DECEMBER

December came and went too fast
its hard to remember everything we did!

A week before Thanksgiving we had
Raelee in the ER
with a double ear infection.
She healed quick and
then a couple weeks after she got that
nasty flu that went around
where absolutely everything was
coming out BOTH ends.
Rae only had it one day,
then I got it and Madi started right about
the time I finished,
I ended up taking her to the ER
because she couldn't keep any liquids
down and started throwing up some blood.
On our way to the ER that night
Trevor was home while Raelee
was asleep, and he started
throwing up!!
Madi had an IV and was so brave.
All the nurses adored her,
she come home with a beautifully
decorated barf bucket from all
the stickers she received!
And by the next afternoon we were
all feeling MUCH better,
and 6 lbs lighter:)
( we would kick butt in biggest loser now that we know the trick! haha )

I was cooking in the kitchen while Madison was
doodling on some paper,
she got all excited and came over and said,
"Look mommy! I wrote my own name by myself!"
Sure enough,
I didn't have to tell her any of the letters!

It surely didn't feel like Christmas in Kansas...
until you saw all the lights!
The day before we left for Utah,
it was 60 degrees.
We heard it got up to 71 while we were gone!!

Raelee also turned 5 months!
Her stats this month
consist of a whole lotta hair
and she eats through baby food like crazy.

We drove.
16 hours!
Thanks to priceline,
we got a killer deal on a hotel in Denver
and split the drive in two days.
The girls were FABULOUS!
We played a lot of 'I spy'
and 'name that tune'.
If Madi wasn't reading,
it was this...
Of course we couldn't leave without her
'buddy' Clifford

And literally this is what Raelee
did 90% of the time...

Everyone was happy to have a fun
night in Denver!!

We made it safely to the frozen tundra!
We thoroughly enjoyed staying with Nana and Papa!!
We played with cousins, aunties, uncles
and friends!
It seemed like there wasn't a moment
that we sat still.

Raelee snuggled Trevor's cousins
Tiffany and Darcey to death!
She loved them!!

two peas in a pod!

Madi has discovered computer games
and typing in Word.
She was quite sneaky and convinced
her uncles many times to play with her.

Trevor discovered Rae could hold a bottle
all on her own when mommy went out the the
adult girls!

A ride on daddy's shoulder .....

equals this!
haha!!
We discovered Rae has acid reflux on our trip.

Tucker was Raelee's horsey

Nana cuttin' the delicious turkey!

I thought since we weren't with my dad
that we would get away with discovering
'new' things to feed the baby.
I was wrong.
Thank you Papa.

Tradition on my side of the family.
Trevor and I still like to do gingerbread
houses wherever we are!

We were able to skype my Mom and Dad
on Christmas Eve!!
It was really hard not being able to travel a little
farther to see them in Cali,
but hopefully this summer!!
It's been over a year now that we've seen them!

Christmas morning was spent with
cute cousin Treygan!!

The girls had so much fun
and SHARED!

Paper was Raelee's favorite of course!

The lovely Nana & Papa

We miss these two...well three,
David was MIA!!

Darcey took Madi and Rae
to ride on some of her ponies!
They were so THRILLED!!
Madison road one all by herself.

We did make it up north for a few
SHORT
days, to see more family and friends!
I totally forgot to use my camera
everywhere we went cause
I was too busy enjoying myself!

Madi LOVES her uncle Dave,
they have a pretty sweet bond.
One of a kind :)

I never missed my brother's bball games
when he played in high school,
so it was fun to be able to
see him play some Alumni games!
Madi thought it was cool
and Rae was totally entertained and sat
in her car seat the entire game!

It was sooo good to see our family,
Madi was able to play with her cousins!
I enjoyed spending time with my brother and sister
and of course,
we got to see Auntie Karol :)

Then back down to Nana and Papa's for a few more days.
i LOVE his glasses...
so stylin'

Madison is SO good and entertaining herself.
What good sports they are!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012 - yup,
Madi stayed up till midnight,
Rae was tucked away in the crib :)

Let me guess,
you've probably said it at least once,
or thought
"dang, that girl has hair"
This was right before we took the buzzers to it.

You'll have to wait till the next post to see the after! Ha sorry:)
It looks lots better though!

Loopy as ever, hope everyone had
a GREAT new year!!

NOVEMBER

Had another eventful and busy month.
Madison has been a great
helper with keeping the house
a little cleaner!
Here she is jumping for joy
because she picked up all of her
toys by herself!

Raelee was weird with her sleep schedule
for some reason this month....
a wee frustrating, but who could
be upset with that sweet little face

and then there is this cute face....
yup I give in SOMETIMES
during nap time and we just play!!

I hate pie.
and cake.
I'm weird I know,
I hate to admit this, because it goes against
everything I have always believed.
Trevor REALLY wanted to try a new
pie recipe.
Pecan pie.
I really did fight for awhile,
but gave in while telling him he would
end up eating the whole thing
by himself.
Little did I know that it was actually really good!
shh, I probably ate most of it!

For Thanksgiving we had the missionaries
and one of my bestest friends,
technically cousin,
Sara and her hubby David come over!
It was so different from the huge
family gatherings that we were used to,
but it was great to have SOME family
and enjoy a message and the company
of some really amazing Elders!

We actually grilled our turkey,
and it turned out awesome!!!
I won't rub in too much
that we enjoyed some nice 75 degree weather.
Talk about being THANKFUL!!

We celebrated Trevor's birthday!
He got a sweet helicopter.
Madi and I picked right,
cause he is like an 8 year old
all giddy with joy when he flies that thing!

Oh, and he grew the handle-bar mustache
for MOvember......
appartently it's nation wide??
Anywoo, it was hilarious:)

His theme was Despicable Me.
That is one of our family favorites.
I love the cake personally!

We played pin the alien on the moon

And bowling with the minions
and bean toss with the 3 little kittens!
It was fun and we loved spending the whole
night with Trev!!!

Raelee turned 4 month!!
She was 97% for height
and in the 40's for weight.
She LOVES baby food.
The dr gave the go ahead,
and boy this girl loves her food!!

At the beginning of the month we
finally got around to carving our pumpkins
from Halloween:)
Better late than never!

Madi's huge project this month was
helping me color rice
and fill up her pool in the unfinished room
downstairs!!
Cleaner than a sandbox,
and we can use it all winter long now!!

Dear Blog...

I've been avoiding you for some time now.
I'm not sure if it is due to my new
love of pinterest,
or that I have so much to write about
that I don't even know where to start.
Some day I'll return:)

On Friday I was unloading the dishes while the
girls were playing in the living room.
Nothing out of the ordinary,
Madison was dancing around Raelee
as Rae babbled to her.
All the sudden I heard a thud and Rae cried,
I instantly thought that Madi was trying to pick
up Rae....luckily I was wrong.
Madi had just jumped up in the air and landed with a thud.

Me: "Madi, what did you do?"
Madi: "I didn't do anything!"
Me: "Why is Raelee crying?"

she placed her little hand on her hip

Madi: "Because mommy, babies just cry sometimes."

ARE. YOU. KIDDING?
I'm pretty sure I stood there for a split second
with a dumbfounded look on my face.
Yup, my 2 year old has common sense!
:)
Thanks Mads, for reminding me yet again, just how bright you really are!

Tis the season for Autumn

This time of year is gorgeous in Kansas!
It's been in the 60's,
chilly enough for jackets and warming
up on the heater vents in the mornings:)
We have yet to see any snow,
which is quite different from what we are used to.
We are LOVING it!

Earlier today, Madison wanted to count her money
that she has stashed in an old vitamin bottle.
We counted it out - $19.47,
this girl is richer than I thought!
As we were sliding the money back through
the slot in the lid she glanced up at
me with quite the evil looking sneer and said,
"Mommy, you are a vulture - DON'T steal my money!"
Seriously? Yes.
Let's be honest - I was HELPING put the money back!
I have no clue how this girl comes up with all of her lines.
I just know she continues to make me laugh,
harder and harder!

These two are quite the pair.
I have no clue what they were googling over,
but the best is when I asked them to smile for me!

CLASSIC!
get real mom, we were having fun before you
brought out the camera

Trevor and Madi made some noodles
for some yummy soup!
Or dare I say, Madison showered our
kitchen with flour??
Either way, the soup was good
and we all had fun!

please excuse the garbage, our un-carved pumpkin
and Madison's panties:)

Trick-or-Treat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
ahem...like 2 weeks ago :)

We had a wonderful Halloween this year!
We had 2 parties on different nights,
plus trick-or-treating on Halloween night too.
Madison got her dressing up fill for the month!

We went as the Wizard of OZ this year....
duh, who couldn't see that coming, really?

My lovely friend Jessica started our day off
with a haircut for miss moo!
The girl's hair is sooo long,
her curls were starting to get weighed down!
She cut a few inches and added some layers,
So much better - Thanks Jess!!

Our Raelee babe has some long hair too!
at 3 1/2 months we got some piggy tails goin on :)
I shoulda done this forever ago!

She was practically begging me to rub those
spots where the ponies were...
you all know that is the best feeling after a pony!!

She's totally got style...
plus, who can resist those CHEEKS!

We had one party the week before Halloween,
Madison = Dorthy
Raelee = Todo
Trevor & Keesa = the lollipop guild munchkins
We didn't get a picture on our camera of this,
but one of my friends did.
Depending on how horrible we look, I might share.

The Saturday before we had trunk-or-treating
with our ward and a dinner!
Madi thought this was the coolest thing ever.
Trev and I were poopers and didn't want to
get into our munchkin garb,
so for this one Trevor wore is bus driver outfit
and I wore the famous blowup turkey!

Madi did a little trick-or-treating up our street
and then she helped pass out candy....
she LOVED passing out the candy and seeing all
the kids in their costumes.

We also had some friends over for
our tradition of chili and rootbeer!
We are such evil parents...
who buys a pumpkin
and never carves it??
oops, maybe next year!
We were too busy playing and doing skype!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!