Maddieisms!

I just have to post some of the funny things Maddie has been saying lately. A couple weekends ago we were out in Salt Lake and on our way to a wedding reception. Maddie did not want to be in her car seat, so she kept saying things like, "Out. Up. Off." Then she pulled out the big guns and said, "I want Mommy." She soon realized none of this was working and we thought she had given up, when after a few seconds of silence she said, " I wanna go potty!" Ster and I looked at each other astonished, and said, "Did she really just say that?" She repeated it again, and we laughed our heads off. Can she really be that um... manipulative already? I have started trying to potty train because I would really rather not have 2 in diapers, and she regularly tells me when she goes in her diaper, but we've yet to have success on the potty. So we knew she was really desperate to get out of her seat! (I wrote this forever ago, and we have since had a few successes on the potty. I think because I have been bribing her with candy. She now wakes up in the morning saying, "I want candy!")

I asked her the other day what she wanted to wear. She looked at me and said, "Ummm... socks!" I said,"Anything else?" "No."

She is fascinated with her baby doll and we literally do not leave home without her, or put her to bed without that baby. We were outside and she was carrying her baby around, when she heard an airplane. She faced her baby up towards the sky and said, "See it baby? See it? Airplane!"

We were at a wedding luncheon this weekend and Maddie heard a little baby start to cry. She looked up at me with such concern and said,"Ohh, poor baby. Sad." Then she started to imitate his cry.

My other favorite comment of hers was a few weeks ago when she was sitting in her high chair eating olives. She put a couple on her fingers and looked up at us and said, "I'm funny!" We started cracking up and a little while later called my parents to see if we could get her to say it again. This time she says, "I'm SO funny!" We won't mention what her first sentence was while at my parents house, with her Aunt and great grandparents present. Apparently they were watching a movie and didn't think M was paying attention, when suddenly she repeated something said in the movie that was a bit inappropriate. They all looked at each other and couldn't believe it. Man that kid listens to everything you say!!!

Last night we met some friends for dinner and Maddie had just woken up from her nap. She has recently decided that she is too old for high chairs, at least in public places. So I decided to skip the fight and just get her her own chair. I set her in it, she looks around the table and realizes she does not know these people. She gets this frightened look on her face and reaches for me and buries her face in my shoulder. Ster and I are laughing, because she is so not a shy kid. For 10 minutes she keeps her eyes closed "pretending" to be asleep. She would smile and giggle if anyone spoke to her, but never once opened her eyes. I asked her where her daddy was, and with her eyes closed she pointed right to him. Then a few minutes later she waves to our friends, again with her eyes closed. What a little character!

Where Have we Been???

K so sorry about my teaser post. I meant to put it up there for a day or two and then give some details. But I got super sick, had my mom up here for a couple weeks, then my sister, and a friend from Vegas, then we went on vacation... and blah, blah, blah! So I am now about 14 weeks along and am starting to feel ALMOST human again, except for the migraines I keep getting. My due date is February 6th. Maddie's was Feb. 3rd. Nice planning on our part huh! So, fingers crossed they won't end up with the same birthday. Maddie was born 5 days early.

So Ster and I just celebrated our 4 year anniversary last month, by going on a 4 night cruise to Cabo. We had a lot fun despite my constant nauseousness(pregnancy + constant rocking of boat... not the best combo) I actually did really well as long as we were out on the deck. Cabo was Hot! Hot! Hot! But we had so much fun there. We went snorkeling which neither one of us had ever done (Well Sterling says he's been before, but I don't think Bear Lake counts!)
So some info on me. I am a total wuss when it comes to water. Huge fear of it esp. the ocean. So we put on all our gear and it's time to jump in. Ster does a back flip, and is hollering at me to get in. So I grab on to the side of the boat and slowly lower myself in(With my life jacket mind you) He's already off... and I'm freaking out. So I had to stop him and explain that I really wanted this to be a good experience, but if he left me again, we might not make it to our 5 year anniversary! (I said this very sweetly! Wink!) So he quickly learned that as long as he held my hand he could pretty much drag me anywhere, including right up to the rocks that we were told to stay far away from.

It was so amazing to see this whole other world, and yet a bit creepy at the same time to have schools of fish swimming right between your legs. I would freak out and then try and breath thru my nose and then somehow my mask would fill with water. Sterling could not figure out how that kept happening. Only me! Ster got to touch this big old blowfish that everyone was passing around. So all in all, snorkeling was awesome, but I thought I would try and make the whole experience more memorable. I chose to do that by getting back on the boat and getting really nauseous... and then puking over the side as everyone was trying to get back on the boat, and shouting, "Hurry! It's coming our way!!!" Fabulous! As Sterling laughed, I consoled myself, by saying I would never see these people again!



This is us in Cabo at Cabo Wabo. Best lobster tacos ever!
Don't judge my outfit... it was REALLY hot there! I kept
going to the showers and drenching myself just to walk around.

Lovers Beach. The water was so pretty.

Our first night on the cruise. This was also our
anniversary.

Announcing........

So She Thinks She can Dance!

Maddie loves dancing and just within the past few months she has started busting out this move. We don't know where it came from, but we love it. It is definitely a crowd pleaser. Everyone cheers and claps for her every time she does this(as if she needed the encouragement!) Last night we were watching my favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance, and Maddie kept doing this move. Check out the extension in that second picture!

Notice the pink shoes she insisted I put on. Great outfit don't you think!
This is how the pose starts. Sometimes she'll just stay frozen like that for a really long time.

A Lot Can Happen in an Hour and a Half!

So a couple weeks ago I went to California to spend some time with the fam. We had a blast... going to the beach, the zoo, eating out, etc., but I thought I would share my MOST memorable experience. Which was Flying Home! I booked a 7 a.m. flight out of Long Beach (What was I thinking? I am so not a morning person!) So that meant I was up at 5:30, along with my poor parents, and out the door at 5:45. My plan was that it was so early that Maddie would just sleep through the entire thing.(I was even going to let her travel in her p.j.'s) Ha ha ha! As soon as I put her in the car she was awake all wide eyed and bushy tailed. Ok so that wasn't part of plan A, but hey at least she was happy. We get on the plane and have the row to ourselves. Nice! I wait until the plane takes off to bust out the milk. She starts looking very sleepy,she lays her head on my shoulder, then she looks at me and smiles (I think, "This is going to be a great plane ride!") Right then she pukes ALL over me. I mean from my neck to my lap. And man did it stink. So I try to get the flight attendants attention. No luck there. So I had to stand up to hit the call button, which helped the puke hit any areas it had previously missed. He throws at me a plastic bag and some "deodorizing wipes." F.Y.I. deodorizing wipes and puke, not a good match!!! The puke was bad enough on its on, but when combined with the wipes, Whoa! I couldn't stand to be near myself.
K so I'm dealing with the smell, not sure about the people around me, but I'm thinking well hey at least she's happy. Then I smell another unpleasant aroma. That's right! Now Maddie has done her diaper. There are no changing tables on a plane. So I'm staying positive and I am just grateful that we have the row to ourselves, because I'm sure a stranger would not have enjoyed M laying across their lap as I changed her.. At this point, I am also grateful for the plastic bag the flight attendant so graciously threw at me.
So I deal with that and I'm starting to think "Are we there yet?" Oh no we are only about 30 mins into the flight. Only an hour left. Not bad. And to be honest I kept thinking this is going to be a great story to tell.... And that's when it happened.... My sweet little angel grew two heads and scrame her head off for 40 minutes straight. NOTHING I did would calm her. I had more milk, treats, new toys I had bought just for the plane ride, and my beautiful singing voice that I am sure my fellow passengers really enjoyed combined with the ear piercing screams of my child. 40 minutes of straight screaming. All the lame flight attendants would do was pass by and look like they felt sorry for me. Finally, as the plane was starting to descend, a flight attendant came by and asked if they could get her something. I was finally at my breaking point and started bawling my eyes out and said "how bout some apple juice."Right then, Maddie spotted a lady across the aisle from us, who had a sweet little four year old who had slept through the whole thing! And Maddie started playing peek a boo with her. Tantrum over! My sweet friendly baby was done with the tantrum just like that. Now I was the one who couldn't stop crying. People cheered when the plane landed(j/k) but I am POSITIVE they wanted to.
As I was getting off the plane all I could think about was taking a shower and getting out of my black shirt that was now stained down the front with puke (oh yeah I am not only smelling divine. I am looking good too!) . My ride was delayed an hour because of bad weather. I finally get my suit case and find a wrinkly shirt to change into, all though it didn't mask the smell, as it had seeped into my skin by this point. Don't' worry there is a happy ending to this story. My ride showed and I took the longest shower of my life! 2 weeks later the smell is finally dissipating. Ha ha!

Moab!

We decided to take a trip to Moab for the weekend, and we had a blast! I had never been there before, but I think it's my new favorite place. We camped, Ster did some amazing dutch oven cooking, and we biked and hiked til we could barely move! Maddie kept trying to clean up our camp with the broom. Those green p.j.'s became her designated dirt pajamas. She would just sit on the ground every morning and just scoop the dirt on top of her. Ster had to keep reminding me that we are camping and she's going to get dirty. That second picture is of us inside Arches National Park. It was so beautiful. That arch is called Delicate Arch and it was a 3 mile hike(round trip). It was so windy and pretty chilly, but when we made it to the top and saw the view it was so worth it!

Little Miss Smarty Pants!

Our lil' M has become a little smarty pants! I have been renting these dvd's from our library called Signing Time. They are awesome! They teach sign language to children and Maddie just loves them. She has started signing 2 new signs each day. She's starting to sign so much, I'm even getting confused! A couple weeks ago she started signing to me when she had a dirty diaper. Ster was super excited and thought we could stop buying diapers. I laughed!

So tonight she started signing something that was either cheese or cookie. I started with the healthier of the two, but that wasn't it. She wanted a cookie. It was so cute how excited she got when we figured out what she really wanted. This was the first time she signed cookie.


I thought I would throw this picture in. This is Maddie's blessing dress. I can not believe it still fits her!