Musician's Corner

A few weeks ago our band, The Carmonas had the privilege of playing for a great audience in Nashville's Centennial Park for Musician's Corner. Also on the bill that day were The Blind Boys of Alabama, Jeremy Lister and Karen Elson. Needless to say, we felt pretty honored to be in the company of such great musicians.

Last week, Nate was out of town for a bachelor party, so Maddux and I decided to head down to the park to listen to some music.

I have never seen a kid react to music the way that Maddux does. He literally jumps with joy! As a musician, it seriously makes my heart leap.

We put on his little ear protectors and he was ready to rock! Nate found this picture that awesome photographer Jon Karr snapped. Cute!

I also love this one from our show!

You can see more pictures and get more information about upcoming shows at the Musician's Corner Facebook page.

Maddux's 2nd Birthday

This whole "time flies" thing is becoming more and more evident as the days go by. I still think of Maddux as a baby, but if his growing vocabulary and big boy mannerisms are any indication, he is definitely not one anymore!

To help reinforce this fact, we decided to throw him a "real" birthday party this year, as opposed to last year's celebration. He is obsessed with trains, or "choo choo's" so we really had no choice in the matter.

We had the party at a local park (with a real train!). Since it was Labor Day weekend, we got there fairly early to ensure a picnic shelter, strung up balloons and got everything set up. For food, we brought in an old-fashioned hot dog cart (like this one) and let everyone help themselves.  

We kept it a family party, so it was his Nashville cousins, some aunts and uncles and my mom. It was so sweet watching how excited he was, running around with his cousins, popping balloons and spreading icing all over himself (and anyone within his reach)!

1. Cupcake toppers I designed on my computer then printed and cut out. 2. Paper popcorn holders from Michael's. I couldn't find them on their website, but here are some similar ones. 3. I found this cute train conductor hat at the thrift store, but I found these with a little web search. His shirt is from Etsy. 4. I found this life-sized Thomas the Train on Craigslist. You can also buy it new here. Needless to say, it was pretty much the hit of the party. 5. We did a "help yourself" gift bag of Skittles, Fruit snacks and wooden train whistles, bought on Ebay.

Maddux's Day!

About six months ago, I started to plan Maddux's first birthday party. After reading so many amazing mommy blogs over the past year, I was really feeling the pressure to do something amazing. I mean, some of the parties I saw were truly phenomenal. 

First, I needed to decide on the theme. Vintage Circus or Race Cars? Bumble Bees or Sing-Along ? Or maybe this one, but in blue. Well, whatever I decided on, I would need to find a way to incorporate these and these.

But as the date drew closer, I realized that my heart just wasn't in it. It's not that I didn't want to give my son a fabulous party. I just realized that I really wanted to have a small celebration, and save the big party for a year when he would remember it. I think I got a little caught up in the idea of planning some massive party that all my friends would ooh and ahh over that I forgot the main reason for the day was to celebrate Maddux's first year of life, and the amazing little guy that he is turning out to be.

So in the end, Nate and I decided to just have a "Maddux Day." First, Maddux woke up to a room full of balloons. We videotaped his reaction, first quizzical, then giggly, then ridiculously excited as he tried to grab them. Nate had the day off work and we just relaxed together and did all of the things that Maddux likes to do: chew on remote controls, chase Jackson Dog around the living room, giggle hysterically at his daddy and bang his blocks together.

We took him out to eat his first taste of meat and french fries. He got to wear his little birthday crown around all day, and smiled at all the people who said 'Happy Birthday.' Then we came home and he got to eat his cake and listen to his mommy and daddy sing to him. And of course I took way too many pictures.

It was a perfect day, and a perfect way to celebrate Maddux's first year of life. Wow! A year already?! But I do have to say I am looking forward to his first "real" party, with all of his friends and family, and maybe a circus animal or two.