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Memorial Day trip to Tennessee

So...we decided to brave our first trip to Tennessee since Maddie was born. She's now just about 5 months old, so we figured it's about time. There are a lot of people over there who were chomping at the bit to see this little girl (and Jay for that matter). The car ride over there went really well with the help of Elmo and Charlotte's Web. Jay ate an entire kid's meal from Wendy's for the first time. On Saturday morning Liz and Stan had a BBQ so everyone from around town could come over and hang out. We got to see little Thaddeus (or as Jay says..Thaddy) for the first time!! He's such a cutie! Thaddeus and Maddie just loved each other. Maddie would be jabbering away to him, and he would be army crawling over to her, and then they would hold hands and roll around together...too CUTE! I only wish we lived closer so they could see each other more often. We also saw Aunt Amy, Colten and Kensley, who we miss again already. Before anyone else got to the house Luke and Emily came over and brought Landon who was born just a couple of months before Madelynn. Jay got to hold all kinds of babies that day!! It was so much fun to watch all the kids play together.

On the way home Maddie had a little meltdown, and Jay was acting goofy. Is it bad parenting to take a picture of your screaming baby because you find it amusing?? Maybe it was just numbness from exhaustion. Don't worry. No babies were harmed in the making of this blog :)

More pictures from the BBQ on Saturday and Grandma Underwood's on Sunday to come...

On Sunday, we went to church in Cookeville, went to Golden Corral for lunch, and then made it to Grandma and Grandpa Underwood's, Aunt Anzena's, and Grandma Sparkman's. What a busy day!! But it was a great time. We're so glad we were able to see just about everybody.

Grant's Farm

James has been going out of town for work the last couple of weeks, so he's had Fridays off. We decided to go to Grant's Farm yesterday, which was AWESOME! You get on a tram and ride around with animals in their natural habitats surrounding you. Then, once you get off the tram, there are elephants, camels, parrots, goats, turtles, etc. all around to look at and pet (some of them at least). Oh! And how can I forget the Clydesdales?! Jay LOVED them. All he's been talking about are horses, horses, horses. We decided to bring Jay and Maddie for the first time of the season, and we all had a fantastic time. There was one moment during the tram ride back that was so perfect that I felt like I had a little taste of what heaven must be like.

The first picture was from Thursday night when James got home from work. We were hanging out in Jay's room, and the kids just looked so cute that I had to add this pic.

Uncle Nick comes to visit!

Uncle Nick came into town on Thursday afternoon just for a couple of days. He's a marine and has just gotten home from Iraq. Jay hadn't seen him in months, and Nick had never met Maddie. He's such a good uncle and is so good with the kids. Jay loves him to death and was all too happy to wear Uncle Nick's sunglasses and pretend to be him.

Maddie's Dedication

On Sunday (Mother's Day) my wonderful husband surprised me with a card from himself and then a card from Jay and Maddie with a couple of gift cards to Cheesecake Factory (because I'm a cheesecake fanatic) and Bath and Body Works. We then went to church, and Madelynn was dedicated! It was really great. Maddie smiled through pretty much the whole thing (unlike Jay, who screamed through his). Aunt Kelli and Aunt Heather came to her dedication, and we went to Chili's afterwards. Here are a few pictures of that.

A few days at Mimi's

Like I said last week, Daddy was away at work for a few days, so me and the kids went to stay with Mimi from Monday to Thursday. The kids had a great time, and me, Mom, Heather, and Kelli were able to have some good quality time together. As you can see, Mimi put Jay to work fixing things around the house while the men were away! :)

After a couple of nights, we finally figured out the best sleeping situation. Jay and I slept together in a bed, and Maddie slept in her Pack n' Play in the same room. It worked out better than I might've thought, although I still think I was a little sleep deprived by the time we came back home. I guess I take for granted having Daddy around to go get Maddie out of bed when she wakes up so early in the morning (usually around 5:30 or 6:00). Jay's a little better and will usually let me sleep until at least 7:00, but with the two of them in the same room all bets are off!

We took Jay to a small park in Fenton on Tuesday afternoon, and I felt my first motherly attack instincts come out....There was this older boy (although he was the same size as Jay) who seemed like he was picking on Jay. Jay is sooo sweet and kind that he didn't really know what to do with someone like that. He just wants to say hi and play with everyone. I tried to help as best as I could and was trying to reassure Jay that the little boy was just trying to play with him, and it turns out he was trying to show Jay how to do big kid things like climbing through this big tube to get to the high slide. So all was well, but boy did I get my feathers ruffled when I thought someone was picking on Jay. Now I realize how difficult it's going to be for me to let Jay go off to school without me. I have a new prayer now that Jay will be able to handle rough situations and stick up for himself without losing his gentleness, which is so wonderful and sweet. At the same park there were 3-5 year olds having baseball practice, and that's all Jay could talk about.."Mamma...baseball...Mamma....baseball" haha. It was the same way all the way home. I think we're definitely going to have to get him started with all of that next summer!

Just an update..

There's not too much going on around here. Just business as usual. The kids are keeping me on my toes. I'm going to have to watch Maddie very carefully now as she's a mover and a shaker!! I turn around for one second and she has moved herself off of her play mat. I just can't believe it! Here's a picture of Maddie after she's worn herself out playing. Then I just had to sneak that other picture in because they look so sweet together. Jay's a real ladies' man!

We just found out that James is going to be working out of town for the next couple of weeks. He'll be gone for four days and will then come back for three day weekends. We're not too happy about it needless to say, but we've decided to make the best of it. The kids and I are going to spend a few days over at Mimi's house. I should have some pretty good pictures. We'll celebrate Mother's Day with my mom on Wednesday night as she will be out of town on the actual day. My sister Heather is in town too, so we're going to have some good girl time. :)