Get Down!!!!

Madison dancing with her Auntie Em:-)

Isn't she so cute!

Abby loves the glass windows.

Baking with Grandma

Madison made brownies with Grandma and she even cracked her first egg!!!! Thanks grandma for letting her do EvEryThInG!


This was the cute little girl we had over for dinner last night. We knew her parents from Louisiana.

Precious Moments

Tonight I took extra time and sang Madison some songs (lots of songs) and as I was going to leave she asked me if she could take a turn. She then said, "What song do you want?" I made a request and she sang me her version of the song. It was so cute! She then would ask, "Do you want me to sing...um...scotlands burning?" She sang all the songs back that I sang to her and then gave me the kiss goodnight. I'm so glad I took a little extra time to have that moment with Madison.

Madison's reply when we tell her to look at a book by herself is, "I can't talk to it." To her that makes complete sense and a perfect argument for her case why WE should read the book to HER.

While watching Brian shave she said, "when I get bigger I will shave too." Brian spent a few minutes trying to explain to her that girls don't have to shave their faces. Madison insisted that she will shave when she gets bigger. Brian gave up after a few futile attempts and explaining himself to Madison.

night time confessions!

I woke up to Madison crying around...who knows, I have stopped looking at the clock every time I am woken up from a deep sleep:-) I go and stand by her door to see if she will fall asleep on her own and I hear, "I want my special Book of Mormon." (This would mean our Book of Mormon we read from at the breakfast table. We call it the special one since it's a nice one, this way she treats it very carefully). She calls for this many times.

Book of Mormon trumps pacifier; should be a headline:-)

So, I go into her and assure her I will get her 'special Book or Mormon' and then go downstairs to get it. When I return, Madison is fast asleep breathing her even, I'm asleep, breathing. So I put it on her dresser, close the door, and fall on my bed grateful for that special moment.

Sweet Dreams...

Madison was all about taking pictures this morning. She is always putting her arm around Abby. I wanted to take pictures this morning because Abby is in a pair of pajamas that I wore as a baby. I think I still have the picture I took of Madison in them and there is a picture of me in them when I was little. I will have to find the other two and post them all together.

I just love Abby's dimple! It just makes me smile.

The top picture is good of Abby and this one is classic of Madison. They have so much fun together. Today I put Abby down for a nap in the office and as I was trying to get Madison out so Abby could take a nap, Madison insisted on singing her a song (ABC's) and then said, "I love you Abby. Have a good nap" turned around and shut the door. It was exactly what we do to Madison to put her down for bed. It was so cute.

Abby and Madison

This is Abby at 7 mo.

This is Madison at 8 months. So many say they look exactly alike. I guess we have cookie cutter kids. It will be fun to see Abby as she gets older.

sHOtS!

Madison has her 2 1/2 month check-up soon and we are trying to prepare her for the shots she will receive. She has become obsessed about shots now. She gives her babies shots, her dolly shots, Abby shots, and pretends to take me to the doctors to get a shot (I am told to hold her hand in the parking lot, told to lay down on the recliner chair, and then she pokes me with her fingernail for the shot, and then gets a candy for me.) We repeat this over and over until I had over three shots in various parts of my body. When I wouldn't participate anymore, it was her dolly's turn:-)

I just love this pretend phase. She asked for her baby while in the bathtub so she could baptize it. She said, "she is eight years old!" She also pretends to drive a car on the end of the bed (using the head board as the front of the car).

Other things Madison loves is to go to the store. If we don't have something, Madison is quick to say, "we go to the store and buy it tomorrow." And last night while shopping Madison would beg to go to another store when we would get in the car from a store. We went to a pizza joint, radio station, second-hand store, Wal-mart, salvation army, and then to the pet store (our local zoo). Madison was still begging to go to more stores after this. She even pretends to look at things and their ingredients. She will pick something up, look at it, and comment, and then put it back. It's so fun! She is my daughter for sure!

I can't imagine life getting any better than this. I just love my two little angels. They bring me so much joy. All Madison has to do it say "I love you mommy" and I am putty in her hands. I wouldn't trade my experience as a mother for anything!

Mommy School!

Madison is in love with Mommy School as she calls it. Does anyone have any good places to get pre-preschool type worksheets, puzzles, anything for a 2 1/2 year old. Open to any ideas! We want to work on shapes, letters, and numbers. Thanks for the input!

Going Private!!!

We have decided after reading our friends blog to go private. We love keeping people in touch and love to post, so this way we are safe and still get to let family and friends know how we are doing. Just leave your e-mail address on the comments section and since I read them first, I won't publish it so your information will not be there for others to read. Thanks for being understanding!

Past Halloween's

Madison 2007

Madison and Abby 2008

Madison 2006 first Halloween (6 mo. old)

Madison 2007 (She was a dog for the photoshoot and then we realized it was too small, so we borrowed the 'kitty'/lion costume you see at the top. Madison loved kitty's, so we told her she was a kitty, not a lion.)

"I don't feel"

So, now that Madison won't nap, I am trying to teach her quiet time where she reads books or plays quietly in her room...QUIETLY is the key word here. It's not working...I hear Mommy, Mommy, I want to get out, I need help, I coming, Wake up Abby. It's this last one I want to address. Madison loves her sister so much that if Abby is napping and Madison is not, she wants Abby to be awake with her. She loves to play with her. So, during 'Quiet time' (oxymoron right now) Madison was upstairs screaming for Abby to wake up. I put Abby downstairs hoping that would be far enough out of Madison's lung reach, but NO. Abby was awake screaming by the end of the 30 minutes of screaming. I was upset with Madison and tried to explain, "Madison, what if I came in here screaming when you were trying to sleep? How would you feel?" To this she replied, "I don't feel." I was silenced by a two and a half year old. What could I say to that?

"Oh, how I miss the Binky"

I couldn't bring myself to tell Madison that a binky fairy was coming to take her binky and leave her a present under her pillow. I just can't imagine it working. So, what do I do? I just take it away one night after preparing her all day that we were going to take it. I tried to explain to her, "it's ruining your teeth, so we need to take it away so your teeth will get fixed." (it's ruining her bite and her teeth are sticking out a bit). To this she replied, "The dentist fix my teeth." She is one smart cookie. So, we have had hard nights of screaming for an hour or so, no naps, crying to fall asleep, waking up at 5:30 in the morning and thinking it's time to get up, and plain crankiness. She only had it at bedtime and nap time, but it's been a hard adjustment not to have it to calm her down. We used to call it her drug. The second you put it in her mouth she would calm down, roll over, and go to sleep. That was it, no crying, no screaming, naps just like that, and life was good. I miss that binky more than she does I'm sure, but I am pressing forward and hoping that she will go back to taking naps, falling asleep easily, and sleeping through the night. Hopefully this is fixed before we go to Utah or else our family better have earplugs on hand:-) God blessed her with a good set of lungs not even walls, doors, pillows over head, good earplugs, or deep sleep can silence! I thought Madison was going to miss the binky, but I find that I am the one missing it the most. The peace and joy it brought is now gone!!!!!

Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat!

These two are my favorite pictures!

Curious George being curious:-) During the middle of our shoot Madison went to the mailboxes and pulled out some junk mail. She had to go and show it to daddy. I then snuck a picture.




A kiss for the man in the yellow hat.