Maddux party of 5....

Justin and I have been keeping it a secret long enough...we are expecting a baby in August!! We're super excited and a little nervous about switching to zone defense. Fortunately Linnea will be 5 this summer, she's such a big helper already. Linnea of course wants a baby sister, Beau a baby brother so he can "tackle him down". Poor kid, it'll either be a punching bag or dressed as a baby doll. Either way it'll be a whole new adventure since it's been 3 years since an infant was in this house:)

Trip out West

Our family took a trip out west this past week to visit family and got the opportunity to visit a fw new places. It's been ages since I posted anything on here but I have to remember it doesn't have to be anything huge to post pics. The kids have been hilarious and we've really enjoyed the road trip as opposed to lugging all our stuff on a plane. It's been a peaceful week, only one more day left. Here's a few pics of our recent adventures. We visited Kingman, AZ where Justin's Dad is from and spent a day in the Hualapai Mtns. We then made our way up to Grand Canyon, AZ. It was beautiful, never thought I would see pictures of the Grand Canyon with snow. We stopped for a few days in Santa Fe, NM and have been staying at the wonderful Hacienda at Hotel Santa Fe. The food is amazing in this town, the shops are awesome (beutiful art and turquoise!) we even found Beau an awesome Pueblo drum. We've been getting a ton of snow today so we're spending the late afternoon warming up by the fireplace in our room. It's been an awesome family vacation, definitely a place we'd like to revisit someday and maybe then learn how to ski!

Spring is Here!!!

I could not be happier about the fact that I live somewhere where Spring in March is filled with Sunshine and weekends at the park. We are counting down the minute until the house is finished and we can have our puppy back and the kids running through the back yard. March has been a busy month; Justin's mom visited in the beginning and we spent a wonderful weekend, eating and playing. We made a trip to Dealy Plaza so we could show her the JFK Memorial. It was a hot day so the kids had to play in the water features downtown:)

St. Pattys Day was a little low key for us. Long gone are the days of waiting in line at 7 am to get a pint (or 5) of green beer. We went to work this year and then swung by the house to check out the progress. The kids are getting so excited about it all coming together.

I was thrilled to see the cabinets installed and knew soon enough the brick would be going up. Within the last few weeks they've managed to finish the brick and stone and alot of the interior moulding and trim work.

Other than that we're looking forward to the next few weeks. We'll officially be members of our new church and then Easter, Birthday parties, Crawfish Boils, the Bluebonnets in bloom and lunches with friends are all in store for April. Then it's movin' time!!!

LIfe is Good ~

I have no major event to post but man has this last year been a blast with these kids so far. Linnea and Beau are the best of friends and they're conversations are hilarious.

Linnea is always calling him her buddy and Beau is constantly wanting Linnea to "look at that"...whatever they do it's together. Beau is potty training and doing much better than Linnea did (I take full blame for that). Beau has had no pressure and quite frankly besides the cost I don't' care if he's in diapers until he's 20! Amazing how little you care about this stuff with the second one. Linnea is learning Spanish and I can't think of a cuter language for a 3 year old to learn, especially when she says Ensalada and wiggles her hips. Beau is focused on his numbers now since the ABCs were such a breeze. They love to say to the pledge of allegiance and sing almost anything. Both have inherited my love for music and dancing. Most Friday's we tend to hold a dance party in the living room. While Linnea loves her some Hannah Montana I was so proud to hear her request Bare Naked ladies tonight. She was wailing away to "If I had A Million Dollars" and it made me smile. I have to learn to play the guitar with her so we can "rock out the show" as she would say. We're 10 weeks away from the house completing which couldn't be more exciting. We head out there each weekend to check the progress and took some time last week to stop at one of the parks in the neighborhood to play a little. Beau is Justin's sidekick and so this picture of the two of them is special to me. He always wants to make sure his Dad is watching. We're so blessed to have them in our lives. I can't really imagine what we'd be doing if they weren't here making each day so different.

Happy Holiday Times

There are a lot of things that will be different this holiday season as we won't have the pleasure of visiting with our family and sharing many traditions. This makes me a little sad if I focus on it for too long but I know it's only one year. What this has given us is the time and opportunity to create some of our own traditions and we  have taken full advantage of this. 

Linnea received a Bitty Baby from her Gramma a little over a year ago. This doll happens to be one of the American Girls; a collection of which I have a doll from as well from when I was little. Santa used to bring me outfits and accessories for Samantha every year  and I would spend countless hours playing with the neighbor girls and our dolls. Naturally when I realized there was an American Girl store in Dallas I had to take Linnea and her Bitty Baby to dinner. Thus emerged our first  tradition, a girls days to the American Girl Store to purchase her baby doll's Christmas outfit. We had an awesome time, 'just the girls" shopping together. It's something I will look forward to every year.

Of course we decorated a tree although this year it was not real and we didn't cut it down in the freezing  cold:) 

Linnea was so happy to see our little tree and Beau couldn't wait to hang his ornaments up. It's a simple tradition that we just can't live without even in an apartment. I can't wait to actually decorate a house again next year.

The kids received their annual Christmas PJs from their Gramma Maddux. Last year they got a picture with all their cousins but this year it's just the two of them. They still look awfully cute together if you ask me. 

These are just a few of the things we've enjoyed the last few weeks. There will definitely be more to come! I can't believe Beau is turning 2 in two days!! We have a party for him Saturday where we'll decorate Gingerbread houses and we'll be sure to update the blog with pictures of his friends. It's a crazy time of year but always full of happy memories. 

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family!