Six Years

Six years ago this morning I was waiting to go to the hospital. I was supposed to go first thing in the morning but unfortunately the L&D was full. You see, Madelyn decided not to make her appearance when she should have, on July 4th, but wait until the doctors forced her to come out. We finally made it to the hospital at 12:00 and they induced me. Four hours later and one very sadistic non-epidural giving nurse later, I still hadn't progressed much. My doctor decided to break my water for me. Less than an hour later we have a beautiful baby girl.

Madelyn Leigh Rogers was born at 4:54 p.m. on July 8, 2009 weighing a whopping 9 pounds 0 ounces.

She has changed our lives in so many ways. Before Maddie, our family was complete...or so we thought.

Maddie is a riot. She loves to make people laugh and she loves to laugh herself. She's so friendly and outgoing and I'm not sure where she gets that from. She is a combination of both a daddy's girl and a mommy's girl, but she's also a mam's girl and a grandpa's girl and a Dylan's girl at times as well. She adores her brother even if he sometimes doesn't really care. Her goal in life seems to be to love him to death....





Anyway, today is a busy day. We have two birthday parties planned for Maddie, one with her friends and one with her grandma and grandpa so she should be one happy 6-year-old today. I had to work at 6:00 a.m. this morning to get my shift over and done with so we could party later and she got up at about 6:20. She went to bed at 10:00 so she's going to be a cranky 6-year-old too.

Last night was our first 2 softball game and they were awesome. We stomped the first team 13-5 and the second team we lost to in overtime 13-12. I won't tell you how we lost but let's just say Joel ate some dirt...

Everyone played really well. Everyone hit the ball. I went 4-5 all together but the last one was a really well hit ball that got caught. BOO. Way to ruin my streak jerk face.

The List

Remember that Friends episode with "The Freebie List"? If you don't, never mind. If you do...you'll understand this.

Joel and I have lists. In fact, the discussion was brought up again last night because we are going to Coldplay this weekend and Chris Martin is (and has been for as long as I have had the list) at the very top of the list. A radio station is giving away tickets (yes, we already have some) and if you win them you are eligible to win a chance to meet the band (hi-o!). Anyway, that brought up the discussion about the list last night.

Here's mine...

1. Chris Martin.













2. Ryan Star. He's technically not supposed to be on the list because I've already met him which to Joel means it is null and void (in other words, you had your chance and lost it, lol). I just keep him on there for looks :P










3. Robert Pattinson. New to the list. Holy hot.












4. Ian Somerhalder.













5. Johnny Knoxville. Joel's a little disgusted by the last choice, but I've always had a thing for funny guys.










Do you see a theme going here? Yes, I like the dark-haired hotties. Yea, my husband has dark hair.

and then there is Joel's list. You'll also see a trend forming there...and not the one you think...

1. Natalie something or other. She golfs. She's blonde. Hmpf.













2. Maria Sharapova. She's a tennis player. She's blonde. Double Hmpf.









3. Evangaline Lilly. Hey look!! A brunette!!! WOOO












4. Kaley Cuoco. Also blonde and also probably an idiot.













5. Scarlett Johannson. Not a natural blonde. Naturally stupid probably though.














Joel says he doesn't like blondes and yet.....odd.....

Alright already sheesh

Okay so I haven't posted in a few days. I've been busy doing nothing.

Actually we had Maddie's birthday party on Saturday. Mom took most of the pictures and posted them on her blog if you want to see them. I only took some of the present opening and I got this video...



As Joel said "Thank God Quinn was there or we would have never gotten to eat cake", LOL

Anyway, this week is a week of fun. We have our first softball game tonight and I'm excited. For the first time ever Joel's actually helping me out with the captain stuff (everyone already thinks he does, but he doesn't, until now). He helped me make a line-up and set up positions. He always tells me this isn't necessary, but this year we have 15 players so it actually IS necessary or there will be chaos ensuing. There will be 3 girls and 2 guys on the bench at all times and if we don't organize it then it will end up being the same 3 girls and 2 guys at all times and that's not really fair.

Dylan keeps saying "I hope you guys win" but it doesn't even matter. We just love to play and have fun and who cares if we win? Okay, well maybe we do. A little. We'll have some pictures because we gave Dylan the job title of "team photographer". I gave mom the job of scorekeeper and stats recorder because I am tired of the pressure. We do not have to keep stats in our league, but we do have to keep score and it's very difficult to do when you are also trying to play the game and since I am the captain it always falls on me to make sure we are keeping score. I usually try to rely on other people to help but in the end that sometimes makes it worse because we sometimes double mark a run or everyone just forgets....so mom gets that job. At least we'll know that the score is accurate. This year I won't have to go into anyone elses dugout and call them a liar. What? I didn't do that. Maybe I did. She deserved it. Liar.

Kicking off the weekend

Yesterday was the 3rd of July, which is a good day because it's in between my birthday and the 4th of July, and if you live here in our good old town of Poulsbo, it's a holiday in itself, lol.

We had movie night (Hotel For Dogs) and then had smores and shot off some fireworks here at the house, which is the Rogers' way of showing the kids a good ole' fashioned 4th of July good time without leaving the house.....and a yearly tradition. The kids have never been old enough to stay up late enough to watch the big firework show downtown and us parents are too annoyed by crowds to deal with it.






There was a minor sparkler incident where Maddie got a little curious about just "how" hot they were. Here's the video (yea, I did)


...and here's a video of my son acting exactly like I did as a kid. If there was a video camera on me I needed to make sure it was off ASAP.



Then at 9:45 we suprised the kids and piled them in the truck and drove up to Home Depot and brought some blankets and sat out in the field and watched the fireworks show. It was Maddie's first time ever seeing real live fireworks like that. She was amazed. They were so happy we did that. I think we have a new tradition ;)


Today we're celebrating part of Maddie's birthday with a BBQ with some family. She still has 2 more birthday celebrations next week on her actual birthday, so we're just starting the weeklong party today. She's been drooling over her cake all day. It's supposed to be in the mid 80s today so we have the pool, slip n slide and sprinkler and trampoline ready to go.

Barfday

Today I turn 30. For the 4th time. It sucks getting old.

Maddie woke me up at 6:30 and dressed in my favorite outfit, but that's where the happiness ends. She's done nothing all day but complain that nobody is wishing HER a happy birthday. Her birthday is in 6 days. I let her stay up late last night and Joel told her that her project for the day was to be good for mom. So far, mission failed.

Her preschool best friend Caitlin is coming over for a playdate today so maybe I'll get some quiet time to just read and relax before work. Maybe not.

Joel's making me a steak dinner tonight so that will be nice. I have a ton of laundry to do. Maybe a $20 bill will show up in the laundry. Now, that would be a happy birthday.

Guilt

Madelyn and Dylan don't want anyone to know about this incident, so forget about it as soon as you read it and never repeat it to them. Ever.

This morning they were both upstairs supposedly getting dressed to run to Wal Mart (okay, so we drove, not ran)

Dylan comes downstairs and his right side of his face looks funny. He said Maddie hit him in the eye. His eye was all puffy. She came down stairs and I was so furious with her and I turned her around and as soon as she saw what Dylan's face looked like she cried and cried and she hugged him and said "I'm so sorry Dylan." It would have been a touching scene had she not just given her brother a shiner.

She cried for about 30 minutes.

Then later today she just burst out crying for no reason and when I asked her what was wrong she said "I am so sorry for hitting Dylan."

So hopefully she learned her lesson. I have to credit Dylan for not hitting back, because I know that is first instinct and all. S

She begged me never to tell anyone ever. Dylan didn't say that but I have a feeling he'd rather me not.

How random!

Last night we went to Red Robin to start the Maddie birthday celebration (yea, I know it's not until next week)

Anyway we sit down at the table and I hear my name and who should be sitting next to us but Maddie's best friend from preschool and her mom. Caitlin moved away to California last summer and they were both devastated. Dawn emailed me before and told me that they were coming up sometime this summer but she never gave me any dates. The girls were so excited. They're coming over Thursday morning to play. It was just a weird random coincidence.

More camping lessons

I thought of some more lessons I should have added...

1. Mosquitoes LOVE me. I have over 15 bites on my body and they're not just little bites, they're BIG bites and they itch. Still. Like hell.
2. A table top lamp does not make a good flashlight in the middle of the night.
3. It is more than likely that Rachel and I camped simultaneously at Elkhorn many times growing up. We could have been best friends our whole lives if either of us were just a little more outgoing.
4. Camping with another family is so much more fun than camping with just your family.
5. We should have packed more games.
6. We could have packed a little less food. (notice I said "could" have, not "should" have).
7. When our girls fear danger for their brothers, they become very worried.
8. Walkie talkies are not always the best mode of communication especially when the only words you hear are "think.....saw.....cougar"
9. Even though we brought the DVD player, they only used it for maybe 10 minutes, which was an awesome thing.
10. There is nothing that feels better than a little water on your face and clean teeth first thing in the morning.

Camping roundup

You know you've been dying to hear all about the Rogers/Snelson campout. If you're on Facebook, you've seen the pictures probably. If not.......well you get to see them now.

Well, we showed up at the campsite and there was just a teensy little problem. It was a little misrepresented on the website. It was a little (a lot) smaller than we had anticipated and it was supposed to be "full sun", which is odd since there was "full shade". No biggie though, we ended up being able to squeeze into that site without a problem. It was cozy, but that's just fine. The boys slept in their own tent and the girls each slept in their parents tent. Originally they had wanted to sleep together, but I thought it best if Maddie slept with us since she's not a good sleeper (I was correct in making this decision, by the way...she proved that later).

We took the kids to the river and they threw in rocks (lots of them). They got a little wet too. We went back and made some S'mores and popcorn and hung out for awhile. The kids didn't get to bed until after 10:00. The grownups not until after midnight. I let Maddie sleep on the air mattress with Joel so that she would sleep better, but it didn't work. She kept falling off and she'd wake up crying and once I even had to walk her all the way to the outhouse in the middle of the night (argh). I got maybe 30-60 minutes of combined sleep all night long. It sucked. Plus I was freezing because the zipper was stuck on the sleeping bag so I couldn't quite get it zipped up all the way. The next night I put her on the ground and she slept all night. Go figure.

The next day we went to the waterfall. I think the grownups were more impressed with the waterfall than the kids. The boys would rather explore and the girls were looking for lady bugs. We took the kids down to the river after that and let them get as wet as they wanted, which they loved.

We had a really good time. The kids were really good and got along great. The boys were pretty much inseparable and the girls only fought towards the end when they were ready to go and were exhausted. I'd love to go back soon. We had a blast. We already have some sites (bigger sites) picked out that interested us.

Thank you Snelsons for a great weekend. All four of us had one of the best weekends we've ever had and I am so grateful we got to spend it with you guys.

We've learned some great lessons:
1. Dont' forget the hamburgers.
2. Brinnon has a liquor store.
3. Rachel needs to remember to charge her camera.
4. Always scout out the campsite, never trust the website.
5. Bring spray for the outhouse, cause it stinks.
6. If you're going to barbeque, bring a spatula.
7. Joel and Rachel are cribbage cheaters.
8. Dennis has a gas problem.
9. Two 11yo boys in a tent alone is a messy, disgusting thing.
10. I can fall flat on my face in a tent and nobody in a 10 foot radius can hear me. Either I'm a graceful faller or they're deaf.
11. Two 11yo boys are like moths to a flame when there is fire around (pun intended) and they can't keep their sticks out of it.

I uploaded all the pics to Facebook. You should be able to see them by clicking this link, even if you're not a facebook user.

Did you see the pigs flying?

I'm going camping today and I'm actually looking forward to it. Yes, hell has frozen over.

We're going with the Snelsons who are some of my favorite people in the world. I got up at the crack of dawn today to get supplies and now it is time to pack. I'm hoping to somehow get some cleaning done today before i go too because as soon as I get home on Sunday I have to work an 8 hour shift (yikes) and there will be a ton of crap to put away so a messy house on top of that will make me sick.

Hopefully I won't forget to bring my camera.

Hopefully the extreme garlic aroma drifting off Joel and Dylan will go away sometime today so we don't choke to death in the tent (they ate garlic fries at the Mariner game yesterday)

Hopefully I won't forget anything.

Hopefully Maddie will sleep good and I won't have to haul her to the bathroom at 2:00 in the morning.

Hopefully it won't rain (it's looking good on that one)