Happy Birthday Hunter!

This past friday we went to Madi's first friend birthday party! Hunter turned 1 and celebrated with a party at Jungle Jims. Bryon had to work a graveyard shift that night so we made a quick appearance. It was ExTrEmElY crowded and of course Madi got shy and didn't want to talk to anyone! Hunters Dad Tyson was already wedged in to the airplane ride with Hunter....

As you can see, hunter was thrilled about the big ride......We had been standing there in line with Madi trying to decide if she was big enough to enjoy the ride (here she is waiting her turn in line)

and being the great parents we are, we opted to put her on the plane with Tyson! I can't say she enjoyed the ride, but I saw her crack a smile at least once during the ride. Here they are zooming past us. That there folks, is the look of exitement! WOO HOO!!!

Even though we didn't get to stay very long, we had fun. We hope Hunter had a great 1st birthday with many more to come!

First Bloody Nose...

I can't say she didn't deserve it, but it was sad to witness nonetheless.......

Madi has hit her terrible twos at the sweet young age of 17 months. There is nothing better than trying to navigate your cart through the tiny, barely big enough isles at Checker Auto Parts having to slap away tiny little hands reaching for every auto part in sight, only to be smacked back followed by a LOUD scream! I tried to ignore her little outburst and continued my conversation with Bryon when Madi threw her head down in anger and smacked her face on the handle of the shopping cart. At first I didn't realize how hard she had hit it until the tears poured from her eyes and she cried so hard she couldn't catch her breath. I picked her up and as she gasped for air a little bit of blood shot out of her nose on my shirt. Then it started to run out. I ran her to the bathroom and tried to clean her up and stop the bleeding but her nose hurt so bad she wouldn't let me touch it. After a while we went out to the truck and put her in her carseat only to have her rub her nose and start the bleeding again. Needless to say it was a rough afternoon for the Madi-monster. Maybe she learned her lesson....... i doubt it though......

DaTe NiGhT At tHe BoOnDoCkS

Last weekend Bryon and I went out for a date night with our friends Jaci & Jared. We decided to meet at the Chili's by our house at 6:30. When we pulled in we immediately knew we would be waiting for A LoNg TiMe! Bryon and I ran to in to see how long the wait was and were told 20-25 minutes. We figured that wasn't too long so we waited. At about 7:15 We were still standing in the cramped corner past the door like a herd of cattle! Jaci went to see how much longer we had and was told there were 4 names ahead of us. We decided since we had waited so long already, we might as well just ride it out. After another 15 minutes of straining our ears for our names Jace asks again how much longer and she is told that they had been calling our name for the past 15 minutes. Um, no ya weren't Chuckles! We were standing right there....... Sometimes I just plain hate people. This was one of those times. So we were finally seated and had probably the worst waitress in the hole place which wasn't helping things, but I am not one to complain (to your face anyway) so we smiled and ordered our food. When it came out I was a little disappointed to say the least. I order the same thing every time, so I know what it should be like...... Is it wrong to be so upset with a stupid restaurant? Well I was! At least we had great company and that kept the mood light and enjoyable!

After we finished up at Chili's we made the trek out to our car (we had to park at the liquor store down the road just to get a spot!) we decided to go play lazer tag. Jaci and Jared said that the Boondocks had a course, so we were on our way. I have never played lazer tag before and I had no idea what to expect. When we got there we were really excited because the line consisted of the four of us and another couple about our age that we didn't know. We were pretty excited about the lack of "short people" in line. When they let us in the back room we found there were 3 young kids (ages 8-11, I would guess). They apparently had all day passes and chose to pass the time annihilating the adults EvErY RoUnD! So we go in there thinking were all tough and that we can gang up on the kids. We made a pact with the other couple that we were going to get the kids. So were in the room running around when I feel my shield shaking (the sign you've been shot). For the life of me I can't find the culprit. I keep running around shooting at Bryon playfully and find myself getting shot more and more by some hidden sniper! So the round ends and Jaci and I are comparing scores and she had like 376 points. We kind of laughed at how bad her score was because I had a wapping 1,148. I was so proud! As we were walking out the smallest of the 3 kids comes up to me and announces that he shot me some 300 times in a row and I didn't even know it. I kind of just brushed it off like he was some dumb kid, what did he know? Apparently he knew a lot. When we checked out the final rankings/scores. My 1,148 was actually -1,148. That's right. I was in the negative. Whatever... I'm not bitter at all........ dumb kid.......

After I had finished picking up the pieces of my pride in the lazer tag room, we headed out in to the game area. We bought a bunch of tickets and started playing. We had SO much fun! That place is a blast! One of the highlights of the night was the jump rope simulator. Bryon was AwEsOmE at that thing! I must admit that it is very commical to watch 4 grown people jumping on that game! Here some of the pictures capturing our entertainment.

Jaci's MaD JuMpInG skills!

Jared's jumps were HiLaRiOuS!!!

Bryon, our very own JuMpInG JaCk JuMpRoPe ChAmPiOn.....

Bryon and Jared played some mad sniper games, both of which Bryon got served..... That's ok Honey! You're still my number 1 sniper! Ahhhhh.....

Jaci and I played Deal or No Deal. Jaci hit the 30 ticket case, Not bad, not bad....... I on the other hand hit the 100 ticket case (the equivalent of the million dollar case) Oh yeah!!!

Finally to round out the night, we talked Bryon and Jared in to facing off on Dance Dance Revolution. Can I just say WoW!!!! My little white boy can DaNcE! Check these two cuttin' a rug!

We ended up with just over 300 tickets so we "bought" our little princess her very first bow. It is pink even! She LoVeD it! The next morning she found it in the package and insisted on playing with it right away! I helped her shoot it for a while and then she thought it would be fun to just pack it around. I just think she didn't want to go retrieve arrows anymore. Behold.... the next generation of bow hunters.......

Until next time.....

Daddy Dress Up Day

This past friday Bryon and I were getting ready to go out with some friends and bryon had pulled his T-shirt off and dropped it on the floor. Madi immediately ran over and picked up the shirt and pulled it over her head and put it on like she knew exactly what she was doing. I have never seen her do this before but she was right on with it. Look how cute!

Baby Tag

I saw this on Kelly's blog and couldn't resist.

1. Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant? Down stairs in my bathroom/bedroom

2. Who was with you? Bryon

3. How did you find out you were pregnant? A good ole fashioned pregnancy test.

4. What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant? Complete Fear!

5. Who was the first person you told? Bryon, we kept it secret for A LONG time though!

6. Did you plan to get pregnant? NO WAY!

7. Did you tell everyone else right away? NOPE!

8. Was everybody happy for you? I would say it was more shock than anything.....

9. Did you go out and celebrate? Not even close, we stayed home and worried.

10. Did you want to find out the sex? Of course! I was a snooper at Christmas, there is no way I could go that long without knowing!

11. What was the sex? A girl

12. Did anyone throw you a baby shower? Yep, My sister threw me a friends shower, my family threw me a family shower and I had a work shower.

13. Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you wouldn't put on your baby? None that I can remember.

14. How much weight did you gain? I don't know. I am so weird about scales, I never looked.

15. Did you lose all the weight you gained? I know that I did because I got below pre baby weight but I have since gained it all back. I need the biggest loser diet again!

16. Did you get any stretch marks? I sure did, but I won't gross you out with any details.

17. What did you crave the most? Strawberries. I used to make Bryon go to the store late at night just to get me some strawberries. What a great husband I have!

18. Did you crave anything crazy? Nope

19. Who or what got on your nerves? I don't recall being grouchy at all except for the throwing up. Now that I think about it that really made me crazy! I HATE morning sickness!

20. Did you have any complications during pregnancy? Not really, everything went so smoothly, until it came time to have her. My pelvis just wasn't going to let her drop down. Weird I know, since I obviously have child bearing hips!

21. Where and when did you go in labor? I never did. Madi couldn't drop so I never had contractions or anything. We just drove to the hospital at 7:00 that morning and waited for the surgery. It was really quite nice!

22. Did your water break? Nope.

23. Who drove you to the hospital? Since it was all planned out, Bryon and I went to the hospital together.

24. Who was in the room when you gave birth? Just B-Ry and a whole slew of dr.'s and nurses.

25. Did you go early or late? exactly a week late.

26. How long were you in labor for? I wasn't.

27. Did you have any drugs for the pain? Considering I was literally gutted, yeah, I had drugs.

28. Did you go natural or have a C-Section? C-Section. They aren't all that great to be honest!

29. What was your first reaction to giving birth? I was pretty drugged, I just kept asking Bryon if they had cut me open yet and he kept telling me no (I think he was worried I would freak out). Next thing I knew they lifted Madi over the curtain and showed her to me and then took her to wash her off.

30. How big was the baby? 8 lbs 10 oz and 21.5" tall, she was pretty big.

31. Did your husband cry? He might get mad at me for saying this but yes. When they were cleaning her off she was crying really hard, Bryon walked over and started talking to her and she quit crying and stared at him.

32. What did you name the baby? Madisyn

33. Does the name have any significant meaning? Nope, other than we had to slide a "Y" in there for Bryon's name.

34. Did you have any visitors? Yep! Too many to list here. It was great, other than I was pretty drugged up and I looked horrible! Sorry everyone!

35. Did she have any complications? Not one, she was perfect in every way!

36. How old is your baby today? 17 months

37. When is the next one coming? Not for a while.

38. If you could, would you do it all over again? Maybe.....

Letters from Mom....

My Sweet Little Madi,

You have changed SO much in this last month! I look at you and see a little girl. It really makes me sad and happy all at the same time. I LOVE that I can talk with you now. You are so smart and you actually understand what is being said to you. You have a very extensive vocabulary, which I am told by your doctor that you should only be able to say about 7-10 words. Right now and you are spitting out new words left and right, so many in fact, I have lost count! You are getting super snuggly with your dad which I know means the world to him! Particularly the night you were un-winding in our bed at night and you went and layed next to Daddy and reached your tiny, precious hand out and took his hand in yours and held it there as you relaxed!

Early this month you really took an interest in your emotions book. I have only actually read it to you a few times due to your very minute attention span. With each emotion page I would read to you what it was and then showed you an action to act out that emotion. The next day you read the book to me. I particularly liked the "Grrr" with your upside down bear claws and the "Shy" with your bashful head tilted to the side. You are priceless Madi! I was astounded at how you had soaked up what I had showed you only a day before. It really made me nervous about that curse word you repeated after me the other day in the car...... Apparently you retain quite a bit in your cute little head.

It is so much fun to talk to you on the phone now. You can carry on a short conversation which always turns in to some sort of anxious babbling. We know when you are done talking because you kiss the phone and walk away. It really is one of the cutest things I have ever seen!

Someone has taught you to ask "Why?", which you use almost always at the right time..... you know, at the point when I just want you to do something and all you can say is "Why?". It is right about then when I realize I am carrying on an adult conversation with a 17 month old who's only contribution is to say "why" and I continue to explain as if you understand.... Even though I may act annoyed, I enjoy that time we spend together. Another great thing you have learned to say is "I don't want to". I am not sure who keeps teaching you these wonderful little things, but when I do..........

Yet another amazing thing you did to blow our socks off was count to 10. Sort of. You had been playing with the real phone again and I realized you had actually dialed some numbers. I went to turn the phone off and saw you had called 888-888-8888. So I asked you who you were calling at 888-888-8888 and your response...... 9,10. Now, with very little help you can count from 1 -10. Once again, you are amazing kid!

One of the most precious things you have learned to say is "bless you". I was cleaning in the kitchen this past weekend and you were watching Tinker Bell with Daddy in our bedroom and I sneezed. Out of no where I hear the sweetest voice ever yell out "bless you"! Madi I can't express how happy I am to have you in my life! You are such a smart little cookie! I hope you can continue to soak up all the information you can and reach your fullest potential! You are such a blessing to our lives! We love you more than you will ever know!

Love,

Mom

Happy New Year!!!

So 2008 has come and gone in what seems like the blink of an eye! So much has happened and yet so much is still the same. We are still living in an apartment in my parents basement.... waa waa... But we see the light at the end of the tunel. We have a game plan and we are hitting it head on! I see great things happening in 2009! You just wait! We are still happily married, just pluggin' along working and trying to keep our little ranch out back going. We are enjoying parenthood and even though it is stressful sometimes, I think we are succeeding at it.... luckily! Madi is changing every day. She is getting so tall. Sometimes I look at her and just wonder where the time went! She is SO smart! I know every parent thinks their child is the smartest but I really think mine is! Ü She is really amazing! I can't wait to see how much she changes in the next year!

Our family rang in the new year with Tenille and Kevin. We hung out at their house and ate pizza and played games. Big holla for the Scene It game Seinfeld Edition! That was a blast! Even though I really think my Elaine dance impression beat out Kevins, but whatever, I'm not bitter.... The WII was also a blast! We played Rayman Raving Rabbids (or something like that). What a hoot! Kevin and Bryon doing the dance was hilarious! I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! The evidence is below...

Here is Bryon & Kevin Bustin' a move!

This is Bryon & Kevin doing the dance "Spank".... hilarious!

Here is Bryon doing the down hill... priceless

Tenille giving the down hill a try..... "are you supposed to go through the flags?"

Here I am, Of course as soon as I decide to play the damn WII freezes.....

Madi was a trooper and stayed awake until about 2 minutes after the ball dropped and she was OUT! Like a light! She fell asleep on Kevin with her spoon in hand up in the air. Priceless!

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!!!

So I know this is a little bit late, but I just wanted to post about our wonderful Christmas! Once again Madi was spoiled rotten and enjoyed every minute of it! Bryon's brother and his family were going on a vacation on Christmas so we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. We all went to Justyn and Amy's house and opened presents. It was a lot of fun to get together with all of them and enjoy each others company. Madi really enjoyed showing off her new clothes, movies, ball and purse with hair accessories.

Here is Madi checking out her new threads.....

Madi was diggin' her new Little Mermaid Ball.....

Grandma had to try out every one of Madi's new hair clips and bows. Isn't she cute?

On Christmas morning my mom and dad came down to our appartment and helped us celebrate Christmas and watch Madi open her gifts. When it came to opening the gifts, she was a little bit distracted by the previous gift unwrapped. She got the hang of it though and loved every minute of it. She made a haul!

Check out that hair! Wow, who is supposed to be making sure this kid looks presentable?!?! What can I say? It's Christmas!!!! Look past the hair people! She got so much fun stuff! The toys are getting annoying, but she still loves them! Santa did good work!

Later that afternoon all of my side of the family came over to have our Christmas Feast! Yea!!! The stuffed mushrooms rocked! Thanks Kristin!!! We opened our gifts between our families. Madi got a big My Little Pony from Oakley, which she calls her baby and must have at all times! I thought she was going to break through the box when she opened it up. She couldn't wait to get at that pony. Bryon tried to tell her to wait until everyone was done and she wouldn't have it. She started pounding on the box......

Madi also got some Jammies and movies from Grandma and Papa..... One of Madi's favorite gifts was the magnet farm. She played with that thing for hours. It was so cute to see Bryon on the floor playing with her.

What a great Christmas! This will definitely go down in the books as one of the best Christmas's ever! It is so much fun when there is a little one in the house to help keep the Christmas magic! Ü