Tender Moments...

It's been so long since I've blogged but Madi was so cute tonight I just had to write about it.  First of all,  both Madi and I have been tired today.  Madi's tired = more whinny than usual. Mommy's tired = not as patient as usual. You can imagine how today went.  But needless to say, I was anxious to get Madi to bed tonight for both of ours sake. On the outside I seemed calm but I was screaming on the inside and she was doing anything she could to get out of going to bed. I was sitting on the edge of the bed singing her some songs when she came up behind me put her arms around my neck and sweetly said, "I love you". Ah, so cute! I melted my heart. But that's not all. She sat back down for a minute, then got up again, put her arms around my neck and said, "chicken butt". She melts my heart and makes me laugh at the same time.  I love my little girl so much. She brings so much joy into my life even on the hard days. :)

Hey...

Bubbles!!

Grammy and Papo got Madi a bubble machine for her birthday and she loves it! Practically every night we have a little dance party with the bubbles.

Madilicious is 2!!

Because Madi really likes Elmo, I decided to have an Elmo themed birthday party. Thanks to Pinterest, I had a lot of cute ideas.  I'm pretty happy with how it came out considering I was trying to keep it as low key and cheap as possible.  I have a hard time with throwing a huge party for my kids and spending a lot of money on parties, especially when they are as young as Madi.  One, they won't remember it. Two, what they do remember is the feelings they had, not the frills. And three, why would I invite a bunch of kids that she's not even friends with...yet (no offense to the little kids in nursery. ;) ). It just seemed pointless. So we just had a cute and simple family gathering.  But of course I had to do a little frilliness for the party decorations.  I couldn't let my Pinterest research go to waste. 

First of all, I love how the Elmo cupcakes turned out. I saw plenty of examples on Pinterest but I'll be honest, I think mine are the cutest.  Mostly because I like the proportions of the facial features better. I used Mentos for the eyes, an orange jelly bean for the nose and oreos for the mouth. The color theme was red and turquoise. (also, pinterest inspired) And the balloons hanging from the ceiling idea, I bet you can guess where that came from too.  

Madi had just woken up from her nap and I don't think she was even feeling that well. During the whole singing/blowing out candles/eating cupcakes she was like a zombie. She ate the jelly bean nose and barely took one bite of her cupcake and that's it.  Not that I'm complaining that she didn't eat that oh so healthy cupcake.  I was just hoping for a little bit of a show or some personality or maybe just a smile. Is a smile to much to ask? ;) 

But, once we broke out the noise maker blow thing-a-ma-jigs she started to come to life a little, and she even smiled! Yes! Two dollars well worth it! 

When we asked her if she wanted to open her presents, in the cutest little excited voice she says, "uhhh huhhh!" I wish ya'll could hear the inflection in her voice. It's was so cute.

By the end of the night she was a regular party animal.  Se even put on a pretty awesome Super Bowl halftime show for us (we celebrated her birthday on Sunday). She is quite the little dancer.  But I'm not surprised.  I've been known to have some sweet dance moves myself. *said in an egotistical voice as I brush off my shoulders* ;)

On her actual birthday, Tuesday, Mema and Popi took us to Chuck E. Cheese!  Madi had fun riding the rides but her favorite part was watching the "mouse" show. 

 We even got to meet the "mouse" and she gave him a high five. I was surprised that she wasn't scared of good ol' Chucky.

Later that evening and post nap we went to watch Aunt Allie play in her basketball game.  Madi loves going to Allies games.  She talks about it ALL the time. Every day. Several times a day, to be exact. She says "allie basitball?" 

It twas a great birthday and I can't believe my little girl is two now.  She is just growing up so fast and getting to be so much fun.  I love her little personality and that she still has the best little cheeks.  Happy Birthday Madilicious!!

3rd Anniversary

For our third anniversary we took a short little trip to Virginia Beach. The reason we were able to do this is because of my dad's trucking business. For the past couple of month Bruce has been helping my dad either loading trucks or actually driving them whenever my dad needs it.  It just so happened that my dad had a load that Bruce could take right near Virginia Beach.  So I came with him and we made a little anniversary trip out of it! It was nice because the trip cost us next to nothing. 

Our trip was very relaxing and it was so nice to just be together for a little bit.  We took a dip in the pool, went out to dinner, drank hot chocolate, watched movies, and walked on the beach.  They also had some Christmas lights set up along the beach. You could drive down the boardwalk and look at them.  We went to the aquarium, but the thought of paying $50 bucks to look at fish made us sick to our stomachs, so we left. haha.  

I love my husband SO much.  He makes me so happy. :)

Also, I made this video for our Bruce.  It has pictures from the time we met up until now.

Christmas Crafting/Baking Fun

There are so many cute and fun Christmas crafts out there, especially on Pinterest.  I was dying to give a few a try.

One day, Madi and I made cinnamon ornaments for our little Christmas tree. They smelled so yummy! 

I made these cute little snowmen for Madi's Christmas party at preschool. 

And these cute reindeer cookies for my primary class.

For FHE one night we made gingerbread houses. Madi had a lot of fun. Especially eating the candy instead of putting it on the house. 

Now Madi is obsessed with building houses.  She stacks her books on top of each other and says, "Mom, house. House. Mom, house. I build a house." Then she stacks her sippy cup on top of her plate and says "Mom, house. House. Mom, house. I build a house."  Every time she sees the gingerbread house sitting on the counter she points it out.  It's pretty cute how much she loves that we built a house together and that it's made of candy. 

Christmas Day

I'm 24 and I still get giddy and excited for Christmas. Will that ever go away? I hope not.  

Luckily Madi is still young and doesn't understand that if she gets up earlier we will open presents sooner.  So we got to sleep in until 8am Christmas day! Score! First thing we did when everyone woke up was open our gifts from Santa. 

Here is a video of Madi opening her favorite present. I love her facial expression.  So cute! (Sorry for the shakiness. I was trying to make sure I got her face.)

Madi also got some horsies from Santa.  She was putting them in between her legs and trying to ride them.  

After we opened Santa gifts we had a yummy breakfast of sausage and gravy.

  

This is the learning tower that Bruce built for Madi.  For all of us really.  Madi is always asking to "help" or "watch" when we are doing anything at the counter.  This way she can be up there with us and I don't have to worry about her falling or the chair sliding out from under her.  We love it!!

Helping daddy make sweet potato casserole.

I have had several people ask me if Madi is always so quiet. The answer is no.  Here is the proof.

After breakfast we headed to Church.  I LOVED being able to go to church on Christmas day.  What better way to celebrate Christ's birth than to go to church?  Church that day was amazing. There were several talks and musical numbers all centered on Christ's birth.  The spirit was so strong during the closing song, I don't think there was a dry eye in the congregation.  I love my church. 

Our little family on Christmas Day. 

The "kids"

Whole fam.

No words.

After church and a nap we opened the rest of our Christmas presents.  It was a lot of fun watching Madi this year. Crazy how much she has changed since last Christmas.

Posing with the cute TOMS that my mom got Madi for Christmas.  She is too spoiled.  We need some more grandkids to share the love with.

I just love Christmas.  I love the spirit that it brings and I love the reason we celebrate it. I love my Savior. I love my family.  I am so blessed.  So very blessed.