Mommy & Madelyn Roadtrip!

Last Thursday Madelyn and I took a solo road trip...just she and I on the open road, East Texas bound again. I was a little worried about traveling that far with her by myself for the first time so we reluctantly dropped Clara off at my Mom's for her own weekend get-a-way. Then M and I headed on.

We stopped in Lufkin to have a bottle at Granny's, whizzed through my FAVORITE spot - Ray's Drive In - for a burger & fries...and of course a DP (they have great ice), then continued on. The last leg of our trip was tough. Madelyn cried...and cried...and cried. I turned up the radio and tried singing to her...she cried harder. Nothing to do but grit my teeth and drive. We got to Dad's, where she got kisses from Sir & Granna, then we gave her a quick bath, bottle and bed pronto!

The next day Nanny came to spend the night too! We loved spending time with her.

Saturday we loaded up and headed home. This time we decided to break up our trip at bit. We stopped at Granny's (where M met Cousin Carrie & Haleigh for the first time), and added Gran to our car. Traveling with a back seat passenger makes it much easier! We continued on, but stopped at Lolly's to spend the night and pick up sister Clara.

The next day Uncle Lou came and picked up Granny to take her back to Lufkin.

We enjoyed being able to visit with Granny, Nanny, Sir, Granna, Lolly, KK, Great Aunt Mimi, Uncle Lou, Cousin Carrie and Haleigh all in one trip...whew!

Rice Cereal

At M's 4 month well visit, Dr. Q said we can start giving her a little rice cereal once a day to get her used to a spoon.

I was very excited and drove straight to Target to get the necessary supplies. Lolly and Sheldon both wanted to be present for this first, so I waited a few days until the cereal party could gather.



We made the cereal.



We got the camera ready.

We put the cereal in the bowl, picked out a spoon, and got it all set up.

We all set at my kitchen table.


A HUGE production for what lasted about 2 minutes...maybe.

Result - she's not a fan of rice cereal. Luckily...Clara is!! :)

After a few days of trying rice cereal, we tried the spoon again. This time with some banana baby food. She loves it!


Conclusion - we'll let her practice her spoon technique on food and skip the cereal for now.

Clara licks the bowl clean!

Visiting East Texas!

My Dad's birthday was Saturday and Sheila's was earlier in the week, so this past weekend we loaded up and took Madelyn on her first road trip to go celebrate Sir & Granna's birthdays!
All things considered, she handled the long car ride pretty well.

We got a nice visit in with them and Uncle Lou who also made the trip for the weekend. Plus, Nanny, Aunt Karen, & Uncle Charlie came to visit on Saturday. We had a great time. Dad smoked chicken and ribs on the grill and they were very tasty! Of course Nanny brought not one, but three desserts, and they were all so yummy.

Nanny & Madelyn





Practicing "sitting up"

Clara...happy pup!

Nanny & Aunt Karen with M

Sunday on our way home we made a detour and went to see Shelby & Jake's new home in Tyler. It is beautiful and in such a wonderful neighborhood. I think they will be very happy there, although we miss having them so close by.

M with Aunt Shelby

M with Uncle Jake

4 Month Check Up

Today Madelyn had her 4 month well visit.

She is right on track with her development. She holds up her head, raises up on her tummy, puts everything in her mouth (including her fingers!) My favorite trick she's mastered...her precious SMILE!

She gets vaccines at these visits. The shots make her cry, cry, cry so these days wear her out!

I just knew she would weight at least 13 pounds...my good friend Jocelyn and her husband swear life gets much easier after a baby hits that mark. Since they have 3 kiddos, I put a lot of faith in what they think. Anyway, things have started falling into place and sure enough she weighed in just over the "magic number"!

M's Stats:
Height - 24 1/2 in
Weight - 13lbs 6.5 oz
Head Circumference - 16 1/2

Madelyn has "Lunch with the Girls"

Today Madelyn had a lunch date with her future pals Carolina & Delaney!

We met them and their Mommy's, along with Miss Abbey and Miss Hayley, at Star Drug for a bite to eat...yummy!

Afterwards we stopped by Miss Hayley's store - Happenings, at the corner of 23rd & Postoffice - because our birth announcement order was ready. They are beautiful! Miss Hayley is SO talented!! Check her out... www.hayleyhardcastle.com

Hiya Aunt Debby!

Sheldon's Aunt Debby was in town to visit some friends last weekend so Madelyn got to meet yet another relative!

We met Aunt Debby, Aunt Kandy, GiGi, & Miss Susan at the Sunflower for brunch...YUM! It was so nice for Madelyn to get to meet another family member...plus, it was a nice chance for me to get to eat with both hands.

Special bonus...we got to see Jocelyn, Billy, & the kiddos who stayed until we got there to say "hi"!

Madelyn says "no more pictures today please!"

Happy Labor Day!

Madelyn got to go to "Lollyworld" again this weekend! While she was having a grand ole time...so were we!

I have not gotten to go out on the boat a single time this summer, so we planned a Stingaree run! Mandy and Brent came over and off we went across the Bay with a packed cooler (aaahhh ice cold Dr. Pepper! - for me anyway), smelling of sun screen (yes I've come a long way from the days of spraying on "afro sheen" to achieve the darkest possible tan!), and some good tunes (you can never go wrong on the water with Jimmy Buffett).

On the boat ride to Crystal beach you are practically guaranteed to see dolphins. This time did not disappoint! They were leaping out of the water like crazy!!

I snapped these with my phone, but by the time the picture took you barely see any dolphin...