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.