Interview with Madi

I've been having a lot of fun taking videos of the girls lately and learning all the tricks of my new camera. Uploading and publishing videos has never been so fast and easy! Just a warning: this first one's pretty long- a whole 4 minutes! I just thought it was funny how every question I asked her had a different answer than when I interviewed her a couple of days earlier (except for favorite song). Just shows how often a two year olds favorites change.

Here's a shorter one of Madi telling what she does every night before bed. I love having a checklist- it helps keep Madi on track during bedtime.

Pendleton

This is Madi at 14 months, along with her beloved lambie blanket- Pendleton (aka- Penny). You may have noticed that in many pictures I post of Madi, Pendleton is also somewhere in the picture. He's definitely one of Madi's favorite comfort items. I love it how she rubs his ears while holding him.

Well, several days ago Madi took Penny along to pick up Spencer from the Metro. Unfortunately, as we were getting out of the car to walk into the house, Penny slipped from Madilyn's grasp and ended up in a puddle by the wheel of the tire. I gasped and probably freaked out enough for all of us. Madi was heading off to bed within the hour and I knew there would not be time to get Pendleton washed and dried in time to accompany Madi to bed. Luckily Madi was a good sport about the accident (probably since it was her fault) and knew she'd see Penny in the morning.

Sure enough, the first thing Madi wanted when she got out of bed was to see Pendleton and wondered if he was clean yet. Shoot! I'd been doing other laundry and hadn't gotten around to washing him yet. So I let Madi help me throw Pendleton into the "bath". Then Madi ate breakfast- asking about Penny numerous times. The instant she heard the washer stop, she looks at me and says, "Penny's all clean! Can I snuggle him now?" I had to remind her that he needed to be dried first. I let Madi give him a kiss before throwing him into the drier. Then I headed upstairs to shower. When I came back down this is where I found Madi!

In the laundry room, watching the drier, waiting for Penny to come out. So sweet!

Oh, and totally a fluke that a bottle of Spray-n-Wash ended up in this picture. But it definitely seems appropriate- since it did play a large part in getting Penny clean!

The First of Many!

After charging my new Flip last night, Spencer couldn't wait to take the first video. So while I was cooking breakfast, he came down to document our first video that can actually be heard without having to blast the volume! Don't worry mom, this is just the first of many more videos to come!

A few things that made me happy today. . .

1) Going to the library with friends.

2) A trip to the doctor- getting the diagnosis that I expected.

3) Getting 2 prescriptions filled- lets hope this amoxicillin kicks in soon!

4) Receiving an early Christmas present from Spencer.

5) And getting to watch my girls play together.

This last one should really be a post by itself because of how many pictures I took.

First Madi sat down and got Elle's attention.

Then Madi got her smiling . . .

Finally Elle was so amused with Madi that she bust up laughing! It was so incredibly cute to watch!

Conference Weekend

Not only are spring and fall my two favorite seasons, but October and April are my two favorite months of the year. Aside from being Spencer and I's birthday months, I always look forward to General Conference. For any of you who may not be familiar with General Conference, it's a semi-annual worldwide broadcast held in Salt Lake City, UT. Members of our church gather together to listen (either at the Conference Center, or through radio, television, or the internet) to counsel from our prophet (President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), general authorities, and other leaders. It's this time of year that I like to evaluate my life and decide what I could be doing better. After 4 conference sessions (5 for Spencer) I already have a good list started. Conference hasn't always been like this for me though. I remember being younger and feeling so bored with having to sit for hours, listening to speaker after speaker. However, it's just seemed to get better and better with each stage of life. It's kinda ironic how now- when I most want the counsel and instruction from our prophet, general authorities, and other leaders, it's the hardest to listen and focus. Even with the bingo board I laminated and coloring sheets I printed out for Madi, it still didn't stop the talking, laughing, and wanting of our attention while we struggled to listen. It's this reason I look forward to getting the November copy of the Ensign. I already have a list of all the talks I missed parts of, or just want to hear again. Saturday morning was one of my favorite sessions. I forget who the speakers were (I have a terrible memory these days) but there were three back to back that I was clinging to their every word, while reminding Madi to BE QUIET! I'm pretty sure it was David Bednar who reminded us to, "Become more consistent in the seemingly small things."

I have so many things I'd like to be doing better right now. My list is long and recorded in my journal (so not to bore those who've already read this far with the details). Another speaker Saturday morning said: "What we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we do. What we do determines who we are." I just really liked that and now need to go back and find out who the speaker was and be reminded of the rest of his talk. Then this afternoon I particularly loved Jeffrey R. Holland's talk. He's always such an incredible speaker with an amazingly powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. I'll definitely be rereading his talk several times. It was Quentin L. Cook who reminded me that I need to be sharing my testimony with Madi (and Elle) on a more regular basis. I think I just need to start simple and begin talking about what a testimony is and then begin incorporating those "seemingly small things" better. Dale Renlund's talk I could totally relate to. Sometimes I need that change of heart. It's hard not to get annoyed with all the meetings Spencer has these days. I get mad telling Spencer to remind them that he's still in law school along with working over 20 hours a week. But then I have to calm down and realize how we even got this far. We've personally seen the blessings that come from faithfully serving and magnifying our callings. Once I step back and am reminded of the even bigger picture, I am more than ok with the meetings. More meetings= more blessings right?!?! Maybe not, but you get the idea!

Ok- enough about my conference experience (there are a least a dozen other speakers I want to listen to again and will be doing so shortly). I don't usually like to share like this, but after reading the Oct. Ensign (particularly the article on blogging), I felt I should write a little more.

Aside from being inside and glued to the TV for 8 hours, there were a few other highlights that made this conference weekend particularly memorable:

1) Enjoying beautiful weather (mid 70's and sunny with blue skies)!

2) Surviving the weekend with my first ever sinus infection! Oh, the joy of feeling like my head is going to explode (I'm hoping to get into the doctor tomorrow morning)!

3) Having Spencer home- and aside from being gone 3 1/2 hours Saturday night for Priesthood session and an early meeting this morning for stake YM's, I had him all to myself!

4) Spencer taking Madi out on a daddy daughter date- giving me 2 quiet hours at home!

5) Of course the daddy daughter date resulted in bringing home from the pet store a new addition to our fish tank: An African Dwarf Frog which Madi creatively named "Froggy." And here he is...

Seasons of Change

Notice the leaves changing color on the tree.

Summer clothes are packed up and our winter wear is now hanging in the closets. Of course I'm still wearing flip flops, but our attire has mostly been long pants and hoodies this week. As much as I love the fall time and the gorgeous weather we've been having, it's hard to get excited about the change when I know what's close behind. I'm not a fan of winter and I am NOT ready for the cold to hit. I'm not ready to give up morning runs, daily walks, lunch at the park, and feeding the ducks.

Summer flew by a little too fast for me and now I feel like I have to hang on tight to this beautiful fall weather. However, the chilly mornings and the falling leaves have only made me more aware of the freezing temperatures that lay ahead.

It probably doesn't help that I've had this dang miserable cough for over a week now. Just serves as another reminder of the sniffly noses, coughs, and colds that winter brings. Boohoo.

On a happier note- only 77 days until we head off to sunny Southern California!

One you CAN hear!

Ok- so here's a video you should be able to hear a little better than the last one I just posted. This one was taken a couple of days ago, again at bedtime (hence Madi looking the exact same- I DO dress my child:). Let me just preface the video by saying how much Madi loves rules. She's one of those kids who thrives on structure and discipline (totally my child:)! Every time we tell Madi something she should or shouldn't do, she takes it to heart, and for the most part obeys. Then she'll walk around the rest of the day/week reminding herself (and all of us) about the rule. It's almost like she's trying to convince herself of the importance of following the rule.

For instance- when she first moved into her big girl bed, we'd remind her before every nap and bedtime to, NOT get out of her bed. Now Madi's become obsessed with telling all of us to not get out of our beds (including Elle). Yet as much as Madi loves rules, this is one she just can't seem to obey. I think Madi ends up sleeping on the floor 80% on the time!

Here's Madi informing Elle that "we can't get out of bed" (I'll explain about the bears later) and then reminds her that "we don't poke eyes" (a new rule- made for Elle's benefit)! And of course, gotta love the sisterly love!

My girls

As crazy as life seems to have gotten, and as little time as I have to myself these days, nothing is better than seeing how much my girls love each other!

I'm pretty sure you WON'T be able to hear this video (I'm currently in the market for one of these), but I mostly just love watching how happy Elle is to be hanging out with her sister. We were getting ready for bed and I believe Madi is telling Elle about her bears that take care of her while she sleeps (long story- but basically an attempt to keep Madi IN her bed). I love how Elle seems to be taking it all in. My favorite part is at the end of the video when Madi starts to poke Elle's nose (which I don't like, but Madi happens to think is the funniest thing ever- she laughs hysterically every time we get to that part of the video). It was just cute to see Elle give her sister such sweet smiles. I'm grateful for these moments- that remind me how lucky I am to be a mom.