He loves me, He loves me...a lot!

Cole has been a real trooper about this whole sharing the attention thing. We didn't know what to expect from him when Ali came, but he loves her to pieces. He always runs into the room, plops down next to Ali and says "Cole hold baby Ali". He loves to hold her...even when no one is there to help him pick her up! We have to keep a close eye on this big bro, he likes to do things all himself, and Ali has been very patient with him! If he hears her cry he comes running in saying "What's wrong baby Ali?" It is the cutest thing to see. What a great big brother! Between Cole and Justin, I think this little girl is going to have all the protection and attention she needs!

Build A ... Baby?

If you had told us that we would be on the hunt for cute preemie clothes with any of our children we would have laughed. Cole was 8 lbs 15 oz and grew out of his new born clothes in no time. So, when the newborn clothes made our daughter look like she was swimming in them, we were a bit shocked! We know she is not super tiny, but she is compared to Cole. So my mom (who loves a shopping challenge) went out looking for cute preemie clothes. She found a few adorable outfits, but she said most of them were just not even close to being cute. While my mom was still in town she sent Justin and I out on a date and we ended up at the mall trying to find something to dress her all up in. Store after store left us disappointed with only meager selections of onsies to fit her. As we headed down the mall we passed "Build A Bear", I turned to Justin and said jokingly "hey maybe Build A Bear clothes would--" He looked at me, and we both turned and walked straight in. We died laughing at all of the hilarious choices. We each picked an outfit for her. I picked the little pink jogging suit and Justin went for the zebra print leggings. Then he went a little crazy in the accessories department. I have to admit it was pretty cute watching him spoil his little girl. We brought them home and had a fashion show! They fit perfectly! The only set back is the hole in the butt for a tail! PRICELESS!

Meet our little lady!

Meet our little lady! Ali Jo Maddux was born on 8-8-08 at 2:08 am! She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was 19 in long. All I have to say is second babies are way easier than first babies! We were scheduled to be induced on friday, but my water broke Thursday at about 4:30 pm. I could not believe this considering it was a week early and I was a week late with Cole. Justin didn't believe me either when I called him at work (he knows I have a tendancy to be paranoid), but being the wonderful husband he is, he came home to check on me, and by that time there was no doubt that my water had indeed broken. My parents were supposed to fly in Thursday night to be there to watch Cole...so Jed and Kim came to the rescue! My parents ended up taking a shuttle to the hospital. So we got to the hospital around 6:30 pm and it was about 7:30 by the time I was hooked up and on patosin (however you spell that). Then I got a wonderful epidural at 9:00 after watching the So You Think You Can Dance finale, went to sleep on and off until 1:30 am and was a 10 when I woke up! This drug business is great! They hurried and called my Doctor and by the time she got there I pushed for 5 minutes or so and then we met our little girl! This is much better than Cole...for those of you who don't remember he was a 20 hour labor followed by 2 1/2 hours of pushing due to his head facing the wrong way...this was a breeze compared to that! Then came the hard part...naming her. Justin and I have been going back and forth forever about her name. He loved Ali, but said he could never spell it the way I liked because people would pronounce it wrong. So he won on what we named her..,partly because we had said if her name were Ali her initials would be AM so if she was born in the AM that would be her name and if in the PM her name would be peyton, which was my pick. So, he won there...but he eventually gave in on the spelling because he is a sweetheart! So there you have it! We feel so blessed to have such a beautiful, healthy, little girl.

The big T-W-O!

we can't believe our little man is already 2! I am a little late posting this but I figured a birthday was to important not to document. Cole's actual birthday was June 17. As you can tell Elmo is a definite favorite of his! So, being the crafty girl I am turning into...I set out to make an Elmo cake! To be honest, I did not do it alone...Becca did all the research and was my collaborative partner! We think it turned out pretty great, and Cole was SO EXCITED! Our friends made his birthday so special this year! They gave him such cute gifts that were definitely more exciting than our gift of a BIG BOY BED! He is such a blessing to us. We are constantly laughing at something he comes up with and we love him to pieces!

Take My Hand...

Our Poor little man has no idea that his first love is about to move away. After our long day at the Zoo, these kids were exhausted. Justin turned on some soft music to help them fall asleep. Lucy was out in no time, but Cole was struggling to hang on. A couple songs in, this perfect song came on and we were able to capture on film one of the sweetest moments. I know the video is long but it is so tender. These two have been such cute little buds and Cole is smitten. It is the cutest thing to see, and this video says it all.

Monkeyin' Around...

On Saturday we decided it was the perfect day to go to the zoo! Every time we asked Cole if he wanted to go he said "Lucy?", which sounds more like "cc?". So, we invited Lucy to come along! These two were so cute to watch. They liked all the animals, Cole especially liked the monkeys. The biggest hit by far however, were the slides in the play area. Cole was nervous at first, but one time down and he was hooked! He got so brave and decided to go down without any help. Such a big boy! Of course, what did I expect, he had to show off for his woman! It was so much fun, and a little bitter sweet. Lucy and her family are moving and this was their last "date". It was a perfect day though!

Cole and Lucy sittin' in a tree...

Cole had quite the Valentines day! For those of you who don't know Cole is a bit taken with his little pal Lucy. So for Valentines day Justin and I decided to help him make his move! First he wrote his sweetheart a letter. Then he got all dressed up for the big day. Finally, he gave Lucy his token of love (a Nemo stuffed animal). How could she resist? All in all it was a pretty entertaining day for all parents involved!