And she's 4...

We now have a four year old!  Mady was so excited and ready for her birthday to come so she could turn 4.  She loves birthdays, and was planning and talking about hers for months.  This year we teamed up with our good friends, and had a double birthday party.  Her and her friend Rossi are exactly a week apart, so what better way to celebrate, than together!   And thanks to our awesome friends and families, and very gracious kids, we were able to make a huge donation of diapers and wipes to Options for Life!  The kids were so excited to drop them off, and Mady was sad that she didn't actually get to see any of the babies, haha.  Sweet girl.

The birthday kiddos

Cousin fun

When did she get so big??

We spent her actual birthday together, and made a family day out of it.  We headed out to The Thinkery in Austin and the kids loved it.  Nick and I had some fun there too!  Mady spent the afternoon breaking in her birthday gift, a new Frozen fishing pole, and went fishing with her daddy.  She caught several fish, 100 she says, and had a blast.

Even Owen had fun!

Her first fish!

Another part of her birthday gift from us was a tent.  She has been asking to go camping for a long time now.  We decided to start easy and camp out in the backyard first.  I joined her and Nick for the first part of the night and watched Frozen and ate some popcorn.  Then, because camping is not really high on my list of favorite things to do, I left her and Nick to sleep in the air condition and comfy bed ;)  My bet for how long she would make it out there was totally squashed because she fell asleep out there, and would have made it all night had the storms not come in and Nick brought her in to be safe.  She is constantly surprising me.

She continues to be our full of life, keep us on our toes, strong-willed, huge hearted little girl.  Everyday she has me smiling or wanting to pull my hair out, laughing, or wanting to scream, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  At Target one day the cashier told me "She is full of energy and he is so laid back".  I said, yep, that is the best description of them. She loves princesses and superheroes, fishing, and dress up.  She has a huge collection of jewelry, and rocks.  Just today at the library we checked out a Fancy Nancy book, and a book all about super heroes.  She loves God, and will tell me at least once everyday.  She loves singing christian music, and reading stories in her bible.  The other day a friend of ours asked her jokingly who the boss was in our house, and I was totally waiting to hear the typical mommy or daddy is answer.  Nope, this girl nails it on the head and says, God is.

Her favorite movie right now is Charlie Brown's Happiness is a warm blanket.  So random, but she loves the part where Snoopy drags Linus around with his blanket.  Her favorite food is creamy pasta, and her favorite color is blue, pink, yellow, and green.  No, she won't pick just one.  She loves to wear her hair up in a ponytail, and would wear tennis shoes everyday.  Helps her get around faster!  And when she grows up she wants to be a firefighter, because she says she will fight the fires like a superhero.  I love it, but we'll see how much this momma really loves it if it sticks!

She loves her little brother.  Now of course we have to be real and state that they definitely have their moments, but overall they love each other so much.  The smile Owen gets on his face when he sees her in the morning is so sweet.  She loves to play with him, teach him words, and hold his hand in the car.

Nobody has taught me strength and patience like she has.  Because of her I became a mommy, and because of her I have become a better person.  Mady, we love you so much and because of you, our life is so much brighter.  

April in pictures

Owen is growing like a weed, and everyday he looks and acts just a little bit older.  He is sweet, and loving, and just happy.  Of course he has his moments when he doesn't get his way, that he can throw a pretty good tantrum.  Now that the weather is nicer and we've been outside more, we have found that he LOVES outside.  He could be out there all day.  He loves walking in the grass, playing with rocks, touching the plants, sliding down the slide, or playing in the water.  That is his favorite place to be.  He will bring me his shoes and walk to the front door to let me know he wants to go.

He is starting to say words now, and will say mama and dada to me and Nick.  He says nana for banana, but to him it means all food.  If he says nana, then that means he is hungry.  He says duck, and llama.  He is starting to try and say words a lot more now too, which before, he wouldn't even try.  He understands so much though, and I can just ask him to do all kinds of things and he knows what I'm saying and will do it.  He's also good at ignoring me when it's something he doesn't want to do.  We are dealing with separation anxiety and he will cry anytime I leave him with someone.  It breaks my heart, but I know that the only way to help him get through it is to be consistent and show him that I always come back.

Big sister is still great sister.  Of course now that Owen is walking all over and getting a mind of his own, these two can get into it sometimes.  They always want the same toy of course, and it is a fine balancing act trying to be fair all the time.

Mady wasn't too impressed by the crawfish at our cul-de-sac crawfish boil

She was impressed by Elsa, who she got to meet at a friend's birthday party

She loves flying kites

We took a fun trip to the zoo while my parents were in town

Fun putting bows in Mommy's hair.

I'm obsessed with baby flip flops.  Mady would never wear these, but Owen loves them.

This is where they like to hangout while I get ready in the morning.

He loves being outside, and he loves the water.  This kid has no fear when it comes to water, which means mommy has enough fear for the both of us.  

Easter

We had such a good time gearing up and preparing for Easter.  Mady seemed to understand what we were celebrating a lot more this year, and asked a lot of questions.   Of course we had some fun Easter egg hunts too.  I love our cul-de-sac, by the way.  We all came together to have an egg hunt for all the kids.  They had a blast, and so did the adults!

Unfortunately on Easter day I came down with a horrible stomach bug that left me miserable in bed the whole day, and I had to miss our church service.  I was so bummed, but Nick packed up and went with the two kiddos.  He took care of the kids, took care of me, and everything else with joy.  I love that guy.  Even though I was sick, it was still a sweet day reflecting on the true meaning, and how much we are loved by our God, which is shown by what was sacrificed on our behalf, and the good news that followed.  There is nothing sweeter than that.

And that's the best we could do.

Bluebonnets

Yes, this was quite a while ago, but we did manage to take some bluebonnet pictures this year.  It has unintentionally become a tradition for us.  This year we headed out with some good friends, that way we could all get a full family picture.  They were so pretty this year, as they always are.

Our failed attempt at a cute picture of the both of them

Love her.

Oh man.  This picture is too cute for words.  Too big!