just call him "big haircut"

(If you're not a fan of The Office you probably have no idea what the post title means... trust me... its funny)

T-Bone was looking a little raggedy so we decided to take him in to get groomed this week and we think he came out looking pretty snazzy. He gave us the stink-eye for most of the day Thursday (I also made him wear the bandana the whole day) - but he's back to loving us again. I just had to take a picture of my handsome man.

P.S. He told me he feels naked without his Dr. Suess paw-hair.

yes... we are mommies and we rock

This morning I ran in the Go Girl Go Relay Challenge with 7 great friends and we had a blast. All of us have had babies in the past year or two and let me just tell you... we rocked. Each of us ran a 5k leg - so each team ran a total of 20K and we had two teams. We didn't exactly win... or set any records, but who cares. We did great and had fun.

Before the race

Our fan club

Getting ready to do the second lap

Post race

Next year... we're winning it.

little baby bookworm

This kid loves books.

I know I've mentioned this to many of you before, but I just had to take a few photos of her "reading."

Maddie loves taking all of her books off of her shelves, surrounding herself with them and then just flipping thru each book. She'll keep herself occupied doing this for 15-20 minutes (which is a really long time when you're one). Once in awhile she'll bring a book to me to read - but for the most part she's happy just reading them by herself.

So when she cries, or is upset...we just grab a book and start flipping! It works great.

I hope the fascination with books lasts!

breaking news...

Maddie may have taken her first steps tonight.

Does it count if she sort of "fell" two or three steps forward before catching herself on the couch?

Im not sure... Im new at this.

We'll keep you posted on any new developments.

back from cackalack

I have to start out by saying both of my digital cameras went dead 1/3 of the way thru our trip so I have limited photos of our action-packed weekend... but I do have a few good ones. I told everyone not to do anything cute or picture worthy from Saturday on... but they did and I'm bummed I didn't catch it all on film.

Regardless...we had a great weekend. We saw grandparents, aunts, uncles, old friends, new dogs, old dogs and our favorite parrot Sherman who we haven't seen in ages. Not only did we get to see the Herndon clan... but Aunt LoLo also happened to be in NC that weekend visiting a friend so we got to see her for a bit too.

Maddie loved being at her Grandma and Grandads house. Its perfect for babies who are learning to walk. Lots of wide open space and things to hold on to! And Grandma and Grandad were just so much fun to play with. Grandma played with Maddie a ton and even let her play with some of her fancy decorations which made Mommy nervous... but I guess thats what being a Grandma is all about! All fun...all the time. Grandma also gave Mommy a much appreciated break to take a shower... read the newspaper... you know, things that you just don't seem to get around to when you're chasing around a one year old! And Grandad was as fun as ever... Maddie's face just lights up everytime she sees him. Im sad to say I dont have any pictures of Grandma and Grandpa... I hope they send a few to us from their camera so we can post them.

Okay, enough babble, right? I know you just want to get to the pictures. Here we go!

Maddie with Grandmas fancy fruit

Exploring Grandmas pretty back porch

Relaxing in the backyard looking at the geese

Checking out the new furniture

Waiting for the boys to come home from golfing

On Saturday we headed to Durham to see Aunt Lo, "Uncle" Jody, Chris and Lisa. It was so fun to see them all. We went to an arts festival (forgot the cam) and just enjoyed eachother company at Lisa's house.

Maddie and her Lo Lo

Maddie with Chris (she thought he was pretty funny)

Get used to this Maddie... its her signature move

Once we sufficiently wore out the adults-with-no-kids-crowd... we hit the road to get back to Apex for dinner. We were greeted by Aunt Susan, Marley the Dog, Aunt Rita, Uncle Mike, Sherman the Parrot and Gracie the Pooch. Maddie was in heaven.

Maddie meets a real live talking bird... she was thoroughly confused... on many levels.

Aunt Rita and Sherman

Maddie sees Marley again...

Maddie and Sweet Aunt Susan

They're going to have lots of fun together

Maddie on her very first horsey from Aunt Susan... so COOL! She loves it.

Maddie gets her Tucker-fix with Gracie

Maddie wants to check out Sherman again...

look at that face... she just has NO IDEA what she is (yes, Shermans a girl)!

loves from Gracie

That face!

I have no idea what she's doing in this picture below but I just love it. Maybe thats what she's saying about Sherman... she just has no idea!

Okay folks... thats it! Thats all I got. Camera died at this point and when I went to get the backup camera... it was dead too! Thats never happened before. I guess its a good thing I don't have more pictures because that took me almost an hour to upload and commentate. I wish blogger would figure out how to make this a little more painless.

Anywhoo... we're home and Im sure Maddie will be really bummed out when she wakes up tomorrow and there's not a house full of family just waiting to entertain and be entertained! I guess we need to plan another trip up there soon.

our sweet ms. miller

I just had to post these sweet pictures of Madelyn with our neighbor Ms. Miller. She is the sweetest, kindest southern woman you will ever meet. We're so happy we have her as a neighbor and just love her to death. Maddie and I try to go to her house and visit with her at least once a week - and this week I decided to take my camera with me. Maddie thinks she's just great.

oh yeah...

Umm... woops!

Maddie's parents had an anniversary last week. We DID remember. We actually even went out to dinner at "our" place while Steff and Lanny (the best babysitters on earth) watched Maddie.

We made it three whole years! Three down... 50-ish to go?

maddie beats the street

Maddie completed her first 5k this morning. She's pooped and catching up on her sleep as we type.

We ran a 5k for the cooperative preschool in our neighborhood. It was very cute. There was a 1 mile run, a fun run for the preschoolers and a 5k with stroller and double-stroller divisions. Naturally, I made Jim run with the stroller. Naturally, he beat me. Really... this guy kills me. I was tempted to trip him but I didnt want Maddie to get hurt.

Anywhoo... we had fun and Maddie was very entertained with all the crazy people running around.

Loosening up the legs

Helping Daddy stretch

The family who runs together... is sore together?

And Maddie's ready for a nap...

she's ready to shop...

does this thing call apex? 919...

Maddie loves her new phone from Grandaddy and Grandmommy. It didnt take her long to figure out how it works. Here she is trying to call Apex.

919...

Its ringing...

Grandady... can you hear me? I'll see you soon!

happy 4th birthday William!!!

Happy Birthday Will!!!! We hope you have a great day and can't wait to see you again!

Love Jim, Emily and Madelyn.

officially fall (finally) and the case of the missing camera cord

I am READY for fall. I love the summer.... love the sun, the beach, cute tank tops and flip-flops, yada yada... but after 4-5 months of Atlanta heat and humidity - I am ready for some cool weather come September 1st. Unfortunately its still in the high 80s and super humid but its better than the 90s I guess. I'm so excited for fall I've even started decorating. I put up a fall wreath on our front door and lil pumpkins on the mantle... Im ready people. And apparently its not just me - Target has its full Halloween merchandise out! If you just can't wait a second longer to get your costume- head to Target. They're stocked. And they have some cute 1.00 Halloween board books that I picked up for Maddie.

So we are doing great. Maddie is growing cuter exponentially now that she's turned one. She mimics what we say and likes to tell herself "no" when she's doing something she's not supposed to be doing (like throwing her food overboard for Tuck which she still tries almost every meal). She's hasn't started walking yet - but she cruises everywhere and is walking like a pro now that she has her shopping cart and baby stroller to push. Now that she's more mobile she's getting into everything.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

She was saying "no no no" to herself here

Since turning one she said she prefers to eat like a civilized person and use utensils. No... just kidding. She does like to use the spoon but most of the food goes into her hair when she tries. We're working on it.

Mmm... veggie lasagna

And remember when I said she was getting cuter exponentially now? Well, here is the video to prove it. You might want to turn down your volume so you don't have to hear my annoying voice!

Like always - more to come. Ive got some great pictures downloaded from my camera after the cord was missing for a week... so I'll play catch up.