Dumpdy Patch

"Dumpdy".  That's what it sounds like when Madi tries to say pumpkin.  It's pretty cute.  

Dixie Classic Fair

Meh, don't really feel like talking typing. But here are some pictures of our trip to the fair. 

Camping!!

A couple of weekends ago Bruce and I pulled out all of our camping gear from storage, packed it up, and headed to the ward camp out. Bruce and I love the camp and we thought it would be fun to bring Madi too.  Of course I was nervous about how Madi would sleep, but I figured that since she is such an easy going baby that she would do just fine.  

After we got there and set up our tent we just hung out and sat around the camp fire eating smores and listening to the bishop give a fireside.

Eatin' smores

Chilin' by the fire

 Then we tried to put Madi to bed. We started putting her down around 9:30 (she usually goes to sleep around 8) and she finally fell asleep, in my arms, walking around outside, at 11! We have always been pretty set on Madi sleeping in her own bed ever since she was just a couple of weeks old.  That has worked out great for us...until we tried camping. Let's just say Madi had a hard time settling down lying in the same bed as us.

As much as I'd like to say that the rest of the night was a breeze, it was not.  I tried bundling Madi up since it was going to get down into the high 40's, and I knew she wouldn't keep a blanket on her.  Well, she was uncomfortable and kept waking up. Not wanting to disturb the other campers, we climbed in the front seat of the truck, Madi fell asleep in my arms, and that is where we spent the rest of the night.

Surprisingly, when we woke up that morning, we were both in fairly good moods.  We had some yummy breakfast by the fire and just enjoyed each others company.  But the one thing that made the whole trip worth it was listening to the bishop and his wife talk about farting. Bruce and I felt right at home. Haha! I love our ward!

Sittin' on the back of the truck with our friends Landon and Levi.

 Even though we didn't get much sleep, I can't wait to go again!

What's Up In Our Hizzouse...

Well...really my parents hizzouse because we are still living with them. Haha. ;) Anyways, this is what's been going on in our lives.

Madi started preschool! She is going to the same preschool that me and my siblings went to.  Pretty cool.  She goes 2 days a week on Tuesday and Thursday for 2 1/2 hours. I put her in for several reasons. She didn't get really any interaction with other children.  There are not a whole lot of kids her age out here. The closest ones are 6 months apart and even then they are at least 30 minutes away. She is also the only grandchild on my side of the family.  So I wanted to give her an opportunity to be around other kids, to learn how to interact with them, and to share, etc. She also seemed to get so bored around the house. Preschool gives her something to do and somewhere to go where she can play with friends, do fun art projects, sing, have snacks, read books, and learn.

The first two weeks were a bit of an adjustment for her (she has not had a lot of time away from me). But she did better than I expected. She really seems to be loving it.  It is fun to see her eyes light up when I pull out a picture from her bag that she colored or painted at school. And I love it when she learns something new at school that I haven't taught her yet.  Like the sound an owl makes. Adorable.

Here are some pictures from her preschool family night at the skating rink.

They didn't have any sizes available that would fit her so we let her try on mine.  

Madi also started a Mommy & Me gymnastics class. She goes once a week for 45 minutes.  It is a good chance for her to get some exercise and spend some quality time with mommy. I'm still undecided whether or not I want this to be a long term sport for her, but I believe there is no better foundation to build her strength. I do know that I want her to try lots of things and find out what she really loves the most. If that's gymnastics then that's fine with me, but I'm definitely not going to push her to do it. 

Showing off her muscles in her cute little leotard.

Madi has also started doing chores.  Most of the time she likes being mommy's little helper (key word, most).  Some of her chores include: picking up her toys/cleaning up her messes, putting her dirty clothes away, helping me get the mail, and helping me cook dinner.  She loves to help me cook. She always says, "help me" when she wants to help me cook. And sometimes I sing the clean up song when we are picking up her toys and now she likes to do it too. She says,"een up, een up". It's fun to see her learning new words. 

Of course we have to sample it to make sure it's yummy. :)

Madi is definitely growing up way too fast.  She really loves to color, read books, and play outside. She also loves to sing and dance. She's got a great booty shake; I'll have to get that one on video.  She has recently learned how to lip-sync. She started doing in when we were in Old Navy. (Don't know where she learned this one....hehe). 

For the most part Madi is such a good girl.  She is starting to push her boundaries as I'm sure every child does.  But we love her so much and she brings a smile to my face every day! 

(p.s. if anyone who has some good advice on how they discipline their children slash a good book to read on the subject please let me know! We are on the search for the best method for our family)

As for me, Madi is pretty much my life.  Most of my time is spent on her, but I'm also busy being the class mom for her preschool and being a semi-permanent substitute in primary.  

Bruce is busy working on Zachary Douglass as well as doing some work for my dads business. He finally launched the new software for ZD and an article just came out about it in the Funeral Business Advisor magazine.  So traffic is starting to increase on his website. Yay! He is currently in Canada for a couple of days meeting with a company who may possibly want to workout some kind of business deal. So we are pretty excited about that too.  It has been a long hard road. It's not over yet, but at least we are starting to see some light.

The Lord blesses us so much and we just love life. 

The end.