Maddox is 11mths old and took his first steps

As you can see, my little baby turned 11mths old this past week. In addition, he took his first steps! He took 2 steps in a row repeatedly last Thursday (May 15th). It was amazing to watch, even though he had the balance of a drunk. He's trying and I would guess that within the next couple of months he'll be walking all over.

We had a fantastic weekend this weekend too. We spent most of Saturday afternoon and evening and Grandma Les and Grandpa's house. It was beautiful out and we ate dinner outside with Uncle Jason, Aunt Staci, the Coxes, the Cuthberts, and the Jezerinacs. Sunday we spent the afternoon with the Davises and the Grahams at the Marietta Greek Festival. It was a great time and all the kiddies enjoyed it. The food was amazing. Maddox discovered that if you put stuff with green beans, they actually are tasty :). He ate up a ton of chicken and Greek salad too. Can't wait for next year!

Here is a picture of Maddox and Mitchell at the Greek Festival on Sunday:

Mother's Day 2008

Mother's Day was a great day this year and came at the end of a busy weekend. It started on Friday when I hosted our playgroup. There were 5 of us with our little ones and we were so busy chatting and chasing the kids, I didn't really get any pictures. I got one of Maddox and Parker (Maddox has Laura Beth's bow in his hair). Friday evening we met Lorann, Brad, and Mitchell for dinner. We wanted to hit the new CPK by our house, but the wait was kind of long. We ended up at our old stand by, Wild Wing. The kids had a great time and we stayed pretty far past their bedtimes. Saturday we had our kickball games and then on to Adam's 30th birthday party. It was a lot of fun, although we ended up heading home at 1030pm. No more late nights for us old folks. Since everyone had been hanging out, eating and drinking since 3pm it wasn't too pathetic that we were done so early.















Then came Sunday. I must say that I am truly spoiled. All the lovely chocolates, cards, and flowers were wonderful. Stefan was so thoughtful as always. He sent me flowers from "Maddox" and gave me the day off. It started out with coffee in bed and a pancake breakfast. He did two loads of laundry and spent most of the day playing and taking care of Maddox and Nelson. I was able to sit out on the deck and read for a while and relax. We then headed to Jason and Staci's for a family dinner. It was us, Jason and Staci, Bill and Les, Victor and Saba (Staci's parents), Donnie and Suzanne and their two boys (Staci's brother and sister-in-law), and Ed and Gail and Brendan. It was a mad house with all four of the kids, but a great time. The food was wonderful and the kids had a blast together. Some pictures are below.

Frankie

Donnie with Scott













Stefan with Maddox and Brendan

Maddox's First Haircut

We took Maddox to get his haircut for the first time on Sunday. We decided to try Snip-its after church and almost walked out as soon as we walked in. There was a boy probably about 18mths-2yrs old getting his haircut that was screaming his head off. I mean you'd think someone was pulling his fingernails out. Maddox still seemed calm, so we decided to proceed. They were really wonderful. We got Maddox in the chair and once he had my car keys and a bowl full of lollipops to play with, it was all a go. He didn't get upset at all and the haircut was great. Here are few pictures from our adventure. :)

The "Before" Picture












He was really calm














Note the bowl of dum dum lollipops

















Haircute done :)

10mths old and catch up!

Maddox turned 10mths old on April 11th. We have been incredibly busy since then, so here's a rather long post playing catch up with all our travels and plenty of "Maddox Firsts" during the month:).

As I said, Maddox turned 10mths old on April 11th. He's creeping closer and closer to being 1yr old and I'm both excited and a little emotional about it. I love that he's learning and growing and becoming a person, but I miss him being a little baby. We got together with Ed, Gail, and baby Brendan again (who was creeping towards 4mths old at that point). What a cutie he is :).

Maddox also moved up a level in Gymboree which was very exciting. We are up to Level 3 (10 - 16mths). It's great that we are back in class with some of the kids from our playgroup that we haven't been in Gymboree with since Level 1. Alice and Abbi, Natalie and Parker, and Maddox and I all went to lunch after our first Level 3 class and had a great time. It was good to see them again and I think the kids enjoyed it.

Maddox's other first involved a plane ride. Maddox, Stefan, and I headed up to visit Megan, Perry, Keira, Mike, Joet, and Miles for Miles' first birthday party. It was so wonderful to see our great friends again and to get all our kids together for the first time. Maddox and Miles definitely hit it off and even though Keira wasn't feeling her best, I think she had a good time with Maddox as well. He definitely liked her :). Here is a picture of Megan, Miles, and Maddox and one of Mike, Joet, and Miles with his cake.





















After that trip, we were off to Sandestin, Florida for a quick vacation with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Staci, and Uncle Jason. It was a Rotary District Conference celebrating the great year the Georgia Rotary Clubs had with Grandpa at the helm :). Maddox got to go to the beach for the first time. The verdict was a definite maybe. He didn't like the water (it was really cold), but the sand was ok. He ended up napping most of the time we spent on the beach. He was definitely happiest at the pool. The swimming lessons have definitely paid off.

We are now in full on party planning mode for Maddox's First Birthday Party. It's going to be an outdoor pool and activity party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I finally got the invitations out this past week. One more thing off my "To Do" List. We're coming up on Maddox's 11mth birthday, which falls on May 11th (Mother's Day). Stay tuned as we enter the final month of his first year :).