Closet turned Office

We have had our desk and computer in Madison’s playroom for sometime now.  I have liked having it in their, so that I can be on it while she plays, but it has always taken up a lot of space. Now, I think we need the extra space in there, but I wasn’t sure where we could move the computer/office in the house as we do not have any extra room. This is when I decided to turn the hall closet (5 feet x 3 feet) into the office. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out, but boy I LOVE IT!! The first thing we had to do was install an electrical outlet. Thanks to my handy husband this was done in no time. Next up was me painting the room. I wanted to just use paint we had, so I used the leftover paint from the dining room, which is Acanthus by Sherwin Williams. I have always wanted to try and stencil a room, so i thought this would be the perfect opportunity. The stenciling looks great, but it was definitely not easy. I was also able to use the leftover chocolate brown from our bedroom to do the stencil. I think it helped to add some depth to this small space. Once I got the painting done, it was on to the desk. Again, thanks to my amazing husband…..we have a built in desk.  He did such a great job. I added a few touches such as dressing up the pencil holder with scrapbook paper to help tie in the blue, brown, and green colors. I was also able to use the shelf that was already in the closet (not my favorite, but will do for now) to hold all my sewing supplies. Now I have a closet turned office/craft room. It is very hard to take pictures of this room, but I think you can get the idea. I still have a few things I want to add, but I am loving it!!

                       

Happy 21st Birthday Uncle Paul!

So my “little” brother turns 21 today. Seems kind of crazy, but this also means I am getting “older”. I still remember those days growing up when I used to try and scare him …. wow where has time gone. He has grown into a very talented and fun person.  It just amazes me how he can balance college, a band, college chorus, and being an uncle all at the same time. Madison sure does love her Uncle Paul!! They play so well together. We can’t wait to celebrate tonight at Wild Wings!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Paul!!

Love, Madison

 

      

Watermelon

I have always LOVED watermelon and  I am so glad Madison does too!! She makes such a mess with it that I make her take her clothes off and sit on the porch to eat it(as you can see it running down her belly). I mean does it get an cuter than this??

 

Like Mother Like Daughter

I wasn’t convinced that this would happen so young, but I definitely see it now with Madison. Here are just a few examples….

1- My Love for PURSES

I don’t think her stroller could handle any more purses-- Do you?? She loves to carry them all around. She is my little MISS PRISS. I guess she has seen me put my purse and shopping bags on the stroller so many times that she has to do it too!!

                    

2- My Love for TAKING PICTURES

As you probably can tell by now—I LOVE TO TAKE PICTURES!!!!  Madison does too. I think we will  have to get her a real camera for Christmas. Just don’t think the Minnie one, which she LOVES, will cut it too much longer.

                   

 

3- My love for SHOES and PAINTED TOE NAILS

I love my shoes. I have to say this is definitely my weakness. Madison, I have to admit, LOVES her shoes too.  She has great taste as well. When we go to the shoe store, I swear we can’t leave there without at least 2 pairs of new shoes. She has almost caught up with me in the number of shoes she has. She now also has to have her toe nails painted.  When it starts to come off, she comes to me and ask to have them painted again. That’s my girl!!

Privacy

Madison's new thing is.....PRIVACY. She now says "I want me privacy" while she is going to the bathroom. I mean-- how old are you?? I really don't think she understands exactly what that means, but it is so darn cute to hear her say it. I tried to capture it on video, but wasn't too sucessful. This was the best I could do. By the way....she is doing so well with potty training!!

FRIENDS

We have a fun filled 2 days with friends. Yesterday, we went to Wild Dunes and hung out with Reid and his precious family. We hung out around the pool for awhile then headed into town for dinner at Triangle. Madison had a great time meeting precious Reid and swimming in the pool. He is such a happy and playful guy. I know they will be great buddies!! We had such a great time. It seemed as if we had known them for a long time. We can’t wait to see them again SOON!!

 

 

Today, we headed out to Edisto Beach. On the way out, we stopped by  and visited our sweet Bennett. It had been a little while since we had been out to see him, so it was nice to go. We also brought a plant for him to have that his big sister picked out. It made my day to stop and talk with him for a few minutes. He means so much to us and we still can’t believe he isn’t here with us. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

Next, We went and meet up with Layla and her amazing family. Madison and Layla are only 2 months apart in age, which was great! They played for a little while inside and then we headed down to the beach, where they played in the sand and had a great time. They also had a kiddy pool that Madison absolutely LOVED!!! We felt so welcomed with their family. We are looking forward to seeing them again in Washington DC at the national convention next year! 

       

After lunch, we then headed over to see Paige, Yates, and Jack. We miss having them in the neighborhood, so it was nice to catch up. Madison and Jack played with Woody and Buzz Lightyear for awhile. It was so cute to see them playing and talking to each other. We then went on a golf cart ride with Jack as the driver. Lets just say it was a WILD ride.  Jack was so sweet with Madison and shared all his toys and snacks. We can’t wait to see them again soon at a football game.

Bath Time

I had to share this cute picture of Madison with her friends Reagan and Carson after they all got out of the bath the other night. They had such a great time playing and laughing together. I hope we can get together with them again soon!!

 

July 4, 2012

We had a full day for the 4th of July. In the morning, we went out in our boat with some good friends. Madison went on the tube for the first time and LOVED it!! She took a good nap and then we headed to the USS Yorktown for music and fireworks. My brother’s band, The Explorer's Club, was playing and they were GREAT. Madison danced up a storm and had a great time. She even made it through the fireworks. She would yell “POP” after each firework. It was so cute!! She was such a trooper staying up so late (11:00pm)!! Could not have asked for a better day with family and friends.

Disney World

I am a little overwhelmed with all the pictures and not sure how to organize it all, so I think I am going to go through our trip day by day. Let me warn you…..there are over 400 images I have to go through, so it may be a little long.
Day 1- Travel and Epcot
Madison was so excited about our Disney trip. She couldn’t stop talking about it on the way down. She ended up falling asleep as we were entering into the Orlando area, so she did not get to see the grand entrance. She woke up as we were entering into the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It is such an amazing and neat resort. We had a room that overlooked the savannah with all the animals. We had great views of all kinds of African animals. Once we settled in, we headed over to Epcot. We had a character dinner there, so we figured we would just spend the afternoon there. Madison liked Epcot. She LOVED the Nemo ride!! Right before we headed to dinner with Chip and Dale, we went and saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy. This was her first interaction with the characters and we were not sure how she would respond to them. Needless to say this was not a pleasant first experience for her. She was totally scared. As you can see from the pictures, she wanted nothing to do with them. We really were hoping this would get better. At dinner, it was still the same, she was so afraid of Chip and Dale. We tried taking pictures and hugging them in hopes she would see that they were truly nice and not scary.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel and called it an evening. We had a LONG day ahead of us, so we knew Madison needed a good nights rest. When we got back to the room Madison had a surprise waiting for her on her bed……It was MINNIE!! This was such a sweet gift from her friends Lyla and Emma. THANK YOU!! She LOVED IT!! We were so sad not to be meeting up with them, but this was very sweet of them to send.

                                       
Day 2- Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom was an early entry day, so we headed in around 8:30. We started off in Fantasyland with Dumbo and the tea cups. She loved all the rides in Fantasy Land. She kept saying “One More Time”. I wish it was that easy to go one more time, but unfortunately that entails standing in line for a little while.  She ended up doing Dumbo twice. She loved the rides like Dumbo and magic carpet where you can control them.  We did the carousel, which for the first time she road on by herself. She was so proud of herself.  We had another character lunch with Winnie the Pooh, Tiger, Piglet, and Eeyore. We were a little nervous, but she ended up LOVING them all except Eeyore. She gave them all hugs, kisses, and knuckles. We were so glad!!! She also had her first visit with a real person character, which we thought she might do better with. She saw the Evil Stepsisters, Cinderella, Belle, and Rupunzel. She was not scared of them, but we could not get her to smile for any pictures. She did, however, take pictures by herself with them. Paw Paw arrived in the afternoon, so we headed to do more rides and things with him. We headed back to the hotel in the early evening to go in the pool. Madison loves to swim, so she was all about this nice pool.  Craig and I then headed back out to Magic Kingdom to go on more rides like space mountain. The park was open until midnight, so we thought it would be less crowded late at night. WE WERE WRONG!! It seemed to be more crowded. It was crazy how some many people had their YOUNG kids still awake late at night. We saw some of the night show, rode space mountain, and then headed back.
   

    

         

Day 3- Animal Kingdom
We started out with a character breakfast at the Tusker House. I think this was our favorite character meal of all. The food was good and Madison loved Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. After that we headed off to the safari, which by the way Madison fell asleep on. We then headed to the Little Nemo musical…. let’s just say this was not Madison’s favorite. She was scared of the BIG shark. She did, however, like the Triceratops ride. It is very similar to Dumbo, which she LOVED.  After lunch, we hit up a few more rides and the parade. We took turns going on the Mount Everest rollercoaster ride, which was GREAT!!  After the parade, we called it a day and headed back to the hotel. That night we went to the rainforest cafe for dinner. This was her first experience there, but I think she enjoyed seeing all the animals while she ate.
        
 
Day 4- Epcot and Hollywood Studios
We had a few more things we wanted to do in Epcot, so we headed there for the morning. We went and saw the Mickey and friends again, since the first time was not a good experience. After a few rides, we ate lunch at the coral reef restaurant. Madison slept for the first part, but woke up just in time to see lots of sharks, fish, stingrays, and a sea turtle. After lunch, we boarded a ferry to Hollywood Studios for the afternoon. There were a few rides here we wanted to do as well. Unfortunately, we were not able to get into the Toy Story ride. She did, however, get to meet Woody and Buzz.  We let her play for awhile in the Honey I Shurnk The Kids playground. She had a blast in there! Then we watched the Disney Pixar parade.  That night Craig, dad, and I went back to Epcot for some margaritas and fireworks!! Oh yeah and that night Madison decided she wanted to wake up early…we were not ready to get up, so we put her in the bed with us (something we NEVER do). Mom caught a cute picture though!!
                          
Day 5- Magic Kingdom and Travel
We headed back to the Magic Kingdom, so Madison could ride all the rides again she loved. We hit up Dumbo, Tea Cups, Buzz Light year, Carousel, It’s A Small World, and Peter Pan. After lunch, we went and saw Jasmine and Aladdin and then headed back home. Madison was exhausted and slept 2.5 hours on the way home. We had such a great time in Disney World. Thank you GUGU and PawPaw!!