Madeline is 4!

My smart, spunky, energetic, beautiful Madeline is four! I can hardly believe it myself. Three has been my favorite age so four has some competition. In one year you have changed so much. I think back to your 3rd birthday and you were still recovering from being sick. You were a skinny little thing, losing your hair, dark circles under your eyes, pale...one year later and we truly have our Madeline back. Your hair is full, your skin is vibrant and glowing, your eyes full of life...

You are full of life. You wake up everyday with a smile on your face and an enormous amount of energy. You love with your whole heart and can be as sensitive as they get. As independent as you are, you hate when I leave. I like it though because it makes me feel even more loved and needed. You have tested my patience as a mom more than your siblings, but it's a constant reminder to me what it was like to be the middle child. You are always battling for attention. 

You are crazy and funny and wild and sweet and we absolutely adore you. All of you. You are a beautiful gift from God, and I hope you keep that free spirit of yours always. The world needs more Madeline's. 

Happy 4th birthday, baby girl. Love you to to the moon and back and around again. 

The balloon fairy. I totally forgot to take a pic of her room filled with balloons this year:( 

Madeline woke up early and I was able to spend the morning just the two of us. We stared at the presents, baked blueberry muffins and snuggled.

 Then I let her open a few presents from Grandma and Grandpa

 And one special gift from her brother and sister.

 From the look on her face, I think she loved it!

 Awwwwww!!

 Eating muffins. Singing Frozen at the top of her lungs.

We played all day and then surprised daddy with a water balloon fight!

 She requested Chick-Fil-A for dinner!

 Opening more presents! Aunt Jenny and Uncle Phil bought her the Sofia Castle!!

 Then we went night swimming! 

 And ate cupcakes at 9:30 at night:)

 Love this pic.

 Still hanging with us late night.

 The next day we waited for Granny P, Auntie Monica and Uncle Chris to arrive so we could celebrate some more!

Building her new Ariel lego set with daddy.

 Annnnnd I finally got to meet my beautiful niece Juliette!! Is she not the cutest little baby everrrrr??

 We took Madeline to an arcade place!

 Out to lunch!

 The gang:)

All in all, a pretty fabulous birthday for Madeline. Thank you all for ALL the love you showed our sweet girl. She was pretty spoiled;)

Friends!

One awesome perk about living in NC: being a 10 hour drive from our home of FL. I was super excited when my lifelong friend, Sheryl, and her two kiddos wanted to come visit! Absolutely! It was so much fun to catch up with her and to see our kids play together. It was like the year we hadn't seen each other didn't exist.

We spent our days having good old-fashioned fun. Water balloon fights, running around in the sprinkler, eating popsicles, playing tag and red light-green light, board games, swimming. We filled our evenings with grilling dinners, drinking wine, and staying up til 2 am chatting. For the almost 10 years I have been married, I have never been able to host Sheryl and her family. We have always lived too far. It was really nice to welcome her into our home and see a glimpse into our lives:)

 Ella couldn't get enough of Makayla's AG doll, Isabelle

 Sheryl brought everyone cupcakes from the shop she owns in FL! We celebrated Madeline's birthday a little early and she loved every bit of the attention!

 Coloring aka quiet time.

 Such a princess;)

 A morning at the Children's Museum...

 Taking turns being the weather person!

 Jackson playing with the egg drop. He was way nicer than Sam who just threw the eggs every time.

Madeline...the mail carrier.

 Future...firefighter chicks.

 After the museum, we spent some time having a picnic in a park nearby!

Getting Settled

New house. New city. New state. New bedrooms. New surroundings...

The joys of moving.

I miss Newport. I miss it so very much. I miss the pretty scenery. I miss my friends. I miss our church. I miss how close Dunkin Donuts always seemed to be. I miss going to really awesome playgrounds and not sweating.

I will say the one thing I love about NC so far is how friendly the people are! But other than that...

I know, I know. Every duty station is what we make of it. I get it. I have heard it 1000x before. My mind is open. I hope eventually I feel settled and comfortable and make new friends, and explore this state to it's fullest. I bet I end up loving it.

Luckily, the kids seem to be doing just fine! They are loving the pool in the neighborhood and playing outside everyday. I guess if they're happy, mama is happy:)

 A little bit of JBK artwork in my house;)

 Ummmm my drive. This is all I see. Ever.

 He was really happy to be home!