Madeline Turns ONE!

Madeline's Birthday was so fun! She was so excited that morning and must have known it was a special day because she woke up at 6:15 am! We started out the morning by letting her check out her decorated birthday door!

She loved it! We then played with some Birthday balloons! That is all we could have gotten her for her birthday and she would have been completely satisfied. We then had some breakfast. She got to eat her first Cinnamon Roll!

After nap we had a small birthday party with our friends. The Rubisch's are like our family out here. I am so glad that they were able to celebrate with us on this special day! Plus Madi absolutely adores Levi and Lily! We had dinner and the kiddos played. We then let Madi open her presents and she got some really fun stuff! After presents we had cake. Madi wasn't sure what to do with the cake. She kept spitting out the frosting and she didn't like touching it. So overall I would say she wasn't a fan of Birthday cake. Oh well. We will try again! I made all of Madi's Birthday decorations due to the fact that well we are poor students. Thank you Pintrest! 

We had a fantastic day Celebrating our Special girl turning ONE! 

Happy Birthday Miss Madeline!

We love you!

One Year Old!

I can't believe my little baby is One! I know I have said this a thousand times but time really does go by so fast! This past year has been amazing! Having a child changes your life in so many ways you don't even think possible. Madeline is such a blessing to our family. I couldn't imagine it any other way. I am so glad that she is mine. She is my little buddy. I love that I get to spend all day with her and we can just play. It is so fun to watch her progress and change into the next phase. She is getting to be such a little toddler ( yikes, did I just say that?) She is so funny! I love calling my family everyday to tell them the next hilarious thing she has done. She is so sassy and such a little spit fire! We are going to have our hands full in these toddler stages! She loves to be the center of attention and entertain everyone. She is such a little show off! She is really so adorable and has a cute little personality. We just love her so much and feel so blessed to be her parents!

Here are some things that Madeline does at 1 years old:

• She loves to clap her hands, she especially loves to clap for herself. 
• She folds her arms when we say prayer. It melts my heart every time.
• When we ask her "how many are you?" she will hold up 1 finger. This is probably her greatest trick.
• She is such a good walker. She took her first steps on 11/17/2013. She was just barely 11 months. She loves to put her arms behind her and "fly" I think she thinks it makes her go faster.
• She now has two bottom teeth. She is currently working on her top teeth!
• She loves to blow kisses! She is really good at blowing them to her Papa on Skype!
• She loves to wave!
• She is so ticklish. She will giggle and scream so loud but she loves every second of it!
• She likes to watch Mickey Mouse and Little Einsteins. She has a very short attention span though.
• She doesn't really like eating. She likes to eat cheese. She wants to be independent and feed herself but that just doesn't happen.
• She loves Milk! Which is so great because it will help with her being so tiny!
• She weighs 15. 2 at the doctor. I am pretty sure she is like the tiniest one year old ever!
• She loves to play "peek a boo" but she will sometimes only cover one eye!

I could seriously go on and on. She is so funny and does the cutest things! I am so excited for this next stage. It is amazing watching her grow and develop! Miss Madeline, Thank you for being our daughter! We love you more than you will ever know!

Some thoughts

Tonight I am flooded with emotions as I think of Madeline's 1st Birthday only being a couple hours away. I am happy, excited, and sad all at the same time. I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. Alan and I were watching videos of her tonight and it seems like it was just yesterday. It is also scary to think that there are things that she did that were so unbelievable cute that I completely forgot about! Good thing we have the technology we have. I am so excited for the next phase that she is about to enter and I am excited to watch her grow and learn even more! When we found out we were pregnant it was such a wonderful day. I remember it like it was yesterday. I knew I was going to love being a Mom and that it was going to be incredible. My expectations have been far exceeded. She makes life so much more fun!

The first time I laid eyes on her, it was love at first sight. I was filled with so much joy I thought my heart was going to burst into a million pieces. When she laid on me and looked at me with those big blue eyes I knew I was about to embark on one of the most amazing journeys. It has been incredible! I love her so much and I feel so blessed to be her Mother. She is so much fun and brings so much joy to our lives! 

85 degrees in December..OH MY!

Yesterday was National Hate Florida day!

Everywhere across the Country is freezing! In Utah it was like 9 degrees. Even Arizona is experiencing extremely cold weather. Florida is experience unseasonably warm weather.....uh yeah you think? Most people who live here are like: oh isn't it just great! Don't you just love the weather here? Let me fill you in on a little secret....NO! I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of being hot. I have been hot since June! There is no point in showering cause I just walk outside and I am completely sweaty. During Madeline's nap time yesterday I thought, oh I want to read a book and relax in the bath tub. I was in there maybe 5 minutes and I had to get out cause it was too hot and I felt like  I was going to pass out! I know I shouldn't be complaining because if I were where it was cold I would wish I was where it was hot. I guess we are just never satisfied. I do love living in Florida. Last week we were able to go to the beach and play in the water. That is pretty amazing. I do however miss the seasonal changes. We had no fall and now we have no winter. It is pretty hard to get into the Christmas spirit when your AC is blasting throughout your house. I am sure if you are use to it, it feels normal but to me it feels like a never ending August. I want to watch the snow fall and sit in front of the fire place in my flannel pajamas and socks! I can't believe I miss something as silly as socks! I can't wait to go home to Utah for Christmas and when I get my fill of being cold (which might be never, it has been awhile) I get to come home to 80 degrees.

So to all of those freezing your buns off I am trying to send you some of my warm weather your way!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving this year was so much fun! I admit it was a very hard day to be away from home. It was our first major holiday away from our families. It is a good thing that we have such amazing friends out here that feel basically like family. Alan and I decided that we would host Thanksgiving this year for all of our friends. He thought it would be a good distraction for me and boy was he right. Alan and I made the Turkey, stuffing, and gravy. When I say Alan and I, I really just mean me. He did do an excellent job carving the Turkey and he also helped with all of the preparations. All of our friends chipped in and brought a side dish and dessert. All of us girls made sure we had everything so everyone felt right at home. I must say that we did a great job! It was a wonderful day. The food was great and the company was even better! Thank you to the Rubisch's, Balle's, and the Brown's! We love you guys and are so very Thankful to have you in our lives!

I am proud to say at age 25 I can successfully cook a Turkey! Thanks Mom!

This girl is enjoying her first Thanksgiving!

The whole crew!

The girls!! We were being silly!