Well that was a long break...

You know what they say, "Time flies when you are having fun." My comment to that is "Or if you are a single parent of a crazy 4 year old princess!" I don't even know where the time has gone, but I want to try and keep up this time. No excuses! Guess I better start with a new picture of Maddie:

My baby girl is no longer a baby...I feel older just typing that! One more year and then comes Kindergarten and then time really flies! Well that is it for now. Be back real soon!

My BIG girl!

My baby girl is no more! She is a big girl now who is becoming more and more independent as the days go by. She wants to brush her own teeth, wash her own hands and climb in/out of the car by herself. Don't get me wrong she still needs her daddy, but as the days pass by she will become even more independent! I am not ready for this just yet. I was watching a television show just today and they showed new parents with their newborn child. I miss those days so much. I miss her just laying in my arms and looking into my eyes. I miss knowing that she needs me to do everything for her. I miss those times when she got the hiccups and I was the only one who she wanted. It seems like I blinked my eyes and she is now over 2 and getting older and older as the seconds tick. But this is life and she will be in Kindergarten before I know it. And I will just be "dad" instead of "Daddy!". But it is ok. Because I know she will always be a Daddy's girl.

I also know she will be a Uncle Victor's girl as well! She adores my brother and when he walks into the room, her eyes light up and she just screams, " Uncle Vider". She can't seem to make out Victor so it is either "Vider" or as he is afraid it will be "Big Bird". (One of his friends' children called him that by the way! Lol!) So her Uncle Victor is one of the only ones who she will sit and take a picture for. He will tell her to take out her passy and smile. She does as he says and takes the best pics. The following is a few examples of his work:




This is right outside our house. My brother loved the background. If you can tell she has her passy in her left hand!



You can't see him, but her PopPop was making funny sounds to make her laugh so her eyes were focused on him instead of the camera.

My niece and nephew with Maddie.

We had to do a funny picture! She absolutely adores them!

Maddie's new shoes!

So we are going into late spring and summer time now so that means one thing...NEW SHOES!!! Unlike most guys I have always been a fan of shoes. Whether it be Nike Shox or New Balance, I always have loved shoes so it is no surprise that Maddie is developing her love for shoes now. Last summer my mom bought her some shoes similiar to Converse with velcro straps and she has absolutely LOVED them! So naturally I started looking at the actual Converse shoes to see if there were any of them out there that were cute and would match outfits she had. Enter the best kids's shoe store I have found thus far...Journey's Kidz! They have all kind of Converse including several that I liked for her. The ones that I loved the most were a brown and pink plaid shoe, but of course they didn't have her size. Go figure huh. Can't order them from the store or online so we had to go to the next choice. The second pair I liked were some that were light gray/white. The special thing about them is that they had little wiener dogs on them! They were so cute and now they are sitting in her closet as I type this. The second ones that we bought her were simple brown ones that can go with all her pink, brown, green, etc...clothes. She was so happy last Sunday when she got them. I tried them on her that night and she thought she was hot stuff in them. She actually wore them for the first time last Monday to the doctor's office. Although she might not care for the doctor, she was not shy to show off her Chuck Taylors to him! Needless to say...he was impressed! It is so funny. I have now stumbled across Journey's Kidz website so who knows how much I will spend on more shoes for her. Stay tuned to see what new ones we might add to her collection.

These are the ones I couldn't find her size in...they are so adorable!

These are the ones that I bought her last Sunday. They are so cute and even better on! They are called Fancy Dogs!

These are the last pair we got her. They are plain but so cute when you dress them up with her new shorts and t-shirt outfits. Can't wait to see her strut her stuff in them!

For Mother's Day...

I just want to say Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. You are definitely blessed by God and a blessing to the children you have. Speaking for the fathers out there, we have nothing on you! You put up with so much and get little credit. So here is a big THANK YOU! I hope you all have a blessed Mother's Day and just know that your job is not unimportant. You are a driving force in this world today. I want to also thank my mom for being such an influence in my life and the reason why I can be a crazy dad for Maddie.

On a side note, I officially joined the overprotective daddy's club this past week. Maddie had a rash up her back and on her stomach. A kid from her class had ringworm and one of the spots was ring-shaped. I just knew she had ringworm and I took her to the doctor ASAP. Turns out it was a non-contagious rash that is just her body reacting to itself. It doesn't itch, hurt or anything. Just looks bad. I had spent $20 to find out there was nothing for it, but it was WELL worth it. I would have rather found that out then have something be terribly wrong. Anyways it is a club I will be very active in for sure! More pictures to come I promise!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

To all the mothers out there...

As Maddie is getting older, I realize more and more how important mothers are to their children's lives. I want to tell all the mothers that I know how important you really are to your children. Playing Mr. Mom is not easy especially with a little girl. There is something about when you don't feel good or you hurt yourself or you just plain don't know what you want that you always want your mom. If it wasn't for my mother I don't know what I would do. She has been such a good influence on Maddie and she is Maddie's crying shoulder when Daddy just won't do. Tonight was just such a night except for one thing...Mamaw was not around! My mom and dad had gone to church and I stayed home because Maddie was still taking her (much needed) afternoon nap. So when I went in to check on her and she stirred I picked her up and asked if she was ready for a bath. That must not have been the question she was waiting for because the moments after that probably shaded parts of my hair gray! Lol! After giving her a bath in which you would have thought I was killing her and trying to dry her hair, I managed to get her downstairs to try and eat dinner. No such luck for a little while as she didn't want me to let her go. She had been asking for Mamaw and PopPop but they were not around so Daddy was going to have to do. But I enjoyed the time as she just reclined in my lap and watched the Braves game with her Daddy. Finally hunger must have hit and we ate spaghetti together. She was finally past the grumpiness and we had a blast the rest of the night. Because she had been a good girl all weekend I bought her a new purse and sunglasses at Toys R Us today...well I had to buy her sunglasses because someone stepped on them and broke them...try explaining that to a 2 year old! So after filling her belly, she was finally happy and we played movie star with her glasses and purse. So to all the mothers out there....a big thank you from one Mr. Mom!



Here are some pictures to mark the event:

Oh how sweet it is to be loved by you!

I am amazed by how GOOD it feels to be loved! And for once I am not talking about the kind of love between a man and a woman, but the love of a child! I will be honest I have been a little lonely and missing that companionship, but when my I got this video sent to my phone on Monday I was filled with so much love that I didn't need anybody else! I was having to close at the store so my niece made this for me and sent it to me. Man am I glad she did. So here is an introduction for most of you to my precious little girl...Maddie!

Too ammend...

Ok so I feel like I might be misunderstood in my last post. First off I LOVE my daughter to the fullest.I don't ever want anyone to think that I am tired of her or worse. She is a handful of pure energy but she is so worth it. I couldn't imagine my life without her. She is my miracle and the only strength I have to keep my going besides my faith in God. Her smile and kisses make up for hundreds of days of her fits. So in retrospect I don't want to sound down about her. Just this temper and attitude she can display is what gets me. Hope that makes sense!

Terrible Twos!

Sorry it has been a while. I am now the "proud" father of a two year old! Oy vey. I kid about being proud. I am always proud of her just not when she acts like her mother. For those that know me you will understand that. For those that don't it is not a good thing. But she will grow out of this phase I know but hopefully I will still keep some of my black hair intact. Not ready just yet to go gray! She is a mess but I still love her to death. As for now I will leave you and go see what she is lying on her back crying about! Sheesh!

Amazing Love!!!

It amazes me how love can grow and grow. When Maddie was born, my whole world changed for the good. I instantly loved her and was amazed how God created her so perfect. It was a new love and better than any feeling or emotion I had ever had before. As the days went by, I loved her more and more. When she smiled, when she just gazed into my eyes, when she was asleep on my chest. It was all just amazing and each experience better than the last. As she grew into a toddler, things just kept getting better and better. She started crawling and pulling herself up and before I knew it she was taking steps by herself and was having a blast becoming Miss Independent. Then came what I thought was the best time ever. She started to put sounds together and before I knew it she was saying Da Da. My heart melted and I just wanted to hug her forever I think. Now she is becoming a little girl and and my heart just continues to swell with love and I was so proud to call her my baby girl...my daughter! She is starting to want to do things on her own like feed herself and put her socks and clothes on like her pjs. But the thing that I look forward to is coming home and her seeing my and hearing her say "daddy!" so excited. He short little legs are just working so hard as she runs to give me a hug. Having those arms wrap around my neck and her sugars make the worst day worth it. God works in mysterious ways and I don't know why he blessed a wretch like me with such amazing grace. He picked me to raise this perfect little joy and make sure she is taught right from wrong. I don't deserve such a wonderful joy, but God knows what he is doing and I will trust him. I know I am not the best dad in the whole world, but I do know that I love my daughter with all my heart and will raise her to be a strong woman who will conquer the world. She is my baby, my daughter but most of all...she is my Love.

and these are NOT few of her favorite things...

Well now that I did a post on her favorite things how about the things that she dislikes or is absolutely terrified of!

She absolutely hates anything sweet like chocolate, cake, ice cream, etc...
we even tried to give her mini muffins for breakfast...no go!

She is absolutely TERRIFIED of vacuums! She can just see a vacuum and she will either freeze in petrified horror or she will run screaming to her mamaw, pop pop or me. It is sad but so funny at the same time. I don't get it but we try to keep her away from them.

I don't know who this guy is, but I am using it for example...ha! She is not a fan of men. She actually shies away from them and tries to climb off of me so she can get away from them. She of course is a daddy's girl and she loves her pop pop and her uncle Victor, but other men...she is not havin' it! If she is maybe ok with you she will give you high five or knuckles! So cute!

Once again I don't know who these kids are, but need it for example sake...she hate fighting, wrestling, arguing or violence period. If my nephew and I are play fighting, she will get scared and run to give us a hug and try to calm everything down. Even at daycare now if kids are crying or fighting she goes over and gives them hugs. How sweet is that!

This is kind of a love/hate relationship. She loves seeing doggies and everytime she sees a picture of one or sees one out the window, she automatically screams "woof"! But if they get near her she goes a running! She is so timid and shy it is too cute! I could just eat her up.

This is actually one of her favorite things I left off of the list yesterday. She loves this book like none other. She sees cows now and it is "moo moo"! It is a pop up book and pull out tabs so if you have little ones you should try to find it!

And these are a few of her favorite things...

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad

I know what you are thinking. What in the world am I putting a Sound of Music song on a post? I have been asked by a few people to do a post on Maddie's favorite things so I thought why not use this song! Anyway here is a few of them:

She loves bananas! Her Pop pop has gotten her hooked on them.

Yes she is one of them that is fascinated by Spongebob...plus her daddy will watch them with her too!

She is such a blankie girl! She is absolutely crazy for ALL of them! Hello kitty blanket, Princess blanket, butterfly blanket...I could keep going! She has learned to say mine so every blanket we come into contact with is "mine"!

This would be her breakfast of choice for daycare every day! Her newton minis and her apple juice. I love the juice because it has 40% less sugar than regular apple juice plus flouride water in it which is awesome for them. She loves drinking out of her juice boxes!

Well this is a few of Maddie's favorite things! Hope you enjoy learning some more about one of the sweetest little girls ever!

After careful consideration...

So after thinking and listening to various sources over the past couple of weeks, I have decided to write a follow up to my last post. That post was written in haste and with a lot of passion and heat behind it. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to write, but I will stand by what I said and not back down. With that said I feel I must add what I am about to say. My pastor stood up for his values the Sunday after the election and I was so happy to hear it being preached. A lot of it was hard to hear, but it is biblically sound. As a Christian we are called to pray for and submit to authority. That is what we are called to do and that is what we have been told through God's word. Now we are not called to submit to man, but to the authority of the government. As the bible put it we are to submit to our king. Literally that was talking about a true king of the day or in our day now, our president. Now before you bite my head off in no way am I calling Obama king. I am taking the literal translation of the bible. It was hard to think of and to swallow, but it is true. And if we look at it the bible was talking about the emperor of the time period. A man known to the world as Nero...yep one of the most cruelest and violent leaders ever to rule. Yet God spoke through the bible to tell the Jews to even submit to this man...the man who more than likely burned part of Rome and blamed it on the Jews. They were still to submit to his authority. Unbelievable, but true. So I personally have to realize that though I agree with nothing he believes in, it is my duty as a Christian to pray for him and his decision making. Pray that he turn to God for his decisions and for God to bless our nation and our government. The one warning given to us is to only submit to his authority as long as it means not destroying the authority of God. Once it crosses the line of being blasphemous or corrupt to the holy word of God then we must oppose it. Anyway I just wanted to share this with the few out there who have commented to my last post. So to all who read this...Pray for our government and our president because they need it and we need it as a nation.

I hope this country is still in one piece after Obama is done with it...

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I hope this country is still intact after this election. I don't care if he is charismatic or speaks a good game, he is not for this country! My daughter is the most precious thing to me ever! Yet in Obama's world her life is not important. If her mother had decided to abort her, he would be ok with that. Even if she was 7 or 8 months pregnant! What the crap? How can anyone with morals and values even think that was ok? I am sorry if I offend anyone out there, but I am not going to stand by and let my feelings or values be ignored or unknown. My family means the most to me. We believe in the bible and what the bible preaches. Abortion is a sin and it is murder. Get over it, but it is. Everyone be honest with me. If you don't agree then fine, but let me know why. I am praying for this country because I want my daughter to have a place where she can grow up free and where her values are the same as the country around her. I have been proud of my country many times, but I am not proud of it tonight. Race became the reason to vote and that is wrong. I don't care if you are black, white, blue or yellow. I care about my values and that is how I vote. Anyway I am going to quit ranting now. God bless America...we need it!

Pics continued...

I haven't forgotten!

Just letting you know that I have not forgotten about my blog. I have recently moved and I don't have a computer right now. I am having to borrow my brother's right now just to do this post. I will be back very soon. But in the meantime here are some pics from moving day!

My crazy little girl!

What a little nut I have on my hands! But I cherish her everyday of my life. I just took two days of vacation and had to take her for shots. That was not a fun experience, but at least I had two days of just Maddie and daddy time. I ate it up and she was such a good girl. She ran a little fever and just curled up in my arms and wanted to be loved. I just melted. She could have asked for the moon right then and I would have got it for her. This first picture is one that sticks in my head because it is her to a T!

Senior memories 2.0

Ok well I think so far the last post went over really well. Thanks for all the comments thus far! But Rel really got me thinking of more things I forgot so here is my addendum to the previous post:

Pimp bracelets (Thanks for reminding me Rel!). Man did we think we were hot stuff wearing those things. Passing them around and giving them to people. I know that Rel and Jenn wore some of mine! Yeah! Lol!

Who remembers this! Mozzarellas! Not the American Cafe...but Mozzarellas! We spent quite a few nights there. Or how about working at the school during the summer and going for lunch at Kanpai! Man that was good. Who remembers Mr. Jarrett's oh so glorious class? Thanks to Melissa sitting in from of me, I got such good sleep in that class. Watching one of the best cartoons ever with the girls on our fridays off...SMURFS!!! Being in the best pyschology class with Jenn, Danielle and even Melissa P. How about being the last class to have late arrival or early dismissal? Having control over parking and making sure our crew got the good spaces! There was watching Lilo and Stitch with Melissa, Jen and Dusty. That's right we saw it at the movie theater! Having so much fun at lunch time...buttery rolls, awesome tea, the best hot pockets and those french fries! There was the yellow shirt, an unusual side of Melissa on the internet (can you remember that one!) and long talks on AIM with Allyson over girl troubles! Taking the bold move which was encouraged by friends to ask Rel to the prom and then being shot down! Still love ya Rel! Missing the opportunity to go with Jenn which would have made Junior Prom more fun.

For Tommy and the boys there was ONION and having crushes on a lot of the girls who we could never even talk to! Speaking of onion she never knew did she guys? Remember me showing what to do with an onion! Ishon and Tommy know what I am talking about! There was tackle basketball in my driveway with the guys, Tommy and I just driving to drive and listening to Tim McGraw and Blessid Union! Having Jenn and Mel up to Tommy's house and watching the big football game while I struck out with Tabitha...I got alot of crap from you two about it but I laugh at it now. Driving to Ringgold on the backroad in my brother's miata with Jenn singing "heartbreaker"! Walking in late to American Studies with Tommy and getting that curious look like...wow are they a couple! Dang it I hated those looks but at least the girls knew we weren't...right? Lol! Having deep convos with Mel or Rel or Jenn or Lauren or Allyson or Meago or etc etc etc! School shopping with Melissa at Office Max, being so happy when she dumped Matt for such a good guy...that would be you Dusty. Tommy and I being the only sober people in the room but laughing cause it was so funny. Mad Gab with drunk Dusty and Melissa was hillarious. Playing Trivial Pursuit in the dark and Mel and I were the only ones that cared about it. Having fun at New Years at Dusty's when Tommy and Jenn weren't together but still matched like a couple! Stopping by Winn Dixie to bug Melissa while she was working. Same to Jenn at Old Navy.

Well I think I am all done but you never know...

Senior memories...Remember when?

So I lost my senior yearbook when I moved back home. Don't know what in the world happened to it. Ms. Pitts from OHS was kind enough to not charge me and gave me one to have. For Meagan and Lauren...Ms. Pitts was who we knew as Mrs. Stone. Don't know what happened and I didn't ask. Anyways I was super excited and instantly looked at our pictures from yearbook and our senior year. Then I flipped over to our Senior Prophecies, Quotes and Memories. Boy the things I had forgotten about:

Krispy Kreme nights - I remember a certain few of my close friends riding in the back of my truck as we drove through the drive thru to get doughnuts. Oh the looks we got!

Leadership Camp 99' - The car ride up to Columbia, TN with Tommy, Rel and Jenn. We started off great and had a good lunch at the mall in Nashville. No matter what anyone says we even came up with the idea of our senior shirts! Superman equals Seniors - "Don't mess with the S!" It was our idea and Rel, Jenn and Tommy know it too! Anyways somehow we went the wrong way and our trip which was supposed to be 5 hours ended up being 8 hours! Oh how fun...although we did jam out to Summer Girls the whole way. Thats right we rocked the LFO!

American Studies - Do I really need to go into this? And yes Rel we will always think you were there with us! Didn't we sneak you along? Thought you were in some pics with us? Lol! I know you have heard it all the time, but you WERE there...in spirit at least! Mrs. Ireland and Coach Akins...some of the teachers who touched our lives when we really didn't know it. I miss being able to talk to them and hear them bicker like a married couple or have Mrs. Ireland stare in awe at...oh who was it...can't remember but whoever it was that was asleep and drooling! Good times...small town projects and the history of Chattanooga! Also something about the confederate cemetery? Allyson help me out with this one! I loved every minute in that class.

New York trip - Horrible Sardi's food, the best pizza ever, chunky bbq sauce and me wearing Jenn's purse in Baltimore where we did have to stop and take a picture on Gay Street! Fudruckers...or was it Fudpuckers? Either way it was one of the coolest places to eat. Amish country which was so-so and foakleys and folexes! Having our room rolled and not even knowing it. Sneaking into Mel and Jenn's room with Mrs. Ireland and Mrs. Ratledge next door! Didn't they come to the door? I remember hiding behind it...maybe I dreamed that. Pictures on the streets of New York with Jenn and Tommy's sunglasses! Also being a trooper and walking 20 something blocks back to the hotel with Mrs. Ireland and the girls! Also the best bus rides we will ever have.

There is PB and OJ, spitting off of bridges, blue underwear, pantyhose shopping and just being "one of the girls guy"! Late night pizza and Barnes and Noble nights. Meagan's parties and watching the cheesiest horror movie over and over...CANDYMAN! I remember picking up my gym clothes and having a nut fall out...Jenn never let me live that down. Watching American Pie at Jenn's and Tommy and I having a stuffed animal wrestling contest with Jenn's teddy bears! Our sayings like "kiss me" or "mine does tricks!" Things I don't remember like the mermaid or jacuzzi doozie! What are those? Don't remember. Anyone remember P.P.H? Had it written down but can't remember. Finally the Irish-Japanese tag team as Tommy and I were dubbed by Mrs. Ireland. Being their for all our Ooltewah girls when they needed us the most was the most important! Sorry I let you girls down...

These are just some that came to mind. If you can remember more let me know. I love to catch up. Hope I get tons of comments...good or bad. Love you all.

Oh how she learns new things everyday...

It amazes me how quickly she takes to doing things just like I do. She loves to stand in the bathroom with me and brush her teeth while I brush mine. She loves her toothbrush and has even learned to fake spit. The downside is it is on the ground since she can't reach the sink, but we will work on that. It is so amazing to watch her grow up. I cannot believe she will be 2 in just a few months. She is still my baby, but she will be a big girl before I know it. What am I saying...she already is! Oh how time flies when you are loving someone with all your heart.

Football season is so close...

I am so pumped that football season is about to begin. College football for that matter. Yes I know that this a blog about my daughter and I, but believe me...she will be a football fan through and through! I think my friends like Rel, Lauren and Meagan can attest that there is nothing wrong with girls loving football! As you can see from below I am a HUGE USC fan. Weird I know since I live in Tennessee, but then again I always hated the whole "you live in Tennessee so you have to root for them!" philosophy. Believe me I don't have to root for them and I don't. Well not normally, but since they are playing UCLA to begin the season...Go Vols (for one time only)! It is hard to find USC stuff around here, but that is what the good old internet is for! When she gets a little older, I cannot wait for Maddie to sport her USC t-shirt along side her daddy. That will be a moment to cherish forever. Her Uncle Victor and cousin Koleton will be proud of her as well. For now she can just look at me when I cheer and laugh at her crazy daddy. But truthfully she loves to copy everything we do so maybe she will cheer right along. Better make sure I watch what I do when they mess up! Lol! Anyways let me know what you think about football and daddy's lil' girl. Am I right or wrong?