All about Maddie

Oh, my dear sweet Maddie, who is so like her mother in many ways but so different at the same time. I'm chuckling inside as I write this because I have so many flashblacks of my early childhood as I am raising Mads. For instance, every time I brush Madlyn's hair (it's better now that it's short), I can't help but think back to my own wails as my mother brushed my hair. And every time I ask Maddie to use the bathroom, or remind her that the house isn't a jungle gym, I hear my mom's words echoing in my ears. Madlyn is a bouncer. She doesn't walk from place to place, she jumps. It doesn't help that she recently learned to jump rope and even if she doesn't have her rope handy, she practices the jumping almost constantly. I'm reminded of a time a few years ago when I was serving in the Young Women organization and we were doing a "get-to-know-you" activity. We asked all the girls' mothers to give us one word to describe their daughter and we as leaders were to ask our own moms or think of one ourselves. I called my mom and she chuckled a bit as she told me that the one word she immediately thought of to describe me was, "Tigger". Oh, how that describes my Mads. And I tell you what, I have definitely mellowed out as I have grown up. Too much, I think.

Madlyn is a little pack-rat. As a person who likes to streamline everything and hates clutter, it drives me crazy. It is difficult for me to go into her room and see all her piles of stuff everywhere, even though they are neatly organized. I can't even begin to describe the things she collects but it would make you laugh. Every once in a while, I have to have an intervention and I "help" her clean her room and throw things out. I often tell her that if it doesn't fit on a bookshelf, in a drawer, or in a cubby, she doesn't need it:) Last night, Jeff sat down to watch his lecture for his class. Exasperated when he couldn't find his headphones (again), he made his way to his daughter's room where he said she quickly pulled them out of a little stash of junk she had stowed away and handed them to him. We've learned that if we can't find something, we often just need to ask Madlyn and she will have it stashed away somewhere, either being used in one of her homemade contraptions, or by itself just in case she needs it sometime. And about the headphones, this is about the 5th time in the past week that Madlyn has taken off with them. She did come in a few minutes later and promise that next time she would ask before she takes them;)

Madlyn is quite the fashionista. She is always putting different outfits together, sometimes using items from my own closet to supplement her own clothes. The other night for bed, she came out dressed in some leggings with a cute sleeveless top covered by a button-up shirt. That's what she wore to bed, folks. The next morning as we left to take her to school, I noticed she was wearing the exact same outfit.While it was too late for her to change, I did tell her I didn't want her wearing the same thing to school that she wore to bed the night before, hehe. She reluctantly agreed. Hey, but maybe there is something to it. Get all ready the night before and then there isn't much to do in the mornings:)

In so many ways Madlyn is already light-years ahead of me. She is so thoughtful and giving, always helping me and taking care of her brothers. She is a natural-born nurturer. She is very wise and mature and I learn so much from her perspective on life. I am so lucky to get to be her mom and I love her.

I'm in the mood to talk...

I'm just wondering why it is so difficult to go use the bathroom if you feel the urge? I thought we might have lucked out this time but nope, we have 3 children who refuse to take the 30 seconds to use the bathroom. Instead of this difficult chore, they choose to dance, run, jump, anything that will keep them moving. When I remind them to go, they deny the urge altogether. The other night, Madlyn was moving and grooving and I told her to use the bathroom. "But I don't neeeeeed to!" Literally 5 seconds later, she beelines it to the bathroom, calling behind her, "Now I need to go!"

Lane is so funny. He has started to make these funny faces and he is hilarious. His most-used expression is one where he raises his eyebrows and puts his mouth into an "o" shape, almost like he's surprised or something. But he does it all the time:) And he has started running away from me when it is time to change his diaper. If I ask him to go get the diaper (he used to quickly oblige), he vigorously shakes his head no! He still doesn't say much that you can understand but his vocabulary is slowly growing. He says "thank you", "dad", "pizza", "mama", and that's about it. When I go to get him out of his carseat, he turns his head to the side and pretends he's sleeping...so funny! Oh, and when he goes to bed or down for a nap, he likes me to turn music on. He listens to the music from my old music class that I used to teach or my favorite, "Beethoven's Wig" - a collection of classical music that has had lyrics added to each song.

I pretty much have the best husband ever. The past few weeks have been a little rough for me and Jeff has really taken over many of the mundane household tasks and I am so appreciative. I do feel just a little bit guilty every time he makes a meal, or picks up the family room, or washes the dishes, or sorts the laundry, but I am thankful that he is so helpful. I especially like it when he cooks because his meals almost always include red meat (what? did I just say that?)! On top of being Mr. Mom these days, he is still the best dad to our kids and the best husband for me. Man, I love him.

When we told Cade that I have "two babies in my tummy" he got a real worried look on his face and tearfully said, "I don't want to get babies in my tummy." Don't worry honey, you won't:) Maddie & Cole have been very excited and say almost daily, "I can't wait for the babies to be born." Maddie refers to me as "you three" and when she is home will hardly let me do anything without her help. It's too bad she isn't here all day:) Maddie & Cole have been pretending to be twins lately, naming themselves "Twin Max" and "Twin Ruby" after Cole's favorite TV show "Max & Ruby" (which, by the way, is the most annoying show EVER!).

I love the weather here. I love the rain, I love the light breezes, I love the sunshine, I even love the smell of moisture in the air (didn't think I'd ever say that). And the green - I love it!

I made chocolate chip cookies the other day (for the first time in a couple of months) and I still have not eaten one. I have leftover dough in the fridge and have no desires to bake it up. It's weird. They must have been good though because Jeff had a few young men over the other night for a planning meeting and they ate 4 dozen of them!! 4 dozen!! It made me feel good though:)

I guess that's it for now. Life is good and we are happy....

So I think I devised a way to get more company out our way:

HAVE A BABY!

Yep - we are expecting! I am about 9 weeks along and due November 24th.

Are you a bit skeptical that I'll get many visitors with that news? Well, I've got a foolproof plan that will be hard to resist:








HAVE TWO BABIES!

That's right, folks - we are expecting not only #5, but #6 as well:) Here's the proof:

A little shocked? That's all right - so was Jeff, hehe.

Stay tuned for more of my thoughts and rundowns of all my symptoms!



*I'm just kidding, I really won't give you a rundown of all my symptoms:)

Look Who's 7!!!

Our sweet Madlyn turned 7 on Saturday, April 10. Of course Jeff & I have mentioned several times in the past few days that "we can't believe it's already been 7 years" and that "she is growing up so quickly". Just a few facts about Madlyn's birth:

• her due date was April 4, I was induced 5 days later on April 9
• she was born at 4:34 am on Thursday, April 10
• she is our lightest baby so far at 8 lbs. 8 oz.
• she had a little bit of brownish/reddish hair in the back
• she looked like her Grandpa Jim (she was even called a "Jimlet" by one family friend)
• since I had been awake for a couple of days straight and Madlyn wasn't sleeping, I asked the nurse to take her to the nursery for a few hours our first night. They were begging me to take her back because she pretty much didn't sleep all night for them and hated the swing. I'm grateful I got the sleep I did though because our first year together lacked greatly in the sleep department:)

Mads got her ears pierced on Saturday - whoo hoo! She was very excited but got quite nervous when it was time. She was glad to have her cousin Taylor there with her for moral support:)

Funny thing, Madlyn keeps asking me if she looks like she's 8. I tell her that "no, you look like you're 7". She likes Cole's answer better than mine because he told her that she looks like she's 11. It's so funny to me how badly she wants to grow up...reminds me of someone else!

Oh, can you see her two missing front teeth? She was very happy to lose her 2nd front tooth and hopes she can sing "All I Want for Christmas is my 2 Front Teeth" when it's Christmas-time! At the rate her teeth grow in, she just might be able to:)

Mads and the birthday cake

Silly girl!

Always the poser:)

So Maddie's cousin Taylor surprised her by coming down from Dallas on Friday afternoon and was here when she got home from school. She was actually hiding in a big box on our front porch and I told Madlyn to go open it...out popped Taylor! It scared Madlyn but then she was ecstatic! It was so thoughtful of them to come down and we had a great time!

Friday night, we pulled out the camp stove and roasted marshmallows and ate S'mores, played the Wii (Madlyn got a cooking game - I don't think she loves it too much), and stayed up late - much, much too late for the kids:(

Saturday we ate oatmeal for breakfast (Madlyn's request) and then the girls went to Claire's to get ears pierced! In the early afternoon, we went to Subway and then to the park for a picnic and to play. Jeff took Mads & Cole to see the movie "Tooth Fairy" at the dollar theater and then we ate pizza and had birthday cake before rushing off to bed!

At dinner we talked about what we love about Madlyn- Jeff & I said that she is a great big sister, smart, loving, thoughtful, athletic, etc. The boys said that she is nice and lets them sleep in her bed sometimes. I truly think she is about the best big sister that ever was.

Madlyn loved the weekend and all the attention and it was so fun to spoil her! We are so blessed to have her as a daughter and love her dearly. How grateful we are that Heavenly Father decided to send us a girl first, even when we (I) weren't sure what to do with girls:)

Happy Birthday, Madlyn!

aka Mads
Maddie
Madazoa
Hadley Design Group


Oh, so Madlyn had originally requested my "famous peanut butter sandwiches" for her lunch on Saturday and homemade fried rice and orange chicken for dinner. She then changed her mind and wanted chicken pot pie but since we didn't have time on Saturday, I made the pies on Sunday. She is so funny about food and is such a great eater and will eat almost anything! I think I will have to make her some orange chicken soon though - that sounds yummy!

We're Still Kickin'...Barely

So I really have been wanting to put some pictures up but I'm just too tired tonight. I think we keep getting busier every day. Here's a little glimpse of what we've been up to lately:

• potty training Cadeson - the first couple of days were a little rough but since then he's been a champ! As long as his toilet is in the living room and not the bathroom, he does great! He has gone at restaurants, church, stores, museum, etc. without any problems - yay! It is so nice to only have one in diapers these days!
• school, school, and more school - Jeff started his MBA program this semester and I am slowly plugging away at my undergrad. This semester I've been taking a History course about Africa, which is really interesting. Everything is winding down in the next week or two; BUT since I'm a HUGE procrastinator, that means everything starts spinning faster and faster:) I have to read a couple of books, research & write a 10-page research paper, take several quizzes, and take midterm & final exams - all before April 6. Jeff has managed to be much more successful in keeping on top of his classes...I love that quality about him.
• church stuff - our church callings are keeping us quite busy but we are loving what we do. This week I am picking up an order at the home storage center for my ward and then helping everyone get it canned throughout the next week or two. It is fun being involved with the ward's food storage efforts and my kids really like it too. When we canned dry milk a couple of months ago, my boys especially loved it. They wanted to smell it, they wanted me to mix some up for them, they wanted to drink it warm - yuck!

OK, so I know there's more that we've been doing because I feel like I have been pulled in about a million directions for the past couple of months, but for right now I can't think of anything else. We are happy and LOVING each other and I feel so blessed:)

An Introduction

Almost 3 years ago, this blog was created. One of my main reasons for starting a blog in the first place was to give me an outlet to write. It quickly turned into a diary of our family life, which sometimes and sometimes does not includes pictures:) I love that I have such a way to share our daily lives with our loved ones but it is not very often that I feel like I have done 'good writing' in the process.

My heart yearns to write. I want to write about what's in my mind, and in my heart. What I'm working toward and how I'm hopefully getting better every day. But I don't necessarily want this writing to share the same pages as pictures of my lovelies and stories of their funny-isms. So for those of you who might be interested, I have started a new blog dedicated to me...and whatever it is I feel like saying. I can't promise you'll love it or even like it, but I know I'll be having fun!

So come on over to Blondie and say hi! I'll be happy to have you!

Brigham's Graduation Weekend

For Valentine's Day, I was the happy recipient of a plane ticket to Iowa so that I could visit my sister & attend her husband's graduation from Chiropractic School. Jeff & his sister Lyssa (who watched our kids for a day & hosted them all for another day) so sweetly provided the opportunity for me to go sans kids and it was a pretty monumental event for me. I was super-duper excited to see my sister and her family, and I was so happy that it worked out for me to be there to support Brig on his big day.

Brigham's parents & siblings & a niece & nephew made the trip from AZ and so we all hung out together for the weekend. Aside from the graduation, we played a little Rock Band and Settlers, watched some Olympics, ate some of Milla's yummy sweet pork burritos, did YogaX (from P90X), visited the campus, hung out at the mall, shared one bathroom, watched late movies, slept in, and overall enjoyed a very relaxing and fun weekend.

Here are just a few pictures that turned out halfway decent from my camera. Note to self: it might be time to invest in a new camera.

this is where graduation was held - it was a really awesome old building and on the floor to the left was an organ and an organist played all the prelude & processional music - kind of eerie (or maybe it was just the choice of music)

all over the buildings were different quotes - it was so fun to read them all as we walked around. this one by Thoreau is one of my favorites - it reminded me of a few conversations I've had with Milla about making 'conscious decisions'. Milla is one wise woman:)

Here is the graduate - man, we are so proud of Brigham, I mean Dr. Adams. He graduated with his Bachelor's Degree and his Doctor of Chiropractic at the same time so he has been going to school for about 10 years and this is his first graduation ceremony. He has worked so hard and will be a great chiropractor! (Oh wait, he already is!)

another quote that I liked. B.J. is the founder of the school - B.J. Palmer. I didn't get any pictures of it but there was a huge collection of skulls, spines, and other such skeletal pieces that B.J. had acquired. It was very interesting to see but just a little bit morbid for my taste.

And here's the proud family (minus Parks who stayed with a neighbor for graduation). Camilla, Layton, & Parks have also worked so hard to make this day possible - I'm so excited for them all! Oh, and if it looks a tad chilly outside...that's because it was...I had to pull out my good ol' Ricks College coat to keep from freezing my hiney off!

Some fun/funny memories from the weekend:

hanging out with my sister & chatting
getting to see Brigham's graduation
getting a massage from my massage therapist sister
getting an adjustment from my chiropractor brother-in-law
playing Rock Band and rockin' it on the drums
asking Brig's friend who is from Canada if it is "super cold there" and him answering, "super-duper cold" (I think I left half of my brain at home with my family)
playing with Parks & hearing Layt read to us
eating my sister's yummy french toast
planning outfits with the girls
sleeping in as late as I wanted
hearing the girl at Subway tell a customer that "we don't have 4 inch subs...we just take a footlong and cut it into three pieces" (I haven't laughed so hard in a long time)
eating Ben & Jerry's at the airport
Whitey's ice cream in Davenport

It was such a great weekend and I'm so glad I could go - thanks Adams' for the fun time!