Have I really only been doing this for 2 years?

Well Madilyn turned 2 on the 27th, but it feels like she's been 2 for a while because I've been rounding up to 2 for a while. Somehow she got a tall gene and when I'd tell people she was 1, we would inevitably get into a conversation about how she looked bigger than 1. Often this would be with strangers in the grocery store or the park (we totally talk to strangers - I count it as my grown-up conversation for the day) and I'd make the same jokes about how Ryan and I aren't that tall so we don't know where she came from. So to skip the whole thing, I've been saying she is 2 for a while now.

She helped decorate her birthday cake and birthday card. Maybe we'll try a fairy princess party next year. This one was just family and nothing fancy at all. Ryan let her lick the cake and after watching all of that, none of us ate any of it. It all looked pretty gross by the end.

PS - Ryan had a birthday on the 18th - and I don't think we took a single picture of it. We went to the Jacksonville, FL zoo. Even on our birthdays we do things to make the princess happy.

As for Georgia, things are going pretty well here. It is already getting hot, but I may be an unreliable barometer since I'm always hot now. I guess being huge will do that to you. We actually do get out a lot, but we just have few pictures to show from it and I feel silly posting without an image.

We picked strawberries from a local u-pick field and I've joined the ranks of people who make jam. Why didn't anyone tell me how easy it is? I'm at a whole new level of domesticity and it wasn't too tough to get there. Now I have my sites set on those of you who make your own bread
and grind your own wheat and all of that.

It's a Girl! And We're Moving to Savannah

In an effort not to waste precious computer monitor resources, I have refrained from posting until we have lots of new news. This is not, I repeat NOT because I am lazy.

So here we go:
1. We're having a girl in mid-July. We're excited for sisters in the house. Madilyn has no idea that she will have to share her "Queen of the World" crown. Ryan is excited but I think he is secretly biding his time waiting for the odds to even out a bit.

2. Savannah here we come. Luckily I learned proper usage of y'all while we lived in Dallas so I should be able to get around, but I think Southern is spoken in a different dialect in Savannah (since Texas isn't really the south, it's just ... Texas). Kassie will now be our closest friend. At 2.5 hours away.
Ryan is still with the same company and is pretty excited about his new responsibilities, so it's looking like it will be a happy move all around.

:)

That's our news and I don't want to waste any more precious rescources!

Yes on Prop 8

Yes on Prop 8.

Ok, I found this video on a friend's blog and it does a good job of clearly explaining the issue and reprecussions.

Sorry it's just a link. I'm not as savvy as I should be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI-GjWY-WlA&feature=related

And for out-of-staters, here is a link to where you can contribute funds.

Splash Park

Summer is ending and we're taking it for all it's worth. And yes, I totally didn't bring a swimsuit for Madilyn because I thought it would be too cold. Not much of a boy-scout mom I suppose...

And a few more pics

This happened one day when Madilyn really wanted to help... So I thought I found the perfect job for her. I let her pound cornflakes and breadcrumbs in a sealed plastic bag to go on the chicken. It was going so well. I was congratulating myself on being an awesome mom. And then I looked down.

Because I couldn't resist...

Maddie fix

This is an old pic I got from a friend. But I thought it was cute and needed something for the rela

tives who haven't seen her in a while. :)

Tagged... and late

Ok, I think it has been almost a month since Cori posted her tag. Let's hope she is ok with the "Better late than never" mantra.

I am - - - alone... Madilyn is sleeping and this is the part of the day where I get to be totally selfish with my time.
I want to be - - - published. I even started a personal enrichment class from BYU on creative writing. Now I just have to bother getting pen to paper.
I need - - - an umbrella. It's raining here... in August.
I wish - - - my kid would sleep past 6:30am on any given day. (Hate to one up you by a 1/2 hour Cori, but it's true. )
I'm scared - - - that I will never get the title of my car from the CA DMV. I think they have a personal vendetta against me.
I will never forget - - - Living with my college roommates. We don't talk as often as I thought we would - and see each other even less, but they still seem a little more like family than just friends.
What the world could do without - - - rude drivers. And cockroaches :) Is that joke too old since Kassie did this weeks ago? (And it will only make sense if you read Kassie's post). I think I got over the cockroaches after we co-habitated in Brazil. And they weren't wimpy cockroaches. These were the size of your thumb and they could fly... at you. It is a testimony builder just to have lived through it.

And for those of you even vaguely interested, we played tennis on our anniversary. Madilyn chased balls for us. And that weekend we went to dinner and painted pottery, which apparently no one else's husband will do. Every time we tell someone, the wife says "oh, I've been wanting to do that but Joe won't go." So send your husbands to Ryan. He'll tell them it was actually fun. Well at least if I'm standing next to them he'll say it.