A teenager in the house!

Wow! Madison has always seemed older to me. Maybe it's because she's becoming a little more mature every year or maybe it's because she's the oldest and I expect more from her regarding help with the younger ones and other things around the house. On any note, she is officially a teenager!

I still remember being in labor with her all day at home and our yellow lab, Molly, was laying at my side on the couch the whole time. It's like she knew I was not feeling well that day and she was taking care of me. We arrived at the hospital after 10 in the evening and after enduring the pain and Madison's stubbornness (she just didn't want to come out), we finally found out at 5:50 a.m. that we had a baby girl!

The only thing Madison wanted for her birthday this year was to go to the Jennie Finch Softball Camp and so that's what we did for her. In fact, we booked it as soon as registration went live late February/early March. This was back when we thought we'd only have to drive two hours for the camp. Little did we know that we'd be moving to the state of Washington and that we would end up having to fly her there.

That is one big smile!

All I can say that it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we didn't cancel it! It was a packed fill weekend, but Madison and I were able to spend it together and use it as a little bit of bonding time. And she was able to meet a softball player that deserves a lot of respect for her abilities and how she carries herself outside the sport in everyday life.

Story time with Jennie!

Jennie had some great words for the girls that passed through this camp. Lots of great advice for on and off the field. This was one of my favorite parts of the camp and I hope Madison was able to take some key points away from listening to Jennie.

The morning of her birthday the younger three and I had plans to put a candy/pop birthday cake together for her. It worked out well since she likes to sleep in and we had plenty of time to complete it. No making fun of the bow - bows are not my strong suit :(

Not perfect, but it's the content.

Mason & Summer made cards for Madison :)

Madison's birthday dinner choice was Buffalo Wild Wings. All of our kids seem to be addicted to that place lately. Because it was her birthday, they gave her a choice of a free dessert or a bottle of their BBQ sauce. She chose. . . . . the BBQ sauce!

We did a rush job of making the cake so nothing fancy, but still delicious. Madison's choice was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Yummy!

We love you so much Madison and are excited to watch you keep growing more into who you'll become every day. No matter what, you will always be our little girl in our hearts!