We've Moved!! (and we're finally online...)

I'm 10 months old! (picture was taken about a week and a half later, though...)

At the BBQ given for us by our new neighbors! The kids had a great time.
Lots of fun to be had!

At our going-away BBQ in our former neighborhood in Katy. Such love!
We will miss our neighbors so much!
The BIG moving van...we filled it up!!
Hayden playing with Madison to keep her busy!

Resting on Daddy's leg
Some of our friends at our going-away dinner after-party.
What great girlfriends!
Jenna is such a great babysitter! :)

Hi everyone!! Wow, it's been a little over two weeks that we've been without the Internet...so I'm so sorry for the delay in keeping you updated! So much has happened and our life has been extremely hectic...but hey, it's part of our every-two-year adventure, right?!

On Saturday (4/19), our friends threw us a wonderful dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant, Azzarrelli's. Over 20 of us gathered in a private room and had a great meal and great conversation. They gave us the sweetest gifts, too! On Sunday, our neighborhood friends gave us a fantastic going-away cookout. We are going to miss them tremendously!

Our movers arrived two weeks ago Monday to start packing up everything in our house. Mark was already down in Beaumont, so it was just Madison and I at the house. The movers were so nice and respectful and very conscientious about having a baby in the house. So many people came in and out of the house that week - the new buyers, our friends, other workers, movers, etc. It was a zoo. The worst part?? I got THE FLU. It was awful. I would never wish that on anyone...taking care of a baby by yourself, coordinating a move by yourself...and having the flu? ugh. On Wednesday, the movers finished loading everything onto the truck. That afternoon a cleaning crew came in and cleaned our house, getting it finally ready for the buyers. Tana was my saving grace!!! She took Madison for me, so I could finish doing things at the house. She is so wonderful to us. That morning, Madison woke up...sick. She was so lethargic, she slept almost all day long, bless her heart. That evening, we were in a hotel down in Beaumont. The next day, Thursday, we closed on our new house in the morning. Afterward, Madison was feeling so much better, she didn't even want to take a nap. So, we went to our new fitness center - The Wellness Center, which is connected to a hospital and fabulouse - and signed up for Mommy and Tot swim classes! (for July)

Friday (4/25) was the big move-in date. The movers unloaded all of our stuff and unpacked most everything. Since this house is 1000 square feet smaller than our last house (but same price, can you believe?), we have A LOT of stuff to sell and donate...our garage is packed. However, we love the house. It's a custom home and the craftmanship inside is really nice. Since the move-in, we've been up to our ears getting everything in its place...we have a LONG way to go. Our house is again a zoo, with everyone coming in and out...all the utility workers, satalite people, audio installers, security system installers, etc. Soon, I hope, it will all be over. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to Mark's folks coming down to help us at the end of this month.

We've met most of our neighbors...and God has blessed us again so much! They are wonderful! Our friends from N.C. State, Jamie and Brian Jones (they were Chemical Engineering and Paper Science majors with Mark) with Avery (4 months), live about 7 houses down from us. They threw us a BBQ this weekend to get to know everyone. It was so nice of them. Mark is really liking his new position here, but it is greatly challenging. He still has a lot to learn about this division, but it's a challenge he looks forward to.

On Friday, we are flying to Raleigh for a whirl-wind trip to attend Mark's brother's graduation! He is graduating from N.C. State with his PhD. We are SO excited for him!!! We'll be in Raleigh only overnight, then going to Mark's parents' house for Saturday night. We leave to fly back on Sunday!

So until then, everyone have a great weekend and I'll post when we return from N.C.!!

Our Recent Photo Shoot

Why you always make sure the lid is on a sippy cup...

Well, she had a LOT of fun splashing in the water and soggy cheerios...

Our Cayman Trip

Kissing my turtle friend at Boatswain's Turtle Farm
Swimming with and feeding the stingrays at Stingray City - just a shallow sand reef in the middle of nowhere where stingrays congregate.
Getting ready for our kayaking adventure

Out to a fabulous dinner
One of several parrots at our hotel
Chilling in the sun and just relaxing!
Courtyard in the middle of our hotel had turtles, wild birds and various iguanas.
At the north part of the island

Please pray

I came upon this Christian singer's family's blog. Please read this story and lift them up in prayer. I spent probably an hour reading it and just cried. The mom is such an inspiration to me, even in her time of despair.

http://www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

Madison's Room

Before we move, I wanted to post pics of Madison's cute little room. Some of you have asked, so here it is! Sarah, my sis, helped to paint it...hope she'll come down and help me again!

The Last Few Weeks...

Madison, Grammy and Papa visit the Alamo in San Antonio!
Eating at The Rainforest Cafe - Madison loved the mechanical moving animals and aquarium.
Trying to take her 9 month old picture!
Playing with my laptop looking very stylish.
Having fun with Grandmommy and Grandaddy.

Easter morning after church
Opening one of my Easter baskets in the morning.

Relaxing in the Caymans - ah, how we miss that beautiful water!

Hi Everyone! I've been so behind in posting to the blog - I'm sorry! Our life has been so chaotic lately...here's what's been going on:

Mark and I had a FABULOUS time in the Caymans!! The weather was wonderful, we liked our hotel, and the water's colors were amazing. We enjoyed kayaking, snorkeling, swimming with the stingrays, visited the turtle farm, shopped and ate like kings. It was like a second honeymoon for us. (Which, we recently celebrated our fourth anniversary.)

While we were gone, my mom (aka "Grammy") and Dad (aka "Papa") flew down and took great care of Madison. They had a blast together! They played, shopped, went on walks, took a road trip to San Antonio, and ate at fun restaurants. It was a great opportunity for them to spend some special time together.

Within a week, our house here in Houston sold!!! That was fast! Now, we just had to find a house in Beaumont...

Last week was super busy. Mark started his new position on April 1, right after we got back from vacation. I was busy running errands, running to appointments and getting us settled back from our trip. Mark had a nice going away dinner thrown by his team members. Also, more people came to look at our house - even though our house was already on contract, it was still in option period and people could still view it. One time while people were viewing the house, I went over to a neighbor's with Madison. She was squirming and fussing a little while I was changing her diaper. Suddenly, their cat jumped to attack Madison, but I moved in the way and he attacked me instead. Long story short, he bit me three times and I got bruises and scratches. Ended up having to go to urgent care and the doctor three times with an infection. Anyway, I feel find now. Mark's parents kindly flew down on Thursday to take care of Madison so I could go down to Beaumont over the weekend and look for a house. We found one in two days! Which we are used to...it's the "Exxon way". Ha. Well, the first one we chose and put a contract on, ended up resulting in drainage problems in the backyard during the inspections. So, tomorrow, we are putting a contract on a second house - which we love just as much. It's smaller than the house we currently live in, but the houses are much smaller in Beaumont. We love the inside of the house and will do just fine. ...once we sell some furniture. We will move the end of April.

New things about Madison:
- At her 9 month checkup, she weighed 21 lbs (87th percentile) and was 30" long (95th percentile). She's a tall girl!

- She loves cheerios, but does not like any other table food or chunky food yet. In fact, she gags.

- She is learning to drink out of a sippy cup.

- She said "Bye Bye" yesterday when Mark's parents left - it was awesome! Today, she babbled "Dadadadada"
- She is finally crawling faster and now getting into everything!

- Her small motor skills are really keen and she loves to figure out how everything works.

Madison's Easter Pictures

Happy Easter 2008!



Madison LOVED taking pictures with the live bunnies...although she mostly preferred to poke their eyes, grab their ears, and try to eat them. :)

Happy 30th Birthday, Mark!

Madison finger painting - not a huge fan of the cold, gooey paint.

Madison with a mouthful of chocolate - she absolutely loves it!! (So, I don't regularly give her chocolate, but the doctor suggested it - the Amoxicillan was causing Madison to have diarrhea and an ingredient in chocolate stops that side effect! Who knew?)

I'm so sorry for the long delay in posting! But...we've had a LOT going on here.

First, Mark was just told that he is receiving a new position at Exxon and we'll need to move! We will be moving to Beaumont, TX...yes, big city, here we come. HA. It is a SMALL town - the smallest we've ever lived in, for sure. But, this is a great opportunity for Mark and we're excited about that. We both like moving around often. Which, our track record is every 2 years! New experiences, meeting more people, new houses I can decorate, etc. But, it is always hard to leave our dear friends. At least we will be within driving distance to our friends in Houston. Beaumont is about 1 1/2 hours northeast of where we currently live. Mark's position will begin April 1st, but Madison and I won't move for about another one-two months.

We have been VERY busy getting our house ready for sale. Planting flowers, mulching, carpets and tile professionally cleaned, organizing closets, etc. The house will probably go on the market this Friday. I will look for a house in Beaumont tomorrow.

Madison has been so sick, bless her heart, with a cold, ear infection and sinus infection now. She's been to the doctor several times, but is finally appearing to feel better. It's been a long road.

Mark and I also celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on March 13th. Our gift to each other is a kayaking excursion in the Caymans. Speaking of...we leave for Grand Cayman this Saturday!!! We will be there for a week and are SO looking forward to it!!! Our resort is on Seven Mile Beach and we know we'll really enjoy it. We plan to relax, snorkle, kayak, see the turtle farm, go to Stingray City, hike, etc. We're flying my mom down to watch Madison. Although we know Madison will be in excellent hands, we will miss her terribly!

Today is Mark's 30th birthday!!! I guess I can no longer say I'm married to a man "in his twenties" - ha. Madison and I gave him a watch. She fingerpainted a picture for him. We're going out to eat tonight with some friends. His coworkers trashed his office this morning with LOTS of decorations and pictures (I gave them) of him as a child and teen - so funny. They even had a cake with his picture on it - with a butt-cutt and mullet! haha.

Finally, please pray for my dear friend Misty and her husband Matt as they are in the process to adopt a little girl down in Panama. The Lord is awesome and has been moving mountains for them!

Danae's Grandpa's Birthday

I just wanted to give a belated shout-out to my Grandfather (my Dad's father) for his 94th birthday!!! I sent his gift on time, but I wanted to also include it in our blog. He's doing so well - praise the Lord!

Daddy Swinging Madison

A Day At the Park

On the swings for the first time! I loved it.
Now Daddy wanted to go to the park, too! I like when he swings me the best!
What are these bubbles all about?
Hamming it up
Mommy gave me a teething biscuit and I REALLY enjoyed it...and smeared it all over my body and the Baby Einstein Jump-Up while watching my DVD.

All ready to go out shopping!
The food Mommy makes me...this should last about two weeks.
Tyson is always by my side.
Mommy's new hair cut. She chopped it all off.
Me and Maddie Durbin at our friends', Jack and Catherine, birthday party.

I am curious about everything...

...and then I put it in my mouth!