March/April Wrap-up

Its no secret that when the weather warms up you can rarely find us in our house.
We enjoy the warm sunshine and outdoor play dates with friends.
Because we really didn't have a WINTER this year, around February we started feeling some days in the 50s and even 60s. Then our March was 70s. April was also just as uncharacteristic, 70s and 80s!!
Pretty much my favorite thing ever....a MILD WINTER and an EARLY SPRING!

Needless to say...
such warm weather meant my blog was pretty much abandoned....
there are a few other BIG reasons that the blog was neglected, but that must wait because I'd like to put up some pics with captions of our past few [silent] months. :)


So here is March/ April...

Swimming at seminary pool.
Walks after dinner to our neighborhood ice cream shoppe.
Lunch dates and snuggles with Daddy.
Watching UK WIN BIG!!! Go Big Blue!!
Zoo trips with friends.

Then Mady and I decided to take a trip during Spring Break to visit family in Maryland. This was her 4th trip, 8th flight (she's a pro). 

maryland trip

We ate crabs (well, I ate crabs).
Enjoyed being spoiled by Grandma's GREAT cooking!!
Played with Mady's uncles.
Visited with lots of family.
 

 more.

Family zoo trip.
Finger painting with Mady's future husband good friend, Jonah.
Mady enjoyed helping me make homemade ziti.
More lunch dates with Daddy.
Bought Mady's first hair product! Made me sad, she's getting so big.

As you can see...we were VERY busy. 

GOOD busy, though. 

Life is good.

Easter 2012

I cannot believe its (late in May) and I am just now posting Easter pictures. This is proof of just how tired and sick I was during my first trimester. All things (yes, all) took a back burner. I am so thankful for a helpful hubby and loving daughter who were very patient with me.

Anyway....
Our 2012 Easter was great.
Here is Mady in her Easter dress.

This year instead of attending our home church Bryan got the opportunity to preach at a local (kind of local) church, Corn Creek Baptist Church.
Great friends of ours serve this church well. He preaches and she does music. This body loves them well and loved us well as we were with them. Our friends had their first baby and Bryan was able to pulpit supply to give them a chance to have a baby. Hah.
He did a great job. Preached 2 different Sundays, including Easter Sunday and taught Sunday school.

Mady was not thrilled about getting her picture taken.

After Bryan preached we headed south to spend Easter with family.
Mady received her Easter basket from Popsy and Mimi; she was thrilled for this.

We spent great time together, relaxed and ate good food!
Mady really enjoys corn on the cob. Eats the whole thing!

Mady and her Mimi= twinsies. Hah. She adores her grandparents and has so much fun with them.
We do too.

Happy Easter! 

He is RISEN!

Say What!?

Lately my precious 2 1/2 year old (yes, 2.5 yrs OLD!) has been full of interesting things to say.
She loves to tell you EVERYTHING that is on her mind and a lot of times she will tell combine it all into one BIG LONG sentence, barely taking a breath. Her thoughts may seem disconnected because she is literally telling you everything she can think of because YOU are listening. You ask her about one thing and you will get an EAR FULL about 20 things!! Such a fun age.

Here are her funny Say What's!? lately:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

When we go to the grocery store we ALWAYS have to say hello to the Lobsters in their tank. She loves to watch them swim and see their tentacles and big claws. She almost always calls them "CRABSTERS". She combines crab and lobster. I hardly correct it because I love it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Mady has taken a real interest in Weddings and Brides and Grooms, Husbands and Wives lately. Maybe because she is going to be in a wedding in June and we've been talking about that lately. Or maybe because she loves to look at some of our wedding pictures and see Mommy in a pretty "Princess dress". Who knows. She will also identify my friends by their names and say who their husbands are. Hilarious.
For example. She'll say: "That's Ms. Mewissa (Melissa)." 
                      I'll say: "....and who's that (pointing at Melissa's husband, Joe)?"
                      She'll say: "That's Mr. Joe, Ms. Mewissa's husband." 
So cute. So after that I will say, "Yes, there are married. They are husband and wife."

And here is where the "say what!?" comes in....
So for 'Mady Speak' she will often say : "Wusband" or "Wivesband" for "Husband and Wife".
I guess its just easier to combine it. Haha. Kind of like "Bennifer" for Ben and Jennifer. Hilarious.

Here is another wedding one...
When she see's a picture of a women in a wedding dress she will say: "She has her wedding on!" 
Haha! Makes me want to say: "Yes, she's getting her wedding on!" Like "She's getting her groove on!" :) 
_____________________________________________________________________________________

The other day Mady and I were having a hard time. She was disobeying frequently and I was having to talk with her and discipline her. She kept disobeying and we kept having to repeat it. So finally I just put her in her crib for a time out (I am not a huge proponent of these, but sometimes you both just need a little break and breather). So after her "breather" I went into her room and she smacked herself on the leg twice and with a very serious face said: "I disciplined myself Mommy." 

OH MY GOODNESS! I had to hold back the laughter, because she still was unrepentant and just skipped right to consequence! It was hilarious. These are the moments that make you smile even in the midst of difficult training. Thankful for these moments.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 The other night we were driving home in a bad storm, really hard, loud rain. It was kind of scary, thankfully we were close to home. When we were stopped at a red light, it literally looked like we were in a carwash with the amount of rain that was coming down on our car.

I looked into the back seat to see Mady's reaction to the BUCKETS and SHEET of torrential rain streaming down her windows and she said: "Mom our car's melting!" 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

With Easter right around the corner we've been talking a lot about Jesus and his death and resurrection. I have mainly read her the Jesus Story Book Bible stories about this and she has really gravitated towards it. Especially the picture of Jesus on the cross, crying.  I try to then point her to the fact that HE BEAT DEATH! because he was God and turn her to the very happy ending, without losing the seriousness of the cross. Its a VERY hard balance for the tender conscious of a two year old!

Anyway. We've been saying things like "Jesus died for your sins and can give us a new heart."
and "Jesus took the penalty/ (or punishment/ discipline) for your sins." "Jesus has made it possible for you to know God fully and be with him forever." Etc. Etc. SIDE NOTE: It is very hard to explain the gospel to a two year old. I feel so bad at it. Thankful the Holy Spirit is the ultimate shaper of hearts. Just saying.

So in light of all of this....I was putting Mady to bed tonight and she had just recently been disciplined for something and she was repenting. She said: "Mom, I was disciplined?" 
"Yes Mady you were."
"I die on a cross?" 

I about DIED when she said that! "No sweetie." How do you recover from that!! Haha. I hopefully did a good job of explaining that. Glad her wheels are turning though. Thankful.

Happy ALMOST Easter! 

HE IS RISEN!