Oh, Beautiful Day

Today was the best. Maddie slept late (9:30) and was pretty clear that she wanted to stay home and play. We had plans for a playdate with our mom's group, but went late. While hanging out at home, Maddie figured out where I keep the pacifiers and holders - now she goes to the drawer, grabs a paci and holder, sucks on one and brings me the other to attach. Cute, but I think I might have to find a new place for the pacis.

When finally got to the car and I am really glad I convinced Maddie to go - she loved every minute of the playdate and wanted to check out every single one of Egan's toys.


It was an all ages playdate (hooray!) so we got to see lots of babies - Luke, Henry and big brother Andrew. Baby Julius was there, too. Bre, Sammy and Delaney were there, too, but they are almost the big kids now!



Xan the Man pushed Maddie and made her scream with laughter - love that boy!

He loves Maddie, too, and politely, but firmly, pushed Egan off - no sharing Maddie!

We visited the playground after nap time and Maddie proved she really is a toddler. I didn't know if I should take pictures or make sure Maddie didn't jump! (Thanks Amy for taking pictures!) And, more babies - baby Sara and Gerard, too!

I love having Peyton at the playground - she is a self appointed Maddie watcher and helper!

Peyton taught Maddie how to slide on her tummy - they've decided it's time to slide on her bum!

And jump on the bouncy bridge. Xander came along and made Maddie shriek with laughter again when he bounced her on the bridge. She tried hard to jump like him, but can only manage a stomp.

If Peyton can climb the rocks, so can I, or so Maddie thinks.

Okay, Peyton, can you teach me how to get up the slide backwards now?

Catch me, Xander!

Look, I'm sliding - and I think I like it!

The weather is great and this day was wonderful - more in our "Oball post."

Baby hugs

I love Maddie hugs. I can't take pictures since she is hugging me, but I love her hugs. Last night, after her bath, she hugged me for a long time and melted my heart. She hugs great, smells so good and has the best baby skin!

I love "oballs"!

Today was a great day and ended perfectly. We stopped at Sal's for Maddie's second snoball. As soon as we drove up, she started babbling. Once we got into the seating area, Maddie just stood in the middle and laughed - and that was before she got a snoball!

She loves sitting on the log, using a straw, and really loves her snoballs!



More, mama, more! I spooned it as fast I as could.



On our way home, we stopped for - hot (oh, joy!!) - boiled crawfish and ate on the back porch again. Maddie loves being able to eat at her table and play with her outside toys. I am a stickler about having her sit and eat inside, but outside, I let her eat and play and then eat and then play - the freedom!

We found out she really is a New Orleans baby, too. She absolutely had to try boiled seafood. She spit out the first bite and was clearly astounded by the spice. Then asked for more. She learned fast to eat two, shriek a bit, drink some water, eat two more, repeat!

She also told her Daddy all about our snoball trip (which I planned to leave out of our day - not quite on my diet!) As he changed her, she babbled "oball" "oball" until he guessed!

St. Joseph's Altars and Aunt Cessie

Today was Aunt Ces day - hooray! Maddie slept late (9:30) so we missed music class, again. The child has rhythm and knows how to dance so I don't think a missed music class is stunting her cultural growth... we'll go to every day of Jazz Fest to make up for it!

Maddie was thrilled to see Aunt Ces and took off to her car, with a brief stop to wave at me. They went to one of Maddie's favorite stores - Sams, and then lunch at Tiffany's for a special St. Joseph's Day menu. They also visited some of the local altars and brought back some cookies and lucky beans. They really enjoyed the beautiful day and visited Longue Vue and Perino's. I hear Maddie loved running on the lawn, playing in the gift shop and hiding behind the "tree" at the garden center.

I know it was a busy day because she slept for over two hours this afternoon. Thank you, Aunt Ces, for my free day!

This is Maddie in her St. Joseph's Day dress. (Okay, it was really her Christmas dress, but the colors were perfect for today and I was thrilled she got a chance to wear it again. I love this dress - thanks Amy, for talking me into buying it!)

Maddie is relaxing in her basket - the Moses infant basket. She now has a princess blanket and pillow (thanks, Granny Pearl) and uses the basket as her own recliner. She's too busy with a couple of her favorite things to smile - a drinkable yogurt and a straw! She's also watching one of her favorite shows, Dancing with the Stars, on TV so she is very focused.


The yogurt is empty and the TV is paused so she can take a break to smile - with a St. Joseph cookie in her mouth!



We ended the day outside again. With the great weather, we have had breakfast and dinner on the back porch almost every day. It is so great to watch Maddie play with her toys and enjoy her picnic dinner - and we can eat dinner, too!

Since Cessie didn't take pictures, I found some photos of local St. Joseph's Altars. This is what Maddie saw today.

The Best Cousins

After our trip to Disney, Rome & JW spent two nights in New Orleans, waiting for the snow storm to end in New York.

The first night, I had JW and Mom took Rome, as usual. The next day, Mom & Cessie decided I needed a break. They took ALL THREE kids to LCM, lunch at Planet Hollywood and then an Aquarium visit... all in one day. And I slept all day!

For dinner, Cessie took everyone to the Country Club for fried chicken night.

JW showed his love for Maddie....

and Maddie loves him.

We got all four of the cousins to "pose" outside.

Okay, all four of them were near each other...

The three midgets made faces and the giant (aka Trenton) tried to look cool.

Playdates and other adventures

In between our travels, we've tried to spend lots of time with our friends. We visited the zoo (after music class) and learned how to steer from Peyton. This came in handy at Trinty Park in Fort Worth - Maddie knew just how to steer the jungle gym - and how to slide. (Thanks, Peyton!)

At Betsy and Gabriella's playdate, we saw a lot of our friends - and imitated Isabella, tried to boss Frank and argued with Emily. Maddie actually tried to move Emily by lifting her by the waist. Fortunately, Emily thought it was kind of funny and just kind of smirked at her. (Maddie is bit shorter than Emily, after all.)

A roomful of girls...

The organizers of my moms group met at our house this week. With their kids. Missing from the picture - two boxes of Krispy Kreme, one child wanting to be in the picture, one child not wanting any pictures, three of our group babies, two toddlers (how did my child get so big?) and two boys hiding their drink cup in Maddie's play refrigerator. (Andrea, I found your sippy cup!)

At Amber and Conner's house, Maddie showed Ms. Blair her "v" - learned from Charlotte and Francis' cousins. (Okay, Blair, how do I attach your blog?) And do I really want to encourage my child to do this?

My giggle girl.. thanks, Blair, for capturing this picture. Gotta love that giggle.

We're back... for a little while

We have a had a whirlwind of activity for a month: Mardi Gras, 2 cousins visiting, Disneyworld, Dallas with the Imagination Movers and now it's parade time again! One day maybe I'll actually post pictures of our big adventures, but for now, we'll feature the little ones.

Maddie had her first snoball Thursday and I know she's my child. She LOVED her "o-ball." She got wedding cake flavor (no color) and it's pretty good - really sweet. I really goofed by (once again) having no camera, but I cannot believe I'll ever forget how adorable she was, sitting next to me on the log benches at Sal's, just giggling with the joy of it all. She loved being a big girl, sitting next to mama, using a straw and spoon and eat it she did - she finished every bit of the snoball. I thought we would leave when I was done but she wasn't fooled. She knew hers had more and insisted on draining every last drop!

Today was the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Day parade. It rained. A lot. Didn't stop Ms. I Love A Parade. (Yet more proof that she really is my child.) She still wore her green tutu and shirt tiara and her clover shoes and was the center of attention. Well, she may have been the only child on the parade route. Did I mention it rained? A lot? She was fine, of course, in her covered stroller. Her really patient Daddy and determined Aunt and Mom were a bit wet, but hey, it wasn't crowded.

Of course she got all the flowers and beads (and stuffed animals and toys and balls and...) - I mean how cute is she? And she waves and claps and smiles and cheers and then waved her Irish flag... how could the marchers not notice her?

Notice the big pink beads. When she got those from Aunt Ces, she whipped off her tiara and put those on so fast we barely saw it happen. My girl knows the "good beads"! (And, yes, that is a second stroller just for her loot in the background.)