Well, I have a confession to make. Last Sunday morning, Madigan woke up with a fever. She spent most of the day running a low grade fever and didn't act like she felt well. Also on Sunday, we put Ted on a plane to South Carolina for a business trip. So, I had a sick kiddo on my hands who was not happy that her daddy left on a plane without her. I typically can handle tears pretty well, but not when she's not feeling well and looks at me with those sad little glazed over eyes. And so, I caved. I told her we could have a Princess Movie Night and we watched her first Disney princess movie. And we didn't just watch the movie - we popped popcorn and pulled out the down comforter, pillows, and the Princess couch/bed to make it the ultimate movie experience. Even not feeling well, she was on cloud nine. Fortunately, she picked Beauty and the Beast to watch, which is by far my favorite princess movie. Okay, I'll be honest - she actually picked Snow White, but I despise Snow White's voice, so I used my persuasive abilities to talk her out of it. Anyway, Beauty and the Beast went well. She paid attention to most of it (minus the "scary" parts that I fast forwarded through). Her summary of the movie goes something like this - "The beast was cranky but Belle made him nice and then he turned into a Prince and then she turned into a Princess." I think she's got the basics covered. Since that night, she's repeatedly commented on how pretty Belle was in her yellow dress, asked me to sing the Beauty and the Beast songs, named all of the major characters from the movie, and pretty much lived in princess dress up clothes. I think I created a monster, but at least it made a little girl who was feeling bad happy for one night. :)
Last weekend, Madigan and I made a trip to Texas to celebrate another party - this time Mema's 75th Birthday!!! It was a very fun time. And yes, for those of you that know my Mema, she does still have more energy than I have ever had - even at 75 years young. :)
We arrived at my parent's on Friday afternoon. It didn't take long for Madigan to make herself at home. Here she is rocking in a Madigan-sized rocker...in the living room...while watching TV. The kid's got it rough. One small kink in this trip - it was COLD!! So before she could do all of the activities outside, we had to bundle her up. Of course, her coat and tennis shoes would not do. She wanted to wear Gee Gee's coat and her "Hello Kitty" slippers. I thought this was a cute picture. Ted says she looks like a little British kid. Of course Gee Gee made time for some Yard Bug rides.Even the babies got to go for a ride... But this time, Pa and Gee Gee had an even bigger surprise for Madigan. Pa had built a super cool swing set that had HORSE swings! Here's the progression Madigan went through in warming up to these unfamiliar animals. At first, she wanted nothing to do with swinging on them. However, she thought petting them was pretty fun. Maybe it's okay to sit on them if Mommy is riding too...Sitting on a horse with a death grip and a terrified expression...Hmm...maybe I can cheese it up for some picturesAnd finally - Look Mom, no hands!Obviously, the horses were a hit. Pa, Madigan and I even named the three horses - "Giddy-Up-Go", "Wild Thing", and "Black Beauty". Creativity runs deep in this family.
All of that, and the party hadn't even started! But we didn't have to wait too much longer. Everyone started arriving on Saturday around lunch time. And I mean everyone! Mema's sister, Papa's two sisters and sister-in-law, my uncle, aunt and cousin, and several of my mom's cousins were able to come. Here's a picture of everyone except my Aunt D'Anne (who was taking the picture) and my dad (who refused to be in the picture - remember the last post about the adults in my family who despise photos...)And Madigan was the only person under the age of 20-something. Do you think she got some attention?!! Do you think she enjoyed that?! I'd say so. Here's a sweet picture of Mema and Papa posing with Mema's cake. And here's a picture of Mema and Papa inviting Madigan to look at the cake. I was standing directly behind her ready to pull her back if she lunged for the icing...I love this picture - this is Mema and Aunt Carmeen (Papa's 90 year old sister!) laughing hysterically over some gift. I don't even remember what it was, but it must have been good. We had a wonderful time and are so glad we got to celebrate this event. Happy Birthday Mema! We look forward to #80...and 90...and 100, etc :)
This past weekend, my parents and the three of us went to my brother's house for our annual family pictures for mom's Christmas cards. We had a wonderful time and I've got lots of pictures to share. But first... Because we were going to Matt's this weekend, we missed Jenna's 2nd birthday bash :(. Since Madigan has been talking about Jenna's birthday for at least 3 months, we decided to have our own party for her before we left. So, we made some cupcakes, blew up some balloons, and threw up some streamers. I think Madigan and Jenna were both satisfied :) Madigan telling Jenna what kind of card it was before she even opened it. This is how you eat a cupcake and still keep your hands clean... Apparently the streamers were more fun as accessories :)Happy Birthday to Jenna! It's been two VERY fun years and we can't wait for the fun that lies ahead! Thanks for coming over to celebrate with us!
As for the rest of the weekend... My parents got to our house on Friday night and then we all headed to Matt's on Saturday morning. Madigan informed everyone that she wanted to "go see her cousins" at least 700 times on the 3 hour trip. We were all very excited when we finally got there! And, you can see why she likes going to see them - it's non-stop fun! This was in their toy room that now has a cool air hockey table. Check out the smile! Madigan also had a lot of fun playing in Avery and Ella's "big girl" rooms. Of course, one highlight was riding in the cool Barbie Jeep. The only problem, the battery only lasted about halfway around the yard. So, they called in Ella to push! And when Ella wore out, GeeGee got the fun job :)Now for a little venting - I want to make sure it is known that I am putting all of the blame on GeeGee and the cousins for introducing Madigan to her newest obsession - Hannah Montana. Madigan had NO idea that Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana existed until GeeGee bought all of the girls some matching pajamas. That coupled with the fact that Avery and Ella's rooms are covered in Hannah Montana posters and they know every word to every Hannah Montana episode has created a 2 year old fanatic. We actually were in Walmart today and after pointing out Hannah Montana socks, posters, and a blanket, Madigan told me, "Mommy, Hannah Montana is everywhere!" She was much more excited about that than I was. Here are a couple of shots of the girls in their cool pajamas. And last but not least, I'll post a few of the pictures taken this weekend. Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to get 9 people looking at the camera and smiling at the same time? Add to that the fact that two of the grown ups DESPISE getting their pictures taken and two of the children (one of which is my child) are prone to throwing fits during these sessions and you have our family portraits. We're just happy everyone made it out alive...
I'll admit it - I was whispering that Madigan could have some candy if she would smile in this picture...
Matt's bunch
Gee Gee, Pa and the three granddaughters
"What in the world are we doing here?!"
We really had a great time and were so glad to spend some time with my whole family. Thanks to Matt and Susie for letting us come visit and to Mom and Dad for making the trip with us! It was a lot of fun!
Yes, Madigan decided to continue the animal theme for one more year. Actually, that's a lie. Madigan wanted to be a princess, but I worked VERY hard and distracted her with the cuteness of this puppy dog costume. And yes, I'm proud of myself for that. I'm also aware that this is probably the last year the distraction technique is going to work, so I'm already preparing myself for a princess ensemble next year. Not only did I have my work cut out for me talking her out of a princess dress, I also had to convince her that her pink sunglasses did not go with her outfit...
But before you go feeling too sorry for her - I DID let her pick out a princess bucket for her candy. She was quite proud of it!
Here's my sweet, cuddly puppy dog...attacking the cat. Petey was much less impressed by her costume :)
Posing by the Dora pumpkin
We went to our church's Trunk or Treat. To Madigan, it was the coolest thing ever. People told her she was cute and gave her candy. Then, she got to eat the candy and play with her friends. What more could a girl ask for?!
I included this picture because you can see her tail :)
She got a TON of candy and has even been pretty generous in sharing it with Mommy and Daddy. All in all, it was very successful Trick or Treating experience. The only problem is that now she wants candy every time we say it's time to go church :) I'll leave you with a video of our ferocious dog...
Fortunately, she picked Beauty and the Beast to watch, which is by far my favorite princess movie. Okay, I'll be honest - she actually picked Snow White, but I despise Snow White's voice, so I used my persuasive abilities to talk her out of it. Anyway, Beauty and the Beast went well. She paid attention to most of it (minus the "scary" parts that I fast forwarded through). Her summary of the movie goes something like this - "The beast was cranky but Belle made him nice and then he turned into a Prince and then she turned into a Princess." I think she's got the basics covered. Since that night, she's repeatedly commented on how pretty Belle was in her yellow dress, asked me to sing the Beauty and the Beast songs, named all of the major characters from the movie, and pretty much lived in princess dress up clothes. 
I think I created a monster, but at least it made a little girl who was feeling bad happy for one night. :)
