A Glimpse into my future...

As I mentioned in a previous post, Madison learned how to wave hi and bye, but shortly after this I started noticing her say something that sounded like hi, without the "h" sound, it's more like "I" but she would do it when she was waving. Not wanting to be the mother who thinks her child is a genious I didn't make a big deal about it, but my sister informed me that at her age, Madison can be learning words so I'm proud to announce Madison can say "Hi!". But the funniest part is that at around the same time I noticed when Madison played with her play phone (or any other similar shaped object) she would hold it to the side of her head and say "Hi". So I think I have a teenager in the making! I finally snapped some pictures yesterday, it's the funniest thing! It made me wonder though, do I really talk on the phone that much?!



Oh, and I didn't do Madison's Hair in a Mohawk-she had a cute ponytail with a bow and everything, but it fell out during her nap!

Pigtails and Hairbows!

As promised, I finally took some pictures of Madison with Pigtails! The first time I did it, Mahlon said to Madison "Mom gave you horns!" I think they are cute, more like little bug antenas. Then, Friday night some of us got together and had Carlie teach us how to make hair bows. It was so fun, and really easy, I came home

with nine pairs! The ones she is wearing in these pictures I can't take credit for, they were made by the very talented Carlie. I'm loving being able to do her hair and loving it even more becuase I now have matching bows!

Ten months on the Tenth!

I've been inspired by my friends Kara and Heather who's little girls have just turned 8 months and six months respectively on the 8th, to announce Madison's 10 month birthday today! (I can't believe how fast time has gone by!) I'm going to steal thier ideas for my post, hopefully they do not mind!

At nine months Madison weighed 15lbs 10oz and was 26 inches long (both 10th percentile). After asking how tall I was and Mahlon, the pediatrican said "I think it's just her genetics kicking in" Thats a nice way of saying-she's little, but so are you. Anyway, she hasn't gotten much bigger in the past month.

This past month Madison:

Learned to pull herself up to standing, and can get back down again.

Started waving hi and bye, sometimes its an all arm wave, sometimes it just with the fingers, or sometimes both. And if you're really lucky you'll get a double wave, with both hands!

Continues to crawl around, she moves pretty fast now, but she prefers to walk while holding your hands- she thinks she's so cool when she does this!

Lets you know when she wants you to pick her up by reaching up with both arms-it's so cute, its immpossible to resist! She also points to or "pulls" herself in the direction she wants you to take her.

Learned to "give kisses". When I say "Give Mama a kiss" she'll very carefully lean in, usually her mouth is open and slobbery, but I love them anyway!

Continues to talk or sing to herself in the car, while taking walks or when playing with her toys. She loves to hear herself!

Loves to play with her toys, especially her board books. She will sit and flip through each page from the begginging to the end (and then back) while "talking". I like to think that she's already reading!

Loves being outside! Her favorite thing is to go out on the balcony and pull out hand fulls of dirt from the pots of plants.

Throws tantrums (throws herself forward so her forhead is resting between her feet and crys!) if: I put her down and she dosen't want to be down, if I tell her no, or take away something she's not supposed to have. (Its so cute, it's hard to be serious and not to laugh

refuses to eat anything "baby food"- cereal (which she used to LOVE) jarred food, even little ravioli's made for toddlers, ect. the exception to this is little puffs, and grahmn cookies. She only likes real food that she can pick up with her hands. She spits out any kind of meat I try to feed her (except ground beef in speghetti sauce) and will "help" me feed her yogurt or apple sauce with a spoon (the only two things she will eat from a spoon) Her diet mainly consists of canned/fresh fruit, canned veggies, or peas, bread and cheese, and recently speghetti (with whole wheat macaroni noodles).

Not only has enough hair for one pony tail, but two--pig tails! (I haven't gotten a picture yet, but one will be coming soon!)

Got her first tooth, and second, and third!

She is so much fun to be around- she's always making us laugh. Mahlon and I love to just sit and watch her and talk about how beautiful or cute, or smart or cool (etc.) she is (Ok, so we take the proud parent role to a new extreme-which is why this is such a long post!) She has blessed our lives more than we thought possible and as difficult as it is sometimes, we wouldn't trade having her for anything else in the world!

Conference Weekend!

This weekend was the 178th Annual General Conference of the Church. It was a special conference because we were able to sustain Thomas S. Monson as the new Prophet. In addition we sustained a new First Presidency as well as a new member of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles. I love conference weekends, because you're able to spend two whole days listening to inspired men and women speak uplifting words that teach us and remind us how to grow closer to our Heavenly Father. I had an institute teacher who used to tell us that if we would pray before conference, we would find that at least
one (if not more) of the talks would be something that seemed to be spoken just for us. In my case this year, the talk that was "just for me" was M. Russell Ballard's talk on mothers. Since Madison was born I have felt intense joy for my role as a mother, but have also struggled with feelings of being unappreciated, unaccomplished and under paid! I was grateful for the uplifting and inspiring words that he spoke, which touched my heart and gave me reassurance that what I am doing is worth while and important. I'm so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who inspired Elder Ballard to speak on this topic, and take time out of a conference which is broadcast to the entire world to give a talk just for me! (and ok,maybe a few other moms too!) I really needed to hear those words! I am grateful to be a mother and for those brief moments of joy and satisfaction, how ever rarely they come, which give me the strength and desire to continue to do this great work!

Fun in the Sun! --Sort of

Today we (Myself, and Aunt Katie-Mahlon's Sister) took Madison and Jacob to the pool. We were all ready to spend the afternoon in the sun, swiming in a heated pool. But the weather turned chilli this afternoon and there were clouds that kept covering the sun, but that didn't stop us. We got the kiddos dressed (note Madison's new bathing suit: Thanks Grandma Newton!) and sun-screaned and headed out to the pool. When we got there we were surprised to find the pool was not heated (and if they say it's heated, I would say they are lying!) It was freezing! Jacob would have nothing to do with the water after a one foot trial. Madison however, surprized us all by not only putting both feet in, but smiling about it and wanting to get in further. She loved it! This is the first pool experience she's had this year (Mahlon and I took her only once last year) and I'm glad she liked it, despite the fact that the water was cold! I on the other hand, as well as Katie, were freezing and so even though Madison was loving the splashing and kicking, our pool time only lasted a few miuntes. Then we warmed up in the hot tub and left. The whole excursion took 30 min. We probably spent more time and energy getting ready and walking there than we actually spent at the pool. Despite the bad weather and cold water, we've decided to try to make it to the pool every week, hopefully we'll be able to stay longer next time!

Little pleasures!

Someone (you know who you are!) mentioned recently that I do not update my blog enough so I decided to blog about the little pleasures that I encounter during my days at home with three kids.

Little pleasure #1:
I purchased cabinet locks like a good mother, months ago when we moved into this house in an effort to baby-proof. I never installed them, but don't be too alarmed, I decided it was easier to just move all toxic materials out of reach rather than lock them behind cabinet doors. Everything was going along just fine until recently Madison and the others have enjoyed opening the kitchen cupboards and banging them shut. The other night Madison took out a box of ziplock bags and pulled all of them out and spread them accross the floor. Finally today I had had enough of the cupboard banging and washing pots and pans that had previously been cleaned but now were dirty becuase they had been handled by slimy hands. I installed the cabinet locks, and maybe I've been locked inside for too long, but with each one I finished I would laugh to myself in a triumpant way- "Ha ha! Lets see them get to THESE pots and pans!" Its sick, I know. But I couldn't help myself! Then when I was all done I got to reap the rewards of my work and watch as each little rug rat attempted to open the cupboards, only to have thier efforts be in vain due to my geniusness--or rather, those who invented cabinet locks! Little victories equals little pleasures!



Little pleasure #2:
While documenting the above mentioned triumph, I snaped a few pictures of Madison playing (note: she's in the kitchen, just after attempting to open the cupboards! Ha ha!) Anyway, I didn't notice at the time but when I looked back at the pictures I laughed out loud at the priceless moment I had captured! Notice the slobber hanging off her mouth-Classic! You can't plan photography like this! It brought a little smile to my face, hence, little pleasure #2!


Oh, the joys of motherhood!

Drum Roll, please !

I'm so excited! I've been waiting for this day to come for nine and half months! Madison finally has enough hair (barely) to have a pony tail! If you notice, it's a bit like those "to the side" pony tails from the 80's becasue she wouldn't sit still, and wasn't very happy about me doing her hair, but once it was done, she didn't mind. I'm so excited! I had to take pictures to share with everyone. Next step- ribons and bows!

On a totally differnt subject, I would like to announce that in a moment of greed (or probably more appropriately, a time of need) I agreed to take on a second child so I'm up to three! Her name is Emily, she's about the same age as Jacob (15 months) so its like having twins and a baby six months apart (there must be a reason nature wouldn't allow for such a situation!)! She's a bit more "fiesty" than Jacob, and I'm quickly thinking the double of my income may not be worth it! What was I thinking? Take a look at the two of them when they are contained... (note how I only have one high chair so Jacob is sitting in a booster seat on the computer chair!)


And here is what happens when they are not contained! Yikes!


So, here's to three times the diapers, runny noses, and crying! Oh, and I've decided to run a full time day-care center out of my home, the more babies the better, preferably under the age of 2 so tell all your friends! *note the sarcasm, and yet--isn't that what I'm doing?