Sam's 1st Haircut!

Can you believe what a change taking off some of his hair made? Look at our big boy!

Rocky Mount Meetup!

I can't believe the month of July is already over! We have been living in North Carolina for a month now! Time really flies when you are having tons of fun;)

We were so excited to meet up with our Newport buddies in Rocky Mount this week. Wendy and her kids were staying at a lake house for the summer and we decided to meet them halfway so the kids could play together and the moms could catch up! I won't even try to hide the fact that when Ella and Ally ran up to each other, gave big hugs and squeezes that I got all teary-eyed! These girls were besties in school and I know they'll stay friends forever because I adore Wendy and she can't get rid of me;)  She's one of those military wives that I treasure our friendship and I know we will always keep in touch no matter the distance the Navy and Army put between us!

We decided to surprise the kids with Chuck E Cheese's for lunch and games. My girls haven't been there since immmmm 2011? Ha! Needless to say when we pulled up, they did not believe we were actually going inside! Even Sam screamed with excitement and he doesn't even know what planet he's on! They all had a great time there, and then we headed to Sunset Park to enjoy fun in the sun. I WISH they had something so cute at Fort Bragg. This place had a train ride, spray park, carousel, ladybug ride, playground, and snow cones! I think the kids could have stayed all day, but us moms had a drive to complete so unfortunately we had to say our "see you laters" and make promises to catch up when they move to Tampa in the fall!

Thank you for meeting up Wendy! Always a good time! And thank you for the awesome pictures you took! Such wonderful memories made and captured on camera. :)

Wendy doin' her picture thing! 

 

I love this series of pics!

Summer Fun!

I finally feel like I am getting the hang of it around here. Fort Bragg is ENORMOUS. I kid you not. I miss Fort Sill and for me to say that, takes a lot out of me. I get lost going to the clinic. I get lost going to Tom's office. I get lost ALL. OF. THE. TIME. I was so proud of myself the other day when I made it to Target and home WITHOUT using my GPS. That's a pretty big deal. I happened to find the spray park (thank god, too because if I have to take the kids swimming one more day this week I might cry.) It is easily the crappiest spray park we have ever seen, but hey...it worked. You would think for such a HUGE community and the ridiculous amount of children in these areas that the counties would make a new one. But it made my kids happy so I was happy.

At first the spray park was packed with summer camps and day cares. I probably should not have chosen a Friday to go! The crowds apparently give my kids anxiety so we played on the playground until they left. Can't say I blame them. It was very crowded, and these kids had no problems running over a one-year-old.

 We had a picnic there of course. My children can't go more than an hour without eating. God forbid.

 This boy is the selfie king! 

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;)