Vegas, Baby

I was cleaning up in the kitchen when I realized that Will had been silent for far too long. Since we all know that silence never bodes well for little infants, I went into the next room to check up on him. And this is what I found:

Yes, that's my son all ready for a night in Vegas--complete with the crazy dino jammies, my lovely costume jewelry and a deck of cards. I hope you score big, baby. At least whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?

Hockey, Joshy

Will's first hockey game: KAPL (Josh's work team) vs. G.E. Dada's team didn't win, but that didn't really matter to Will since we only stayed for the first half for the following reasons: it was past Will's bedtime PLUS the stands were sticky and slimy and all Will wanted to do was run around and get messy in his pajamas and hang precariously off the sides of the stands. He did sit still on my lap for the first ten minutes of the game and stare at the hockey players in awe. Then the magic wore off and it was back to exploring the disgusting and dangerous stands. That's when the magic wore off for me as well and it was back to the car and straight home to bed (after wiping every inch of his spare body with anti-bacterial wipes, of course).

Go team! He was too distracted to pay attention to the camera.

I love hockey!

What a Girl Wants

The big 3-0 is looming dangerously close upon the horizon. Yes, in no less than 25 days, I will be thirty years of age. While most of me is okay with this, part of me will never be okay with this. (The main part of me that isn't okay with this is my wrinkle-ridden face. I suddenly find myself looking longingly upon younger girls' faces, wondering if they truly appreciate their wrinkle-free, youthful looking skin. I also often find myself wondering how on earth I am every going to afford Botox. Sigh). In honor of my big day, Josh wants to do something lovely, romantic and thoughtful for me. (What I really mean is, I've hinted and harassed him enough times that he has finally gotten it into his head that he could think of nothing he'd rather do than plan a wonderful day for me on my b-day). Though he now knows that he needs to do something for me, he is at a loss as what to do. I would tell him to surprise me, but I've been married long enough to know better than that. So, in an effort to help him out (and hey, who am I kidding? In an effort to help me out) I am revealing the secrets to a perfect Jessy-turns-thirty day. Now, hopefully, Josh will be taking notes.

1. Sleep in. Yes, as you will see, a lot of my perfect day consists of sleeping. What can I say? I heart sleeping. Always have. Always will.

2. Have a yummy homemade breakfast of steel-cut oats, raspberries, almonds and yummy yogurt, though not eaten in bed. I'm not a big fan of breakfast in bed. Though I am a big fan of sleeping in, rolling out of bed and having a glorious breakfast set elegantly upon the table and all ready to be gobbled up by moi.

3. Nice, easy family bike ride upon the bike path. I am currently obsessed with cycling. In fact, I am training for a race in May. More on that another day.

4. Spa day: mani, pedi and a facial (remember my wrinkle problem?) But hey, I'm realistic. I know that we're watching our pennies, so a mani-pedi will suffice (unless, of course, you my faithful readers want to spring for a facial for me. That would be divine).

5. Light lunch of some sort of yummy, homemade salad.

6. An afternoon nap whilst Will naps, all the while Josh spooning me. That's the best kind of nap.

7. Dinner at my favorite, fancy, cozy restaurant Lakeridge all the while having a nice conversation about Jerusalem with my Joshy (where we met).

8. Movie. I know that that date sounds cliche--dinner and a movie, but it is one of my favorites and it has been soooo long since we've been out to both a dinner and a movie. I don't know what movie yet because I don't know what will be playing, but I want it to be a chick flick--something ridiculous like "Confessions of a Shopaholic".

9. Dessert at home (hey, if we went out for dessert we'd be seriously wracking up that babysitting bill and do you know how much babysitters cost these days?????). Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, preferably Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.

Now since my b-day is on a Monday (how dreadful to have a Monday birthday) I know this cannot happen on my actual birthday. And since I have Relief Society all day the Saturday before my birthday, then I am hoping for this all to occur on the Friday after my big day (Josh has that Friday off). For my actual day, a home-cooked meal of Chicken Marsala (one of Josh's specialities) with some lava chocolate cake and ice cream and lots of hugs and kisses from one baby Willy. Now that would be perfection. Check back in in 25 days to see if all my b-day wishes come true!

1st Photo Session=I'm a Sucker

For some reason, I have been dreading getting Will's pictures taken while at the same time I have been wracked with guilt for never documenting all those precious moments of his life. Finally, I knew it was time: I decided I would go to Sears and just take the plunge. Armed with my Sears coupon and one seriously whiny baby (when will my healthy, happy baby return?) we headed off on our picture taking adventure. And what an adventure it was. I realized why I never looked forward to this happy occasion. Put together one cheesy picture taker, one tired/sick/ornery toddler, over 60 pictures with an alarming amount of poses, too many annoying props to count and three thousand dollars later and what do you get? That's right--the pictures below. And of course, the pictures were all too cute so I had to get them all. When it comes to pictures of my child, apparently I am a sucker. So, aunts, uncles, grandmas, friends, neighbors and random strangers, let me know your favorite photo and I'll send you one. There are plenty of pictures to go around.

Here are a few of the lovely pictures. (Try and try as she could, the lovely picture lady could hardly illicit a smile from my lovely baby boy).

He found this football and had to have it in the picture. Since these were his "one year" photos (though taken at 13.5 months) I thought it fitting that he have a ball with the picture of the one b/c that is what he adores more than anything on earth at the age of one.

Going Green

For this oft over-looked holiday, I decided to treat our family to a (hopefully) new St. Paddy's Day tradition: cuisine in the color of green. I found this cute recipe on the Family Fun website and couldn't resist (the pesto is yum-o and was a big hit with Will since he hearts all things pasta). The evening didn't turn out quite how I had envisioned (my vision was perhaps a tad far-reaching--Will suddenly and miraculously gaining the power of speech wherein he praises my merits as a mother while Josh simultaneously proclaiming his undying love for me while insisting I go buy a new pair of shoes as a reward for my diligent and satisfying hard work). Really what happened was more along these lines: half the dinner didn't even get made, due to one whiny and sick boy and only 2/3 of the family even participated in the Green Cuisine Celebration of 2009. Josh, unfortunately, got home just in time to turn around and head off to a hockey game. So, not only did I spend all afternoon single-handedly cooking the green cuisine but now I also get to spend all evening single-handedly washing the dishes of the green cuisine. Sigh. At least now I am enjoying some peace and quiet since I put Will to bed at 6:30, finished the dishes and am currently eating one green-colored Rice Krispie treat in the shape of a clover whilst blogging. Though not exactly my vision of the evening, it's almost just as nice. Almost. I really do need some shoes.

The green cuisine placed so elegantly atop a $1 Walmart disposable table cloth. The planned menu: green salad topped with green veggies; pesto with spinach fettucine; garlic bread in the shape of clovers topped with parsely and garlic; green Rice Kripie treats also in the shape of clovers. The actual menu: pesto and Rice Krispie treats. Perhaps the rest for another day.
The peanut with a sore on his nose from the perpetual nose-wiping.

He looks so far away. Hello over there.

Blankey Love

This kid is in love, and I mean love, with his blankey. When he wakes up in the morning and I go to get him out of his crib, he bends down, picks up his blankey and hands it to me. We cannot leave the room without the blankey. I've tried to get him attached to two blankies, just in case he loses the one and/or so that the one blankey doesn't get trashed. All that that has accomplished, though, is that now he has to have his two blankies. We've been diligently (and unsuccessfully) trying to teach him baby sign language. Finally, he's figured out how to sign 'milk'; however, we've discovered that when he signs for milk, it is not milk that he wants, but his blankey. This weekend he was sick and he would not let go of his blankey. He had to eat with it, have it in the car, hold it and carry it while walking (which was quite tricky). I do believe I am going to now have to wean him from his blankey.

And what would a post be without pictures? Here are the pictures of the blankey love (sans clothes):

The Walking Post

It is only fitting that directly following the 'first b-day post' would be the 'walking post'. Will actually took his first steps at 11 months (while we were in Spokane sans his dada. Josh was less than thrilled that he was not present to witness this monumental event in Will's life). Ever since his first steps, he has slowly increased his amount of walking daily. This video was taken two weeks ago, once the majority of his transport was actually walking. Of course, in the video he is still quite tipsy, if you will, but he has improved leaps and bounds even in two weeks' time.

So here you have it: The Walking Video (it's a little long and slow, but I am sure you'll watch it all b/c you just can't get enough of our Will).

The Birthday Post

Almost one month later, I've finally gotten around to posting the post of all posts, the post you've all been waiting for--THE BIRTHDAY POST. We had quite the big b-day bash for our little guy. And since we all know that I can be a bit wordy, I thought I'd break down the festivities in an easy to read, precise (and brief--well brief for me) fashion. So, here's the break-down of the b-day bash:

The guest of honor:
William Grant Madsen

The guests:
Nate, Amy, Beth and Sam Madsen (our favorite Vermonters)
Jane Madsen (Will's twin aunt)
Josh & Jessy Madsen

The activities:

Friday Night: dinner at Five Guy's Burgers (best burgers in town) to celebrate the eve of Will's birth (this is where Josh and I ate the night before Will was born, so we thought it would be fitting to eat there on the eve of Will's b-day).

Saturday:
Breakfast: steel-cut oats with raspberries, blackberries and almonds. Will's favorite breakfast at the moment
Nap
Ball party at the church, including a ball obstacle course and a disco ball. Don't be jealous of the fun we had.
Lunch: sandwiches
Nap: everyone in the house (except Beth) took a nice afternoon nap. Nice work, everyone.
Sledding: Will still hates it. Even on his b-day.
Dinner: Meatballs. Will's absolute favorite: meat in the shape of a ball. It doesn't get better than that. B/c everyone took a nap it was a tad bit late and the kids ate quickly before the adults. After the kids went to bed, the adults had a nice, relaxing long dinner of yummy spaghetti & meatballs sans kids.
Cake: in the shape of a baseball since Will hearts ball. Freaked Will out. He eventually decided to eat the ice cream but wouldn't have much to do with the cake.

Now here are the photos, documenting the fun that was had by all. To ease your viewing process, I've broken the photos into three groups.

First group: the presents and the decorations:

Oh, he got a ball. Shocking. He also got: a boat ball toy from Grammy & Pompa, a tractor and a darling book (Toot and Puddle) from the Vermont Madsens, blocks, books, stacking cups and a music set from Mama and Dada. (And, of course, he got two original songs written and sung for him by Beth. See previous post for songs).

Here are the lovely decorations, complete with the Happy B-day sign hand crafted by moi (hey, sometimes I CAN be crafty). You don't get the full effect without seeing all the balloons dangling from the fan. It was quite the piece of work.

Here's really how the present opening went: Beth opening the presents for Will while Will sat by, clearly more interested in the removal of his sock.

I love this photo. Will and Beth (especially Beth) loooooved the decorations. (Will mostly was obsessed with the balloons, thinking that they were balls. We still have a few balloons lying around the house and they are his favorite toy by far).

Second group of photos: the ball obstacle course and disco ball:

Just a cute photo of the b-day boy.

And just a cute photo of cousin Sam.

Since Will is currently obsessed with placing balls down people's shirts, this was part of the obstacle course. Beth had to put on Josh's big t-shirt and then Will had to put all the balls down her shirt and then remove them. It was a crack-up.

Another obstacle course: Will had to put all the balls in the bucket.

Will chasing around the lights from the disco ball.

Another photo of the darling b-day boy.

Last set of photos: FOOD (dinner and THE CAKE).

Oh, how he loved those spaghetti and meatballs. We made so much that we had leftovers for a week and he loved them just as much every other day.

Here it is: the baseball cake. I know you are jealous of my culinary abilities. Mostly, though, Jane did the cake. Thanks, Jane. Somehow, I've managed to fail, yet again, to get a photo with Will and Jane.

I love the look on his face, as if he is thinking: What in the world do you want me to eat and why?

And that's all there is. Whoa, I'm tired just posting about it. A grand time was had by all and we want to give a big shout out to our out-of-town guests for taking the time to come to Will's first b-day! Happy b-day, Willy!

Oh, and if you didn't get enough, here's the video of Will getting his b-day cake.