Teeny Bikini

We took a trip to Atlanta this weekend to visit Sean's brother. It was Maddi's first trip to Atlanta (unless you count the time she was in my tummy), and although it was a super short trip, it was nice to just get away from the monotony of our lives for a few days. The kids did so well on the way down there and Sean and I talked and laughed the entire way. While we were there Maddi got to go swimming for the first time, we ate at Dave and Busters (like an adult Chuckie Cheese and it was soooo fun), and went to the Outlet Mall in Columbus, GA. We had so much fun together, and it's little getaways like this that make all of the hard work worthwhile.

Promo

I love love love this new little gadget. It's called the Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder, and it is AWESOME. It has a netted pouch that you fill with fresh foods and then baby can chomp and mush and suck on it without having to worry about getting big chunks of food and choking. I love it because she can feed herself while I do dishes or clean the kitchen around her, she can eat organic, fresh foods, and she can eat exactly what we're eating which makes her one happy baby. I must admit that I looked at it several times but put it back because I was a little wary of the whole netting situation. I could just picture little bits of old, crusty food stuck in the net holes. YUCK! However, I discovered that it is super easy to clean out and can even go in the dishwasher. So, I am totally in love with my new munchkin feeder... oh yeah, and Maddi likes it too ;)

Snaggle Tooth

Drew lost his front tooth! Maddi was lunging toward him trying to get him to hold her when she punched him in the mouth. Oops! So, one tooth is gone, and the other is bArEly hanging on, thus the beautiful snaggle-tooth effect. Drew also got a new pair of heelys. He took all of his birthday money and scoured the internet for the perfect pair. He absolutely LOVES them and scoots around everywhere we go. I love this kid more than words can say, and I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

The Thief

To anyone who has ever met cancer... who has called it by a name and looked into its eyes every day. To anyone who's hope has been stolen and to those who continue to fight for ownership of their body again... here is a BEAUTIFUL dance. It's amazing how the graceful movement of a body can bring back a flood of memories. As I watched her jump on to his back, I immediately felt the weight of the world on my shoulders again, I smelled the Pine-sol from cleaning their kitchen and felt the hundreds of pills that I sorted each week in my hands. I heard the muted voices and ruffling of magazine pages as we sat in countless doctors' offices. I remembered sweeping piles of fallen hair from the floor and listening to vows of beating this one day. Oddly, I think that occasionally we have to go back so that we're able to move forward, and I'm grateful that this dance was able to take me on that journey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBlRvrIWC-4

Fish and Lemons

Maddi LOVES lemons!!

The kids fed the fish at the park. There were bazillions of them & they were HUGE... I guess that's what happens when they eat bread, popcorn, pizza, and anything else that gets thrown in the water .

It's only been a few days since I've posted, but it seems like so much has happened. We're slowly adjusting to Sean's new work schedule. It's been hard trying to find time to work around his schedule, so I've just given up on trying to go to the Civic Center during the day and have dedicated my days to being with the kids and working at home on the Internet; then I take the kids to the civic center every night to work. It's been hard taking them EVERY night, but I have really enjoyed being with them all day, and I've actually had time to do things like clean my entire house, catch up on laundry, clean the fish tank, clean out a few closets, move some furniture around, and wrangle myself into some sort of a schedule with the kids playtime/mealtime/study time. Despite my ample time to perfect my homemaking skills, it's been hard having Sean gone about 12 hours a day. He's my absolute best friend and I just miss him when he's gone, but we try and go visit him at least once a day and then we spend ALL day together Sunday and Monday which I have REALLY enjoyed. It's been a long time since we've had two consecutive days together as a family and I'm already spoiled by it :)

Maddi is seven months old already. I can't believe it!! I just keep staring at her and wondering how she grew up so quickly. I am totally and completely in love with this time in my life though. I finally feel comfortable in my own skin again, I don't feel overwhelmed at all taking both kids out anymore, Maddi is happy and fun and expressive now, Drew is an incredible helper and an even better snuggle buddy, and we've finally settled into a routine together. Maddi has started crawling (backwards of course) and pulls up on me from a sitting to standing position. It seems like she's doing things so much faster than Drew did, but I got out his baby calender from the pre-blog era and she's on about the same time line as him. I'm just glad that I'm able to capture all of these sweet moments and share them with those that we love.

Pickles

Maddi had her first solid food this week... pickles

Blueberries

We went to the Mary Mac Berry Farm in Brownsboro yesterday. We picked a few pounds of blueberries... and ate a few pounds while we were picking. They are delicious! Maddi had the best picking technique... she squashed them on the bush and then quickly crammed all of the blueberry goop that would fit into her mouth :)