Madi's Future?

I wonder if this is what Madison will look like in 5 years when her hair finally grows past her shoulders????

Chunkey Monkey

Our little chunky monkey has yet to refuse anything we have given her to eat - well except for avocado - yesterday she ate 2 whole squares of pizza...it was quite impressive!

Secret Sisters

Doesnt it look like Madi is saying "Hey Ash - I got something to tell you" and then she just lays a big kiss on her!

Little Docs and Nurses

You know we don't go anywhere without our doctor tools since it is the only thing/activity that continues to keep her attention. All of her friends came over today for a little doctor party - Mikaela (5), Libby (5), Jenna (3), and Molly (3). DOn't worry my ankle and knee surgery went just fine today and I am recovering nicely!

Summer Shots

Madison continues to let me do her hair - so fun! Today I got to put in 2 french braided pony tails with bows - can you believe it? The one picture of all the girls lined up are all Madi's summer kid friends that are here with us. Of course she is not in the picture because instead of finishing up her italian ice snack seated on the side of the pool with the rest of the girls she had already eaten a few bites and then dumped the rest in the pool - so like her! For those of you who want to you can continue to pray for us to have perseverance and consistency as we discipline and train her!

Our Summer House

We are officially here in Clearwater Beach, FL for the summer! It's beautiful down here and we are loving it. The students just arrived today and are getting settled in. Madi is a bit beside herself with all of her new friends. Madison and Daniel have already managed to tackle a "home repair" project together - there was a sticky drawer that I kept having to kick shut and I kicked it a little too hard - oops - but they fixed it for me! Madison is loving the pool BUT only using her inner tube float and Ash likes it as well. It's kind of fun (and a little scary) to have a pool in our "backyard" for a few weeks.

Who Knows?

If you listen real close Madi sings a quick spiritual song, then starts humming the tune to one of Lady Gaga's songs and then quickly follows up with a spiritual song...who knows what goes in her sweet little head??!!

Sleeping Bugs

The 11 hour car ride to Florida sure was quiet when this happened at the same time!! On a side note Ash took her first steps at the Florida Vistor Center Rest Stop that we stopped at right when we got in to Florida. So maybe she will be walking the next couple weeks? On another side note semi-related to rest stops, Madison did not pee the entire 7 hour car ride down to Florida. We kept asking and she kept saying "no". She finally decided she had to go when we checked into our hotel later that night - unbelievable! Sure makes up for the fact that I made my parents stop like evry hour growing up because I had like zero bladder control - sorry Mom and Dad!

Car Bags

Every time Daniel's family went on a big trip his mom made everyone "car bags". They were filled with special treats and things she knew they would enjoy. Daniel has mostly taken it upon himself to do this for our family too! Before leaving for summer project down in Clearwater Beach, FL this past Thursday Daniel hit up the fine establishment of Dollar General and brought home all kinds of treats for himself (cause he is a candy junkie) and for Madison (we figured Ash did not really care yet but don't worry we won't leave her out next year). Every hour Madison got a new "special suprise" which consisted of gummy worms, jelly beans and lots of plastic jewelry that usually broke pretty quickly. I told Daniel that next time he was allowed to spend at least $1.50 on the fake jewelry so it would last a little longer! Thankfully, he bought all my treats at the Fresh Market! With or without treats though Madison is a great car rider and Ash has really come along way since all of the car seat induced screaming fits she had so frequntly on our 24 hour drive to and from Colorado last summer!

Monkey See Monkey Do

It sure is hard to catch them together these days especially where Ash is not crying because Madison has once again stolen her toy away or pushed her down or tried to move her off of something but Daniel managed to do it. Aunt Molly bought Madi the cool princess blow up chair you see in the picture and they both love sitting in it -thanks Molly!

New Fav

In the midst of all the birthday chaos and present overload, we decided to wait and give Madi our present on her real birthday. She loved it and you can now find her almost everyday drawing and painting on our porch. Sidenote - she is quite the mess painting as you can imagine so I have moved her to the porch to do her art. It's perfect because I can watch her through the window while I work and she works! I enjoy watching her because she gets this real serious face just like I do when I am concentrating on something.

Bathing Babes

Everybody loves a picture of their kids in the tub together! We usually just throw the kiddos in the shower with us because its a lot quicker and we never have been people with a night routine that included a bath so when they do get to bathe together they really have a good time!

Doctor Party

A few things about this party...

1. We took about 10 pictures of the whole thing which I am really sad about it but between trying to talk to people, watch kids and do party games I just totally forgot so go to http://nattandmatt.blogspot.com/ for a few more pictures that are good
2. At one point I realized we had people there who had graduated from NC State, students who are still at NC State, athletes from NC State, friends from MOPS, friends from church, friends we met in our neighborhood, friends from our staff team and of course our family! I am reminded of the people God has brought into our lives to love us and our girls - it is such a blessing!
3. I finally got to do some party games. I had some planned for Madi's party last year but I think they were all a little young. It was fun to get them all together and do a few organized things. We did "heart surgery" with jello molds, had a "pill bottle" hunt and settled our stomachs with some "koolaid seltzer" in water bottles - I think they all had fun. And then I had a "Bass Family Hospital" set up under a tent with a waiting room and a fully equipped doctor's office.
4. We decided not to open presents during the party after some encouragement from a friend (thanks Alinna). It was such a good idea because every year I just end up standing there opening presents by myself and thanking everyone cause Maid has moved on to something else. This let all of us just enjoy each other's company and put less of a focus on the gifts!

Setting up the Bass Clinic

Since doctor is the only game that still holds Madison's attention for longer than 5 minutes, we decided to have a "Doctor Party" for her and Ash's 1st and 3rd birthdays. My sweet friend Elizabeth comes over every year to help me make the cake the night before. She is more of a perfectionist than me (yep, it's possible)so we stay up way too late and worry way too much what these kids are going to think of our cake - well, the adults really! It was our first go at using fondant and I was pleased with our finished product. Elizabeth's hand was way more steady than mine and her syringe was by far the best decoration on the cake. The small round cake was for Ash to eat and destroy by herself. Which reminds me...Daniel and I were tlaking after the party and realized Ash never really participated in her own party nor had any clue it was even going on. It's funny thinking back to how big a deal it seemed Madi's 1st birthday was and all the time we spent getting things ready for it and she did not even know about it really. Oh well, that's just what you are supposed to do as a parent I guess!

Braids

Almost every day now Madi will let me do something to her hair - of course it has to have her approval on it. The other night we were leaving to go to the NCSU driving range with a bunch of NCSU athletes and after getting ready she agreed to let me braid her hair. I had braided her bang back off her face and it looked so cute. This is when she asked for another braid on the other side so I agreed. She still looked cute and it's always a welcomed change to get those bangs out of her face! The problem came when she insisted on having a 3rd braid in the back...hmmm - I was not really sure how to make that blend in or look normal so I did the best I could and we left for the socail with 3 braids in her hair! I love that she as her own style already (especailly since I have none) and I keep reminding her that God has made her so special and there is no one else in the world like her. I hope she grows up remembering this and does not worry about having to keep up with what everyone else in the world is wearing, watching, doing and saying.