FIVE Years Old!

Madison turned five on Tuesday, June 8. She's been such a blessing to us and will be always. Madison has quite the personality. She's smart, energetic, funny, silly, determined, independent, and yes, the first born, as she shows with her brothers. She's a great helper, always interested in cooking or helping around the house. We love her so much and can't wait to see what God has planned for her.

7 lbs. 11 oz., delivered by Daddy!

Preschool graduation-Kindergarten begins August 16!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Happy Birthday, Madison!!!

Madison turned five years old yesterday, June 8. It was an incredibly busy day for us, as we dropped my parents off at the San Diego Airport at 9 AM, drove the three hours back home (with a stop for lunch at the mall in El Centro, CA), went to preschool graduation, drove back into town to get Edward who flew home after two weeks at Ft. Sam Houston, TX, topped off by a birthday dinner in town for Madison. Whew!

Prior to that, my parents, the kids, and I celebrated Madison's birthday on Saturday evening. We had a nice little party, with temps around 107.

Dinner-Madison's choice-Goulash...she loves it! It's a meat dish mixed with green pepper, onion, tomato, and rice. It's a family favorite. She also requested cantaloupe, so it was a nice summer meal!

For dessert, I surprised her with an ice cream cake. The biggest feat in getting an ice cream cake was getting it home! It's a 30 minute drive from Dairy Queen (other places are even further away), so we were all excited to get it home. It is a REAL treat since our weather is so hot, and we can't transport ice cream (Lori, please tell John it didn't melt!).

Alex enjoyed his first ice cream cake very much.

Like a little bird, waiting with mouth open for the next bite.

Yummy! Madison was skeptical of this at first, but now claims ice cream cake is her favorite.

Presents! Thanks to all our family for the wonderful gifts you sent!

A HUGE hit...my parents gave Madison her kindergarten backpack and lunchbox (matching, of course!). She was delighted. It's an L.L. Bean bag with her name on it, and they even got tupperware pieces (princess ones) for her sandwich and such.

Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Andrew sent this great dress and some pj's...she's already worn them :)

Another BIG hit-this princess castle that she has been wanting forever! Thanks Aunt Karen, Uncle Clay, and Cousin Wes! Both Madison and Luke are enjoying this very much.

Alex was really tired at this point.

The sunshine outside might make it look like it's mid-afternoon, but it was 8:00 PM at this point.

Thanks to Madison's cousins, Mackenzie and Kaitlann for this "Princess and Frog" t-shirt...she has already worn it!

A new "M" necklace from Aunt Mer and Uncle Harry...only for "big" girls who are five and older :)

and this Princess towel

Yea, a new movie for the car! Thanks Nana and Pop for sending "The Wizard of Oz!" We watched it in the car to and from San Diego. Luke keeps talking about how he doesn't want the "Bad Witch to get Toto."

Mermaid Barbie

Luke has a similar magnetic dress-up (boy version). The kids love these.

American Girl Birthday Dress with a matching one for Hannah (Madison's Bitty Baby)

New tutu

Trying out the goggles and flippers from Grandma and Grandpa...oh, and the bag of paper trash behind them, the kids were very concerned about it going to the recycling. They are obsessed with recycling!

Luke really wanted to take the flippers apart??

Thanks again, everyone for Madison's awesome birthday! She had a great time opening her presents. We are truly blessed with such wonderful family and friends, and Madison is a great kid!

A Horse and a Birthday Party

I took Madison and Luke to a birthday party this afternoon. Mom and Dad watched Alex, which worked out just fine for everyone. The party was for one of Madison's school friends, who is also one of our neighbors. For a different setting, the party was held at the Post Stables. This family is currently the only ones on post to have horses boarded there, so it was nice to have the place to ourselves. The kids had never ridden a horse...well, a carousel doesn't really count! Both kids loved it, and I'm hoping to get some better pictures from another neighbor who had her camera. Until then, this is what I took with my phone.

It was quite hot out here in the desert (right at 100 with no shade...don't let those couple of trees fool you; they were the only trees out at the stable), but it was a fun birthday party!

Hannah

When Alex was born, our family was having trouble understanding just how small he was. 5 lbs. 8 oz. isn't big....it's REALLY tiny! We told our family he was smaller than Madison's Bitty Baby, Hannah. We took a picture of the two of them two days after Alex came home from the hospital. Since Hannah is like a member of the family, our family knew how big she was, and they were all pretty shocked Alex was smaller than that.

Alex smaller than Hannah. He's swimming in that preemie outfit too.

Alex today with Hannah! He's the BIGGER one now :)

Alex and Bear-A Year in Review

My how Alex has grown...

1 month old...just over seven pounds at this point

3 months old (formula was really kicking in!)

6 months old, almost sitting up

Wild and crazy at 9 months old

1 year-into EVERYTHING!

Alex-12 months

Alex has been taking a picture with his bear every month since he was a month old. I'll do another post with the milestone bear pictures. Here he is at 12 months old!

The brothers

1 year old!