THE cat.

we do not have a cat, but at the same time... we do. this is our neighbors cat.. but it spends more time at our house than hers- (not really the way we'd have it) it loves to play with maddex, and i think he feels the same way about her. i caught myself saying the other day... "maddex where's your kitty.." it really has to stop. 

i love this picture below. 

maddex when he saw the kitty under the chair. 

the pumpkin patch.

going to the pumpkin patch, an over-priced tradition. at dollar a ticket, most rides vary between 3 and 6 tickets each. maddex got to ride 2 rides this year... the carousel and the jumper-slides. he loves action. he loves anything fast. so i think his favorite this year was the jumpers. i mean, i'm sure he loved to ride the carousel with me...ha. but i think he absolutely loved going down the slides with uncle crew. he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

the carousel ride: 3 tickets

the jumper-slides: 6 tickets

until next year...

truck obsession:

we went to the races here in las vegas. we couldn't miss them. maddex has a big obsession with trucks, cars, and anything else with wheels. he was going crazy. he wanted to ride everything. i know a lot of the pictures are repaticious but they are all so cute. i just love his mouth when he sees the trucks... it is a complete "o". enjoy the ride:

the boys and brian deegan. quite funny.. he pulled up beside me on his bike.. i thought oh, that's a cute little bike...and asked him if i could get a picture of maddex on the bike. he looked at me and said, what? 

i didn't know he was anyone famous at first- and then i caught on. 

the group.

cheeser...

the new do:

is where it all happened. it was time to get the first official haircut. i was nervous... i spent days researching the best salons in las vegas, and everytime i'd ask someone- they'd say- "oh, take him to cool cuts, or snips.n.clips..." i thought to myself- no way. i tried to fight it. i talked myself out of it several times...  and when it all came down to it- i gave in. - i knew maddex would love it and it would be fun for him.. despite their haircutting skills. as soon as we walked in- he went nuts. he loved playing with their brio train set. then it was off to the haircut. he had the option between a car or a train, and suprised me by his pick... he chose the train. i though for sure he'd pick the car. we picked elmo for our dvd. i was nervous... i couldn't stop biting my nails. i loved nothing more than his long shaggy hair... but i knew it was time for a trim. i was fun... until she got out the clippers. as soon as those things fired up... i about died. i wanted to cry... it was then that i said, "what am i doing"..... this is not a trim... this is a cut. 

i put a smile... but wanted to cry. i strapped him in his seat... and started home. i kept turning around to look at it... hoping it would be longer in a few seconds. it took some getting used to.. and a lot of fixing.. and believe me- i am not a hair cutter, but i could have done better than this chick. never again. he will never again get his hair cut... you think i'm kidding... i'm so not.

love him.

i love this little boy. i love everything about him... even his messy eating habits. 

oreo sticks... what a great invention.. ;) 

they just keep getting messier.

backyard renovation...

i just had to blog this. justin and i were sitting in the backyard having a nice little conversation this is how it went:

j: that tree is really ugly 

a: yeah, i know. tanner hates that tree

j: do you know how much bigger your yard would look without it

a: yeah, but...

j: it's gotta go. i'll be back

jusin seriously walked straight to his car... drove to lowes and bought a saw... came back and chopped down the tree. it was all so fast- i couldn't even get a before picture. that is one think i love about justin- he is such a go getter. we didn't tell tanner and suprised him when he got home. what a suprise... 

big ol' tree.

AFTER:

(we are waiting for the stump to rot- for easier removal)

this will have to do until we can get grass for the backyard.

happy birthday to me.

a happy birthday is what i had. for our birthday we flew home to pa. yes- our birthday...i share it with my sister... we are 6 years apart (do the math) i am now 23. a number i am having a hard time getting used to.. but that comes with time. i occasionally lie and say im 21, it makes me feel better, cuter, funner- you get it. ;) it was such a great trip. my cousins came from ny and hershey, pa. and my sister and her family came down for the weekend. a full house filled with nothing but family, toys and kids= nothing but great fun. i wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. 

we started off with lunch at shives. then the antique mall. a trip to the farm, playing outdoors and then some cake and homemade ice-cream.. (and some of jen's awesome snacks). bright and early we headed to bedford days... where i fell in love with a swing, ate lots of sweets (potato candy, carmel apples, whoopie pies, steak n cheese, and apple cider) and maddex took his first pony ride. he is so sweet. the weather was so nice... it couldn't have been better. i lucked out big time at hokie-g's.. and found some really cute stuff for our playroom, an old-school gum-ball machine that i've been on the lookout for. (pics to come soon when the playroom is done). 

we did a lot of stuff on our trip... maddex rode the 4 wheeler everyday with pappy dave.. he loved it. almost every time he would ride he'd fall asleep. we did some fishing.. rain or shine. we took the boys to the pumpkin patch. his favorite part was the corn pit... and he also loved the john deere tractors. 

we love going back east. it is such a different life-style than what we live- and we love it. i love that i am able to take my family back there and show them my way of living. happy birthday to me. :)

bedford days:

my dream swing... if only i could have gotten it on the plane.

nothing like FRESH apple cider.

maddex loves his tech deck.

yum.

m's first pony ride...

the biggest whoopie-pie ever.

m loves grapes... he was eating them off the ground.. ha

visiting grandma crouse... love her.

i love home.

hellllooo mr. fix it..

my little mr. fix it. it's hard to resist this tool belt huh? we had a little bit of an issue- that needed a handy-man, and who else other than mr. maddex. i took maddex up to give him a bath and it was nothing but cold water. after justin and tanner did some investigation- we realized that our hot water heater broke... which is really weird for our home considering it is new. but that's how it goes. tanner knows somebody that got us a great deal on a new heater. so then the boys put it in.. these boys are such handy-men! 

tanner and maddex painting the playroom. we wanted maddex to give it the first swipe. we handed him a smaller brush with some paint on it and the first thing he did was stick it in his mouth! i started to scream, but still snapped the picture. tanner was in the way but you get the point. he was a little upset for while- but once he got over it he was a great painter!

the chair:

my first anywhere chair. one day as we were shopping maddex found a chair... just his size. it was a must have, but first it took some convincing tanner that it was worth it. obviously that worked. maddex loves his new chair. at the most random times i'll look in his playroom- and he'll be sitting there holding his baby, or running a car over arm of it. he also loves to watch movies in it. the other day tanner asked him if he wanted to watch a movie and he went over the playroom and tried to pick up his chair. it was priceless. i've had to wash it 3 times already. a couple of days after we bought it- he took a pen to it... but with a little help of grammy (hairspray and gain) we were able to save the chair. there is no eating in the chair.. but uncle justin was unaware of that. justin asked me if maddex could have an oreo- i said yes- assuming that justin knew he only eats oreos in his high chair. i was busy with something when i looked over and saw the back of m's head sitting in his chair.. not his high chair. as soon as i put it together that he was eating an oreo in his chair- i lost it. the boys think i'm crazy, but i would say i'm just a little particular. i think it is worth a lot of penny that it was just to see these photos: 

this is m's new smile. lovely huh? when i say maddex cheese... 

this is what i get.

this was a tear-jerker for me. i cried on the spot. i will never forget this moment.. i looked in his playroom and he was sitting there- just like this, patting his baby. maddex loves his baby... he is gonna be a great big brother someday. (the baby is a whole other story- we saw it at the d.i. and he couldn't let go of it... )

cheese.

my little cowboy:

maddex is getting so big lately. he just turned 15 months. he is at an age where he loves to play. he is always pushing a car, truck, train or tractor around the house. his new obsession is his skateboard "tech deck" that uncle crew gave him. it is the funniest thing. i'll have to snap a photo of that. one thing he really loves though is his horsey that aunt michelle got for him. at first he was kinda nervous- but now he just rocks it out. he is such a spoiled little boy. i can't help it. 

the new playroom.. coming soon:

we are in the middle of a transformation, we are turning the dining room into a playroom. it was time. we never used it as a dining room- and a playroom seems more practical for us right now. it is still a work in progress- but i wanted to share what we have done so far. we did find a rug- finally. i ended up getting an 8 x 10.. it covers almost the whole room. i love this rug. i found it at pottery barn on sale- thank goodness- i was going insane w/o carpet in there. we painted the room last saturday.. i love the color. it is a very light yellow (behr- hummus) it's perfect. we still have so much to do... hang a new light, get bookcases, hang art, add the art table, finish the chalkboard frame, and etc, etc.. i'll keep you posted but for now...

BEFORE:

i loved this table- and it was so hard to see it go- but it never got used- and i knew the room would be so much more useful. i was so thrilled- we sold our table just 3 days after posting it on craigslist. we sold it for 100 less than we paid 3 years ago. cha-ching.

NOW:

maddex loves his new room, almost as much as me.

AFTER:

coming soon. stay tuned.

a country girl...

i've mainly been putting off this post simply because i can't look at these pictures w/o crying. i have been more homesick lately than i have ever been in my life. i not only miss my family but i miss my home... i miss where i grew up and the things i used to do, the things i love to do. after the beach we had one full day to fit everything in that we wanted to do. on saturday night we (mustin, and us) visited grandma crouse- that was so nice- i miss her a lot. she lives in a town that consists of just about everyone i went to school with and she always keeps me up to date as we sit on her front porch. sunday we started the day off the day with church. i love seeing how big the kids in the ward are getting, and giving brother forney a big kiss. we then ate a good home cooked meal at grandmas- nothing like it. the boys got out their guns and shot some water jugs. they even let me smoke a few. i'm not as good as i once was- but i still got it. we ate some grapes... right off the vine just like we used to. tanner and michelle don't agree with how we eat them... "why don't you put the whole thing in your mouth"... "hmm, i don't know- we just don't." rode 4 wheelers- maddex loves riding 4 wheelers- he never wanted to get off. and then lastly- my favorite...we all went fishing. i wasn't getting on that plane until i went fishing. tanner and i caught the most fish- i don't know if anyone else was counting- but we had like 15-20. :)ha. i could have sat there all night long. there is something so peaceful to me about it. i mentioned to tanner that is all i want to do for my birthday- i want to go home, get some worms... sit on the dock with some IBC's and fish... all day long. so that is what i'm doing. we are flying home next thursday... to do some more of this:

we don't have enough of these pictures... :)

m loved grandmas pudding... he licked the bowl clean

eating grapes

this is funny to me- it shows just how much i over-excite things- 

so maddex will be excited about them. a fish jumped!

yah, i'd say i caught a good one

i love home... i love everything about it.

family photos:

we took some family photos at the beach. most of them are on brent's memory card and i don't have that yet... but here are just a few:

ah, i love my family

we laughed so hard when we saw this photo. maddie really drove the boys crazy with her squeezing.

hurricane danny coming during our photo shoot

my beautiful grammy

OBX 2009

Outer Banks 2009. I think it is safe to say- this is one of our best vacations yet. For one, we love the beach. Two, It was Tanner and Maddex's first time in Outer Banks. Three, the 4x4 beach was awesome! And four, we had a great time with my family. You know you are on a true vacation when you leave your beach house/beach one time the whole vacation. We went out to eat at a crab sh

ack one night- and the boys went to a movie one day, but other than that we did nothing but lay and play in the sand. Ah, it was pure relaxation. I miss it.. I can't wait to go back. I was skeptical of the whole driving on the beach with horses idea, but it was so awesome! We had a great time... Thanks Mom and Dad for everything. Maddex loves the beach/ocean- he would run full speed into the ocean.. he had no fear. Now I on the other hand... di

dn't want anything to do with the ocean. It was so wild- Hurricane Bill gave us some killer waves and major rip-tide. I was fine with that though- I didn't mind laying out the whole time. Speaking of Hurricane Bill- We got hit by it on the way to the OBX. Thank goodness Tanner was driving... I had like 5 anxiety attacks on the way there. It was the worst rain storm I've ever been in, in my life! Here are some photos we snapped:

it's all fun until someone gets hurt. the best part about the picture below is that maddex is pointing to maddie.. i wonder why?

that would be shauna running. 

i love this pictures just because what we are doing. cant you tell- 

i'm pulling in my fish. 

m fell asleep eating an oreo. love it

brody had some weird obsession with the teapot

country living...

I'm back, for now. I admit it though- I haven't had the desire to blog. Mainly because I've been overwhelmed by the amount of pictures we took, or maybe because I've been slightly busy keeping up with a 15 month old. But I'm going to try and get caught up- quickly...Thanks to Grammy reminding me everyday that I haven't updated my blog in so long... :)

At the end of August we took a vacation back to Pennsylvania to visit my family. Maddex and I flew back a week early... and then Tanner, Justin and Michelle came back for our trip to the OBX. When Maddex and I arrived we had only a few hours before we were greeted by Maddie, Shauna and Brody. My mom didn't waste any time playing with the kids... s

he had em' all three in the wagon before I could get M changed. He was in heaven... he would just stand in the yard and look around... (probably thinking... hm... wher

e are all the houses at..). We picked tomatoes and grammy made us a butter/tomato sandwich... ah, I can taste it! We did lots of swinging. We took grammy to her dr.s appointments. We hung out a day @ Maddie and Brod-mans, and got ready for our week at the beach. Oh, and we went to Shive's Pizza. Simply the best pizza hole in the wall ever. I NEVER make a trip h

ome w/o going there.- Gram, M and I split a wedgie. :) Here are a few pictures from M & I's week:

I miss you guys.

friday night fun:

music in the park. we met up with "samalise" on friday night for some music in the park. it was so nice to just lay out a blanket... and enjoy what was going on around us. we didn't know the music but it didn't even matter- we love doing things outside and it is nice to feel like you are part of a fun community. these are the types of things i miss from back home. the boys played at the park right beside us and we just relaxed. 

momma's boy.

maddex loves to lay on me like this... 

throwing rocks... always throwing rocks!

maddex got his very first glow-stick...

and one for peter.

oh, and icee's too. (their faces cracked me up)

what a fun night!

gym time:

today i took maddex to gym time @ a local gymnastics place by our house. i took him for the first time last week, but forgot the memory card for the camera. so i had to make up for it today (lots of pics). maddex loved the gym. he loves to be around all the other kids. as i say... he is in hog heaven. they have a class for toddlers- it is twice a week for 45 min. there is so much for him to do there that he can't even focus on one thing at a time. as soon as we walk in- he is straight to the b-ball hoop... and then everywhere else. his favorite thing of all is the foam pit (it's mine too.)... and then the trampoline. daddy was able to go with us today- he couldn't stand the thought of missing out on all the fun again. 

maddex isn't a big fan of tumbling time... he doesn't like 

the idea of someone else throwing him around. 

this cracks me up. what he does when he wants

picked up

this is the face i see and get very worried. it means frustration.

watch out other kids if maddex has something in his hands

someone else was playing with the b-ball hoop and maddex was not impressed. (i had to play along) that is his territory

THE FOAM PIT:

it really brings out the kid in you... i jump right in.

tanner couldn't hold back either- after like 2 min. he was dying to get in.

  

wanting to get back in the foam pit

"ok Maddex- gym time is over... time to go bye-bye..." 

he waves bye-bye as he tries to get away from me on the trampoline

in love.

chandler and karen. tanners cousin, chandler, got married last saturday in the LA Temple. it all worked out quite well since all of the family was in san diego at the beach. we all got up saturday morning, packed up all of our stuff and headed to LA. they are such a beautiful couple. we love karen to death- and are so glad she is part of our family. {thanks again for those hula lessons} 

we love you guys!

my favorite picture of all

so glad i snapped this one.

maddex fell in love with nora (karen's niece) 

it was kind of weird because she was a girl maddex. 

i mean seriously- they looked like twins. 

(does anybody remember the full house episode when michelle is a little girl and she has a boyfriend named harry- and then he leaves- and she misses him terribly???) 

that is what this reminds me of- haha.

San Diego 2009

how i love the

we just got back from del mar, san diego. i absolutely love it there. there is just something about california that makes me want to stay there forever. i'm not a fan of the cities, but i love by the ocean. we had a lot of fun this year. maddex loves everything about the beach. this trip he especially loved the sand, the ocean, airplanes, his beach tent, his bff peter, long walks with daddy in the morning and most of all- the pool. he is the best little boy. he is such a joy to take places. a couple of things we did other than play at the beach were: chart house dinner (always a special one), rootbeer contest- put on by g-pa brad, young adults dinner to CPK, coldstone trip, chandlers wedding, girls @ dinner- while all the boys go play basketball at the church, kathy, mindy and i got pedicures, breakfast in encinitas, went to church, miltons... oh those french toast, consignment store shopping- love it, pool bbq, and one of the coolest things ever- i went to my first broadway show- wicked- and that it was. mindy- cory's girlfriend came to the beach for a couple of days- she's so fun. it's so nice to finally have some more girls around! tanner mentioned many times that he missed having landry there- he loved throwing football on the beach with him. our beach condo this year was amazing- it was in the best location and had a great view of the ocean- thanks for everything brathy- we had a great time! 

{p.s. as many of you know- maddex broke our camera- bad subject- so we didn't have our own camera on this trip. i didn't get as many pictures as i would have loved but thanks to g-pa and grandma kathy we do have some... thanks}

i know- i can't believe i am putting this photo on here either.

love riding the Canoe.. or as some people call it Kayak :)

this is the face maddex makes when he sees and airplane

the family at chart house

annual rootbeer contest

all the girls at WICKED

my first show

the fam

they boys. minus landry

my prince

storytime...

all i wanted to do today was take maddex to storytime and when i saw him sitting there with all the other kids.. i started to panic. 'oh my gosh- my little baby is growing up.' i could literally see him grow up right before my eyes. look at this picture, do you see what i saw? i saw maddex learning to ride a bike, i saw him at the end of the driveway waiting on the school bus, i saw him trying to make friends on the playground. i saw the day he gets his drivers license, and him playing basketball. i saw his first date and him at high school graduation. i saw him filling out his mission papers, and his first day of college.. and then just as it was getting good- in the middle of my day dream- maddex turned around to make sure i was still right behind him. i shed a tear right there in PB.. as i was taking pictures. the other mothers were probably thinking to themselves... 'yeah, must be her first time at storytime...'

  

pbk storytime: 07.21.09

want this.

i'm in love. i dream about the day that i have enough land to have one of these. i can't wait. i want one in every color. 

box house:

the new box-house. i'm sure we all have those videos or photos of us growing up... and many of them consist of box houses, and blanket forts. well this is just the start for maddex. he, just like every other kid i'm sure, loves empty boxes. we have been looking for a huge box that he could play in. we were so excited when we realized we could use this box. daddy put some hard work into rigging this house, and maddex sure does love it. it started out with just a door, then we made a window...then that became a door. and then we had to add blankets and pillows of course. he goes in and out... all day. he is all boy. 

priceless.

i was taking some pictures of maddex when he walked around the kitchen island. i got busy doing something else and after a few minutes- he started screaming loud.. i went running into the kitchen- thinking he had just cut off his foot or something when i saw this... a frusrated maddex. he was standing with the basketball in his hands- trying so hard to reach the hoop. i snapped the picture. when he turned around and saw that i was standing there- this is the face i got. i snapped the picture. for some odd reason- these are two of my favorite photos. it's truly priceless.

     =  

M.A.D adventures:

Maddex And Daddy adventures. It all began a while back when Maddex started waking up so early. Tanner would take him to the park around 6:30 a.m. After a couple of mornings- they started to go on longer walks. It then became- Maddex and Daddys time together- that's when we named it: m.a.d adventures. 

The other day we went to the park and I forgot the camera. Maddex looked so cute. I just kept looking at him in his ball cap thinking- You are such a little boy. He has a mind of his own. He knows what he wants and doesn't want. He is very good with expressing himself. He will tell you... yes or no. He is very independent.. but will let you know if he needs help. He walks all by himself, but loves to hold hands. He blows kisses to everyone. He loves other little kids- and plays very well. He loves to share whatever he has with others. Not going to lie- I was worried about him.. but he has started to become such a sweetheart. He says: na-no, ya(yes), buh-buh, ball, more, ma-ma, and dad.  

As soon as we got home from the park- I ran inside and grabbed the camera. Isn't he getting so big?

up-up. he loves to watch the airplanes.

swoosh.

he shoots. he scores. Maddex got this b-ball hoop for his b-day from his uncles. We were debating whether or not to put it up now or wait until later- but we couldn't hold back. Tanner plays with it just as much if not more. M. is such a star already. He loves nothing more than playing b-ball. He has about 20 basketballs and is constantly walking around with one. He can't quite reach the hoop yet- maybe in about 2 years :) We've been lifting him up about 1000 times a day.. and then we figured out if we put him in his crib- he can reach it. he is such a sweetheart. i love my baller.