Cool Weather is Finally Here!

It is finally not 90 degrees outside and we have been able to enjoy some of this nice fall weather!
We also have some new pictures to share!
We have all been doing great.

Maddox is as cute as ever and has the personality to match. He keeps us very busy. He is still fascinated with anything that has wheels and especially likes buses, lawnmowers, and tractors. He tries to say anything we say now and has a lot of words that we are clueless on the meaning. He is very independent and likes to do things all by himself. He also has a slight stubborn streak in him, but we have no idea where he got that from ;) Curious should have been his middle name, he loves to explore everything. Forget toys, he would rather play with things around the house and climb. He does like blocks and will stay occupied for a little while with blocks, but otherwise you would find him running all over the house chasing the dogs, climbing on the toilet, hiding in the dryer, and standing on top of the laundry basket (just to name a few).


We have ben enjoying this brisk fall weather. It is very hard to keep Maddox contained in the house all day so rain or shine we have been heading outside. The past few days it had felt very wintery out. We opened the door Wednesday morning (our first cold weather day) and Maddox stood in the doorway and said "ooooooohh." He was very fascinated by the cold and now refuses to go outside unless he has his hat.
We have very funfilled days with Maddox and enjoy every moment with him, even the stubborn moments. ;)


Jamie is starting to feel some better and is hopefully on the tail end of this thing they call morning sickness. We are 14 weeks along and everything seems to be going fine. We heard the heartbeat last week. It was reassuring to know (hear) that there really is something causing all this illness!

We all went to the Tech Homecoming game the other weekend and had a great time. Maddox ejoyed entertaining everyone around us with his cuteness. We were pleasantly surprised at Maddox's behavior and got to stay until the beginning of the fourth quarter. We decided to leave because it was way past a little ones bedtime


This weekend we are heading to the pumpkin patch to take some fun fall pictures and to pick out a pumpkin to carve. Maddox is fascinated by all the pumpkins around lately and enjoys pointing to all of them and saying something that sounds like pumpkin. Next week he will go trick or treating for the first time. You'll have to wait for pictures to see what he is dressing up as...it's a surprise!!

We hope you are all having a wonderful Fall!!
Keep checking the blog for new pictures!!

Picture Problem!!

So we have been taking lots of pictures of Maddox for you all to see but, we cannot find the camera cable to download them onto the computer!!! It has been missing for several weeks which is why we have not posted in a long time. The search is still on for it!!
We do have one picture on the computer already that we thought we would share with everyone:

This baby is due April 23!! We are very excited! And to answer a few questions:
*Yes, Jamie has been very sick but seems to be getting a little better.
*We are about 11 weeks along.
*We will NOT be finding out what this baby is.
*We will not be sharing names until the birth.
*We will not be moving into a bigger house.
*Maddox and new baby will be almost exactly 2 years apart.
That should cover the ones that are on everyone's minds! If you have any others just ask!

Ok, now we are off to continue searching for the camera cable! Wish us luck!

We're Back!

*After writing this post we realized that we have very few pictures of Maddox over the past month. We'll try to catch up and post some more soon. Sorry for the lack of pictures!*
So obviously we took a break from blogging for a while. We didn't really do it on purpose time just got away from us. We have been doing so much since the last post!
The weekends have been crazy with get togethers, holidays, vacations, and Maddox. And Maddox keeps us very busy during the week.
We thouroughly enjoyed our vacation to New York City! Maddox also really enjoyed his vacation to Mimi and Pawpaw's house. We got some good quality together time in and we also had a blast seeing the city! Here are a few pictures from our trip. We saw lots of things and stayed very busy the whole time. We got to see 2 Broadway shows; Hairspray and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Both were excellent! What a treat to be able to go to those as evening entertainment! We of course saw all the "tourist" spots. We also got to eat at some really great restraunts! Eating at cool places is a treat for us since the only places to eat out in Ruston are Chinese, Mexican and Chili's.
Grand Central Terminal

Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center)

Ground Zero

Ground Zero was very suprising to us. It looked like a huge construction site. In fact, you wouldn't even know what it was unless you were looking for it. There were a few signs about what happened on 9/11 but overall we were disapointed.
We have some other pictures but they are the standard Times Square, Statue of Liberty etc etc. Plus we know all you want to see are pictures of Maddox. ;)

Maddox also had a blast and did VERY well while we were gone. Apparently he didn't even miss us! Jamie's parents kept him busy with lots of things like swimming, playing, going outside, parties, and lots more. He came home knowing what a motorcycle says and wanting to go outside a lot!

We missed him while we were gone but it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We all had a hard time getting back into the routine of things, vacations are oh so spoiling! We pretty much have things back in order and have developed our routine again. We do miss the sleeping in ;)
Let's see what has Maddox been up to these days.......
He is a VERY good climber and loves to climb the kitchen chairs, the couch, boxes, the bed,into cabinets, basically anything that is taller than he is.
Making brownies


He has become SO verbal. He talks all.the.time! He has a huge vocabulary now. He says thank you, bike, outside, all done, ice, hot, tickle tickle, daddy, mommy, eyes, belly button, airplane and more we can't think of at the moment.
He is always on the move! He doesn't sit still for very long and enjoys staying very busy. We just bought him a new play tent that he absolutely loves! It has tunnels and hideouts. It takes up our entire living room. Thankfully, it can be seperated into different peices and easily pops open and closed for storage. We think it is pretty cool too!
Maddox understands so many things now. His comprehension amazes us! He has turned into a little boy and acts nothing like a baby anymore. He finally reached the 20lb mark!! It only took 16 months but he now weighs almost 21lbs! He still only has 4 teeth and no more in sight. He'll get new teeth one day!
We are currently trying to wean him off of his paci for nighttime and naps. The night has been going pretty well we are still struggling a little with naps. Thankfully sleeping is the only time he uses the paci so we don't have too much breaking to do.
When we went down to Jamie's parent's house we also bought a new car! We had definitely outgrown Jamie's Hyundai and decided it was time to get something new. Plus, we were a little worried the Hyundai wouldn't make it on the trip down there. Thankfully it made it with only a few minor complications and we traded it in before the thing was completely worthless. We bought a Mazda 5. It has lots of space and is very luxurious comapred to our old car! Jamie has been having a great time driving it around! Maddox seems to enjoy his new ride too!


Well that's our life in a nutshell over the past month. It probably wouldn't take us as long to blog if we blogged more often! This blog took forever to write and post pictures. That happens when you wait a month to post!! We'll try to post more often...promise!

Fire trucks and Such

Over the past month Maddox has developed an increasing fascination with fire trucks, cars, trucks, and tractors. Apparently boys are just fascinated with these things! He loves to point to these things and say what they are. We are quite impressed that he has started to say "tractor." To the untrained ear it may not sound like much but to us he is definitely saying "tractor."
We were honored to be invited to Maddox's friend Grant's 3rd birthday party...it was at the Fire station!! Maddox, of course, was thrilled and talked about the firetrucks all morning before we went. When we got there he was so excited to see a fire truck up close and personal! He was more than willing to volunteer to drive the fire truck, sit on the stretcher, go in the ambulance, etc etc! He had a blast, and it was so neat to watch him get so excited!







Maddox's vocabulary has shot through the roof!! He tries to say everything we say now, it may not be as clear as we say it, but he is definitely making an effort. Some new words, tractor, all done, thank you, fire truck, cat, bubble, and book. He has also decided to start answering our questions with the response "yea." We are trying to redirect this by saying "yes." "Yea" sounds so junior high, preteen, adolescent!

He is learning new things every day and is understanding and comprehending everything we say. He is very inquisitive and wants to know what everything is. He loves to explore, and has become quite the adventurer when it comes to going anywhere. Let's just say he does not enjoy sitting in the buggy or being held if we are shopping somewhere!

His favorite thing right now is books. We could read books all day long! He loves looking at the pictures and pointing out what everything is. He will bring us book after book after book to read to him.

This past weekend we went to his friend McKenzie's birthday party. It was a swimming party and Maddox had a great time. Apparently we gave birth to a fish! ;)



This month we have a big trip planned! We are headed to New York City, without Maddox! It will be our second anniversary trip! We are leaving Maddox with Jamie's parents. It will be a great time for them to hang out since they don't get to see him very often. He loves it there and he especially loves his uncle E and the swimming pool! We drive to Houston the 22nd and our flight leaves on the 23rd. We'll fly back in on the 27th. We are very excited and nervous! This will be our first time leaving Maddox overnight anywhere. We know we will miss him so much! While we are there we plan on seeing all the sights and going to a couple of Broadway shows. We also plan to feast on some yummy food! There will definitely be a blog post when we get back!


We hope everyone is doing well! Keep checking in for new posts!

PSA: Maddox does really like trucks but this does not mean we now need to be inundated with all things trucks, Maddox has plenty. Thanks! ;)

Family Pictures

Our good friend Crystal took some great pictures for us the other day. We are thrilled with the way they turned out and thought we would share with everyone. We'll scatter them throughout the post to keep you entertained. Surely Crystal won't mind!

We haven't been up to too much lately. The weekend before last we headed down to Houston to see Jamie's family. We had a great time. The weather finally turned nice on Sunday so we all got in the pool and went for a swim before we had to leave. Maddox of course loved the pool. We think he is part fish. He is even starting to move his arms and legs like he is trying to swim. He must have inherited his Uncle E's love for swimming. ;)

It has rained a lot here over the past few weeks and when it is not raining it's HOT. Our outdoor time has been very limited. Thankfully, the last few days have been really nice and even a little cool before it is about to rain in the evenings.

Jamie has been watching a friends little 3 month old a couple of days a week. Maddox has really enjoyed the company, and loves bringing the baby toys and giving kisses. It is definitely giving us a chance to teach him how to be gentle.

Maddox has been doing great! He learned how to catch a ball this week! So now he loves to play catch. He is still climbing like a monkey. If any box is lying around you are sure to find Maddox on top of it, or in it. He has also started saying "da dee" when he wants Brian or sees a picture of Brian. He likes watching his Baby Einstein movies and if it were his choice he would watch them all day, but we limit him to one every other day or so. We are not really tv watchers and we try to come up with other things to do instead of watching tv. Maddox has really gotten into car, tractors, trucks, buses, and anything else that has wheels. He loves to point them out in books. We finally bough him some toy cars to play with and he has really enjoyed them. He likes to push them around and make car noises.

Brian's birthday is Friday. He gets the day off of work! We have plans to go see the new Harry Potter movie! Jamie will of course be getting the final Harry Potter book at 12am on Saturday. She has also said that she is "taking the day off" to read on Saturday. :)

We have been busy his week visiting our new friend Lainey! Maddox's best friend Andi became a big sister on Monday. She is a great big sister and gives Lainey lots of kisses. Maddox likes to look at Lainey but wasn't too sure of her when Jamie was holding her.

That is about all that has been going on. We hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Almost a month

Wow! Has it really been almost a month since we last posted an update?? Sorry about that. Life with a 13 almost 14 month old is pretty crazy. Apparently some people are having Maddox withdrawls! ;)

So now to fill you all in on what has been going on in our lives:
Maddox is GREAT! We enjoy him more and more everyday! His personality is amazing and he is always making us laugh. He is such a sweet little guy. He is walking all the time now with only a few spurts of crawling. He has even started to run. He likes to play chase (we chase him) especially when he has somehing he is not supposed to have.
He is learning new things everyday and is never ceasing to amaze us. This age is so much fun. His little mind is like a sponge, soaking up all sorts of new information! He is doing all sorts of new things, there are too many to list but of few of them are; throwing things in the trash, climbing...on everything, saying new words, playing with anything that has wheels, and the list goes on!


On Father's Day at church we had Maddox dedicated. Basically, it was a ceremony to commit to raising Maddox up in a Godly home and teaching him the ways of the Lord. Besides being a wiggle worm through the whole thing it went great! He was very anxious to get down and explore the stage we were on. In an effort to save everyone from a screaming fit we allowed him to climb the stairs instead. He had a good time, and it allowed all the other participates some peace and quiet.




Jamie and Maddox have been busy with playdates this summer. A great spot they go is the parish park. The is a nice little beach there where Maddox and the other kids love to play. He loves the water and of course he loves to play in the sand.




We have spent a lot of this month picking blueberries. The farm is only open for the month of June so we have been often to stock up. Maddox loves blueberries!!

This past weekend was the Peach Festival but unfortunately we all came down with the stomach flu so we were unable to participate in the festivities. Maddox was supposed to participate in a Diaper Derby but since we were ill he didn't get to. Maybe next year!



Maddox and work have been keeping us busy. Brian has been busy at work with new projects and developments and Jamie has been busy with her purse making business. Her website is finally up. It is www.purepurseonalities.com She designed it herself. It still has some work to be done but at least the majority of the work is complete. Now she just has to get busy makng some more bags!


The summer is flying by and July is almost here! We promise to update more, this post was WAY overdue! We will continue to keep you updated on whats going on in our lives! Do we even still have readers out there?? We would love to here comments from you!

Have a blessed day!

The answer to the question everyone has had on their minds.....

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Maddox is walking!!!
He had been taking a few steps but on Friday he just decided to take more! Now he loves to try to walk to things. He is still wobbly and falls a alot, but he gets right back up and tries again.
We have been waiting to post anything about it until we got some good video of it.

That is the biggest news around here. We have been really busy with a lot of different things. Jamie is finishing up a website for her purses. She has gotten a lot of orders for them so she decided a website was in order. It is almost done and we will post the address as soon as it is up and running. Until then, you can visit www.purepurseonalities.blogspot.com to check out her blog. She has also still been making purses and keeping up with Maddox, so her days are pretty busy.

Maddox is still doing great. We are thankful we have not dealt with any sicknesses in a long time! He still has only 2 bottom teeth, the top gums are swollen but they have been for over a month now with no signs of teeth. This whole tooth process is taking a lot longer than we thought.
He loves to climb. He keeps working on how to get onto the couch. If there is something next to the couch he will try to use it to climb up. In this picture he has climbed on top of two things stacked to reach the window sill....we definitely have to keep a close eye on him!



We have had a breakthrough in regards to eating. We have figured out how to get our picky eater to eat foods.....let him eat out of small bowls. Maddox would only eat a handful of foods, never wanted to try anything, and would refuse anything he didn't think looked right, now we put things in a little bowl and put them on his tray and he tries it! It may seem like a little thing, but it makes a world of difference for us.
His new word he can say is bubble. He must like the way it sounds coming out because he says it a lot! He can also use sign language to tell us when he wants to eat, when he wants more of something, and when he is all done. The eat one has been especially helpful in knowing when he is hungry and how to express it. Babies can use sign language to communicate before they can talk, so sign language is a great way for him to communicate to us without frustration.

Jamie has entered Maddox into an Evenflo baby contest. The winner is based on how many votes they get. Voting starts June 1st (tomorrow) you can vote once a day until June 15. Please click here and vote for Maddox!! Please pass it on to all your friends too! You can also access it by going to www.evenflo.com click on the Baby You're a star and then enter photo ID # 12075 in the top right hand of the screen where it asks for Photo ID #. We think he is the cutest baby on there!!

We hope everyone is having a great week and has had a great month of May! This summer sure is going by fast so far!

That's all for now!

Birthday Fun!

Maddox had a great birthday!
His party was Saturday afternoon. He had a great time with all of his family and friends.
We got some good pictures of the event so we thought we would share.

Playing with chalk
Eating chalk

His first birthday cake! (Jamie made it!)



Opening Presents

By the time opening presents was over Maddox was beat! He had gone the whole day with only 30mins of nap so by the end of the party he was exhausted!
We learned that birthday parties are very exhausting for us too! We were also beat by the end of the day and we all slept very well that night.
Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures!
We are doing a good job with keeping up the blog lately! ;)

Love you all