Thanksgiving in Arizona

Thanksgiving at Auntie Claudia's house was awsome!! Madelynn got to see chickens, cows, goats, dogs, pigs, and most favorite of all, horses!! She rode the horses with Jacob a couple of times and cried when it was time to get off. It was funny because it wasn't like she only got two minutes on the horse, she was up there for atleast 30 minutes one time and they went out of the gate and down the dirt road off into the fields. They had a blast!!

Auntie Claudia had gifts for Maddy when we arrived. She got new boots, a new hat and new mittens. She wore the hat and boots most of the time we were there and has wore the boots everyday since then. She really likes them.

Life Update

I have officially been a stay-at-home mommy for three weeks now and I absolutely love it!! Madelynn is just blossoming and her talents are growing every day. She can now say hi, momma, daddy, what's that, there it is, anda (aunti manda), and that's all that I can think of for now. Thanks to Jill she has hand signals for 'all finished' and 'some more please!' when she is eating dinner, but she uses all finished for everything; like 'I am finished in the bathtub', and 'I am finished with this walk, let me out of this stroller', and 'I am totally finished with this nap!' She loves it anytime someone throws a ball or swats a fly, she laughs sooo hard it is hilarious!!

The other day I was sweeping and she wanted to help me pick up the pile of dirt on the floor, so she reached down and picked up a pinch full of dirt in between her finger and thumb and walked it over to the trash. Thank goodness for dust pans or we would have been there all day!!

Now family news....this year has been eventful for us. We had our first Mother's day and Father's day, which were wonderful. Madelynn turned one, we had our fifth anniversary, and Jacob graduated from school!! So to celebrate we went into debt and bought our first house. We signed the offer the same week that Jacob took all of his finals, talk about a stressful week!! Then a few months later we decided it was time for number two, so he/she will be here in May 2008!!

Now we are absolutely broke and can't go anywhere because we have so many house projects!! But we love it anyways!! This weekend we got all of our boxes unpacked that were still in our garage and parked in it for the first time in three months, it was very exciting!!!

First Post

Here are a few old pictures that show Maddy's character. We're still not sure if she put the pig that way on purpose, or if it was just a fluke. He looks like he wishes he could escape. This pig was the first stuffed animal that she acknowledged as hers and that she liked him. She took him everywhere (in the house) for several months, then one day she acquired an attachment to all of her animals and dolls. Now she gives them kisses and hugs all the time, she loves her little friends.




Maddy likes to color, when she has to be inside the house, it is a favorite past time.




Love is not a strong enough word for how much Madelynn likes to be outside, she definately prefers the outdoors to the indoors. As much as she loves to be outside, she has the same amount of passion for her hair to NOT be put up in ponytails, but everynow and then she will bring me a headband and want it in her hair. She will put it in and take it out and this is what her hair looks like most of the time. She is very cute!!