8 !

Madalyn turned 8 on Saturday. It's hard to believe how time has flown by!  She was my only symptom-free pregnancy and pain-free labor.  No kidding -- the nurses didn't believe I was actually in labor because I was not acting like a typical woman about to give birth.  I was smiling and kidding around while my contractions were 2 minutes apart. That explains why Matt nearly delivered her himself, because no medical personel were in my hospital room when Madalyn Grace crowned and started to make her appearance into the world. She's always been a strong-willed and determined girl who likes to do things on HER schedule!
This year we celebrated her birthday in the evening with her favorite pizza and by watching "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  It was  fun and relaxing  for us as we all squished together on our bed to watch the movie and eat popcorn (though I really should have changed the sheets afterward because I kept feeling popcorn kernals beneath me as I slept that night). Zac wasn't part of it because he was at a concert in which he crowd-surfed for the first time and fainted from dehydration after "moshing" through the sets of 3 bands. (He's fine -- and now has a story to tell all of his friends.)
Sunday evening I made the dinner Madalyn requested: meatloaf.  Seriously, the girl loves my meatloaf. Matt made her birthday cupcakes (rather than cake) and the pictures below depict him explaining the meaning of the decorations to her. He made hearts on some to show that she is much-loved; smiley faces because she makes us laugh; stars because he thinks she's a "rockstar"; and flowers because she's so pretty. (I can hear you thinking, "awww...". I know -- he's such a sweet daddy!)