Ben and Daddy

Tonight, I snuck this picture because I thought it was priceless. Ben was watching one of his first full length Disney movies- Pooh's Big Adventure. He was mesmerized. As you can see, Daddy was too! Daddy is awesome and can often be found hanging with both kids pretty much all the time! (9 times out of 10 he is awake Too! )

Maddie is ONE!

Ok- It is hard to believe that Maddie is already one year old! Time flies- even when it is blurry. It seems like just yesterday we were driving home from Chattanooga - on Ben's first real family field trip, March 3, 2006, when we got the call that we had been chosen to be Maddie's parents. I can remember it clearly. Driving in the car, with sun streaming through. So many thoughts go through your head when you find a new baby is on the way. Could I do it? Could I be ready? Is it going to change Ben's perfect world? (duh-huh) She is such a sweet baby- and now little girl. Well,we had a little shindig for her, complete with cupcakes and balloons. Many thanks to our family and friends who came - we thank you!

Picasa Rocks

This is my first try at Picasa- it is incredible. I just downloaded the program for free, and bam, all my photos were catalogued and organized and easy to view. There is this cool collage option that allows you to collage (three different layouts- this is grid) This is a folder of photos from a trip to Aruba we took in Oct 05. What a blast. This helps relive it! I feel warmer already.

Maddie on the Move

Boys and their Toys

Ok- My husband recently turned 40- so I was trying to get prepared for midlife crisis. You know, red Porsche, mistress, new hair...whatever. In comparison this is a good thing. I keep telling myself that. Todd decided he needed a longboard. Not a surfboard, a SKATEBOARD. Hello, are you 13 years old? I have to admit it is pretty cool, and it makes me want to run out and buy a pair of Vans. It is friggin huge, and it carves way gnarly dude.

Is It Spring Yet?

Ok, so it is 3 AM and after having been awakened by my son, I became a complete insomniac, and instead of staring at the ceiling, I decided to blog. I am a bit behind, and besides, this was a quiet time- or so I thought- to blog uninterrupted and quietly. Then, my daughter decided to give us her typical morning wake-up call - which btw usually comes at 5am. The baby whisperer would not be happy- I have been apeasing her with a bottle at that wee hour for the past couple of mornings. As a result, my new Bobbi Brown concealer has been getting a workout, lets just say. Anyhoo.....Here are some fabulous shots of my past few weeks. Easter has come and gone, and frankly I am tired of giving Ben chocolate eggs for breakfast. No, I am not kidding. I have only myself to blame, and because I won't let him eat every last one of them in one sitting, I am left with rationing them out until they disappear. What was I thinking? Next year the Easter Bunny is going to get crafty and creative and go lighter on the chocolate. Of course, I have to do my part in getting rid of the pesky eggs too!

The weather has been so frustrating to say the least. It is cold, rainy, and Easter Sunday was spent in record lows. Our beautiful pink dogwood got stung badly by the frost on Easter morning, but I know it will make the warm weather that much more enjoyable.

Maddie has a big day coming up! Tomorrow she will be one year old! The year went by fast- and blurry. She is growing and turning into a little girl. She is crawling and pulling up, and balancing well, but not ready to take the toddle plunge. She is so speedy on all fours, that I think she is sticking with the most efficient mode of travel for a while. She loves baths and laughing. She loves her big brother, and is doing quite well while suffering thru the short end of the sharing dilemma.

Ben is excited to have his cousin Carly visiting right now. He really looks up to her, and as a result lots of good things are rubbing off- so my hope is that they can spend LOTS of time together in the future. Come on you guys!! MOVE TO KNOXVILLE!!

anyway, I digress.

Check out these photos. Last weekend, we made a pitstop in Nashville, and got to glom on to the Easter festivities at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens with My brother and family. Even with the very cool weather, we had lots of fun.

Well seeing that it is nearly 5 am now, I think I better go perk some joe.

Ben discovers chocolate bunnies on Easter morn.
Maddie is all dressed up for Easter Sunday
Maddie and newest cousin, Jessie gracious spectators on the Easter Egg hunt.

Ben has fun at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens-what a fun time.

Tennis Anyone?

Ok, I swore I would not be one of those moms who would push their toddler into sports. But, to date, (Ben is 3.4 yrs. old) He has taken "mommy and me" gymnastics, ice skating lessons, and now tennis lessons. Hey- the kid is a natural athlete! I have to admit, he does have fun, and I just consider it organized, albeit expensive play. The city of Knoxville has a great tennis league and I happened to stumble across this opportunity for Ben to take lessons for just 30 minutes every Monday afternoon for 10 weeks! Best $60 I ever spent. Ben's buddy Mason got to join in the fun and it got off to a great start. On the way to lessons, I asked Ben what he wanted to be when he grew up- he said, "A tennis lessoner" to which I said, "What?" and he said, "You know, a tennis boy." So there you go, a star is born.