The Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Maddox!!

Enjoying his first take of cake and Connie's almost famous icing!

He really didn't know what to do with it at first. He stuck his fingers in the icing, but then just kind of looked at them like, "What do I do now?" We broke it up into pieces and then he understood, "Oh - this is FOOD!" Then he tore into it. He loved it! He ate most of the 4" cake by himself! That's my boy!!

Please notice Maddox's interest in his dad's face while we are trying to take a family photo...

It is hard to see it in this picture but he smeared icing right under Caisson's nose. Again....that's my boy! ha ha!

Now it is time for presents!Wow! A dump truck! Even better....dump truck WHEELS! He immediately turned it over and started spinning the wheels.

He did pause for a second to see what I just pulled out of the top of the dump truck. Hmmmm....building blocks.....those look cool......

But not as cool as these wheels. Anybody needs me - I will be spinning.

...And spinning.... (this is a big wheel that sings the alphabet and animals when you spin it. Of course he doesn't care what else it does as long as it moves in a circular motion!)

...And Spinning...

...and spinning....even while I am trying to put on his bathing suit.

Oh wait...more spinning.

He does love his chair from Papa and CeCe. I don't know how many times he has traced these letters with his little fingers. Then he stands in front of it and rocks it back and forth. I have tried putting him in it a few times. He really just likes to rock it empty. He has enjoyed his new seat when Elmo is on though.

By the way...the pool party part of the birthday bash didn't go so well. Could be that he didn't like the little pool we got him, or could be that we took him away from spinning the wagon wheels. I am betting on the latter.

It was so funny because most of his presents (from everyone, not just us) were picked out by what they thought would spin the best. I guess his obsession is more than obvious!

We are so lucky to have such great friends and family that really made this day so special for Maddox, but even more so for me and Caisson. We love you all!

Coming up next....
Maddox's 1 year pics with the blocks...or I should say my best attempt at getting the blocks in the picture, his first trip to the beach, and I am still looking for Caisson's birthday pictures. I am afraid those might be gone forever, but I continue to search. Keep checking back!

A Novel in Pictures...

So 2 motherboards, a processor, a new modem and several reboots of the computer later, we are back up and running (until the 3rd motherboard gets here at least). I have lots to catch you up on...so I think I will just do it in pictures....so here goes...

Presley and her new baby brother, Carter Garrett Holmes. He surprised us all and came a little early. He was born April 5th. Presley is such a good big sister. I am so behind on blogging, I am sure you all know about his arrival already, but you can go to my sister's blog to see more pics. He is such a precious little boy and I can't wait to see Maddox and Carter playing together! We are so excited for our new nephew! If only we could cut out a little of the distance.........

Watching Sesame Street together.

Isn't he so cute??? I miss him!! With 2 other kids running around, I really didn't get to spend enough time with this little guy. Can I say again that I really need to live closer?!!!! I love this little girl so much.

Playing cars with PresleyWe LOVE CeCe!!
Bathtime fun with Presley. They both loved it!

P trying to help me get Maddox to eat. He would actually eat it when she gave it to him so I was always thankful for her help!!

Poor Maddox wishing he could play with the big kids. Our homemade wagon worked great.

I really can't believe my sister has TWO kids now. When we are together it is kind of baffling that these are ours. Maddox sure does love his Aunt Kimberly though.
Nana and Pappaw hadn't seen Maddox since he was 3 months old, so they were very surprised at how much he had changed. We had a hard time getting him to be still just for a few pics.

Uncle Shayde is a lot of fun....and he has the biggest tires I have ever seen!Now if only he could figure out how to spin this thing...(for those of you who may not know, my son is OBSESSED with spinning things.)

Pappy sings me funny songs while I dance!

Maddox and his friend Conrad playing ball. (We were supposed to be inside the auditorium for a wedding, but we figured the bride and groom might not appreciate all the commentary these two had to add to what the preacher was saying!)
Our 11 month and 30 year birthday breakfast at Krispy Kreme. The best doughnuts ever. I have heard rumors that we have one here in the Charleston area, but I have yet to find it, possibly because it is in West Ashley which is about 45 minutes away. That gives me 45 minutes to think of how many inches I will add to my thighs once I get there. It is actually quite a good thing, otherwise you know I would be their favorite customer.
Maddox and Maddox meet for the first time. I think they were a little confused!
Garrett (aka Uncle Bud) holding all 3 kids....we were a little nervous, but he pulled it off. They love their Uncle!
Our attempt to get all 3 grandkids with Papa and CeCe. This was the closest we got to everyone looking in the general direction of the camera.



One of our many trips to the park. P loves going down the slide. It was even more fun when I would come down after her and surprise her at the bottom. She is so much fun right now.
Waving "Hi" to Mom before we take the plunge down the BIG slide!

Swingin' together.

I realized once I got home that I never got a picture with Landis, Lacey or Rob. We were only able to see Landis the weekend of the wedding which Sat. was a little crazy and Sunday I started with the ever amazing stomach bug. I am really terrible at remembering to take the pictures in the short time we are there. Then Maddox and I were at Lacey and Rob's house for almost a whole week and never got a picture. They were kind enough to let me be a sloth on their couch while I had the nasty stomach stuff. I may not have been smart enough to get pics, but I do have fond memories of cups and cups of sonic ice......ok, maybe not fond memories, but they took very good care of me and I am so very happy they did not get it (again in Rob's case!) Thanks again Rob and Lacey!


Ok, I also have pics of Caisson's birthday party, and Maddox's 1st birthday, but I can't find the CD that we backed everything up on (including Caisson's party pics) before the computer was torn apart, and I can't for the life of me find the transfer cord for the camera to get Maddox's birthday pics off the camera and onto the computer. Caisson is at the hospital tonight - he has been the leader of this whole computer remodel business, so maybe he can help me find those two things tomorrow. You might be on overload anyway, and the birthdays have a lot of pics that are blog worthy. I also have had a request for some video, so I will reload that software and work on that tomorrow too. Caisson is on call again on Sunday so I have a lot of extra time this weekend.

Check back soon for more!