Straight from the Hart: September 2013

The BIG Florida adventure!! So in case you didn't know, July 2013 was the month to have a baby...there was of course the birth of Prince George and the birth of 4 very cute little Florida babies: Matthew Cannon (born to Lindsay and Chris), Molly McKeown (born to Caitlin and Jonathan), Ellie Meisner (born to Melanie and Justin), and then sweet little Victoria Magyar (born to Courtney and Philip). Yes, that's right, four very close friends who all had little bundles of joy within a few weeks of each other! There was no way I was going to miss seeing all of these babies, so Maddie and I packed our bags and went on our way! We left on August 29th and came back to B'ham on September 11th! It was 13 nights, 14 days, 5 houses, and 1,300 miles of pure fun! We stayed with NayNay and Papa in Niceville for a few nights, Caitlin's in Tampa, Lindsay's house, Kelly's house, and then finally Catherine's house. It was so great to see everyone and their babies. Maddie loved "helping" with the babies and still talks constantly about them (especially baby Matthew and baby Sara (Victoria)). Maddie was great in the car! We had fun stopping to eat and talking about new places. She was also really great at everyone's house. For as many places as we stayed, she was wonderful! She managed some type of nap every day and pretty much stayed on a schedule...this girl can travel.

Thanks to all of my Florida peeps for being such gracious hosts! We can't wait to come down and do it again....counting down to March 2013 for the Sirmeyer/Hassell wedding and Maddie's first trip to Disney...woot woot!

As soon as we got back to B'ham, we prepared for our first big round of guests! Aunt Kara, Uncle Chris, Kalia, and Naynay came to stay for 3 nights. Kalia and Maddie both really enjoyed playing together. There 7 month age difference is almost unrecognizable.

Two days later we got a visit from our old neighbors Catherine, Vinny, and Jacob (and little sister Bove on the way)! Maddie absolutely LOVES her friend Jacob and the two were super excited to see each other. We had so much at the Science Center, eating BBQ, homemade popsicles, and just plain fun!

Besides all of our visiting we also got into a bit of a routine...

Maddie started Kindermusik classes on Thursdays. This is an International music program for infants to age 7 and is taught by independent licensed Kindermusik educators. We go to class at a church near our house with 9 other little cuties. Maddie loves to sing and dance each Thursday morning with mom. We continue our songs, books, and dances at home!
Started going to story time at the library every Tuesday. She loves doing the bean bag rock, reading stories, and eating snacks. After story time we pick out books to check out, play outside, or play with puzzles in the kids room. It's a fun outing every Tuesday morning.
Loves vanilla ice cream. Occasionally we head over to an ice cream shop on a Friday or Saturday night and enjoy a scoop of ice cream together!
Copies everything Noah does. When we go for walks Maddie make sure to sniff the light poles, sit down on the ground, and pretends to pee pee like Noah!
We have started Family Movie Night. On some Friday nights we get ready for bed early and watch a Mickey Clubhouse episode in our PJs with some popcorn! Maddie loves Movie Night!
Still talks about everyone at dinner, but only certain people get a "chair". We have 6 chairs at our kitchen table: Mommy's chair, Daddy's chair, NayNay's chair, Kia's chair (Kalia), and Papa's chair.
Still loves animals! Any animal!!
Knows all of her capital alphabet letters. She points them out everywhere!
Knows heart, moon, and star
Can count a little past 10 by herself and up to 20 with help
Loves reading books and will park her behind in anyone's lap if she gets a story out of it.