Shame on me!!

I haven't updated all summer...and well, now summer is just about over!! Let's see if I can fill you in on the fun events of Summer 2009!!!

~~June~~
Cindy and Matt both turn 30!!!

Matt threw me a surprise birthday party for my 30th. What a wonderful way to celebrate with family and friends. My mother in law was in town for the weekend. She took me to get a pedicure and afterwards blind folded me in the car. I knew something was up...Matt had been saying and doing some strange things before hand...but had no idea I'd have a birthday party like that!! We pulled into the drive and "SURPRISE" Fun day!!

Poor Matt...he didn't get a super fun surprise party like me! We celebrated here at home with the girls and then later that evening went over to a friend's house for Game Night. He had German Chocolate cake...so he was happy!! No surprise party needed!!

Madi's Dance Recital

On June 1st Madi had her first dance recital at the Little Gym. For Christmas, my family bought her a semester class that taught her ballet, tap, and some gymnastics. We spent every Monday night since January watching her practice. Finally it was time to see her put it all together. The girls were adorable. We were especially proud of Madi continued to wave and smile at us as we sat in the audience. Her teacher said that she was the "old soul of the group" and that she was "the little adult and very serious!"

Fire Station Tour

Monday we had a tour of the Humble Fire Station with some friends from the Oaks. It was a great time.

Matt and the rest of the guys did a great job showing us all around.

Ella's Baptism

On Sunday we celebrated Ella's baptism at St. Martha's Church. The poor girl was tired and hungry and cried quite a bit. She did look gorgeous in her gown and bonnet though! Chip and Retta are her Godparents and Jordan is her self-proclaimed "God sister!" Afterwards we all went to Rancho Grande to celebrate with a yummy Mexican dinner. We had a hard time getting a picture where everyone was happy!!

Turning 30 isn't so bad!!

Saturday was my 30th birthday. I had been dreading the day for weeks, and when it finally got here, I think I realized it's not so bad!! I had my family and my friends here to celebrate with me. What more could I ask for?!?! The day started with a shopping trip with Matt's mom and then a stop for a mani/pedi. What a great treat. Afterwards, she blind folded me and told me Matt had a special surprise. After driving in circles and over speed bumps we ended up in our driveway where many of my close friends were waiting for me! What a special day!! As John put it, it was a great party with "four kinds of cake, a homemade margarita machine, and a bouncy house" I couldn't have been happier! My mom and Matt pulled it off thanks to the help of great friends and family.

Happy Mother's Day to me!!!

Today is Mother's Day! Yea! It's the first one of many for little Miss Ella. Of course neither of the girls wanted to give me the gift of sleeping in today. They were both up bright and early before 6:30. Nice, huh?! Matt came home from work after 8 and they showered me with gifts. Roses, perfume, a picture frame made by Madi (which she told me about) and a James Avery charm of two girls. Sweet and thoughtful gifts. We had a nice breakfast and then Mommy went back to bed for a few hours. Thanks to Matt for that! I really needed it. Not sure what else is planned for the day, obviously dinner and just hanging out which is nice. As adults, it stinks to be so far away from our Mother's on this day. We miss and love our mommies too!!

Life has been crazy and hectic. Work seems to consume Matt and I. When we're not working, we're consumed by a crawling 10 month old who's into EVERY.THING and a 3 1/2 year old who's favorite words are "Mommy....Mommy....Daddy....Daddy...." If we a had penny for everytime she said those words, we'd have a trip to Disney World paid for!

We had a great Spring Break visit to Atlanta. The car ride was long but it was so nice to spend time with everyone. It was Aunt Laura's first time to meet Ella. We miss hanging out with her and wish that we could see everyone more often. We visited the Georgia Aquarium while we were there. What a beautiful place.

For Easter, I took the girls to Ohio for a long weekend. Again, a great time visiting with everyone and spending the holiday together. Madi went to church with Uncle Kory, Papa and Old Man Papa. She had a blast hunting for Easter eggs and finding all her baskets. The Ohio Easter Bunny sure did spoil her rotten!!

We're looking forward to the next few weeks. My parents are coming for a visit for two weeks, the school year will be over, Ella will be baptized, Matt's parents will be here for a visit, and of course, the dreaded 30th birthday, Madi's dance recital!! We'll have a lot going on!!

As for the kiddos: Madi is doing great. She is thriving with her speech. I'm so astonished by how much easier it is for her to speak. We are so grateful for Mrs. Kandy and Mrs. Shannon. They have worked a small miracle on her!! We still go once a week but eventually will only have to go every two weeks and then after that, once a month. We've signed Madi up for preschool for the fall. She will go three mornings a week. She is excited and the day after we went to visit the school she was ready to go!!

Ella is growing so fast. A little too fast for me! As I mentioned, she's crawling and into everything. Dog food is a favorite! She loves to be near people and hates to be left alone. We cannot just set her down in with her toys and walk away. She will scream bloody murder. She loves to be with us, watching every move we make. She's cruising along the furniture and I have no doubt she'll be walking soon. She loves to eat and is starting to eat various table foods along with her baby food. She was almost 22 pounds at her 9 month check up last month. We did have a rough week or so where she had an ear infection but that seems to have passed. All in all, she's wonderful!!

I know I'm bad at updating...I'm sorry for that! Once the school year is over I will hopefully be better at keeping this blog current. Hope everyone is doing well. All our love from Texas!!

Long time...no update!

So, I've been terrible about updating our blog lately. Life is just so busy and seems to pass by so fast! I'll do my best to update now...

The past few months have been packed full of fun. We celebrated Christmas here in Texas and a few days later Grandpa and Grandma Barker came to spend a week with us. The girls loved the attention and being spoiled! They were here for Madi's 3rd birthday party at Jumpin' Joey's. What a blast that was!! A few weeks later, Grandpa and Grandma Breudigam came to spend some time with us too. What fun we had. The weather was much nicer than cold and snowy Ohio. Madi enjoyed the park, Old MacDonald's farm, and just playing non-stop!

The girls are just amazing and growing so fast. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for blessing me with these two angels.

Madi is growing into such a little lady. She loves to dance, play dress up, play 'mommy' to her babies, and all the other things that little girls love to do! In January she started a ballet/tap class on Monday nights. She looks forward to going to dance each week. We've also started speech therapy once a week for her stuttering. For those of you who don't know, she started having trouble with her speech back around the time Ella was born. Her doctor suggested we wait about 6 months to see if she grew out of it. Unfortunately, she didn't, so we have started working with a therapist. Some days are better than others but she is working hard to have "smooth" talking. Madi also loves to have her nightly computer time. She spends about 20 minutes each night practicing her letters, colors, etc on the internet. It's amazing how smart she is!

Ella is changing right before our eyes. Our sweet little baby has 4 teeth (with more on the way), she's sitting up, crawling backwards (working hard to crawl forward!), eating baby food. It's just amazing to watch her discover new things everyday. She's a little over 20 pounds already and growing fast! She's a big snuggler, more than Madi ever was. She loves to curl up next to us and fall asleep. It's the sweetest thing.

I will try to update more often!!!