My Life Lately

In case there are masses of you out there, eagerly wondering what it is I have been doing as of late, then rest assured, the time to find out is now (and I'm fairly certain there are at least two of you out there).  My life lately consists of the following:

• The dropping off and picking up of one boy named William.  I never knew taking a child to and from preschool could be so time-consuming as well as how it ultimately runs my life.  I feel as though I am constantly finishing only half a project before it's time to go get Will from school.  Or determining which errands I may or may not run depending on the proximity to Will's school.  Plus, I actually prefer to have Will home with me, though he actually prefers the company of his classmates and  teachers. 
• Taking care of one baby girl who has decided she needs only one nap instead of two.  She needs two but nothing I do can convince her of that.  Ergo, it isn't just Will's school that prevents me from finishing anything.  Lucy has been making it increasingly difficult for me to do anything except cater to her every need.  The nerve.  At least she's cute.
• Christmas-card making.  Yes, for the first time in twelve years, we are sending a Christmas card, thanks to Groupon and the talented April Newman.  However, it may or may not have taken me an entire day to design the card and then decide which card to use.  No one ever told me it could be such an exhausting task.
• Weaning.  As in not nursing.  Finally.  At 13.5 months I feared it may never happen.  But a few weeks ago I decided I was done, even if she wasn't.  It was time.  And how did I celebrate?  By having a day, a whole five hours, to myself wherein I went and got a massage (thanks again to Groupon) and went Christmas shopping all by myself.  Hooray for me.  Boo for Lucy.
• Church, church and more church.  I've decided one of the reasons I have no productive hobbies (besides exercising, reading and watching television, which, let's be honest, happen in the opposite order) is because either I am at church or working on something for church or my husband is.  So, I guess church is my hobby (well, I guess it's not just a hobby--it's far more than that but you get the idea).
• Eating an inordinate amount of mint M&Ms.  Those bad boys are good.  Mint M&Ms is what Christmas is all about (that or anything mint chocolate for that matter.  Have you people tried these?  Really, you must.  I insist.  But don't buy them from Amazon--they're on sale at Target for $2.29 a  bag).  I've decided I'm just putting on weight for the long, cold months of winter--just like bears and  other hibernating animals.  I gotta make it through 'til spring somehow.
• Buying a new-to-us car.  Finally.  May Vinnie, the good mini-van, rest in peace.  Our car of purchase?  A 2009 Toyota Highlander in Blizzard Pearl.  It's beautiful but best of all it has four-wheel drive.  No longer must I dread winter or the snow or the mountainous climb that is my driveway.

There you have it folks. What I've been up to lately.  Now, what's your latest?

Halloween

Halloween at long last--just in time for Thanksgiving!  We had a great Halloween--the church party, a neighborhood block party, the school shin-dig and then, of course, trick or treating itself.  For Halloween this year, Will insisted on being Thomas the Train and was adamant about having his little sister be the train engineer.  So, that's what they were:  Thomas and one cute little train engineer.  Will really gets holidays these days and it makes them all the more fun.  He just couldn't get enough of his cute train costume (that Josh made out of cardboard boxes--props to Josh) and he just may or may not be obsessed with candy, candy, candy!  Happy Halloween all (er, I mean Happy Thanksgiving!).

P.S. (Both my cameras were having issues--or at least I was having issues with both cameras so please excuse the sub-par pictures).

His costume was so big and wide that he would knock people down without knowing it.  Plus, when he wanted to get by someone while at the crowded church he would just hoot like a train to let someone know he was coming through.  It was a crackup!

Goose bug was ready for her bed.  (And notice she is wearing mismatched socks.  That girl WILL NOT keep shoes or socks on so I have so many missing socks that I can NEVER find a match).

Goose's 1st Birthday

My baby girl turned one on October 12.  And though I may be a tad in denial about the growing-up of my children (I want them to stay little forever), we still celebrated with style.  Will claimed that her birthday theme was "a stair birthday--because that's what she loves to do the most."  So, a stair birthday it was.  We let her crawl up and down the stairs as many time as her little heart desired.  Plus, we went to the fun library, as Will calls it, and let her play with all the new toys, then Panera for lunch, where she got to eat 1/3 of a huge M&M cookie, home for a nap and then the little party and opening of presents.  The dinner was meatballs, of course, just like her brother's first birthday and the cake?  Well, I guess my kids just don't like cake.  She wanted no part of it, though she was a fan of the smarties I used to decorate it.  She enjoyed opening presents with her big brother's assistance, and I think her favorite present was her very own toothbrush.  She loves to brush her teeth. 

We love our little baby girl.  She really is one of my life's treats:  she's sweet and snugly and good-natured.  She has a smile that lights up a room.  She loves cars and trains and makes the cutest sound when driving them.  She has no interest in walking, is just starting to make a few signs, is a serious mama's girl and has the best head of the cutest red hair you ever did see (though I'm beginning to think it looks like a comb-over--should I trim it to help it grow in better?  Thoughts??).  She loves to laugh at her brother and could play in his room with him there for hours.  She is social--she loves other kids and is happy as can be playing with all the big kids.  She still puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.  She demands to be fed at 4:30 every evening (she's like clockwork) so I have to have dinner ready early.  She's finally sleeping through the night and very nearly weaned.

Happy Birthday, baby girl.  Oh, how we love you.

The "stair party".

Will even let her play with his beloved cars and his precious car mat.  That was no easy task--those are his favorites and he's always hoarding them.

Eating the M&M cookie from Panera.

More car playing.  Look at Will--he's not too happy.

Will and Dada built baby girl the cutest cradle for her new doll.

The birthday cake.

The decorations.  I'm no Martha Stewart, but I did make those pom-poms by hand.  And that ain't nothing, people, that ain't nothing.

Baby girl with her dada (can you say Gryffindor anyone??)

Opening presents.

Enjoying the splendor:  the beloved toothbrush.

Cuddling with her new doll, her dada and her toothbrush while watching her new movie, Cinderella.

Mama and the baby girl (maybe now I can finally get rid of the bags under my eyes since she's sleeping through the night!)

Sharing her toothbrush.

Reading her new book.

On a chilly afternoon walk with her dolly.  (Will named her Maddie Sarai Madsen.  He wanted to name her Sarai after a little girl in our ward, but I thought that might be awkward so he settled on having it for a middle name).

How big is baby Lucy??  ONE!

Eating the smarties off the cake.

No thank you cake!

And here's the darling cradle Josh made for the baby doll (it still needs a coat of paint and top part, but isn't it sweet?  Too bad the doll's only an 1/8 of the size of the cradle.  Josh builds things to last.  I told him we could probably even fit a newborn in there).

And I have to admit, she seems to like the cradle more than the doll.  When I give her the doll, she just throws it on the ground.  Maybe some day, poor Maddie, maybe some day!

Happy, happy b-day, Goose bug.

Right on Target

A Target store was built just around the corner from us and the grand opening was, of course, required attendance.  Target has been a long anticipated arrival in these parts, especially in our household.  We may or may not have been actively counting down the days until its opening.  And our maiden trip?  All we'd hoped for and more.  We went, we shopped, we spent $93 (though I went in with NO intention of buying anything--now Target may or may not be Josh's new least favorite place) and we, of course, purchased the dollar popcorn (except now it's a $1.35.  Darn that inflation).  And to say that Lucy loves popcorn would be quite the understatement.  We took the popcorn to go and once home we snacked on it in our yard on a lovely fall afternoon.  Lucy was in heaven--so much so that I had to snap a few photos.  And then when her older and bigger brother came by and snatched that there popcorn on up, she would have none of that.  She diligently chased right on after him to acquire those lovely morsels of popped corn.  The below sequence of photographs may or may not be one of my favorite things on film to date.  Hip, hip, hooray for Target!

Enjoying some popcorn in her favorite locale:  the Flinstone car.

And along comes brother.....

You can see he's up to no good.

Enjoy that popcorn while it lasts, Lucy.

Oh no you don't, big bro.

She would not be deterred.

Eureka!  What a nice brother to share.