Lucky me...

My sister, Bekka, has been going to cosmotology school for the last year and is getting ready to graduate on Saturday. As part of her last two weeks she got to pick someone to do an all day makeover on. I was her lucky pick! She gave me a facial, pedicure, gel toes, waxed, a cut, deep condition treatment and color. Until yesterday I hadn't noticed how brown my hair has gotten. It made me sad because my hair color has always been one of my features that I actually liked. Thanks to Bekka, the auburn is back and I LOVE the colors she used! Thanks Bekka for a wonderful day! Side view...

Terrific Tuesday...

Our ward had a Terrific Tuesday this week in place of a Super Saturday. I love those. We have some amazing talent in our ward and it is so nice that they are willing to teach and share their ideas. I made this super cute door hanger and a set of three Christmas tree blocks.

A HUGE thank you to Liseanne who is only five weeks away from delivering her sixth AND seventh babies. She came up with the ideas and cut out the wood. She really is super mom! Thanks Liseanne!

Paintin' Pumpkins

On Sunday we went over to my brother's new place to paint pumpkins. Chris grew them all and was so great to let each of us have one. Here's Madi with her Auntie Bekka and Holly. This is my pumpkin. (Derrick's still isn't quite finished.)
Here is all of them. Chris is going to carve the big one. It is big enough that Madi would probably fit inside it. (Derrick's is the two face pumpkin in the front)

We had a great time. Thank you Chris and Annie for inviting us!

A rough day for Kyah...

We had planned to go to the zoo this morning while Jaxon's at school. We have breakfast, pack a lunch and head out. I got off the freeway and Kyah said the seat belt was hurting her tummy. I told her to pull it out a little so it wasn't so tight. She did and said it still hurt. Moments later she puked. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't do puke. I pulled over, got some wipes and started cleaning it up. Within seconds I was puking all over the parking lot. Once we were all cleaned up Kyah seemed really perky so I asked her how she felt. She said good and she wanted to go to the zoo.

We got to the zoo and pretty much all the animals were out. Most were eating there lunch. It was cool to watch. While we were watching the orangutans play, Kyah grabbed onto the fence. She got a big sliver. It is deep too. She wouldn't let me get it out and was crying cause it hurt. The carousel cheered her up though!

Madi rode it by herself without me holding onto her for the first time. She LOVED it! I love this girl! I could just kiss those chubby cheeks all day!
She rode on the panda bear. Kyah picked the tiger.

See, told ya it made her happy! :D

After the carousel we went to see the tigers. Madi actually say on the bronze tigers for a picture. Yeah Madi!!!

On the way to see the elephants Kyah fell. She was okay but then on our way out she fell AGAIN! Poor kid is going to have bruised knees and a sore hand from her zoo trip. Hopefully the rest of the day goes a little better for her. :D

It's extended....

I am closing my eshow on Monday so you still have a few days to order! Books make great Christmas gifts and Usborne Books pffers over 1,400 items to choose from!!!

Don't forget...

Tonight is my Usborne Book party at 6:30. I hope you are coming but if you can't make it you can still order some great books for your kids. Go to my eshow at www.ubah.com/hos182352 and place your order today!

Sliding...

About a month ago we had a DI drive that Derrick helped with. They were about done and decided to take one more pass through the neighborhood to make sure they got everything. There was one more thing, a slide. The truck was full so Derrick had to ride on the hood of the truck holding it so it was dropped at our house instead of the DI. Madi has wanted nothing to do with it. Every time I tried to have her slide she would cry, until yesterday when she decided to do it herself. She is growing up so fast!!! We decided we are going to have to get her a little slide.

A new family tradition...

Yesterday we started a new family Halloween tradition. We went to Black Island Farms and had so much fun that we decided we were going to do this every year. They had an animal alley that you could see all the farm animals and feed them if you wanted. Most of them were not close enough to the fence to be able to feed them though. Madi LOVES animals so she really enjoyed that.

They had a swing set that had three tire swings, a shark, a horse and a bull. Here's Derrick and Madi on the shark. Derrick said they were NOT comfortable. :D They had two bulls that you could rope. We didn't rope them but did let Madi have a ride. She thought that was pretty fun.

I love this picture!

Next was the big haystack slide. Madi and I went down it first. Climbing up was fun because it was just a rope net to use, no stairs. Would've been easier without Madi but we made it up. Madi was actually a little scared on this.

Next was Derrick's turn with Madi. I told him to have fun and when he saw the net, he knew why. :D Madi looks like she is going to fall right out of his arms. She's hanging on for dear life!

At the bottom they slid right off trying to miss a kid that went down at the same time. They had a grain chute slide that was next but I failed to get pictures of that. We rode on the cow train. It was a bumpy ride! Here's Derrick and Madi in their "cow".

Next was one of Madi's favorites, the corn box. We buried her in the corn. She wasn't sure about it at first but seemed to like it after a minute or two.

Gettin' a little corny!!!Madi would have played in this the rest of the day if we had let her. We got her out and she climbed right back in.

They had a smaller hay slide for little kids. (they actually had two others in between the big and little ones too) Under it were barrels to climb through. Madi thought this was great! She crawled from one side to the other. She didn't go all the way though. She made sure she stayed far enough from the opening that we couldn't grab her. After about five minutes of trying to coax her, Derrick crawled in to get her so some other kids could have a turn.

Madi enjoyed the little slide much more. She would copy the other kids and try to climb up it after she slid down. She actually did really well. The other adults kept commenting on how strong she is.

"Keep going Madi, you're half way there!"She is a tough little girl! The kids would slide into her or knock her down and she would just grin and try again.

Sliding back down

She had so much fun doing this and didn't want to leave this either.

I know there are tons of pictures but we didn't get pictures of the rest. We took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and got a couple pumpkins. We went through one of their Twilight themed corn mazes and by then Madi was hungry and tired so we headed home. There was so much more there to do. They had four mazes, one was haunted, a haunted barn, live music, face painting, farmers market and lots more in the courtyard were the slides were. We had a wonderful time and all really enjoyed ourselves. Can't wait til next year!

You have to pick your battles...

We thought that Madi was becoming a picky eater because she wouldn't want foods that she has liked other times. It didn't take me long to figure out that she had actually entered her "do it myself" phase. If we won't let her feed it to herself she won't eat it. We usually let her try but most of our meals aren't too messy or we alter them a little for her. Today we had chili for lunch and she REALLY wanted to feed herself. Since she hadn't had a bath and I needed to mop the floor I gave in on this oh so messy lunch.

She likes Danimal Smoothies but I usually hold them and she throws a fit while she drinks them because she wants to hold it. Problem is it would be all over in a matter of seconds if I let her hold them but, I let her today. She is trying to put her straw in it.

See, all over! She used her hands and legs to make sure she could spread it as far as possible.

mmmmmmmm...

I love watching Madi grow. It is so fun to watch her change and learn new things. I enjoy every minute with her and don't mind cleaning up her messes. I love to see her try new things like trying to feed herself with a spoon or fork. I love her excitement when I ask her if she wants a bath. I love her chatter and that she likes to sing with me or the radio. I love reading her stories and cuddling with her. Being a mom is so much better than I ever imagined. What an amazing little girl I have! I love you sweet Madi!

Tinkerbell...

I'm sure that no one could have guessed that Madi is going to be Tinkerbell for Halloween. :D I have been sewing like crazy the last two days on her costume. It is so fun! I still have to finish the wings, make her shoes, do something for her hair and add some more sequins but she looks so cute I had to take pictures.
What a cheeser!I hope she doesn't grow between now and Halloween or I will be making the body suit again! Good thing I have a TON of extra material!

Got the biopsy results....

...and I don't have cancer! YEA!!!

Bathtime???

Last night Madi had a bubble bath. She didn't want to get out so we let her play and play. By the time we got her out she was a little prune! We got her in her pjs and all ready for bed. Then Derrick and I went into the kitchen to get the scriptures and her bottle. When Derrick went back in her room she wasn't there. He came back out and saw her in the tub. Yep, she got in all by herself!

When she saw us at the door way she started climbing back out.

She must have barely made it. Look how short her little legs are!

Okay, I need suggestions. Can you see the little bruise on Madi's forehead? It's about the size of a quarter and is always there because when she sleeps she scoots herself up to the bars as far as she can and rest her head right there. She usually wakes up with a good dent in her forehead. The other problem she has with her crib is that she gets her chubby little knees stuck in between the bars. I have to butter them to get them out. I am afraid she's going to break her leg trying to get them out one day. I have measured the spacing and it 2 1/8" so totally within standards. We put a bumper in but she would push it down and lay on it and still push her head into the bars when she slept. Aside from moving her to a big girl bed does anyone have suggestions?

Davis Surgical Center...

Friday morning we took Madi to Davis Surgical Center to get her tubes put in. Her appointment was at 10:00. We got there and did the paperwork and they called us back about fifteen minutes later. (Check out Madi's new shoes. Aren't they so cute!) We got Madi some soft, flannel Tinkerbell jammies and grandma and grandpa got her a set of touch and feel animal books. She LOVES them!Ready for the doctor...

We waited for awhile and then put Madi in the wagon because she was getting restless.

We rolled her around and she played in it and enjoyed the big, red wagon.

Then she decided it was her turn to push it around. She would get going and then bump into the wall or something else and get mad. The room was only about 10x10.

We were in there for awhile. Her doctor got caught up in another surgery so he didn't even get to the center until a little after 12:00. What a big girl!

She had had enough and was tired of being in the room by the time they came to get her. Here she is trying to get away!

About ten minutes after they took her they came and said everything went great and five minutes after that they came and told us she was awake and we could go back with her. She was FREAKING OUT when we got to her. I have never seen her so mad. She was literally climbing out of my arms and screaming. The poor kid. She calmed down after fifteen minutes or so and then we were able to bring her home. As soon as I put her in her car seat she crashed and slept for three hours. When she woke up she was her happy little self and has been since.

Blue...

Today Madi played with markers... Madi LOVES to play peek-a-boo lately and will find anything to do it with. Here she is using her curtains.

I want a cow or a turtle or a zebra...

It's a pillow... It's a pet (dumb computer keeps flipping the orientation, oh well)...

It's a pillow pet!!!

At the fair they had Pillow Pet booths all over. Madi loved them. She would pick up one and kiss and then move to the next and kiss it and so on. So, grandma and grandpa gave her a little money for us to get her one before her surgery. Of course at the fair we had talked getting her one and what one would it be but decided we didn't have the money for it but we had a few we liked, the cow, turtle and zebra. So, with the gift from grandma and grandpa, we were on a mission to find just that.

For all you that are starting early on your Christmas shopping I'm gonna help you out...

• Toys'R'Us has the bee and the ladybug. (The one in Layton only had one of each left.)
• Target is carrying the bee and the ladybug. They are on an end cap near the childrens bedroom decor.
• Bed, Bath & Beyond has the bee, ladybug, dog and unicorn. They are in a bin in the middle aisle by the drapes and towels.
• Kohl's isn't carrying them as of yet.
• Heard rumor that JC Penny's had them but the one in Layton doesn't and isn't sure if they will.
• Hallmark's are carrying them. The Layton one has the panda, ladybug, bee, cat and unicorn. They are about $5 more than everywhere else. Asked about the cow and they said it is on back order until AFTER Christmas. They also had matching Blanket Pets that were $30.
• Smith's Marketplace has the bee, ladybug, dog and unicorn.
• Clinton WalMart has penguins, dolphins, unicorns, monkeys and pandas.
• Syracuse WalMart has bees, ladybugs, pandas and unicorns.
• Barnes & Noble doesn't carry them as of yet.

Okay, I so I am freak. Madi doesn't even care what one she gets but yes, I ran all over looking for one of the three we wanted with Madi, Kyah and Jaxon over the last two days. All the stores have them for around $20 except Hallmark. Oh, and there is NO kiosk in the Layton Hills Mall as of yet.

Madi got the bee and she loves it. She lays on it and hugs it and kisses it. It was nap time so she wouldn't even crack a smile. I need to stop taking pictures at nap time! :D Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!!