A Little Christmas Here and There

Well the other night we attempted to make a gingerbread house with Madelyn. Let's just say it didn't go as planned. Two hours later it was only a house standing with no candy on it and it's still sitting undecorated on the kitchen counter. We had good intentions of involving Madelyn, however as seen in the photo, we just ended up giving her some leftover Halloween candy and a blob of frosting on a piece of cardboard to make her think she was really helping decorate the gingerbread house. I don't think she cared as long as she got to eat some candy.

Friday night we went to our ward Christmas party and Madelyn wanted to sit on Santa's lap. The whole time in line she was hugging my leg and acting nervous. Once we got up there, she sat down on his lap mesmerized that she was looking at Santa in the face. Then said in a really serious tone, "I want a bell" before he even said anything to her. Let's just say she's been watching Polar Express everyday for the last two weeks. It was pretty funny.

Happy Anniversary!

It's our 6th wedding anniversary today, and I just wanted to let Ty know how much I love and appreciate having him in my life. Thanks for all the laughs, tears, heartaches, and joys. I love you! Here's to many more amazing years together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We started off the Thanksgiving holiday by making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for our neighbors and delivering them. Then we headed up to Park City with my family and stayed in a house up there through Friday. We watched a lot of movies, sat in the hot tub, and ate a lot of good food. We hung out and relaxed a lot, it was a lot of fun. Thanks mom and dad! On Thanksgiving night, after we put the kids to bed, my mom and sisters and I went to the Park City outlets for the midnight madness sales. I scored 4 pairs of winter Gymboree jammies for the girls for just over $20. Then I went back to bed for 2 hours and got up to go to WalMart at 5 am with my sister. We got some more good deals there on toys and a big selection of $2 DVDs. I love all these crazy sales, and even more I love watching people go crazy over them. 'Tis the season! Last night we put up the Christmas tree and decorations. Madelyn had such a good time helping decorate the tree. It's hard to believe that we will be heading to Canada for Christmas in just 2 1/2 weeks. You have to love every minute of this time of year, because before you know it, it's here, and then gone again. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Madelyn's Drawing

A few days ago, Madelyn was drawing on some paper. She said, "Mom, look it's Alex and Liz.", our friends, as she was drawing the circles that represented faces, and then she drew the crooked little half circles, which are not even on the faces and said, "They're happy, here are their smiles." I thought it was so cute, so I scanned it in and had to share it.

First Theater Experience for the Girls

Last weekend our friends invited us to see Madagascar 2 in the theater. Madelyn had been asking to see the "move it" show for a few weeks so we decided we would go. Even though it was a really cute show, Madelyn was just way to overwhelmed with the whole experience. She went to the bathroom twice, to the drinking fountain twice, was in and out of her booster seat a million times, and then we finally ended up buying her a little bag of popcorn, which she actually sat still with and watched the rest of the movie. Then, Audrey...she fell asleep right before the movie so we thought we were set, but it was so loud that she woke up ten minutes into the movie and was awake the rest of the time, and not very happy. It was crazy! Well...let's just say we won't be doing that again for awhile. Although, after we left we were talking about it in the car and I said, "Madelyn, that movie we saw was called Madagascar 2. Can you say Madagascar?" and she said, "No mom, it's not, it's called I Like to Move It Move It!"

Happy Halloween

This year as Madelyn is getting older we had a fun time celebrating with her. The night before we carved pumpkins. Madelyn had so much fun pulling all the seeds out and helping us carve them. Ty and her kept some of the seeds to bake. We started out Halloween night with the traditional soup in pumpkin bread bowls that my mom brought us. Then I took the girls trick or treating while Ty stayed home to pass out candy. Madelyn had such a great time. I took the stroller so that I could push her between houses, but she wanted to do it by herself. She would walk up the steps and knock on each door, then say, "Trick-or-Treat!" It was really fun to watch her. We only made it to about 10 or 15 houses in 1 hour, she was a little slow. Towards the end it was a little rainy and so I convinced her to hop in the stroller so we could head back home. She thought it was pretty fun to trick-or-treat at her own house. Then later we had some friends come over with their kids. We played games, decorated cookies, and made witches brew out of treats with the kids. By the end of the night the kids were full of sugar and empty on sleep so we decided to call it a night. We had a great time! Today, Madelyn said in a sad voice, " Mom Halloween's all over." Until next year...now we're off to thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can't believe how fast the holidays come. Here are a few pictures.

Odyssey's Thriller

Last night my mom and sisters and I went to see Thriller performed by Odyssey Dance Theater at Kingsbury Hall. It was awesome. There were a lot of really great dances performed and a lot of hilarious comedy mixed in. It really put me in the Halloween mood. I can't wait to go back next year! It was nice to leave the kids and have a night with the girls. Then we went for desert after at the Dodo, which was also fantastic! We chose 5 deserts and shared them all, and had a few minutes to chat and catch up. Thanks ladies for a fun night away!

No More Diapers for Madelyn!

Yes you read right, Madelyn is wearing underwear and using the potty regularly and hasn't had an accident since Tuesday morning. We didn't really plan on doing it this early but after a few "poopy" incidences and spending $50 on diapers every couple of weeks for the two girls, I decided it was time. It all started on Sunday night when she pooped on the potty for the first time so Monday morning we put her in underwear and decided to stay home for the next few days minus Kindermusik, which is Madelyn's favorite thing. We had a few accidents on Monday, and one on Tuesday morning when I was about to throw the towel in. Then she came to me on Tuesday afternoon and said, "Mommy I have to go poop on the potty." So we proceeded to run to the potty and since then she hasn't had one accident, including 2 trips to Walmart, and a day at grandma's house. She is doing awesome! I didn't realize it would be so slick. We're so proud of her, she's growing up fast...getting rid of pacifiers and diapers all in one week. Way to go Madelyn!

Audrey's New Trick

Audrey just started learning how to roll from her tummy to her back. Here's a little clip of the rolling trick.

Here are a few pictures I took of her yesterday after church. Thanks Lily for the cute dress!

Having Fun at Cornbelly's

Thursday night we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point with the Finlinsons. We had a great time, besides the cold temperatures. There were lots of fun activities for the kids...a hay ride, a cow train, corn digging, a jumping pillow, horse swings, a mini maze, giant slides, a pumpkin princess and her carriage and more. We couldn't get Madelyn out of there without kicking and screaming, but we were all freezing. We convinced her to leave when we told her that we were going to have hot chocolate when we got home. Madelyn keeps asking when we will get to go back. We're going to go back in the day when it's a little warmer this time.

Bye Bye Paci!

We actually did it! Well as many of you know Madelyn has been obsessed with her "paci" since the day she was born. We have been trying to decide when to get rid of it because it seems as though the attachment is just getting stronger the older she gets. With Audrey being born recently and her taking one as well, we knew that she would just try to take the baby's pacifier away, so we've been letting her have it mostly at nap and bed time. Lately she's been fighting the nap and throwing the paci down saying, "Mommy no no nap today." So today I just decided, it's time! So I asked her if we should get rid of the paci for good and we could trade it in for a toy and she said, "yes." So I took full advantage. We went all around the house and found them all and put them in a bag and then went to The Red Balloon toy store and let her pick out a toy in place of the pacifiers in the bag. She chose this cute Melissa & Doug wooden cookie set after looking at several things and thinking to myself that we were never going to get out of there. So then we took the pacifiers up to the cashier and gave them to cashier in place of the toy. Then I told her to say bye to her pacifiers. She said, "Bye bye pacies." Then we started to walk out to the car with the toy in hand, and it hit her, then she started to say, "No I want my pacies." So then I had to distract her and remind her that we traded in the cool toy for them instead. I felt like I had taken her best friend away. It was kind of sad. Today she has done pretty good. She has asked for it a few times and again I had to remind her. But when Ty came home she said, "Daddy, I gave my pacies to the lady and got a cookie set!" She went to bed okay because she was really tired, but I know that she'll probably be waking up in the night asking for it. It will be good in the long run if we can just get through the next few days and nights. Here she is saying cheese with her new cookie set.
The Melissa and Doug cookie set. It's super cute!

I Am in Love...

I just wanted to say how in love I am with this little girl. She was kind of a hard baby to begin with and now she is just fabulous. I can't get enough of her. She's smiley and happy, she eats and sleeps good now and every time I hold her I just want to squeeze her and kiss her. She's great, and what's even better is she can't get into any trouble yet other than blowing out through her diaper. It's funny, when she was born I thought that she was going to be a little more petite than Madelyn and sure enough, she followed suit and is chunking up just like Madelyn did, hence the pictures. Here are a few pictures that I have taken recently. The older she gets the more I think Madelyn and her look similar, so I posted a comparison picture so that you could see.

Audrey loves her baths.
Audrey at 2 1/2 mo.

Madelyn at 2 1/2 mo.

No Hands in Our Poop!

Madelyn went pee on the potty for the first time today! It was pretty funny when she started to go, she was so surprised and thrilled that she was actually going because she's sat on the potty many times and nothing has ever come out. I let her pick a treat and call Daddy and Grandma to brag about the news. It was a good thing that came out of what started out as a bad thing. She came to me about an hour before and said, "Mom, I went poop in my diaper." So I said, "Okay, Madelyn let's go change it." Then she said, "No, it's on my hands." as she showed me her hands, and sure enough, or should I say gross enough, it was. So I began freaking out and took her upstairs to clean her off, when I found the evidence...toilet paper and Audrey's hooded towel with smeared poop all over them. When she went, she got some toilet paper and tried to wipe her bum by sticking it down her diaper, it got on her hands, so then she tried to wipe it off on the towel. So I lectured her about how we don't put our hands in our poop and we wait for Mom to wipe our bum. Then I threw her in the tub. After the tub, I said, "So what did you learn today?" and she said, "No hands in our poop." Then I explained to her about wiping when your on the toilet and we tried sitting down on the potty, and success, so we'll see where it goes from here. Hopefully she will remember, no hands in our poop!

2 Year Olds = Big Emotions!

Wow, Madelyn has been very emotional lately. She has these extreme positive and negative emotional peaks. So yesterday she was asking to watch a show and had pulled out all these old VHS tapes, so I grabbed our wedding video and put it in. She was thoroughly enjoying the photo montage at the beginning and then when it got to our reception when we cut our wedding cake and I tried smashing it in Ty's face, she came up to me crying, literally with tears in her eyes and said, "Mommy smashed the cake in daddy's face." and she would not let it go. She just kept crying and crying saying the same thing over and over, like she was so concerned and disappointed that I would do that to daddy. It was pretty funny.

Madelyn's Two!

Happy Birthday Madelyn! She turned 2 on Sunday and we had a fun, yet casual day. We decided that since we did a big party for her 1st birthday that we would just keep it simple this year by having cake and ice cream after Sunday dinner at my parents. However this year I did want to get her a kitchen for her birthday because when we go somewhere that has a play kitchen that's all she wants to play with. I have been shopping online for the last month and the one that I liked just happened to come to Costco last week for a lot less than I found it online for, and most online stores were back ordered until late November anyway. We let her open it Sunday morning and it took Ty awhile to put it together. She loves it. Grandma Wilkins gave her some dishes and some play food to go with her kitchen. She is always telling me now that she wants to "cook some food." This morning she brought us all cupcakes in bowls in bed and said, "Mommy here's your breakfast. Daddy here's your breakfast. Baby Audrey here's your breakfast."

Here are a few photos from her birthday.

I also took her to her two-year well checkup and she now weighs 26 lbs. and is 33 1/2 in. tall. She is in the 50th percentile straight across. Her doctor said that she is talking well beyond the average 2 yr. old and seems to be doing great. He commented how enjoyable the visit with her was compared to most toddler checkups. He told me not to worry about her still sucking her "paci" when she sleeps, which was reassuring since I am worried about it. When he walked out she said, "Dr. Stampfl went ba-bye mom." Madelyn, mom and dad love you and we look forward to another year of laughter and joys!

Instant Family of Seven

This last week, Ty and I took our girls up to my sister's house and babysat their three boys while they took their baby and went to Lake Powell with some friends. It was a little crazy, but we made it through, 15 loads of laundry, and 25 bowls of cereal later. There were a few times that I felt like I was in the scene of a Nanny 911 episode, like when Max(8) was at school and all three kids Henry(4), Charlie(3), and Madelyn(2) were all swinging and crying because I couldn't be pushing them all at the same time. I also was wearing Audrey(2 mo.) in the Baby Bjorn at the time trying to push them and calm them down...crazy! Anyway, it made me realize how much we need a son someday for Ty's sake, but yet how grateful I am for my IUD for now!

Miniature golfing at Mulligan's...yes everyone was staring at us like wow, that couple is crazy, they have 5 kids, and 4 are 4 and under.
Charlie golfing or in other words, Charlie running around the golf course swinging a putter at everything in sight and throwing everyone's balls off the green and in the water.
Madelyn caring more about the sunglasses, than where her putter or ball were. By the way she asked for the pink ball, and then when we would help her put, she would take her ball from where she hit it, put it two inches from the hole and then hit it in. She also would say after everyone hit their ball in the hole. "You did it Max! You did it Henry! You did it Mommy!..." and so on. We let about 5 other groups pass us up and go ahead of us, because each hole took about 15 minutes, it got a little crazy. By the end, Ty and I were very ready to go home.
All the kids eating cereal one morning.
Max came home from school on Friday and said, "My teacher taught us how to make smores in the microwave.", which I thought was a little wierd, but we decided to try them so here's Madelyn eating her microwaved smore.

Thanks boys for the fun week!

An Audrey Update

Audrey is growing fast. She is now smiling and cooing a lot. She gets easier everyday, thankfully. She's almost 2 months now and weighs 10 1/2 lbs. Here is a funny little picture I took of her the other day at the end of a smile.

This is Audrey with her two cousins, Lily (5 mo.) and Ryan (2 1/2 mo.) Don't you love Lily's rolls, she's adorable and so easy going. Putting up with three older brothers is not the easiest thing, but she's great to tolerate it all.

Presley's Party

A few weeks ago, one of Madelyn's little friends Presley had a western birthday party where they got to have horse rides and come in their western gear. Ty got all excited and got out the cowboy hat for her to wear. Funny enough, when we got there, Madelyn's other friend Anna was wearing the same shirt so we had to take their picture.