The Evans' Simple Life

Afternoons, ahh.

2011-02-07T15:17:00.001-07:00

Lately I have realized that napping in thw afternoon either doesn't happen because my children won't sleep at the same, or is bad for me because then I don’t sleep at night, so here's to my new afternoon ritual, taking a bath with a good book! I need to bathe anyway, so why not take 20 minutes or more to relax and read too, maybe tomorrow I'll even add a glass of wine!

By the way posted this from my phone, coolest feature ever!

Madison Dancing

2010-10-11T17:01:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of Madison rockin out to Single Ladies at the recent 4-H dance that we had after achievement night. She obviously had a blast, and the kids were just awesome with her. Enjoy!

Mothering

2010-10-03T14:03:00.001-06:00

So having two kids has made me a better mother, and I think a personal overall. I think that when you have two kids, you realize that you don't have any time to do anything, so when you do have time, you use it wisely. I no longer take naps on the weekends like I used, instead I use that time, to pick up the house, fold laundry, prepare dinner, etc. Speaking of Dinner, I have even started cooking dinner every night. I know crazy right, but it's true. I even cook dinner on the weekends, infact its sunday, and I have cooked lunch and have a Roast in the crock pot for dinner!

I have to thank my kiddos for making me a better person, the person I always knew I could be, but never had the motivation to become. So thanks to my wonderful Family for getting my butt in gear!

Family Pictures

2010-10-03T13:55:00.003-06:00

Family Pictures

Pictures from the UW Game

2010-09-26T18:43:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Madison was all dressed up from church and she was so proud of her dress, so we got some pictures.

Madison and I

Little Conner in the cutest outfit ever!

Bailey and Madison at the UW game, couldn't they just be sisters!

Cousins

2010-09-24T18:08:00.003-06:00

Last weekend the girls got to spend a lot of time together, Robbie and my brother-in-law spent a lot of time working on their basement. We snapped this photo of them snuggled all together for a nap, while watching Princess and the frog! Aren't they just too adorable!

This weekend we are all going over to Laramie to watch the UW vs USAFA game. I've already got Madison yelling Go POKES!!!

Sunset

2010-09-24T18:03:00.002-06:00

So last week the Hitching Post burnt down, it was a sad day and apparently it was arson. First off I can't believe that someone would do that! Anyway, it started burning at 6:30 in the morning, and burned through the day and through the night. Well that evening I was watering my plants outside and the sunset was absolutely gorgeous because of the smoke. So I grabbed my camera and got a few pictures, here they are.

Unsupervised 2 year old

2010-09-15T15:27:00.003-06:00

This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old unsupervised for 2 minutes!!!

The other night Madison snuck up to my bathroom and got into my mascara, this was the results afterwards. Thank god it wasn't waterproof!

busy, busy, busy!

2010-09-09T10:38:00.003-06:00

Well in the past couple of weeks we have been super busy. Since we found out that we are moving in January to California we are really trying to clean up, clean out, and organize to make it easier. We came back from a mini vacation back home and have been doing so much, here is a little bit of what we've done.

Cleaned out our storage unit and moved all that stuff to our garage. We decided it would be easier to do this now during the nice weather, rather than trying to do it during the freezing weather. Unfortunately now I can't park in the garage, but it's only a few months.
Deep cleaned the kitchen and pantry. By deep clean, I mean deep clean, I cleaned everything from head to do, the refridgerator, over, microwave, cabinets, countertops, and sink are sparkling. I also threw about 4 bags of expired food away! What a waste I know, but we can't take it with us either.
Packed up all my clothes that don't fit! Which sadly enough is a lot. I know I just had a kid and all, but it is still depressing how many clothes don't fit. However I don't believe in throwing them out, someday I will fit back into them. When I did this, I cleaned out all the closets, dressers and such too. It feels so good to clean, purge, and give stuff away that we aren't using.
Cleaned out the bathrooms. Do you realize how much you acquire in a bathroom, different products and such, it was crazy. But feels good to have them cleaned though.

I only have a few things left to really clean, like the desk area, which I am procrastinating on, but I have to get it done before I go back to work in a week. It does feel so good to have it all done before I go back to work though!

I also finally got all of my thank you notes written for after Conner was born. I know what a slacker, but we had a ton going on after he was born, and now it's finally done, wahoo!

Attached are a couple of pictures of my beautiful boy, couldn't resist taking some pictures of his smiling face!

Happy 4th!

2010-09-01T22:23:00.005-06:00

Well its true, we made it through 4 wonderful years of marriage, with 2 beautiful kiddos, and 3 spoiled dogs to show for it!

Happy Anniversary Baby, hope we have at least 40 more!

Delicious Dinner

2010-09-01T21:52:00.004-06:00

So I love Chicken Tortilla Soup, but in the Summer I cannot bring myself to make or eat soup, it's just too hot. But today I was craving it, so instead I decided to make Chicken Tortilla Soup into a casserole. Here's the recipe I hope you enjoy it!

4 Tbls Oil
4 Bell Peppers Chopped ( 1 of each color)
2 Jalapeno Peppers Finely chopped
1 Onion Chopped
4 Cloves of Garlic Chopped
3 tsp of Ground Cumin
1 tsp of ground Coriander
3 tsp Salt
3 Tbls Tomato Paste
2 Large Cooked Chicken breasts cubed
2 cups frozen corn
1 can Cream of chicken soup
1 can Cheddar Soup
2 cups Chicken stock
3 Cups instant rice
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice ( I used Colby)
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro

Heat the oil in a pan on medium high heat, add all the vegetables, garlic,cumin, coriander, and salt, let it cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add Tomato paste and heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. In a separate bowl mix chicken, 1/2 of the chicken stock, and both soups. Then add the vegetables. In a 9 X 13 glass baking dish coat the bottom with rice, then add the other half ofthe chicken stock to the rice just to help it cook a bit. Layer the vegetable and chicken mix on top of the rice. Top that off with the cheese and Cilantro, then bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This was super easy and incredibly good, tasted just like the recipe I have for the soup. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

The Power of Goals

2010-09-01T21:43:00.003-06:00

It's always a good thing to set goals for yourself, it's even better to put them down in writing an then that way you are held accountable. Thus being said, I am writing my blogging goals down on here, so that maybe you all can hold me accountable, because apparently I just suck at this blog thing. So here are my blogging goals:

Post more often - At least once a week! This really is more relevant. We just found out that we are moving to California in January, so I will no longer be living in the same town as my sisters, and much, much farther away from the rest of my family, therefore it's a good time to start a habit of posting more regularly, so that all my friends and family can see what we've been up to.
Take more pictures: I am horrible at taking pictures. With Madison I had taken 200 pictures by the time she was 2 weeks I haven't taken that many and Conner is already 8 weeks, I feel like such a slacker.
Link my new posts to Facebook etc. Especially when I am posting about good recipes, great deals, etc.

Ok so these are my goals, please hold me accountable!

It's been way too long

2010-04-14T10:17:00.001-06:00

Ok So I know it has been way too long since I last posted. There has been a lot going on since the last time I posted, so here we go.

My sister Sara and her husband Shane and their second baby girl on March 19th, she was 7 lbs, 14 oz., 21.25 inches long. She is a healthy baby girl, and Bailey is adjusting well. Here are some cute pictures. of the them.

When we first took Bailey up to see Mom, Dad, and new sister Sydney, we were only there for about 15 minutes, when Bailey looked at me and said "Aunt Jenna, I'm done with baby, let's go, come on, let's go" She then proceeded to drag me out of the hospital, which is very uncharacteristic for Bailey because she is attached to Mom and Dad. It was so funny, I still laugh about it. Bailey has really adjusted well, and mom and baby are both doing great, just relaxing and spending time getting to know one another.

In the meantime, we have found out what we are having! Yup we are having a boy! Everyone who sees me says they can tell, just by how i am carrying him, apparently, he is all out front. I am already huge, and still have a little under 13 weeks left, so looks to be a big pregnancy again! However the baby is doing great and growing well. We still haven't picked out a name for the baby yet, but hopefully soon we will decide on something, thank god we still have time. The middle name will be Chapman, after his daddy, but if you have any suggestions for the first name, please feel free to leave them, we're open to just about anything.

Now that I am approaching the last leg of this pregnancy, we are really trying to spend quality time with Miss Madison and really enjoy this one on one time that we do have together. She has grown to be such a cute little girl, and I honestly couldn't imagine a day going by with out hearing her loud and constant voice, along with her beautiful laugh. Attached are a couple of pictures of Madison, one is of her in her new swimsuit, we took her and Bailey swimming not long ago and this is the attitude we got from her. She just loves to put her hands on her hips and show off. The other is Easter Morning, we got the cutest dress for her, and she just loved being a little girl! Hope you all enjoy. I have a ton of other pictures to download, and maybe someday I will get those posted, but it could be a while.

Madison's Potty

2010-02-15T11:29:00.002-07:00

I couldn't resist including this awesome picture. Madison is semi-potty training and this was taken this morning on her potty chair. I was folding laundry and she grabbed a pair of her underwear and put them on her head, then she ran for the potty. Usually she just wants to sit on it because she doesn't like her diaper, but right after I snapped this photo she actually piddled in the potty, I was so proud of my little goofball!

Madison's New Room

2010-02-15T11:21:00.002-07:00

In preparation for the new baby, we moved Madison into what used to be the guest room. We spent the weekend painting, buying furniture and decorating. By we, I mean well Robbie did most of it, at least all of the painting since I am prego. Anyway, Madison was a huge help, she helped move her toys, and helped pull up all of the tape from the painting. She is getting to be such a big girl. She was super excited about her "big girl" bed, and she jumped on it all morning. Anyway, here is a sneak peek of what her room looks like now.

Madison by her bed.
Madison's bed, and her nightstand.

Maddie's corner dresser and the bean bag she just had to have as we were shopping for furniture, she drug it all the way around the store.

And last but not least her big dresser.

We are loving the room and couldn't ask for anything better, she loves it too, which is even better!

Naptime

2010-01-31T16:56:00.002-07:00

This is the result of a 21 month old naptime. About a month ago we switched her to the toddler bed, and at night she does great, during naptime, not so much, she would much rather play, then sleep, and this is the result. She pulled out every article of clothing in her dresser, as well as every book, toy and stuffed animal she could reach. And you can also tell that she took off her pants and her diaper, isn't she just a doll!!!

Christmas Pictures

2009-12-21T17:30:00.002-07:00

Here are the Christmas pictures. This one is of the girls together, Madison full of it as ever!

And here is the family photo!

2009-12-21T16:18:00.003-07:00

Just in case I missed a few of you this year (and I apologize, but hey it happens!), here is our christmas letter. I will have to add the picture later, Blogger is being silly and won't let me add it correctly. But this is better than nothing! Hope you all enjoy!

“Top 10 Reasons why Christmas will be different for the Evans’ Family this year”

10. Rob will for sure be home for Christmas since he got the new job as Wing Executive in June.

9. Madison will get to enjoy all the lights, music, presents, and of course Santa.

8. The three dogs, Maggie, Brodie, and Daisy, will get to spend lots of cuddle time with Jenna since she has a nice long winter break.

7. The whole family has a lot to be thankful for this Christmas, Jenna and Rob both have good, stable jobs, we got to do lots of fun stuff this year, like ride Horses at Aunt Gayle’s in Virginia, Jenna got to tour Washington DC, and we will be surrounded by great food and wonderful family.

6. The family will be thinking about all the soldiers overseas, especially one, Rob’s Brother John. We will be praying for safety to all those overseas and safe returns for all of them.

5. Jenna and Rob have made lots of great new friends this year, thanks to sorority, church, and their jobs. They have lots of friends to surround themselves with all year long, let alone on Christmas.

4. Aunt Carrie’s Kitchen remodel is finally done!!! It was a lot of work, and a lot of time, but it was all well worth it! Now Madison gets the chance to make a mess of her kitchen too!

3. Cousin Bailey and Madison go to Daycare everyday together, and their parents are so thankful for the loving caring support that we get at daycare, and of course for all the fun and friends we have.

2. Madison is walking, and running, and terrorizing everything, which means that come Christmas, there will be so many pieces of paper to play with, and string from one of the house to the other, let alone the great picture opportunities that will make.

1. The number one reason Christmas will be different in the Evans’ Household this year, because this is Madison’s last Christmas as an only child, next year she will have a younger brother or sister, since Jenna is due in July!!! (Not to mention the younger cousin she will also have, since Jenna’s sister, Sara is due in March!)

Merry Christmas from the Evans’ Household.
Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Holiday season!

Organized Garage

2009-11-01T19:59:00.002-07:00

So this weekend turned out to be pretty good even though it started out really crappy. We were planning on going home to Basin, but we got over 20 inches of snow this week, and all roads in and out were closed until late Friday. So instead we decided to get busy, and by busy I mean we cleaned! Today we organized, de-cluttered and down-right cleaned out garage. Most of the time our garage is an absolute disaster, usually I can't even park in it, let alone try to get something done in it. So today we rearranged, reorganized, and even decluttered the house! And it feels amazing! I wish I had taken before pictures, but I didn't so instead, you only get to see the end result.

This is Robbie's wall, he got these flags a long time ago and just can't seem to part with them, so in the garage they go.
Here are the new cabinets, one is designated solely to my crafting supplies, another is solely golf, and the third is a lot of everything. The little one is truly a lifesaver, up until today one whole large shelf in my pantry was designated to liquor ( I know we're a bunch of lushes) however now that one is locked up and is now the liquor cabinet, so I got more room in my pantry. I am so excited!

Here is the other wall. I know three trash cans is a bit ridiculous, but one is for recycling, one is trash, and the other is compost! The box is my sisters dishwasher. When she gets her new kitchen cabinets in, we will be doing a complete renovation of her kitchen, watch for more info on that, as I am sure it will be interesting and so exciting!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We sure did even though it wasn't exactly what we had planned. It sure was productive!

Look what I did!!

2009-11-01T19:52:00.002-07:00

So this weekend I got to do a little bit of crafting, which was great. However at one point I was ironing and I looked over and look what my little girl was doing. I think I just might have a future sewer in my house!Here she is playing with the thread!

Here is my baby playing with the scraps of fabric that she pulled off the table.

And here it is, look what I did! This is a christmas card holder, and it is so easy to make, and just cute as can be. I am making some for family, and can't wait for them all to use them come Christmas time.

Trick-or-Treat

2009-11-01T19:44:00.005-07:00

Well here is Madison and a co-workers kids. We all showed up at another co-workers house at the same time, so it only seemed appropriate to take a picture of them all together.

Here is Miss Madison right after I got her dressed and her hair done, isn't she so adorable.

Here she is again. Thanks to my mom for making the costume for me. I had good intentions of doing it myself, but time just got away from me, and I just didn't get it done. So thanks grandma, it looks great!

Hugs all around

2009-10-26T12:07:00.002-06:00

The other day we had the joy of watching Cousin Bailey while her mom and dad went to work for a bit! We had a great time, the girls always have a good time together, even if they are both just stealing each other's stuff the whole time! Anyway we were making them lunch and they both wanted to be in the kitchen, so i was trying to entertain them away from the action and this is the video that we got. They are both so dang cute!

Enjoy!!

Another First

2009-10-15T20:22:00.002-06:00

Well this is a first that I am definitely not bragging about, but let's face it, it happens to every kid about this age at some point or another. The other night Madison was playing so intently. Needless to say she lost her balance and even though I was sitting right there, I couldn't stop it. She smacked the coffee table so hard! At first I thought she hit her nose and thought there would be blood everywhere, but when I picked her up she had a big old bump, and a little scrape next to her eye. I quickly rushed her into the kitchen and got a bag of ice to put on it. This little girl has some pain tolerance because once I was finished with the bag of ice, all she wanted to do was play with it, and didn't even seem to notice her eye anymore. Before she went to bed that night she had a huge bump, but this is what we found the next morning. Anyway, here is the evidence of her first Black eye!! Poor baby!

Here she is brushing her teeth, well at least trying to!
Here it is again, poor baby!!

Bailey and Madison Dancing

2009-09-23T17:57:00.002-06:00

Aside from my living room looking like a disaster zone (thanks to the kids), this video is halarious. Bailey really gets into it, and Madison just mainly likes to spin around and laugh!

Vegas

2009-09-23T17:10:00.002-06:00

Carrie and I went to Las Vegas for her 30th birthday and it was awesome. We did so much, rode the roller coaster at New York, New York, went to In and Out (was absolutely amazing, even if it was a pain in the butt to get to and from), went to the Thunder Down Under, halarious!, went to Mystere, a show by Cirque De Soleil, it was so amazing, gambled a little, and ate a ton of amazing food.

This was pretty much the theme of the trip, let's just say that the 24 ounze chelada's were cheap and cold!!
Carrie and I out in front of the Mirage, there was so much water, kind of amazing since it is in the Desert.

Carrie and I going to the Excalibur.

Carrie with her "Dick Stick" and one of the best Margarita's ever!

More catch up pictures

2009-09-23T17:04:00.002-06:00

Madison so exhausted that she just collapsed!
Madison's first smore, thanks to Auntie (adopted) Lindsey, thanks Lindz!!

Here she is again, trying to eat it all in one big bite!

I am sure she will kill me for posting this, but oh well, here she is in all her "who" Glory!

So much

2009-09-23T16:47:00.004-06:00

I have so much to catch up on. Sorry I have been absent from the blogging world, but we've been super busy. Since I last updated, I've had fair, horse fair, state fair, a trip to vegas with my sister, Madison's first camping trip, and alot of fun. So instead of writing a lot, I am just going to post of bunch of pictures.

Madison so tired from the day that she feel asleep in her Mashed potatoes!

Bailey and Madison playing in the pool at Carrie's house, while the boys built Carrie a patio.

Madison being her stubborn self, she wouldn't eat the corn unless grandma was holding it, she wanted to eat it like a big person, it was so cute!

4th of July

2009-06-30T14:12:00.005-06:00

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,and tortured before they died.Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: freedom is never free! I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.

Madison's 1 Year photos

2009-06-29T11:39:00.003-06:00

A while back we got Madison's 1 Year photos done, and as always, they turned out great!!

She's so photogenic
I love this one!

She got super excited in the bath-tub

And of course her being miss angelic, of course we all know this isn't true!!

Memorial Day Weekend, Vacation, and Time at Grandma's

2009-06-29T11:18:00.005-06:00

So we have had a lot of fun since Madison's Birthday. We went home for memorial day weekend, then we went on a vacation to Red Feather lakes with the whole family, and then after that, Grandma and Grandpa took Madison home with them for a whole week. Here are a few pictures from all of those events.

Here is Bailey before we left for vacation, we got the pleasure of doing her hair, it's so stinking cute!

Here is Madison and Bailey in the Red Wagon on vacation!

Madison and Uncle Shane playing in the water, as well as Bailey and Sara.
Grandma and Madison looking at the water, she was so fascinated by the water, it was so cute!

Madison at Grandma's house in the water. She loved the pool, and played in it 3 days in a row!!

Madison's 1st Birthday Party

2009-06-29T11:09:00.006-06:00

As many of you remember, Madison's Birthday was well over a month ago and I am just now posting pictures. Well it was a blast, we had a lot of wonderful people over, a bbq, and of course lots of cake. I made the ladybug cake for Madison, and then bought a delicious cake with cream cheese frosting, because it is way better! Anyway, here are some pictures from the party!

Me, Madison and Robbie mid-cake.
Ladybug cake just for Madison!

Black frosting may not be the way to go!!

Madison and Bailey in Maddie's favorite birthday present. She still lights up every time she sees this car, she just loves it!

Favorite Things Swap

2009-06-29T10:37:00.002-06:00

I found this on a friend's blog, and well it looks fun!

It's really quite simple: as a participant, you will be asked to choose at least three objects (i don't think anyone would mind if you decide to send more) that are some of YOUR favorite things to send to your partner... maybe it's an apron you made, your new favorite book, or that favorite flavor of lip gloss. be creative & most importantly have fun with it! objects can be new or vintage, bought or handmade... just remember, it is best to send something the you'd be pleased & excited to receive yourself.

If you want to participate, go here.

I know I have been a huge slacker lately, but I am hoping to get all caught up on posts today. I have been working non-stop since Robbie got back from Alabama, so I have lots of pictures to post and lots of things to talk about!

Happy 1st Birthday Madison!!!

2009-05-13T08:53:00.003-06:00

Exactly one year ago today, Miss Madison came into our lives. She is the most wonderful thing to ever happen to us, I just couldn't imagine my life without her!! Happy Birthday Baby Girl, We love you!

We are having her Birthday Party this weekend, when Daddy is back, WAHOO!! I will post more pictures then.

So True

2009-05-05T10:38:00.002-06:00

So as many of you might know, when I was younger, I never wanted kids, and even after Rob and I got married, we were going to wait at least 5 years, if not longer. Well funny how things change. I got this email this morning and I just have to post it, it is all so true. I can't tell you how many times most of these thoughts have ran through my head!!! Just something to think about, especially for all of you that think you won't have kids, or you won't have them for a long time!!

Awesome Mom

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys

or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind

and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night

watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small

could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of

having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond

between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

the heartache,

the wonderment

or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

before I was a Mom .

Send this to someone who you think is an awesome Mom.

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life.

Madison missing Daddy

2009-04-18T14:13:00.002-06:00

Well earlier this week at daycare Madison had quite the breakdown. As most of you know Robbie is in Alabama for a month for Squadron Officer School. Well on Wednesday, at daycare, one of the other dad's came in to pick up their child, and he was wearing his uniform. Apparently, Madison thought it was Robbie, started walking towards him, and then realized it wasn't daddy. She cried and screamed for over an hour, poor baby, she was so upset.

However the upside of Daddy being gone, is that Madison is officially sleeping through the night. We have been struggling with this for some time, and Robbie just hated listening to her scream, so he would always go in and give her a bottle, or comfort her. Well I knew that this wasn't going to benefit her (or us) in the long run, so when Daddy left that was my cue to let her "cry it out". After 6 long, long, long nights, we are finally sleeping through the night, WAHOO!!! Mom can't be happier.

We got a ton of snow down here the past two days and work was even cancelled on Friday, so we are just enjoying each other's company, gotta love snow days!!

Easter

2009-04-13T20:13:00.005-06:00

Well our Easter was pretty calm, we were without daddy, because he left for 5 weeks for Squadron Officer School in Alabama, so it has been pretty low key around here. Anyway on Easter we went to church, then went out to lunch. After that it was home for naps, which weren't long enough, but better than nothing. Here are a couple of pictures from the big day.

Madison with Aunt Carrie on Easter morning. She was all dressed up in the cutest dress, however it is hard to get an 11 month old to hold still and smile for pictures, so this was the best I could do.
This is Madison first thing in the morning with her Easter Basket. She had a ton of fun playing with the eggs and got some really cool books, the Easter Bunny was sure good to her.

Here is a Video of Madison in her pretty dress and walking. That's right, I said Walking!! She just started last week, but thank goodness she got started before Robbie left. She is still pretty wobbly, but doing great considering. It's a short one, but hope you all enjoy!

Sick Baby

2009-03-27T20:50:00.003-06:00

Well on thursday morning we woke up to a very sick baby. She had thrown up in the middle of the night, and we didn't know it, so she was all gross. Anyway we determined that the sick belly was from a severe cold, she had been coughing really hard all night long. So when the clinic opened we took her in. Well she just has a cold, but they are worried about it getting worse over the weekend, especially because she still has a very upset tummy. So for the next ten days we have to give her breathing treatments. They aren't so bad when she is about asleep, but it is really a two person job in the middle of the day. Anyway here are some pictures of my baby falling asleep during her treatment tonight. I know many moms have been through this, but man it is hard to see your kiddo so sick and just not enjoying being awake right now. Poor babies!!

At least the doctors office gave us a cute little fish mask, doesn't make it any easier, but sure is cute, well as cute as an oxygen mask can be.

Bailey turns 1

2009-03-21T21:12:00.003-06:00

Well even though Bailey doesn't officially turn 1 until the 24th, Sara had her her first birthday party today, and it was a blast. She was a great baby, and of course dug right into the cake. Enjoy the pictures.

Bailey in her hat.

Madison eating and in her party hat.

This is the cake that we all pitched in and made for Bailey, it turned out great, better than expected actually.

Here is Bailey while we were singing Happy Birthday to her, and she was so excited.

Here is the whole family post cake.

Here is one of her first bites, she just loved getting it all over her face.

Mommy's Sunglasses and Mashed Potatoes

2009-03-15T21:22:00.003-06:00

My daughter has been resorting to feeding herself lately, and she's gotten to the point where she pretty much refuses to eat unless welet her feed herself, so we're kind of just going with the flow. But here is a picture of my Maddie feeding herself Mashed Potatoes, the picture does not do it justice, because it was everywhere. She went stratight from the high chair to the bathtub. She just kept rubbing it all over her face.

This is just a quick photo of Madison in Mommy's sunglasses, she loves glasses, but not so much on herself, even though she is quite adorable.

Wow stairs are fun!!!

2009-03-15T21:00:00.004-06:00

Well it's been a big weekend for Madison, she took her first steps with Auntie Carrie last night, and then today she started crawling right up the stairs and was so good at it, it seemed that she had been doing it forever. She hasn't figured out how to get down yet, but I am sure that isn't far behind. Anyway, here is a picture of her mid-stair, and then a video of her too.

Enjoy the video, she is getting so dang cute!!

Grandma's House

2009-03-15T20:52:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we left daddy at home in Cheyenne, and made a trip up to Greybull with the kiddo's. My sisters were fortunate to come up at the same time, and I must say that Grandma sure had a blast with the grandkids. This was one afternoon when everyone else was asleep but the kids, me and grandma. The kids were no where near napping, but we put them in the pack and play just to see, as you can see they both have the most beautiful blue eyes.

Just playing and being full of it. And this was miss Madison pulling things out of the shelf by the oven, she fit perfectly in this little cubby and sure had a good time there too. We all had a great time, the weekend was by far not long enough, but will do til Grandma is done with Tax season!!

My Birthday Present

2009-03-15T20:47:00.004-06:00

So for my birthday this year I got a new car. That's right I said a new car, and I absolutely love it. It is a Honda CR-V and it is wonderful. The color is royal blue, and absolutely beautiful. Best of all, it is just the right height to put Madison in her car seat, I don't have to climb in it, or bend over, it is perfect.

Sledding

2009-02-22T20:18:00.003-07:00

A while ago we had a big snow storm here and we just couldn't resist the snow. We got the girls all dressed up and ready to go Sledding. It was pretty cold outside, so they didn't stay out to long, but while they were out, they sure had a good time. Enjoy the pics.

Madison's 9 month Photos

2009-02-22T20:13:00.004-07:00

Today we went and got Madison's 9 month pictures taken, and she did wonderful. I'm going to keep this short, but hope you all enjoy.

We have a super busy week this week. I have the 4-H Mardi Gras Carnival this weekend, and I am so ready to get it going. It will be a busy week of picking up raffle prizes and just preparing. Anyway hope everyone has a great week!

DC and Virginia Pictures

2009-02-22T19:58:00.003-07:00

I know it has been forever since I last posted, but in my defense we have been sooo busy. However I did decide that it is time to post pictures from our trip to DC. I had a wonderful time with my meetings, but was super excited by the end of the week to see my Baby and Husband. After they got to town, we drove down to Virginia to spend some wonderful time with his Aunt and Uncle. There place was beautiful and right on the lake, I quickly decided that we need to come back in the summer, what a blast that would be. His aunt also owns horses and of course we decided that it was time to get Madison out there and really see these gorgeous animals. As you can see she was not afraid at all. She loved them!!! She road with dad, and almost fell asleep on the saddle she was so relaxed. Anyway enjoy the pics.

This was me in DC. We had one night free and took a bus tour around to all the major memorials. As you can tell it was absolutely freezing, but I loved having the chance to actually see all these wondeful landmarks.

And We're off

2009-02-03T07:06:00.002-07:00

So I leave today for DC. I am super excited. I have never been and can't wait to be out East. Robbie, Maddie and Susie follow on Friday, she is such a happy baby, hope she continues to stay that way for Rob on the plane. We are super excited to see family and friends, we are even having dinner with Rob's old commanders the Stanley's. There will be new posts in a week, so look forward to them.

Look at those Curls

2009-01-24T20:38:00.003-07:00

So my baby girl has finally gotten quite a bit of hair, and it it CURLY!! We have no idea where it came from, cause we don't have any curls on my side of the family. But it is cute. So here are some not so great pictures of her curls, but they were the best we could do.

And another one

2009-01-20T08:58:00.003-07:00

So the same night that we got Madison Clapping, we got a video of her clicking her tongue, which she does all the time now, and it is fairly loud. Anyway, here's another video of her.

Madison Clapping

2009-01-18T18:53:00.007-07:00

So lately Madison has learned how to clap. She has always loved us doing it, so much in fact that she will crawl up to you and hold your hands while we do it. However lately when she gets excited she has started clapping and loves it. This video doesn't show it too great, but she was also eating part of a waffle, and didn't want to drop it. But she's still pretty cute.

Well we have big plans for February, we are going to Washington DC. I have a business trip out there the first week, and since Rob has family close by in Virginia, we decided to make a trip out of it. Rob, Madison, and his mom are coming out my last day of the trip, and then we are driving to Virginia to spend time with his family. We are so excited to be taking a trip, but a little nervous about the trip with Madison on an Airplane (any useful suggestions apprecaited). Hopefully she will be great, and not get too antsy!

Christmas and more

2009-01-02T22:26:00.004-07:00

So I know I have been an absolute slacker lately and I am sorry, but we have been so busy, I am not quite sure where December went to. Anyway, I will get everyone caught up on that at a later date, for now I wanted to post some pictures from Christmas and then some of our crazy baby. She has grown up so much lately, she is crawling like crazy and is even pulling herself up on everything that she can reach and she is really wanting to walk. Our little one just doesn't seem to be so little anymore. She also has two teeth and now regularly says Dada.

This is new in Maddie's room, and added some much needed storage after Christmas, I am sure all of you mom's can understand. Anyway after we got it all set up, she decided it was of course time to pull herself up on it and pull out all the books, it was so dang cute.

This was Christmas day at Grandma Susie's house, she loved this bell more than any of the toys of course.

Then this is Madison at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas morning. She had such a blast opening presents and playing with it all.

We had a wonderful Christmas back home in Basin, and it was a much needed break for all of us. Of course the ride home was something else. My sister and her husband had to work on Christmas Eve and the daycare was closed, so they had no one to watch their baby. So we thought, sure we'll just take her home with us on the 23rd. My other sister Carrie also came home with us. So we had three adults, two babies (one who was thoroughly fed up with her car seat) and three dogs in one vehicle. Needless to say it is something that I could go without doing for a very long time. But it all worked out in the end. Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We are back to work tomorrow and not really looking forward to it, but I guess we all have to get back to reality.

Rasperberries

2008-11-24T17:46:00.002-07:00

Madison came home in a great mood today, so I just couldn't help but catch her blowing raspberries.

Sad Times

2008-11-24T15:20:00.004-07:00

I find myself completely overwhelmed with questions. Early saturday morning one of my good friends from college passed away after being shot by her ex-boyfriend. Apparently he was quite troubled, and he was jealous that she was with another boy. I just don't get some people, why ruin some one else's life because you are deelpy troubled and don't know how to cope. I feel like a part of life was ripped away from this earth, a great part. My friend, Catherine, was a wonderful person. She was very involved with Highland dance and for the past 10 years had been a teacher to many youngsters. She was a great spirit, and loved many. My favorite part of her was that she was a smart-ass. She said what she felt and was always passionate about life. She will be missed by many. I feel awful because in the past few years we hadn't kept in great contact. I almost feel like my grief isn't justified because we had lost touch. However I can't help but think about the great memories had together, and then just break down in tears. My heart goes out for her family, the holidays will never be the same. Hopefully they can get through this by knowing that her life was a brilliant one. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers, I am sure this is a very difficult time for them.

Rest In Peace dear friend. You will be missed.

Catherine Woods Oct 11, 1982 - November 22, 2008

Picture day!

2008-11-15T16:30:00.003-07:00

So today was picture day. We drove down to Loveland with the whole family to get Maddie's 6 month pictures and pictures for our Christmas cards. I have some here for you to see, but for most of the Christmas ones, you'll have to wait until you get our card. But here are a few.

One of me and Maddie. Robbie wants to photoshop this one, and make it black and white, and then make our eyes blue. We'll see when that gets done.
This is a cute profile shot of my Maddie.

And of course my smiley girl in her pretty Christmas dress. She was so great. They said she was the easiest baby ever. Hope you all enjoy.

Moving baby!

2008-11-09T20:42:00.003-07:00

Here is a video of Madison, getting so close to crawling. She wants to so bad, but just can't seem to figure it out. Excuse the dogs in the picture, they just can't seem to stay out of the shot. Hope you all enjoy.

My Bell

2008-11-02T16:17:00.003-07:00

Here is a cute little video of my baby girl as Belle. Robbie was swinging her and she was so funny, she loved it at the end, but she was so stiff and unsure while it was going on. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Corn Maze, Halloween and More

2008-11-01T16:19:00.004-06:00

So even though my baby girl is a little shy of six months old, it seems that she has just gotten so big lately. Here is a picture of my baby holding her own bottle, this is a blessing!

Yesterday was Halloween and the girls (Bailey & Madison) had a great time at daycare, they had a big party and all the kids were so adorable. Madison was Belle, and Bailey was a Ladybug, look how adorable they are.
Here is a picture of the cake that we all made for the daycare. The Frosting was a bit too runny, but other than that it turned out great, and let's be honest, it was cake, the kids loved it!

Here is Madison a little too excited. I can't believe I actually go the picture taken of her looking like this.

Here are the girls at Daycare with their teachers, Merilee, Wendy and Hope. They were all so cute, and had such a great time.

Last weekend we took a trip down to the cornmaze, and needless to say it was quite the trip. The cornmaze was awesome, however Robbie was on alert so it was just me carrying Miss Priss, so needless to say the next morning my back was killing me. However the girls love being outside so they had a blast. Afterwards we went and ate at Roma's one of Carrie's favorite restaurants in Greeley. This was quite the experience and honeslty I am surprised we didn't get kicked out. The kids were super loud, we were obnoxious, and above all else Bailey spilled Sara's pop on her, then Shane was trying to help and knocked his tea on her as well. Thank god the food was good, and yes we left a dang good tip.

Whoa Baby Blues

2008-10-17T21:41:00.002-06:00

So I just couldn't resist posting these pictures, my baby girl has the biggest, bluest eyes ever. They are sooo cute.

Here she is playing with her toy, and just laughing away.

We haven't been up to much here, just being together. Rob got promoted again, so he's not gone every third night anymore, talk about a huge relief. His new job is going to be pretty stressful again, but at least he'll be here. Other than that, nothing new. I have to be in Laramie all week next week for training, so Maddie and Daddy get to spend lots of time together, and I tell you they are both going to hate it!

I've been Tagged

2008-10-09T16:32:00.003-06:00

10 years ago I was...

1. A Freshman in High School

2. Playing Volleyball and mostly loving it

3. Just starting to drive, thank goodness for Farmer's permits

4. Just about to meet my Hubby

5. Being an Irresponsible teen.

5 things on today's to do list..

1. Get the 4-H budget done for tonight's meeting, Check

2. Do my 14 day survey for my trial contacts

3. Clean my office, Check

4. Actually spend time with my husband for an hour, while we're not sleeping

5. Clean out my e-mail box, check

5 snacks that I enjoy...

1. Chocolate

2. Chips

3. Fruit

4. Crackers

5. Cheese

5 things I would do it I was a millionaire...

1. Pay off debt

2. Invest

3. Travel

4. Donate to worthy causes, like 4-H & Relay for Life

5. Build my own house, complete with cleaning staff

5 places that I have lived...

1. Emblem, Wy, Population 10, WAHOO!!

2. Laramie, Wy

3. Grand Teton National Park, Wy

4. Vandenberg, AFB, CA

5. Cheyenne, WY

5 jobs that I have had...

1. Fabric Cutter at http://www.bighornquilts.com/

2. Teacher's Assistant

3. Gift Store Cashier

4. Bank Teller/Personal Banker

5. Laramie County 4-H Educator (current)

Alright, so I did this instead of taking a nap, I know what was I thinking. I have a long meeting later tonight, and I have a cold, and I am pretty sure that if I went to sleep I'd never wake up, .

The 5 people I'm tagging are Jill, Merilee, Sara, Summer, and Katelyn. This was pretty fun to reminisce.

Weekend Fun

2008-10-04T15:14:00.003-06:00

I was in Sheridan this past weekend for a conference, and while I was there, My mom watched Maddie all week. They had a blast and really got to know each other. But as you can imagine by the end of the week they were both pooped, lucky for me I got the cutest picture of them both taking a nap. They even sleep the same way.

Sara, Shane, Bailey, and Carrie also came up for the weekend. Bailey had a bit of an accident, so it was bathtime for her, so while she was in there, we thought, what the heck let's throw Maddie in there too. They had a blast.
This picture was taking as Maddie was falling, but good in the moment picture.

I don't often post pictures of myself, but I figured what the heck. I hate doing dishes, mainly because I am not coordinated enough to not get completely covered in water. So today at mom's house I agreed to do dishes, but first I located an apron so I wouldn't be soaking wet by the end, well it worked, and I might even do dishes again someday!!

Just the kid

2008-09-27T16:32:00.005-06:00

We haven't been up to much lately, just a lot of work. I am taking off this weekend to take Maddie home for the week. I have a conference in Sheridan, so Maddie gets to spend the week with Grandme Carol, Grandpa Howard, and Grandma Susie. I am sure she is excited as are the grandparents. I am a little anxious, but I think every mom is when they leave their kids, even when it is the people you trust most in the world. Robbie is excited to get a week's worth of good sleep, which I can't blame him at all. I'm hoping to have more pictures after the week, but we will see, I always seem to just plain forget to take pictures. But until then, here are a few.

This is one of my favorites, she sat on Daddy's lap for quite a few minutes just staring at him, it was so adorable. She hadn't seen much of him, cause he was out on alert so much, so she was obviously thrilled to be sitting on his lap.
Here is Maddie and Aunt Carrie, she just loves her.
And of course Maddie just playing, happy as always!!

Maddie's Singing Voice

2008-09-16T08:22:00.005-06:00

So this past Sunday I went to church with my sister, and Maddie was in the best mood ever and just thought it would be awesome if she talked the whole time. Well thank goodness it was a big church, so not too many people heard her. But the best was that during every song she would just start singing, it was so dang cute. Well last night we were listening to the radio and Maddie started singing all over again. I actually got it on video this time, so here you go, hope you all enjoy. Forgive my laughing and prompting in the background.

There hasn't been too much else going on here, except for a pretty grumpy baby. She is teething and is miserable. My baby girl doesn't cry for no apparent reason and on Sunday evening she cried for 2 hours straight, then proceeded to wake up five times during the night. And of course this all happened when Daddy was out on Alert, thank god for good patience.

Maddie also went in for her 4 month checkup on Friday and is healthy as a horse. She was 14 lbs, 14 oz, 24 3/4 inches. She was in the 75th percentile for both. She is so big and seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. She is now rolling over all the time, and loving every minute of it. Anyway I included another picture of her, because her eyes just look so blue in this one, couldn't resist.

Look at those Baby Blues!

Maddie Has also started to eat solid foods, and as you can tell by this picture, she's just loving it!

Mom and Dad have been very busy working, seems like Mom has meetings all the time, and Dad is gone a lot, since he is back in the squadron and pulling alerts more often. However Maddie is super excited because she gets to go spend a whole week with her Grandmas soon. Mom has to go to a Training in Sheridan, so she is going to drop Maddie off at Grandma's for the week. We can't wait!

Weekend

2008-09-08T14:32:00.005-06:00

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend.

This is a picture of my whole family, it was so great to have them here to be a part of the girl's Baptism.
Here is Bailey and Madison. Bailey has sure turned into a fiesty little girl, but she is still cute!
This is the girls at the UW vs AF football game. We sent this picture in, and it was on the big screen during the 4th quarter, we were so excited! The game wasn't the best, but it was a win for my Hubbie, and the girls were so good the whole time!

Madison goes in for her 4 month checkup this Friday, and I am looking forward to it, just to see how much she weighs, since she is such a chunk! I will post more then!

3 Month Photos

2008-09-08T14:23:00.003-06:00

So last Thursday before all the family came into town, we made a quick trip to Loveland to get Maddie's three month pictures. I realize that this a little late, but we have been so busy. Anyway, once we got there we had a little bit of trouble, just cause my little girl, doesn't like to lay down unless she is sleeping, but after we worked that out, she was the most photogenic little girl ever! Here are a few of the adorable pictures. We spent way too much money, but they were just so dang good!

My favorite out of all of them!
My little sophisticated daughter, isn't she adorable!

I have to say Madison is the cutest baby ever, I know I am very biased, but she is pretty dang cute!

Baptism

2008-09-07T21:02:00.003-06:00

So I know that a lot has happened since I last posted, but the latest is Madison and Bailey's Baptism. We had tons of family come into town to see the baptism and also see the Wyoming Pokes play Air Force. We had a great time and here are a few pictures from the events.

Here is the two after the baptism's they had the cutest matching dresses.
This is the picture that we took at the UW game, we sent the picture in via text, and they got their picture put up on the big screen in the 4th quarter.

I have a lot of other pictures to post, and a lot to talk about, but for now, we still have some company and we are all trying to catch up, it sure was a busy weekend. I will post more soon, I promise!

One more catch up Picture

2008-07-25T16:13:00.004-06:00

A month ago I also attended a going away outing for Robbie's Commander's wife at the Melting Pot in Fort Collins. Again is was amazing, as it always is, and it was a blast to be out with the girls. Here is a picture of the gang. It sure was fun, and I have to say we shut the place down, we were definitely the last to leave.

Family Pictures

2008-07-25T16:04:00.002-06:00

I don't know if many of you remember but well over a month ago we all went to my cousins wedding, I finally have some pictures from the wedding, well actually I've had them for a while, just haven't had the time to post them. Anyway here are a few.

This one is of my Grandma Doris and the two babies, Maddie and Bailey, they were both so good that day and slept through most of it.

This one is the whole family, Brother in law Shane, Sara, Bailey, Mom, Dad, Me, Maddie, Robbie, and Carrie. Aren't we all so cute. I know we aren't very dressed up for the occasion, but please remember, it was snowing on the 7th of June!!

And here is our little family. Again Maddie slept the whole day, but she was so cute.

I will be posting new pictures of Maddie soon, she's just been so cute lately, we can't seem to put the camera down! Hope everyone has a great weekend. Ours will be quite low-key. Last weekend before fair starts, and then my next three weeks are going to get crazy, so after August 1st don't expect any posts out of me til after the middle of August.

Too much to talk about...ugh

2008-07-23T19:57:00.004-06:00

So I have a ton to talk about and it seems like not enough time or space to do it in! But here's a start. So since the last post we took Maddie in for her 2 month check up, talk about a trip. It took forever, but was still good. We found out that Maddie was 12 lbs 6 oz, that put her in the 90th percentile, mind you that was a week and a half ago, so I am sure she is probably closer to 13 lbs by now. Anyway she is super healthy and hardly even cried when it came to her shots, what a good girl. She is doing great at the daycare, and good news her cousin is going to start going to the same daycare in August. I am so excited to have the two together everyday, plus I have to admit makes it alot easier when one of us is in a bind! She has been opening up more and more everyday and she is finally getting really interested in toys, which is so fun. Today was Cheyenne Day (in other words the whole town shuts down and it is super crazy) so we stuck around for the air show, and then decided to get out of town. We drove down to Colorado and hit Babies R Us, and I tell you what our little girl made out. She got a bunch of toys and is just loving them. We also found the cutest dresses for the girls to wear for their upcoming baptism in September. Yesterday was also a big day for Maddie, she got to attend her first Parade. The Daycare took all the kids to one of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Parade, and it was so cute. They made all the kids little shirts, and even though they couldn't get one small enough for Maddie they made one anyway and draped it over her, they were all so cute.

On another note our family has huge news. My sister Carrie got the State IT job and is moving to Cheyenne in a little over a week. We are all so excited for her. Plus the best part is that she got an apartment in my same complex so we will get to see a lot of her, we can't wait!

Over the weekend, my sister came down with some of her friends for the Rascal Flats concert. My friend Vickie also came down, I am hoping to get some pictures from her in the near future from that. Anyway we had a great time. Robbie also was really busy as he finished up the front yard. Our yards now look awesome; they are all finished and looks very professional, he did such a great job!

Here is the picture of the frong yard. We are still working on the one spot that is dying, but hopefully it will come back to life.
And these two pictures are the finished back yard, the back of the yard are all roses, and they are just now blooming and absolutely gorgeous.

I included some pictures of Maddie, hope everyone likes them she has sure become a cutie!

This is Maddie literally 30 minutes after her shots, look how happy she is. This is also her new High Chair, I know it's a little early for that, but we just love it, it reclines so we can put her in it when we are cooking in the kitchen and at the table, so she can see us. She obviously loves it too!

Here's Madison getting some tummy time on her mat, she just loves it.
Maddie hugging her new toy, something she can definitely grab onto.
And of course the most beautiful little girl in the world, she's just so happy!

Weekend Fun

2008-07-15T13:22:00.007-06:00

So I know it's been a while and a lot has happened since then, but the first thing I want to start with is our weekend. We had such a blast. On Saturday we played Mud Volleyball, I know sounds super messy, which it was, but it was such a blast. It was also for a good cause, it was a fundraiser for MS. Anyway attached are some pictures, as you can tell we were all super messy by the end!

Here is our team after all the action

Our first team Huddle

An action pic

You're probably wondering where Madison was while we were playing in the mud, well she got to visit her cousin. My sister Sara was kind enough to babysit the whole time, and as it turned out they had a great time.

Here are Maddie and Bailey being loving cousins

The next day I went to a Bridal Shower for one of my college roomates, and it was wonderful. I have a bunch more to catch up on, but that will have to wait til another day.

Back to Work

2008-07-01T20:00:00.003-06:00

Well today was my first day back to work, and it was so much harder than I ever imagined. However, from the sounds of it, she did great. She ate great, slept great, and was just a doll. Robbie went back to drop off her blanket at around 8:30, and he said that the daycare had already made a schedule, so that each of the other children could feed her, because they all wanted to hold her, too cute! However, they must have just worn her out because all she's done since we got home is sleep. She was happy and smiley for about 15 minutes, when she realized that it was me holding her, and then she ate and went right back to sleep. She's either growing, or just super exhausted. But all in all a decent day. Work was work, stressful cause I was gone for 7 weeks and I am all by myself now, but oh well. Anyway, attached are some pictures of her this past weekend, my mom and sister were here and we just had a great time!

Here is Maddie all dressed up in the outfit her Daddy picked out for her, doesn't he have good taste?

And here is a cute picture of my sister Carrie with Maddie, so adorable.

We are headed home for 4th of July, we are super excited to be able to go home with her as often as we can. Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4-th!

What every parent hopes for!

2008-06-24T12:02:00.003-06:00

So the other day I was feeding Maddie, and she started holding the bottle, which by the way was great, but then I look down and to my discovery she was flipping her dad off. We both laughed so hard and then decided it was the prime opportunity to take a picture. Now I promise you that she did this on her own, we had no part in this, looks like our little one is headed down the right path, hehe!!
This is just another picture of Maddie playing. She has finally become somewhat interested in toys, so we laid her on her play mat and she just had a heck of a time smiling, talking and playing with the toys.

Here is a picture of Robbie and I and some of his co-workers from a going away party last week. We had a great time!

We have been super busy with lots of going away parties, but we are finally done with all of those. One week from today is going to be a sad day for our family. I go back to work, which is really bumming me out for many reasons, but of course the obvious one, cause that means I have to take my little one to daycare. Also Robbie goes back down to the squadron, but he finally gets to upgrade from Deputy to Commander, it's about dang time. He's been a deputy for 3 years now, which is pretty uncommon, but better late than never. I hope everyone is having a great week!!

Just a thought

2008-06-15T19:42:00.003-06:00

So on the 27th of May, I had a breakdown with my baby, she was crying and crying and wouldn't stop for 8 hours. Well about the point that we were both bawling, I said a few choice words, and then all of a sudden I started hearing sirens fairly close to my house. We live in a townhouse so I thought maybe my neighbors heard me in my frusturation and called child-services on me, and they were coming to take my child. I know, what a dork, I came to my senses and realized that was probably not it at all. Well then I headed into our bedroom to calm down a bit, when I heard noises outside, well turns out there was an ambulance and a fire truck right outside out house, I thought they really did come to get me. Well of course they weren't, I looked across the way and the stretcher was sitting outside our neighbors house. This brings me to my real point of the story. I read last night that he had died. He was only 46 and something really hit me about this. He and his fiance were supposed to get married in the fall and he had so much to live for, let alone the nicest guy on our block. I just wanted to tell all of our friends and family, that I love each and everyone of you very much. I know we say it all the time, but it never seems to be enough. I know that each one of you have a lot to live for too, but you never know when it's going to be your time and it can hit you when you are least expecting it to. So in that thought, appreciate everyday and love those closest to you as much as possible!

Happy Father's Day and more Madison

2008-06-15T19:28:00.004-06:00

I would like to wish all the Fathers out there a Happy Father's Day! There are so many of you and I hope that you all had a wonderful day. We sure did, we started with church and it was a great service, and another plus Madison slept the whole time. Then we drove over to Laramie to eat some Winger's. After that it's been a lazy day, and we are both completely ok with that.

Robbie with his Baby girl, all dressed up for church!

One month old, and lovin every minute of it!

Madison has gotten so animated this week, I just love it. She has finally found her voice, and she is just jabbering away. She also learned how to smile, and I love it when her big blue eyes are just staring away and then she just gets a big old grin on her face. She is eating like crazy and growing like it too. I do have some good news however, I am sure that this is just a fluke, but my baby girl has slept through the night for the past three nights. She slept for 6 straight hours on Thursday and Friday night, and then last night she slept 7 hours, it was amazing. However I woke up at 4 in the morning having a panic attack cause she hadn't woken up yet, talk about scary, however she was just fine, and decided to stay asleep for another hour after that. Let's all hope that this continues, cause I am sure liking the sleep!

We've been super busy lately, Thursday night I had a wonderful dinner with the spouses group. It was a going away for our Commander's wife and we ate at the Melting Pot in Fort Collins, it was amazing. Then Friday night we headed down to Fort Collins again for a going away for some of our other friends, Sean and Lindsey Lee. This next week is jam packed with going aways, seems like everyone we know are leaving this month. I have to say that this is the worst part of the military life, you make good friends and then they all move away, guess that is just something I will have to get used to.

Well I sure hope you all have a great week, I am hoping to get some good pictures from this weeks activities.

Trip home

2008-06-10T18:38:00.003-06:00

Well we got home on Sunday and I have to say it was really a wonderful trip. My cousins wedding was on saturday just outside of Yellowstone and it was snowing! Yup that's right, snowing on the 7th of June, Crazy huh! It was a beautiful wedding and I will post pics from that on another date, as I was not the one taking the pictures, so I don't have any yet. Other than that it was nice to just spend time with family and friends, since it's been a long time since I have been able to do that. However, as always, it feels great to be back home and settled. However it is bittersweet since Robbie is super busy with an inspectrion this week, so I won't be seeing much of him, hopefully we will have some time together on Father's day, but who knows with the AF.

I have included some pics from the trip home, hope you all like them, and let me apologize now, sorry mom, I had to post some of you at some point, you are the grandma now!

My Sister Carrie and I with Maddie all dressed up for Church

Robbie and Maddie, he was trying to rock her to sleep, however, looks like he put himself to sleep long before she went to sleep, but I just had to snap this photo, thought it was too cute not too!

Grandma with her two grand-daughters. Bailey is on the left and Maddie is on the right, this picture is just too cute.

The cutest Cousins ever, Maddie and Bailey

The Nerve

2008-06-04T11:56:00.002-06:00

So Sunday night at around 11 pm, I get a call from my husband. A group of people had just stolen our beautiful planters. UGH!! The nerve of some people. These planters were beautiful and my mom had planted all the flowers for me right after I had Madison. We never got a chance to take a picture of them or the finished front yard, but now I guess it will be finished without the flowers! I just can't believe people now a days, don't they have better things to do, or steal for that matter. Thankfully my neighbors saw them and alerted my husband as to what was going on, because I guess they tried to get into our backyard, but thankfully we had that pad-locked. Guess it could've been worse, but still, get a life!

Anyway, I will quit ranting now. I am still at home and loving it. It has been wonderful to just spend some time with family. I will be home on Sunday, and will have lots of pictures and such to post. Hope everyone is doing great!

A few Firsts

2008-05-28T21:34:00.003-06:00

Well in the past couple of days we have had a couple of new things going on in our house. The first being Maddie's first time in the swing! She looks a little scared in this picture, but in truth, she just loves it, as do we, she goes to sleep everytime she's in it!

The other first, was her first real bath. We were getting ready to give her the normal sponge bath, when Rob was cleaning her belly button and it fell off! We were so excited, we got to give her a real bath. She loved it, except that she was hungry, so she cried the whole time, but other than that she really liked the water!

I thought this picture was just too cute not to include, proud daddy! He just can't seem to get enough of her, which is adorable.

Well I will be leaving for home on friday. Robbie has a big inspection coming up, so Maddie and I are going to go home for a week and spend time with the grandparents and other family! I am so excited to be going home for more than a weekend. I think that the last time I was home for an extended amount of time was in college two years ago, or more! My cousin is also getting married while I am at home, so I hope to post some wonderful pictures when I get back.

Relieved

2008-05-20T16:49:00.003-06:00

On Friday we had our first pediatric appointment for Madison, this turned out to be quite the ordeal, even though it should've gone smoothly. After some careful listening the Doctor heard a heart murmur, these are pretty common in infants, but she was still somewhat alarmed. She said that most newborns have these, but that Maddie's was just a little bit louder than she would've liked. So after my little girl was stretched out on a cold metal slab for x-rays (no three day old baby should have to go through that), and was messed with for 15 minutes trying to get her blood pressure, the verdict was that we would have to make a trip down to Denver Children's Hospital to check things out. So today we drove down to Denver to make sure that nothing was seriously wrong with our little one. They did a quick EKG and found out that everything was perfectly normal! Thank goodness everything is ok with our baby girl!

On another note Robbie's dad was here to visit for a couple of days and he just fell in love with Maddie.

Other than that we are all doing great, Rob and I are both extremely tired, but still doing good. He goes out on alert tomorrow, and I am somewhat nervous, thank god they are only 24 hours instead of 72! More to come soon.

Our little Snuggler

2008-05-18T12:05:00.005-06:00

Well it's been a few days now and we are finally starting to get settled in to the house and used to having a little one around. Everything has gone pretty smoothly, even the dogs love her! However Miss Maddie has decided that she just loves to be snuggled, and as you can tell we all just hate that!! We just can't seem to get enough of the little munchkin. Here are a few more pictures from her first few days home, hope you all enjoy!

As my sister Carrie likes to call her, here is my little frog. She loves to lay all bunched up in a ball on our chests, it's her favorite way to sleep.
And of course here is Daisy with Maddie. Daisy has been so cute, she is so concerned about Maddie, she is always with her or looking at her, I think she thinks she is her mama.
Here is Maddie in the Moses basket that my wonderful Auntie's gave to us. She just loved it! And of course don't miss her best feature, her bottom lip all jutted out. She's definitely her mama's daughter!

Madison Lee

2008-05-15T18:54:00.003-06:00

After what seemed like a lot longer than 9 months, we finally have our little girl in our arms. Madison Lee was born May 13, at 5:11 AM, she weighed 7 lbs 3 oz, and was 18 3/4 inches long. She absolutely adorable, and we couldn't ask for anything more in the world. It was a long Monday when we went in to be induced, but my goal was to have her before sunrise on Tuesday and we just barely made it! We are all doing great, settling into the house, and just basically loving every moment of it. Thanks to all of those that stopped by, sent cards, presents, etc.. We have a great support group and we just love everyone of you! Here are some pics, more to come soon!

Little Madison Lee

Proud Papa, he just loves this baby girl, can hardly get him to put her down, it's so cute!!

Robbie, Madison, and I not long after she was born!!

Robbie's mom, Susie, and Madison! So glad you could be here Grandma!

New pics of Bailey

2008-04-27T19:02:00.003-06:00

Here are some new Pics of my niece, she is getting so big, and my goodness she looks like a Gernant, don't worry, I can see the Howe in here too. She is a little over a month old and doing great! The last picture is a brag picture for me. My mom used to make cakes for us for everything, and I always wanted her to teach me, but we never seemed to get around to it. So with some of my birthday money I bought a kit for cake decorating, and when Bailey was born and my parents were down here, I finally learned. This with my first cake! Of course my sister Carrie helped too, it was fun to finally learn, and even better to eat. Lesson #1 of cake decorating, you really do only need as much icing as the directions say!

Bailey and Daddy

Bailey sleeping with Daddy, I think this one may be on her way to a Daddy's girl!

This is my cake, not the best job, but we sure had fun doing it, and it was so yummy!

Honey-dos

2008-04-27T18:44:00.005-06:00

Well for the past two weekends Robbie has been diligently working on the yard. We had the rock delivered on Friday, and thanks to Dave, he got it all put down today. Dave, Debbie, and Braylon came over today to help out with the project. Of course Debbie, Braylon and I sat in the house and had a nice afternoon, while the boys worked diligently. Anyway here are some pics of the new rock border and shrubs, I am so glad that our yard is done and it looks great!

You can see the rock border around the outer edges of the yard, as well as around the patio, also check out the new shrubs.

This is the other side of the yard. I am just so impressed at how well my hubby did, he worked so hard for the past two weekends, and it totally paid off.

Baby Shower

2008-04-25T15:03:00.005-06:00

About a month ago, my good friend Jeannette put on a baby shower for me. I finally got some pics loaded onto the computer from it. It was a wonderful shower, with really yummy cake, and it was great to spend time with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who came and brought presents, and thanks to everyone who sent gifts as well. We loved them all, and considering this is our first time around, we appreciate everything!! Thanks to Jeannette for putting on the shower, it was wonderful!

My yummy and gorgeous cake

Opening presents

The best part, presents!!!

Dining Out

2008-04-20T12:00:00.003-06:00

About a month ago we attended the 321 Dining Out. I had never been so I was pretty excited about the whole thing. It was a lot of fun, and I quickly came to realize that the Air Force is just one big Fraternity, how fun that we get to be a part of that for the next 15 years!! Anyway, there was a photographer there, and we got our pictures taken, as much as I detest the photo, it is still pretty cute, and my Hubby couldn't look any better in his Mess Dress, I on the other hand look a tad bit swollen, but that comes and goes!

We sure did have a busy weekend, our grass hasn't done well since we moved into our house, so Robbie took it upon himself to replace the sod all by his lonesome this weekend. He started at about 6:30 am and finally got done about 8 last night. We still have to get rock to put on the side of the house, as well as around the outer perimeter, but that's a task for next weekend. Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for another long week.

Something New

2008-04-18T13:34:00.001-06:00

Well I have been wanting to set this up for a while, and I finally decided to get around to it. Figured it was best to do it before baby come. I am not guaranteeing that this will be updated regularly (by that I mean possibly weekly, definitely not daily), however this is a better guarantee that everyone will see pictures and such of the new addition that is going to be coming into our lives soon.

With that, I do want to add that close to a month ago I became an Aunt. My Sister Sara and her Husband Shane had baby #1, Bailey Lynn, on March 24th. She is adorable, and a great baby. I am just hoping I am as lucky as she is to have such a good baby, however if I am doomed with mother's curse, then I am preparing for the worst. I am going to keep this first post short, but I do want to include some pictures of my cute niece. I will try to keep up to date with pics of her as well, since my sister seems to be incapable of getting some out to us all, just kidding of course!!

My sister Carrie Holding Bailey

Little Bailey, just cuter than ever!