Sad Day

I've been dreading this day for a very long time.

I'm afraid this may be the end to one of mommy's favorite obsessions.

Visits

I'm way behind on my blogging. The last few weeks have come and gone so fast and we've done so much that I think I've felt too overwhelmed to try to blog about it all. So I've picked one thing to focus on, and hopefully I can keep up from now on. Doubt it :). Anyways, a few weekends ago we went up north to visit my brother Eric and his family. We celebrated Kami's 3rd birthday, Halloween, and baby Dylan's blessing. They sure know how to throw a party! Here's our Maddie girl all ready to get on the plane.

This guy comes home to me every night looking like this. What a babe.
I loved meeting my newest nephew. He's got gorgeous blue eyes and is so tiny compared to Maddie. I've forgotten how to take care of a newborn!
Me and the birthday girl: AKA the "Wicked Witch." She really wanted to be Malificent, but there were no costumes her size. I love her!
The proud parents who made it happen. Thanks for the fun weekend!

Getting ready to Trick or Treat.

Sweet baby Dylan's blessing.

It's always fun to hang out with the Long's. They're the best!
A week later Sam and Eric came down to visit us. The girls went to So You Think You Can Dance while the guys watched the babies. Eric was alone with the 3 of them for a couple hours before JD and Papa got home from work, and we were a little worried, but he survived.

We had so much fun re-living last seasons best dances, and we even met Mary Murphy!!! She just stood there like a wax statue, but I think it was better that she didn't open her mouth :).

I had to work one day, so Sam and my mom took the kids to Pretend City in Irvine. They said the girls loved it and were entertained for hours. I can't wait to take Maddie back.

Ya, they played hard.

Dylan is such a little trooper. He pretty much slept the whole time wherever we went.

Of course we had to go to the beach so Eric could surf. It was a little cold in the morning, but warmed up and turned out to be a beautiful day.

It's so cute to watch Maddie play with her cousins. She loves them all!

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Having little ones around makes everything more fun!

9 Months

Love Bugs

Happy Halloween!!!

Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Target

1) I never have nothing to do- I think the babe quite enjoys her rides in the shopping cart on our outings.
2) It caters to my every need- wardrobe, snacks, home decor, gift wrap, baby junk, etc., etc,.

3) The sale racks rock.4) They have the cutest baby girl clothes.
5) I spend close to $100 every time I step into that store, but I don't ever really feel guilty about it. (Necessities, right?)

New outfit: Courtesy of Target.

New trick: Figured that one out on her own.

Life in the 95th Percentile

This girl loves to eat. Every meal is an experience for her. She prefers to feed herself.

She has to examine every morsel before it goes in her mouth. (She gets that from me).

This is her "cute" face. Don't know where it came from.
Sometimes she's not sure about the texture.

Sometimes she just doesn't like the taste.

Sometimes it's so bad it makes her gag.

But as long as she can wash it down with her beloved sippy cup, she's a happy girl.

Autumn

I absolutely love this time of year. October always brings with it a certain crispness in the air, and a smell that I think I only started recognizing when living in Utah. Fall there is so beautiful and vibrant. I came to love the changing leaves and chilly weather. I think I'm really going to miss that. But the other day while walking out to my car I caught a whiff of Fall, and realized I'll still get a milder California version. Plus I don't have to dread scraping my windshield and feeling claustrophobic all winter. Visiting the snow will be much better for me than living in it.

I was so excited to put Maddie in this outfit from Janie and Jack. I thought it looked fitting for the season. When I'm rich and famous, I'm buying one of everything they sell. Now every time I go to the mall I just wander into the store and stare longingly at all the intricate little details. Then I browse the sale rack, occasionally buy one thing, and walk out convincing myself that silk and cashmere don't stand a chance against blueberries and green beans.

I'm afraid I have a really bad case of the "new mom syndrome." I'm starting to realize that I really don't talk about anything but my baby. When I shop, I gravitate towards itty bitty shoes and sweatsuits instead of much needed clothes for me. It's probably a natural thing every mom goes through, being that your focus turns entirely to this new little person, but I'm sure it gets annoying. She is the most exciting thing going on in my life right now, as I marvel at how she changes every day. Plus, I've gotten used to being looked passed as she's become the center of the universe. But I'll try to talk about some other aspects of my identity for a sec.

I've been in a crafty mood lately. All I want to do is make cute Halloween stuff to give to other people: Spooky Cookies in a Jar, Frankenstein Rice Krispy Treats, Dresses with "Boo" fabric. Why? So weird. Anyways, I don't really have time to do all the things floating around my brain. Work takes up 24+ hours a week, but it has really been such a perfect job. I love working in the ER, I love having a skill that I can help others and help save money, I love that it's 5 minutes away, and I love being able to leave Maddie with the best sitters in the world! (Her Grammies).

Every day I feel so happy and blessed to be in the situation we are in. I know we are right where we need to be. (Although I'm not sure my parents realized this is what they'd get when they wanted so desperately to be closer to kids and grandkids :). We now live very close, right down the hall as a matter of fact. We are grateful that they've let baby stuff take over their house. But I know they love waking up to see this face every morning. Who wouldn't? Happy Fall.

8 Months Old

Our baby has grown up so much this last month. She's turning into a big girl in so many ways. She's crawling, standing up on everything, eating real food, clapping, waving bye bye, signing "more," crying for mamama in the mornings, sleeping 11 hours at night, trying to sing and dance along with music, and getting into the stranger danger stage. She's been sick all weekend and it's so sad, but it's felt good to do nothing but cuddle her. I hope she gets over it soon so we can get some sleep again!

Happy Birthday JD

Tuesday the 22nd was JD's 27th birthday. Maddie and I took him out to lunch and later that day we had a little birthday get together with our families. We also went to the Angels Yankees game last minute. I think he had a pretty good day. I got him tickets to the BYU vs. UNLV game in October. We're excited to have a weekend away in Las Vegas!

Maddison and I are so lucky that JD is ours. He's the best husband and father. Thanks for all you do for us babe. We love you so much!!!

Prodigies

...in the making.

iPhoto

After realizing that it's been way too long since I've posted, I decided to get on my mom's Mac and try to come up with something to blog about. It's not that my life's so dull that that there's nothing going on...quite the opposite. I've been too busy to even charge my camera battery, let alone document all of the momentous things that are happening every day. And believe me- there are momentous things. Like Maddie perfecting her speed crawl, pulling herself up on EVERYTHING, and refusing her afternoon nap. Who refuses an afternoon nap? And me making it to work on time after trying to have every detail taken care of for whoever's babysitting, along with my six meals a day I'm supposed to be eating. (Work's going great, by the way. I love working in the ER). And JD managing to stay up on all the latest BYU football news while working his buns off at the office (and in the gym:). It's a miracle that we have any energy left at all to do the fun stuff. But of course we manage to fit it in. A lot of it. We've been hanging out with friends and family all summer long. I keep having to remind myself that summer's never really over in California. There're plenty of beach days left for us. Jealous? Come visit us. We miss you. Maddison loves seeing these two buddies almost as much as I love seeing their moms. I hope their moms don't care that I cartoonized them.

Here's Nanette. She's got a birthday coming up on the 27th. She's pretty smart. This is what she did when I asked her how old she was gonna be. We got to see her tonight and she is just too cute. Maddie envies her lovely locks.

Here's Savannah. She eats constantly, and particularly loves eating sand, dirt clods, chips, and anything she can get her hands on. And Maddie still weighs more than her. She just had a birthday and sleeps in til her mom wakes her up at noon.
I just realized that these girls have some same nicknames: Nanners, Nanna, Nannerpus. Wow this post is random.

p.s. Don't go see "Love Happens," the new Jennifer Aniston movie. It was brutal. I thought it was never going to end.

09.09.09

Happy Birthday to my newest nephew Dylan Slater Lindsey! And what a cool day to be born!

Get this:

September has 9 letters

Wednesday has 9 letters

Today is the 252 day of the year which equals nine when added up

AND he was born at 2:34am (Add it up people!)

Congrats to my brother and sister-in-law (who is amazing and gave birth naturally again). I'm anxiously awaiting more pictures of this little guy!

p.s. Happy Birthday Erin Low and thanks for letting me steal the info from your blog :)

No Joke

Best Buds

Last week was so much fun. We had Jess and Mike and Bryce, Sarah and Briggs here to play for a whole week. Basically we just soaked up the sun, watched the babies interact, and played tennis. Maddie and Briggs were beyond adorable together, and let's face it, they're way cuter than we are, so the cameras naturally gravitated towards them. (Explaining the lack of pictures of adults here).

Surfer babies.

Munchkins in the spa.
With grammy at Newport.

Happy in the bath.

Mesmorized by the fish at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Sharks too.

Briggs teaching Maddie how to crawl.

We miss you like crazy little Bubba! Can't wait til Thanksgiving.

P.S. We miss everyone else too. Can't wait for our next baby boy to be here Sammy!