Can I just say . . .

I HATE diarrhea.  Poor Max has had it since yesterday and his little bum is so sore :(.  He screams anytime I come near his diaper.  I hate it when my kids get sick to their stomachs.  Diapers + Diarrhea = Misery.  Poor little guy. 

My kids have been sick for like two weeks now!  Well, Maddie's getting better, but Max's nose is still so runny (it's completely raw from being wiped) and now his bum.  Grrr!  Hopefully they'll just get it out of their systems before we fly to Napa next week!  Mike's sister has a new little baby and we can't get him sick! 

We went to "Max and Cheese" (maxandcheese.com) today for the first time.  It was really fun, although a little pricier than I had hoped.  Maddie had a blast playing with the puzzles and games, and she had her own little Mac and Cheese with a breakstick.  Mike got a Chicken Cesar wrap that looked yummy, and my club sandwich was delish!  So for those who live here, we recommend it!

Here are a few pictures of Maddie playing with her baby.  She loooooves this baby.

This is what Maddie's day consists of. . .

Feeding the baby 

 

Feeding it some more 

Burping the baby

Getting it in the stroller for a walk

Taking the baby to church to play with Ava and Avery

Oh, and that trick or treat bag is her purse :)

Tagged!

A-ATTACHED OR SINGLE-Attached-married for 4 years.

B-BEST FRIEND-Mike

C-CAKE OR PIE-Hmm, Cake? 

D-DAY OF CHOICE-Probably Friday, it makes me excited for the weekend. 

E-ESSENTIAL ITEM-Cell Phone, can't live without it.  How did I function before the days of cell phones?

F-FAVORITE COLOR-PINK! 

G-GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT-My kids!

H-HOBBIES-Reading, cooking/baking

I-INDULGENCES-Apple Dumplings. 

J-JANUARY OR JULY-Neither!  I hate the middle of the winter and the middle of the summer.  I guess, July, if I HAVE to choose, bc of the 4th.

K-KIDS-Madilyn and Max

L-LIFE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT-My family

M-MARRIAGE DATE- May 1st

N-NUMBER OF SIBLINGS- 4 (including me)

O-ORANGES OR APPLES-Oranges.

P-PHOBIAS OR FEARS-Straight Jackets

Q-QUOTES-"It's better to be trusted than to be loved"

R-REASON TO SMILE-Mike's parents are coming into town tonight.  Fun!

S-SEASON-Fall

T-TAG-Mandie

U-UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME-I almost drown in a hot tub at age 5.  My foot got sucked in the drain and it took awhile to get it out.  My foot was pretty scarred up for awhile.

V-VERY FAVORITE STORE -  Target (I could go there everyday of my life, love it)

W-WORST HABIT-Biting my fingernails. 

X-X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND-Ultrasound...because it most likely means there's a baby in there. 

Y-YOUR FAVORITE JUNK FOOD-French Fries

Z-ZODIAC-Taurus

Congrats!

My cousin Matt got married yesterday!  It was fun to go up to the wedding and see lots of family and just hang out.  I was so sad that Mike and my kids weren't able to come :(.  Originally we were going to all go up and spend a couple of nights at my parents, and then we decided Mike would bring the kids down just the day of the wedding.  But then both Max and Madilyn had pretty bad colds, and I didn't want to infect all the other kids, so Mike just stayed home.

I missed them and it was weird to just be alone!  I thought I would enjoy the time away, just having some time by myself.  But, for all the craziness that comes with having my kids around, I for sure prefer that to being alone.  Anyway, I was way excited to get home and cuddle with them :). 

Here's the cute couple.  Man, I love weddings!  I seriously wish I could relive our wedding day. 

 

 

These are just some funny pictures.  Maddie got a hold of our old camera, and she is able to turn the view finder around and look at herself.  Which she LOVES!  So these are some of the pictures we got while she was admiring herself :).  Excuse her messy hair, she had just woken up from her nap where she had ripped out her bow.  I promise, I actually do her hair. 

One of my favorite pictures of Mike with the kids!  Talk about cheesy smiles!  I love it :)

So much FUN!!

We went to the Strawberry Days Carnival last night and had an absolute blast!  I'm so glad we went this year; we're for sure going to make it a tradition.  Madilyn loved going on the rides!  We were able to take her on the little Dragon roller coaster, the Merry-go-round, and the Train (she rode that one alone!  We were so proud :).  

She was cracking me up on the roller coaster.  She was absolutely terrified.  You could totally see it in her face.  But she didn't make a peep; just had a white knuckle grip on the handlebar.  By the end, she did release one hand for a split second to wave to dad...so she did ok!  It was really funny.  I couldn't stop laughing! 

Max loved looking at all the lights and seeing so many people.  He was such a good boy!  The carnival wasn't too busy, there were no lines, and the weather was gorgeous!  We had way too much carnival food (strawberries and cream, nachos, hot dog, and cotton candy) but it was delish :).  Anyway, here are some pictures of our adorable kids!  By the way, I couldn't decide which ones I like best, so there's a lot!

 

Madilyn riding all alone (adults couldn't fit...).  She looked so adorable in there!

 

Max's first time on a real swing!  I feel bad I haven't put him in one before; he LOVED it!

Love this picture of my baby girl :)

Fun Times!

My sister and Mom came down last week with her kids and we had such a great time!  We went swimming and out to lunch and Maddie loved having Courtney and Katelyn around!  Her cousins are so good to her; she has so much fun with all of them.  Then on Friday my mom came down with my brother Andrew's four kids and we had lunch at the pool and swam for a long time.  It was great!  So Madilyn had a way fun time last week :)

Bathtime and Tyson

I just wanted to post a couple of cute pictures from bath time a couple of days ago.  This was the first time Max was in the tub without his bath seat.  He's such a big boy!  He did great!

 

And here's a recent picture of our new nephew Tyson.  He is so precious and is getting big fast! 

Happy (early) Father's Day!

I did a surprise for Mike for Father's day.  We went up to Sundance and did a 2 hour horse ride to the base of Summit Falls on the backside of Mount Timpanogos.  We had such a GREAT time!  It was so gorgeous up there and the horses were so fun.  I had originally scheduled us to go at 10:00 am.  But being Utah, and having CRAZY weather, they called this morning and said it was a blizzard and snowing like crazy (in JUNE, grrrr).  I was so bummed! 

So we rescheduled it today for 4:00 and I was so worried all afternoon because it was still chilly and really overcast.  Luckily though, when we got up there it was blue skies and probably 55 degrees or so, which felt great!  Mike had no idea where we were going.  It was really fun to be driving up there and him being like, "where are we going?!".  Anyway, here are some pics :)

Before the ride

 

The amazing view!

 

Mike on Curly . . . He was an old horse that liked to eat A LOT along the way. 

 

Me on Ben (I loved my horse!  He was so pretty and nice.  Oh and by the way, the guide said he's one of Robert Redford's old horses.  Neato :)

I got tagged! About my hubby . . .

 

1. What is his name? Michael

2. Who eats more? He eats a lot more in one sitting.  He's like a bottomless pit.  But I snack more.  Unfortunately.  

3. Who said I love you first? Oh, he did, for sure.   He said it lots before I ever said it back.  I didn't want to "ruin our friendship".  Haha! 

4. Who is taller? He is

5. Who is smarter? Mike is definitely more book smart.  But I like to think I have more street smarts :)

6. Who is more sensitive? Me, for sure. 

7.Who does the laundry? I do

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are standing at the foot of the bed looking at it, I do.

9. Who pays the bills? I do (well mostly technology does it, lots of automatic bill pay).

10. Who cooks more? For sure me, he RARELY cooks.  But that's ok because I love to cook.  I'd rather have him watching the kids so I can cook in peace. 

11. What meals do you cook together? See above :)

12. Who is more stubborn? Hmmm, probably him.

13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? I think usually me. 

14. Who has more siblings? I do.

15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I think Mike lets me for the most part.  But he definitely has his say. 

16. What do you like to do together? Play games, watch movies, watch our DVR'd shows, take the kids swimming.

17. Who eats more sweets? Oh me, definitely. 

18. Guilty pleasures?  Sharing a milkshake from Sonic after the kids go to bed

19. How did you meet? We met when I moved to Houston.  I was 16 and we had seminary together and went to the same highschool.

20. Who asked who out first? He asked me to Homecoming.  I was SO excited!

21. Who kissed who first? He kissed me.  Well we both kind of just did it.  It was great!

22. Who proposed? Mikey

23. His best features? Hmmm, so many things.  I've always loved his forearms.  They are so strong and big!  He has cute legs and a cute butt.  Oh, and he has PERFECT ears.  He really should be an ear model. 

24. What is his greatest quality? He's very good at listening and he's so, so, so patient with me.  He is always going out of his way to make me comfortable and he's so great with the kids.  I'm sure a lucky woman!

25. Tag? Brooke, Jessica, and Lindy

Just a little update . . .

So Max has become quite the little explorer lately.  He is getting into everything; and getting quite a few bonks on his head too.  I think he is pretty brave, because he just does whatever he wants and tries to pull up on anything.  His little legs can be shaking and you can tell he's not very stable, but he just keeps trying. 

Oh, and by the way, I have no clue why the lighting is so weird in these pictures.  Maddie is basically glowing :).  I tried to tone it down a little bit when I edited this first one, but I don't think it helped much!

 

On this day I had been vacuuming and doing some laundry.  After I came out of the laundry room, I had found Max had gone after the vacuum.  He was crawling all over it and biting on the cord (thankfully it was unplugged).  Anyway, it was funny because Maddie kept telling him, "no, no Max, that's back-youm, SCARY!".  She's TERRIFIED of the vacuum, so she was very concerned he was crawling all over it.  The second I pull it out of the closet she is up on the couch, with her blanket and won't move till it's gone.  Anyway, it was pretty cute seeing her all concerned about him being so close to the vacuum :)

 

Madilyn is trying *really* hard to smile here.  She kept saying "cheese" and wanting to smile and them come look at the camera and see herself smiling.  Oh, and she has a cookie stuffed in her mouth :)

 

I LOVE Max's big blue eyes!  I just had to post these two pictures because I think he looks adorable. 

 

Madilyn loves doing this with the paper plates.  She does it multiple times a week.  She'll lay them all out, and then start singing the "clean up" song and stack them up.  She does it over, and over, and over!

 

Anyway, that's about all.  Last weekend we painted our bathroom (YAY!).  We've had the paint for a year, and finally just decided, let's get it over with.  I got some new towels and rugs with my b-day money, and we think it looks great.  It's nice to have a change after so many years of the same old stuff.  I need to take some pictures of it sometime so I can post what it looks like.  Well that's all that's going on with us!

Just a funny story. . .

Tonight during Family Home Evening we were teaching Madilyn about Abinadi.  I had some little cutouts on popsicle sticks that she loved holding.  One of them was of Jesus; and that quickly became her favorite one.  It was so funny!  She kept calling him "Jessie" and saying how she wanted "jessie" and even tonight when we put her to bed she was saying, "Please, hold Jessie?".  CUTE! :)  I love how she is talking so much more.  She cracks me up all of the time with what she says.