A year and a half already???

Maddie is 18 months old today.  And as I type those words I just want to cry!  My baby is getting big, fast.  She already thinks she is a big kid.  A list of things I want to remember about this age:

• Maddie is my little kamikaze!  She runs everywhere, often not watching where she's headed.  
• Which makes her REALLY tough!  I think she is tougher than her big brother and she has no fear!
• She has CRAZY curls!  Where did that hair come from??  When wet it is down to the middle of her back.
• She can climb the stairs and slide down all by herself on our play set.  Scares me to death!  She loves it!
• She loves her monkey lovey and snuggles it and sucks her two middle fingers when she is tired.
• She doesn't like fast food or fried food much.  A good thing, but hard sometimes on mom.
• Will is her hero!  She loves her big brother so much, looks for him first thing when she wakes up, and giggles at him all the time.  
• She loves Elmo and screams "ELGO" when she sees him.
• Maddie doesn't say many words, but she does say Dada, Bubba, Elmo, All Gone, there you go (when she wants to give you something), Yes (Yea), No, and she has a word she uses for Bunny, Abby, and a few other things that sounds the same to me but I can't quite figure out how to even spell it.  She really only says Mama if she is upset and crying.  
• She knows most of her body parts
• She loves her earrings and mommy's, too.  She plays with them.  She really likes anything shiney!
• She is obsessed with shoes and likes to put ours on all the time
• Her smile lights up the room
• She doesn't really like to cuddle much, but when she does it is the sweetest love ever!
• She tries to jump and says "yay!" after she tries
• She sings A LOT!  Twinkle Twinkle is her favorite.
• She loves school and screams with excitement when we pull into the parking lot on Wednesday mornings.
• Her cheese face is hilarious!  And anytime you pull out a camera she says CHEESE and smiles big and squints her eyes.

18 Month Stats

Height - 33 1/8 inches - 85th %

Weight - 23 lbs - 40th %

Head - 18 3/4 inches - 75th %

Maddie - you are such a joy for us all!  Will loves to play with you, help you, and rough house with you.  Mommy loves your giggles and smiles, and that feisty attitude that will definitely be a challenge down the road.  And you are a Daddy's girl!  The way you run to him and scream his name when he comes home melts his heart, and mine.  We love you so much!

Easter Egg Hunt

Kelli, Jimbo, and Preston has us over for their annual Easter Egg Hunt today.  It was really a lot of fun.  We've been doing it with the "big" kids for a couple years and it was fun to see them actually know what to do this year and run out to gather eggs.  And of course the littler ones had a great time, too!  Here are a few pictures from the night.  As I look back at these, I am just blown away at how lucky we all are to have these kids in our lives.  In 3.5 years we went from a group of college friends who managed to stay in touch and spend time together to a group of friend who spend most of their time chasing after, feeding, entertaining, and loving on kids when we're together. And the fact that the kids LOVE each other and have so much fun playing together is more than I could have ever hoped for!  So as we move closer to celebrating the most special of religious holidays, I thank God for my babies, for all my adopted "nieces and nephews" and for all the joy they've brought to our lives in the past few years.  God is so good!

Big Kids ready to hunt!

Oh yea, Maddie is a big kid these days, too.  :(

Will hard at work

Helen not so happy at her mommy for not letting her eat grass.  She loved the eggs, though!

Sweet blue eyed girl.  She found a few eggs!

Our little family

Our extended family - amazing they are all sitting still!

Sweet Caleb found some dirt to snack on!

And Maddie liked playing with the dirt and mulch more than hunting eggs.

Bunnies!

Since Will was a baby we have taken annual photos at NorthPark Mall with the bunnies.  My friend Melissa, who lives in Austin now, also does them with her girls.  They came in town today, so we met at NorthPark (our favorite meeting place!) for a little while and had the kids do pictures.  It was so fun to see them and felt like old times.  Maddie wasn't so keen on the bunnies, but was very excited to run around the Disney store with her big brother, Kate, and Elia.  Sweet Sammy just slept and was so content!  Fun afternoon and a fun picture of my two munchkins.   Thanks Duffield girls for meeting us!