Well, the holiday season has been upon us, and with that life gets to be busy, and I have missed a month.  So, to catch up on what changes have happened...... Madison is now walking!  She's a pro at it now and her little waddle walk is adorable.  She has the skinniest little legs that carry her quickly wherever she wants to go.  She also climbs on things WAY more than Brooklynn ever did.  She's constantly climbing up on our little chairs, stools, the stairs, my aerobic step, or anything else she can climb on.

That little girl is feisty!  She doesn't back down when Brooklynn or anyone else tries to take something from her.  I was taking a shower one day and low and behold I hear Madison and Brooklynn fighting over something in my bathroom, and I look out of the shower to see Brooklynn running off with whatever it was, and Madison has her by the back of her shirt, and is running behind her holding on for dear life.  She wasn't about to let Brooklynn get away.  She has been known to hit, pull hair, bite, kick, scream, and whatever else she has to do.

She now as 4 top teeth and two bottom teeth.  She is quite the picky eater when it comes to fruits and vegetables.  She loves bananas and avocados, sometimes apples and pears,  and that's about it.  If she doesn't like something she spits it out immediately, and continues to spit dramatically afterward like she can't believe I would feed her something that tastes like that! Contrary to her sister, she loves macaroni and cheese, and most rice.  She loves greek yogurt, scrambled eggs, cheese, oyster crackers, french fries, hot dogs, and she loves most soups that I make.  She killed some broccoli cheese soup, and chicken noodle soup that I made over the past couple of weeks. She loves potatoes and steamed carrots, and she'll usually eat at least a little bit of whatever meat we cook.  She got to experience her first ice cream cone, which was at home, and was Blue Bell Peppermint Ice Cream.  She was in heaven when I broke a sugar cone down really small and filled it with some ice cream and handed it to her.  Her face lit up after the first bite and she was smacking her lips and making "mmm" noises.

She's finally keeping socks and shoes on for a decent amount of time, now that she can walk.  She'll wear shoes throughout all of church, and she'll sit down on the bottom step when she sees me get her socks and shoes out, so that I can put them on her.  She'll usually walk out to the car now by herself, and when we get home I take her out of the carseat and let her walk inside by herself.  It's so crazy to me that my baby is walking now!

She is FINALLY SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! Hallelujah!!!!!  There were a few weeks where she would wake up around 3 and stand up and cry for about 5 minutes, then she would just drop back down to her mattress and fall right back to sleep.  It's like she just needed to cry herself back to sleep.  She hasn't really had to do that for the last couple of weeks though.  Now if I could only get Brooklynn to stop waking up and coming down to my room most nights, I could finally get a consistent 7 to 8 hours of sleep, after over a year!=)  Joe has usually been the one to put her down at night.  She'll drink her bottle of milk and then he can pretty much just walk her up and put her in her crib and she won't cry when he leaves the room, and she'll just go to sleep.  That is such a difference from what we went through with Brooklynn when she was that age I feel like!  She's consistently napping for about an hour and a half a day.  I still put her down after I put Brooklynn down, because she will still wake up before her.  So every day after lunch Madison sits in her little bouncer toy so I know she's safe and won't get into trouble, and then I turn on a Baby Einstein and she'll sit there while I go put Brooklynn down for her nap.

Madison LOVES being outside.  Whenever I open a door, I feel like she's right there ready to run out.  She loves going to the park.  She loves to swing, and she has figured out how to go down the slides by herself.  She'll climb up to the top and then she sits down and turns around and goes down feet first on her belly.

If she doesn't get her way she flings herself back in my arms, or lifts her legs up and refuses to stand up when I try to set her down.  If Joe looks at her and sternly tells her "NO" for something she did, she immediately gets her feelings hurt and starts crying.

The child can still down some water.  I'll fill her water bottle up full for every meal and more often than not she drinks the entire thing.  She's always filling up the little tea cups she and Brooklynn play with in the tub, and drinking water in the tub too.

I often think about if she had been my first child, how things would be.  When she's playing on her own she really is the best little kid.  She will just go upstairs by herself and play with the kitchen, or tent, or books up there.  It's when she and her sister start fighting, that it absolutely drives me crazy.  There are several days a week Im guessing, where Joe gets a text from me letting him know I am about to sell his children because they are driving me so crazy.  Being a stay at home mom, and I'm sure just a mom in general, is seriously SO hard!!  There are days when I feel like I have given so much of myself, that there literally is nothing left to give.  I don't even get to use the restroom or shower in peace, without little girls being RIGHT THERE.  Thankfully, with Madison walking now, I do feel like I have a little bit more freedom, but it has also opened up a lot more fighting between her and Brooklynn because now she can get in to whatever Brooklynn is playing with, or doing, and it instantly starts a big fight.  It's crazy to think that when Brooklynn was this age, I was already several months pregnant with Madison.  At this point, I am no where near ready to even think about getting pregnant again! Maybe I'll be fine with just two kids.=)  Wink Wink.

Brooklynn just has two more months of being two.  (Insert sad face here).  She is such a sweet little independent girl, who wants to do most things by herself at this point.  She does still need help taking off her shirt, so at least she still needs me for that, and for wiping her bum after she goes #2.  So great to feel needed.  Ha ha!  She routinely wakes up around 6am, and will come downstairs and lay in our bed for a little bit, then she gets up and will go to the fridge and get out her own greek yogurt, which is her favorite breakfast, and I'll come out to an empty yogurt cup and undoubtedly some smeared yogurt on the table.  It's so nice to get to sleep for a few more minutes though while she takes care of herself.  This momma prefers more of a 7am wake up time.  Now if I could just get Madison to stop waking up at 6am too.

Brooklynn loves putting puzzles together, playing with play dough, coloring, painting, blowing bubbles, going to the park, reading books with her dad or me, taking bubble baths,  and she is always singing primary songs or "Let it Go" from the movie FROZEN.  She loves playing with her little friend, Evan Alder, and loves her little sister.  I just recently started a babysitting co-cop with some girls in our ward, and she has loved when we have other friends over to play.  Surprisingly, on the days I have other kids here, I am able to get more things accomplished, because they will just play and keep each other entertained and occupied.

Brooklynn is a rule follower and a little OCD like her dad.  For example, she has been sick this past week, and last night I gave her some cough medicine before bed and after she drank it from the little cup, I set the cup on her dresser so I could rock her and sing her some songs before bed.  She immediately said "Can you please wash that cup?"  Just like her dad!  I had to tell her the cup would be just fine until she fell asleep, and then I would wash it.  ha ha!

She picks her finger and toe nails, and I'm not sure if she gets that from me or from Joe.  Joe chews his nails, and I used to bite mine, but since having kids, I have actually done much better.

She loves saying her prayers, and almost always wants to say any meal prayers that we say.  I love listening to her pray, it is the sweetest.  She loves going to church still and loves nursery.  She and Madison love when we sing hymns in church too.  They both sit there and pretend they are leading the music.