Utah and Life as of Late

So much has happened since I have last blogged.  Ryan was born November 1st 2018 at Memorial Hermann Hospital.  We witnessed so many blessings.  He was born a "Pink Tet" baby so he wan't blue when he was born, he was a beautiful pink color, and they were able to stabilize him quickly.  We got an hour with him as a family(which we were told we most likely wouldn't get any time before they had to take him to the NICU) so that time with him is one of my favorite cherished memories from the day he was born.  Ali Howell from our ward came and was our photographer that day, and I can't even begin to describe how grateful I was that she captured all of the precious moments from that day.  I can't look back at the slide show she made without sobbing, to this day.

We asked one of the really experienced  NICU nurses if tet babies are usually discharged when their moms and she said rarely if ever.  So I was feeling really sad that last evening, knowing that the next day I would most likely have to go home without my baby.  But I kept praying for a miracle.  That next day as the team made their rounds the Neonatologist said that from their end Ryan was doing well and was ready to go home, it just needed to be cleared with Cardiology.  One of the fellowship students came around and when I asked her about him being discharged she said that he would need to stay.  However, later that morning one of the pediatric cardiologists came to us and told us they felt like he was ready to go home.  He would just need follow up care until it was time for his repair.  I can't even being to explain the feeling of joy that I felt hearing that news!  I knew Heavenly Father had heard and answered my prayers and I was elated at the idea of getting to take my baby home with me and not having to be separated from him!

 Ryan had his surgery at Texas Children's Hospital, performed by Dr Carlos Mery, on February 27th, 2018.  He was almost 4 months old.  Everything went really well and he was able to come home 5 days later.  I can't even begin to tell you the feeling of relief and the lifted stress now that we are on the other side of that!  We felt so uplifted and strengthened by the prayers of so many and could feel that there were also angels on the other side who were with us during that difficult and stressful time.  Ryan is doing so well and if I wasn't reminded by the little scar on his chest, I honestly wouldn't even think much of it anymore.  We are so grateful things went so well!

We ended up selling our home in Texas back in May and moving to Utah! It was kind of a journey as far as finding a home there, and there were a couple that fell through, but ultimately Heavenly Father knew where we needed to be and we ended up with the most beautiful home in a quiet new little neighborhood in Riverton. We are about half the distance between my parents' and Joe's so things worked out really well!  We are loving our home and loving getting to know the people that live near us!

Brooklynn is about to start Kindergarten in a little over a week, and Madison starts preschool in 3 days, on Wednesday August 22nd, 2018.  She is getting excited and I hope she loves going!  It's crazy to me that our kids are already this old!  I literally feel like they were just babies yesterday!

Brooklynn is such a good kid!  She is a wonderful example to her sister and will be to her brother.  She is a good listener, she's responsible, she loves learning, and loves to craft.  She will make something out of anything she can get her hands on.  Lately she has been taking boxes from things being mailed to us, and she will color and decorate them.  The other day she and Madison were out picking leaves off the neighbor's tree and gluing them on the box.  ha ha!  Those girls are best friends one minute and fighting like cats and dogs the next.  Some days I think they are literally going to drive me crazy!  Brooklynn is learning to count to 100 on her own, and she's working toward an ice cream cone when she can do it all by herself!  She just went with Joe and climbed the rock wall at the gym(Lifetime Fitness) today for the first time.  She isn't afraid to try new things.  We just closed out the swim season almost here in Utah and last Friday she and Madison were jumping off the high dive.   There were so many older kids saying "if that little girl can do it, then I can!" They would climb the ladder, look down, and then turn around and climb right back down the ladder.  Madison would climb up, look down, and jump!  They are both really good swimmers.   When Joe told me last summer he was going to teach them how to swim I doubted his ability, but he really has done a great job.  They both LOVE to swim!  We spend a portion of almost every weekday at the pool.

Brooklynn and Madison wanted to share a room when we moved and so far they are loving it.  Although when they fight I will hear Madison tell Brooklynn "Fine! Then you aren't coming in my room!"  and Brooklynn gets all butt hurt and starts crying and comes to tell me that Madison said she's not letting her in her room.  Madison is stubborn and strong willed, and Brooklynn is a total rule follower, obedient, pretty mild tempered, and wants to make sure everyone else is following the rules.  They are both smart and easy to teach, and they can get along with other kids really well.  They love when they make new friends at the park or the gym and love to play with their cousins.

Madison has gotten over some of her stubborn dislikes like hating the way her underwear felt under her pants, wet clothing, and socks.  She used to literally freak out every time she would put her underwear on.  Now it doesn't bother her anymore.  She used to throw an absolute tantrum and have to change her clothes if she got them wet at all.  Now she'll let it dry if it happens outside or she'll get the blowdryer out and dry it if we are home.  She has also been a huge texture person and would only wear certain clothes or she would freak out that something was too itchy.  She aggravates Brooklynn all the time and makes Brooklynn cry a lot more than Brooklynn makes her cry.  She is a spitfire but can also be super helpful and sweet.  She's usually right by my side while I'm making dinner.  She loves to help and she's usually the first one to say what a good dinner it is and to thank me.  One of her chores is to unload the silverware from the dishwasher and I can usually get her to do it without whining if I turn a song on for her.  She drinks water like a camel and carries a little water bottle with her almost everywhere she goes.  She loves to be with her sister and repeats so much of what Brooklynn says, and sometimes I'll just sit and listen to the two of them playin together and I just laugh to myself because they are so funny.  Madison loves riding her bike, or being outdoors and she's a really good listener and usually follows through with things really quickly.  She's usually the first one to get in the shower and get washed off and dressed because she's able to get in and stick to the task.  Sometimes it's easy for Brooklynn to get distracted.  It's fun to see these two girls that are raised in the same home by the same parents, and yet they are so different in so many ways because of their little personalities and the way that God created them.  We sure love them both so much, as well as our little man!
  Ryan is growing up WAY too quickly.  He has started crawling, has like 6 teeth popping through all around the same time, pulls himself up to standing by holding on to the couch, end tables, the hearth, the bathtub, step stools, or anything else he can get his hands on.  He fell down 3 stairs one day trying to follow Brooklynn down but she turned around and caught him, and he hasn't attempted the stairs since.  He loves to crawl over and unplug the nightlights we have in the hallway like it's his job.  He also unplugs Joe's cell charger without fail daily.  He used to crawl to the plant and get dirt out pretty much daily until we decided to move the plant to Joe's office.  He has this fake little whine he does when he wants something or when he's tired, and on the flip side of that he will also just scream at the  tip top of his lungs if he wants something too.  Sometimes I literally think I am going to go crazy listening to that scream over and over again.  He still loves his bouncer and will jump in that thing for quite a while.  He LOVES being outdoors and can go from super grumpy and whiny to happy and totally quiet if I just take him outside for a walk or to the park or even just to sit out in the grass or the trampoline in the back yard.  He says "dadda" ALL THE TIME and refuses to ever let the word Momma cross his lips.  He used to give kisses but now totally refuses and acts like he doesn't understand what I'm saying when I say "kisses!"
     He fell out of his crib the other day because his mattress was too high.  I had asked Joe several times to lower it, but it took him falling out for it to happen.  I heard him crying-not a hard cry and went into his room and there he was, just chilling on the floor in front of his crib.  Yikes! Thankfully it was on the carpet and he didn't get hurt at all.  On the flip side of that he has bruises on his forehead on both sides from hitting his head on the hardwood floor or the tile.  He gets crawling too fast and literally just face plants it on the floor sometimes!  He's also started opening cabinets and drawers and has closed his fingers in the drawers quite a few times.-----Also something I've been asking his dad to babyproof!
     He LOVES bath time and gets excited for nap time when he's tired and ready.  He nestles his head in his blanket when I throw it up on my shoulder and kicks his legs and does this little whine/laugh because he is so excited to sleep.  He's totally my child!  Ha ha!
     He still poops about 10 times a day!  Little nuggets sometimes and big blow outs other times!  I don't remember the girls ever pooping so much!  He is loving being more adventurous with food now too though.  He will eat baby food but does not like the stage 3 that has small chunks in it.  HATES it and refuses to eat it.  He will scream if we are eating until he gets to taste what we are eating too.  It's like he's telling us he's over the baby food.  ha ha!  He's the sweetest little guy and will get excited to see me whenever I've been away for a bit.  Even when I go to pick him up from the childcare at the gym.  He smiles super big and starts kicking his legs in excitement when he sees me.  He also will shake when he gets really excited about something and sometimes that has scared people because they don't know whats going on.  Grandpa Bob always gets scared when he does it.  It's just his normal though and I love that he gets so excited!
     He reaches a little hyper point sometimes where he's in the giggliest mood and it's so funny to watch him just crack up at the girls and think they are the funniest people on earth.  He loves to play peek a boo, and loves when I hold him and carefully jump on the trampoline.  He laughs every time.  He's just the sweetest little guy and I am so crazy about him.  I couldn't imagine our family without him and thank Heavenly Father very often that he came to us.
     He has started getting his hair cut every couple of weeks like his dad, and it's so funny to watch his reactions.  He gives me this look like he's so annoyed that I'm interrupting his Baby Einstein 'old mcdonald'(only one he likes.  He cries if another one turns on) with these annoying clippers on his head, and he constantly turns his head to look at me with that annoyed look while I'm trying to cut his hair.  If I thought Joe was bad, it's 5 million times harder to cut Ryan's hair.

Hurricane Harvey

We had a trip planned to Lake Tahoe from August 24-28th, 2017.   The Alders and then the Garcias both were invited and then were unable to make it so we ended up going with just our little family.  As we were preparing to leave there was a tropical storm brewing in the gulf.  We honestly didn't think too much of it as we were leaving.  I had Joe put the water table and some other things in our garage that were out on the back patio, and we parked our car on the second floor of the parking garage just in case there happened to be any flooding while we were gone(because there had been flooding in Houston during previous bad rain storms) and that's about all the prep we did.  We left Thursday morning and while we were flying the storm turned into a hurricane and was expected to hit Texas.  The weather forecasters were guessing it would hit around the Corpus Christy area.  The storm was moving very very slowly though and was expected to hit land and then to move up the coast to Houston and just sit for days and drop tons of rain.  Well, that's exactly what it did.  Joe and I felt very thankful that our family was safe and that we weren't having to worry about the uncertainties that come with hurricanes, but we were worried for our family and friends and our home back in Texas. We didn't have flood insurance so if our home flooded we would have to replace everything on our own.   To say we were stressing would be an understatement.  Joe was looking at the flood plains and talking to people from work constantly, and we were texting an our neighbors to stay in the loop about what was happening.  Our good friends Jason and Jillian Edginton kept us in the loop about the weather,  and their home backs up to the retention pond for our neighborhood so they would send us pictures of how high it was.  Jason had been so sweet and had gone over to our house and cleared our back patio of things that could have blown in strong winds, and he even tied our trampoline to our orange tree in the back so it didn't go flying into our house or our neighbors' homes. Saturday night was really scary with tons of tornado warnings, and heavy heavy rainfall with thunder and lightning they said.  The bayous filled up and things were starting to get bad as the flooding began in Houston.  We watched the news glued to the images of so many people needing to be rescued from cars and then in the following days there were so many rescues that were taking place from people's homes.  The flooding was devastating and people were losing every material possession they owned.  Surrounding neighborhoods were starting to have standing water in the streets and we would watch as friends and family would post pictures of it creeping up towards their homes.  It rained for days.  I can only imagine the cabin fever that people must have been experiencing.  Thankfully the power didn't ever go out for most, and tv and internet stayed up for the most part.  We had sweet home teachers and friends check on our home for us since we weren't there.  Thankfully we had a garage door entry and our friends all know each other and got the keys from one another to go check on our home at different times.  Brian Crosby has a Raptor truck so was able to get out in the water filled streets between his neighborhood and ours, and went over and walked through our home.  He even moved all my shoes out of my closet to our bed in case our home flooded.  We felt so helpless, being across the US and not having any way to even protect our own belongings and home.   We didn't have flood insurance so we would lose everything if our home flooded, so I figured might as well try to save some shoes in case my closet flooded.  ha ha!  He moved other things upstairs for us and walked through our home to see if we had any leaking from all the hard rains and thankfully we just had a few places where there were wet spots on the ceilings, but nothing too bad that we couldn't just paint over when we got home and they dried.

We were so full of emotion on Sunday morning as we went to church.  The topic that day was all about being able to find joy amidst our trials, and one of the hymns we sang was "Where Can I Turn For Peace?"  and as we sang I couldn't hold back the tears as the lyrics touched my heart.  There truly was just one place to turn because we had zero control over anything happening back at home.  We felt grateful that we had the most important things to us in this world, and that was each other and our children.  As this sweet brother ended the meeting with prayer, Joe and I both got choked up as he said a very heartfelt prayer and specifically mentioned those in the gulf that were being affected by the Hurricane.  To know that others cared and were praying for our home state, clear across the country, was very touching and brought us a great feeling of peace.

We were supposed to fly home on Monday but the airports were closed due to flooded runways and it being unsafe for employees to travel to and from the airport.  So, we ended up flying to Dallas and Julie and Anthony let us stay with them until Saturday when the airports opened and we were able to get home.  While we were in Dallas they had a shortage of gasoline.  We didn't realize it until one day when we went to fill up Anthony's truck he had let us use, and we tried about 4 gas stations and they all had signs saying "out of gas" posted on the pumps.  Finally we were able to find one, and called to let Julie know she should fill up her tank.

Every night we would watch the devastation on the news and it was just heartbreaking and devastating to see all of the damage.  At the same time though there were so many wonderful stories coming to light of people serving others, most were strangers.  There were men with boats coming from Louisiana and other surrounding cities and states coming on their own to help with the rescue efforts.  It was so touching to see people using their own time and resources to come help others.  There was so much flooding and people needing to be rescued from their roofs, or elderly people in waist high water at nursing homes, even semi drivers were stranded on highways with water almost engulfing their entire truck.  Thankfully, the Silverlake Community where we live stayed dry.  We almost felt guilty because so many were experiencing such devastation, and our home was just fine.  There was a little bit of standing water that went about to the height of our curb, and that's it!  We were SO lucky!! At one point when we were stressing out when we were at Lake Tahoe, Joe said to me "If Heavenly Father blesses our home not to flood, I will break my back helping others".

By Saturday we were really ready and anxious to just get home.  Thankfully our flight stayed on time and wasn't cancelled like some had been that day.  At the parking garage, the man working the pickup bus mentioned that he had been trapped at the parking garage with another employee for 2 or 3 days.  We asked him how he had survived without food and water and he said they had just eaten out of the vending machine and they had water bottles stashed that they use for the valet customers.  He said that water had never come into the parking garage so no cars were flooded or ruined.  It had just come up to the walls outside. The streets and everything were pretty well drained by Saturday and in some spots as we were driving we could tell from where long grass was pushed down on the side of the roads, to brick walls of trailer parks being knocked down, and other things, just how high the water had been.  Thankfully everything was draining really well.

We were anxious to get out and help others.  Our ward and stake had organized groups that day to go out and help, but since we got in so late that evening we were unable to help.  Joe was planning on going out the next day, Sunday, to help muck homes with members of our ward.  I wanted to badly to be able to get out there and help but knew with being pregnant and having 2 young kids that it wasn't really an option for me.  This is my facebook post that day.

Joe and a lot of men, and some women from our church were able to go out and muck out houses Sunday, and Monday after we got home from Dallas. I wanted to get out there and help SO badly but with being pregnant and having young kids it just wasn't realistic for me. 

So on our plane ride home from Dallas Saturday, when we could finally come home, I concocted a plan of how I could get my kids out there to help others, and see what happened to homes and families in our area, and do our best to serve, and Joe was totally supportive. 

Between what was left at Costco and Sams when we stopped on our way home from the airport, and with the help of some wonderful friends and their children on Sunday evening and Monday afternoon we were able to get 250(110 Sunday, 140 Monday)hot dog meals with chips, homemade cookies/brownies, apples, granola bars, cold water and Gatorade put together in coolers and loaded up in the back of my van.(Sunday evening Joe and another friends' husband were able to meet us when they were done cleaning out homes and Joe drove the truck loaded with the drinks, and then Monday my friend drove her car around with the drinks) Both days we went to neighborhoods in our area that were affected by the storm and found people who were out working tirelessly to clean their houses out, and the older kids and moms were able to walk down the streets and ask people if they were hungry and thirsty and load grocery bags with whatever they wanted and give it to them. SO many people were full of gratitude, and it was such a wonderful experience. Even those who didn't need anything to eat or drink just repeatedly kept saying thank you. These people had been working all day in the heat, doing such hard work, and you could just tell they were so drained physically and emotionally. I think food was the last thing on people's minds when they went in to the day, and they were tired and hungry and thirsty by the end of it. When we pulled up to the areas affected, it was completely devastating and made me feel heartbroken and sick to my stomach to see all the damage that was done. I couldn't even fathom having to go through that. Seeing it all first hand, and not just on tv was completely heartbreaking and surreal and I felt a feeling of guilt because our home didn't flood, but it also made me feel incredibly grateful that I wasn't having to go through what these people were experiencing! These sweet people were so full of gratitude and thanked us over and over, and several people hugged me yesterday to express their gratitude. We just wanted them to feel Heavenly Father's love for them and to know they weren't forgotten and that people care. We saw several others out passing out pizzas and sodas and just trying to help in whatever way they could. There were other church groups out helping clean out homes yesterday and it was so good for these kids and youth, and us moms, to get out there and see first hand what the storm did to people's homes, and to realize just how blessed we are and to see the community coming together to help in whatever ways they could!

Yesterday after the girls and I got home after passing out food for 4 hours and prepping for 2 hours, all I could feel was gratitude as I tiredly swept my floors and cleaned my house. I just felt thankful my home was intact and I had floors to sweep, and running water, and air conditioning. All things I had completely taken for granted before. This storm was completely devastating but to see how it has brought people together has been something that will always be imprinted on my heart. I'm so grateful we were able to do something small to bless the lives of others and I'm hoping we have a lot more opportunities to serve in the days and months ahead. ❤️

I just had to take a minute to document some things about Madison at this stage so I don't forget.  That little girl has determination and will power  and will not back down.  Some things about her that absolutely drive Joe and I crazy at this stage is: She finally recognizes when she needs to use the restroom, and she will tell me whenever she goes pee in her diaper, and she wants to be changed IMMEDIATELY.  I think it's the warmth that drives her crazy.  At night she will come downstairs 2 and 3 times after we tuck her in and she'll say she peed.  Sometimes it's just a tiny bit, and I know she totally just does it to get out of going to bed.  We change her before bed, and then we literally have to change her 2 more times before she goes to sleep.  I can't even tell you how many diapers we go through lately.  She will yell and cry and scream "I GO PEE" and will throw a fit.  Lately I have been telling her I will change her one time and that's it.  If she pees a tiny bit after that, I just tell her "too bad" and she needs to go to bed.- Update:   We have now potty trained her.  We waited until after our 4th of July trip to Utah, and then busted out the big girl undies again.  It's been no where near as easy as it was with Brooklynn, but it has also been A MILLION times better than it was the last time we attempted this with her, and she didn't grasp it at all.  So, with that being said.... Most days she has wet her bed either at night or during naps, but she's doing well when she's awake.  I'm too stubborn to put her in pull-ups because I don't want her getting used to wearing them.  I want her to figure this out and learn how to not wet the bed. There was a day where Joe was out of town and literally within about 20 minutes, she pulled her undies down and literally just stood there and peed all over the floor, right in front of her little potty.  I got it cleaned up, and she seriously did the EXACT SAME THING like 10 minutes later.  Thankfully it was on the hardwood floor and not carpet, but I was seriously so fed up that I slapped a diaper on her and told her when she was ready to stop acting like a baby and was ready to be a big girl that she could put her undies back on. This was just like an hour before bed! Not gonna lie, part of me was scared she would sleep in the diaper and wouldn't mind it!  I wasn't back tracking!  So before she got into bed I asked her if she was ready to be a big girl again, and she said she was.  She literally didn't have any accidents for like 2 days after that!  It's been over a month now since we started and she's still having accidents during nap time.  I don't know if she sleeps harder during naps and just doesn't realize she needs to pee or what.  She will also wake up at night and just start whining, and I will go up and we will go potty together.  Since I'm pregnant I always have to pee.  I'm trying to help her recognize that when he body wakes her up like that, it's trying to tell her to go potty.  Hopefully she figures it out before this baby comes.
     Every morning she comes down to our room between 5:45 and 6 and I will tell her she has to go potty before she can get in our bed with us.  She'll go potty and then climb in between Joe and I, and sometimes will fall back to sleep.   Other times Joe gets up soon after and she will just lay in bed until he showers and gets dressed and then he opens the bathroom door for her to go hang out with him while he finishes getting ready.  A lot of times he gets the kids some coloring pages, or gets them set with some breakfast and lets me sleep until about 7:30 or so.  With being pregnant, I am tired all the time now.  I swear I could sleep for a week straight.
     Brooklynn started pre-k at the first of August.  I totally dropped the ball on that one!  The night before, I checked my email around 7:30 and noticed there was one titled "First Day Jitters" from her school and talked all about the first day and how to help your child feel comfortable with school.  My heart dropped because I didn't think she started until all of the other kids around here went back to school around the end of August.  I emailed the director back asking if the first day of school was the next day, and she said that yes, she could start tomorrow!  Brooklynn had already taken a bath and had her jammies on, so when I told Joe, we both looked at her and Joe asked if she was ready to go to school the next day!  She excitedly replied "YES!!" So, off we went to Payless to get some closed toe shoes, and then ran to Target so she could pick out her backpack.  She chose a Princess Poppy backpack from the movie TROLLS, and then picked out a matching lunch box and thermos.  She was SO excited to show her dad and Madison when we got home, and she just kept saying over and over "thank you for letting me pick out my Princess Poppy Backpack Mom!"      
     She woke up super excited and nervous for school.  It's the only day in her life where she has said "My tummy hurts, so maybe I shouldn't eat breakfast."  After asking her some questions I figured out that it was just nerves and finally got her to eat some scrambled eggs.  She was so excited to pack her lunch and fill her water thermos, and was ready to go early!  When we got to her school she was excited to get out with her teacher, and didn't bat an eye as her teacher took her out of the car and held her hand and directed her over to the playground.  As soon as the van door closed Madison started crying and said "But I'm really going to miss her!" and was so upset.  A piece of my heart was ripped out too, and with tears streaming down my cheeks, all I could mutter to Madison was "me too!"  It's hard letting go and letting your kids grow up sometimes.  Thankfully Madison and I went to the gym and she got to play with her friends in the kids care, and I got to get a spin class in, and it helped pass the time without Brooklynn.  Joe came home early to watch the girls while I went to a Dr Appointment with Dr Cook, and an Ultrasound with Dr Gei.  He was excited to go pick up Brooklynn from school, and I wanted to go too so I could see how her first day went!  So we all piled into Joe's truck, and went to get her!  The director said she did great!  The only time she started to feel sad was when kids started going home.  Thankfully she didn't have to wait long for us to pick her up too!  She loved school then, and she has loved it every day since!  Madison would love to go to school in a heartbeat too, but Joe and I decided we weren't going to pay for it this year, because technically she missed the preschool cutoff for this year.  Plus, I'm going to need a helper once this baby comes.
     I'm 27 weeks pregnant, and this Thursday will be the 10 week mark until this sweet baby makes his debut in the world.  It's exciting and terrifying all at the same time.  Hopefully I can handle 3 kids!  I know Brooklyn and Madison will be such big helpers, so I'm hoping that helps alleviate some of the stress that I felt when I had Madison.  I look back at pictures of Brooklynn then, and she was still just a baby herself!
     We found out at my 20 week ultrasound that this baby has a heart defect called Tetrology of Fallot, and will require open heart surgery after he's born and then he'll need to be monitored for the rest of his life.  There was a lot of stressing and worrying up until we saw the fetal cardiologist who was able to tell us more and help answer a lot of questions we had!  We didn't meet with her until after our trip to Utah.  While in Utah I had this day of just imagining over and over again, having to hand over my little baby for heart surgery, and I just could not stop crying.  Bob and Sharon even took the girls for a few hours that day, and I drove over to The Shane Company by myself to get my ring checked and cleaned, and I literally sat in the car for about 30 minutes because I was just crying and couldn't stop. Joe was coming to Utah from California that evening and I sent him and my dad a text telling them I was having a really hard time and wondered if they would give me a blessing.  They both responded that they would be happy to, and Joe thought it would be a good idea to also invite Joseph and Dallin.  Joseph was out of town but Dallin and Brittany came over that night.  I don't get to have many blessings from my dad anymore, so Joe and I thought it would be a good idea to have him give me the blessing, because Joe would be able to give me blessings I may need in the future.  I cried pretty much before and during most of the blessing.  Joe broke down and was crying too.  Sadly, I don't remember a lot of what was said, but I will never forget the peace that came over my body.  It's a calm that has stayed with me ever since that night.  I have not felt that uneasiness, fear, or sadness again since that day.  I am so thankful for the Priesthood, and that I have so many wonderful men in my life that I could go to to ask for a priesthood blessing.
     When we got back from Utah and met with the Fetal Cardiologist- Dr. Gardiner, she was able to answer a lot of questions and concerns we had.  They did an EKG and she said that on a scale of 1-10(10 being the worst) that our baby had about a 3.  So, it was on the better end of the scale.  She said he does have a hole in his heart that will require open heart surgery (usually between 3 and 9 months) where they will go in and put a patch on his heart to cover that hole.  Right now one of his valves in developing normally, but if it doesn't continue to grow that way as he develops more, they may need to go in a open that up later, but that wouldn't require open heart surgery.  She said I should still be able to do skin to skin after he's born, and try to feed him, and all of that, and he should even be able to go home with us.  Ideally they want the baby to be a bit bigger so they would opt for surgery between 3-9 months.  She will have me come back when I'm about 30 weeks and then she'll check everything again.  
     It's not the ideal situation, but things could have been a lot worse.  With the surgery, he's projected to live a somewhat normal life, and lots of babies with this condition are saved now, where back several years ago they weren't.  Last Christmas Joe asked me if I was ready to put our house up on the market and move to Utah in the spring!  As much as I would love to be near my family, I just had this sort of a panic feeling when he mentioned that!  It felt too soon and like it would be rushed, and for some reason I had this feeling that we were supposed to have another baby while we lived her in Houston.  After we found out about this baby's condition, it all made a little bit more sense.  Texas Children's Hospital was just actually rated number 1 in the country for pediatric cardiology, so I know that we were meant to be here so that he could have his surgery here.
     There is so much unknown but I feel at peace, and I know that everything will be ok!  I love feeling this sweet baby boy kick and move all the time!  It's so comforting this time around!  With Brooklynn it kinda freaked me out at first, just to feel that there was someone moving inside me!  We are really looking forward to meeting this little guy in just about 10 weeks though!  So grateful for the gospel in my life and for the power of the Priesthood!

Brooklynn is 47 months and Madison is 28 months old

SO much has happened since I last posted!  Brooklynn has now been in preschool for about 7 months now and she absolutely loves it!  Her teacher is Sara Morey and she calls her Miss Sara.  She goes to school with 7 other kids and it's in Miss Sara's home.  She's a member of our ward and I just feel so blessed to have her teach Brooklynn.  I haven't had to worry about her at all!  She goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-11:30, and while she's at school Madison and I go to the gym, and run errands and I usually have time to shower and throw on some makeup real quick before it's time to get Brooklynn from school.
     She loves to paint, loves cutting things, taping things, and glueing things.  She learns all sorts of cute songs at preschool that she comes home and sings nonstop.  Miss Sara has the parents take turns helping at preschool every 6 weeks or so, and Joe will usually arrange his schedule so that he's in Houston on those days and will go in from 8:30-10 and I'll take 10-11:30.  It's been fun for Brooklynn to have us there with her, and we have loved getting to experience the things she's doing and learning.
     Brooklynn is also now a sunbeam in primary!  She's no longer in nursery, which is just crazy to me!  Sister Jen Martin is her teacher and she just loves her and the class.  We saw Sister Martin and her kids at Costco this week and Brooklynn was so excited!
     She's always asking "Why questions" lately.  Why does this do that? and she's just really interested in how things work and why.  She's gotten really good at pretending, and I know that's completely from preschool and interacting with the other kids.  She and Madison will play really well together now and will pretend to play house, or school, or be chefs, and it's just so fun to see their minds working and the creativity that comes.
     We just got a trampoline after we got back from Utah for Christmas, and both of the girls absolutely love it!  Almost every day after naps, and usually after dinner with Daddy, that's where they will be found.  They love for me to go out and jump with them after naps.  We even had a high of about 87 the other day(in February) and we busted out the sprinkler and wore our swimsuits and jumped!  Brooklynn was in total heaven, and Madison liked it, but kept a little bit of a distance from the sprinkler.
     They love playing outside and we frequent the parks around our home often.  They both still LOVE swinging, and we have started playing "Hide and Seek" and it's adorable to watch them run off and hide together(usually in the same spot every time) and get so surprised they scream when they are found.  They are both little dare devils too.  Brooklynn has gotten really good at climbing on things and up things.  She has also gotten really good at pretend play, which I think is from playing with the other kids at preschool.  She and Madison will finally play well together for a decent amount of time!  Hallelujah!   They LOVE dress up and they play with their babies and strollers and their play kitchen all the time.  They'll also take blankets and toys outside when the weather is nice and play outside in the back yard for a while together.  They love crafts, especially coloring and painting.  Almost every day after naps Brooklynn will work on some sort of craft and they get to pick a small treat after naps(it's mostly so I can have something to use as leverage if they won't listen or are making bad choices. If I tell them they are going to lose their treat after naps it usually makes them get it together pretty quickly. ha ha!)
     Brooklynn is a great big sister and is usually very helpful with Madison.  She'll help her or comfort her, or buckle her in her carseat, and is always saying things like "what's the matter sweetheart?" or "Come here Little Bug".  I know if we were to have another child that she and Madison would both be my big helpers.
   
     Madison....Oh goodness where do I even begin with this child?!  She is absolutely adorable, and people tell me she is all the time, but she is also going to drive me to drink one of these days!  The child has the strongest will and once she gets her mind set on something it's SO hard to change it!  For instance....She absolutely HATES being wet.  Even if she gets two drops of water on her shirt from brushing her teeth she throws a fit and wants to change her clothes.  Like she will literally rip her shirt and pants off while she is crying that she's wet!  She also just kind of hates wearing clothes in general.  She used to take her pajamas off every morning in her crib.  She's now been moved to a big girl bed and has started waking up EVERY MORNING at 5:30am and coming down to our room.   Sometimes she'll come down WAY earlier than that and I always force myself to go put her back in her bed because I really don't want kids sleeping in my bed.  Anyways, the other morning she came down at 5:30 and Joe woke up shortly after that to go to work super early for some reason, so I put her on his side and told her to go back to sleep.  I quickly fell back to sleep, and when I woke up around 7 and looked over at her she was sound asleep, but she was naked except for her diaper!  Nudist!  When we are home she is usually naked.  Let me just tell you how many outfits a day she goes through!
     I tried potty training her because she started taking off her own diapers....poop and all!  So I figured it was time to give it a shot.  We have had her little potty down in our bathroom for a while and she has sat on it and peed a few times at night before getting in the tub, which is what Brooklynn used to do too.  I figured it would be pretty easy to potty train Madison, like it was Brooklynn.  Boy was I wrong!  It literally was one of the worst days of my life.  We stayed home ALL DAY LONG, and I literally put about 15 pairs of new undies on her.  I let her drink as much lemonade as she wanted so she would have to pee frequently and could get used to going pee in her potty.  I think there was 1 time where she didn't pee in her undies, at least a little, before telling me she had to go potty.   It's like she would start going in her undies and then realize she should go to the potty.  More than twice she just full on peed in her undies.  Then of course there were numerous times where she of course wasn't on the mat of trash bags and towels I made her, and decided to pee on the carpet.  And all poops were done in her pants.  I had faith that she could get it, and I didn't want Friday to have just been a waste of my life, so I continued Saturday morning.  I left Madison and Brooklynn with Joe while I went to my spin class at the gym, and when I got back Joe told me she had pooped in her undies and that she wasn't getting the concept and just wasn't ready.  He and Brooklynn went to run errands together and I still tried with Madison for a while until she again peed on the floor.  Then I was done!  Back to diapers she went, because this was WAY too hard.  With Brooklynn she literally had like 2 accidents in the 3 days I took to potty train her.  So I think Madison just needs some more time.  Side note is she now wants her diaper changed EVERY time she goes pee in her diaper, so we are going through lots more diapers these days, which is the exact opposite of what I was wanting to do, which is get rid of them so we aren't buying diapers anymore.  Serves me right I guess.
     Madison loves going to the gym with me on the days Brooklynn has school.  She'll say "where me going?" when she sees me getting my gym clothes on.  She walks right in when we get there, it's SO nice not to have to leave her crying like I used to.  I have been working out 5-6 days a week super consistently now and it's just become a part of my daily routine.  Dedication is key, because staying motivated all the time doesn't happen.  I'm down almost 40 lbs now since I had Madison and I'm in the smallest pant size I have ever been in as an adult, and more importantly I just feel good!
     The child is still crazy about avocados-like she would literally eat two or more all by herself if I would let her.  She's finally started eating bread and will eat sandwiches and stuff now.  She drinks water like a camel, and she's learned to like lots of different foods that she didn't used to.
     Today after church Brooklynn was asking her if she could have her stuffed pig animal back that she let Madison borrow for the past couple of days.  Madison's response was "Nope!  Sorry!!"
She's such a spunk!
Another thing she says is  "REEALLYY?" in this high pitched tone whenever someone says something that excites her.  She's learning how to put her own shoes and clothes on.  Whenever I ask her to do something and she doesn't want to she says "I can't".  Drives me nuts!  She loves going

New Chapters

Well, Brooklynn is officially a preschooler, and she is absolutely loving it!  She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-11:30.  Her teacher, Miss Sara, is in our ward and she is so fun!  Brooklynn just loves her!  She has never once said that she doesn't want to go to preschool.  I have had the opportunity to be a parent helper and I just loved being there with her and seeing all of the interactive learning she is doing.  She comes home with paintings and masks and all sorts of fun stuff that she makes at school.  She brought home a picture of me, that even had lipstick on, and was basically a big gold fat blob.  I told Sara I would try not to take offense that that's how she sees me. ha ha jk!  She LOVES to paint and color though. Those are two of her favorite things.

Wow, it has been so long since I have posted!! The summer has just completely flown by, and we have played hard through it all!  I'm so sad it's already coming to a close!  Just a couple more weeks until Brooklynn starts Preschool!  We have been to Utah to visit and then Banff for the Davies Family Reunion, and then back to Utah to visit and celebrate Tiff's birthday!  It's so crazy how much the girls are growing and changing.

Brooklynn and Madison are getting along pretty well lately.  Don't get me wrong, I still have to break up fights daily, and Madison is still stubborn and has a hard time when things don't go her way, so she's quick to push or hit, or take whatever toy she wants.  She's also pretty quick to apologize and give loves after she's been in timeout, so we're trying.  Brooklynn has learned that if she wants something Madison has, she just has to find something else that Madison would be interested in and give that to her, and then she can get whatever she wants that Madison has. It's funny to watch her scheme.  Brooklynn calls Madison "Little Bug" or Madison Moo, and is constantly saying things like "Come and get this Little Bug!" or "You want this Madison Mooey?"  She also calls her sweetheart, and it's stinking' adorable.  When they are playing nice together, all is good in the world.  They love to run around chasing each other, or tickling one another, and they usually get hyper when they are tired and can just sit there and laugh at one another, and just be in a funny mood, which usually happens right after dinner time.

Brooklynn has become a little bit sassy in her 3 year old age.  She has started saying things like "Don't say that to me" or "don't talk to me like that", or "No, you don't say that to me!"  Whenever I ask her to do something numerous times, and by about the 5th or 6th time I ask her with more of a stern tone, she gets all hurt and offended.  It's so hard for me to ask 5 million times for her to do the same thing.  A lot of the times she's a really great listener though, so I can't complain too much.

Some of the cute things she says is "In a couple while" (in a little while) and when she's in a good mood she calls us all sweetie or sweetheart.  Today while Joe was changing Madison's diaper, Brooklynn was sitting in the recliner watching him and she said matter of factly "I pooped yesterday!  And it was a big one!"  ha ha ha!  Joe and I busted up laughing.  She wasn't trying to be funny, just stating the truth.  She calls burritos "torritos", which is another funny thing she says.  I'm trying to think of other things.

She still loves doing everything by herself, and I feel like that's where most of the tears and frustration come for both of us.  She wants to do it all, and sometimes there's just not time or I don't have the patience.  She had a meltdown at the register at Walmart yesterday because she wanted to put all the groceries on the belt that were up in the seat with her, and I was in such a rush and the woman was waiting on me, that I just had to throw it up myself, and she literally burst right out into tears and was crying and yelling, and ended up losing her treat she had picked out for the pool, because of the way she acted.  I try really hard when we are home to let her do most things, and give her her own little tasks, like putting ice in the water cups or bottles before meals, helping set the table, she helps empty the dishwasher, clears her plate after meals, loves to help make toast, and she always wants to put her own jam on. She's in charge of going to get hers and madison's pajamas from their dressers after dinner, and she's responsible for putting her pajamas on the washer for me to wash the next morning.

She's about to start preschool and she couldn't be more excited!  She has been talking about it everyday for the last few days.  It's going to be so good for her, I'm excited to watch her grow and blossom even more.

She gets dressed on her own, brushes her own teeth, uses the bathroom by herself, gets herself in and buckled in the van, puts her own shoes on, clears her dishes from the table, loves to butter and put jam on her own toast, wants to put ketchup or salt and pepper on her own food, loves helping me make my protein shakes, loves to help me clean the toilets with the toilet brush, likes to sweep and vacuum by herself, and loves pushing the unload button on my silhouette machine when I use it.  She and Madison also love helping me make my protein shake for breakfast on the days that I do my BBG workouts, and then they both have to have their own cup full.  If Brooklynn wakes up around 6:30/6:45 and Joe is in the bathroom getting ready, she comes and lays on his side of the bed and waits for him to get out of the shower and get dressed and then he'll open the door and let her in the bathroom to watch him finish getting ready.  It's so funny to see the little routine they have.  After that she'll go get herself and yogurt and eat breakfast, all while I'm still sleeping sometimes.  She still loves going up to "get Madison" when she wakes up.

We have had so much fun at the pool this last little while.  She loves using her "goggles"(face mask style) and has a little Minnie Mouse kick board that she loves to take.  She wears her little floaties and loves jumping in by herself.

She's still a great eater!  I'm so blessed not to have really picky kids.  I just keep having them try the foods they don't like, and eventually they have learned to like them.  Brooklynn used to hate tomatoes and now she loves eating one sliced up with some salt and pepper, just like her momma.  Tomatoes are one of my favorites! Madison is coming around and has finally started eating things like strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and oranges.  All of which she didn't used to eat.  So I've learned to just stick with it and give her at least a taste of something every time we eat it.

It's so crazy to me that Brooklynn is starting preschool and is 3 years old already! The days are long sometimes but the years are just flying by!  I sure love this little independent girlie of mine!  I look at her and I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.  Her hair is getting so long now, and she's just such a gorgeous little girl full of love and she's the best big sister to Madison.  Being a mom is so hard, but I can't imagine my life without her.

Madison is miss spunk!  She's started talking a lot more lately, and it seriously is the cutest thing ever!  I love hearing her say things, and love when she tries to say new words.  She still uses some sign language that only I understand, and that cracks me up too.  When she wants her binki or her blanket she will come up to me, and just put her hands up like "Where is my binki?" or "Where is my blankie?" and when I say "you want your binki?" she smiles and nods her head.  She says "mom" ALL THE TIME!  Sometimes to the point that it starts to drive me crazy.  She's gone through this phase where she just wants me to do everything for her.  She's slowly started to let Joe do more for her, and she's gotten to a point where she will even cry for him, or cry when he leaves. She's still super clingy to me when it comes time to go to nursery, or when I take her and Brooklynn to the daycare at the gym while I workout.  She ALWAYS cries when she goes to either of those places, but they say she just cries for a while and then she's fine.

She loves to be silly and loves to laugh.  If you do something she loves or she thinks is funny, she will say "Again!" over and over a million times!  She loves to color or sit down with a pencil and paper and just "write".   She loves to be outside, and is happy just going down the slide into our blow up pool, over and over and over again.  She doesn't get bored easily and can play on her own for long periods.  She loves to run and have fun, and LOVES to dance and move her body to music whenever she can.  It's the funnest thing to just watch her.  She loves to scream when something gets her excited, and she's so fun to snuggle with.  She is also full of spunk, and she will beat up on Brooklynn sometimes if she doesn't get what she wants.  She'll quickly say "NO, no no, no no!" if she doesn't want you to do something or doesn't like something.  She HATES bugs or anything that looks like a bug and she will say "EWWWE!"' and kind of freak out!  Speaking of Ewwee......Today when Joe was taking her into nursery I walked by and she was holding on to the door frame trying to keep herself from going in, and she was saying "Ewwe, Ewwe, Ewwe," over and over again.  She did NOT want to go to nursery today.  She screamed for about 15 minutes and then she was fine they said. I couldn't help but laugh at my crazy child!  Ha ha!

Ever since we came back from Utah she's freaked out every night when it's time for bed.  She hates when I say goodnight and close the door.  She used to scream and cry for about 15 minutes, and tonight she was down to about 2 minutes, if that.  Slowly but surely we are making progress. She used to just lay down and have no issues whatsoever when I would leave the room.  Sleeping in one room together in Utah messed that up I guess!  She cries for me in the night if she can't find her binki and I'll have to go up and find it for her, cover her up, and tell her to go back to bed.  She'll scream again for a minute or so and then she'll usually go right back to sleep.

Madison can be more picky.  She hasn't learned to like a lot of fruits still. One day she will eat blueberries, and the next day she'll say "Ewwe!" if I try and put them on her plate.  She does however, LOVE dill pickles, tuna, yogurt, cheetos puffs, and the girl can down some avocado.  It's so weird to me that she won't touch a  raspberry, but she could eat two whole avocados by herself in one sitting.  She'll always say "More!" if she wants more of something.

She loves watching "Anna" (FROZEN) and Mickey Mouse.  She also loves the disney movies we own.   I can get her to clean and be a really good listener if I tell her she can watch a show if she.......does whatever I need her to.  She hates puppet looking cartoons.  At my parents' house I've been putting on the show "Bob The Builder" because they don't have cable hooked up so it's one of the few shows I can put on, and whenever these puppet looking cat and other animals are on she starts fake crying and yelling "EWWEE!!"  until I fast forward it.  If they come back on then she does it all over again.  It's so stinkin' funny!

She loves riding her little bike to the mailbox, even though she can't technically do it by herself yet.  I basically just use the handle and lift the front of her bike up because she doesn't know how to steer yet, and I just push her but she has her feet on the pedals.  She loves taking a turn on Brooklynn's bike too, with me pushing her. Both girls love going to the park and LOVE to swing.  They love dogs, Madison more from a distance, and Brooklynn loves to pet them if the owner says it's ok.  Madison tries to be brave like Brooklynn but most times she ends up getting scared and crying.  They love going to Pets Mart and just looking at the animals and watching the dogs get their hair cut.

They both love reading books now.  Madison didn't like it for a long time, but she finally is enjoying reading books together at night before bed, and I will even catch her during the day over there looking at books on her own.

They are also both crazy about Family Home Evening!  Brooklynn LOVES to conduct it, and they both love to stand up there and conduct the music while we sing.  We always do "Wash the Dishes" after our lesson, and London Bridges, and Ring Around the Rosie.  It's a highlight for them, and it does bring a peaceful spirit into our home, and I can tell a difference in our week if we forget to do it.

These girls are our world and we are grateful for them, no matter how hard being a parent is sometimes.  I am finally feeling like I'm at a point where I may even consider another baby.  I think it's a decision I need to go to the Lord with, but I feel like life is a little less chaotic and crazy now that they are both a little bit older.  I think with the next one, Madison and Brooklynn can play together and entertain themselves while I take care of the baby, so it may even be slightly easier than when I had Madison and still had to entertain Brooklynn too.  I guess we will see!

Wow, it has been so long since I have posted!! The summer has just completely flown by, and we have played hard through it all!  I'm so sad it's already coming to a close!  Just a couple more weeks until Brooklynn starts Preschool!  We have been to Utah to visit and then Banff for the Davies Family Reunion, and then back to Utah to visit and celebrate Tiff's birthday!  It's so crazy how much the girls are growing and changing.

Brooklynn and Madison are getting along pretty well lately.  Don't get me wrong, I still have to break up fights daily, and Madison is still stubborn and has a hard time when things don't go her way, so she's quick to push or hit, or take whatever toy she wants.  She's also pretty quick to apologize and give loves after she's been in timeout, so we're trying.  Brooklynn has learned that if she wants something Madison has, she just has to find something else that Madison would be interested in and give that to her, and then she can get whatever she wants that Madison has. It's funny to watch her scheme.  Brooklynn calls Madison "Little Bug" or Madison Moo, and is constantly saying things like "Come and get this Little Bug!" or "You want this Madison Mooey?"  She also calls her sweetheart, and it's stinking' adorable.  When they are playing nice together, all is good in the world.  They love to run around chasing each other, or tickling one another, and they usually get hyper when they are tired and can just sit there and laugh at one another, and just be in a funny mood, which usually happens right after dinner time.

Brooklynn has become a little bit sassy in her 3 year old age.  She has started saying things like "Don't say that to me" or "don't talk to me like that", or "No, you don't say that to me!"  Whenever I ask her to do something numerous times, and by about the 5th or 6th time I ask her with more of a stern tone, she gets all hurt and offended.  It's so hard for me to ask 5 million times for her to do the same thing.  A lot of the times she's a really great listener though, so I can't complain too much.

Some of the cute things she says is "In a couple while" (in a little while) and when she's in a good mood she calls us all sweetie or sweetheart.  Today while Joe was changing Madison's diaper, Brooklynn was sitting in the recliner watching him and she said matter of factly "I pooped yesterday!  And it was a big one!"  ha ha ha!  Joe and I busted up laughing.  She wasn't trying to be funny, just stating the truth.  She calls burritos "torritos", which is another funny thing she says.  I'm trying to think of other things.

She still loves doing everything by herself, and I feel like that's where most of the tears and frustration come for both of us.  She wants to do it all, and sometimes there's just not time or I don't have the patience.  She had a meltdown at the register at Walmart yesterday because she wanted to put all the groceries on the belt that were up in the seat with her, and I was in such a rush and the woman was waiting on me, that I just had to throw it up myself, and she literally burst right out into tears and was crying and yelling, and ended up losing her treat she had picked out for the pool, because of the way she acted.  I try really hard when we are home to let her do most things, and give her her own little tasks, like putting ice in the water cups or bottles before meals, helping set the table, she helps empty the dishwasher, clears her plate after meals, loves to help make toast, and she always wants to put her own jam on. She's in charge of going to get hers and madison's pajamas from their dressers after dinner, and she's responsible for putting her pajamas on the washer for me to wash the next morning.

She's about to start preschool and she couldn't be more excited!  She has been talking about it everyday for the last few days.  It's going to be so good for her, I'm excited to watch her grow and blossom even more.

She gets dressed on her own, brushes her own teeth, uses the bathroom by herself, gets herself in and buckled in the van, puts her own shoes on, clears her dishes from the table, loves to butter and put jam on her own toast, wants to put ketchup or salt and pepper on her own food, loves helping me make my protein shakes, loves to help me clean the toilets with the toilet brush, likes to sweep and vacuum by herself, and loves pushing the unload button on my silhouette machine when I use it.  She and Madison also love helping me make my protein shake for breakfast on the days that I do my BBG workouts, and then they both have to have their own cup full.  If Brooklynn wakes up around 6:30/6:45 and Joe is in the bathroom getting ready, she comes and lays on his side of the bed and waits for him to get out of the shower and get dressed and then he'll open the door and let her in the bathroom to watch him finish getting ready.  It's so funny to see the little routine they have.  After that she'll go get herself and yogurt and eat breakfast, all while I'm still sleeping sometimes.  She still loves going up to "get Madison" when she wakes up.

We have had so much fun at the pool this last little while.  She loves using her "goggles"(face mask style) and has a little Minnie Mouse kick board that she loves to take.  She wears her little floaties and loves jumping in by herself.

She's still a great eater!  I'm so blessed not to have really picky kids.  I just keep having them try the foods they don't like, and eventually they have learned to like them.  Brooklynn used to hate tomatoes and now she loves eating one sliced up with some salt and pepper, just like her momma.  Tomatoes are one of my favorites! Madison is coming around and has finally started eating things like strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and oranges.  All of which she didn't used to eat.  So I've learned to just stick with it and give her at least a taste of something every time we eat it.

It's so crazy to me that Brooklynn is starting preschool and is 3 years old already! The days are long sometimes but the years are just flying by!  I sure love this little independent girlie of mine!  I look at her and I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.  Her hair is getting so long now, and she's just such a gorgeous little girl full of love and she's the best big sister to Madison.  Being a mom is so hard, but I can't imagine my life without her.

Madison is miss spunk!  She's started talking a lot more lately, and it seriously is the cutest thing ever!  I love hearing her say things, and love when she tries to say new words.  She still uses some sign language that only I understand, and that cracks me up too.  When she wants her binki or her blanket she will come up to me, and just put her hands up like "Where is my binki?" or "Where is my blankie?" and when I say "you want your binki?" she smiles and nods her head.  She says "mom" ALL THE TIME!  Sometimes to the point that it starts to drive me crazy.  She's gone through this phase where she just wants me to do everything for her.  She's slowly started to let Joe do more for her, and she's gotten to a point where she will even cry for him, or cry when he leaves. She's still super clingy to me when it comes time to go to nursery, or when I take her and Brooklynn to the daycare at the gym while I workout.  She ALWAYS cries when she goes to either of those places, but they say she just cries for a while and then she's fine.

She loves to be silly and loves to laugh.  If you do something she loves or she thinks is funny, she will say "Again!" over and over a million times!  She loves to color or sit down with a pencil and paper and just "write".   She loves to be outside, and is happy just going down the slide into our blow up pool, over and over and over again.  She doesn't get bored easily and can play on her own for long periods.  She loves to run and have fun, and LOVES to dance and move her body to music whenever she can.  It's the funnest thing to just watch her.  She loves to scream when something gets her excited, and she's so fun to snuggle with.  She is also full of spunk, and she will beat up on Brooklynn sometimes if she doesn't get what she wants.  She'll quickly say "NO, no no, no no!" if she doesn't want you to do something or doesn't like something.  She HATES bugs or anything that looks like a bug and she will say "EWWWE!"' and kind of freak out!  Speaking of Ewwee......Today when Joe was taking her into nursery I walked by and she was holding on to the door frame trying to keep herself from going in, and she was saying "Ewwe, Ewwe, Ewwe," over and over again.  She did NOT want to go to nursery today.  She screamed for about 15 minutes and then she was fine they said. I couldn't help but laugh at my crazy child!  Ha ha!

Ever since we came back from Utah she's freaked out every night when it's time for bed.  She hates when I say goodnight and close the door.  She used to scream and cry for about 15 minutes, and tonight she was down to about 2 minutes, if that.  Slowly but surely we are making progress. She used to just lay down and have no issues whatsoever when I would leave the room.  Sleeping in one room together in Utah messed that up I guess!  She cries for me in the night if she can't find her binki and I'll have to go up and find it for her, cover her up, and tell her to go back to bed.  She'll scream again for a minute or so and then she'll usually go right back to sleep.

Madison can be more picky.  She hasn't learned to like a lot of fruits still. One day she will eat blueberries, and the next day she'll say "Ewwe!" if I try and put them on her plate.  She does however, LOVE dill pickles, tuna, yogurt, cheetos puffs, and the girl can down some avocado.  It's so weird to me that she won't touch a  raspberry, but she could eat two whole avocados by herself in one sitting.  She'll always say "More!" if she wants more of something.

She loves watching "Anna" (FROZEN) and Mickey Mouse.  She also loves the disney movies we own.   I can get her to clean and be a really good listener if I tell her she can watch a show if she.......does whatever I need her to.  She hates puppet looking cartoons.  At my parents' house I've been putting on the show "Bob The Builder" because they don't have cable hooked up so it's one of the few shows I can put on, and whenever these puppet looking cat and other animals are on she starts fake crying and yelling "EWWEE!!"  until I fast forward it.  If they come back on then she does it all over again.  It's so stinkin' funny!

She loves riding her little bike to the mailbox, even though she can't technically do it by herself yet.  I basically just use the handle and lift the front of her bike up because she doesn't know how to steer yet, and I just push her but she has her feet on the pedals.  She loves taking a turn on Brooklynn's bike too, with me pushing her. Both girls love going to the park and LOVE to swing.  They love dogs, Madison more from a distance, and Brooklynn loves to pet them if the owner says it's ok.  Madison tries to be brave like Brooklynn but most times she ends up getting scared and crying.  They love going to Pets Mart and just looking at the animals and watching the dogs get their hair cut.

They both love reading books now.  Madison didn't like it for a long time, but she finally is enjoying reading books together at night before bed, and I will even catch her during the day over there looking at books on her own.

They are also both crazy about Family Home Evening!  Brooklynn LOVES to conduct it, and they both love to stand up there and conduct the music while we sing.  We always do "Wash the Dishes" after our lesson, and London Bridges, and Ring Around the Rosie.  It's a highlight for them, and it does bring a peaceful spirit into our home, and I can tell a difference in our week if we forget to do it.

These girls are our world and we are grateful for them, no matter how hard being a parent is sometimes.  I finally am feeling like I'm at a point where I may even consider another baby.  I think it's a decision I need to go to the Lord with, but I feel like life is a little less chaotic and crazy now that they are both a little bit older.  I think with the next one, Madison and Brooklynn can play together and entertain themselves while I take care of the baby, so it may even be slightly easier than when I had Madison and still had to entertain Brooklynn too.  I guess we will see!