Monday, November 29, 2010

What we are thankful for...

After a great Thanksgiving weekend with the fam (me, Josh and Mad) I had to write about how thankful I am to have them in my life. This past weekend was the first "time off" that Josh and I have had. No football games, no weddings, no band competitions, no meetings, just time together. We held Thanksgiving at our house so Josh and I cleaned Thursday morning, while I cooked. The Josh and I cleaned again Thursday night, then sat and watched some TV. Nothing super special, but it felt so nice. Then, as usual, I went Black Friday shopping with my mom and Regan and came home to a bare Christmas tree. While I decorated the tree and the inside of the house, Josh did the outside lights. Again, this is something we do year after year (now almost 8). The rest of the weekend went pretty fast. We lazed around. Watched football, ate dinner with friends, and I sang at church. Again, these are things we do all the time. But what I don't do all the time is sit back and reflect. I did today. I was sad that Josh had to go back to work. We had such a great time with him for four full days! But I was happy that I have my little girl to keep me company. She was very needy today (I think she is teething again) and just wanted to cuddle. I couldn't have spent a cold wintry day any other way. I so often get caught up in what is going on around me and the "things" I need to do, that I rarely stop and just take in the moment. Once I do that, I am reminded that there are few things in life that will matter in the end. I got to speak with a dear friend of mine this morning and she reminded me that most people do not look back on life and say they wish they cleaned more, or worked more. But they do wish they spent more time with family, with their kids, etc. She was telling me that her goal is just to have a peaceful home. I like that goal. As always, I am going to let that give me perspective. I also just want to have a God perspective. There is so much in this world that I am blind too because I am so drowning in my everyday life. I need to lift myself out of it and be thankful for what I have or enjoy what I have. Whatever it is... Anyway, so that is what I am thankful for. I am thankful that God has put good friends in my life to remind me of what really matters. And then I have a daughter who forces me to slow down. And I have moments with my husband that I cherish and keep me wanting more. I am so blessed. I am so thankful!

Speaking of thankful, a huge thank you to Gretchen for taking our family pictures again this year. xoxoxo

This shot was not working out so well...

I think this was one of the first pictures we took. We should have just saved ourselves the frustration. Oh boy!
We had her pinned in with our legs. I am super surprise she smiled here. Usually she does NOT like it when you pin her down.
We brought Ella and Regan along so they could get some cute girl shots. And Gretchen captured them perfectly. Ella is in love with Madelyn. She always wants to hug and kiss her. Madelyn wants to do her own thing.
But they both like holding hands. Awwww...




And here is "tee tee" and Miss Ella.

I LOVE this last one!

Monday, November 15, 2010

First Trip to Disneyland

I know this is a little outdated, but it is too important to just not post it.

Over Halloween weekend Mad and I traveled with Josh and his band to California for their marching band competition. The trip just sounded too fun to pass up. I was very reminiscent about the year before when Dave, Cheri and I followed the band with little Miss Thye to the competition and Magic Mountain. We had fun, so I thought I would do it again. Plus, Halloween is not my favorite holiday so I thought going to Disneyland sounded much more fun than trick or treating.

Side note, Josh's band is awesome! They scored very well in California, placing 3rd. Which is really good against California schools, who just might place their children in marching band as soon as they can walk. They always seem to be SO good. And on another side note, the DV band just won the State Competition beating out all other schools in the state by 3 points! Which again, is FANTASTIC! Now we are anxiously awaiting their Fiesta Bowl competition on December 30th. I am praying they win that too. I like winning....

Anyway, back to Disneyland. Here is how our day went, so you know while you are watching the slide show. We were only there for six hours. But that was plenty with a 15 month old.
- Got to Disneyland and took the shuttle into the park.
- Mad was so excited once we were there, she ran around for like 10 minutes.
- We rode the carousel (which she did a year ago at Magic Mountain too).
- We rode Dumbo.
- We took the Storybook Land boat tour.
- We rode the Nemo submarine tour.
- She took a nap and Josh and I joined some other staff members for lunch.
- She woke up from her nap but still laid on Uncle Drew's shoulder for about 20 minutes.
- Then she didn't want to do anything but play with the flowers (as you will see by Drew's little photo shoot). I figured we were in the Happiest Place on Earth, so she might as well do what makes her happy.
- She did meet Mary Poppins while picking flowers. She didn't care much for Burt. He tried to give her flowers and she ran away, picked her own and then gave them to Mary Poppins. It was really cute!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

October Videos

We just got done spending Fall Break with daddy. Unfortunately it started with Josh and Madelyn traveling to Kansas for Uncle Doug's celebration service. He passed away September 29th after his fight with leukemia. His celebration service was on October 9th which was a big weekend for me, so I was not able to make the trip. It was hard not being there, but Josh was a good daddy! Here are some videos of Josh shopping with Grandma Cheri, GiGi (Great Grandma Barnett) and Josh's aunt Lori. She loved the car. Good call grandma!





Then we were able to have some fun at the zoo. We love the zoo! Especially the water!!





Friday, October 8, 2010

Life...

Life can be crazy. Our past month has been B-A-NA-NAS! Next week is Fall Break though. So I am assuming that I will have time to update you all on our life. Love you!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

My Cutie Patootie

These videos just make me smile. Thank you God for a hilarious daughter!




Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Finally: We have a One Year Old!!



I have been waiting to post this until I had the words to describe the past year of our lives. The truth is, I still have no words. Madelyn has been the biggest blessing. I really couldn't have asked for a better kid. And she's a kid now. Crazy... Today in particular she got her first hair cut and is walking on her own. I am just speechless. Life is just crazy when I think back to how things were a year ago today. So here's where she is at after one whole year of life.

31 inches, 22 pounds.
Wears 12-18 month clothing.
Can say a number of words. My favorites are "fish", "what's this", "pretty" and "mama" (Josh likes "dad").
Loves her bath time, story time (especially when she reads to herself) and mommy time.
Smiles showing all 7 teeth, one dimple, and eye wrinkles.
Crawls like crazy to the garage door when she knows Josh is home.
Says "Ahhhhh" when she hugs you.
Keeps her mouth open when she kisses you.
She gets so excited about things that she doesn't know what to do. So she shakes her hands and flails her arms.
She is eating four bottles of whole milk along with four "meals" a day. Some days she can't eat enough food. She likes variety, like her dad. Eats everything except chicken though.
Still takes two naps a day. Generally 9-11 and 1-3.
Is extremely imaginative when she plays with her toys.
Plays well with others.
Copies everything mommy does.
Yells at me and tries to climb on me when I am on the phone or computer. I guess she knows...
Pulls Belle's hair and tail on a regular basis. Belle complains but rarely moves.
Plays the piano every night with daddy. And sometimes on her own.
And so much more!

I just can't get enough. She is a dream come true. And God has everything to do with that.

Here is a little photo shoot that we did in her first house and first bedroom. It was a weird day, but the pictures turned out cute.


Here was our family trip to Montana at the beginning of July.


We had a fun birthday party, but I was so busy having fun I forgot to take pictures. So here is her "eating" her cake at her party.




And here is some footage of her walking today. She is so cute!







Love you Mad! Can't wait until the next year!!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

11 months- almost one year!!

So I do not have an 11 month picture to show you since Josh is not here to help me take it. I will get one though, next week. She just wants to crawl off the chair and eat the paper. Way too much to handle while taking a photo. But I cannot believe she is almost a year old! The 11 month mark is kind of overshadowed by this fact. And I know I always say it, but time is flying! She is growing up! I know I am going to blink and she will be graduating from college. Wow, I might pass out...

Anyway, we didn't do a ton differently this past month. She is still crawling, EVERYWHERE! I think she is so close to walking too. We will see how long until that happens. Everyone with little kids sees her and tells me so. But I am not buying it some days. She is still very wobbly. She has this little push car that she walks behind, only in straight lines though. Very funny when she hits a dead end. She just stands there waiting for someone to turn her around. Today I just let her stand there just to see how long it would take until she got mad. Surprisingly, it took a long time. Then I just felt mean.

She is feeding herself with a fork and if it the cereal is thick she can get a spoon to her mouth. So that has been fun. Messy, but fun.

She officially has four top teeth and two bottom ones. So I am trying to get her to eat more "real" food. This doesn't work out very often, but I try. However, as you will see in the slide show below, she got a hold of a package of cookies and had no problem opening them up and stuffing them in her mouth. This literally took like two seconds. I guess the girl likes her some cookies. I don't blame her... So b-day cake will be the second sweet snack she will taste.

My favorite things she continues to do is climb stairs and blow kisses. When she climbs stairs her little butt just moves back and forth and she is so happy. I can't help but let her do it. Plus it wears her out! And the other day she was riding in the stroller through the mall blowing kisses to everyone like she was Miss America. It was hilarious. Plus she doesn't understand that the smacking of the lips makes the sound, so she just goes "uhhh" every time she pulls her hand away. Very cute.

Well Little Miss M, your big one year is almost here. I can't wait to celebrate! Love you!!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

More milestones...

We finally captured some more milestones on video. Here is a video of her pointing and saying, "Who's that?" We play this game often.


And she is officially crawling. This isn't the best video, but it shows the love between her and daddy. So that is cute.


Pulling herself up on her own:


And trolling around in her walker. This video gets me laughing every time. Love the part where she plays peek a boo. Watch out! I think walking is next... Yikes!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

10 Months- Our Perfect Ten



I don't even know where to start. Madelyn is growing up so fast and so much happened this past month. The one thing I do know is that we are very blessed. Madelyn is the happiest baby. I am not even sure what I would do without her some days. Her smile just makes life that much better. And we thank God for that all the time. Here is what she has been up to this past month:

- She started eating finger foods like turkey, cheese, crackers, pasta, pears, bananas, potatoes and peaches.
- We have started transitioning to formula bottles during the day. She doesn't mind this transition at all. I am so lucky!! I can't wait until whole milk though. Formula is pricey...
- She has definitely begun to crawl. However, she does not like to do it. She would much rather scream at us until we pick her up to go walking. She only moves forward crawling if there is a toy or food out of her reach. Once she has achieved her goal. She sits.
- My favorite thing she does is baby yoga. She does plank and down dog all the time. For those of you who do not do yoga, plank is the position you are in when you do a push up and down dog would be on all fours with your butt in the air. So funny when she does those. The girl is strong!
- She went to day care at the gym for the first time. When I went to pick her up the lady said that no matter who was in front of her she just talked to them the whole time. Not sure where she gets that from...
- She is wearing 12-18 month clothing. Yep. Big girl!! Although Josh and I think she is thinning out because her legs rolls are as pronounced any more. See above.
- She is clearly saying "mama" and "dada". She has been doing this for awhile, but now she says them and means us. So now we count it.
- She also says:
"beh" = Belle, our cat. And any other cat she sees.
"nana"= num, num. She does this when she is hungry.
"whah"= what. She does this when the phone rings or she hears a text message.
"dah"= what's that? She does this when she is playing because I always ask her what's that? Or what's this?
- She only really signs "more" when she is eating. Brother... We are working on "please" and "all done".
- The most important thing that happened this past month, she was dedicated to Christ on Mother's Day. A very emotional weekend for Josh and I. All we ever wanted was to be parents. Now we just pray she follows God and his plan for her life.



This video was shot after she pulled herself up for the first time. As you can hear, grandpa was quite excited about it. Although we didn't capture the moment on video, it is fun to see her try.

This video was taken when she went swimming on Mother's Day. We plan on doing this a lot this summer.

We took this video when we were at Brian and Joanna's house. She loves their dogs, Jake and Baxter. She loves playing catch the most!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

We had quite a big weekend. Josh's parents flew in last week, he had his annual band banquet on Saturday, then we had Madelyn dedicated on Mother's Day. I have tons of pictures to post, but I also have a lot work to catch up on. So here's to my moms. I love you all!!

Cheri, Jenni and Madelyn Thye.
My mom, Tammie and my grandma, Darlene. 4 generations!
Grandma Sue holding Miss M before she went for her first swim. More an that later...

Thank you for making me into the woman and mom I am today. I love you all so much. I am glad that I have you in my life!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Twice as old!


Yep. This was as good as it got. See slide show below.


So Madelyn is official as old as she was out of the womb, as she was in the womb. I say it all the time, but I really can't believe it. She is the biggest blessing we have ever known. I just wish she always did what I said, like smile pretty for the camera!! No luck...



April was a fun month! This week Grandma and Grandpa Thye come into town for Mother's Day and Madelyn's baby blessing. More on that to come. I can't wait for them to see how much she has grown. She is still not crawling, but she is so close. Maybe she will finally do it while they are here. Although I am not sure I REALLY want that.

Love you Mad!!

Monday, April 26, 2010

M at the park this spring.

So our new favorite thing to do is go to the park. Now that it is getting too hot to do this, I was reminiscing about the fun stuff we have done this past spring. I can't wait until it cools off again!

We met my friend Bethy and her little girls Ella and Sophie at the train park for lunch. It was a little nutty (and windy of course), but so fun!




Those pictures just make me laugh!


We also went to watch daddy and his bands play at the TCA. It was a Music Under the Stars concert. She is starting to be that kid that yells "da da". So these are the only concerts we can go to for awhile.



We might try and hit the park a few more times, but I am pretty sure we will start heading to the pool soon!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Happy Birthday Uncle Jake!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jake!!! We love you!!



Thank you for trying so hard to make me happy!!

Monday, April 12, 2010

San Diego Trip and Playtime with Ella

San Diego is by far Josh and I's favorite place to visit. It is about a five hour drive away, can be inexpensive and is always beautiful! While we are there we love to go to Sea World. We also love the zoo and have been wanting to go to the wild life park for awhile now. We just haven't gotten to everything the city has to offer since we also just love to hang out on the beach, eat meals on the pier and stroll on the boardwalk. So San Diego is never boring for us. So much to do! This past weekend was a real treat since Josh's band was competing in a wind band festival just 50 miles north of San Diego. He decided that after the festival he would take the band to play on the USS Midway, which was amazing. To tour such a grand vessel was just so cool! I love stuff like that. You get to see what it is like for sailors to live on ships like that and you get a history of the navy throughout the tour. That was very neat. After the tour the band played on top of the ship. The weather was gorgeous and the concert was very fun. Then we ate lunch at Sea Port village (one of our favs) and then finished the day out at Sea World. I was very excited to see how Madelyn would respond to the animals. However, when we got there she was taking her nap. So it wasn't until the star fish that we got to see her interact. I think she liked the moss on the side of the rocks more than the star fish. She was very interested in the dolphins swimming around though. I about lost all feeling in my knees as I had to bend down for her to see them underwater. We went from there to see the dogs and cats perform in Pet's Rule. I thought for sure this would be her favorite show. She loves dogs and cats! However, with all the little kids (and mommy) yelling for her favorite dog she just lost it. She does not like being startled (like mommy) so as soon as people started screaming she cried like someone was beating her. The water works and sobs just wouldn't stop. I felt so sad for her. Good thing we were off to the penguins after that. She loved them! She also really enjoyed the night time shows of the sea lions, but she slept through the Shamu show. It was a really fun weekend!

Here are some pictures from our trip. Again, there are not too many since our camera is being so funky. But we hope you enjoy the ones we have!



And here is some footage from Ella and Miss M's play-date. One of her favorite things to do right now, "So Big".

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

M's first Easter

We had a very fun weekend. The Lord is risen and our lives have been so blessed! Thanks be to God for such a wonderful sacrifice. We appreciate your blood for our sake.

M joined daddy at the Easter parade.


As you can see it was a very exciting parade...

On Easter Sunday we met up with Regan and Ella at church before meeting up with the family for lunch and an Easter egg hunt.



I thought this picture was funny. The girls are easily distracted...

And our family!

Friday, April 2, 2010

8 months

(Yes, this picture is a little fuzzy. Sorry. Our camera is on the fritz. The flash no longer works and it is dying more and more each day.)

This little girl is so cute and brings us so much joy that I wish I blogged more often. As you can see I am even behind on this entry. Life is just crazy and Josh and I are so busy lately. One of these days I will be better about this... Anyway, Miss M is 8 months old and we just enjoy her more and more every day! I feel like the past week has been huge in her development too.

At eight months she is:
- 20 pounds
- 28 inches
- saying "dada" and "mama" on a regular basis (and I think this past week we have started to see that she knows who we are.)
- clapping and saying "yay!"
- throwing her hands above her head when I say "so big"
- rolling onto her stomach and pushes herself backwards (no crawling yet)
- eating meat (just turkey so far, and doesn't really like it)
- eating fruits and vegetables blended in the blender (loves pears and squash!)
- shaking her head when you ask her a question (apparently mom does this when I ask her something. I say "yes, yes" and shake my head up and down)
- waving bye, bye (which is also hi and sign language for more- she does all three)
- learning baby signs (can copy mommy but is not knowing what they are yet...)
- standing on her own if she is holding on to the furniture
- loving when her daddy gets home, and is as adorable as ever!

Here are some pictures from the last month:

M just loves dogs! Every babysitter she goes to has dogs. She was just cracking Paulette up when they played catch with Marley. So I had to get it on video. This is the toned down version of her squeals...

Here she is playing with Papa at Ella's birthday party.

And here she is playing with her toys. She just cracks herself up sometimes. I love it... You can also see how dad is trying to get her to be a brass player. I call is spitting. Josh calls is buzzing. We'll see who wins that argument when she has food in her mouth.

We love you M!!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

7 months already!!!


Seven is a good number! It is the number of years Josh and I have been married and the number of months our little daughter is. At seven months Madelyn is just getting cuter and cuter everyday. I am not even sure the pictures and videos can do her justice. She is just amazing! I had the opportunity to sit and just watch her play with her toys for an hour and I was in awe at how much she is maturing and getting such a personality.

Here are some cool things she is up to:
1. She has eaten the following foods- carrots, avocados, pears, apples, zucchini, squash, apricots, and green beans. Next we will try peas and bananas.
2. She has two bottom teeth and the top two are coming soon. They are already blistering.
3. She loves to read, play with toys that light up, and chew on everything!
4. She is becoming very independent during the day but is extremely dependent at night. During the day she plays with her toys and only wants to be held if she is eating. At night she doesn't want to be put down at all. It is really sweet except I have to make sure I have everything I need to have done for the night by 5:00 or I go crazy trying to juggle everything!
5. She is learning that she wants to move. Soon, I think she will actually be learning how to move. But I am in no hurry!

Here are some pictures from the past month.
  • You will see the funny "old man" face she makes now that she feels her teeth.
  • She also celebrated her first Valentine's Day. She got fun blocks from the Worden's as you will see in the pictures.
  • And then she got fun presents from Grandpa and Grandma Thye as you will see in the video below. She also got sweet Valentine's cards from Haley and Lexi.




Madelyn, Arianna and Ella all played at the park. Mad liked the toys the best though.

Ari spent the night with us while Josh was in Flagstaff. She read M a book after breakfast. You can see how much she likes books. Even if she can't eat them. :o)

That is what we have been up to this past month. Much more to come in the next month: first ski trip, spring break and more!!! Love you M!!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Some videos from the past few weeks...

Here are some cute Mad moments!! Love this girl!

Here she is laughing. I tried to get close up so you can see her two teeth that came in. Bottom front teeth of course. These puppies are definitely in. DO NOT put your finger in her mouth or she WILL getcha!

I was putting her clothes away and had her sitting and playing with a toy G-ma and G-pa Thye bought her.

Eventually she decided sitting was too much work.

My little workaholic. Just like Mommy and Daddy.

After a hard days work...

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Playing with Maisey

Last week we got to play a little bit with our BFF Maisey. Let me give you a commentary on how I think this whole thing went down:

"Hey Maisey, look over here! Just ignore her. She does tries to take my picture all the time. Hello? I want to play!"
"Hi! So, how ya doing? This tummy time stuff really is getting old. You should learn to crawl forward, instead of just backwards, and I will learn to crawl too. Then we can be real terrors for our mamas! By the way, I like your blanket."
"Um, we were having a conversation (notice the eye brows). Enough with the clicky click and flashy fash. Can't you just let us play already?"

Friday, January 29, 2010

Look who's a half a year old!!!


Crazy to think that my little Madelyn (who is not very little anymore) is already 6 months old. Crazy! In fact, I was starting to question all those people who don't believe that there is a God. All you have to do is search any baby related item on the internet to discover that people are still trying to figure out these small creatures. One day they do this, the next they do that. Go to sleep like this, introduce solid foods like that. Anyway, they are complicated little buggers and mine is no exception. I have to believe there is a divine power in charge of something so mysterious. I am in awe of her every day. For six full months now Josh and I have gotten blessed by the most precious blessing we could have ever been given. I know I say it all the time, but I just couldn't imagine my life without her. We just love her so much!!




At 6 months Miss M is:
- Still teething. She stopped plain old drooling and has started spitting/blowing raspberries. Very nice when you couple that with carrots or avocado.
- Eating solid food twice a day. Still nursing 5 times a day. Which in turns makes for very interesting diaper changes. For the most part the explosions have stopped and the stoppage has begun. And they are very stinky now too. Boo!
- Sleeping 8 hours a night. 8:00-8:30 is her bed time, depending on how long she screams... She wakes up for a feeding around 4:00 and then goes back to sleep until 7:00.
- On a four hour schedule now (thanks Aunt Kim!!) and it is working fabulously for naps and nighttime regime.
- Still talking like crazy. Her favorite thing to do this month is put her tongue on her bottom lip and say nanananananana...... Sometimes it sounds like "mama". Which I will take for sure! Other times it definitely sounds like "dada". And sometimes it sounds like "oh no". Which is really cute.
- Becoming stronger every day. She can throw herself backwards and stand up while you are holding her. And she is so strong that you can't even stop her sometimes. I think she just wants to move. Her jumperoo is her favorite toy right now (very close seconds being her My Pal Violet talking dog and a little cloth jungle book she got from g-ma and g-pa Mahlmeister for Christmas) and I am attributing her strong legs to that thing. When we first got it I could place her in it face whatever toys I wanted her to play with and she was still in the same place when I took her out. Now she just twirls around all day long. So sitting on someone's lap must be a bore. Here she is in the jumperoo. Just taking a break apparently.
- Chomping on her tongue so it looks like she is chewing on something (even though nothing is in her mouth). A guy in Costco stopped us the other day and asked if we gave her bubble gum. And my Oma just laughs saying out of all the babies she has helped raise, none of them have ever done that. I have yet to get it on video, but hopefully soon. It is a crack up!
- Certainly becoming a mama's girl. She does well when I drop her off at sitters still, but if she is home, she wants to see mommy at all times. Even the other day, she was at my grandma's house (Oma) and when I walked in she lunged for me. And then when I tried to give her back to grandma she wouldn't go. She held on to me so tight. That was the third day she had been at someone's house. So I think she missed me. That's always nice...
- Wearing 9-12 month clothing. I will get her exact measurements when she goes to the doctor next week. But it is just nuts how fast they grow out of things.

And the biggest milestone we have hit this month is:
- Sitting up on her own. Like enough where I can leave the room and she will still be sitting up. I only did this one time when I went to grab the camera. Promise! Here are some pictures I was meaning to blog when it all happened. You can see how she just gets better at it. In fact, we had almost a full skype conversation with Grandpa and Grandma Thye. So they are our proof!




We had to show off when Michelle came over to play last week.

- Missy is starting to pose when she sees the camera. Can you tell? She has that same goofy look in almost every picture. That lower lip...


Unfortunately daddy had to work on her six month birthday so we celebrated by going to Target and getting more clothes that fit. Going to the grocery store to get the next installment of baby foods, went for a walk in the neighborhood, and then came home and played with Ella and Titi.
(No babies were really harmed in the making of this film. Missy just likes to pull hair.)

Happy six month Madelyn. We love you!!




Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What just happened?

Tonight I was feeding Madelyn her current favorite food (beside breast milk), carrots, and she looked up at me and I had a moment. There is no picture of this moment because I wouldn't dare stop feeding the girl, but let me describe the scene. She was sitting in her high chair (that's right she sits up on her own now and eats in a high chair) with a bib on. There were carrots all over her face and the bib. I am not that good at feeding her yet. Now my mom, my grandma and her aunt Paulette can feed her perfectly. I guess I just don't have the mom touch yet... Anyway, carrots, in case you forgot, are VERY orange. This crazy color just makes it all the more obvious. My little girl is growing up! The actual thought that went through my head was, "Who stole my little Madelyn and left this dirty big kid?" It just made me sad. Soon she will be like whatever mom and on to bigger and better things. I know new moms are usually anxious for their children to meet milestones. Rolling over, sitting up, eating baby food, crawling, walking, talking, eating real food and the list goes on. I just had a moment tonight when I genuinely wished she would stay this small forever. I didn't even care if it meant having to nurse her for the rest of my life. I just didn't want her to get big. In fact, I have taken probably three or four pictures of her sitting up on her own wanting to post it on the blog. But I really think part of me just didn't want to admit that she is doing that yet. I want my baby back! Now I know why moms always have baby fever when they are around them. I love all ages of a kids life (maybe minus years 12-15). Kids are hilarious! I am just not ready for a kid yet. I like my baby and want o keep her little. Any suggestions?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Big News for Jenni's Business

Hi everyone! I usually try and keep personal stuff on this blog and business stuff on my Imoni Events blog however, I was just informed today that I am a recipient of a Bride's Choice Award 2010 from WeddingWire. In addition to the Best Wedding Planner for 2009 award I am feeling very peaceful that this is exactly where God wants me to be. I love my job and the people I work with, but in this economy I was starting to think that maybe I needed to look into other options for income. No matter how much I worry that brides will not hire me, they still do. And whenever I am having anxiety over being "good enough", God does stuff like this. I get to do exactly what I want to do and be home with Madelyn as much as possible. And the bills still get paid!! I am so thankful to God for all these blessings and joys! Just wanted to share the good news.

Additionally, I am up for Best of 2010 for Arizona Bride Magazine again. Please take some time and vote for myself and some of the people that have helped make my business what it is today. (You have to fill in at least six categories for the vote to count). I appreciate you taking that time. :o)

Best Wedding Planner: Imoni Events
Best Photographer: Kim Jarman
Best Videographer: Princess Bride Videography
Best Wedding Venue: Royal Palms Resort
Best Invitations: Definitely Debra
Best Florist: Flora Europa
Best Band: Shining Star
Best Make Up: Sarah San Marco
Best DJ: SKM Entertainment
Best Overall Vendor: Imoni Events :o)

You can vote HERE or the link listed above. Thanks everyone!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

5 months and Christmas!

Since I last blogged SO MUCH has happened.

December 19th: We visited Santa for the first time. She was not scared of him at all. In fact, she really didn't even care. The kid cracks me up!



December 20th: Madelyn ate her first "solid" food. She was given permission from the doctor to eat rice cereal. It was a hoot!






December 21st: Josh and I celebrated our seven year wedding anniversary. I am not sure what you are supposed to do for the seven year anniversary, and since I am still nursing we couldn't do anything overnight. So we recreated our first two dates and it was really fun! We went to Oregano's for dinner (date number 2) and then Golfland for goofy golfing (date number 1). One of the golf courses was so cute all lit up for Christmas. It was on that course that we saw a couple with two little girls just having a blast! It was a cute peak into our future. Cute until I realized Josh was schooling me...

December 23rd: We celebrated Christmas with my dad, step mom, brothers and sisters. Which meant they got to witness Madelyn opening her very first Christmas present.





After the celebration we went to church for the first three of seven services Josh and I were involved in. Josh played trumpet and trash cans (for a Little Drummer Boy piece) and I sang.



December 24th: We celebrated the birth of Christ (for the second day in a row) at the last four (of seven) Christmas Eve services at church. Josh's cousin Lyndsey, her husband Terry, and their little girl Addison were also in town visiting Terry's family. So we were blessed to see them.






December 25th: We celebrated Christmas with my mom, step dad, and sisters. We opened more presents, ate good food, watched Christmas Vacation, and decorated a very sassy gingerbread house.

December 26: We flew to Texas to celebrate the holidays with Josh's family. Madelyn was amazing on the flights. She pretty much ate, played with daddy and then slept. I couldn't have asked for a better baby. Here are some highlights of our trip.



December 29th: Madelyn celebrated her 5 month birthday with a snow storm in Texas (see above). Here she is at home with her monthly signage. This is getting harder to take as she is becoming more obsessed with paper.






16 pounds 12 ounces (95th percentile for girls her age)

26 1/2 inches tall (off the chart!)





The top tens things we love about her this past month:


1. Starting to tri pod (sitting up by balancing weight on her hands).

2. Loves books!

3. Has a teething ring or paci in her hands at all times!

4. Is starting to cry when you leave the room.

5. gets to laughing really hard when you tickle her.

6. Eating her toes on a daily basis.

7. Moving from every 3 to every 4 hour feeding schedule.

8. Hair is getting so long it falls into her eyes when we wash it. Super cute!

9. Starting to hit buttons on toys that make noise.

10. Cries when she wakes up, but smile as soon as she sees me or Josh. Just melts your heart!


December 31st: We ushered in the new year with much thanks for 2009. God is so good!



Currently, we are recovering from all the craziness of the holidays. We are back to work, and trying to get Miss M back on a schedule. Tank you all for being part of our lives. Heres to a great 2010!! xoxoxo





Sunday, January 3, 2010

Still here...

Okay. So holiday season is super busy and we have been MIA on the blog. We rejoice that Christ is born and is truly the center of our lives! But wow, time has flown by as we celebrated so much this year. Coming soon to the blog:

1. Josh and I celebrated our seven year anniversary.
2. Our daughter turned 5 months.
3. First Christmas with Madelyn.
4. First trip to Texas with Madelyn.
And so much more!

As soon as I get my pictures and videos up and running I will let you know what has been up the past few weeks. To Christ be all the glory!