Uncle Jeremy

It's been such a fun summer having tons of family and friends come to stay with us! This past weekend Spencer's brother was here visiting. He came out for work, but was able to stay and play for a few days afterwards. He flew in Wednesday night and got all his work done on Thursday. So, on Friday he and Spencer headed into the city to see the typical DC sites! They hit up the National Archives, the Air and Space Smithsonian, the Capitol, and they even got their own library cards at the Library of Congress! Wow- now they can claim to be "official" readers!

Saturday morning they headed off to Gettysburg! Taking Madi along gave me a very productive, quiet and relaxing day at home- just Elle and me!

I love this picture that Spencer took of a painting in one of the museums.

It's crazy to think that this beautiful land was once a huge battlefield.

Jeremy getting in on some of the action!

Walking along all the battlefields made Madi pretty emotional!

The TALL tower. . .

And Madi checking out the view from the top!

Madi enjoying telling Uncle Jeremy stories! Jeremy informed me that "Madi has a LOT to say." I guess she talked his ear off all day.

To top off the weekend, Spencer and Jeremy headed back into the city Sunday evening after dinner to hit up the rest of the sites that Jeremy wanted to see.

Arlington Cemetery:

Marine Corps War Memorial: sorry no pictures- see my 4th of July post for pics

White House:

Monuments and Memorials:

Can you find the name that they were excited to see? It was a soldier (and probably a relative) from Logan, UT

We love you Uncle Jeremy. Thanks for coming out to visit!

Fun at the Fair

When we heard that the Montgomery County Fair was going on, Spencer and I were dying to take Madi. But after looking at our schedules- between work, appointments, and Uncle Jeremy coming into town, I didn't see it happening. Luckily, Stacie called to tell me that she and Scott were planning on going on Friday and wanted to know if Madi could come along. Perfect! Madi was thrilled (even if it doesn't show in the pictures- I promise my daughter is a very happy child. She just takes the Fair very seriously)! 

Big thanks to Scott and Stacie for taking pictures so that I could document Madi's first time to the Fair. They saw the animals. . .

Madi got to ride a pony. . .

The even went on the Ferris Wheel . . .

Stacie called me at the end of their Ferris Wheel ride and told me that Madi absolutely loved it! I asked to talk to Madi, but all I could hear was her freaking out about wanting to go AGAIN- so yes they went again! Madi was in heaven!

What a fabulous first fair experience! It was a "hit," because Madi has been talking non-stop about her adventure with Stacie and Scott! 

Thanks guys for letting Madi come along and most especially- for giving me a nice quiet afternoon at home!

Being Two!

I love having a two year old. In high school I worked at a daycare and I was the 2 year old teacher. You'd think being in charge of 9 two year olds would put me over the edge! Well, it was actually quite the opposite. I loved it!

Just found this picture in an old photo book and HAD to include it. This is me (on the right) with an assistant teacher and a portion of our class!

Of course there's moments everyday when Madilyn's driving me bonkers, but I really do continue to wonder when those "terrible twos" that everyone talks about are going to hit!

Never right!?! Not with this sweet, innocent face! :)

One thing I love about this age is the conversations. After Madi's second birthday she started talking in more complex sentences. She'll now throw in "Actually. . ." when she's correcting me, and "Ok?" or "You understand?" for validation on things. Our little conversations throughout the day never cease to keep me entertained. After every conversation I always want to write it down so that I don't forget how cute this stage is, but I can never seem to remember. So I've now started carrying a pen and notebook in my bag to jot down some of my favorite. . . .

After watching the new Charlotte's Web at the free movies last week, and then learning that our local Fair was going on here. . . 

Madi: "I wanna go to the Fair tonight. That'd be fun, huh!"

Me: "Ya, that would be fun."

Madi: "Ya, that'd be fun. Let's go to the Fair after nap."

Me: "Madi, we do NOT get out of our bed during nap time."

Madi: "Ya, we don't get out of bed. I just stay in bed and read stories. Ok? I don't get out of bed."

Me: "Ok- don't get out of your bed."

On a different day, right before nap time. . . all said by Madi while I was writing at my desk- trying not to laugh. 

"We just lay down and don't get out of our bed and we just take a rest." 

"Take a rest Mommy. You just take a rest." 

"I'll close your door. You stay in your bed. You understand?"

(Then she closed my bedroom door. As you can tell, she's become very obsessed with the whole, "staying in her bed" during nap time thing).

Madi: "Binkies are for babies. I don't have binky." (I'm hoping this is her way of preparing to give it up).

Me: "That's Eleanor's blanket."

Madi: "It's actually my blanket."

Me: "Nice try! It's actually Eleanor's"

Madi: "Mom, I wanna go to the swings. I want to go to the swings with Grampa Al and Boppi, and Gram and Papa, Uncle Bobby, and Joci." (Sorry to the rest of you. These are the only people that Madi has specially said she wants to go to the swings with).

When she wants my attention:

"Stop Mommy, Stop!" or "Put Elle down!" or "What am I doin' Mom?"

When Elle was crying:

"Be kind Elle! Be kind!"

On the swings:

"Watch me Elle! Hey Elle, look at me!"

Spencer liked this one- since he's always complaining that it's so hot and I always insist on turning the air warmer.

Madi: "It's hot mom. I'm sweaty. Turn some air on."

After instructing her to ask nicely I turn on the air and she says, "Higher Mommy, turn it higher!" (great job asking nicely- huh?!)

Since Madi spends a lot of time singing, I figured I should write down some of her favorite songs:

1) "I hope they call me on a Mission, when I have grown a foot or two" (She sings this line over and over and over like a broken record)

2) "The Star Spangled Banner" (My mom made sure Madi learn this one when she was out here in July visiting. Madi can do it without help up to "O'er the ramparts we watched. . .")

3) "Jesus said Love Everyone" (She knows the entire first verse, but several times throughout the day she'll randomly start singing, "When your heart is filled with love, others will love you.")

4) ABC's (I think this will always be a favorite. Now she always insists on singing it "real fast")

5) "I am a Child of God" (Can sing the entire first verse without help!)

 Love You Madi Moo!

1 Month

Today marks the beginning of Elle's monthly posts! Aside from the lack of sleep, this past month has been fabulous! There's not much to say about a one month old though. She sleeps in short spurts, nurses fabulously, and poops non stop! She's gaining neck strength which is fun to see. I love it when she lifts her little wobbly head off my shoulder to look at me.

Pictures aren't so easy to take of a one month old though- at least not of Elle. My friend Laura came over the other day to do a newborn photo shoot (which I really should have done the first week or two of her life). The first 3 pics of this post are the only ones I have from the shoot right now, but let's just say Elle didn't really want to cooperate. She was happy being on her tummy and being held, but that's about it so I'll be interested to see how the rest of the pictures turned out. I sure had a great time though- thanks Laura!

I'm looking forward to starting sleep training this next month. Right now Elle sleeps in no more than 3 hour blocks- giving me typically 2 hours of sleep at a time. The only hard thing is that returning to sleep isn't so easy. Elle grunts and groans for quite awhile after being layed down, usually crying after 5 minutes or so of the grunting- giving me no sleep in the process. Ya, she'll be moving out of our room very soon! But when she does finally fall asleep, I can't help but sit and stare at her.

What a sweetheart! I'm so excited to watch Elle grow and develop and see what her personality will be like!

Slowly but Surely!

I've been feeling behind on a lot of things lately- one of those being blogging. I hate getting behind. I start forgetting details- probably details that I'm sure nobody but me cares about...Regardless, I knew it was time for a new post when I heard comments from family that they haven't seen pictures of Elle since she was only a few days old. Unfortunately, my lack of posts might also be due to the lack of pictures I take these days. I blame it on having my hands full! Juggling two kids has been quite the interesting transition for me- I really think the switch from 2 to 3 kids will be easier than switching from 1 to 2. By the time a third kid comes along, Madi and Elle will be the best of friends and be able to entertain each other- right?!


I'm sure it's hard being the only sibling and then having to share your parent's time and attention with someone else. I've definitely tried to be extra careful with giving Madi lots of one on one time though. I believe it was one of the nurses at my doctor's office who gave me the great analogy of how an older sibling might feel about a new baby. She told me to imagine Spencer coming home one day with another woman- one that he loved, cared for, and wanted to spend as much time with as he had with me. OH MAN! Just the thought of having to share Spencer got my blood boiling! It quickly put things in perspective for me and I've always tried to make Madi feel extra special, especially with all the time and attention we give to Elle.

Giving Madi lots of big sister responsibilities has seemed to really helped the transition. 

Madi loves taking care of her little sister.



She likes to get in Elle's face (especially when Elle's sleeping) and in a very loving, high pitched voice say, "Hi little girl!" Awww. . . sisterly love!

Anyway, I truthfully haven't gotten out my camera much (these pics were all taken this weekend), but we have been having lots of fun and staying very busy. Every morning, regardless of my lack of sleep, I make sure to have something fun planned for Madi. This past week we went to a couple different parks, the pool, the movies, and we were able to get together with some friends to play. Going out every morning really helps to break up the day. It's the afternoons that I struggle with. After nap time the sun is at its peak and playing outdoors is the last thing I want to do. So we stay inside- and usually at home. Some days are great- filled with lots of entertaining activities. Other afternoons definitely have their frustrations- like this past weeks drawing on the wall with marker episode (NEVER thought Madi would do this)! But almost every afternoon I find myself watching the clock, counting down the hours until we go pick up Spencer. 

I gotta say how incredibly grateful I am for an involved husband. I'd definitely loose my mind without Spencer. The nights he's home early he'll take Madi over the the swings, giving me some quiet time. Other nights when there's not a whole lot of time to play, Spencer takes Madi upstairs for bath, stories, and bed. I just love how he lets ME tell him what I want him to do. Some nights I need some one on one with Madi, so Spencer will take care of Elle and cleaning up the kitchen. 

All in all, life seems to be getting better. Nights are still rough, but after my shower in the morning I somehow muster up enough energy to keep me going strong all day long. I just gotta be patient. Slowly but surely I'll get my "to do" list finished. Slowly but surely I'll get all the piles throughout my house put away. Slowly but surely I'll start getting more sleep at night and more energy throughout the day. And hopefully not too slowly I'll be able to get my pre-baby body back! 

Success!

With growing up and becoming a "big girl" there are a couple of major transitions that take place in a toddler's life- like becoming potty trained, giving up the binky, and moving from the crib to a toddler bed. All of which I've wanted nothing to do with and wasn't planning on pushing until I was getting a little more sleep at night.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we've had a toddler bed for Madi for quite some time now. However, she's wanted nothing to do with it (aside from using it as a place for her dolls and stuffed animals to sleep). But that hasn't stopped us from talking about it. Just yesterday I was telling Madi about all the "pros" of sleeping in a big girl bed. I mentioned how it'd be great not to have to wait for mom or dad to come get her in the morning, but that she could get out of bed all by herself, get books, and read quietly while waiting for everyone to wake up. This seemed to be the ticket!

Last night Spencer came downstairs after putting Madi to bed and tells me, "She's sleeping in her big girl bed." I guess Madi finally agreed to the switch! Through the monitor she sounded happy about it. I could hear her jabbering away to her baby and animals. The talking continued for about 45 minutes (which isn't completely abnormal), and then it was quiet. Spencer got back from picking up a movie and ice cream and I reported that she'd gone to sleep. A few minutes later I hear Madi talking again. She was being quiet though so we started our movie- never going up to check on her. At about 9:50 (almost 2 hours after being put to bed) we hear singing! Sure enough Madi was singing away to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." All of a sudden the singing got fainter, I heard a bump, and it was quiet. She'd actually fallen asleep in her toddler bed (let me remind you that she's never even taken a nap in this bed- so this was a major accomplishment)!

After finishing our movie we headed upstairs for bed. I peeked into Madi's room, excited to see her slumbering away in her new bed. Sure enough, she was ON her bed, but definitely not IN it. Her body was slumped over the side, with her upper half resting peacefully on the bed, and her lower half kneeling on the floor beside the bed (wished I could have gotten a picture of it, but Madi is a light sleeper and the flash would surely have woken her up)! I also found about 20 of her favorite books along with half her collection of stuffed animals strewn throughout the bed. I stealthly cleared off her books and animals, lifted her back onto her pillow, and covered her up.

Around 4am, after feeding Elle, I tiptoed into Madi's room to find her sprawled out on her back, on the floor!! This time I left her there after throwing a blanket over her. At 6am I went in again to find her back in bed, sleeping soundly! At 7:20 I could hear happy chatter coming from her room, so I grabbed my camera and went on in.

Good morning Madilyn! I think she's pretty happy about this big girl bed thing. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed the "getting out to read books" thing as much though.

At least she only emptied one shelf from her bookcase! It seemed to look a lot worse last night when I was cleaning it up!

Luckily nap time today was a little faster. Spencer went in 20 minutes into her nap and caught her at the bookshelf. He sternly told her it was time for nap, but that she could take 2 books to bed with her. 40 minutes later I went in to reinforce nap time. After a little pep talk she layed her head down and was asleep within minutes.

I'm sure this will take awhile to train, but luckily we've still got a couple of months before Elle graduates to the crib, joining Madi in her bedroom!

Adjusting

I have to keep reminding myself that Elle is only 2 1/2 weeks old. It already feels like she's been with our family for so much longer. As much as I love the newborn stage and don't want Elle to get another day older, having a new baby is definitely an adjustment. So far the biggest adjustment has been the lack of time I have to myself. I know that sounds pretty selfish, but I thrive on schedules and keeping things orderly. In the past when I'd have a stressful or frustrating morning, I knew that I only had to survive until nap time. Then I'd have a good 3 hours to regroup, relax, and get done whatever I needed to do. Ya, that's no longer the case. It seems that as soon as Madi goes down for her nap, I get about 15 minutes before Elle's up and wanting my attention! Then in the evenings after Madi's asleep, the same holds true. Now don't get me wrong, I love how it gives me alone time with each of my girls, but it's definitely an adjustment with knowing how to get things done while enjoying my girls (which I'm sure all gets easier with age)! 

Another adjustment started a few days ago around Elle's 2 week mark. She's become super needy in the evenings. After every feeding she grunts and groans in pain. Her face goes red and she cries really loud if set down. Makes me worry about if what I'm eating is having a negative effect on her. She acts like she's still hungry but I think it's more just the need of sucking to soothe herself. It's hard getting her to sleep and even harder keeping her asleep. I'm guessing it's just gas. Otherwise it could be the "night colic" which my doc suggested, and should disappear after she's 6 weeks.

We're currently working on getting her to take a binky. For some reason my mom and Spencer have had success, but she never seems to want to take it from me. Spencer says I'm not patient enough, I say she knows I have something better!

Even though I'm continually reminded that I just had a baby, it's hard not to want some normalcy back. Saturdays are my new favorite day of the week- just because we get to have Spencer around. This past weekend flew by way too fast, leaving me already looking forward to the upcoming weekend (and it's only Tuesday)!

With all the frustrations that come with feeling like a zombie, smelling like spit up, and looking like a slob, I know that it's not a permanent thing. I just gotta give it time.  Regardless of the craziness, I must say how lucky I feel to be able to spend my days with these 2 girls!


Aside from all the changes and occasional freak-outs, Madi's been the biggest helper ever. She really is an incredibly loving big sister. Every morning she wakes up super happy, with her first request being to see her sister. She sits on the bed with me while I nurse Elle and then Madi helps to burp. Anytime Elle starts to cry, Madi busts out into song with hopes of soothing her distraught baby sister (it actually works sometimes)! She "helps" with diaper changes- getting the diaper for me and then happily disposing of it afterwards. She'll bring my water bottle to me while I nurse and of course she begs to hold Elle several times throughout the day. I'm especially grateful for how gentle Madi is with her little sister. 

She's also such a good sharer! Madi's new thing is to let us know whose is whose. She says, "That's yours and this is mines." 

And even though Elle's already got quite a temper and a nice set of lungs, she also has the sweetest smiles ever (none that I've gotten pictures of yet though- I'm always enjoying them way too much to grab the camera)! And there's nothing better than when she's awake, alert, and wanting to talk. I love that newborn baby stare that makes you feel like they know what you're saying and have something to tell you as well.