A Hot Mess at 18 months

Madeline hit the 18 month mark on Monday. I never knew you could pack this much personality into such a tiny body. Her stats:

Height: 33 inches (90%)

Weight: 22.12 lbs (25%)

Clothes: 12 -18 months

Shoes: Has progressed from a 2 to a 5 over the summer! Very exciting!

I knew that having a girl would be different but every day I marvel at how different she is from Jack. Verbally, she is at least 6 months, if not 8, ahead of where he was at this point. Her vocab is large including: mom, dad, jack, goose, maeve, papa, all animals and their sounds, gogurt, most fruits (banana, blueberries, apples, grapes, etc), waffles, juice, water, cup, spoon, cookie, cracker, pop, seat, car, night night, all done, pool, potty, shoes, go go diego, dora, backpack, map etc. We are astounded every day by her communication skills. This week she has started saying "oh" alot. Like when she is calling for Clay and I say "Daddy is at work" she says "oh" and it is so cute.

Madeline loves to eat and is not picky at all. She and Jack both inherited Clay's metabolism and I am jealous! She will try to do anything Jack does including climbing on the couches or beds and jumping off. She has no fear! Her awake hours (6am- 6pm) she does not stop moving. She is constant energy and happiest when we are out and about. She brings me her bathing suit every day and says "pool?" She loves the water and has no fear. If you ask her to go get her shoes or put them away she goes straight to her closet. She also loves to pick out her clothes (ALREADY!). Since potty training Jack, Madeline now comes into the bathroom with any of us and says "I pee. I pee" and proceeds to pull her bloomers down. I haven't said "yes" yet b/c I don't really want to potty train her but she is pretty adamant.

We do not have another car lover on our hands though. Madeline HATES the car. She is just generally pissed off the whole time we are in the car. She tries her best to get out of her seatbelt and has succeeded once. No DVD or CD makes her happy. We suffer through our roadtrips b/c we love to travel but Madeline is not happy about it.

If she can't find someone in the house, she walks around screaming "Mom!" or "Jack" or "Dad" like a teenager. It is hilarious. She does the same thing in the mornings when she wakes up. She is not very sweet to Jack, hitting, pulling hair and pinching right now. He is so sweet to her though and will just say "Madewin, we don't hit." She just laughs. I can trust them to play together for about 15 minutes until all hell breaks loose.

I cannot imagine loving somone more than we do Jack and Madeline. She is a spirited little girl and from the looks of it, the one who will probably run the show amongst the siblings. We love you Madgirl and are so thankful for the spirit you bring to our family!

Celebration!!

The Cake: The Reason for the The Cake:
My wonderful husband got a new job and we are SO excited! It is a job we have prayed about for a long time and will allow him to see more of his family and less of the general public :) We couldn't be happier! SO I made this fabulous chocolate raspberry cake. I saw a picture of it once and I have no idea what was inside that one but I made this one up and it was as good as it looks!!

Six layers of cake and raspberry preserves topped with chocolate icing and lots of berries!

And it wouldn't be a celebration without the Smith girls! They gave the cake a big thumbs up!

Chocolate Raspberry Kit Kat Cake

2 boxes chocolate cake
2 tubs chocolate icing
2 jars of Smuckers raspberry preserves
12 Kit Kats
16 oz raspberries
Raspberry colored ribbon
(I got everything at Wal-Mart)
Glue or Glue gun

Make the cakes. I used three 9 inch round pans. I let the cakes cool in the fridge overnight. Slice each cake in half horizontally to make 6 layers. Lay the first layer on cake plate and spread with preserves. Repeat for layer 2, 3, 4 and 5. Then lay the sixth layer on top of the preserves and frost the whole cake with the chocolate icing. Place Kit Kats all around the cake as shown in the pic. They will stick to the icing and might be a little wobbly. Then take the ribbon and wrap around the cake securing with a dot of glue. Place all the raspberries on top of the cake.

I made the cake in the morning and didn’t serve it until dinner time. This allowed all the preserves to absorb into the cake making it extra moist!

Enjoy!! It is even better the next day!

Our toast to Ryan

I wrote this poem to toast my brother, Ryan ,at his Rehearsal Dinner. Shannon and I delivered it together.


It was the summer of 84 and I was busy watching my first video on MTV- Uptown Girl
When Mom and Dad delivered the news that would change our world
A baby was coming! We were so surprised!
Of course it would be a girl- the only option in our eyes!

We would dress her up in our doll clothes
And paint her fingernails and toes
We ran to the pool to tell all of our friends
And that is where that dream ends

On a cold snowy day in January of 85
Ryan Mark Connor entered our lives
A boy?? What would we do with a boy?
Never fear! We still pretended he was one of our toys

But then he started to grow and was interested in dirt, soldiers and balls
The time had passed quickly he was no longer our doll.
As a child Ryan had a slight speech impediment
And as his older sisters, we don’t ever let him forget it.

Many Christmases revolved around GI Joes
Ryan had all of them and off to battle they would go
The GI Joe General was the “It” toy for play
Mom searched high and low, but Mr Gonzales in Miami saved the day!

Many years later in 2009 Ryan discovered Mom had given it away
Apparently he wanted it for posterity so Mom found another on Ebay.
And then there is the traditional nerf gun
For the last 15 Christmases, Santa hasn’t missed one!

We heard a lot of “Yessir Mr Rich” during his karate days
Did you know Ryan has a black belt? Don’t get in his way!
Left blinker, right blinker was one of his moves
Except when he fractured Mom’s eye but that was a goof

He moved on from Karate and GI Joe to baseball and basketball
Our little Ryan was a superstar on the court each Fall
Ryan, Ergen, Shannon and Allen at Deane Hill would shoot to fame
I think the team averaged 10 points per game

But baseball was the game he was destined to play
Practices, travel teams, tournaments filled his days
But then he realized the sport would only take him so far
And he choose the academic path bringing him back to UT and his future sweetheart

We always have fun with our little brother
The youngest, least expensive and favorite amongst our Dad and mother
Unlike LeBron he was not the self-proclaimed King
No, he came by that name honestly
Cook? Clean? Do his laundry?
Nope not Ryan! He left that to his Mommy

In Spring of 05, a cute blonde caught his eye
Her intelligence, beauty and charm he couldn’t deny
We like to think Julia reminded him of his sisters
We are thankful he realized a good thing and didn’t diss her.

Over time, LOTS of time, their relationship progressed
And we are glad that tomorrow she will finally get to wear that white dress.
You both come from great examples of what a marriage should be
And we know for many years you will live happily

Ryan is the best brother and uncle you could ask for
And Julia, in a husband you could want for nothing more.
He is loyal and smart, funny and true
He will be all of these things and so much more to you.

Ryan, we toast you tonight as your sisters and friends
We are honored to stand by your side and attend
So tomorrow when the big day is here
Look to your right and know we will always be near.