Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

Our sweet Maddox has officially turned 4 years old!  It's so hard to believe that much time has already passed since he first joined our family!  He is such a blessing to us and brings so much joy to our family.  He LOVES to talk and most days talks from the time he wakes up until he falls asleep.  He is constantly asking questions and seeking new knowledge.  He is a thinker and loves to learn.  I think its fair to say he get that from his daddy :D.

We had a great day celebrating his special day today!  We started out with donuts for breakfast complete with candles.  We then ran to get the cupcakes and headed to his party.  After going back and forth, we ended up doing a mini golf Superman party.  We had some of our friends join us at Colorado Journey (super cute) for mini golf and then went across the street to Bellview park for lunch, cupcakes and gifts.  Maddox had so much fun and was sad to leave.  The idea of more presents at home perked him up though.  Since it was his birthday I let him skip nap to play with his new stuff.  While sister napped, we assembled legos, played pirates, and gator golf.  Maddox chose his favorite, Olive Garden, for dinner and then we played outside with his new bicycle from Dede and Pop Pop.  After getting all hot and sweaty outside everyone got baths and we put sister in bed.  We let Maddox stay up a little longer to get in a few games of Mario Kart, which he loved!  I think he had a blast today doing all things he enjoyed!

We are so thankful that God chose us to be Maddox's mommy and daddy!  We can't wait to see what this next year holds and watch him grow and learn as a 4 year old!

Getting Ready to turn FOUR!

Maddox has been super busy getting ready to turn 4 tomorrow.  He had his well check at the pediatricians office on Thursday and a check up at the dentist this morning.  He checked out perfectly at the doctor!  She said he is growing great and is a healthy as can be!  Thankfully there are no shots of the 4 year check-up!  She did warn us that next year's is a biggie so we will have to prepare for that one.  Here is is stat sheet from his check up and him getting his eyes checked out.

At the dentist, he got x-rays and a cleaning done.  He does have one small cavity between 2 of his molars that he has to get filled in a few weeks.  The dentist said his teeth are really close together so he is more prone to getting cavities between them.  We have to start flossing everyday with him to help prevent them.  Other than that he checked out great and did a great job being brave!

I can't believe my baby boy turns 4 years old tomorrow!  Where has the time gone??

MOPS at LC

We are so excited at the Littleton Church to be starting a new MOPS group in the fall!  A great group of ladies have already been working hard to get things ready for this awesome ministry to start in August.  I am the finance coordinator for the group and have been busy getting everyone registered and taking care of the money.  

I was a part of a MOPS group last year at a local church and was really blessed by this ministry.  If you don't know, MOPS or Mothers of Preschoolers is a Christian organization that ministers to moms with kids ages newborn through kindergarden.  Its a great way to get to know local moms and also time for your kiddos to get to hang out and play with kids their own age.

This years theme is A Beautiful Mess: Embrace Your Story.  We are so excited to see what God does through this ministry at LC this year!

Our group is open for registration right now and we are so excited to see which moms God sends our way!  If you are a mom with young children in the area or know of a mom who might be blessed by this ministry we would love to have you as a part of our group.   Your can find out more information on our website HERE!!

Surprise Blessing

Yesterday, after swim lessons, the kids and I had a few errands to run.  We found ourselves at Walmart to pick up some groceries and a couple of things for a certain boys birthday on Saturday.  As is fairly common for us, the moment we walk into a grocery store both of my kids flip out and decide its time to act completely out of control.  Addy refused to ride in the cart but of course when I let her walk she would run off or not follow along.  Maddox wanted to push the cart but kept running into things.  Needless to say it was slightly chaotic and I probably wasn't as patient as I should have been.  We finally finished getting everything we needed and were loading up in the car when a lady I didn't know approached me.  She said, you have a really hard job as a mom and you are doing a great job but I saw that you had a tough time in there today today so I wanted to bless you.  Then she said, take this and take your kids to lunch and just enjoy them.  They are only little for so long and it goes by so fast.  She handed me $40 to take my kids to lunch.  Wow!!  I was totally stressed and frustrated and her reminder was exactly what I needed in that moment.  Some days its so easy to enjoy my kids but we all know there are also days when it takes everything you have to just make it to bedtime without going insane.  So thank you to the random stranger who blessed my day yesterday at Walmart and gave me a reminder that I needed.

Swim Lessons 2.0

Today was round two of swim lessons. It went a little better than the first time. Maddox got upset when Miss Kristen made his ears go under water but he got over it pretty quickly. Addy made it the first half of her lesson without crying at all. She did have a frown on her face the entire time. But I guess that's an improvement from last week. Something did upset her about half way trough and she ended up crying the rest of the time. Hopefully next week she will make it even longer. 

Pony Tail

Absolutely LOVE this little pony tailed girl!!  She finally has enough hair for a full pony and it makes her look so grown up!! 

Denver Botanic Gardens

This morning we went with our friends the Cox's to the Denver Botanic Gardens!  It was a beautiful warm day here in Denver and the kids had a blast!  They loved playing in the river!!

I played around a little with this pic in ps.  Can you spot the difference?  Def not perfect but better :D

Swim Lessons

This morning we had our first swim lessons for the kids.  I decided to do privates lessons because I didn't know how the kids would react this first go around.  If you had asked me before we went how I thought it would go I would have put money on Addy doing great and Maddox freaking out.  Boy would I have been wrong.  Addy went first.  She walked into the pool with Miss Kristen fine and about 15 seconds after being in the pool she flipped!  She saw that I wasn't in the pool with her and just screamed.  Then she proceeded to scream the remaining 30 minutes of the lesson.  Hopefully she will do better at her second lesson next week. Her teacher said it just takes some kids a little while to get used to it.   Maddox on the other hand did awesome!  He did everything his teacher asked him to do and was even brave enough to put his goggle covered eyes in the water, which is a HUGE deal for him!!  Hopefully he will be swimming like a fish by the end of his lessons!!  Here's a few pics that capture how each one reacted!

Yesterday we went to pick out goggles.  Maddox picked Batman and Addison picked Dora.

Doing ok walking in...

Starting to flip out a little...

And full blown screaming and reaching for momma.

Putting his face in the water

Kicking

Blowing bubbles