that is tasty! If any mommy can add flavor to food, it's this mommy!

I could admire that cheesy smile for days!

Give me more mom!

Grammy and Bailee Arrive in North Carolina!

Grammy and Auntie Bailee Arrive!

Whenever I first became pregnant, I knew for sure I wanted my mom to be down here (North Carolina). I totally didn't care who I was going to have to threaten or how they were coming, they were coming.  Two weeks before my due date, they finally arrive! As soon as I saw them in the airport I told Madison she was more than welcome to make her appearance! Apparently she said "ha ha, very funny Mom" because she wasn't making that appearance anytime soon!

The those two weeks, even though they were mostly spent waiting and hanging out were the best two weeks ever! A girl could really get used to her mom being around! Dishes were done, my house seemed tidy all the time, dinners were cooked, and of course, shopping happened! My mom pretty much single-handedly made a good amount of dinners in the freezer so all we had to do was thaw them and cook them! It was perfect for those nights when we were so tired, we considered peanut butter from the spoon as our dinner. She also helped me finish Madison's room and of course... Shop for her! I was loving every minute!  

My sister Bailee also essentially spent her summer break here! I'm really not sure if she had fun or not, but there were a few times where I think she did!  We played games, went for walks with our puppies and she even ran a few errands with us. One day in particular, the Thursday before Madison was born, I was determined to take these northerners to the beach. I mean, who comes to NC and NOT visit the beach?! This day I think we pretty much dragged Bailee. We arrived, lathered on our sunscreen, and set up our towels.  First go around in the water and Bailee was reminded of the salt water... She wanted out after a few waves and here it came "I'm ready to go." We hadn't even been there an hour yet and the girl wanted to go home. Oh boy. After some time, I suggested that we walk the beach. My mom wanted to stay behind to watch our things, so it was just us two girls. Bailee naturally is a quiet introvert, even more so than myself, so I typically just accept it. After a while, I start picking up shells and showing them to Bailee. It doesn't matter how many times I've been to the beach, I bring home shells. It must be a hoarding thing because I have bags of shells from various trips! As I'm picking up shells, Bailee starts to too and telling me which ones are cool or why she likes some of them. Granted, it's not a deep conversation about life, but it was like Bailee let me get a glimpse of her. It was a very neat experience shared by sisters. After our shell collecting (that's what I'm still going to call it, not hoarding), my mom convinced Bailee to try the ocean one more time. We all were in those waves! Yes, even my mom was in the ocean, I can witness! After a while Bailee got the hang of riding out waves, jumping over them, etc. I think we ended up being out there for a long time! It even had me thinking, "if my water broke right now, would I know?" Haha. We finally headed back to Greenville and I can truly say that I'm pretty sure my sister actually had a great time!

After our beach trip Thursday, my mom was starting to walk with me pretty frequently and we were Google-ing ways to induce labor. Madison was not budging... Like at all. Friday came and I went in for an ultrasound with my Mom to check on Madison. 

I was secretly hoping they would go ahead and induce me that evening because my family was going to have to leave that weekend. I was so disappointed when they said they would induce Sunday night and deliver on Monday.  It was all I could do to hold back tears as I got dressed after the ultrasound and the talk with the Dr. was over. 

I was so upset. Then I got mad. Then I bought ice cream. 

I really wanted my mom to hold Madison after she was born. I wanted her there to hold my hand because let's face it, I'm a wimp and was scared. My dad arrived on Friday night and Saturday they agree that they can stay until she is born on Monday! Not ideal, but I will take it! It's all you now Madison!

Madison's First Concert

Madison's First Concert

It had been a very long time since I've been to a concert. Like YEARS and YEARS. Aaron was looking into getting tickets to a couple of concerts like Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, or Zac Brown Band, but tickets were always sold out. Aaron asked our friend Chris, who we consider a musically in tune kind of guy, if he had heard of any artists coming up. There were two mentioned, Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson. Being that I was pregnant, being around a ton of people toking about probably wasn't a good idea, so DMB was out. But Jack Johnson was playing at the Boothe Amphitheater in Cary and we LOVE his music.  Jack Johnson was one of the first artists that I discovered Aaron and I had in common when we were first dating, so road trips and "hang out" music mostly consisted of a marathon of all his albums. 

I was super excited when Aaron ordered the tickets! I went ahead and purchased his newest album and started playing it in the car everywhere I went! The day came and we drove to Cary! We had never been to this venue, so we assumed with it being outside we would just buy some blankets to sit on. Funny thing is, we called to confirm how seating was, and they said no blankets! We settled with renting some chairs (which ended up being awesome) and drove to the amphitheater! We stood in a super long line with ladies who ended up smuggling in a blanket haha. The weather was perfect! It was warm, but not too hot. The amphitheater is right next to a lake so the view was amazing! Madison and mommy got to enjoy a lemon Italian ice while waiting for the music to start. We purchased souvenir tee shirts which has always been a dream of mine. Even in grade school, I was always jealous of friends who had an NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, or Britney Spears tour tshirt! I always knew they were expensive, but I've always felt that it was part of the experience!

The time finally came when Jack Johnson opened up is show! He started with some classics from his Curious George Soundtrack album so the kids could enjoy the music before they fell asleep! From the very start, Madison was a wiggling! I'd like to think she was dancing around in there! At the end, he played some personal favorites, his song "Angel" and "Better Together" and it was so sweet and a little surreal to be there, wrapped in the arms of my husband and best friend, knowing we had already been through so much, grown to love each other more deeply than ever, and about to embark on this next new journey in our lives! I think that is why I love his music so much, he can perfectly capture a moment of love, write a wonderful song about it, and make it feel like he knows exactly how you feel! The end came and I immediately start looking for my belongings, and Aaron says to just wait a moment. Sure enough, there was an encore and he even took requests! This was the best concert ever! I loved that Madison loved it too with all her wiggling and kicking! It was a perfect excursion for Aaron and I before she came! We even ate Schlotzskys for lunch... Does it get any more perfect?!  I think not my friends, I think not!