Breakfast with Santa 2010

Madelyn and I had breakfast with Santa last weekend, we went with Grammy McCord and Cousin Adrienne. I wasn't sure how Maddy would react to Santa this year, overall she did pretty well. No tears were shed and to be honest that's what I was anticipating. Santa walked around to each table a few times during breakfast and Madelyn never took her eyes off him, she was very intrigued. When it came time to sit on his lap she grabbed my leg so tight I could feel her fingernails through my pants. So needless to say...Mommy got to sit on Santa's lap too!


As you can see by the look on Madelyn's face she wasn't too sure about this Santa guy!

First Ornament!

Madelyn brought home her first homemade ornament last week to hang on our tree. They made them at daycare last week and I was ecstatic when I saw it, I couldn't wait to get home and let her hang it on our tree. It's things like this that warm my heart!!! Christmas as a kid is so exciting but I think it's even more thrilling as a parent.

I love her little tree!!

10 Years

I miss you mom! Some days it feels like an eternity since I saw you last and others it feels like only yesterday. No words can express how much I miss you each and every day. I wish you were here to share in my joy and love of Madelyn, you would adore her. She is such a sweet little girl and I know you would be over the moon for her. I am currently working on a book about you for Madelyn; I want her to know what a special lady you were.

I will be decorating my house for Christmas today as I have done on the 27th for 10 years now, in honor of you. I have so many memories of decorating with you and how much pride you took in our Christmas tree. I think you would be proud of my trees! I look forward to creating many of those same memories with Madelyn over the years.

Allie will be getting married in 9 months and I really wish you were here. I missed you while planning for my own wedding but for some reason I am missing you more while planning for Allie’s. I guess I was caught up in all of the excitement of my own wedding and this time I just wish you were to make sure it’s perfect for Allison. I will do my best but I know you would do better!!

I often find myself wishing I could call you for help on recipes; I usually end up calling dad. He is helpful but always ends up telling me I should have done something different. I try to go off memory as best I can, Allie and I both tend to make a lot of the recipes that you always did.

I miss you so much and know I am very lucky to have had you for 19 years; the amount of love you provided me in those short years is enough to last my lifetime!!

I love you mom!

Pumpkin Carving 2010

This was Madelyn's first pumpkin carving experience! At first she really didn't care to have pumpkin guts on her hands but by the end she was covered in it. We had to strip her down before going inside the house.

Daddy's Little Helper

It's that time of year again around the McCord house...we rake leaves. I absolutely love all of our big, mature trees that surround our home but when fall rolls around it seems that raking becomes a priority. This year Madelyn got in on the action and was quite the helper, I think we need to find a Maddy size rake!
Adam says "next year, we start lawn mowing"! (Only kidding of course ;)

Appleworks 2010

Saturday was a gorgeous fall day and we were able to spend it with my family at Appleworks. Madelyn was all over the place, it was a vast difference from last year when she wasn't mobile. We could hardly keep up! She climbed on the hay bales, took off through the sunflower patch, worked on her tackling skills (sorry to that little boy), took a stroll through the petting zoo, shared an apple dumpling with grandma and grandpa and kissed a few pumpkins!

Enjoy a few pictures from our day!

Overdue but Congrats!!

We wanted to wish my sister Allison and her fiance Matt a very special congratulations on getting engaged. We are so excited for you both and look forward to the upcoming wedding August 13, 2011.


P.S. I am a tiny bit excited about helping plan this wedding too :)
So much fun and alot less stress then planning your own!!

Madelyn Loves Books!

One of Madelyns' favorite things right now are books, she loves to pick books from her bookshelf. I think for 2 weeks straight Adam and I have probably read the book "I Found U" 300 times. At least it's a book about IU and being a Hoosier!!

I am thrilled that she's enjoying books and it gives Adam and I some Maddy cuddle time too!!

August was BUSY!

Well I took a brief hiatus from blogging the past month, August seemed to be an action packed month. We spent a lot of time boating, going to the fair, riding the fair train, watching the Colts practice, a trip to Wisconsin for Ben Wagner's 1st birthday, trips to the park and relaxing visits with the grandparents. Here are a few pictures from our excursions and I hope to get back on track with blogging in the month of September!!

Farm Fresh!!!

Have you heard of Farm Fresh Delivery? Well, the McCord household are the newest members, I am so excited for my first delivery that it's like the anticipation of Christmas!

Farm Fresh Delivery is an Organic Produce & Natural Grocery delivery service, basically I have signed up to get a bin full of fresh, organic produce every week and then I can add eggs, bread and all sorts of other things to my standing order. Most of the products are Indiana based but some things will obviously come from other places, I am happy to be supporting our local Indiana Farmers!

I have always loved the Farmers Market on the weekends and actually got Adam into going too, but life gets busy and sometimes we just can't make it. With Farm Fresh I will have the farmers market at my door! Plus I feel like this is a way to get my family eating healthier and trying new things.

I am super excited about the Scholar's Inn Bakehouse breads! Yummy!

If you are interested, check out the link below and remember to put me down as your friend that referred you!!!

www.farmfreshdelivery.com

Are you ready for some Football?

We are!!! Go Colts!!

We headed to Anderson over the weekend to see some of our favorite players at the Colts training camp. I am super excited for the regular season to start! My mission is to get Maddy to say "Go Colts" before the first regular season game.
The McCord household is ready for fall, because not only does that mean tailgating, football games and spending time with friends...but, some cooler weather too!!

Weekend Pics!

We had a fun weekend and I thought I would share a few pictures. We went to Bloomington on Friday for the Monroe County Fair, the highlight for Madelyn was the lemon shake-up she shared with Grandma and Grandpa. She was a little hesitant around the cows and clung to Adam's neck when they would turn toward her.

Sunday we went for a ride on Grampy & Grammy McCord's new boat, Madelyn thought she was in charge and was trying to drive the boat before we even put it in the water. She loved the boat but wasn't quite sure of the lake water, I have to admit the water was much colder out in the middle of the lake compared to the water right off of the dock.

Go Hoosiers!

I just wanted to share a picture I snapped over then weekend when Madelyn and I went to Bloomington for a visit. This is her first picture in front of the Sample Gates at age 1, hopefully we will be taking this picture again in 20 years with Maddy in her cap and gown on graduation day!!

Thank you, Jackson!

Madelyn wanted to give a big "THANK YOU" to her buddy Jackson Bixler for inviting us for a fun day at the Fishers YMCA, pool and sprinkler park! Maddy had a ball, it took a few minutes to figure things out but once she did she was off and running. She liked the baby pool but loved the sprinkler/splash park, she ran around screaming in delight!

Between playing with the slip n slide, pool and sprinkler park we have decided we may have a little water bug on our hands. The good news for Madelyn, we think Grampy McCord is buying a boat soon!! She will probably be skiing and tubing before we know it!

Slip 'n slide!

Madelyn is offically the queen of the slip 'n slide, she loved it!! After her first trip down it was a continued thing for a good hour if not longer, I think Daddy and Grampy were pretty worn out after numerous trips up and down the hill. Maddy played hard with cousin Adrienne during the day and ended up falling asleep after just a few fireworks.

Enjoy a few pics of our favorite slip 'n slider!!

Weekend of FUN!

Over the long Memorial Day weekend we spent some fun, family time together. Adam had been gone to Florida on business all week so it was nice to spend some time together after missing him all week.

We took Madelyn to the zoo on Saturday, she really seemed to enjoy herself and had fun pointing and babbling at all the animals. The Monkey's and the ocean mammals were her favorite. She got a kick out of the sea lions, walrus and penguins. After Madelyn had all the fun she could stand we decided to head home for the day and she was asleep before we got out of the zoo parking lot.

Sunday we went to Grammy and Grampy's in Anderson and played in the water. Madelyn got in the lake for the first time and had tons of fun playing in the water with cousins Adrienne and Evan. We had lunch outside on the patio and then pizza for dinner outside with both of Madelyn's great grandma's. Maddy refused to take a nap all day so by the end of the day she could barely stand up and was doing everything in her power to keep herself awake. Needless to say it was a quiet ride home!

Here are a few pictures of our weekend festivities!