Our princess is two!!!

Madi had a little princess party with us and Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins.

It was fun to set it all up and have her actually know a little about what was going on.

Here is our little princess, complete with tiara, and her family...

Madi has started taking an interest in money the last few months so we got her a piggy bank to keep her coins in.

She LOVED opening her presents.  Since her birthday she has told me multiple times a day "Two. Presents."  I love how excited she gets!  She is such a sweetheart!

She got a little Cinderella doll and the movie Little Rascals.  (We rented it from Blockbuster and she immediately fell in love with it.)

Madi, Grandma, Grandpa and Cinderella...

Next she went for her big presents.  She got a doll stroller...

a bubble lawn mower...

and a piano!  Madi LOVES music and she goes straight to the pianos after church.

I found some pink Whoppers to scatter on the table and they sure made our little princess excited.

Madi's piano came with a mike.  She hasn't quite figured it out.  She puts her ear up to it to hear...

I must have totally freaked her out when I talked to her about the candle and not touching the flame while we sang to her because she didn't even want to look at it and I had to blow it out for her.  The poor girl will be traumatized forever!

It was a great day and we had so much fun watching her with all her presents.  I can't believe that my little girl is two already.  She is such a sweetheart!  I love you Mads!!!

Sparklers...

We bought some sparklers, snaps and flowers for Madi to do this weekend and it didn't go as well as we had hoped.  Madi was TERRIFIED of them and kept saying "scare ya" and "I scared" while clinging to Derrick or I.  She did like the aeriel fireworks as long as they were at a distance.  The noise of them scared her if they were close. 

The best daddy ever...

I'm a little behind on my blogging.  So, Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever!!!  This is how he spent his morning.  First he painted Madi's toenails and fingernails and then she returned the favor.  Such sweet moments.

A perfect Monday...

Yesterday was such a great day!  Why???  Mostly because Derrick only had to work a half day but also because it was a nice, sunny, relaxing, lazy day.  It began with big smiles and coos from that beautiful baby of mine.  I love this stage where they really start to show their personality and respond and play.  (It's also how I finished my day :D)  When Derrick got home it was off to the court house to get temporary custody of Easton.  (It is just a technicality we had to do this time since we did a private adoption.  We've had custody since he was born.)  We came home to a smiley girl and although we had planned on going to Tracy Aviary, Madi wanted to go swimming.  Surprise, surprise! :D  We had already planned on stopping to see Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins so we put on our suits, grabbed our towels and went to the South Davis Rec Center in Bountiful.  It is one of our favorite pools and since it is summer the outside portion was open.  It was the first time Madi has been able to go out there and she LOVED the pirate boat and the shallower pool.  The sun had heated it up quite nicely and it was about the temperature of Easton's bath water.  We put him in the tube and he yawned and fell fast asleep!

I tried to get a picture of Madi with him but she wanted to play, not have her pictures taken.  So, we splashed and played and swam and slid down the slide and floated through the lazy river and swam some more.  Before we left I grabbed my camera again and snapped a few shots.  Easton woke up and enjoyed the water with his daddy.   

What is it about black and white that makes the picture so much more precious???  I love this one of the two of them. 

Madi is starting to be more and more brave around the water which excites me but also makes me worry.  We need to get her in swimming lessons.  Maybe in the fall we will take a mommy/daddy and me class with both of them.  (I think they have to be six months so we will wait for Easton.)   

Madi LOVES LOVES LOVES to jump lately so she was thrilled when she got to "jump" off Derrick's legs.  He is such a great daddy to our kids!   

We tried to teach her a few things yesterday.  We let her hang onto the wall by herself.  We taught her to blow bubbles in the water.  We let her float on her back (of course she held onto me with a death grip).  We let her kick.   

Here she is, swimmin'... 

When we told her it was time to go she was not happy.  We got her out and put her towel on and next thing we know she is making a mad dash for the pool.  We promised to bring her back and she did leave happy but has already told me today "swimmin, daddy, eaton, mama, pool".  She'll have to wait til another day. 

After the pool we went a spent a few hours with Grandma and Grandpa, had yummy hamburgers and strawberry shortcake and put the kids to bed early.

One week...

Our little Easton is one week old.  I can hardly believe it!  He is such a sweet little baby and is adored by all of us, especially Madi.  He slept from 11:00 to 6:00 last night!  What a great blessing for mom! :D  Hope fully he does it again tonight.  Here he is getting his bath.  Like his sister, he likes his baths.   The picture on the right is Madi when she was about a week old.  They do look alike but each have their own look too. 

When he was all done he snuggled with mama for a minute.  Isn't he the sweetest thing ever?!?!

 Madi is so sweet to him.  She is always asking where baby is and making sure he is ok.  She has been really soft and gentle so far.  If you look close you can see Easton's grin.  He smiles A LOT!  I love it!

 Erin... This one's for you!  Each time I put him in these jammies I think that Colson needs them too!

Easton Boy...

Derrick took some days off and doesn't have to go back to work until Thursday.  It is so nice having him home.  It is already going too fast.  Madi has especially enjoyed it.  I got her out of bed this morning and she said "want dada".  (Good thing I'm used to it or I might have felt bad! :D)  Our little Easton has been great!  We have had a couple nights that he has confused for day but other than that he has been so easy.  I love snuggling with him.  We have to bundle him up good and put a hat on him so he will be warm enough to sleep.  He likes the bouncy chair.  Luckily he isn't old enough to worry about it being a girl chair. :D

 Isn't he just adorable?!?!  I can kiss that little face all day long!

Happy Easter!!!

The Easter Bunny made an early stop at our house Saturday morning.  We love that he is so willing to do that so we can turn our focus to the Savior on Sunday.  Madi loved her Easter basket.  I didn't get a picture of it, but it had a Disney Princess sing along DVD, a ball, bracelets and her favorite... lots of PEZ!  She also got a new dress but I don't have a picture of that yet.  Easton's basket had a rattle in it.  Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch Madi do her Easter egg hunt.  Madi has sure taken a liking to her Grandpa.  She LOVES him!  We took advantage of the time and got a few pictures of them with Easton.

 We also took our first picture with the whole family...

 Here's Grandma with her little Easton...

 Madi wasn't totally sure about the Easter egg hunt idea.  Why should she pick up OUR mess?

 Then I showed her there was chocolate inside the eggs and she decided it was ok to pick them up.  Daddy helped her for a minute to get her going.

 She got about half done and lost interest.  She only wanted to eat her "choc".

 A piece in the mouth and one in each hand...

 Here's the guys... Grandpa, Daddy and Easton

 Madi LOVES balls so she was really excited for the one the Easter Bunny brought.

 Such a good daddy!

 Grandpa actually wanted to hold Easton!  (He likes to wait until they are older so he doesn't break them. :D)

After the eggs were all found and picked up we went to the Brick Oven for lunch.  We always have such a wonderful time with mom and dad and are grateful they live close.  We wish we were closer to more of our family, especially around holidays. 

We are so very grateful for our Savior and the sacrifices He made for us.  The atonement brings great peace and comfort to our souls and we hope to teach our children the amazing love He has for us.  Happy Easter!!!

Our little guy...

We had an incredible experience this week, we welcomed baby number two. 

Easton Bernell Hawkins

was born on April 20, 2011 at 12:02 am. 

Our experience was a very precious one.  Mindy let us be in the delivery room when he was born and it really was incredible! 

Welcome little one!!!

 Both Mindy and Easton did great and are doing well.  The hospital staff was wonderful to us and as soon as they had cleaned him off a little they brought him right to me for some skin to skin time.

(keep in mind it was the middle of the night when he was born.  I don't love this pic of me. :D)  It was so special to have those first tender moments with him to snuggle and bond. 

 After things were cleaned up they got us our own room and weighed and measured him.  I said as soon as he was out that he was smaller then Madi.  The scale confirmed it when he came in at 6 lbs. 5 oz.  (Madi was 6 lbs. 9 oz.)  He is an inch longer then she was though.  He measured 19".

 With Easton I decide that I wasn't going to nurse him since Madi preferred the bottle and it ended up being a little frustrating for her.  Here he is, enjoying his first meal.

 His daddy sure does love him.  It is amazing how quick the love comes.

 Derrick helped give him his first bath Wednesday morning.

 All clean!  I love his fuzzy little head!

 Nice and toasty warm...

 Madi slept with her mouth open like this too.  I think they get that from their dad. :D

 Grandma and Grandpa (Derrick's parents) were so sweet to take Madi for us while we were in the hospital.  Derrick went and got her so she could meet her new brother.  She was so sweet to him.  She was so gentle and quiet.  She would say "baby sleeps" and sign sleep as she watched him.  When he cried she would say "baby sad" with the most concerned look as she signed it.

 She was ready to take him home though.  She held him for a little while and enjoyed pointing at his features and naming each one.

 Daddy with our most loved little ones.  We will see how Madi does with sharing her daddy.  She even pushes me away and he was mine first! :D

 Mindy with our sweet Easton...

 While Madi was there we brought her in to see Mindy.  We are so very grateful to her and will love her always! 

 Madi really liked the crib.  She wanted us to change her bum in it after she saw Derrick change Easton.  After we told her she was too big, she spent the rest of her time pushing it around.

 We had some special visitors last night, Uncle Chris and Aunt Annie.  Annie, we didn't a picture of you with him :(

 I just love this little guy.  He already knows I'm his mommy.  When he is awake and I talk he looks around for me.  He knows my voice already.  The nurses would come check his stats and he would cry and as soon as they would give him back and I laid him on my chest he would immediately stop. 

 I really can't get enough of him!

 

 We were able to spend some time with some of his birth grandparents.  We already knew them so it was great to see them again.  This is his Grandma Tammy.

 And here he is all ready to go home.  The hospital staff was awesome and we had a wonderful experience but I must say that I am glad to be home.  It will be so nice to sleep in my bed tonight.

 We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's to pick up Madi.  I sure did miss her!  She is such an angel and so full of personality.  She is going to be a great big sister and such a good little helper for me.

 She is lovin' her little brother and wants to see him and be by him every second.

 My two perfect miracles...

We are so blessed to be the parents of Madi and Easton and are so thankful to know Mindy and have her as part of our family.  We love her so very much and will always have a special place in our hearts for her. 

We are grateful for our family and the love, prayers and support they give to us.  Thank you mom and dad for all you do and especially for taking Madi.  She adores you guys!