TWO

Last week our sweet Maddie turned two. I can't even begin to express the joy this little one has brought us. I love being a mom, and I especially love be her mommy. I wanted to do a mini photo shoot with her in a cute outfit, but like most days, she got her way and picked out her own "beautiful dress." I actually love them because they say so much about her personality.

Maddie is a girly girl. She loves to wear dresses and jewelery, and always has to have her lip gloss. She's always in the bathroom bugging me for makeup when I get ready in the morning (or afternoon :), and tells me to wear a dress and high heels when I ask what I should wear. She loves the Disney princesses, and loves to sing and shake her booty. She's always pretending with her baby dolls, and has to feel her baby brother kick every morning when she climbs in bed with us.

She is Little Miss Independent, and has to do everything all by herself. She is so strong willed, and so strong physically that she won't be forced to do anything. I'm learning great patience. But luckily she is good through and through, so she eventually comes around. She is constantly talking (with the cutest lisp), and I'm always amazed by what she retains. Like the other day she told JD, "Be careful. Those are my special special pencils I got for my birthday." And everything is either a "big big one" or a "tiny baby one."

She loves doing yoga with me and wrestling with her daddy. I don't know what she likes to do more than color, swing, go to Disneyland, and swim in the jacuzzi. I think her favorite foods right now are Frosted Mini Wheats, string cheese, smoothies, and suckers. Her kisses and smiles melt my heart, and when she says "I love you mommy" I pretty much can't even handle it. There are some perks to having your kids get older, but sometimes I wish she could stay this age forever.

So there you have it. Everything you could ever want to know about Maddison White. I'm so grateful for the past two years I've gotten to hang out with this girl. I think she's pretty awesome, but I'm biased.

Christmas

Well, it's February, and I'm just now getting to my Christmas post. I swear, the days seem to be flying by, and I'm moving in slow motion. What's my deal? Anyways, we had too much fun to not share some pictures. Here's Maddie ready for a nap after church in front our our little tree.

We spent Christmas Eve and morning with my family, and had Christmas dinner with JD's. All of my siblings and our spouses got to stay in YL for a whole week, so we had a blast. Here we are in our new jammies.

Maddie and Briggsie both just turned two. They were so cute together.

The four grandkids looking sleepy on Christmas morning.

Maddie's big present that Santa's elves stayed up very late assembling. It's going to be perfect in her new big girl room!

Twins! They loved shakin it in these cute petti's.

The guys watched the kids while the girls went and saw a movie. (We saw 127 Hours. Definitely NOT a chick flick, but still got me crying at the end. I must be pregnant!)

Took the kids to Pretent City.

Bryce and Sarah organized a So You Think You Can Dance competition with a trophy and all for the winner. It was seriously hilarious, and will be a tradition for sure. Baliwood took an easy first place, and surprisingly our Hip Hop routine took second. I love my family :).

We also got to go to Stephanie Harn's beautiful wedding reception. I really love parties. Alot.

So, there you have it...our holiday recap.

Last but not least, a family photo with everyone looking!

Two Special Occasions, One Dress

Finding a formal dress is hard enough as it is, but doing it while pregnant makes it that much harder! So once I found one, I stuck with it.

The beginning of December brought my friend Erika's San Francisco wedding. I was so excited to see all my high school girlfriends and spend some time with the hubs without the little one, who spent the weekend (not missing us) with her cousins in Sac. We had so much fun together, as always, and even got to hang out all day in SF and go to Alcatraz on Sunday. Eri was a beautiful, glowing bride, and I loved getting to see another one of my friends marry a great man.

Later in the month was JD's work Christmas party. We got to stay at the Montage in Laguna Beach and hang out with friends for a couple days (kid-less again, thanks to the grandparents). We were spoiled for sure!

Love these girls! Can't wait til next time.

So, all in all, Christmas started early for me this year!

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Whites. As always, we got our fill of good food and great company, and left remembering why we had so much reason to give thanks! We also got some really cute family pictures, which for some reason won't upload! Bummer.

The girls at the Cima's.

The kiddos taking a break from their dance party.

(This one was actually at Christmas when Mary went through the temple.)

In Case you Haven't Heard...

We are having a boy!

I am truly the worst blogger ever, and I can't believe I haven't posted this exciting news! For some reason I have really lacked motivation to keep my life on the web updated. The more fun things we do, the less I feel like blogging because I get overwhelmed about being behind. Sometimes I can barely keep up with real life, let alone computer life. What am I going to do with two kids?

Even so, I couldn't be more excited to bring a little boy into our family. This pregnancy is going by so fast that I barely have time to think about it. I do know that this little guy is active. I think he's working on his jumping skills because I feel him moving like crazy all over the place throughout the day. I'm 25 weeks and my body is already starting to feel heavy and "with child." Hopefully he doesn't fall out for another 13 weeks at least. It's definitely different with #2! Maddie told me that I have a ball in my tummy the other day. She's been told she has a little brother on the way and that she gets to move into a big girl bed, but I can only imagine the way it's going to rock her world when she has to give her crib up to a baby.

Which leads me to another common emotion that I've seen other moms go through. Fear and sadness that they won't be able to give their first the love and attention they're used to. I had the feeling tonight that I need to soak up these next few months when it's just me and my little best buddy. She can be such a stinker and wear me out like none other, but I need to savor each moment with her, because way too soon things are gonna change...in a good way of course :).

Until then, I'll give you a little glimpse into my Maddie-dominated world. Did I mention she has a strong personality? I guess we knew from day one she wouldn't be forced to do anything. Remember how I pushed hard for two hours and she refused to come out? She pretty much bosses me around all day. But I love her and have fun making her life fun, so I guess it's ok.

Meeting Snow White and Maleficent

Goofy is her favorite. She thinks he's so funny.

Finger painting with pudding is the best.

The artist

At the discovery museum in Sauselito
Yes, she is roller skating. (Kind of).
Stay tuned for holiday pictures!

Gymnastics

I signed Maddie up for a tumbling class a few weeks ago and was able to snap a few pictures of my little gymnist. I don't know why but they make me smile. I love them. Maybe it's because she looks so big or maybe because she looks like she's having so much fun. But I think it's mostly because she looks semi-coordinated which has not been one of her strengths thus far. Maybe we'll have a little athlete after all :). Here she is powering up.

She gets more daring every time we go. I love watching her practice her skills. The only draw back to her becoming more confident is that she recently learned how to climb out of her crib. I thought my life was over, but she still likes to sleep. She just appears out of no where sometimes which is a little freaky.

Other news: We watched my sister in law Mary open her mission call last night via Skype. She's going to Geneva, Switzerland, French Speaking! We're so excited for her and know she'll be an amazing missionary. It's so beautiful there. Maybe it'll give us an excuse to go there someday!

Finally, an update on the pregnancy. We still don't know what we're having. I've tried to look on our ultrasound machine at work, but really don't know what I'm doing. For some reason I'm not in a huge hurry this time. Either one has it's positives. I'm almost 18 weeks. I love feeling the little thing swimming around and nudging me. I haven't taken one belly shot. I'm in that awkward "looking fatter but not pregnant stage." I need to start giving this more attention bc I'm afraid I'm gonna wake up one day and be totally shocked to have two kids!

OMG

It cannot be Thanksgiving next week. Where have I been all month? How sad is it that I'm just now posting about Halloween? I have to say this pregnancy has taken it's toll on me. Right after Halloween I came down with a stomach bug, and that combined with my already nauseous self left me pretty much in bed for a week. And I honestly can't tell you what I've done since! It's so not like me to be so lazy! Anyways, I couldn't go without posting a couple pictures from our party. It was so much fun to have family and friends there. I love this holiday for some strange reason. We had chili and cornbread, played pictionary and bite the bag, and had a donut eating contest which my lovely zombie date won, of course. So proud. We even had a little dance party to my delight.

We dressed up as 80's Prom Zombies. I really wanted to be something scary this year, and I definitely got more than I bargained for. Ewww. Next year I'll go for something more photogenic.

Shrek and Fiona won best costume. Kami was convinced they were the real thing and loved sitting on her lap and talking about the movie. So cute :).

And last but not least, my cute little witch trick-or-treating with her hamburger and hot dog cousins. How cute are they? Maddie didn't really get the whole concept. She was too enthralled with the candy already in her bucket to keep asking for more.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween a month ago! And Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year if you don't hear from me.