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!

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!

Boo at the Zoo

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!!

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!

My Cutie Patootie

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

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!!