The Freeman Family

Madalyn Turns 4!

2011-04-09T19:52:00.011-06:00

Almost a year behind in posting...instead of catching up on everything we will just start from now. Madalyn turned 4 in February! I can't believe it either. They really do grow so fast. Like every other little girl, and some boys too, Madalyn is obssesed with Tangled and wanted a Rapunzle party this year. So that is what we gave her. Although highly underappreciated by the youngsters, it has been the funnest party yet to plan.

The Invitation...

The Games...
"Tangled" twister

Pin the Hair on Rapunzle

Coloring

And THE CAKE!!! This was my favorite to make :)

Thanks to all of Madalyn's friends for coming and making her birthday lots of fun!!!

Sister...such a LOVE/HATE relationship!

2010-04-23T17:39:00.006-06:00

Although right now we feel the "hate" moments are more often than the "love" ones, we're hoping one day it will be the other way around. If we could only get our 3 year old to share better, we could very well be on our way!
Deep down out girls really love eachother, and here are a few moments to prove it.

This is one of their favorite games.

"Peekabo, I found you!"

Don't ask, we didn't. :)

Cute PJs from Grandma. Either Madalyn is trying to help Layna dance, or help bring her to the floor. Hopefully the first.

What would I have done if Layna was a boy? These cute matching outfits wouldn't have been so cute then.

Our baby turns 1!

2010-04-23T16:43:00.006-06:00

On March 28th Layna Sage turned 1...I know, it was awhile ago. After the fiasco of Madalyn's party we were nervous to do anything, but you have to do something for their first!
Layna's favorite gift was her wagon..along with everyone else! Too bad they don't make those things bigger. :)

Layna and her cousin Samuel. And yes, Samuel is 2 months younger than Layna, he is a BIG boy! At least it's not the girl bigger than the boy I guess huh?

Layna thinking about whether it is ok to eat this cupcake. It didn't take her long though to decide it was.
"Do I dare?"

"This stuff is good"

"Ok, who has more?!"

At 1 Layna is cuter than ever, minus the really awkard my hair isn't growing even stage. Having been walking for months now, she now runs everywhere and won't sit still. She has more energy than all three of us. She now sleeps GREAT! No joke, about the night of her 1st she started sleeping all through the night. :) Something about my children...they just won't do it until they are one. Layna loves playing with Madalyn's babies and pushing anything in the little stroller. It's so cute, she takes it all around the house. Layna knows two things very well right not, signs for "eat" and "more" and pretty much wants both of those ALL day. At least she has an appetite right! We are so glad Layna is in our family, she adds so much to it. Happy Birthday little girl!

Madalyn Turns 3!

2010-04-17T17:13:00.006-06:00

Although it was months ago...it's never too late to make a late-entry right?! Madalyn turned 3 in February. Her birthday, well like all birthdays we throw here turned out BAD! The party itself, not so bad...the couple days/week after..HORRIBLE! Layna had gotten sick the night before her party, but didn't think it would be much of anything contagious, well by Sunday night/Monday morning maybe 3/4th of people there were sick throwing up and yucky diarrhea! WHooeeeeh! We passed it around everyone in our house for about a week, never in my life have I done so much laundry and been grossed out so many times. I don't think we had truely experienced parenthood until that whole experience. :)
Anyway, Madalyn had a lot of fun and we are glad the pinata was a little better hit this year than last!

I had a lot of fun making Madalyn's cake. Can you tell her birthday is near Valentines? :)

Madalyn loved her vanity from Grandma Freeman...I'm afraid she is very much a girlie girl.

This was us three sister-in-laws last year at Madalyn's birthday. Gotta love pregnancy!

And this was the three of us this year at Madalyn's birthday. Smaller bellies...bigger babies!!!

Layna Walking!!!

2010-02-04T08:52:00.003-07:00

A couple weeks ago Layna started taking her first steps. It was hilarious. She thought she was SO cool. :) She was so excited at first that she could never really quite get her balance becuase she would basically start out running. It only took a could days and now she thinks she can walk anywhere. Still not quite a pro, but she's doing it. Already?! If only we could get her to conquer the stairs now then we wouldn't have to chase her all around the house.

She just had to keep up with her cousin Brylee! :)
Layna also got her first tooth that same week. BLAH!

Christmas in...

2010-01-06T17:22:00.013-07:00

This year we spent Chrismas Eve and Christmas morning with Erik's family and then flew out Christmas night to Colorado to spend the rest of the week with my family.
I'm pretty sure Madalyn thought Christmas would never end because of how many times she got to open presents at different houses. For having both our families in different states, we were pretty lucky to be able to spend Christmas with both of them!
Here's all the Freeman grandkids on Christmas eve. Hey, we do the best we can right? No picture with lots of kids is perfect. :)

I love this picture! Layna sure loves her tongue.

The kids on Christmas morning. Although Layna was up early, Erik and I couldn't wait any longer and around 8:30 we woke Madalyn up. I'm sure one day we'll be wishing she would sleep in longer Christmas morning. :)

Amanda's "friend" Tucker sent these soccer jerseys from Argentina to Amanda and all the kids. Apparantly Layna wasn't all excited about them, I was though. Where was mine? :)

Christmas at my parent's "house" was a little different this year...to say the least. They sold their house and so we spent one last night in it and then helped them move the next day. Until they find the home of their dreams they are staying in a condo and so we joined them there for the remainder of our break. Good thing is that it doesn't matter where we are, we still love spending time with my family!
Madalyn and Kambria had a lot of fun together. They both got princess dress-up clothes, which was a chore in itself everytime we had to take it off Madalyn. She would sleep, eat, bathe in that dress if we let her.
Here they are both looking in the mirror. SO cute!

Even Weston and Layna had fun playing together. I think Weston really enjoyed having someone younger then him around.

My little Layna, She thinks she is so big!
Look Mom! No hands!

We took the girls bowling. Minus a few dramatic episodes as to whose turn it was, the girls loved it. Sad to say that both of them actually got higher scores than some of the adults. Oops.

Madalyn's Preschool Pictures

2009-12-02T14:51:00.004-07:00

Madalyn's Preschool class! Yes, all girls...the year did start out with a boy but now it's full of girls. Madalyn absolutly loves preschool. Good thing since I started her early :)

The photographer was nice enough to take some individual pictures of the girls too. These are a few of Madalyn.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T11:43:00.010-07:00

Carving Pumpkins! Always so much fun. In the past Erik makes it his goal to find the weirdest/ugliest pumpkin out there to carve. This year he found white pumpkins. I've never seen white ones before. I will say this was one of his better looking pumpkins for sure. Madalyn ended up just helping dig out our pumpkins because her pumpkin was as hard as rock. It took Erik forever just to cut out the top of her pumpkin so we decided for our own safety to not carve hers. All she cared about was digging out all the seeds and "yuckies" anyway.

This year I decided we were all going to be Super Heroes!!! Madalyn has been wanting a super hero cape for awhile now, so I thought why not just make us all one and be them for Halloween. Madalyn loved it! And her and Layna were so cute in them. Now Erik and I on the other hand...:) Well the pictures explain it all.

Who looks best with the hair?????

Cornbelly's Corn Maze

2009-11-02T11:16:00.005-07:00

Awhile back in October we went to Cornbelly's Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point. Thanks to my sister-in-law Gretchen we got a great deal, otherwise us cheepos would probably have never gone. :) We all had a lot of fun, however we made the mistake by doing the corn maze last so Madalyn was tired and hungry, and both Erik and I were getting frustrated that we couldn't find our stupid way out of the maze. We should have gone through the maze first I guess.
Madalyn loved the princess corner. They let them dress up in any princess outfit they could find. Madalyn could have stayed there all day if we let her.

They had a lot of fun things to play on and what not. Even Layna was having fun:)

The best part were the huge jumping pillows. Erik and I want one in our backyard!

What are mosquitos good for?....ABSOLUTLY NOTHING!

2009-09-17T16:39:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday night Madalyn's eye started to puff up a little, I didn't think too much of it, gave her some Benadryl and sent her off to bed. The next morning she wakes up to this....

We weren't quite sure what it was, there wasn't any drainage and it didn't hurt her, so I wasn't too worried, but then she woke up the next morning and it hadn't gone down at all. That's when I decided to take her to the doctor. Low and behold he tells me it's just a mosquito bite. WHAT?! That's one NASTY mosquito bite. It's now gone completly down and she looks normal now, but I tell you, we felt so bad for her those couple days. She kept calling herself quasemodo, Erik called her cyclops...it was sad. She would sit in front of the mirror and just look at herself like what the heck is wrong with me. She kept asking me why her eye wouldn't open. "It's just too heavy Mommy" is what she would tell me. Poor thing! At least she was still happy and acting life herself, it must have not bugged her too much.

What happened to my little girl?

2009-09-17T16:19:00.002-06:00

Madalyn started preschool a couple weeks ago. She absolutly LOVES it. She asked everyday for like two weeks before it started when she got to go to preschool. This is her on her first day...they grow up way too fast I tell you.

Thanksgiving Point Discovery Garden

2009-09-16T16:40:00.000-06:00

Erik and I took the kids back to the Discovery Garden a couple days later. Madalyn loved it. They have dons of really creative things for kids to do and walk through.
There was the Bear Cave! Madalyn thought this was a real bear at first and didn't want to get up on him. :)

Climbing up the light house. I couldn't believe Erik made it up there...it was VERY small!

Can you find her?

We feed the fishies.

Madalyn played us some "lovely" music.

And the most favorite part of the whole gardens...Noah's Ark! It had water everywhere that the kids can play in. Even Layna had fun in it. :)

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

2009-09-16T16:21:00.008-06:00

When my Mom was here a couple weeks ago we took a trip to The Thanksgiving Point Gardens in hopes to get some landscaping ideas for all our flower beds. Needless to say I now have outrageous ideas that I'm afraid will never come about. I guess things always start with a vision, maybe I'll just hire their landscaping crew to finish mine! :) Yeah right! Here are some pics of their beautiful flowers...
These flowers were really cool, neither my Mom nor I had ever seen anything like them.

Madalyn was so funny, she kept naming everything in the gardens. These stairs were "Hercuele's Stairs", I'm guessing from the pillars at the top.

These were Cinderella's stairs...

And this was Ariel's rock...

FINALLY! We have GRASS!

2009-09-14T18:30:00.008-06:00

It has been an ALL summer project getting our yard in, and well it won't be for many many years I believe until it is at the point I envision it, but at least we now have grass. At the beginning of the summer Erik decided he wanted to do the sprinklers himself so he could learn how to do them, I agreed as long as they were done by July 4th. HA! We weren't even close.
This is Erik diggin the trenches...you wouldn't think but Erik was terrified of this machine. He kept picturing hitting some electrical or water line or that the thing would just take off and dig right through our house. :)

It was really hard to keep Madalyn out of the trenches and out of the mud and dirt. Let's just say she had multiple baths a day for quite awhile.

After ALL summer the sprinklers were finally done. What a job! Let's hope we never have to do that again. Then came the top soil...this was a job that definitly seemed easier than it actually was.

Madalyn especially had fun helping with this. She even got her shovel out and helped put dirt in the wheelbarrow. However that only lasted until she found how fun it was to climb all over the dirt mounds instead. :)

The next and most exciting step...SOD laying. We had the sod delivered on a Friday evening and within a couple hours after it being in our yard, a bunch of our neighbors were over ready to help. It was AWESOME! We were planning on just getting a head start Friday night and then doing most of the work on Saturday when my Dad and some other people could be here to help, but with all the help that came we were completly done by that night. It was amazing. We have an awesome neighborhood that is for sure! Thanks everyone!

...Cousins...

2009-07-13T09:26:00.004-06:00

Kristeen was in town this weekend with Brylee so we got all the cousins together for the first time since little Samuel was born. Needless to say dinner at Bjorg's is getting more crazy every week! It was fun to see them all together. Brylee (left) Layna (right).. they are about a month apart, Brylee being older.

Who's going to get who first?

Ava is the best older cousin too...you can tell she likes her little girl cousins a lot. Even Madalyn has grown quite attached to her. We left that night with a kicking and screaming Madalyn because she didn't want to leave Ava. So sad! :(

All the girls!

The three little ones

Thought these were cute!

2009-07-13T09:19:00.003-06:00

Time to go night night!

Let's go running. I've been running a lot with the kids and Madalyn has decided that she can't leave without her glasses. And yes, I've tried to correct her multiple times in saying that they are upside down, but she insists that is they way they go. Whatever works.

It may not look like Layna is enjoying herself, but as long as she is feed, she usually really likes the sroller rides.

Happy Independance Day!

2009-07-13T09:03:00.004-06:00

We began our 4th of July this year by attending the Parade. The kids liked it because of the candy and toys they got, the little girls liked it because of the "princesses" in it, and Erik liked it because he was sitting in shade. :) Erik and Allen weren't invited in this picutre because they were too cool to dress festive for the day...it was really hard to get a picutre with all kids looking, out of many taken I'm sorry but this was the best.

Our favortie part of the parade were these jeeps. It's kind of hard to tell exactly what they are doing from this picture, but one jeep would stop in the middle and then the four jeeps around it would all ride up onto one of the center jeep's tires. Everytime they did it it looked like they were all going to tip over, but it was pretty cool.

Later that afternoon we had them all over to our house. We went swimming first, had a BBQ and then watched the Thanksgiving Point Fireworks from our neighborhood.
Thanks to Allen and Gretchen these glow sticks were a life saver for the kids. Waiting around until 10 at night for fireworks with a bunch of tired kids isn't always the best experience. :) But these glow sticks kept them all very happy, until the fireworks came on and then they all wanted to go home. KIDS! They are so funny. They all couldn't wait for them to start, and then after about two of them they all want them to end and are begging to go home. :)

Our girls!

2009-07-06T10:49:00.003-06:00

We love our neighborhood pool!

Oh no!

2009-07-05T20:50:00.003-06:00

The other day Madalyn really wanted to put Layna in her dolly stroller and take her for a "walk". So just for kicks and giggles I put her in it for Madalyn...however I didn't let her push her more than a few inches. The last thing I wanted was an injured 3 month old.
Layna did look pretty adorable in the stroller though. It was JUST HER SIZE!

Cute Moments

2009-06-11T11:20:00.005-06:00

The other day Madalyn found a bird stuck in our window well. She wouldn't leave it alone because she was so worried that it couldn't fly. I asked her what the bird was doing and she told me, "The birdie came to visit Madalyn." I then asked her what the bird's name was and she replied, "Birdie Freeman"! So cute! Later that afternoon she helped Daddy free the birdie. Although Madalyn was really excited to finally have the "birdie out", unfortunatly I think it must have been injured because it still didn't fly away even out of the window well.
Madalyn watched this Bird for hours...

Finally Daddy got home and "freed" the birdie...

Madalyn was eating a popsicle and I made her sit at the table and waer a bib and so when Erik went and got a popsicle also, of course Madalyn made him sit at the table and put a bib on also. :)
Good thing Daddy is a good sport!

Girls' Spring Pictures

2009-06-04T09:16:00.004-06:00

Just a few of the pictures we got taken of the girls this Spring.

Planting Flowers with Grandma

2009-05-26T17:06:00.003-06:00

Madalyn "helped" Grandma plant some of her flowers, or just gently placed some dirt on them. Even the littlest help is help right?!

Madalyn really liked Grandma's tree and kept posing by it. I couldn't help but take the pictures. Amanda thought they looked exactly like people's senior pictures...let's hope that time doesn't come for a LONG time!

Memorial Day Weekend -- First Road Trip in the MINIVAN :)

2009-05-26T15:53:00.009-06:00

Erik took Thursday and Friday off of work and we went to Colorado to visit the family. It was our first road trip in our, yes, van! I feel like I am now officially a MOM! As if two children didn't already make me one. :) It was great, we had more room than to know what to do with and the best part...we could go up those nasty hills on I-80 in the FAST lane! May sound stupid, but both our previous cars let's just say don't have the best power. Sometimes we felt like we could get out and walk up the hill faster. Not anymore man! I even caught Erik saying "I love this van"!

We always love going to visit family in Colorado. And although the weather wasn't as clear and warm as we may have liked, we managed to have a lot of fun anyway. We went to a couple movies, one of which Madalyn and Kambria even came for. We took them to Monsters vs Aliens in 3D. It was hilarious to see them both sitting there with those humango glasses on.

We spent one afternoon at the "Jumpin'" park. This was a blast, both Eliza and I decided we need a place like this in our basements. Madalyn and Kambria could have played here for days. Even us adults got some pretty good free entertainment out of it.

We took a trip to the farm with the kids. Their favorite part was feeding the goats. Those animals are PUSHY and disgusting to feed. They lick the food right out of your hands and leave the thickest, most disgusting film of slim on your hand. But the girls thought it was pretty cool. Let's just say it is a good thing we had hand sanitizer or I would have gone crazy.

Madalyn and Kambria had fun playing dress-up with eachother. Here's a couple of their choice outfits. :)

All three of them were watching the rain outside wishing they had an umbrella.

Layna's Baby Blessing

2009-05-05T14:27:00.007-06:00

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to bless Layna. It turned out to be a great day. Our cousins Jared and Katie happened to bless their little boy that same morning so we had a full day of family, fun, and lots of FOOD! My whole family was able to make it minus Amanda, poor thing was too busy soaking up the sun in Mexico...lets just hope she doesn't bring home some nasty pig infestation...and all but Kristeen and DJ in Erik's family made it too. We just wish it hadn't rained so much that weekend. Kind of makes it harder to do things with little kids in that weather. We did make our presence at the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point which was WAY cooler than I thought it would be. That garden is amazing there. As Erik and I are trying to figure out what to do with our landscaping right now we have now decided that we will visit that garden frequently and if by chance a few flowers or patches of grass happen to fall into our stroller on the way out we can't do much about it. :) If money wasn't an issue, I would definilty hire their landscaper to come and do our yard. It was absolutly beautiful.

Cousins! Berkley, Madalyn, and Kambria just hangin' out at Katie and Jared's blessing brunch. At least one of the girls knows how to smile. :)

Grandma with two of her three grandaughters. Madalyn had a lot of fun with Kambria this weekend...it made me excited for Layna and Madalyn to be able to play together like that one day.

The Fairbanks Fam!

The Freeman Fam!

They grow up TOO fast!

2009-04-26T12:20:00.006-06:00

I can't believe Layna is already 4 weeks old. It goes by fast! I think it goes by even faster when I know that I have to go back to work in a couple weeks. BLAH!
Here's a few pics of Layna and Madalyn...

"A BABY! She's so cuuute!" This is what Madalyn says everytime she sees Layna.

This is typical of Layna, she's ALWAYS wanting to eat. And if it's not milk, it's something else.

Sisters!

Madalyn is ready to take her baby for a ride.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-04-26T12:05:00.004-06:00

32! I can't believe I am married to a 32 year-old man! I still think of my parents being that age. :) Life goes by way too fast. We celebrated Erik's birthday last monday. It was pretty low-key. Just our little family. Erik spent most of the day fixing his car. Let me tell you, it's not fun when you're down to only one car and that one won't start. AAH! Thankfully it was only a bad battery. We then got some Cafe Rio, Erik's Fav, and took it to the park to eat. Layna screamed the whole time, and Madalyn, being a great older sister, felt it necessary to make Layna feel better by screaming louder than her. Whatever?! I'm grateful Erik is very easy to please. :)

Of course Madalyn had to blow the candles out, not Erik.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T12:29:00.006-06:00

Madalyn had a lot of fun this year finding her easter eggs. She would find one and then walk around saying "Where is an egg? Ummm" and she'd put her pointer finger up to her face like she was thinking real hard where the eggs were hidden. It was real cute. Dad didn't want Madalyn to have all her candy at once, so he would take the candy and hide it right after she opened her egg. I think this will be the only easter that she will "willingly" give up her candy. Maybe next year we'll just put something different in the eggs so we won't have to fight her for it. :)

Madalyn loved her Easter Dress the most I think. She sure is a girl! Sorry Daddy. :)

The wonderful egg dying tradition. We tried a little "advanced" egg dying kit with glitter...and basically we should have just stuck with the basic colors. It didn't work all that great. Madalyn thought they were "very pretty" though.

Miss Layna Sage

2009-03-31T20:12:00.007-06:00

HURRAY!!! I'm Here!!!

We are very excited to welcome our newest little girl, Layna Sage, into our family. She was born Saturday, March 28th at 6:39 pm. Really, she came at the PERFECT time. I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, but thankfully she decided to come sooner. I worked all night Friday, came home and slept until about 2 in the afternoon when contractions woke me up. I didn't think much of them at first, just got ready to go into work that night until about 4 I decided that maybe, just maybe, something a little more was happening. We finally decided it was best to go and get checked, see if this was the real thing or not. It was on the car ride from Lehi to Orem when the contractions were really starting to hurt. Anway, we got to the hospital and I was already at an 8!! All I could think was hurry and get my epidural in because I'm NOT doing this without it! They barely got my epidural in when just minutes later Layna was born. We couldn't believe how fast everything went. We were at the hospital at 5 and she was born at 6:39 pm. It was amazing.
Since Madalyn was 6lbs at 36 weeks I was worried that Layna would be a big baby but she was only 6lbs 3oz, and 19" long. Another adorable little peanut. :)
Before...

After...

Madalyn does really well with Layna. And thankfully she doesn't get jealous when Mommy holds the baby, at least not yet.

OUR NEW HOME!

2009-03-07T18:46:00.011-07:00

Finally after two weeks of being moved in I get around to puting pictures up of our new purchase! We decided in January that we would take advantage of the housing market and start seriously looking for a home. We fell upon this house just shortly after that and seems it was meant to be our house because everything fell in to place for us with it. We feel in love with the house after seeing the inside, but didn't get our hopes up feeling that it was out of our range. But one surprise after another and here we are...living in our dream home. Erik and I aren't quite sure if we're on vacation or what. Slowly though it is starting to feel like OUR home. We really feel we were blessed with this house and grateful that everything turned out so well renting out our duplex. I don't think we'll ever be able to probably pay back all those who helped us make this our home. THANKS!!
About the house, we now live in Lehi. Yes, hick-ville to those native Utahns. Erik NEVER thought he'd end up living in Lehi. :) We think we're really going to like the neighborhood though. It seems like Madalyn already has a friend at each neighbor we meet, hence the Elementary school they're building not a few blocks away. Erik's favorite part is that his commute is now cut in half, which I can understand. We still have a few kinks to work out, like our neighbors open our garage with their door opener and the fire alarms go off everytime I shower, aparantly I shower too long!...but what can you do?
The kitchen...my favorite part of the house!

Don't Ask!

2009-03-05T16:10:00.002-07:00

The other morning I go to find Madalyn to get her dressed and this is how I find her. Apparantly she thought she could find something better to wear in Mommy and Daddy's closet than in her own. Let's just hope there isn't a day that Madalyn demands to dress her self! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Madalyn!

2009-03-04T19:21:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Madalyn's 2nd birthday the other night. We were lucky to have all family members from both sides there except Bryan and Eliza and their family. Madalyn would have loved to have Kambria there I'm sure! Carter and Berkley were also able to join in the fun with us. Of course Madalyn wanted to open her presents the second they walked in the door. We were able to hold off on most of them, except the ones that Max started opening the second he walked in the door. Like every little kid, Madalyn ended up doing very well this birthday.

In our intentions of throwing a great party for Madalyn we included a pinata on the agenda. How can you go wrong with a pinata? Apparantly we did...for some reason the pinata made all the kids cry. And not because they were fighting over who got to hit it, but no one wanted to hit it. WHAT?! Madalyn and Berkley were the only two who really wanted to hit it. And although they may have been the bravest there...they don't exactly have the strength to do much damage. EVENTUALLY.....the pinata broke and all was well with the kids.

And finally the cake! Every kids favorite part! Being the princess that our daughter is, Madalyn wouldn't eat her cupcake with her hands. Instead she just stuck her head down into her cupcake and ate with no hands. Whatever! :) As long as she enjoyed it that's all that counts.

Daddy's "Boo-Boo"!

2009-02-09T10:00:00.002-07:00

Being the great husband he is, Erik was replacing all the doorknobs and dead bolts in our duplex since the people who put them in before were very lazy and didn't even make sure the doors shut probably. LOSERS! He had to chizle away part of the door in order for one to fit and leave it to Erik and the month of February (Every February Erik ends up with a trip to the hospital...broken hand, broken back, birth of Madalyn:)...he chizles his thumb instead. It was deep enough to see the bone so a trip to the InstaCare and Erik returns with three stiches. I'll take that trip to the hospital over a broken back any day! It was really cute because Madalyn has been so worried about his "boo boo" ever since. Does she have her mother's nursing jeans?

The Kangaroo Zoo!

2009-02-09T09:47:00.003-07:00

Erik and I took Madalyn to what is called "The Kangaroo Zoo" on Saturday. It is the PERFECT place for kids to play, especially in the winter when running around outside just isn't possible. It has about a dozen of those huge blow-up slides and jumping things. Madalyn loved it and didn't ever want to leave. Erik and I had to admit, it was pretty fun for us also...needless to say we didn't always pay attention to the weight limits on the rides. Oops! :)

I've decided we're coming back here when I'm ready to go into labor!

Dress up...

2009-01-18T13:35:00.003-07:00

Madalyn was having fun playing dress up the other day. First she put on Aunt Amanda's shoes and scarf...

BEAUTIFUL! And amazingly, she could actually walk a little ways in those shoes.

This next attire is Grandma's doing, need I say more?! :)

Snow Day

2009-01-18T13:16:00.006-07:00

We were so lucky to have Grandma Fairbanks come and stay with us again! We love it when she's here, especially me...I told Erik I'm going to need a nanny now after having extra hands during the day for so long. And baby number two hasn't even added to the complication yet. Am I in trouble or what? :) The first week she was here it just snowed and snowed and snowed! Madalyn was very excited to be able to go out and play in the snow since Colorado didn't have any over Christmas.

Are you sure I can walk in this Mommy?

I CAN'T!!

Madalyn was able to walk okay outside though. It was pretty funny watching her try inside though.

Madalyn, Madalyn, more Madalyn!

2009-01-01T21:15:00.002-07:00

Here are a few pics of Madalyn in one of her Christmas dresses. We think she's adorable. :)

Christmas at the Fairbanks'

2009-01-01T20:18:00.010-07:00

We spent about two weeks in Fort Collins at my family's house this Christmas. It was very nice to be able to have so much time off. I love Christmas at my house! And I'm very lucky that my husband enjoys being at my family's house also, or else it would have been a horrible couple weeks for him. The only down side was Fort Collins got a total of NO snow while we were there. There were even a couple days that got into the 60s. WHAT?! Crazy huh. Definitly not typical December whether in Colorado.
Even though much of the time when Kambria and Madalyn are playing is spent being policemen, I believe they really do like playing with eachother. Especially when it gets close to their bedtime. Funny, but they got along better at that time then any other. We've only been home a day now and Madalyn already asks where Kambria is.
One of their favorite things to do was "rock" eachother in baby Weston's chair. It was hilarious comparing the difference in how each of them rocked eachother. Madalyn, on the hand, gently rocked Kambria while Kambria pushed that thing up and down so fast.

We spent one night at Bryan and Eliza's new place, had dinner and decorated sugar cookies. Kambria and Madlayn even had their own table...Madalyn really is happy in this picture, I swear! :)

We took one night and acted out the Nativity with the whole family and Jacqueline's mom. We had a couple of uncooperative cast members, namely the little ones, and so Mary and Joseph, which was played by Erik and I magically had a 2 year old little girl while in the stable with baby Jesus. :) As we've found out though from our infamous Nativity Scene of about 15 years ago, the disfunctional ones are the funniest.

Madalyn found a new hobby at Grandma's house...PLAYDOH! She loves making birthday cakes and then blowing out the candles.

Christmas Eve we tried to watch the Polar Express 3D, but either people couldn't see the 3D or else the glasses gave them a headache. Otherwise it was "pretty cool" :) Or at least we all looked real cool in our glasses.

Madalyn's favorite gift Christmas morning was the one from Grandma and Grandpa...a new DOLLHOUSE!! She loves it!

Trip to Colorado

2009-01-01T19:39:00.004-07:00

Our trip to Colorado for Christmas was quite the adventure. We were supposed to leave Friday night, but ALL day Friday it decided to snow!!! Wonderful! Erik got out of school early and started driving home when he called us saying it had taken him over an hour to get to Lehi from his school in Salt Lake so Amanda, Madalyn, and I decided to start driving and we'd just meet him in Salt Lake. After a couple hours of driving no more than 15 miles an hour we arrive at the airport, check in...flight still on time. All right! Make it through security, arrive at our gate to find that our flight had been cancelled. SWEET! Apparantly the plane we were supposed to fly on wasn't coming to Salt Lake anymore due to storms other places and so out of the 4 or 5 flights going to Denver that night...ours got cancelled. We stuck around for a few hours to see if we could get on standby and NOTHING! Instead of sleeping in the airport, with a two year old we figured it wouldn't be the best thing, we decided to go to the airport hotels and spend the night so we could try and get an early flight out in the morning.
We get to the hotel, get a room, and continue on our journey to find it. After searching what felt like EVERYWHERE we decide they gave us a room that doesn't even exist. Could our luck be any better? :) Finally we find that our room is in the high rise located, no joke, about a mile towards the back of the hotel. To top it off we chose the one hotel, out of all the airport hotels, that doesn't offer a complimentary breakfast. And we were already starving when we got there at night. Amanda and I finally found a vending machine that curbed our appetite for the time being, or at least made us feel yucky enough that we didn't want to eat.
So this is Amanda and Madalyn making eachother comfortable in bed and chowing down on good quality vending food.

Madalyn just slept in the bed with Erik and I, and although it took her awhile to fall asleep I think once she did she slept pretty well. At least she had the room she needed...by morning she had kicked me out of bed and made Erik move all the way to the bottom. This is how we found her that morning.

We got up early and went to the airport in hopes that we could go standby on an early flight. There was a 1000 flight that they could put us on standby...until they found that they had no record that we had checked any bags, when we each had checked one. So the flight guy didn't want to put us on standby when he didn't know where our luggage was, and plus the flight was already overbooked. Wonderful. So a couple minutes before the flight they decide to let us on in hopes that our bags are already in Denver...and because a connecting flight wasn't going to make it on time so some seats opened.
Finally we make it to Denver just hoping that we might have some luggage there or at least be able to find out where it is. We walk around to baggage claim and much to our surprise find all three of our bags just sitting there waiting for us. It was AWESOME! It was the perfect ending to such an unlucky trip. In the end I emptied about 20 or so boarding tickets that we collected throughout our trip. I believe Amanda has now officially decided that she hates flying. It could have been worse though.

Early Christmas

2009-01-01T19:19:00.006-07:00

We celebrated Christmas with our own family a little early because we were flying to Colorado for Christmas and didn't want to bring all our gifts with us on the plane. Madalyn is still young enough that she was okay with Santa coming twice...at least she didn't notice that he did. :)
Although Madalyn wanted to open every single present by herself, we had to help her a little or else we would have been there forever. She's so delicate with the wraping paper, it's hilarious.
These are our stockings before Santa came obviously. Erik is still learning about stockings with my family. Stockings has always been my favorite part of Christmas morning.

Madalyn apparantly likes stocking gifts as much as I do.

Her favorite gift from Mom and Dad was her new baby doll and play set. We got her it thinking it would help her get ready for a new baby in this house. Now we're just worried that she's going to want to put her new baby sister in her baby doll stroller and push her around the house. :)

Turkey Day!

2008-12-04T13:32:00.006-07:00

This Thanksgiving was very relaxing. We ended up staying here in Utah the whole time and I didn't even have to work the whole weekend. It was great. Erik and I, thanks to our daughter, even slept in most of the mornings. That's what vacations are for right?! We spent Thanksgiving day at Erik's Mom's house. Their whole family was there except DJ and Kristeen. Gretchen and I decided that we need to add to Grandma Freeman's toy collection. These kids just don't stay entertained as long anymore and so the cats become their toys which leads to scratching and crying and no fun. We still can't believe that come next summer the grandkids running around at Grandma's house on Sundays will be double! Well, okay so three little ones one't necessarily be running around quite yet, but Grandma's house is going to start getting quite full. These are the three grandkids right now.
Max, Ava, and Madalyn.

Ava definitly has a Freeman thermostat in her, Gretchen says she's constantly complaining that she's hot...hence the tank top in winter. :)

The day after Thanksgiving we did one of my favorite things...set up our Christmas stuff and decorate the tree. If people wouldn't call me crazy I'd probably set up our stuff before Christmas. I love Christmas decorations and just Christmas season in general. The one thing I don't like thoough is cold weather. My opinion is if it's going to be cold outside there might as well be snow, otherwise what is the cold good for?! Absolutly NOTHING! We havn't had much of any snow yet here, which Erik is very grateful for in that he has to commute to work, but as for Madalyn and I, we're anxiously waiting for snow.
Madalyn was hilarious when we were setting up our Christmas stuff. She thought we were setting up a bunch of new toys all around the house for her. She quikcly found out the toys didn't play nice when she pulled the stocking holder down from the fireplace right on her little nose. She now has a little "booboo" as she calls it. The good thing is she hasn't messed with the stockings since. As for the tree, the bottom half is basically empty so Madalyn can't go to town with the ornaments, but she's found she likes to lay underneath the tree and play with all the lights. I'm okay with that. :) Thanks to Grandma Fairbanks she now has her own Little People Nativity Set that she CAN play with. Thanks Grandma, now us parents aren't SO mean.

This is Madalyn helping "clean" the tree. Apparantly she thought it was dirty.

Madalyn helping decorate the tree. She really wanted her purse on it for some reason.

It's ANOTHER GIRL!!!

2008-11-18T09:59:00.005-07:00

Yes, we are having another little girl. I tell you, all the schemes about boys make you sicker, girls make you sicker, twins make you even sicker is HOOPLA!!! They're all just scams. I was tons sicker this time than I was with Madalyn...and what do you know, they're both GIRLS!! My theory is it's different for every women, it's different for every baby, plain and simple! Anyway, we were kind of hoping for a boy, Erik in that he wanted his little football player, and me, well honestly I wanted to be sure that we had one of each this time since I was so sick at first being pregnant again sometime just didn't sound like much fun to me. Of course with time us women forget the horrible parts of pregnancy and I'm sure I'll gladly try again sometime. :) Even still, we're excited for a girl and the better part is she'll be born about the same time as Madalyn so I'm hoping she can wear most all of Madalyn's old clothes. A plus for sure!

Apparantly this is how she deciphered we were having a girl. Don't ask me! :)

This is her little foot stikcing out. Can you count all 5 toes?!

Everything looked great in the ultrasound, she's right on schedule and everything. It still amazes me how they can decipher what parts of the ultrasound are. I mean I can point out the main parts like the head, some feet or hands, but it amazes me how they're able to find the stomach, kidneys, things like that so easily. I just nod my head and say, "oh yea, looks good!" Erik wasn't able to make it to the ultrasound, :( and I wanted us to be able to find out together what we were having so I had the lady put a pair of socks, pink or blue, depending whether it was a boy or girl, in a box for us and we would open it up together. I tell you, it was pretty hard not to peek in that box all afternoon waiting for Erik to come home. I'm proud to say that I didn't though.

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

2008-11-02T19:10:00.007-07:00

Our Halloween festivities started at our Ward Halloween party last weekend. The best part was trunk-or-treating even though Madalyn had no clue what was going on. The first couple trunks we went to she kept looking at me like "What the heck are we doing Mom, stealing candy from people's cars? This is crazy!" After awhile she could have cared less how we were getting it, all she cared about was the candy. I think we're going to have ourselves a little girl with a HUGE sweet tooth. I had to hide all the candy so she would stop asking for it. Thankfully her Aunt Amanda came over and ate ALL of it! Freshman. They are such mooches. :)

For Family night last Monday we had Scott, Jacqueline and Amanda over to carve pumpkins. I'd say between all of our pumpkins, it was quite a toss up who's was the best.

Madalyn had a blast cleaning out the pumpkins. She thought the stringy stuff in the middle was pretty cool.

On the other hand, Amanda...well let's just say, I think this was her first time carving a pumpkin. She really needs to get out more. :)

Then of course we had to go trick-or-treating with Madalyn. The best part about kids is that you get to start doing little kids things all over again! It's GREAT! However, trick-or-treating isn't quite what it used to be when I was a kid. I remember leaving at 5 or 6 and not stopping till 10 or 11. Now people who go past 8 are looked at funny. Madalyn knew what she was doing this time and loved it. There was one house that the guy who answered it was wearing a mask and scared all the kids. Madalyn just started screaming. It was really pretty funny. Madalyn dressed up as Cinderella this year. "Lella" to her. She loved the dress. She would just stand in front of the mirror and stare at herself. She's definitly a girl! Sorry Daddy. :)

We went trick-or-treating with Carter and Berkley. Carter was T-rex and Berkley was a fairy. All three of them were so cute. However, it was pretty hard to get a good picture of all of them. Whoever thought little children would stand still when they know candy is within reach is crazy.
Sorry the pictures aren't the best quality. Until we get a new camera we're using our video camera, and obviously it doesn't take the best still shots.

WHHAAATTT????!!!!

2008-11-02T18:50:00.002-07:00

I know, I know! It's been awhile! I could think of a million excuses as to why I have failed keeping up to date with my blogging, such as our camera broke in California- and what is a blog without pictures?...or that I've been too busy working and taking care of a little stinker to think about blogging...but that's what those all are...EXCUSES! The real reason is that all my extra time has either been spent sleeping or staring at the bottom of the toilet! Sound like fun? NO! Yes, the rumor is true. We are expecting our second child. And I can officially tell you that I am excited. For those who have known since the beginning, that's huge for me. This pregnancy was nonetheless, an "accident". As Erik says, He tripped, fell over, and wha-la, his wife is pregnant. :) I was really sick at the beginning and so with not being mentally prepared to be pregnant, not exactly wanting to throw-up 2 or 3 times a day, and self-ish maybe, but not looking forward to the instant weight gain...I was having a hard time being excited about having another child. But now that I'm about 18 weeks and feeling much better, I'm very excited. I have this feeling that 9 months is going to be WAY too long though, I'm already getting uncomfortable. YUCK!

This is the first ultrasound of our little baby. It was taken at about 13 weeks. It's still amazing to me how soon they look like little babies. That little stinker's no bigger than a peanut there, yet you can tell exactly what it is. Simply a work of art! We find out in a couple of weeks what we're having. To be honest, I think we're both hoping for a boy, just so we know we have one of each..but we'll love it no matter what.

Two of my sister-in-laws on Erik's side both pregnant also, so that will be really fun to have three little cousins all the same age. Kristeen is due about three weeks before me in March, and then Gretchen is due in June. I'm sure all the guys are going to get so sick of us when we're all together cause all we talk about is pregnant junk. Sorry!

C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A

2008-08-23T11:16:00.014-06:00

My family and us (minus Bryan and Eliza, they were busy having a child!) all took a trip to San Diego the other week. We stayed in a Beach House in La Jolla area. It was so much fun. We definitley didn't want to leave. The house we stayed in was just a couple blocks away from the beach and it had just enough room for all of us.

Boogy boarding was the favorite on the beach. Even Madalyn got some in! Erik liked body boarding better. Apparantly he's too good for the boards. :)

My poor dad. He tried so hard to catch those waves. :) The good thing is, he didn't end up a failure! We'll say he caught at least one good one! :) Just kidding Dad.
Basically we did the beach thing all day everyday!!! What could be better?! Then at night we'd walk around the shops and stuff.

One of my favorite days was when Grandma and Grandpa took Madalyn to the zoo and Erik and I were able to hang out at the beach by ourselves. Scott, Jacqueline, and Amanda all went to Sea World that day. I loved just hanging out on the beach without having to worry about Madalyn wondering off or anything.
It took Madalyn a couple days to get used to the beach. The first beach we went to had some pretty big waves and I think they scared her a little, and then there was seaweed all over the beach which she would try and walk all around it. It was pretty funny. Towards the end of the week she was walking out to the water by herself and being able to play in the waves with mommy and daddy and enjoy them.

She really liked playing with the sand though. The one good thing about her being a little more causoius at the beach then at the regular pool is she wouldn't go running off by herself. Pretty much she would stay by us and the towels the whole time. Lucky us!

We all got really fried the first day on the beach...apparantly we didn't take into account that being in the sun the WHOLE day would burn us? Who knows! So the next day we took a little more precaution. Hence the turban on Erik's head.

One afternoon we all took a kawayking trip down by La Jolla shores. That was pretty neat. We got to Kawayk along the shore there and go through some caves up against it. We saw quite a bit of animals that trip also. I did however get a little sea sick on the kawayk. What a woose I know. Overall it was a very fun trip and Erik and I are wanting to turn it into a yearly adventure. :)

Who's grateful they WEREN'T a pioneer?!

2008-07-28T13:47:00.003-06:00

In honor of pioneer weekend we thought we'd take a little hike....with Madalyn! We borrowed Erik's brother's backpack to put Madalyn in. We tried to prepare her and put her in it at home a few times and she thought it was pretty cool. Just like the first twentyish minutes of our hike! :) And that was IT for her. She wanted nothing else to do with that backpack. We chose to hike up to Stewart Falls...which shouldn't be that long of a hike...unless of course you are walking with an 17 month girl who stops every foot to smell the flowers, weeds, whatever she can find and to play in the dirt. Needless to say we turned around about a half-hour after she gave up on the backpack and unfortunatly didn't even make it to Stewart Falls. The only thing that kept her happy on the hike down was to let her suck on my camelback. That little girl drank almost the whole thing. At least we didn't have to worry about her getting dehydrated in the heat. :) So after that adventure we've decided we're grateful for the pioneers, but that's it. We don't in the least bit wish we could have ever been one. If we were, I don't think I would have had children, so I'm glad I wasn't.

4th of July Weekend!

2008-07-09T09:12:00.012-06:00

My whole family came to visit for the holiday weekend. Bryan and Eliza were even able to come as they just returned from Chicago the week before. Unfortunatly, Scott and Jacqueline went to Texas for the weekend, so they missed out on all the fun with us. :( It was great to have them here. We had a lot of fun. On the 4th we had a BBQ at Erik's Mom's house. It was fun to see all the kids play together. The biggest hit was Grandma's coffee table in the living room. They all thought it was so much fun to jump off it.

Grandma with her two little granddaughters

Before going to see fireworks we let the girls run through the sprinklers. Although this picture doesn't look like they're having fun. They really did, this was just a brief moment of confusion. :) I really liked the picture though.

That night we went up to Rock Canyon Park to watch the fireworks. We decided they would be a lot cooler to watch from inside the stadium, but it was still fun. And thanks to Meeko, our dog, we collected a few more kids throughout the night. Here's us having some fun while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Can't you tell we all loved getting our picture taken then!

HOW CUTE!!! Despite the occasional fighting, these girls really do love eachother.

Saturday was a fun-filled day. We started our morning off with a nice run up the canyon. That's one of my favorite things to do in summer...run up the canyon...it's so pretty up there and nothing feels better then the feeling after you've gone running. We then took the kids swimming at Scera pool. Bryan and Eliza didn't come. I guess being 8 months pregnant and sitting in the hot hot sun didn't sound all that exciting to Eliza. :) I don't blame her. The girls had a lot of fun. And the slide was by far the greatest hit!

We then took everyone and went up the canyon, built a fire and roasted hot dogs and smores. Although the hot dogs and smores were delicious, the hot fire didn't help cool us down one bit. :) The two girls were so cute, we set them next to eachother in their strollers and let them eat there. Keeping them contained didn't last long though.

Both Madalyn and Kambria found the sand in the volleyball pits. They had a lot of fun in it, but once they found the fountain and then went back to the sand, that's when things got messy. :) Don't we all wish everything was as exciting to us as it is to little kids?!

Overall we had a really fun time. Erik and I love it when my family comes. We always have a great time. We can't wait until we all go to California in August. And of course the little girls love their grandparents.

I guess you could say they love their Aunt Amanda also:)

Madalyn Marie Freeman!

2008-06-20T12:16:00.007-06:00

Picture me saying her name with some sternness...and saying it A LOT! That's all I've seemed to be doing lately. Madalyn is still the biggest sweetheart, but she is getting a little more personality...or maybe an "attitude". :) NO! She's been saying quite a few words for a while now, but just lately she has found that her two favorite words are "NO" and "MINE". Not my little sweetheart I know. She's also started this screaming thing, well more like grawling, when she gets upset and she shakes her fists real hard. It is actually quite funny though and it's hard for Erik and I to not laugh as she does it. She's still cuter than ever though. She is becoming quite the good helper also. I just need to get her some utensils her own size so her help can be a little more productive.

Madalyn still loves playing IN....

ON....

and with anything.

Since all the flowers are out now, Madalyn has found she loves to smell them. She'll rip them out of the ground too if that's what it takes.

Mommy was so proud the other day because I was able to get all of Madalyn's hair up in pigtails! YES! That is quite the accomplishment.

Happy Father's Day?!

2008-06-20T11:55:00.003-06:00

Erik is an awesome husband and a wonderful Dad. Especially since I've started working he has done more then his fair share around the house. I had to work the night before Father's Day and the night of Father's day and also had to go to all three hours of church because the primary was singing in sacrament meeting....and so we celebrated Father's Day that Friday and Saturday since we knew I would me sleeping as much as possible on Sunday...although it was still only a few hours BLAH! I felt so bad that I couldn't do more for Erik, but being as great as he is...it didn't bother him a bit. Actually, you would have thought it was Mother's Day again or something. I woke up just in time to go to church and Erik had a big breakfast all ready for Madalyn and I, not to mention he basically took care of Madalyn all day also. I really take him for granted some times. I know that without so much help from him, me going back to work wouldn't work, so I'm glad he is so supportive of me and Madalyn. We LOVE him lots!!! Especially Madalyn does, "Daddy" is by far her favorite word.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T20:42:00.008-06:00

We spent Memorial Day Weekend in Fort Collins for Amanda's High School Graduation. Erik was able to take two days off from teaching and so we left Wednesday night. I did four shifts in a row so we could leave then and let me tell you, I will NEVER do that again. I felt so trained and sick everyday. It wasn't the funnest thing ever...but then I don't know how getting only a few hours of sleep for four days straight could be any fun. Not for work at least. I'm glad I did though because we were able to spend more time with my family, which we always love. We got there late Wednesday night and then Thursday was quite a day. The weather was awful and there were tornadoes all around Fort Collins. Windsor, which is about 10-15 minutes southeast of Fort Collins got hit pretty bad and I guess there a few other tornadoes North and South of Fort Collins, but none hit Fort Collins. Very lucky considering how close they all were. The schools were all on lock-down for the afternoon and most all businessess shut down. It was crazy, I had never been in such a threat of a tornado before. I always thought that places close to mountains were safe from them. Apparantly not. Although we were very glad we were all safe, the weather did keep us from doing much of anything during the day.

Friday we had Amanda's graduation party. I tell you, high school graduation parties in Fort Collins are like weddings. EVERYONE has one and they ALL have to be this huge event. It was fun for me as a senior because you get to go from party to party and eat everyone's food and see all your friends all day, but for the parents, it's a little stressful. The weather was still not so great that night, but it didn't rain...and there were NO tornadoes! YEA!!! :) Amanda and her friend Heidi had their parties combined and they did it at Heidi's house. It turned out to be fun, although Erik knew about NOONE! He got good food though, so he couldn't complain.

Amanda and Heidi at Graduation Party

Madalyn enjoying the fountain at her party. (There was also a chocolate fountain there....always a hit anywhere)

Madalyn loves her Aunt Amanda!!

Saturday was the graduation ceremony. Those are always LOADS of fun!!! Especially with a 15 month old. Erik and I went out with Madalyn at least 6 times during the thing...and to make it even better we were basically sitting at the very top row of the gymnasium. That's what family is for though right? To support us in EVERYTHING! Okay, so it wasn't that bad, I guess. :) It sure made me feel old though. If I feel old, I can't imagine what my parents feel right now? :) There youngest, graduating high school, going to college. WUH! I guess that explains my dad's gray hair. :)

Amanda in her whole shibang!

This face depicts exactly how Madalyn felt about sitting through an 1 1/2 graduation ceremony. :)

So this is what happens when I leave Madalyn alone with Grandma and Grandpa?! :)

Happy Mother's Day -- TO ME!

2008-05-12T12:47:00.005-06:00

I'd say this Mother's Day was pretty good. I worked on Saturday and when I got home Erik had dinner all ready on the table for us. Waffles with peanut butter and syrup..one of my favorites! He said he knew Sunday would be busy so he wanted to do something for me that night. I walked in our bedroom to change and there was a huge present all neatly wrapped sitting on our bed. Those of you who know Erik, neatly and wrapped aren't things he does. :) He really wanted me to open it right then and there, but I told him I wanted to wait until Mother's Day to open it. I probably should have opened it then because Sunday got so busy that I didn't even get around to opening it until late Sunday night. Erik let me sleep in a little on Sunday, at least as much as I could. Ever since I started working I treasure my sleep--since I don't get much of it, but Madalyn wanted her Mommy up so I was up. We went to our church and then my cousins Brett and Kim Hornberger were both having their farewells and so we went to their ward and heard them speak...then had to go back to our ward so I could lead the music in Primary (that's my new calling in the ward..BLAH!) and then we went back over to the Hornberger's for dinner then had to leave early to go up to Erik's Mom's house for another dinner and to celebrate Mother's Day there and Max's birthday. Whew. We finally got home around 9 and Erik made me open my present before we even got in the house basically. He was really excited about it apparantly.

So here's what I got for "MOTHER"S DAY"...

YES, a punching bag!!!!! SUCH an Erik gift! :) Now funny thing is I've wanted a punching bag for awhile now and thought that it would be really fun, and a more productive way to release some of my energy instead of taking it all out on Erik, but I was never expecting it for Mother's Day. It's just not the typical Mother's Present I guess. But I love it nonetheless. Madalyn was even enjoying punching it and kicking it. The only problem was she coudln't lift it up. She was getting very frustrated in the fact that she couldn't drag it around the house. Poor thing. :)
Anyway, Erik was great to me this Mother's Day. He's an awesome husband and wonderful Dad. I'm so grateful he's been so supportive of me going back to work. I think Madalyn's starting to become a Daddy's girl now, I'm okay with that. In the long run I'll still be the favorite to our kids because Daddy won't share his ice cream with them but Mommy will. :)

I don't think I fully recognized everything my own Mom does for me and my family until I became a mother myself. Having a daughter of my own now, I understand what a huge part of my life she is and am amazed at the amount of love you can have for such a tiny little person. She's everything to me right now and it makes me feel so bad for all the things I put my mother through as a child...mostly teenager. I guess it takes having a child of your own to realize just how much they do care for you and worry about you when they're not with you. I think about Madalyn all the time when I'm at work and hope she's doing okay without me. Especially when she's with her Daddy, I know she's okay, but the fact that I'm not with her still makes me worry. And I'm guessing that feeling isn't going to go away anytime soon. Just wait until they're teenagers and always want to be away from mommy. :( That's what makes mothers so great. Their ability to love UNCONDITIONALLY! What would we do without them?
Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Obviously this picture was taken awhile ago. :)

Recovery Day!

2008-05-04T18:55:00.007-06:00

So this was my first week back at work. All in all I can say "I'M TIRED!!!" I did three day shifts and then last night I worked my first night shift. 6pm to 6am. It actually went better than I thought it would, I wasn't all that tired during my shift, but I'm feeling it now. I came home and we don't have church until 1:00, so I tried to catch up on some sleep, but it was really hard for me to fall asleep, even though I was extremely tired. I'm just not used to sleeping during the day. I really like the work part though, so I'm hoping I can adjust appropriatly. I would have never thought I would be so excited to start working again, but I am. Probalby a combination of having adult conversation again, getting me out of the house once in awhile, and doing what I love the most...helping people, but I'm loving it right now. We'll see how long that sticks huh?! :)
I'm so lucky to have such a great Mom. She came out this week to help watch Madalyn for me since I worked three full days. Madalyn loved playing with her Grandma and I appreciated the help A LOT! Leaving at 6 in the morning makes babysitters a little difficult. And thanks to some nasty weather in Wyoming, we got to keep Grandma for a few more days. Although visiting the family is a lot of fun, I do wish it was somehow possible to have all our family closer. Someday maybe!

What's a visit from Grandma without gifts for the grandbaby?! This is a new swimsuit Grandma got for Madalyn, along with the matching hat. I think she's ready for the pool, what do you think? And I may be a little biased, but she is looking pretty darn cute in it too.

Madalyn discovered Grandma's glasses and thought they were pretty neat. As far as the picture....I don't dare say more about it. :)

We all took Madalyn to the park one day. She still hates the swing, but loves the slides. Her hair cracked us up when she was in the tunnels. Can we say static gard?

Madalyn experienced her first popsicle with Grandma too. She liked it for awhile, but then I think it got too cold for her.

Our LITTLE girl is growing up so FAST!

2008-04-22T21:11:00.005-06:00

Madalyn will be 14 months in a couple days. I can't believe how fast time has gone by. It feels like just yesterday I was walking around with 40 extra pounds and a baby kicking in my stomach all day long. Now I'm carrying 20 lbs and running around everywhere stopping Madalyn from climbing on the fireplace and eating the dirt from the plants. She amazes me everyday with the things she learns and can do. Madalyn has now learned her mobility is limitless. She tries and climbs on, over, and in EVERYTHING. Her favorite thing is to hide in closets and cabinets. She closes herself in the kitchen pantry, the coat closet and I even found her one day sitting in the lower cabinet of our china cabinet.

It's funny how we spend so much time trying to get babies to talk and walk, and then once they do we spend all our time trying to get them to be quiet and to sit still. :) I love how I can actually communicate with Madalyn now and she understands me, for the most part. She's still using a lot of her babysigns, but she's also talking a lot more now too. Granted some things only Erik and I can understand what she is saying, but nonetheless I'll count them. Her cutest is when she says "please", or more like "pweese". She's pretty good at saying it now, let's just hope it lasts for a long time. And I love now that I can tell her to go get a book and she'll go get one, or tell her it's time to brush her teeth and she'll run to the bathroom and point to her toothbrush, or that the minute she hears the door open in the evening she yells "Daddy" and runs to the stairs. She loves her Daddy and misses him everyday. She's even taken up his goofy smile and quirky laugh. I need to get pictures and videos of them both cause although they can be annoying with a grown adult, they are very cute with her. Overall, Madalyn is the best little girl ever! Biased maybe...and I don't have much expereince with other children, but I would have to say she is a very good kid. If the rest of my kids are half as good as her I'll be a very lucky momma.

Madalyn loves her baby. Notice her giving "loves" to her baby. When she gives me loves she'll pat me on the back just like I do her sometimes. It's adorable.

Madalyn wishing she was one of her own toys.

Workin Mama

2008-04-22T20:54:00.002-06:00

We've had a pretty big transition in our family recently. I got a job offer for the Women's and Children's Pool here in Utah County. It includes the UVRMC, AFH, and Orem Community Hospitals and covers pediatrics, the NICU, and the Mother/Baby unit. This offer came at a time when we were seriously looking at houses up in West Jordan. BLAH! Things always seem to come at the same time. After a week of a lot of stress, too much for my liking, and critical decision making we decided that I would take the job here in Utah County and stay in Orem for one more year. I felt this job would be a great experience for me and a way for us to save a little more money before buying a house. So after having a whole year of my only obligation being Madalyn, granted she does take up the majority of my time, I will now be working two or three 12 hour shifts a week. I really am very exciting to start working though, the only thing I'm dreading is the lack of sleep I will acquire. I'm going to work the night shift so we don't have to put Madalyn in daycare all day. It's going to be hard enough leaving her already, but having the majority of the time be while she is asleep makes it easier for me. I start next week with my training, so we'll see in a couple of weeks if I'm still as excited. :) I also have to thank my cousin Jill for helping me out and babysitting Madalyn everynow and then for me while I have to do some of my training hours during the day. Madalyn likes it in that she gets to play with Berkley and Carter more often. This whole going back to work thing has made me realize how lucky some people are to have their parents so close to them. It would be so less stressfull to be able to take Madalyn over to Grandma's house all the time. :( Hopefully someday!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2008-04-22T19:56:00.002-06:00

Erik turned 31 on Sunday. Quite the achievment huh?! 31 sure sounds old, but he says he doesn't feel that old at all. And well, besides the lack of hair growth on the head, I'd say I wouldn't think he was that old either. :) We celebrated on Saturday by first going frisbee golfing with some friends. With Madalyn we feel we don't do as much as we used to, and so getting outside and doing stuff we love was a lot of fun. Madalyn came with us also and she loved running around everywhere just as much as we did. However the course wasn't the most baby-friendly course. It was in a bunch of trees and seemed to have been a prior dumping spot. The course was covered with trash...like old metal and whatnot. Very bizarre. If only it was cleaned up a little bit it would be sweet. That night we had a BBQ at Phil's house for Erik's, Mark's, and Larissa's birthdays. That was fun to see everyone. Again, a child kind of limits your late night hang outs, so we don't get to see all our friends very often. At least the single ones, or couples without children yet. Sunday morning I made him a delicious breakfast consisting of french toast and our familie's favorite buttermilk syrup. That night we had dinner at Erik's mom's house with all his family. Ava wished it was her birthday the whole time, she's such a cutie. Somehow we need to get her to realize that she has more Aunts and Uncles than just Craig. It's hilarious, but Craig is her absolute favorite, and noone else comes even close. We didn't do anything extremely exciting, but that's what I love about Erik, he doesn't need huge to have a great birthday.

Happy Easter

2008-03-26T11:46:00.006-06:00

Erik had Spring Break over Easter weekend so we went to Fort Collins and spent the weekend with my family. Bryan and Eliza were also able to come up from Denver and spend a few days with us. It was a lot of fun, as time spent with the family always is! Lots of eating, many games, and much needed relaxation. Madalyn and Kambria had a lot of fun together. They're at the learning to share stage which makes things interesting. At first Madalyn would just let Kambria take toys away from her, but after awhile Madalyn started showing some attitude back. They're sure cute together though. We had an easter egg hunt for the both of them and it's a good thing Daddy was helping Madalyn or else I think Kambria would have found the whole bunch of them. She's a pretty fast little girl!

We thought it would be fun to give them both a bath. If you notice the hair...the bath was much needed too.

Erik and I had fun decorating the "Bunny Hutch". We'd never seen gingerbread houses for easter before. I decorated the hutch part and Erik took advantage of his skills and tiled the floor around the hutch. Very impressive we know!

Grandma got Madalyn a beautiful easter dress for Sunday. We could have goten a better picture of her in it, but Madalyn was ready for a nap the minute we got back from church. She's a lot like her Mom. :) I'd say she's adorable in anything though, but I do have some bias.

Overall we had a great time in Fort Collins with Grandma and Grandpa and look forward to the next get together. We also learned some exciting news over Easter, Bryan and Eliza are expecting another baby...and it's a boy! The first grandson. Will Grandma know what to do with a boy? :) They're sure going to have their hands full, well if this new one is anything close to the energy level of Kambria. We're very excited for them!

We Miss Grandma!

2008-03-12T18:45:00.002-06:00

Grandma Fairbanks left this past Monday and it's a good thing we're all going to visit them over Easter weekend because we miss her and everyone else already. It was very nice having some company during the days. I think Madalyn enjoyed seing another face other than Mommy and Daddy once in awhile too.

Warm Weather!

2008-03-12T18:25:00.003-06:00

We're finally getting some warm weather here and we can't wait until it's actually summer. Usually I don't get sick of the winter, but this one has been different. Not only have we had a real winter, with snow after snow, but a little baby makes it even harder to go outside and do things during the winter. We had a pretty nice day last week here so Grandma and I took Madalyn to the park for the first time since last summer. Crazy, but the little girl doesn't like the swings anymore, maybe she just needs to get used to them again. But the slides she likes; however, she gets more of a kick out of trying to climb up them then go down them. Basically, I'm ready for the days that you sweat just standing outside.

Showing Off the Teeth

2008-03-07T13:28:00.002-07:00

Madalyn is so proud of her new additions to her mouth. She's figuring out that they make eating food easier and so she tries and chews things with just her front teeth. Someday she have a whole set.

Fun With Fairbanks Family

2008-03-07T12:49:00.005-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Fairbanks and Amanda were able to come visit this last weekend. Mainly to see Madalyn, but that's okay, she is the cutest out of all of us. :) Grandpa and Amanda only got to stay until Sunday (we wish they could have stayed longer) but Grandma got to stay the whole extra week with us. It has been so much fun. Madalyn and Grandma love playing with eachother and I LOVE having some extra hands around during the day. It really does make a difference. The only problem is Madalyn and I don't have as big a tolerance for shopping as Grandma would like us too.

We all went out to dinner at The Mayan and had a great time. It's a restaurant kind of like Casa Bonita (for all those Coloradoans)with the cliff divers and what not, but the food is ten times better here than at Casa Bonita. Madalyn loved playing with all the decorations in the lobby of the restaurant. The whole restaurant is designed as if you're in the jungle with tons of trees.

Starting her early

2008-03-07T12:42:00.002-07:00

Madalyn loves playing with Mom and Dad's cell phones, so thanks to her Aunt and Uncle, she now has one of her own. The good thing is she can play with it without us worrying about who she's calling and it doesn't cost a thing!

The Birthday Cake

2008-02-25T15:28:00.002-07:00

Erik and I had a lot of fun making Madalyn's birthday cake. We gave her one of the cupcakes to eat on her own. She wanted one so bad she wouldn't even wait for everyone to sing to her and didn't want anything to do with blowing the candle out. Once we gave her the cupcake she was happy and put the entire thing straight into her mouth. I guess she enjoyed it. Madalyn was also kind enough to share with her cousin Berkley, however, Berkley thought Madalyn's finger tasted better than the cake did. Overall, we all had a great time and can't wait until she turns two so we have another excuse to celebrate. We were sad that Grandma and Grandpa Fairbanks and the rest of the Fairbanks family weren't able to come though. I guess we'll just have to do this all over again next weekend with them. :) No complaints here.

Happy Birthday Madalyn!

2008-02-25T14:35:00.002-07:00

Madalyn's official first birthday is on Tuesday, the 26th, but we had a party for her on Saturday. All of Erik's family came along with Scott and Jacqueline and Jill and Brennen and their kids. Madalyn may have not been happy the whole time, but it was still a lot of fun. She got a lot of fun toys to play with and some "adorable" clothes. Madalyn's favorite gift was her glow worm. She takes it everywhere now. The rest of the kids loved the bubble blower she got. It was definitly a real hit.

Good and Protected

2008-02-21T20:00:00.003-07:00

Erik worries a little about Madalyn hurting herself while walking around so he thought dressing her like this everyday would help. Just a little padding right?! :)

Madalyn is WALKING!

2008-02-20T12:23:00.006-07:00

Madalyn has been taking a few steps here and there since late January, but didn't have the guts to really take off until last Sunday (Feb. 17th). As usual, we were a great distraction in Relief Society so I took her out to roam the halls. I put her down on her feet and she was off, made it an entire length of the church without falling. I wish I would have had my camera then because this cute little girl thought she was the stuff walking around all big. She couldn't get enough of it. So ever since then she's walking everywhere. Of course she still has spills now and then, mainly because she seems to have to always cary something with her as she walks. Apparantly walking isn't tough enough, so she increases the difficulty by carrying large objects with her. :)

Walking in the Buff

2008-01-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

I thought we'd start our entries off with a big bang and expose the greatest side of our little family!!!

Isn't it adorable?! At almost 11 months, Madalyn's favorite thing is to walk around with her walker. She could care less what we're trying to do with her...like get her dressed...all she wants to do is walk. At least this is one age where a bare bum is always cute, no matter what!

First Freeman Post EVER!

2008-01-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

The Freemans have decided we've kept our fantastic life experiences a secret for way too long and we no longer want to deprive all our family and friends of keeping in touch with us whenever they feel the need. Yes, we know, you can all thank us later. :) Okay, so mainly it's a way so we can show off our little girl to her grandparents, but hey, I'm sure Erik and I will have an exciting thing here and there that we can throw in as a special treat.