music to my ears...

ahhh... the sound of dirty southern men (and when I say dirty I mean they are actually covered in dirt) bantering back and forth on our front lawn. Its music to my ears.

Are you confused?

These are contractors. Contractors here to fix and replace our gutters which have been broken for so long is embarassing. My husband finally cracked and is paying some one else to do a job he can do. I love my husband and he is VERY crafty, handy and resourceful, but sometimes you just have to call a contractor and his crew in to do a job in a few hours that might take you an entire weekend. And hey- we're stimulating the local economy, right?

Baby steps... baby steps.... this is good.

early morning excitement

Last week our friend Sophie got a new baby brother!! We got a call around 2am saying that Sophie's mommy was going to the hospital to have the baby and they needed some one to watch Sophie (he was 2 weeks earlier and they are like us with no family in town and didnt have a backup plan). Jim slept on their couch for a few hours then brought Sophie down to our house in the morning for breakfast. The girls had so much fun. Maddie loved sharing breakfast with Sophia and even getting some playing time in before school. Maddie and Sophie are in the same class so we just brought her with us to school that morning. It all went very smooth and we had fun having Sophie around. Here are some cute pics I snapped of them.

classmates

Maddie talks a lot in the tub. She likes to tell us about her day and just jabber away about nothing in particular. Here she is telling me the kids names in her class (with some prompting of course)

shakin' her groove thing

As requested by her aunts... here's more Maddietube.

birthday party fun

We had a blast at our neighbor and Maddie's good friend and classmate (did you get all that? They're in the same class and are our neighbors) Sophia's birthday party this weekend. Sophie looked sweet in her cupcake smocked dress and was the life of the party. Their friend Addie from school came to the party as well and the three of them were absolutely adorable together.

As you can tell from the pictures, Maddie enjoyed the cupcakes very much. She ate hers and then the rest of Sophia's when she wasn't looking. Nice way to treat the birthday-girl, huh? And by the way- I cut Maddie's bangs once again after seeing these pictures. They grow so fast!

and baby makes FOUR!!

Thats right! We've got a bun in the oven!

We're happy to announce we're adding another sweet little baby to the Herndon Family. Both mommy and baby are doing great and baby is due to arrive October 16th.

Baby Herndon #2!

this is how Maddie feels about it right now

yummy... maybe next year

Yummy.

I don't usually post dometic-y type stuff on my blog... I try to keep it Maddie focused, but every once in awhile I see something and think I should blog about and think this is one of those things.

Arent these bunny pops so cute! Oh yeah, and how about these super cute cupcakes? SO easy to make, just takes a little time and creativity.


Any of you all who are big into blogs about recipes and cooking already know about Bakerella. She always has the cutest little pops and things and some day when I build up enough courage and have some time and patience Im going to try and actually make one of her recipes. This woman might single-handedly get me into baking. I said "might."

easter recap...

Are you ready for picture overload? I hope so.

We're back from NC and had a great time up there for Easter. We were able to spend lots of time with Grammie and Grandaddy and see Aunt Susan, Aunt Sarah, Uncle John and Baby Lilly. This was Maddie's first real Easter experience since she was just 7 months old last year. And Maddie LOVES Grammie and Grandad. She loves their house, all their cool old toys... and of course, them.

Here she is on Easter-Eve just being silly instead of getting her PJs on.

The next morning, we got up bright and early to see if the Easter Bunny had come. He had!! He left a basket for Maddie inside and lots and lots of eggs outside.

Delivered by Grandad

Woo hoo!! Candy!

Baby Lilly was happy with her yellow egg...

Peeps! Aunt Laura would be proud

After our breakfast of peeps and M&Ms (see Lor, Im not a total scrooge), we bundled up and headed outside to find those eggs the bunny hid! Maddie loved it. She ran from egg to egg screaming excitedly. I think she found all 44!

Baby Lilly had to watch from the sidelines this year... but she was observing and taking mental notes so she would know what to do next year. We told Maddie this was the last year she wouldnt have any competition for eggs and to enjoy it.

We went to church at First Baptist Apex and came back for some family pictures. Maddie isnt exactly at the "posing" age right now - so I did my best to get a dress shot. This is the best one I got. Sad.

Mommy and Maddie

Family shot

Mommy loves her even when she's grumpy

Proud grandparents

Helping Aunt Susan open her birthday gifts later that day

We were able to stay a few extra days because J had a conference in town and I could work at my firms local office. Grammie and Grandad volunteered to babysit Maddie while J and I were at work and it worked out great. Maddie was in heaven and I was able to get some work done. Works been CRAZY for me lately... thank you Obama and your stimulus money. We're still experiencing layoffs (not environmental staff) so Im very thankful for my job and its flexibility.

Anywhoo - Maddie had tons of fun while we were gone. She went to Chapel Hill and came back with a Carolina shirt and basketball (hey, Grammie had to have her shot), they saw lots of bugs, birds and other wildlife in the yard and neighborhood, went to a playground and did lots of PLAYING! Ive mentioned before that Grammie kept lots of Jim and his sisters old toys and Maddie thinks they're great.

Love this pic... Grandad reading Maddie a story

Just doesnt turn like it used to...

Maddie taking it for a spin

We made it home in one piece and are getting back into our normal daily routine. Our house was still a complete disaster because of the hardwoods getting redone - and its just sort of starting to look normal again. We ran around to clean for our angel-of-a-cleaning-lady and I think its finally livable again. This house is going to give me an ulcer. Seriously. I love it to death... but its too small. Yes, we are looking for a bigger house. Here are a few pics from yesterday...

Peep love

Coloring on the sidewalk

The azaleas finally bloom!

That's it for now! Happy Friday to everyone.

maddie's first easter party and egg hunt

Maddie had her first easter party and easter egg hunt at school yesterday. I left my camera with one of her teachers and she got some cute shots.

Little bunnies

searching the playground

Nolan and Addie

Success!

Back inside for a dance party


Here she is walking out of school with me. She was very proud of her basket

She LOVES this courtard. I have a hard time getting her to leave it

When we got home Maddie had a box of goodies waiting for her from Aunt Jen. It had some treats, a book and some of Mommy's favorite girl scout cookies! YUM! Thanks Aunt Jen.

We're headed up to Grammie and Grandads for Easter tomorrow. We're excited for an egg hunt and to enjoy some beautiful NC weather. Pictures to come!

its all happening at the zoo...

On Saturday we took a family trip to the Atlanta Zoo and had a great time. It was the first time Maddie and Jim had been (I had been a few times with friends and their kids and of course... my sister and Tay Tay while back). I was excited to point out all these animals that Maddie recognizes in her books. She on the other hand was a lot more excited about the birds (aka pigeons and crows (walking around the sidewalks and paths but... whatever) we still had a good time.

Checking out the antelope

watching the tiger cubs play

I had to get a picture of the "twirl." Its constant... she's even doing it now as I type

Maddie and Daddy

And with Mommy

Doesnt this guy look a little creepy?

Brushing the cute goat at the petting zoo

Giving all the goats a turn... she wasnt scared at all!

Checking things out (while twirling)

Three little piggies taking a nap together

Maddie being brave enough to pat one (they seemed a little too docile to me...)

Some very necessary hand washing after

I took a picture of this bird because its a "cookaburra."

Did you know that was a real bird? Now you know what one looks like!

The petting zoo was definitely my favorite part. The goats, sheeps and piggies were very cute and the kids really loved being able to touch them. We bought an annual family pass while we were there so Im sure we'll have many more zoo pictures coming up in the near future! You might be seeing these goats again and again!

And I had to take some pictures of our bedroom and office and their new floors because it looks so pretty! They'll never look this clean and pretty again! I really dont even want to put furniture back in them... I just want to stare at them all clean and pretty for as long as possible.

Maddie and Tuck really like the open "play" area

Ahhhh so clean