Christmas #2, Trip to NC and the Biltmore

We have returned! After a 9 day trip, we finally made it home yesterday afternoon and are appreciating all that "home" has to offer! (one example - we both sunk into bed last night and just smiled - the wonders of your "own" bed! Madigan took a 3 hour nap in her crib yesterday and today, so I think she feels the same way!) But, we had a WONDERFUL trip and were so glad to spend some quality time with both sides of our family. We traveled first to North Carolina and spent 6 days with Ted's mom, dad, and sister. Then, we headed home and made a stop in Jackson, TN to spend the weekend with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and nieces. My goal for this entry is to post pictures and stories from our time in North Carolina (aka - "Christmas #2") and then sometime later I'll get up the stuff from our time with the Marrows (which will probably be creatively named "Christmas #3"). So, here's a trip recap...
We left Friday night after work and stopped in Lebanon, TN for the night. Then, we arrived in Raleigh around 4:30 on Saturday afternoon, just in time for the annual (and extremely fun) Bowsman Family Christmas Party. For those of you who attended our Christmas party, this party was the inspiration for us starting the N. Little Rock version :). We ate, had the White Elephant gift exchange, and enjoyed catching up with friends we don't get to see very often. As you can see, Madigan had no trouble finding her place in the center of the group!
Here's a group picture. Unfortunately, we forgot to take it before a few people had left, but here's most of the group.Sunday we went to church and just hung out most of the day. Monday, Aunt Kate took Madigan shopping, so Ted and I had a little time to run around town alone. It was really nice to shop without checking to see what Madigan was reaching for or encouraging the use of a "quiet voice" (although Ted did get a little loud a couple of times)! The only problem was that we kept going to the same stores that Kate and Madigan were at and having to hide from them! I literally dove behind a clothes rack at one point. I felt a little guilty for hiding from my kid :), but they had a great time without us. That evening, we spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Kate's house and ate a wonderful dinner.Then, we opened presents from Ted's Aunt Shirley. Madigan got a doll and bottle which she LOVED. All we heard for the next five minutes was "baby, baby, baby".
She also got some Princess slippers and a pink tutu. Why is everyone out to make her a girly girl?!! But, she loved them (of course!) and had a lot of fun being a ballerina in her tutu. Here's a video of her grace and coordination (inherited from her mother?!).
Click here to see our Ballerina
Then, we spent Christmas day at Grandi and Gramps house (Ted's parents). Madigan got to play Santa and hand out all of the presents. And then... she helped unwrap all of the presents (although no one seemed to mind!) She got some wonderful new toys and clothes. I think she's decided this Christmas thing is pretty neat!
The rest of Tuesday and Wednesday we just hung out most of the time. Can you tell that Madigan had fun?! Every time we turned around, someone had a new "toy" for her to play with!

A Mickey Mouse tricycle

Bubbles!

A blow-up Santa the size of MadiganA Thomas the Tank Engine tent
(we weren't sure Gramps was going to be able to get out!)

Then, Ted and I got a special treat on Wednesday night. We got to go out for a belated Anniversary celebration... just the two of us!! We went to Carrabas and had a great time. When we returned, Madigan and Aunt Kate had a little surprise for us. Yes, those are Madigan's toenails...and yes, they are pink. She LOVES to stare at them! Thanks Aunt Kate!
On Thursday, we all drove to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore mansion. Wow - what a place! It was absolutely beautiful, but I have to admit that my favorite part was the basement where there was a bowling alley and indoor pool! Here are some pictures:Whew... you tired yet? We were but so glad we got to do all of this with the Bowsmans. Thanks Grandi, Gramps and Aunt Kate for a GREAT time!! We love you!

Christmas #1 and other things

Yes that's right - Christmas number ONE. In other words, there will be more to come after Christmas time with the grandparents :). But, Ted and I thought Madigan should have at least a couple of presents from her parents (since all we gave her for her birthday was some pajamas!) So, we let her open our presents on Thursday night. Here are some of the pics:
She got a Backyardigans sing-along boom-box and a silly songs CD (both bought with the LONG trip in mind!) She really liked them... but preferred the bow over them both!A few other things that I've just been late on getting posted...
We had a WONDERFUL time at Christmas party last Saturday. We had a special visitor all the way from the North Pole - Santa Claus! Unfortunately, Madigan decided that she was going to be scared of Santa that night, so we didn't get very good picture (even with Mommy holding her).However, she LOVED the present that he left with her... (what is it with other people giving her suckers?!!)Thanks to everyone who came and helped make it a great party!
One last thing - we had several small visitors at our house last week. The Noel and Thornhill kiddos came to stay with us for a few hours one night. Ted somehow got roped into reading a story and this is the picture I was able to capture. How cute is this? It was a long book, so only three of the six hung with him until the end, but they all thought he was a pretty good storyteller (although one of the older ones caught him trying to skip a part...he didn't count on them being able to read along!)
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Picture with Santa

We had a really fun, really busy weekend! We celebrated our 5th anniversary, enjoyed Abigail Huff's 1st birthday party, and hosted our 5th annual Christmas party (with almost 50 people). Whew... I'm tired! I'm going to do my best to post more about each of those later (and some fun pictures from the party), but for now I just wanted to get up Madigan's picture with Santa for 2007. This was taken last weekend at "Christmas Lane" hosted by a local church (it was pretty incredible - free food, pony rides, train rides, pictures with Santa, shows, etc). I wasn't sure how she would do with Santa this year (she has a bit of stranger anxiety these days), but she went right up and sat with him. No smile, but we're not going to be picky!
Hope you all had a great weekend!

Sneak Peeks

Since Christmas is now less than TWO weeks away (can you believe it?!), we thought we should probably get started taking Madigan's pictures for our Christmas cards! So, I got her all dressed up in one of her Christmas dresses and after getting her approval...
we started the photo shoot. I've learned from experience that the best pictures of Madigan come when she's doing what she wants to do and I just happen to "catch" the smile. So, I let her play with some of the Christmas decorations that up until now have been "off limits". She had a pretty good time. Here are some of my favorites:

And then, of course, there were also just some funny ones. Check out how she's sitting in this one... (not very lady-like, but pretty comfortable!) And, check out the expression in these :). I was smiling really big and saying "smile, Madigan". This is what I got... (I hope that's not what I looked like!)All in all, it was a good photo session and I think we got the pictures we needed for the cards. So for now, from Madigan and her parents, "happy holiday y'all".

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Growing up, we always had a "real" Christmas tree. And while I can definitely see the benefit of artificial trees, I just can't manage to give up on the real trees. I love the look of them (holes and all) and especially the smell that a Christmas tree brings to the house. Most of all, I love picking out the Christmas tree. And, this year, I was even more excited because Madigan would get to take part in the Christmas tree experience. (Last year she was 3 months old and never left the comfort of the car seat in the nice, warm car when we went to buy a tree!). So, we decided Friday after we got home from work that the time had come. However, Madigan was a bit confused. We kept saying, "Come on! Let's go get a Christmas tree!" and she'd give us a funny look and then disappear into the living room. Finally, she brought this in and we understood - we already had a tree!
However, we convinced her this Christmas tree would be even better (and bigger!). So we loaded up and headed out. As you can see, her excitement started to grow...
Once we arrived, she decided that maybe she WAS going to enjoy this. Look at all of these trees, Mom!
And finally, we found just the right one.
Madigan was quite pleased with the selection. In fact, she refused to get off of the trailer until Dad went and paid for it. I think she was guarding her turf!So, we got it home and started the decorating. The extra hands definitely made it more challenging than last year, but we had a lot of fun!Man, this Christmas decorating is EXHAUSTING!
But, we got it done and I'm happy to say that as of now (more than 24 hours later), the tree continues to stand with only minimal damage to some of the lower branches.
Now, on a different note...
Why is it that we find it so funny to get other people's kids to do things we'd never encourage our own kids to do? I know I had a blast slipping my friend's kids chocolate cake when they were barely toddling around. And, I've bought many noisy toys for my nieces that personally drive me crazy (many of which, unfortunately, are gradually finding their way to Madigan - didn't think about that!). I say all of this to tell you what Aunt Kate (who actually works with kids everyday) sent to Madigan today. Madigan opened up a package to her that had a neat book and a cute reindeer purse in it. Then, she opened up the purse to find...a ring pop. Somehow, Madigan seemed to know what this was and started begging to open it. I was able to divert her attention for a while, but eventually, it was just easier to cave. And sure enough, she knew exactly what it was and what to do with it. So, here are some pictures of what followed...

Needless to say, she loved it. Thanks, Aunt Kate!!!!

See the resemblance?

She's looked like him since Day 1, but this is getting ridiculous... :)


I don't have too much to update on right now, but thought I'd post these pictures to hopefully give you a laugh! Aunt Lexie took these when she and Justin came to visit a couple of months ago. Thanks for the use of your glasses, Lexus!