A sigh of relief and a busy boy...

We had our primary program yesterday which I was in charge of and it went GREAT! I can finally breath a sigh of relief. The kids were all reverent and did their parts wonderfully and they sang so well. The spirit was very strong and the kids received so many comments of praise.

Derrick was called and set apart yesterday to be the second counselor in the elders quorum. They didn't waste any time putting him to work. He had a meeting yesterday, two throughout the week and a baptism on Saturday. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve and look forward to the spiritual growth it will bring to our family.

A couple of sickies...

Since Madi was born we have only been to two family gatherings and we got sick from both of them. :( Poor Madi threw up on Tuesday and had the runs yesterday. She still has her cough from September and has had a goopy nose too. She has been waking up more during the night but at least she is still happy for the most part! I have a head cold or a sinus infection and a fever. Derrick just started last night with a stomach ache and said his chest felt tight. He is ready to call family parties quits for the winter but I'm sure that isn't going to happen. :)

Halloween Fun...

We had a busy but wonderful halloween. We went to see mom and dad and Madi was awake so she was able to play with Grandma and Grandpa. We didn't put her tutu back on but we did dress her for the occassion. What a cutie!Lookin' pretty chunky!!!baby blue eyesAfterwards, we headed to Lehi for soup and family at Jalene's. It was great because we were able to go there and everyone came to her house so we were able to spend time with lots of our loved ones. Here's our family picture.We love our Madi!!! Madi and daddy

Madi and Auntie Bekka

Bekka shared her ring pop with Madi until mom said that she had had enough. When Bekka took it away Madi kept trying to get more. Bekka told her that mommy said no and Madi started crying. Bekka gave Madi her binki instead and she spit it right out. She was definately a fan of her halloween treat! :)

Happy Halloween!!!

We went to our ward trunk or treat last night and there was a huge turn out. They do a chili cook off every year along with it. It was fun to see everyone's costumes. Madi went as a little ballerina! Thanks Aunt Kellie! Everyone thought she looked so cute and especially loved the bow. She does NOT love the camera so these are the best pictures I got.

Thanks to Derrick we were the FAVORITE car and had a line the whole night. Some of the parents even made their little ones skip us because they didn't want to wait in line. Derrick's work gave all the employees 72 cans of the mini pops in A&W, 7 Up and Sunkist to give out to trick or treaters. The kids loved it and thought it was even cooler that they got two treats because we had already bought Pixie Sticks. It was a great night!

I hate to brag...

...but I am so thrilled with how this turned out. I was laying in bed last night trying to think of what bow Madi would wear with her halloween onsie and I remembered some ribbon I had. I have never made a bow before but I tried it and I have to say that I LOVE it! I think Madi will be getting many more soon.

Three Perfect Months...

I am so blessed to be Madi's mom. It is hard to believe that she is three months old today. They have been the three most wonderful months of my life. She is such a beautiful little girl and she steals my heart with every little smile and sound she makes. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father sent her to us. She is so perfect I and I love her more each day!

Madi's best friend...

Madi will lay under her discovery center and just stare at her octopus. She talks to him and hits his rattles and giggles with delight. It is so fun to see her with it. I will post a video later.

I love to watch Madi sleep. Some say that I hold Madi too much and that I should put her down to sleep and that it is my fault she wakes up when I put her down because I always hold her but she is growing up too fast for me to put her down. I have to hold her while she'll let me. Plus, I am making up for all the years of empty arms. :)

Our little fish...

Madi has started to move A LOT more in the water. It is so fun to watch her get her arms and legs going. Sometimes she gets so excited that she holds her breath while doing it and then she stops and giggles. It is so cute.

Keep on rollin'...

Getting bigger and bigger...

It's been a few days since I posted pictures of Madi and since she changes every day, here are a bunch. I can't wait to see if her hair stays red!My princess

Sunday, Oct. 25th

She has found her hands and along with that, my hair. :) She has started to suck on her fist when she is hungry. It is really cute.Another thing she has started doing is rubbing her eyes when she gets tired. It is fun to watch her grow and see all the changes she makes.I love this one.Ready to roll...

I'm thankful...

I am thankful for so many things but most of all I am thankful for my little family. The last few months have flown by and I keep waiting to wake up from this wonderful dream. I am so blessed to have an amazing husband that is so supportive and so willing to do whatever possible to let me live my dream of being a wife and a mom. He makes my life so much better, so much easier and I can't imagine being without him. I am so grateful that we have been sealed together and that we have an eternity to grow old with each other. I have the most beautiful daughter anyone could ever imagine. I look at my little girl and I am so grateful and so humbled that I get to be her mom. What an awesome responsibility. I look forward to Feb. 13 when we are able to have her sealed to us forever. I hope and pray that I will be able to teach her all that she needs to know to return to our Heavenly Father. I love you Derrick and Madison! Thanks for making me so happy!!!

Yippee!!!

We are making progress! Madi had her bath this morning (a little earlier than normal because as soon as I took her diaper off she peed EVERYWHERE! Even the back of her hair was wet.) and there were no tears when I took her out. :)

An eternal family...

We have waited so long for this day to come and we finally have a date. Last week we received our court date (Feb.4) which meant that we could finally schedule our SEALING date! We are so excited to make Madi be part of our eternal family on Feb. 13 @ 10:20 in the Salt Lake Temple. We are going to be sealed in the same room we were married in. We hope that all of our family and loved ones will be able to be there.

Bath Time Two...

Okay, when Derrick watched the movie he thought it made me look a little mean. It is over the course of 15 minutes and I cut out the parts where I was trying to calm her down because I hate my voice on camera. Really, I don't let her lay on the floor and cry.

Bath Time...

Madi LOVES her bath! Getting out on the other hand is an entirely different story. I made a short video of the process...

The crying lasts for at least 15 minutes each time, usually until she cries herself to sleep. If I try to comfort her she just gets more upset. Am I an awful mom because I think this is hilarious? It also makes me nervous because if this is the temper tantrum she can throw at two and a half months, I am sure they will be worse at two and a half years!

As for her dad, he says "put her back in the tub".

Rollin'...

Madi rolled from her tummy to back today! I tried to get her to do it again but she wouldn't. She is growing up so quick!!!

Simply Beautiful

Madison makes the most beautiful sounds. I could sit and listen to her all day! When she does the little tongue thing it means she's hungry. I am so lucky to have such a beautiful daughter. She makes me smile everyday. I am so glad that I am able to be home with her and to watch her learn and grow. She is such a sweetheart!

The secrets out...

There is a store in Midvale called the Wood Connection. They sell unfinished wood furniture. They also have a separate little craft store. It is my favorite store ever!!! Since I don't have all the tools to cut and make the crafts I want, I go there and buy them already cut out. Then I finish them. There website is www.thewoodconnection.com and they are just off 7200 South and 300 West.

For the Madi letters I painted them white, cut some scrapbook paper to fit, glued it on and added my embellishments. There are several different ways to do things and I love making each one different. Hope you can find something fun you like there too.

Watch me grow...

Sunday, October 10th

Madi HATES to be on her tummy when she's awake. When I put her on her tummy she will be okay for a minute or so and then start wailing. After I pick her up to calm her down it takes her at least 15 minutes before she will look at me again and when she does, it usually evokes more tears. :(

Applesauce...

My sister helped me can applesauce and pie filling on Friday. It is so good! Here is a picture of the yummy pork chops Derrick made last night and topped with our applesauce.

Madi...

I finished Madi's letters!!! I still need to make her shelf to put them on but her room is coming together a little at a time. The "a" looks kind of yellow but it is actually lime green.

Family Pictures...

On Saturday I took pictures of my brother's family. I was able to get a few of Derrick and Madi and my sister took a few of our family. Thanks Bekka! We had a wonderful conference weekend. We had all of my siblings that live in Utah come up and had so much fun visiting with them. We wish everyone else could've been here.

doctors, shots and piercings

Sunday, October 4th

Madi had her 2 month check up yesterday. The doctor said she is doing great! She had her shots but the were out of the Hep B shot so she'll have to go back in a week or so to get that.

Length: 21 1/4 = 10th percentile

Weight: 10.0 = 25th percentile

Head: 13 = 25th percentile

She did really well with her shots. It was a bit of a rough night but a lot better than I expected.

After the doctor we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins. It has been almost a month since they had seen her because she was sick and then I didn't have a car for two weeks. It was so good to see them.

Madi also got her ears pierced yesterday. She was so brave. She only cried for about five minutes.

This ones for you Mindy!!!

My baby is two months old!!!

I can't believe that Madi is already two months old. The time has gone so fast. I love that she is starting to get some chunk. I love her smiles and her coos. She makes me smile every time I look at her. I am so grateful that I was blessed with such an amazing little girl and am honored to be her mom. I love her so much and am so thankful for her. I am grateful for a wonderful husband that is so good to me and so supportive of me being home with Madi and is such a great dad to her. I am truly blessed.

Madi's room...

I finished painting the bookcases. I still have several projects left before I can call Madi's room done but it is getting there. The bookcase paint color is called ballerina kiss. It is a really light pink. We love how it turned out. I still need to mess with her daisys and put pictures of her in her frames and a few other crafty projects. I decided to just leave the quilted blanket I made as her bedding and will make her the one I really want to for her next bed. I hate to spend all that time and money on something she'll only use for a couple years.

Halloween, Sharing Time and Family

We had a great weekend! We were able to spend some time as a family ans Madison has been so much fun and so happy this weekend. Saturday she pushed herself ALL day trying not to go to sleep and she did really well at it. It must have completely wore her out because on Sunday she woke up to eat and that was about it.

Derrick actually suggested putting up our Halloween decorations on Saturday even though it isn't October yet so we had fun doing that. We ran errands and got several things done around the house.

Semptember has been my month for sharing time and it has been the first month that I have had to do it since I was called into the presidency. Our senior primary has about 15 kids and they can be pretty chatty so I assigned seats and promised that if they were good they could pick where they sit next time I teach. They quickly asked if I wasn't teaching in two weeks and said they wanted me to and were bummed that I wouldn't be. It made me feel really good to know that I am not boring them the whole time. We have a wonderful primary and I am so blessed to be with them each Sunday and serve with the women I do.

After church we went to Nicholas and Christina's to barbque. Brenton was blessed and unfortunatley we missed that but we were glad to be able to spend time chatting and laughing with family. We are looking forward to this weekend when we will get to be with them some more!