She's 2 Months!

I am a week behind but my baby girl is 2 months old as of last Sunday.  Two months can really go by fast!  She is a sweet and sassy little thing who loves to smile. 

I LOVE having a little girl!  I think I have the best little family in the world.  I know I would have been just as amazed with having another little boy in the house but I am just in heaven with my little boy and my baby girl.  I just love it. 

I love seeing Madelynn begin to interact with life.  She stares us right in the eyes, smiles at us like crazy, watches things around her, and coos at us. 

To my sweet Madelynn...
You are such a sweet little lady!  We love your sweet, sweet smile and could look at it all day long.  I am mesmerized by you when you smile at me.  It melts me! 

You have beautiful blue eyes that are still a little dark but lightening up every day.  You love your swing and take great naps in it throughout the day.  You also love being held and snuggled with. 

You still eat every two and a half to three hours and you often only eat on one side.  You might just turn into a one side eater each time.  And if you get too tired and cranky I can just forget about you eating well.  It is better to get you fed a little before you hit your limit! 

Night time still isn't great but we will be working on that soon.  You like to be snuggled to sleep and you don't do well just lying on your own in your crib.  Momma is about to change that though!  Daddy has noticed that you like having a blanket right up by your face when you are falling asleep. 

Evenings are your fussy time so we are working on learning tricks to get you through the evening without having to be held the entire time or crying in your swing the entire time.  It's getting a little easier as you get older.

You love your big brother and most of the time you let him hold you.  You are very patient with him.  I just can't wait until you are old enough to play and interact with him.  That will be a great day when you really enjoy being with Carter!  I pray that you two will be best friends and take care of each other.  I will pray for this everyday for the rest of my life.  I never had a sibling and I am so excited for you that you have a big brother to love you and protect you.  Carter has a lot to live up to!   

You are just starting to get into your 0 to 3 month clothes.  We are starting to pack away the newborn clothes that you were just so stinking cute in.  It's fun to start putting you in new clothes that you haven't worn yet.  You are such a petite little thing.  The first thing everyone says when they see you is how little you are.  I love it!  I am glad your brother is a bit bigger and will probably be like daddy and that you are a bit smaller and might be a little more like mommy.  I have so many cute newborn size shoes that still don't fit you at all!  You might be six months old before your smallest sized shoes begin to fit. 

You lost most of your hair a few weeks back but it is already starting to grow back in.  I love putting cute headbands with flowers on your head though! 

You are just precious and we are madly in love with you! 

2012 Week #16

1lb wagon wheel pasta
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 10oz package frozen corn (I don’t even bother thawing it, because I always make this at least a few hours before serving, so it plenty of time to defrost)
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
8oz shredded Mexican-blend cheese
1 1/2 cups salsa
1/2 cup olive oil
3-4 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
freshly ground salt & pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 avocado, diced
Cook the pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
In a large bowl, combine the black beans, corn, tomatoes, salsa, and cheese. Add the cooled pasta and mix well.
In another bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Pour over the pasta salad, add the cilantro, and mix well. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Just before serving, stir in the diced avocado

This was a great pasta salad for a picnic at the park.  We really liked it and Carter loved it.  It was just perfect for lunch at the park on a nice sunny warm day. 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a great day...possibly more special to me than my birthday (and I have always loved my birthday).  The fact that I get to celebrate being a mom is the best gift God has given me.  Pastor Joe asked us in our Sunday School class last week what have we prayed about that God has answered exactly as we prayed.  The first thing that popped into my head was my husband and my two precious babies.  I spent most of high school and all of college praying for exactly what I have right now.  I prayed for a man who would love me deeply and for kids that I could spend my life loving.  I am so thankful for the chance to be a mom and that God has given me these two kids who I love more than I can comprehend. 

Our sweet girl turned eight weeks today.  She is smiling all the time now and her precious smile melts my heart every time.  She is getting a little easier as the days go by.  She's still a little cranky in the evenings but not as cranky as a couple weeks ago.  She is just now starting to out grow her newborn clothes and starting to wear her 0 to 3 months clothes.  She has lost most of her hair and is as bald as can be with just a little in the back.  I put lots of headbands and flowers on her to show off her girliness :)   
  

She usually goes down for bed betweenn 9 and 10 and usually sleeps until 2 to 3ish.  Then she eats and goes right back down until between 5 and 6.  At that point I usually feed her and just snuggle in bed so I can keep sleeping a little longer.  We have not moved her to her crib in her room just yet but we are ready soon.  We are going to Washington next week so I'm thinking we will start trying when we get home.  No reason to transition now right before we throw her completely off her schedule and go on vacation.  She is still just sleeping in the pack n play next to our bed and that is working for now.  This is way longer than we kept Carter in our room though so we are feeling a little anxious to get her moved over.  Soon enough though. 

She is pretty chill during the day and cranky in the evening.  Pretty typical.  She takes great naps all day long in her swing.  Praise Jesus!  Carter hated his swing and never used it.  I am so thankful that Madelynn likes it. It has made home schooling so much easier!  She loves to be held upright looking over our shoulders and really can't stand laying in our arm to be held.  She wants to be up enjoying the world around her. 

She is just the sweetest little thing!  We left her in the nursery for Sunday School the first week of May and then I actually left her for church too last week (Mother's Day).  That is earlier than I left Carter but she is distracting for me and my back starts hurting after a while.  I'll still keep her with me for all of the singing and then try the nursery only if they aren't too busy with little ones in there.  So I am leaving her on a week by week basis depending on what's going on that day.

Her eyes seem to be turning blue and I am so excited about that!  I think we might just end up with two blond hair, blue eyed beauties! 

Madelynn was dedicated on Mother's Day at church.  I think that is a special moment where we can tell our Heavenly Father and our church family that we are going to do our best to raise her to love Jesus.  We are partnering with our church family to raise our kids in Christ and in the church.  It does not save them, they will still need to make that decision on their own when they are old enough to understand what God has done for them.  But it is important to me to dedicate our kids to the Lord in front of our church family who love and support us and will encourage us in our child raising. 

After church the four of us went out to lunch at Venti's.  I wasn't super impressed but the food was decent.  We just had a snotty girl seat us and I had a bit of a bad first impression of the place.  We will probably try it again though.

Then it was nap time and Jay and I planted out tomato and cucumber plants on the front porch.  Later that evening Jay grilled some delicious pork tenderloin and even had bought a couple side salads to go with it.  And he bought some chocolate and white chocolate covered straweberries.  Then we went out for ice cream with the kids.  It was a nice day.

I wanted pictures with both of my kids but Madelynn is so much easier to take pictures of right now.  Carter wanted nothing to do with pictures but I forced him for a couple. 

I just love his face!!

I love being a mom and I am forever grateful for these two kids!

The Zoo

We were able to take a day recently and go to the zoo.  It was a much needed family day together and a break from real life.  It was a beautiful day and both kids were great.  Carter loved all the animals and Madelynn snoozed in the stroller most of the day.  We have had lots going on in our life lately so it was a much needed break!

Sorry for the blog post overload...I am catching up on my lack of blogging lately.

Celebrating Jenni

I have amazing friends from college.  I am so thankful for these three ladies.  Amanda, Jenni, and Hollie were three of my roommates my freshman year at Corban and they are still some of my best friends!  Jenni is getting married in June and we were able to drive up to Seattle for a bridal shower/bachelorette party to celebrate her and her dream coming true!  We are so excited for her and Pete and loved being able to celebrate with her!

We skyped with her fiance Pete and played a newly wed type game where they had to answer lots of questions about each other.  I enjoyed listening to them and wondered the whole time if Jay and I would be able to answer all those questions about each other...

We also did a scavenger hunt where Jenni had to do a bunch of silly things.  She had to find someone with big bicep muscles and get her picture with him.  This one was awesome because we walked into a store and one of the sales girls came over to us all excited because she could tell we were celebrating Jenni's wedding.  We told her what we need and she got all giddy and said "Oh you just wait...I have the perfect person" and ran off and came back with this guy.  We were laughing so hard!

She had to rub a bald guys head...

And find a cop...
This one was awesome because we are pretty certain he wasn't actually a cop but had a fake badge.  Jenni actually originally asked him if he could do a magic trip for her which he wasn't interested in.  Then she asked if his name happened to be Pete (another one she had to find) which was a no.  He asked her what else she needed and she happened to mention that she had to find a cop.  He pulls up his pant leg and shows us a gun (still not sure that was real either) and pulls out what looks to be a fake badge.  We took it though and laughed about that for hours!  Seriously...a large man in a bright pink shirt with a fake police badge...way too funny!

She had to get a piggy back ride...

Buy a ring for Pete...

Make a veil out of toilet paper...

And find someone to propose to her...

College roommates and Jenni's sister and sister in law.  We had a great day!