Boone Hall Plantation Oyster Festival

So, around here in Charleston, oysters are a BIG hit. Everyone loves them here, and people are always having "oyster roasts". Basically, people have these big steam pots that you steam the oysters in, you dump them out on a table, and then you have oyster knives to shuck(open) your oysters and eat then however you like. Good thing Scott and I like oysters!! hee hee.

Fran and John(the people we stayed with before our house was ready) have hosted a couple of oyster roasts that we've gone to already and then we did our own at Christmas time when our family was here. The one we did was definitely a learning experience, but we enjoyed it none the less.

Well, about a week ago we went to our first Oyster Festival. One of the historic visitor places here hosts a festival every year, so we went and checked it out. It was our first family oyster festival :) hee hee. We figured we better go ahead and get in on these traditions. I have never seen so many oysters in my life!!!! This thing was huge! There are different food stands set up with other food you can buy, live entertainment, and many, many oyster tables for people to stand around and get dirty with their oysters. People also bring lounge chairs and blankets.

We didn't know how we would like it, but we had a blast. It was a cold day, but iwth all the people around, it wasn't too bad.

Yummy Foods!

Madi has hit the big time now....she's eating solid foods now :) hee hee. It's so funny to watch her reaction to new things you put in her mouth :) We started her on rice cereal Christmas Day while all our family was here. She actually did pretty well with that.




Well, after the first day of rice cereal, she decided that it wasn't as good as she thought it was! haha. I kept her on it for about a week, but she really wanted nothing to do with it usually. She always crinkled up her forehead when she ate it. haha. So, after enough fighting with that I went on to the baby foods.
We started off with green beans. She LOVED them! It was so funny. I put just a dab on my finger for her to try and after that she reached and reached for my finger for more! haha. She grabs the spoon and "helps" feed herself cuz she's so excited about them. hee hee. She's also had carrots and peaches now too. Both of which she loves as well. She takes one bite of the new food, thinks about it, and then reaches for more! haha. So far she likes all her fruits and veggies, even the stage 2 foods that are mixed with different fruits and veggies. One thing she doesn't like though, chicken and chicken broth! How funny that she doesn't like the meat! I'm not gonna complain though. It's funny though cuz as much as I LOVE chicken, that's the one thing I never craved or really wanted to eat when I was pregnant with her!



It's been fun and ineresting feeding her foods. She loves to try and "help" all the time. She gets a tight, tight grip on the spoon, and it's hard to pry her tiny little hands off of it without making a huge mess! :) She's also sneezed and coughed a couple of times as I've brought the spoon to her mouth, which is very interesting as you can imagine! haha. Ok, so all of you mom's that have been through this can stop laughing now! hee hee. It's really been fun, even with all the messes and "fighting"! haha.
The sad part, though, is that her little tummy has not well adjusted to the food change just yet. She's been having a hard time pooping since starting foods. It's so sad to see her cry as she's trying to go. I do admit, though, it's a little funny when's she's trying cuz I stand her up and she sticks her little butt out and bends over to try and go. haha. We've been giving her a lil' bit of water and karo syrup to soften things up, and she's doing better now. It was tough for a few days cuz every time she would try and go she would just lean in to me and cry. Poor Madi!

She's on 3 meals a day now. It's been interesting trying to figure out a eating schedule for her. It seems that as soon as Madi and I get something figured out, it changes cuz she's moving on up in the food world :) I love trying all the new different things for her.

Hopefully Madi will keep enjoying her introduction to the food world. I know there will be exciting, fun, messy times to come. haha. I'll be sure to keep you informed of all the funny food stories Madi provides us with! :)

Madilyn's First Christmas

Hello everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!! I hope ya'll had a wonderful holiday season. We sure did around here! We had a wonderful Christmas here in Charleston with both Scott's parents and my parents here to visit. They all got to stay for a few days after Christmas too and we had a wonderful time. We celebrated Madi's first Christmas, had our first seafood boil and our first oyster roast. We got to show Scott's parents around Charleston some since they had not been able to visit till now. We also went out to the Angel Oak Tree here in town that is over 1,500 years old!!! That tree is AMAZING!!!

Well, Madi's first Christmas was a BIG hit! She racked up on gifts. We know it wouldn't have been any other way. haha. We give a big thank you to Grandma and Grump-pa and Granny and Paw-Paw for all her wonderful gifts. Madi's Grandma and Grump-pa (Scott's parents) got her a bunch of wonderful V-tech toys and some cute, cute clothes. Granny and Paw-Paw got her a very soft bear rug, name puzzle, and some of mommy's old Disney movies. Santa Claus rbought Madi a play mat, clothes, and bowls and spoons for her to start solids with! It was so wonderful to have Madilyn with us this Christmas! It gives a whole new special meaning to Christmas.

She got so worn out with all the excitement that she fell asleep without a fuss while the grown-ups were still opening gifts. She was in the best mood that day and enjoyed ripping wrapping paper. hee hee. The bows were just a big a hit for her as well.

It's hard to believe that Madi is 5 months old now. She turned 5 months on Christmas Eve. She's growing so fast. She has now found her toes and absolutely loves pulling on her feet and play with them. She's also trying really hard to sit up. Sometimes I can prop her up sitting in the boppy before she arches back and falls. The bumbo seat is great, but she has learned how to arch her back and pull herself almost out of it! It's funny, but it's not! She doesn't know better not to, so when you tell her to keep her little bottom in the seat she just laughs and squeals at you! haha. We started her on rice cereal for her Christmas dinner while all her family was here. It was pretty funny. I think more of it was on her face than in her mouth, but she did pretty good with it. She tried really hard and she loves to help with the spoon already.

Our New Year's was a pretty normal day. It's funny how things change when you have a baby. Scott was working overnight on New Year's Eve, so it was just Madi, me, and the dogs. Madi was out at her usual bedtime, bout 8:30, so I tried really hard to at least stay awake, but it did not work! haha. I fell asleep about 20 minutes before midnight! Usually I am wide awake at midnight, but not these days! I love all the changes in my life, though, and look forward to wonderful year of watching Madilyn grow. I hope everyone has a wonderful year filled with excitement and happiness!!

Here are some pics of our fun-filled Christmas.

Christmas Season Pics

Mommy/Daughter Road Trip

Nothing like starting your kid early on road trips! haha. Before Christmas Madi and I went to Montgomery to visit with my parents for about a week. It was a nice visit and something I needed as I continue to adjust to being far away from home. Yes, the trip was probably more for me than her, but I must say that I have the BEST little traveler!! She did soooooo good on the trip there and back! On the way to Montgomery we stopped and stayed the night in Atlanta at my in-laws house. It was a short visit, but a good one none the less. That broke the trip up some, but on the way back we drove straight to Charleston with one stop for mommy and Madi to eat. She didn't fuss really at all! I was and still am so very proud of her.

During our visit to Montgomery, we took a couple trips to Birmingham to see family and friends, and Madi went with mommy and Granny shopping in Montgomery one afternoon. She's a trooper and a great little shopper :) hee hee.

Visit with her Great Aunt and Uncle and cousins in Birmingham.

Madi with her Aunt Holly and Maimi and her Aunt Jessica.

With mommy's friend Cie and her little girl Berkley who calls Madi "Baby Spongebob" hee hee.

While in Birmingham, I stopped by the ice rink to see some friends and Madi got to be on the ice for the first time. I didn't have my skates, but my coach there skated around with her for a few minutes. Here she is on the ice for the first time and with my friend Kris who coaches there.

It was really good to see friends and family who I miss VERY, VERY much!! I hate that I couldn't see more of you, but hopefully I will be able to make another trip sometime soon.

More to come soon :)

Santa Claus

Hello. Wow, I can't believe it's Christmas now! How time flies when you are busy and excited about your child's first Christmas! :) I took these pics a while back and then haven't gotten a post up, so I thought I'd do it today :) Sorry about the delay in posts. We have been crazy busy. I also went out-of-town for a week with Madi, so I didn't do anything then either. I'll put that up in a new post. Here are Madi's fist pics with Santa Claus. She did so good with him. She looked at him very intently, but never cried. These were right before she turned 4 month and she had got the grabbing and pulling things toward her mouth down, so since Santa's beard was close, she grabbed it and tried to eat it at one point! heehee

So, we are very, very excited about Madi's first Christmas! It's neat and funny how things change and you just want everything to be about your kids at Christmas once you have a little rug rat :) Both of our parents are coming to Charleston for Christmas and then spending a few days after, so we are excited. We get to have Madi's first Christmas with everyone around and spend it in our new house with both our families here. We are very blessed and thankful that they all could come. It's been so fun to dress Madi up in Christmas gear. I can't imagine how fun it's gonna be as she gets older :)

We hope everyone has a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I'll post pics of all the things Madi racks up on from Santa Claus and grandparents after Christmas :)

Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day!!! Ours was GREAT! Scott and Scott's mom cooked some yummy, yummy food and we had some wonderful family time together. It was definitely nice to be able to get away and be able to spend the holiday with family.

Madi enjoyed her first Thanksgiving :) She sat in her Bumbo seat and watched all the cooking and laughed, squealed, and talked all day :)

I am definitely blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby girl, a wonderful, loving husband, and a loving supportive family!! I am also very thankful for each and every one of you, my friends!!!

Today we came to Birmingham to visit some friends. We stopped by Children's Hospital and visited some friends and former co-workers. It was definitely nice to see some "old" familiar faces!!!! We enjoyed seeing all of you that we saw! It was great to catch up. Madi was in a GREAT mood all day. She was sooo cute while we were visiting. She just talked to everyone and let 'em know that she was there :) We have a great little traveler that we are thankful for cuz it makes it much easier to takes these trips to see family and friends!!!

Here are some pics from Thanksgiving.