First Event of the Summer: Kristen's Wedding

The first weekend of summer we traveled back to Louisiana for my cousin Kristen's wedding.  This was Maddy's second wedding to attend.  Kristen and her now husband Jamie got married at the St.Francis de Sales Cathedral in Houma.  The ceremony was beautiful!  The reception was held at the same venue as Amanda's wedding in April.  The yummy food was the same, but the reception was different and had its own unique feel.  Maddy enjoyed the band, the dance floor, and the food just as much! She was even reacquainted with a friend in the band that happened to also be in the band from the last wedding. Though, this time she did not put on as quite the show as she did at Amanda's wedding. I think it was all due to her lack of napping! Maddy still managed to spend most of her time on the dance floor.  If I wasn't holding her and walking around outside she was on the dance floor dancing or strutting her stuff.  
Towards the end of the wedding the band played Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."  (Side Note... Maddy has listened to Journey since she came home from the hospital.) The siblings of the bride and groom made their way on stage to help the band out with the song.  The rest of the guests gathered around the stage to dance and sing along.  I happened to be standing right next the speaker holding Maddy.  In the middle of the song Brandon looks at her and she was passed out.  That was my cue to leave the dance floor.  Maddy spent the remainder of the wedding sleeping on my shoulder. 

Haywood Family

Family Pic take II

Loli and Maddy

Sisters looking good!

Brandon did manage to catch a pic of my dad dancing with mom!

I failed to capture as many memories with my camera. We actually only got one candid shot, but we did manage to get a few good poised pictures.  This does not reflect the amount of fun we all had at Kristen and Jamie's wedding! 

Ms.Reasa Appreciation Week: Day5

We have been so blessed that the Briggs family has shared their mom with Maddy since she was 3 months old.  Maddy also has a special bond with all four of Reasa's kiddos. First, there is Reagan the oldest, who will be a freshman in high school next year. Maddy loves Reagan and is always interested in what she is doing.  Then there is Belle, who will be in fifth grade next year.  Belle loves babies and especially her baby sister and Maddy of course.  Every time I see Belle I am guaranteed a hug and Maddy gets lots of special attention from her, too!  Then there is Quin, the only boy who is three.  Quin has welcomed Maddy to his family and is very protective of his "Baby Daddy!" The youngest of the bunch is Rilyn, who is only about 3 weeks older than Maddy.  This is Maddy's BFF!  They have played so well together since day one and are both very amused by the other.  Many times Reasa has been asked if they are twins. (I must find pictures of them together.) 
Anyways... She has also been a great resource to me as a new mom.  Having 4 beautiful children of her own, she has had lots of experience. Anytime I had a question or worry Reasa has always been there to give me advice or calm my fears.  So today we thanked Ms.Reasa for helping Maddy GROW by giving her a little plant.  Unfortunately, we missed the picture!

Ms.Reasa Appreciation Week: Day 4

Ms. Reasa has been so sweet to Maddy over the past 16 months!  She has always done extra sweet things for her. She always gives Maddy lots of extra TLC when she needs it, feeds Maddy her favorite foods, plays her favorite games with her, and even keeps her when Maddy is feeling a little under the weather. We thanked Reasa by giving her something SWEET... M&Ms in a personalized jar. (I tried etching glass for the first time and etched a B on the jar... initial of her last name.  You can't see the B... I had to rely on Brandon to take the pics for me.)

 

Ms. Reasa Appreciation Week: Day3

There is no question that Maddy loves her Reasa!  Maddy has fussed like a total of 3 times when we have dropped her off at Reasa's.  Maddy fits right in at the Briggs and I'm sure it feels like home to her. Maddy receives lots of attention from her Ms.Reasa!  Reasa takes time to play with Maddy and they usually have some quality time together everyday while the other babies are sleeping. Since Maddy has learned to hug I'm sure Ms.Reasa gets lots of those during the day.  Maddy loves her Ms. Reasa HANDS down...so we got her a big bottle of pretty smelling hand sanitizer... because with four kiddos you can always use it!

Ms. Reasa Appreciation Week

The Haywoods declare this week Babysitter Appreciation Week or how we like to call it Ms.Reasa Appreciation Week! Thanks to the National Teacher Appreciation week for giving me this glorious idea.  I must also thank my good friend Kelly for blogging  http://obabydavis.blogspot.com daily about Teacher Appreciation Week with her cute ideas she did for Hayes' teachers. I only stole a few. Anyways... the real reason for this post.  Brandon and I are so blessed to have such amazing child care for Maddy.  This was one of my biggest stresses before Maddy was born.  I added it to my "to pray about" list.  Then shortly after, prayers were answered.  Within a day Reasa messaged me on facebook inquiring about possibly watching Maddy when I returned to work.  She also had a baby girl arriving a few weeks before Maddy.  After a few conversations we knew it was a perfect fit. La la la... here we are.  Maddy has been welcomed in the Briggs home everyday since, while I am at work.  Maddy absolutely loves her friends (Reasa's son Quin and baby girl Rilyn) there.  Reasa cares for Maddy as her own.  This is such a blessing... there isn't one day that I am ever worried about Maddy or wonder if she is okay. This week we will honor Ms.Reasa and all the wonderful things she does for our Maddy Muffin.
We had to wait till today to kick off  Ms. Reasa Appreciation Week!
We combined Day 1 and Day 2 today.
For Day 1 we made muffins to thank Reasa for taking care of our little Muffin.

On Day 2 we let Ms. Reasa know how much she has MINT to Maddy (and to us of course!)

Stayed tuned for more cute stuff and fun stories about Ms. Reasa and Maddy!

Our Weekend: Amanda's Wedding

This weekend we traveled to Louisiana for my cousin Amanda's wedding!  This was Maddy's first wedding to attend and she took it rather seriously. Despite being only 15 months old, she partied like a rock star with the best of them!

We arrived on Friday evening and was greeted by our Houma Homies with a personal crawfish boil. We all had a good time hangin out with the family and Maddy enjoyed running around outside and getting to stay up late. 

The wedding was on Saturday. Maddy and Brandon had to opt for a seat in the back of the church and sacrifice a good view of the ceremony due to Maddy's new gift of gab.  Amanda made an absolutely beautiful bride.  The groom and the wedding party looked pretty good, too. 

The ceremony was followed by the reception... this is the part where Maddy made her debut. The reception included yummy hor d'oeuvres, cocktails, mingling, and of course dancing.

We did not intend for Maddy to be a rock star, but her true personality just came out. She absolutely loved watching the band and once she got warmed up she started dancing and putting on her show. She spent most of her time on the dance floor and probably danced more than anyone else there. To be modest, she received lots of attention and she was not bothered by it one bit. She was just like a little magnet attracting guests to join in her fun.  She made sweet with several of the band members and attempted to climb on the stage several times.  Towards the end during "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night," one of the singers reached for her and held Maddy while she sang the song.  Maddy went with it and clapped along. We did not truly capture all of Maddy's glory in pictures, but we did manage to get a few. If you hang on until the end of the blog... you can catch a video of Maddy!

Other guests enjoyed the party too. 

The sisters and Papa

Maddy with her Cuncle Petie

The Haywood's

Celebrating with my lil Rock Star

Gracie and Emily

The Girl Cousins

The Girl Cousins with Maddy

Amanda and Marshall, your wedding was lots of fun and we all enjoyed every minute of it.  Thanks for letting us be a part of it.  Congrats and I hope you will remember all the special little details of your wedding day for many many years to come.

Well, Maddy's first wedding experience was a success!  I'm sure she is looking forward to many more.  As I promised a little video Brandon captured... watch for her little move...

did you catch the bow!

See you soon, 
Sarah 

Great STRIDES

Figuratively and physically, Maddy has taken some big strides.  I was getting a little nervous that she was not going to walk before she was 15 months.  She has been walking along furniture, using a push toy and even holding our hand to walk for a few months now.  It just took her a little longer to get the courage and the balance to just pop up and begin walking. For the past month she would never take more than 3 or 4 steps on her own.
The Saturday before Easter, April 7, she decided she would just get up from crawling and start walking.  We started counting her steps and she was making it to 7 or even 10 steps.  The past week she has continued to walk a lot more.  She isn't walking exclusively yet, but I'm sure its just around the corner. 

Easter

Christ is risen... He is truly risen...
because of Easter we are able to enjoy this life on Earth and are still promised eternal life in Heaven. 

Our Easter celebration was quite simple, but perfect! Maddy woke up to find a little basket filled with a few books and a little toy purse (this was an overdue Christmas present) and a few eggs. 

Then we headed to mass for the True celebration of our Christianity! Maddy was able to join us today, too, instead of going to the nursery.  She did a great job, but we now know why we will continue to bring her there on Sundays. 

After mass we headed to Loli and Pops' for lunch.  Loli had a special basket for Maddy. 

 Maddy had her very own mini Easter egg hunt.  She did well, considering she just began walking like yesterday.  She enjoyed eating a little dirt, too. 

 Hopefully you will be hearing from me again soon!
Sarah 

Maddy turned ONE!

Picture collage personalized with Smilebox

"Our Little Cupcake is Turning One"

...Come in and have some fun!  Maddy's First Birthday Party was a huge success.  Yes, I am exhausted and worn out, but at the same time feeling very happy about the turn out.  All of the perfect people were here to celebrate our little muffin (cupcake for the day) turning one. I dreamed about this party for almost a year, planned in my head for the past several months, and actually pulled it all together in a month. Then after a few short hours its over, leaving behind is lots of special memories, pictures, some videos and some special gifts for Maddy.

Party Set Up

Theme: Cupcakes

Sign on the door welcoming guests

Colors: Red, Pink, Teal Blue, Lime Green, Brown, & other bright colors

Food: We ordered Chik-fil-A chicken nuggets and mixed fruit. Fruit was served in cupcake liners.  Raspberry Chipotle Meatballs, a veggie tray, and my famous spinach artichoke dip.  Little sandwiches for the kiddos were cut into cupcake shapes with cream cheese and strawberry preserves on them. Little packets of Goldfish grahams were there for little ones, too.  Juice boxes, Mott's for Tots for little ones and Carpi Sun for older kiddos.  Simple drinks... tea, a few soft drinks and beer in a tub outside for grown ups and Cupcake wine.

Food for the Kiddos (moms & dads, too)

Decorations:
All decorations were inspired by cupcakes.  My mom put together lots of cupcake garland.  She strung cute cupcake liners onto thread to create this cute masterpiece. The garland hung between arch ways in our house.  Cute and colorful cupcake cookie jars and other cupcake things decorated the mantel above the "cupcake table." I used my new Cricut to create a Happy 1st Birthday banner, an I am 1 banner for her highchair, and a banner with all of her 12 months photos from her first year. 

Cupcake garland hung night before the party

Cupcake Table with Maddy's 12 months banner

Happy 1st Birthday

Where Maddy with eat her CUPCAKE!

Favors: Girls left with cute little pigtail bows with little cupcakes in the middle. Boys left with stacked cupcakes in mason jars.  Both favors were accompanied by a cute little tag thanking the guests for coming!

Pigtail bows in the pink pale on the left/ Mason jar cupcakes on the right

The Cake: We had three dozen homemade cupcakes. One dozen vanilla, one dozen strawberry, and one dozen chocolate. All of the cupcakes had a simple swirl butter cream icing. Sprinkles in the party colors were available for guests to decorate their own cupcakes. Even the little ones got to participate. Maddy's smash cake was a giant cupcake just for her!

The Party 

Maddy and her outfit! Maddy wore a personalized onesie and bloomers made by my friend Katie. She also wore leg warmers with a matching bow sewn on each one and a bow in her hair made by Katie.  Her Loli made her tutu. 

 Fun with friends and family...

 Bubble Machine and Bubbles were a big hit...

Maddy's Cake...

Decorating Cupcakes...

Blessed with 1st birthday gifts...

My own chair from Loli

My own car from Nana

Maddy had so much fun at her 1st birthday party.  She was truly happy the entire time.  (She was even a little sick, as you can tell by the snot running from her nose in some of the pics. Hope she didn't pass anything along to any of her friends.) We are so blessed to have had our family and friends celebrate Maddy's 1st year with us.  I'm a little sad to see the first year already over, but excited to see her little personality come out even more.  
We love you Maddy Muffin and hope you had a great 1st birthday and party! 

I attempted to share the beginning, middle, and end of her Cupcake party with you. Hope you enjoy!  Maybe, this can start my party planning career... or maybe not.
Love, 
Sarah