Little monkeys...

My friend, Chantel, and her boys, Guire and Nash, are our new zoo buddies.  We went a couple weeks ago and I am just now posting pics.  Guire was so much fun to watch!  He LOVED the animals. 

 Guire makes an AWESOME monkey!!! 

"OoooOOOoo"

I tried so hard to get Madi to cooperate for a few cute pictures since it has been awhile since she actually posed for a picture.  She was not having it!  Here she is blowing kisses... 

 ...and checking out the construction workers... 

 ...and squinting in the sun...

 ...and praying mom will stop taking pictures...

Isn't she just the cutest?

Playing catch up and at the park...

Happy Saint Patty's Day!  Derrick brought home these stellar glasses for Madi!  That was about as festive as we got!

Last week we had a day that it drizzled most of the day. I needed to drop something off at a friends down the road and we wanted to walk, so Madi went PUDDLE JUMPING for the first time and she LOVED it!  She got soaked! (You can see a little dry patch on her pants)  Now anytime she sees a puddle she wants to splash in it.  When we came in from the rain she warmed up in a bath and then we cuddled and watched one of her favorite movies... Monsters, Inc. 

She loves that movie but there are a few parts that scare her.  It is so sweet to watch with her because she will bury her head when it comes to a scary part.  We checked out a Disney/Pixar music CD at the library and when a song comes on from Monsters, Inc she gets so excited and yells "Monsters, Inc!"

Tonight we went to the park.  We had planned on taking a walk, but with the wind blowing it was just too cold.  Of course that didn't stop Madi from wanting to play for a few minutes.  She headed straight for the slide!  She gets braver each time we go to a park and wants to climb everything like the big kids. 

 Peek-a-boo...

She is such a happy little girl!  I am really looking forward to spring and summer and being able to be outside with her more.  She has so much fun and loves to explore!

Slidin'... 

Even Derrick enjoyed playing at the park.  This park has two diggers that are a hit with the kids and adults! 

He did let Madi have a turn.  What a GREAT daddy!

This is my FAVORITE picture of the two of them.  I love their expressions as they come down the slide! 

So, Madi has started picking her nose.  She pulls it out and says "booger" with the biggest grin.  Then she signs and says "More!  More boogers!  More!"  At least she doesn't eat them, right!?!?!

In other news... Mindy went to the doctors yesterday and they scheduled for her to be induced on April 26th unless she goes on her own before then.  We are so very blessed to have her in our lives and are so thankful for the amazing gifts she has trusted us with.  She will always be so special to us!

An update on the fam...

So it has been a slow week as far as pictures go.  {When I say slow, I mean I haven't taken any! :D}  Madi has done some cute things though so I thought I'd post about those. 

Madi thinks that if you blow on ANYTHING that it must be hot.  I was painting my toenails tonight and she wanted hers done too.  After I painted them I blew on them and she said "hot, hot, hot".  She always whispers it in sets of three.  I love it!

She also called her daddy "Derrick" this week.  He wasn't thrilled but does think it's better then mom.  {Since we got back from WA he has been "mom" and I have been "mama".  He thinks I brainwashed her. :D}

She gave up her bottle this week too.  Actually, all the nipples were mysteriously broken {;D} so that kind of helped.  She went down for her naps in her big girl bed WITHOUT me laying with her. {SO NICE!}

She has started using two new words a that I LOVE... "uh-oh" and "yesss".  She really enunciates the "S" on yes and it is the cutest thing ever!

Another thing she has started doing... when she sees a park she will clap and say "yeah" over and over.  She gets so excited at the thought of it!

Derrick got the training for his A+ Certification today so he will be starting on that and be super busy learning all that new stuff.  I am praying he learns it all quick and is able to remember what he learns.  I would love for him to have it done before Easton comes but that might be a little soon.  He is still in the EQ presidency and stays busy with that.  He really enjoys most of the people he works with and I am very proud of him for the example he sets for those he works with.  He will tell  me stories of things he has done to defend our religion or his values and it makes me proud to be married to such a great man!  The people respect him and will apologize if they curse or say something inappropriate around him and will come to him if they have questions about the church and if he doesn't know the answer, he will research it and get back to them.  He is such a great husband and is so patient with what a bad housekeeper I am.   

I stay busy being mom and prefer to play and do things with Madi then keep our house clean.  When I do clean, she follows me around undoing everything I did.  I don't know how my mom did it with 10 of us!  I am so excited for Easton to get here.  I have to pace myself on getting things ready so I can still have things to get done for him before he comes.  Yesterday I got out his blankets, burp rags and diapers.  The diapers are so cute.  They are so small, nothing like Madi's. :D  I was kind of nervous about a boy at first but the closer it gets the more excited I am becoming.  Hopefully the boy stuff will be as easy as Madi has been. 

This week I moved a lot of the toys downstairs to our theater.  Our bulb went out to our projector a month before Madi was born and I have been hoping we would have extra money to get a new one sometime but I am beginning to face the reality that it will probably be 2047 before we have an extra $250 for a projector bulb.  So, we may as well let the kids go crazy down there, right?!?!?

Exhausted...

We had a wonderful time in WA.  I enjoyed playing with my nieces and nephews and spending time with my siblings.  Erin and I were able to talk some things through that we should have years ago and become better friends and sisters. I got truly spoiled while I was there and had a lot of fun!

Although I already miss everyone like crazy, I missed Derrick more and am glad to be home with him.  He had the house all clean with clean sheets on our bed, my fave!  Could I be any luckier???  I really do have the best husband in the world!

When we got home we fed Madi and went to lay her down for a nap.  She played, of course, but got quiet really quickly.  We went in to check on her and she was just too tired to play.

 She fell asleep on her ride along toy.  The poor kid was totally exhausted!  What a little angel!

Out to dinner...

Tuesday night we went for a yummy dinner at Wingers.  Madi was excited to be outside for a few minutes while we loaded in the van.

 Here's Mr. Brenton waiting so patiently for his food.  He is such a mellow kid and is always so quiet.

L to R: Christina, Nicholas, Erin

Lickin' her lips at the thought of her corndog nuggets and french fries.  Yummy! 

 L to R: Parker, Daniel, Ava, Madi, Whitney

Three degrees...

Yep, it was only THREE DEGREES in Pullman, WA but I knew Madi was going to freak out if I didn't take her outside to play.  So we bundled the kids up and went to play in the SEVERAL inches (a couple feet) of snow.  Erin and Ava went first!  Ava looks like she is loving it!

 Madi enjoyed a couple rides down but really just wanted to be outside, walking around.

 Here is Parker.  He got cold pretty quick but didn't seem all that excited about sledding anyway.

Poor Brenton... He couldn't even see.  He's a trooper though and played for a while.

Little Miss Ava... She had so much fun sledding with her cousins, Whitney and Caitlin.  It is really fun for them to be so close to each other.  They are in the same apartment complex.  It made it nice for me to be able to see Nicholas and his family too.

Caitlin followed the sled down the hill.  She is fearless.  She was going down the steepest parts of the hill like it was no big deal and laughing the whole way down!

I can't believe how grown up Whitney is.  I remember her being born!  I always thought adults are so weird and they say the dumbest things about how fast kids grow up but now I understand it!  Where does the time go?

Madi found a trike and took it for a spin.

She played out there until I couldn't stand the cold anymore and then we went in to warm up.  

Washington or bust...

My younger brother, Daniel, had a tonsillectomy and a uvulectomy last Thursday so Madi and I flew up to WA for a week to help them out.  We have had lots of fun so far playing with family.  It has been fun for Madi to get to know her cousins better and I have enjoyed spending time with Daniel, Erin, Nicholas and Christina.  It is so fun to see my nieces and nephews.  They are all growing up WAY too quick!

Madi got to play with Play Dough and really seemed to like it.  I am going to have to get some fun toys to go with her dough.

Here is Miss Ava playing with her sweet little brother, Colson.  She is such a good sister and really enjoys her brother.

Madi has enjoyed having friends around although I think she is missing her daddy and is a bit overstimulated.  (Hopefully Daniel and Erin will let us come back.  I'm not sure with her screaming! :D)

We never bought Madi a Bumbo.  With everything else we had we didn't think it was needed.  She has LOVED theirs.  I think she thinks it's hers because Erin said she wasn't thrilled about Colson sitting in it.  I tried to get a picture of Madi with Parker.  This is the best the two would give me. :D  Silly kids!

I did get one of Parker by himself that is really cute though!  He has the most beautiful eyes!  Such a cute kid!

Date night...

Derrick's work gave him four tickets to the Grizzlie vs. LV Wranglers game last Saturday.  They were front row, center ice!  It was so fun to go and we had great company!  My brother Christopher, and his wife, Annie, came with us.  (Blogger is being weird so I will put their pic later.)  We went to Olive Garden and we ( I mean I) ate way TOO much and then went over to the game.  I love spending time with them and always have so much fun with them. 

 I LOVE going on dates with Derrick.  We don't do it enough so it makes nights like Saturday even better.  It seems so weird to be away from Madi but it is good for us to be able to spend some alone time together.  The Grizzlies played great until the last two minutes and that's when they lost it.  It was still fun though.  Thanks baby for a great night! 

More crafts...

Last Friday I played around with some extra fabric that I have and made some flower clips I had been wanting to try.  Here's how they turned out...

 

 I am in love with corduroy lately.  It is in Easton's quilt and since I had some extra I made Madi a bow.

 and a few girly clips...

 Yesterday I needed to make something so I found an old black frame and covered it for Easton.

 I like how it turned out.  I am also working on another project for him.  (He needs more than just pink in that room :D)

Madi's Valentine...

Derrick got Madi a balloon for Valentine's Day.  She was SOOO excited!  Tuesday we went outside to play and she had to bring it with her.  She is a funny little one...  now that the snow is gone (oh wait, we got some last night) she has decided she LOVES the sled.  (We will be sledding today.)

 And that she needed to bring that with her on our walk too.  I let her drag the sled to the edge of our yard and then told her we needed to leave it.  I didn't want to drag that around the block.

 I LOVE this picture of Madi.  She is so in love with her balloon and carried it around the block.  I have tried to go on a walk everyday since the weather has been a little better (until last night).  Madi has done great and really enjoyed it.  I love to see her get excited and look around when she hears a dog bark or a truck coming.  She points to things and says what they are, especially trees.  She loves to point those out.  It is such a fun age!  I love it!!!