Oops, I dropped the ball...

Like big time.
How long has it been since I've written a post...umm a month (probably longer).
Like I said,
Oops

Honestly, you all haven't missed that much.
What have we been up to?  Hmm, let me think...
We hosted a garage sale, rearranged the furniture (just kidding this doesn't count- I do that at least once a week), and introduced Madelin to pumpkins.  Yea I think that covers it.
Our schedule has been packed, as you can see.
Right...

It turns out garage sales are no joke (pun intended).
I was under the impression that we'd just quickly label our items and have loads of fun haggling with customers.

Not so sally (That's for you Marty).

It's like real work.
In addition to our junk, we had stuff from both parents, the Shaffer's, and two of our friends.  That's too many people to keep track of when you're totaling up someone's tab.  Not to mention setting up and taking down for three days.  After sitting outside all day doing, well, nothing, I've never been so tired in my life.
Thank goodness for grandmas.  I'm not sure what I would have done had Madelin been here all day with us.

All in all, it was a mess success.

Family picture count = 3

That's pretty bad isn't it.

We spent an afternoon at Cox Farms with my brother, his wife, and their adorable son Jadon.  It was a nice (not so crisp at 80 degrees) fall day and we figured we better get a pumpkin before Halloween.  Little did we know these were $8 pumpkins.

Note to self- next year just buy pumpkins and skip the patch.

This was Madelin after we told her how much her pumpkin cost and that she better appreciate it.

Wait, no, this was her, "Get your camera out of my business," look.

Sorry, they look so much alike.

Madelin did gave us a couple good photo ops throughout the day. 

Sadly I didn't get many pictures of the actual farm.  Probably because I was a little disappointed.

You didn't even get to pick your pumpkin off the vine. 

They had already picked them and put them in an open field full of hay bales, scarecrows, and a dead tractor.

  Can you see the attitude this girl has already.  It makes me nervous.  God help us if she's anything like I was when I was a teenager.

So after we "picked" our pumpkins we found the goats.  Oh boy, goats never disappoint.

Let me present you with exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Madelin. Loves. Goats.

Madelin tried to share her love of goats.

Jadon wasn't that impressed.

As the afternoon wore on, the thumb went in,

and the head went down.

So we took our fancy $8 pumpkins and headed to QT to get some refreshment but we decided we couldn't afford to $5 drinks and funnel cakes (darn it).

That was a good day.

Even though it definitely was no Corn Dawgs.

Party Time

Its been a year.
Approximately 365 days, 24 million feeding sessions, who knows how many diapers, and only 3 hours of sleep later, we made it.



I don't know what I was thinking when I found out I was pregnant. Images of mothers cuddling their (sleeping) infants, quiet walks, and family dinners flashed through my head.Wrong-O!
My eyes have been opened to say the least. In fact, I'll never see straight again I fear. Now don't get me wrong, I love our Madelin, but she's made me see a side of myself I didn't know I had. This side Andrew probably wishes he'd never seen. On the other hand, I love being a mother. I don't even mind the dirty diapers and spit up. I like having someone else home with me other than the dogs when Andrew is at work.



Boy am I glad that first year is done. New babies are precious, until the lights go out. At night they become wailing little monsters. No one tells you that. "How are they sleeping?" the nurses ask with a smile on their face as you sit in the hospital on your last night. "Oh, great. If she's not nursing she's sleeping." They give you no indication as to what you're about to get yourself into as you walk out that door. I'm sure its a cruel little joke of theirs.
Anyways, moving on. I'm not bitter or anything...right. So, Madelin's party. She wasn't supposed to have a party. We're not those kind of people. Wait, yes we are. Originally we had just planned on having family over to our house for a cookout and cake. As I started making the guest list the party took on a mind of its own. Just family ended up being around 30 people. Thirty people in a house under 1000 sq feet. I don't think so. Ok ok, we'll move it to mom and dads. Done. I decided to make the cake. It would be cheaper. Four dozen cupcakes and one smash cake later...we had cake. I also decided to make a couple decorations. Mickey Mouse. Not this stupid bright colored Mickey mouse clubhouse. More like the old silent Mickey. About of weeks worth of man hours later we had decorations. This party ended up being much more than I thought, but what the hell its a party for the sake of not having partied in over two years. (I didn't go out much while I was pregnant..one word....awkward)











All in all, it turned out great. She smashed a cake, everywhere, got WAY to many new toys and we got all the family together for the first time since our wedding. Success!