Happy Father's Day?!

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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!

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.