Here are some videos... This one is especially funny to every parent that has ever bought their child the "best" present ever! You know that gift you think will be the most fun and they will absolutely love it!! Well just like always the box is usually better than the actual gift... Ha ha ha.. Oh so sad.... for us.. and as you have seen scary for her. Oh well... I guess birthday #2 will bring boxes full of paper?

This was her that day we went outside and she actually told us she was having fun on the 4 wheeler... Here is that video I said I would post. :)

Snow snow go away... come again.... next winter?

Hello big mover!!

Some wait for their snow to melt.... We however do not. We move it! Ha ha ha I think this was the best idea ever. Brian used the tractor to push the snow out of our "front yard"! It was amazing.. the next couple of days we saw the ground where we will plant grass and have a real front yard... But it snowed again.  :(

Yay!! Don't you see the fun potential in this here front yard?!?!

Madi and I watched and I let her play in the puddles that were forming. Part of the reason Brian started to move the snow. We had a huge pond right in front of our house! But he drained it and moved the snow to prevent it from happening again.... Hopefully ;)

Madi went to grandpa and grandma's and we went to Billings for the weekend! It was so lovely! No snow.. 50 some degrees! And we got to go to the temple! So very nice... It was a great weekend for us.

Tell me which picture is better? This is the one he took....

And this is the one I took... Obviously by whose arm is outstretched right? If I do say so myself I feel I have become quite the one arm outstretched picture snapper! ha ha ha

A picture without my arm in it!! WOW that never happens! Thank goodness for camera timers.

And like I said... the snow came back. I opened my door after a lovely weekend in Billings and this is how Monday morning welcomed us home... UGH.... Goodbye front yard.. I will see you in June. :( Ha ha ha but until then we stay inside for the most part and enjoy a warm cozy home.

Adieu until next time...

This will be kind of a long blog… So I apologize in advance…

There were a lot of fun things that happened since I last blogged and I really wanted to share a few of them… So here goes…

I try to work out every morning. I try and do some sort of cardio and then a yoga routine. I am really enjoying yoga. I feel it is what keeps me less stressed and headache free, so I am really loving my yoga. Keeping that in mind.............. this is what usually happens. Madison works out with me! Which is great, she is my little pal at home and I love that she likes to copy me. However whenever I get on the floor for crunches or something  like that she starts giggling and sits right on top… sometimes I am even lucky enough that she bounces… It is like an extra ab-workout because I have to keep them flexed so she doesn’t “Heimlich Maneuver” me! I figure yoga must be really great because even though she is climbing on me and the cat is usually going crazy biting my moving feet, I still feel better and less stressed. It is a win win… most of the time. I guess sometimes the cat ends up locked in her room sometimes.

Here you see the face I see as I work out… She is my “trainer”!! Ha ha I would like to point out the orange “pitchfork” in one hand and the cheeks full of crackers! Ha ha ha a great trainer if I do say so myself!! “Move it mama!!”

This is how we spent Sunday! It was another beautiful warm day! It was 40 degrees!! We were so excited! Madison had a blast! It was finally warm enough for her to wear her snow gear instead of her snowman suit, which meant she could wear boots and walk on her own much better! Every step towards more independence makes her a very happy little girl! Here we pulled her around on the snow shovel… It was so much fun for all of us! She kept sliding right off and she thought it was hilarious! Every time she tried to walk back onto it and sit down it was so slick she would just fall right down… Again so funny to her… So she would try and try until one of us finally sat her down.

Every chance she gets she would reach and grab a snow clump! So very yummy apparently! We had to change gloves a couple times so her little fingers didn’t freeze. (Her hands aren’t big enough to work very well inside the waterproof gloves.. . for all of you wondering why we didn’t just do that)

We finally got some emotion out of her!! She always loves to go in the tractors, on the four-wheelers and motorcycles but we never get anything from her! She finally smiled, laughed, and talked!! It was so great! I got a couple videos too… Sometime I will post those. It was hilarious and we absolutely loved it!

It’s been so warm the last couple days that snow is melting and it is melting enough that we see ground patches! Madison was so intrigued! For way too much of her life snow has blanketed the earth! Ha ha ha… Here was her reaction to her new discovery!

Ha ha ha don’t you just laugh?? I mean you see the whole thing happen! She thinks… “Hmmm what is that stuff?? I bet it could taste good. Ohh it feels soft and squishy… Oh YUCK.. that doesn’t taste good at all! Mom get it off my tongue!”

The best part was watching her try to get it off. She had so much dirt and grass on her gloves it was impossible for her to get it off without putting more in her mouth… So I did help her out. Don’t worry, I’m not that mean! J

And here we all are walking home! Look at all that ground!!! How great is that?!?! Spring is in the air and another month or so and we might have NO snow!!! Yay for getting to go outside without 4 layers!!

This is the face that sums up our beautiful afternoon! We were all very happy and glad to have been able to go outside and enjoy some beautiful sunshine!

And to top it off as we were getting ready to head inside Madison looked up and pointed and then we looked and this huge bald eagle flew over us. It was amazing! He was only like 20-30 feet above us. It was really crazy! I was sad because I had my camera in my hand but it was too quick and I totally missed the opportunity. Overall it was a fun day in the sun…

Life is so hard sometimes!!

So today I got this whole process on my camera... Don't judge me... Just wait until the end...

So sometimes parents buy jungle gyms.... We simply put up my table to study at and look at that... It is our very own jungle gym... Madi usually climbs in and out just fine... But today it was right before naptime and well anything right before naptime usually is a disaster!

The challenge became personal for her and she really wanted to get out... She was really frustrated but all the "books" say you should let them struggle so they know how to fix things... So I got my camera and took pictures of the process...

It was so funny to watch how hard she tries to do something so easy... It seems that many times she takes the hardest way possible. But it very much was her idea and she was going to do it.

At this point she wasn't very mad she was just very determined. But really... Look at her back leg... Who can push off their leg like?

See the pouty lip? She was a little bit whiney... but not mad... :) But I could tell she was happy she actually got it done!

And here is the face that says "Look at that Mom! I just did it!!"

And off to bed we went and she took a great nap. So it pays to let kids figure things out for themselves. It is hard to watch them struggle so much, but you know that they need to do things for themselves to learn.

P.S. look at her little skirt... How cute is that?? It is a little Levi jean skirt.... with a little ruffle. So cute right?

A Georgous Day in North Dakota!

Every great Sunday has one cat nap...

Our kitty Panda is quite the cat. As you can tell life can be pretty rough during the afternoon hours of the day. Full of sunbathing, and cat naps. I remember on my mission we would leave our house after lunch and walk by these cats. Almost always it was super hot and almost always these cats were napping. My trainer said, "Ah to be a cat would be amazing" I didn't fully understand why until I too had spent 18 months being extremely tired everyday and working hard from sun up to sun down... From then on I realized how great it would be to have the life of a cat...

It was a beautiful day today and so amazing outside. We all went out to enjoy it. Madi hung out with dad on the snow blower and 4 wheeler, and I did the "cat thing" and basked in the warm sun! and took some pictures! It was a great day!!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures! I think it says a lot without saying anything..

Once again we got the straight non-expression face, but she sat on Brian's lap for about an hour... just making laps pushing snow...

Honestly we don't let our child just eat snow off of our shoes... but I had to get a picture of it! Seriously!?!? What is she doing? We laughed pretty hard... I mean really! What a little spaz....She loves snow and I will sometimes bring in a bowl of snow and let her make a very big mess on my kitchen floor... It is very fun for her and she loves it... just really messy for me to clean up... and devestating for her at the end as she hasn't figured out that cold snow melts in a warm house thus dissapearing...

P.S. grandparents rest assured your grandchild is safe and is not forced to eat off the floor. :) Just so you don't have to wonder...

How FUN!

What can I say about this??

Little Madison has a feddish with my sunglasses, and she loves to wear them. It works out great because her baby blue eyes keep her from being able to see... So today she was able to keep her eyes open! It was great.. until her little nose started to fog up the sunglasses, then she took them off and we were back to squinting! But I got a picture to capture the moment! :) She looks really happy huh?

My little helpers! Madison does a great job of getting all the clothes out of the dryer and she LOVES cleaning the lint trap. Little panda.. she doesn't really help at all, but her and Madi have to compete at everything. Panda is usually faster but Madison has the last word.

Like I said. The last word... I just had to take pictures of the this.. However it was not as fun getting out as it was climbing in..

I don't think that I will continue posting this frequently, but because I have posted the last 3 days consistently it shows me how exciting our life is. Ha ha ha... While there is never any "big" news or something worthy of telling everyone, everyday Madi reaches mile stones and Brian and I grow closer together. I find it very funny that I could follow Madison around and there would always be pictures like this to post. I'm so blessed to have such a fun and exciting life. Not a life noteworthy of shouting it from the rooftops but it is fun everyday, and new and exciting things happen all the time.

3 March 2011

Day Two of blogging! :)

So the first post went much better than I expected. It was easy and I'm not as intimidated by this blogging thing! :) Ha ha ha.. So here goes a real update on our little family.

Brian and Madison have so much fun together. Madi loves it when her daddy comes home. She often knocks on the front door and yells "DA!" and then waits for him to answer. It is really funny... When he does come home it is a great day for everyone! I can finally go to the bathroom in peace and Madison is a whole new happy girl. And of course Brian loves to be welcomed home by his "lil pea". So it is a good day all around. The other day we got dumped on so on Saturday, Brian took the tractor out to move some snow, and Madi got to go with! She was pretty excited. You would never know it by her face... but she was really happy.

It was toasty warm in the cab so she had to start shedding layers... It is funny to watch Madi because we are sure her little face will lite up with delight and smiles, maybe even some giggles... but we have often found all she does is sit and watch with a no expression face. It seems funny to us but we know she loves it... because she sits! And she sits for a LONG time! That doesn't happen very often so we know she must enjoy it even if her face doesn't say so.

Chewing on something is always tasty right? I don't know why little kids love to suck on coats or gloves. But I know they all do! I suppose it is just one of those things you have to try, and you better do it when your'e little because when you get older people might think you are weird.

Madison loves to be involved and "help". In relief society an older sister told the women to let their children help them to household chores. I agree with that to a certain degree. Helping me make pancakes is fun and we both have a good time. She loves stirring and helping me put dishes in the sink. She even helps me wash dishes. But so often I have found It is impossible to sweep, or clean the bathroom, things like that just DON"T work, at all!! Sweeping is funny to watch, but it is so frustrating too! The little stink pot sees the pile and walks right through it.  She proceeds to sit right next to or on top of the pile and while she is sitting I try to sweep off her little feet because they have accumulated all of the dust and crumbs from the floor! Then if that wasn't enough she sits down to pick out one of the cheerios she threw on the floor from snack time earlier that day!We go through the whole "yuckie" but something about "yuckie" makes her think, "ohhh yumm!" Anyways enough about that...

Poor little girl had a run in with the stairs. I would call this her first real "owie". It has lasted more than a day and there is a noticable mark.... I felt really bad. Poor Madi was trying to climb up the stairs but slipped and hit the second stair with her little nose...

I feel very fortunate to be able to stay home. While I think I am more tired than I would be if I worked a job I got paid for, I enjoy this 24/7 job much more. She is hilarious right now and so much fun to be around... Minus the meltdowns and tantrums that occur every now and then....

But overall it is very fun and I'm trying to remind myself of how fast the time goes and how this is the easiest it will ever be ( only having Madi)... Life only gets harder, BUT I have also found the harder it gets the greater the rewards are. So we frequently count our many blessings and try to remembe this stage will pass way too fast. It helps us enjoy it more. I mean look at her! Is that not just enough to make your day a better and brighter one??

My daughter dresses cuter than I do! I love getting her all ready to go! I think it is one of the funnest things to do! And it pays off because then people admire how cute she is and don't notice how bad I look! It is a great trade off! She is learning to say some words and she says "pretty". It is super funny it comes out more like "peeyy". She says it everytime we put a barrett in her hair or put her hat on.. It is funny.

That is the update on us. Madison runs our life and we love that. She is truly a huge blessing and so much fun right now. I see how time can go by too fast so we try to remind ourselves of that everyday and try to enjoy everyday a little more.

Brian is doing great! Work is busy right now because the 2 other guys that he worked with quit and so he is by himself for the next two weeks and after that he gets to train 2 new guys. So the next couple months we are looking forward to staying home a lot and trying to fix up a few things on the inside of our house.

I am enjoying the 2 classes I have right now. I can't help but countdown every now and then to the end! I feel very blessed to have been accepted to an online program. I'm so glad I can go to school and finish but still stay home and not put Madi in daycare! It has been a huge blessing for us! Only one year and 10 months more.. ha ha ha that sounds so much more depressing outloud than it does in my head... Hmmmm... I guess I will keep the countdowns to myself from now on.

Brian told me he was embarrassed to tell anyone about our blog because of the name... wowrowe.. he said that is embarrassing. I still haven't told anyone... I guess I just want to see if I actually keep this up enough to make it worthy of telling anyone. So if you are reading this I must have... It will be interesting to see how this goes. It is really random thoughts right now. Once I have a better rhythm and better flow of blogging, that is when I will tell people. :)