Merry Christmas from the Shumate family!

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Wishing you and yours a wonderful Holiday season and a very Merry Christmas!

First Fair with a Friend

Today we took Maddox to the last Mid-South Fair at the Mid-South Fairgrounds. I worked there years ago and knew I had to take Maddox before it moves away. Maddox's best buddy Jimmy and his parents Kelly and Jim joined us. We all had a big time - especially the boys!
Click on the Smilebox below to see their pics and videos. It's best to click on the first picture to enlarge it, then click the "next" button in the bottom right-hand corner to scroll through them all. They are SO cute!!!

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Doing stuff with Daddy

Maddox and Daddy have done lots of fun things together lately.

Before the season ended, they (and Mom) went to a Redbirds game. While they were there, Maddox had his first chicken strips!

Today, they went for Maddox's first haircut together. Maddox did great ~ and looks even better!!

Moments with Mom

Here are a few moments with Mom....



















Laughing at dinner.... (play video)




















First time to color...




Walking around!!! (play video)

Learning to Love Food

Maddox is still mastering the art of eating big boy foods. His Daddyfixed him a pancake and he finally figured out how good it was.

Maddox the Magnificent

Maddox is STRONG. He doesn't just play with his toys - he moves them all over the house.

Here is a clip of him pushing this musical table around the room. It's not heavy - but to someone his size, it's not exactly light!

First Steps

Believe it or not - Maddox is ready to walk! Here's a clip of him walking with his Daddy.
Life will never be the same!!!

Jamaica

"Mommy" and "Daddy" decided to make the break and take a Maddox-less vacation. That's nothing more than an oxymoron (we can't really "vacation" when we miss him) but it was a nice time with our friends Neil and Alisa and who can regret going to the beach??
Anyway, thought we'd share the pics from the trip.
Enjoy!

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Maddox's First Birthday!

Maddox turned one year old on July 27th.
It's so hard to believe our baby boy is already on the verge of walking and talking.
We've enjoyed the past year more than anything else in our lives and we feel more and more blessed every day that we have him with us.
Here is a slideshow of the party festivities. Hope you enjoy them!

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New swing

We got Maddox a swing for the backyard. Yesterday was his first time on it and he seemed to really enjoy it!

Father's Day Part 2

Clayton's first father's day continued Sunday. He got his gifts in bed - a "World's Coolest Dad" t-shirt and a baseball card book to help Maddox start his collection.

Later Clayton's dad passed on his Grandpa Dale's baseball glove for the special occasion. It was a very special week for Dad!

First Father's Day Pt 1

Clayton's first father's day gift was a trip to Chicago for Maddox's first Cub's game.
Of course it was a wonderful trip. Click on the Smilebox link below to see the pictures - and videos!

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Visiting Shumate Field

We took Maddox to Shumate Field for the first time. Click on the Smilebox link to see the pictures. It was a very special day for all of us.

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Learning to Swim

Maddox is not only crawling (finally up on his knees!) and pulling up, he's also loving being in the water! The first pictures are from our trip to Idaho. The third is him getting his feet wet at Amy's parent's pool. The last is him playing in his baby pool at Clayton's parent's house. He loves them all!

First Vacation

Maddox's first vacation was a trip to Idaho that included Washington, Montana, and British Columbia, Canada.
Click on the Smilebox link to see the pictures. It was a great trip!

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New pictures of Maddox

Maddox has been a busy boy these days! Here are a few pictures, some when he's flashing that handsome smile!

Finally starting to crawl!

Maddox is finally getting the hang of crawling! He actually just pulls with his arms and drags his legs, but he's getting there!

First Mother's Day

Maddox and I celebrated our first Mother's Day together in THE MOST special ways.

We began the day bright and early with breakfast in bed and fun gifts from Maddox (with Daddy's help of course.) I got an awesome "World's Best Mom" T-shirt, a precious mommy and baby necklace, and a special gift Maddox made me at daycare. He painted his hand prints around a precious poem about hand prints and framed it. (With the help of the daycare ladies of course.)

It was a PERFECT morning.

Then, we were joined at church with lots of family and friends for Maddox's baby dedication. It was a very special time for us and that made for an extra-special day. Everyone enjoyed lunch at our house and most importantly - time with Maddox!

First Fair

Maddox made his first trip to a fair last night when we went to Esperanza Bonanza - an annual Marion event. He was amazed at all the lights, sounds, and of course - all the people.

He won his first prize for grabbing a rubber ducky - something he practices at home in the tub!

Fun times!

Maddox went out to dinner today and got a little bored. He decided exercising was more fun so he worked out by pumping this chair then picking it up. A big feat for such a little guy! We were so amazed when he picked up the chair the first time we had to video him doing it again. He's one tough little dude!!!!

Then he came home and spend some time floating in the tub - practicing for his summer swims!

9 Months Old

It's so hard to believe Maddox is already 9 months old.

I thought I'd do a "then" and "now" comparison to show how much he's grown.

- I had no idea how hard it would be to hold back the tears!

Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

1 month old......................9 months old

Maddox's namesake under water

Maddox is named after Maddox Bay, a place dear to the Burke family where we have a cabin and a little guest cabin we call "The Coupe".

Unfortunately "the Bay", as we call it, has been hit hard with the recent floods.

I thought I'd share the status since many of you are familiar with it and it's a place that'll be dear to Maddox someday soon, too.



Oh, and the Scout you see pictured (that my parents have had since around '75) was what Clayton planned to be Maddox's first car. We can only hope it survives the flood, and the next 15 years! haha

First Foods!

Maddox has been putting toys and everything else he can get in his mouth for awhile now, but it took awhile to master the art of actually putting FOOD there!

Last night he finally figured it out so we thought we'd share in the excitement.

Click on the arrow at the bottom of the picture to play the video.

Enjoy!!!

A Few Firsts

Maddox has recently had a few new "firsts"....










He visited with his friend Jack for the first time.
Jack and Maddox were born just days apart and they had lots of fun getting to know each other on their first play date!









Maddox has started sitting up more on his own so he has been practicing making shots on his "Tiger Toss" basketball game.










And today he helped Daddy mow the lawn for the first time.

Big events for a Big Boy!

Eight Months Old!

Maddox really enjoyed his first Easter with all of his family. Below you'll see him checking out what the Easter Bunny brought him, some after-church shots (no, he doesn't ride in the seat like that - he was just getting gifts :-) and pics on the golf course after lunch.
Enjoy!