Pics as promised

Here are just a few pics of second beach trip.  I completely forgot my camera on Monday, so today's will have to do!  I didn't catch many good ones because she and her friend were constantly running back and forth from the water to their sand "castles".  Anyway, we just LOVE the beach!!

Madelyn and her best friend :)

LOVE my little girl!

Seriously favorite pic of the day! They thought pretending to

take a nap was HILARIOUS!

Many, many more beach trips/pics to come I'm sure :)

Birthdays, Birthdays!

This is a two part post: Part One

It's time for me to begin planning Madelyn's 3rd birthday.  Yes, she is going to be three already!  I can't believe how quickly time has flown. One day I'm holding my precious baby girl, and the next, I'm cuddling up to my precious BIG girl...  Luckily, she still loves hanging out with Mommy and wants to snuggle atleast once a day :)

Our theme this year will be the Barbie 50th anniversary logo.  It's super cute and I can easily accent with pink, white, and black items. I've found a ton of ideas and can't wait to create all the fun things we're going to use! 

For gifts, I've decided that only family and very close friends will be "allowed" to give gifts.  Instead, we are going to have our guests bring something to donate to a local foster home (if they'd like).  Madelyn needs/wants for nothing. 

Little story to prove my point:  Jeremy told Madelyn to clean her toys up one night and she said she was too tired.  So, he said we were going to throw all the toys that were out away if she didn't clean up.  She didn't.  Instead, she HELPED us "throw away" all of her toys.  Some of which were favorites of hers.  We took the trash bag out of the house and put it in the outside closet, but the point is, she could have cared less.  On the upside, she now cleans everytime we ask her to! 

I thought it would be nice for Madelyn to begin seeing that there are people out there who are not as fortunate as us and see how good it feels to give to others.  She'll still get gifts, just not as many, and she'll still get to spend her special day with friends and family! So...it seems like a win win for everyone! What do you think? Am I being a cruel mom? 

Part Two:

In celebration of my best friend's and my 25th birthdays, we are in the process of planning a weekend getaway!!! Just the two of us :) Since she and I don't live in the same state, we haven't had nearly enough "us time".  I'm so excited to go somewhere new!  Seriously, this will only be probably the second time I've gone somewhere without Jeremy and one of very few I've been without Madelyn. Yes, I love them, but I'm absolutely looking forward to our girls weekend!

We don't want something crazy wild like Vegas, and I wouldn't feel safe if just the two of us went to New York by ourselves. We just want something different, maybe some nice spas or wine tastings, not ridiculous pricey but not crappy either, and probably somewhere in the eastern parts of the US.  So, any suggestions on where to go? 

I'm gonna soak up the sun!

Have you felt the glorious warm weather yet?  We have! We have!  Last week was the beginning (hopefully) of our beautiful Florida days!  I absolutely, 100% LOVE feeling the warmth on my skin.  The problem is that Madelyn and I are never home during this time of year!  We are constantly going and the house gets let go.  I haven't cleaned in TWO weeks! Laundry was completely pushed to the side for an entire week.  I feel like such a terrible house wife but I just can't resist soaking up the sun.  So far, we've been to the park, window shopped a little, had lunch with friends, spent a day at a kid's play place, ridden bikes, and visited Disney.  Hmm..... Laundry and chores OR warm weather fun?! No competition there :) Luckily, I have a husband who understands.

Tomorrow is our first beach day of the year!!!!! To celebrate, Jeremy took off work to join us!  We always love beach days, but we LOVE beach days when Daddy gets to come too.  I'm so excited to feel the sand between my toes. If I lived on the beach, I'd never get anything done!  Seriously, this is the reason I love it here!  Yes, the winters have been cooky the past two years, but when these days roll around, I'm that much more thankful.  So, be prepared for many new beach pics in the very near future!

On a completely different subject, I hurt my knee and haven't run in three weeks.  I'm completely bummed and highly doubt I'll make my April half marathon but I certainly don't want to push my recovery and ruin my knee for good.  So, tomorrow will be my first run back and I pray that things will go as planned.  I'll be taking it easy for a while and slowly get back to where I was as long as my body cooperates.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's better to run and take it slow than to not run at all...