madeline's top 10...

asheville 102 is in on hold for just a minute, to bring you...

the top 10 things you may not know about madeline!

1. she is one!! (ok you know that!) her party is today :)

2. she is getting her top 2 teeth, bringing her total to 4!

3. she can push herself up to standing. all by herself. in the middle on the floor.

4. she can say things that kind of resemble words... in context. (ok i don't want to jump the gun and say that she can talk... but she is on the right path)

5. she screams to get what she wants... and it works :(6. she is pulling out her hair... like brooke... and me (when i was little, not now!)

7. she is still tiny. she weighs 15 pounds.

8. she likes to lean in for a head-butt. that is how she gives you a kiss :)

9. on her first birthday, she wore the same dress as both hana and brooke did for their first birthday. for 2 kids it was an accident. 3 it is tradition!and the 10th thing you did know about madeline...

10. she took her first couple of steps!!!

asheville 101

this weekend we went to asheville for katie's (jack's sister) wedding (that will be in the next post). my sister lives in there, so after dropping the girls off in greensboro... we headed to asheville solo! it was nice to spend some time with my sister and her fam with out our kids.
friday right after we got there, we went to the biltmore. it was beautiful!! then we headed to the rehearsal dinner. saturday court and i ran 8.5 miles!! then we went to a yummy mexican lunch. jack and i went to the wedding (those pictures will be in another post). and sunday we got up and drove the l-o-n-g drive home. all in all it was a great weekend. it was great to spend time with my husband without kids. we actually had 3 hours in the car to carry on actual conversations... without interruptions every 5 seconds... it was wonderful! it was also nice to get to hang with family... from both sides! my sister's family was very gracious to host us! and we really enjoyed seeing jack's family at the wedding :) fun times... now on to the pictures!

the biltmorejack and i in front of the biltmorethe day we went was the first day they opened the flower carpet. it was breath taking!the mountains are bea-utiful! i like the beach better... but the views in the mountains are gorgeous! (it is kind of hard to get that in a picture)on the drive to the vineyard we stopped to take in some more views :) court and iat the wine tasting... did i mention there is vineyard on the biltmore?jack and i at the wine tasting :)
thanks for a super fun weekend court! more pictures to follow of the wedding in asheville 102 :)

BIG DAY part 2 :)

there was just too much to put in one blog... so this is BIG DAY part 2...


madeline is one!!! i can SO not believe that one year ago she was born. she is such a sweetheart. i just love her so much! (as i do all 3 of them!) i usually recount my birthing experience on their first birthday. why should madeline be any different... here is madeline's story!

after waiting what felt like forever, i made it to 39 weeks 1 day (the longest i had ever been pregnant). then madeline made her appearance in a hurry. i woke up at 5:30am with contractions, but since i had had a day of false labor not too much before that i wanted to make sure they were real. so i took a shower. i got out i knew they where real!! i woke up jack. i called my mom and mark and emily at about 6. we got the girls up and quickly out the door. i was having contractions on the way to the folands. jack ran in and threw the girls in their house. on the way to the hospital the contractions were 1 minute apart. i was a little bit afraid i wouldn't be making it to the hopstial. we pulled up in front and ran in (at about 6:40). i tried to sit in a wheelchair but couldn't because it hurt! we went upstairs, checked in and waited for the triage room to be ready. it felt like it took forever, but jack said it took about 3 minutes. i went in the bathroom to change my clothes, got half way done and felt like i had to push. i screamed and the nurse told me to get on the table to check me (she didn't believe me!) she checked and i was 10 cm. i screamed all the way to the labor and delivery room (which was conveniently close!). i was afraid i wouldn't make it. luckily my doctor just happened to be in the hall and followed us to the room. after a couple of pushes and a lot of screaming she was out! she was born at 7:04... just an hour and 34 minutes after i woke up. i didn't have an iv and was wearing the shirt i came to the hospital in... after she was born, the nurse asked my name :)
welcome to the world madeline!! you have completed our family and we love you!!

then...

now...

i love you madeline!! here is a link to the post last year. more to come when she opens her presents :)

BIG DAY part 1

This is such a big day i had to break it into 2 parts!

part 1... hana's first day of kindergarten!!! i can not believe this day has come! i feel like she was just born :)
jack dropped her off and said she went right in and started coloring. i am a little sad, but it was easier since i was not the one that dropped her off. (it is also nice that for the first time in 3 months, i have a nap time to myself!!!) my little girl is all grown up!

eating breakfast (she was so excited, she hardly ate)walking with daddy to the car (so excited she was skipping!!)so big!!on the way :)

madeline... ouch!

somehow tonight, when we were pushing madeline up to the bar, she leaned her head forward at just the right moment and slammed her head into the bar. she got quite the goose egg... so why not share it??!!and just in case you can't see how far it sticks out from her head...

ouch madeline!! but don't worry, it didn't seem to slow her down at all!

brooke is now even

brooke has started the annoying habit of, while sucking her fingers, she twists and pulls out her hair. for this reason, her hair is very uneven. it is getting longer and curlier on one side and shorter on the other. even though i didn't quite think it was time for her first cut... it was starting to look silly. so we went ahead with the first cut!
she did look like such a big girl sitting in that chair... so cute!!

at first she wasn't sure what to think

by the end she was loving it ;)

and now her sides are even!

madeline...*sigh*

we went to a friends house the morning to play in her pool. after getting her out of her wet bathing suit, i only put madeline in a diaper. when we got home i put her down for a nap. i heard her crying off and on during her nap time. when i finally went to get her... this is what i saw.
lovely madeline... *sigh*

greensboro-cation

my family (parents+sister) tries to do a family vacation every year. for years we have been camping (not my favorite!) but as our families have grown... we have out-grown camping. we have not yet been able to all agree on a vacation that accommodates us all. so until the time of an agreed upon vacation comes around... we decided to meet in greensboro and just do some day trips. a greenboro-cation if you will ;)
unfortunately the weather did not quite hear our plans and it was cool (75!) and drizzling for the first 3 days ;( but we made the best of it! we went to the greensboro children's museum, the natural science center, the asheboro zoo, a local (fun!) pool, and played in the yard. we even had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs for dinner :) all in all it was a successful trip! some great time with family!
and for those of you keeping track... i ran 6 miles with my sister (almost 1/2 of my final distance)!

here come the pictures!!!

the first full day was spent at the children's museum (as it was 75 and rainy)

the next day we went to the zoo (still cool and rainy but we went anyway!) and had a bonfire!

zoo...

madeline at the zoo :)

sleeping :)steven (brother in law) and steven edward (nephew) building the fire!hana cooking hot dogs :)

my sister's kids eating at the cook out... they like to get messy :)

the next day court and i ran... then we went to the pool (sadly, no pics of that) and played in the yard :)

yay for family time!