Don't Blink!

It's so hard to believe that our little Madison is six months old. It seems like just last week Jeffrey was asking me if I felt like today was the "big day". At one point (the day before she was born) he said, "Do you think you'll have her today? I'm ready to just get started." When he said "get started" he was referring to raising her not the labor. Anyway, I digress, six months ago she was so tiny and new to the world. Now look at her......she is learning something new everyday and is developing quite the personality. She just started doing this funny little nose crinkle thing, kinda like Elvis but on the right side. And boy is she sassy! She'll let you know exactly what she wants and how she wants it. We're also having a lot of fun watching her explore her surroundings through touch, site, sound and especially taste! She's very open to trying any new flavor and texture and she's flying right past those baby foods. This weekend I gave her green beans and she had no problem picking them up and chewing them, we also tried cantaloupe (loved it) and have started yogurt.


A few weeks ago she had her first big vacation (to Gulf Shores-see previous blog) and last week was a list of first times for her as well. She start going to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house and going Crayon Campus (while mommy works) and she had her first cold (she's doing much better). She rolls every which way, sits up and is desperately trying to crawl but needs to learn that her arms need to go down not up if she wants to make any progress. Her favorite past times are..... eating, playing with Tyler and Bison, swinging on her swing set, listening to daddy play the guitar and sing to her and getting lots of love from mommy. So here's to you Maddie.....you have brought us so much pure delightful joy. I feel close to heaven when I hold you and I long to be with you when we're apart.

Happy 60th Birthday Paw Paw!

Paw Paw's birthday was August 16th (anyone that shares the same air as he does should know that by now) and he turned 60 years young!


For Paw Paw's birthday we went to see the circus! I'm so glad he took me, I had almost as much fun as he did!

Our Beach Trip 2008

So we just got back from a warm, relaxing and lazy trip at the beach (okay, so it's been a week but I've been trying to enjoy my last week at home with my babies before school starts, so this post is a tad bit late)! We went to Gulf Shores Alabama with our dear friends the Mittig's and we had such a great time we are already planning to return next summer. Now, it would have been a lot more fun if we had made the drive together but Jeffrey and I decided to do most of our driving at night (it's a 10 hour drive) to make it easier on Tyler and Maddie and we met up them when we got there. The trip drive back home was uneventful (or it went really well however you want to look at it) but about 5 hours into the drive there we hit the worst storm Jeffrey and I have ever had to drive through. We were both pretty certain a tornado was about to suck us up! But God was with us and pulled us out of the abyss. Once we arrived we unpacked went grocery shopping and did nothing else but laugh, eat, take naps and play for a week.....it was great! The condo we were staying in was big and perfectly set up for children and the beach was beautiful and spacious. What else could one ask for? (Except for maybe Maddies crib, she hated the portable crib). We had heard a few stories prior to the trip of jellyfish being really bad but it wasn't really. Jeffrey and Tyler were stung a couple of time and I was stung once but they were only minor. So anyway here's a few of my favorite pics (I took over 500 so it could be worse)!

This was on one of the two nights we ate out. How handsome are these boys? I love Tyler's pose, does anyone think he would be a good model or it that just me?

Maddie's sweet little feet wiggling' in the sand.

This was our first day at the beach and the flag was raised to red.....check out those waves. That didn't slow these boys down!

Tyler really liked playing in the sand.......

......except for when Jeffrey and Eric buried him in it!

We all just loved having Jeffrey all to ourselves for a whole week.... especially Maddie! She's always been fond of her daddy but by the end of the week she was picking daddy over mommy and that's never happened before!

Look really closely at the pirate face. Does it look familiar? It's Daddy just being silly.

Monkey see, monkey do!

This picture captured so much happiness. I know that not only would Jeffrey and I not have had as much fun if our friends weren't there ....but certainly Tyler wouldn't have. This was one of my favorite days. It all happened b/c we were playing in this cove and Tyler decided that he just really needed to go on a boat. Well, Summer and I had been thinking about going on a dolphin tour but we weren't sure yet. But when we're on vacation anything goes. So if Tyler wants to go on a boat; he's going on a boat. Tyler and Will were dressed identical (I can hear Jeffrey and Eric sarcastically asking which day were they not dressed identical) and we got a dozen inquiries wondering if they were twins?

This is a fish Jeffrey and Tyler caught on the dolphin tour (Maddie helped a little).

So here are the kids all wearing the same swimsuits! Very adorable (I'm sure Jeffrey and Eric are rolling their eyes). But out of 25 shots this is the best one. Since having children I have such a new appreciation for that family picture you always see in the studio of a family all wearing denim and white and they are all looking at the camera smiling. We are a long way from getting to that point.

Here's Maddie and Will just relaxing on the beach while the wild ones (Tyler and Maggie) were chin deep in the ocean.

'Ring Around the Rosie...'

'It's a Wiggly Party....'

So we went to our second Wiggle concert (Maddie's first) and boy did we love it! The intro was really amazing...they played quiet circus music and had the lights down low and two jesters came out and did acrobatic tricks and then ropes fell from the ceiling and more clowns/jesters came down...it was very Cirque du Soleil. Tyler really enjoyed the show and hardly talked or moved during the whole thing because he was taking it all in. As you can see in the picture below he wouldn't even look away for a second for me to take his picture. Maddie was just so funny to watch her trying to figure out what in the world was going on! At first I think all the clapping and volume of the music scared her but once she was used to it she wanted to see everything that was happening. She did really well considering we were trying to keep her up so she'd be sleepy for the road (we were leaving for a 10 hour road trip to the beach) but a little less than the second half she was out! Then after it was over and we were all loaded up in the car we ask Tyler if he had fun and he said yes but when he gets back from the beach he'd like to come back and see the Wiggles again. Hopefully, they'll come back for a few more years and this can be an annual Joyce event!

Swimming 101

Okay, so we've been going to swimming lessons for the last two weeks and I gotta say it wasn't the most fun two weeks of Tyler's life. Day one he did really well because he didn't know what was coming...he thought he was just going to play in the pool and show Mr. Chris (his instructor) what he could do and that was it. But on day two....... when he had to get to work Tyler was ready to hightail it out of there! But overall it was really neat to see the progress they made in just two weeks and Jeffrey and I now have a foundation that we can work with him and build on. So here's some pics of swim class. Unfortunately, Ethan was sick the whole second week with a virus and since I didn't take my camera until the last day I don't have any pics with all three boys. But trust me Tyler and Will were missing him!



Here's Tyler floating!

Tyler swimming to the deep end and back!

Tyler, Will and Mr. Chris.

Tyler receiving his report card!

And finally what celebration with the Mittig's would be complete without cake?!