Madison is 11 Months and Mason is 3.5 years!

Time is just flying by with two kiddos but I am kind of loving the age that both kids are at right now.  Madison is more independent as far playing by herself (as long as Mason is near).  Here are some of her recent milestones:

- Eats only solid foods (no more baby food), unless we are out and she has a squeezy
- Crawls everywhere and is cruising along furniture
- Says 'hi' when she waves
- Can babysign 'all done'
- Takes 2 naps a day
- Sleeps twelve hours at night
- Hits people when she doesn't want something (working on this)
- Isn't okay with me showering in the morning (she kind of cries the whole time)
- Loves being with Mason and he keeps her entertained too
- Blow's kisses
- Insists on taking her shoes and bows off
- LOVEs her daddy and usually prefers him over me
- Generous with giving loves to everyone

I am grateful to be her mama.

evidence that she won't keep shoes on

blowing kisses

clapping for herself

Mr. Mason Man

There is so much to say about this fun loving, smiley kid of ours.  He pretty much wakes up with a smile and keeps us laughing with his goofy antics! Here is what is going on with this guy: 

- 3.5 years old

- potty trained through the night - yippee!!

- loves to start conversation, here are some of his conversation starters: "What was the best part of your day?", "Did you have any dreams?", "How did you sleep last night?" Seriously, it's the cutest thing when he does this!

- It's a battle every morning to get him to go to the bathroom when he wakes up in the morning.

- He is horrible at eating his meals, but mostly dinner - it's a battle EVERY night.  Maybe some day it won't be.

- He loves us reading to him.  We just started reading little chapter books and he loves just listening to the story.

- This past Sunday was the mothers day program at church - he would have none of that.  We will try again next time.

- He is starting to draw things.  Slides, flowers and other things I can't remember. 

- He uses manners - pretty consistently.  Yay!

- He has started to tease his sister. NOOOOO!!! I keep reminding him that his job as a big brother is to watch out for Maddie and make sure she is okay.  We are working on this and he really does love his sister!

- If he wakes up to early, he will come cuddle with me in bed for 20 mins or so every once in a while = heaven!

- He loves being outside and loves worms and bugs right now.  He often comes running into the house so excited to show me with them in his hands. EWWWW!

- Sharing at preschool is still challenging - but we are working on that too!

- He loves to ask why about everything

- During his prayers he always says "thanks for this beautiful sabbath day and thank you for the sun and moon"

We just love having Mason in the fam.  He really is such a good little boy who adds immeasurable joy into our lives. 

Easter 2015

What a wonderful day Easter was this year.  We watched general conference, did Easter baskets with the kids, read the scriptures and prepared an easter feast for dinner with Terrill's family.   Terrill and I are such a great team.  He seriously helps me soooo much and I wouldn't have been able to do it without him.  I cooked my first ham and chuck roast using the Pioneer Women's recipe, which proved to be a success! The whole day was so nice and pretty unstressful since we did the majority of the work on Sunday..."Saturday is a special day, its the day we get ready for Sunday...."  Anyways, when the Wolf's arrived, we nibbled on some delicious appetizers, had an Easter egg hunt and ate dinner.  We also did a little mini lesson on Easter using plastic easter eggs.  The awesomeness didn't end there, we enjoyed dessert and good company and then the elder's joined us too.   I am so grateful to know Christ lives.  It's such a wonderful time of year to remember this great blessing!

Madison 10 Months

We just celebrated Easter and Madison turned 10 months.  This past month she conquered rolling over, crawling and the stomach flu.  She is getting more and more curious every day about the world around her.  She crawls at super speed now and loves her bathes.  She loves acting like she is talking on the phone, screaming to get our attention and eating LOTS of food.  I love that food makes her happy so when she is fussy, I can just put her in her chair and give her a snack and she is happy as a clam.  She always sleeps through the night and is still taking 2 naps a day.  She loves her brother for the most part when he isn't clobbering her.  She also gets soooo excited when Terrill gets home because she just adores him.  She really is such a joy to have in the family and we love our growing blondie!

Beach day in March!

So for the past few weeks, it seems that all we do on our Saturdays is stay at home and get things done.  It was time to switch it up!!! I thought since the weather was supposed to be perfect this weekend that we should head to the beach.  We invited 2 other families that could come too.  We went to 26th ave and then to Pizza my Heart afterwards.  The whole day was absolutely perfect.  Seriously, it was so relaxing and I got to take a dip in the ocean (heaven!).  I so miss living close to the beach BUT I am grateful we live close enough where I can visit often!

Madison 9 months

Madison is 9 months! She is growing up so fast and I really can't believe it.  She is a really good baby unless I am not in the room or close to her.  She loves her mama!!  She has 2 teeth, sleeps 12 hours consistently at night, loves watching everything her brother does, plays with her toys, eats mostly table food, loves water, and is starting to maybe start to crawl.  She can get on all fours but just pivots herself everywhere on her bum.  It's pretty cute.  She also still has yet to roll from her back to her stomach.  We are so grateful that she is a healthy, happy baby.  What more could we ask for!!!

Height: 29 inches; 91%

Weight: 19.4 lbs; 71%

Monarch Butterflies

Over the Christmas break we took some time to see the butterflies in Santa Cruz, play on the beach and go out to dinner with Terrill's family.  The whole day was so much fun and we got some amazing pictures.  Be prepared for picture overload!!!

Christmas 2014

Christmas was so nice this year.  We didn't travel anywhere and we were able to have a nice quiet morning at our house.  We spent Christmas eve with the Wolf's and Christmas with some of my extended family.  All in all, it was a great time and we loved every minute of it.  We also got to Facetime with my family on Christmas morning which was nice since this was the first Christmas ever we didn't get to see them!! :(  Luckily my mom is planning a trip out here soon so we will see her then.  

Throughout the month of December we celebrated the season by visiting the temple, decorating gingerbread houses, making treats, planning the ward Christmas party, doing last minute shopping and spending time with loved ones.  Mason was very excited for Santa to come and loved opening presents.  It is so much fun to have little ones during this time of year!! They bring endless energy and excitement!!