Our Little Reindeer

Maddie's learning to love the season just as much as we do!!

Tonight, Spencer and I ordered some pizza and watched "The Santa Clause" by the Christmas tree. Maddie joined us for the first little bit, but had to go to bed half way through. She seemed to enjoy the movie, though, or maybe her eyes were glazed over with sleepiness. :)

We're trying to do something "Christmassy" each night so that we can make the most of the holidays, so tomorrow we'll be doing some Christmas shopping during the day and then we'll be attending "The Living Nativity" tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to seeing it, and we'll let you know how it is. But honestly, who could go wrong with the Nativity story?!?

20 days till Christmas!

Our Home at Christmas...

To give you a mere glimpse at our house during the holidays, here's some pictures....

Entryway


Foyer


Sign below stairs


View from stairs


View from kitchen


Advent Calendar on Kitchen Table

As i said, this is JUST a glimpse--there's a lot more decorations elsewhere, but one of my close friends put it this way, "It looks like Christmas threw up in your house." Nice, i know, but a very effective analogy. :) And tomorrow, we're putting up the outside decorations, so stay tuned for those! Let the countdown to Christmas continue!!!! :)

The Beginning of the Holiday Season

During the Thanksgiving break, our little family traveled down to Las Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with Spencer's family. This was Maddie's first time down to Grandma and Grandpa's, and she did really well. I was especially worried about the car trip down and back (6 hours in the car, both ways), but Maddie did really well--of course she did--she's always so good natured. And normally I dread the drive as well, but I had Stephanie Meyer books to occupy my time...that's right. I gave into the "Twilight" craze and started reading the books before I went to see the new movie. I finished the first book in less than a day and had the ENTIRE series read in less than a week. They are SUPER addicting, and I fell absolutely in love with them. So, needless to say, this time I didn't mind the trip to and from Vegas because that gave me some time to read! :)

We had a great time with our family and are super excited to be going back for Christmas!! I love this time of year as anyone who knows me can tell you. I am somewhat obsessed with the Christmas season and I try, in every way, to make Christmas a part of my families' lives as well. We had our Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving (thank you, Spencer!) and we've been enjoying local Christmas festivities. On Monday, December 1st, our little family went to the "Lights On Celebration" in Provo. Down Center street in Provo, UT, the city decorates and lights up the entire street starting on the first day of December. So we were there to witness the official "beginning" of the season. Maddie absolutely LOVED it--when the lights went on after the countdown, she could NOT stop looking around! All the trees were lit and lots of decorations were put up--needless to say, she was occupied for most of the night! Later that night, we came home and had homemade hot chocolate. It was a fun day, and we're trying to do something fun each day to bring the Christmas Spirit into our home. So for now, Happy Holidays to all, and we hope you enjoy the season as much as we will! :) Goodnight!

Pictures from the "Lights on Celebration"

Daddy and Maddie


Mommy and Maddie

A Developmental Milestone

This weekend was a not so great one--I was pretty sick over much of the weekend. Luckily, Spencer was here to nurse me back to health by making his amazing homemade chicken noodle soup. Not only that, but he was at my side and catering to every request all weekend long! Talk about an amazing husband!! Consequently, however, my being sick got little Maddie sick as well. The poor girl is super stuffed up and is having a hard time breathing through her nose--of course I feel responsible for it since I should have shown more restraint and kept my distance from her--but you've seen her!! She's super irresistible!! So when she wakes up during the middle of the night for whatever reason, I automatically think it's because she can't breathe and I rush into her room... :( Spencer, however, hasn't gotten sick, and i'm VERY thankful for that. I'm glad at least one of us is healthy and can get things done around the house, etc.

On the upside, Maddie had her first helping of rice cereal this week. Our doctor said we shouldn't give her any until 6 months, but EVERYONE i've talked with said they had their babies eating rice cereal at 4 months. So, of course, temptation set in, and we fed some to her last night! All I can say is--how entertaining! :) Most of us don't remember having to learn to eat from a spoon, but all of us did--and it was MESSY!!! Here are a couple of snap shots after the entire feeding (i'm thinking she got more on her bib and face than in her mouth!

She's also learning how to feed herself with only a little help from mom. She is so interested in using her hands and she's realized that her hands can do several things, like holding her own bottle. :) Our little girl is growing up...sniff sniff..


And here's the first few minutes of her first EVER cereal feeding...it goes on for a while, but you'll notice that she gets impatient when she has to wait for the next bite--she's used to eating until SHE decides she's done. Halfway through her cereal, she was getting SO frustrated that we let her eat her bottle and then resumed the cereal at a later time. (So forgive the whining she does in between bites at times--she hasn't been feeling too good). Still adorable, though :)

(Video coming soon...Wouldn't let me upload it)

It's fast how quickly they grow up. Now, i know that Maddie isn't super old, but i feel like time has flown. We were looking at pictures of her when she was a tiny newborn, and it's crazy how many physical and developmental changes there are between birth and even five months!! It's sad to me that she's not a little newborn anymore, and every day she seems to want more independence--i'm not ready!!! I guess now i understand why people have more than just one child, not that i'm planning on having any more any time soon...But the memories are sweet, and I have thoroughly enjoyed these last five months of being a mommy. I reccommend it to all :)

Marriage is Sacred

With so many opinions floating around about whether or not gay marriage is right/wrong, I would just like to remind all my friends (especially my LDS friends) what the prophet of God has said. This is not a new doctrine--in fact, this doctrine has even been set since the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Anyone who has gained a testimony of the church then believes that there is a living prophet on earth who speaks on God's behalf. And anyone who believes there is a prophet here on earth should also believe that his words are then considered "living scripture" which is EVEN more important than the standard works because it applies to us in our own time. In many instances, the prophets have spoken on the sanctity of marriage and how Satan's biggest attack will be on the family. Because the prophets have said it better than I have, here are some links that capture just how important marriage between a man and a woman is.

http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/the-restoration-of-truth/the-gospel-blesses-families-and-individuals and http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,161-1-11-1,FF.html

Hope this helps any of my friends who may be confused on the church's doctrine. :)

Facts about the LDS Church & Proposition 8

Here's some great information I found about Proposition 8 and the LDS churchs' involvement:

Get the Facts about the LDS Church & Proposition 8
The Facts:

1. Mormons make up less than 2% of the population of California. There are approximately 800,000 LDS out of a total population of approximately 34 million.

2. If one estimates that 250,000 LDS are registered voters (the rest being children), then out of a total of 5,661,583 yes votes, LDS voters made up 4.4% of the Yes vote and 2.3% of the total Proposition 8 vote (11,050,301).

3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) donated no money to the Yes on 8 campaign (except for a nominal, and legal, in-kind donation of $2,078.97, to cover the travel expenses of leaders coming from Utah for a meeting). Individual members of the Church were encouraged to support the Yes on 8 efforts and, exercising their constitutional right to free speech, donated whatever they felt like donating.

4. The No on 8 campaign raised more money than the Yes on 8 campaign. Unofficial estimates put No on 8 at $38 million and Yes on 8 at $36 million, making it the most expensive non-presidential election in the country.

5. Advertising messages for the Yes on 8 campaign are based on case law and real-life situations. The No on 8 supporters have insisted that the Yes on 8 messaging is based on lies. Every Yes on 8 claim is supported.

6. The majority of our friends and neighbors voted Yes on 8. Los Angeles County voted in favor of Yes on 8. Ventura County voted in favor of Yes on 8.

7. African Americans overwhelmingly supported Yes on 8. Exit polls show that 70% of Black voters chose Yes on 8. This was interesting because the majority of these voters voted for President-elect Obama. No on 8 supporters had assumed that Obama voters would vote No on 8.

8. The majority of Latino voters voted Yes on 8. Exit polls show that the majority of Latinos supported Yes on 8 and cited religious beliefs (assumed to be primarily Catholic).

9. The Yes on 8 coalition was a broad spectrum of religious organizations. Catholics, Evangelicals, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, Muslims - all supported Yes on 8. It is estimated that there are 10 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants in California. Mormons were a tiny fraction of the population represented by Yes on 8 coalition members.

10. Not all Mormons voted in favor of Proposition 8. Our faith accords that each person be allowed to choose for him or her self. Church leaders have asked members to treat other members with "civility, respect and love," despite their differing views.

11. The Church did not violate the principal of separation of church and state. This principle is derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ." The phrase "separation of church and state", which does not appear in the Constitution itself, is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, although it has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court in recent years. The LDS Church is under no obligation to refrain from participating in the political process, to the extent permitted by law. U.S. election law is very clear that Churches may not endorse candidates, but may support issues. The Church has always been very careful on this matter and occasionally (not often) chooses to support causes that it feels to be of a moral nature.

12. Supporters of Proposition 8 did exactly what the Constitution provides for all citizens: they exercised their First Amendment rights to speak out on an issue that concerned them, make contributions to a cause that they support, and then vote in the regular electoral process. For the most part, this seems to have been done in an open, fair, and civil way. Opponents of 8 have accused supporters of being bigots, liars, and worse. The fact is, we simply did what Americans do - we spoke up, we campaigned, and we voted.


I did not write these facts, a man named Kevin Hamilton did, but these facts are floating around the Internet, in e-mails and on blogs, like wildfire.

Please also note Mr. Hamilton's disclaimer that accompanied the original text:

"Any errors are mine and in no way reflect official Church policy or doctrine."

I wholeheartedly agree. If you would like official church statements about anything regarding Proposition 8, please direct your inquiries to the LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

Thank you!

SOURCES

1. http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/contact-us/usa-california

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/10/now-the-mormon.html

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)

3. http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10842051

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)

5. Here’s just a couple:

Legalization of same-sex marriage threatens parental rights:

Parker v. Hurley

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1815825713

http://www.conservapedia.com/Parker_v._Hurley

Legalization of same-sex marriage threatens religious freedoms:

Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association v. Bernstein and Pester

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07091902.html

6. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/individual/#CAI01

7. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/11/70-of-african-a.html

8. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/11/70-of-african-a.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=CAI01p1

9. http://www.protectmarriage.com/about/organization

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=282

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/5050/story?id=6137237&page=1

http://www.forward.com/articles/14521/

http://510report.org/2008/11/08/fremont-muslims-vote-for-prop-8/

10. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705260852,00.html

11. http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States#cite_note-0

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/aprqtr/pdf/26cfr1.501(c)(3)-1.pdf

Election Day...

And so begins the end of days....May God bless America. We're gonna need it.

Halloween Festivities

Happy Halloween to all--a day late, I know, but we were so involved with festivities that I didn't get a chance to write! This year was the first year that Spencer and I had a child to go "trick or treating" with! :) Although we didn't gather much candy, we did go to some of our friends' houses to show off little Maddie's costume. It was really fun to dress Maddie up in her frills, etc. And although she won't remember this time, I will forever and always.

We didn't have very many trick or treaters, so after we took Maddie to a few places, we went over to Grandpa Millett's home--Grandma Williams is in town now, and Maddie is definitely loving the attention she's giving her! So we ate dinner and then stayed up to play "Mexican Train". It's actually a pretty fun game. Because my mom didn't want us to go at Maddie's bedtime, she offered to have Maddie stay the night in a pack-and-play over there. Although it was hard for me to leave her, I did it!!! This is the first time she's been so far away from me!! We left around 11:30p.m., and I was back over to Grandpa's house by 8a.m. I just missed her too much! It was nice, though, to have a relaxing night with Spencer, I must admit.

Today we went to Gardner's Village. Spencer and I had gone about two weeks ago, but it was sooo cute that I just had to show my mother. To recap from a previous post, Gardner's Village is basically the same concept as "Downtown Disney". It's a bunch of shops put together in a village type of setting. My mom really loved it! Because it's the day after Halloween, they still had all the Halloween decorations up which was fun for my mom to see. I just can't wait to see their decorations for Christmas!! Needless to say....i'll love the decorations because i'm obsessed with Christmas decorations & Christmas in general. It's SUCH a fun time of the year...but i'm getting ahead of myself--

Here are a couple of pictures of Maddie as a "Fairy Princess" for Halloween. Could she BE any cuter?? She just lights up our lives SOO much!

Complete with crown & wand
And the wings are to DIE for!
We still have glitter everywhere from her costume!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween and a great beginning to November...

Busy weekend...

This weekend has already been super busy!!! Yesterday, Spencer and I made batches and batches of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies--some for us, some for friends, and the rest for a primary activity day I had this morning. Lemme just say--it's never fall until you've made a batch of pumpkin cookies. NOW the season feels right :) Last night we also bought "Wii Fit" for the Wii station. That thing is incredible and addicting--exercising has never been so much fun! Not only does it have activities/workouts for you to do, but it also measures your BMI and tracks your daily progress with balance, weight loss, etc. Reader's digest version?...It's motivated Spencer and I to become healther and more fit. We were up exercising until about midnight last night.

And when we woke up this morning...Spencer was back to exercising. :) As mentioned earlier, I had a primary activity day to go to today. I was released from being a teacher in the primary and then called to become the primary secretary. As sad as I was to leave the kids, I'm enjoying my new calling thus far. This morning the kids painted pumpkins (while we tried to keep the GYM from being painted) and they seemed to have a fun time. After the activity day, I came back and watched the BYU game with Spencer and little Maddie. Thank goodness they won, although it seemed like a struggle to even beat UNLV (which, lets be honest, aren't that great at football). Hopefully BYU gets back into shape and plays like the first couple of games they had this season. Otherwise, they're in trouble.

And tonight--watching scary movies at home--yes, I've been watching scary movies with Spencer. It's the LEAST I could do for him..I just hope i'm not up all night tonight waiting for Michael or scary demons to come and get me. Spencer really enjoys October because of all the Halloween movies that come on and although I don't enjoy them, I stay with him for moral support ;) It seems like i've been go, go, going all weekend, and i'm ready for a much needed break tomorrow. Thank goodness it's Sunday tomorrow. Happy Sabbath to all tomorrow! :)

Remembering Grandma Millett

Happy Birthday to our Grandma Millett!! We love her so much, and although she is no longer with us here on Earth, we still celebrate her life and the love she showed to all of her family & friends. Sadly, Madisen never got the chance to meet her great Grandma, but we will make sure to let Grams live on in our hearts so that Madisen will know and love her too. :)

Ah, Success...

It worked!!! :) Maddie went down at 9:30 as told, and she slept all the way until 6:30!! I was a little worried that her going to bed a bit earlier might throw off her nap schedule during the day, but she did just fine at all her naps! YAY!! Incredible--and tonight we did the same thing, so we're crossing our fingers for another good night (I'm always a little skeptical after just ONE night--once it's been three nights in a row, then I start to believe. lol). Now the only problem is--when i'm up for a whole hour once she's down, I freaking miss her!!! It's weird being up with her not with me, but at the same time the time I get to spend with Spencer is most welcome. I feel it's still important to strengthen the marriage relationship, even if we only get an hour a day alone together.

Thanks, Alicia, for the gift idea. It's always nice to find cute (but easy on the wallet) gift ideas. :) We'll definitely be taking some pictures and putting them in frames. Like you said, grandparents ALWAYS love pictures.

Just wanted to update everyone on our scheduling success!!! Sweet dreams...

Hoping this doesn't backfire...

So, we're trying something new tonight with Maddie's routine. Because I want to spend as much time with Maddie as possible, she has had a later schedule than most 4 month olds. We put her to bed around 10 normally--she'll sleep until 6a.m., we'll feed her, and then she'll go back down until around 8:30-9a.m. This has seemed to work out pretty well for us, but around 10p.m., I am SOOO tired that Spencer and I don't really get any quality time together or for ourselves. So tonight we're doing a trial schedule change. Instead of waiting until 10, we started the "going to bed" process at 9p.m. and she was in bed by 9:30p.m. This way, Spencer and I have a WHOLE hour before we hit the hay. haha. I'm just hoping our plan doesn't backfire by Maddie waking up at like 5a.m. since she's used to a 10-6 rather than a 9-6. We'll see i guess. I'll definitely be praying extra hard tonight. :)

And another week begins--Mondays are always a little slow for me at work. It just seems like the day creeps by so slowly. Things in the apartment business are starting to slow down (October and November are the slowest months of the year) which doesn't help either--when there's not much to do, the days seem longer. When I got home, Spencer and I made BBQ chicken "pita pizzas." We made real BBQ chicken pizza last night for our family dinner (everyone seemed to like it, even C.J. who is about as picky as I am), but we had so much shredded chicken and cheese left that we're trying to use it up. And Spencer's really into the series, "Heroes", so we watched that tonight too. I must say, it's really easy to get hooked to any show. I'm not the super hero type, but if I watch it, I wanna know what happens next.

My mom is coming to Provo in 10 days!!! :) We're super excited about her coming, and Maddie has mentioned to me on SEVERAL occassions (a little bit of an exaggeration) that we should do something special for her--so we're trying to come up with a cute gift that Maddie can give my mom--if you have any ideas, let me know! I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Anyhow, i'm definitely hoping for a good night--now it's time for a little cuddle time with Spencer. Ah, the sweet things in life! Goodnight to all!

Saturday Fun

So we went to Gardner's Village today and had a BLAST--so much so that I forgot to take pictures!! I'm so sorry!! But that place is ADORABLE. We got there around 11:00 and stayed until about 3p.m. They have an amazing restaurant there where we ate, and then shopped around the stores. While we were shopping we found the PERFECT costume for Maddie. We were thinking we'd make her a ladybug or bumble bee, but I melted when I saw the cutest Fairy costume. So, of course, we bought it. When we got home, we put her in it and holy cow--she looked precious! Can I say that I absolutely love being a mommy? That little girl makes me melt.

Later on, we had a "Girls Night In" at my place. My sisters-in-law, my sister in laws roommate, and my best friend Gloria came over and we loaded up on chick food (chips & dip, cookes, ice-cream, pizza, etc) and watched movies (Made of Honor & Bed of Roses). Let me tell you--I seriously under estimated how important girls nights are! It was a blast and I had so much fun hanging out with the girls. Maddie joined us for the first little bit, but when it was time for bed Daddy took her upstairs and put her to bed. Spencer was super sweet to give us girl time--he's really understanding about those things. He helped me put together all of the treats, etc. I'm super glad I married such a thoughtful guy! :) And even though Spencer referred to Gardner's Village as an "estrogen fest" (there were only a HANDFUL of guys, Spencer being one of them), he still came grinning and bearing it. What wife could ask for more?

It's super late now, and we're heading off to bed. We'll definitely be tired for church tomorrow!! Because I'm primary secretary, i'll probably be running around the building doing stuff tomorrow, so that'll keep me up. haha. Wishing all a restful night....

And thanks to all the girls that participated in this weeks Girls Night In. Maybe i'll make that a tradition and add more girls to the roster! :) Goodnight!

So this is a couple weeks old, but absolutely CUTE! Maddie is SUCH a talker and basically talks to anything that seems to have a face. The older she gets, the more she talks, and we love it. Maddie has this little flower wall hanging in her room and she will literally have conversations with it while i'm burping her at night and in the morning. She even tries to find it so they can finish the conversations they started. We'll have to make sure to get a clip of that for ya, but for now, this is Maddie talking with Mommy (please excuse the screeching and squealing coming from me..haha)




(Sorry it's a little blurry--i took this with my cell phone camera)

And here's one i took today--she was kind of distracted by my cell phone, so she didn't talk as much as she normally does--she normally squeals, screams and smiles while she's talking but the cell phone fascinated her. :)




(Extreme close-up as she's lying in my arms--I could only do so much with the camera angle!)

Friday is here at last....

Let me start out by saying how sad I am about BYU's loss against TCU!! It's not so much the loss that's frustrating but that we looked like a high school team doing it! Honestly--We WERE ranked #8 in the nation, but since we lost to a team ranked #24 we can kiss that goodbye. We'll be lucky if we're even ranked in the top #25 now. AND--i'm thinking Max Hall will no longer be a Heisman candidate considering how many interceptions, etc he threw last night. Too sad... Oh BYU--the qwest for perfection has been halted. It was painful to watch, but hopefully they learned a valuable lesson--do NOT let rankings, etc get to your head! You have to play every game as if it's your hardest.

You can tell that i'm pretty passionate about football. lol. It's almost embarrassing watching it with friends because I get so into it that i'm yelling and screaming at the t.v. I get that from my mom, I suppose. I remember watching sports with her and laughing when she'd yell at the t.v. And now i do it too! :) As if they can hear me!! At least "The Office" was on last night--i'm addicted to that show. It's hilarious! And Gloria--if you're reading this, we need to have another Office party soon! That was WAY fun! :) Tomorrow, our little family is planning on going to Gardner's Village in West Valley. My friend Jen Lu told me about it, and it sounds really fun. Basically it's a small little town that has been turned into shops, so every house is a store. They decorate really cute for the holidays, so apparently it looks like Harry Potter's "Diagon Alley" right now. We'll definitely post pictures for all to see. Anyhow, I'm on my lunch break right now and Maddie's waking up for feeding time--i'll update soon!

So today started off with a bang--well, actually screaming from Madisen. Maddie woke up at 3 a.m. for some unknown reason and cried for 45 minutes straight which NEVER happens. So, after she cried, I went in to rock her and console her. She fell asleep in my arms, so i tried to gently put her back into her crib--of course she woke up so I had to start the whole rocking/calming process over again. About 2 hours after she woke up, she was finally back to sleeping soundly. I am STUMPED--we thought maybe she's starting to teethe (she's been fussy about eating and sleeping a bit lately), so we bought her some baby orajel. If she wakes up again, we'll see if that helps. Needless to say, both Spencer and I were exhausted today. He had school and studying, and I had work--a BYU Landlord Conference, to be exact. Other than the confusing night, it's been a good day--once it was morning, I found Maddie cooing and smiling in bed when i went to get her up for the day. It's like nothing ever happened! lol. She was very good natured and well behaved all day and EVEN took good naps (which isn't surprising since she didn't sleep as much as she normally does).

My grandpa is back in town which is a a relief. He watches Maddie on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12-2p.m. because Spencer has a 3 hour lab, and I can't take my break until 2, so there's a gap there where we need someone. He's been up in Michigan and Ohio visiting my two sisters, so we're glad to have him back--it's stressful to have to figure out who'll be watching her from week to week, ya know? Anyhow, my mom will be coming into town in two weeks!!! :) We're super excited to have her and Maddie can't WAIT! My mom is already asking if she can be Maddie's pseudo mother for two weeks. :) It's nice to know that Mom loves her so much!

Tomorrow my boss is coming into town for his monthly visit. I'm prepared and ready for him to be here, but I always get a little nervous when he comes--he can be a little intimidating sometimes, so i'm always a little nervous. But since it's "National Boss Day" tomorrow, I bought him a small gift (a coffee mug filled with candy and a box of assorted chocolates wrapped in celophane and tied with a bow--and of course a card). Hopefully he appreciates the gesture. Afterall, he has been VERY good to me and my family. Anyhow, the weeks almost over, and i'm super excited about both the BYU game (BYU vs. TCU at 6p.m. on Versus!!) AND the Office that will be televised tomorrow!! :) Oh the simple joys of life... Hope to have a good night tonight...i'm crossing my fingers and praying for Maddie to have a calm night. Ciao

A Wonderful Weekend

What an eventful weekend!! Saturday was my birthday, and Spencer showered me with love and kindness. Maddie wakes up for a 6 a.m. feeding, and Spencer fed her that morning so that I could sleep in. Much to my surprise, Spencer did NOT come back to sleep after Maddie was down. Instead, he was busily working in the kitchen to prepare his birthday breakfast specialty, "Moco Loco". (It's a Hawaiian breakfast dish that he learned to make on his mission). At around 8:30a.m., Spencer and Maddie woke me up to sing happy birthday. While Spencer finished his breakfast preparations, Mommy and Maddie snuggled in bed!! :) That's the best way to wake up in the morning, let me tell you! We spent a low key morning at home until about 11:30 when we headed up to Salt Lake to visit the "Body World's" exhibition. It was AMAZING to see!! Although it was smaller than the normal one in Vegas, this exhibit had so many human preservations to look at. All in all, it reminded me how amazing the human body really is--and also--how there is NO way that we just appeared from a "big bang", etc. There is obviously a Master Crafter who made us because the body is too complex and intricate just to have happened. After spending the day in Salt Lake, we came back to Provo. Our good friends (Gloria and Kyle) watched Maddie for about an hour and a half while Spencer and I had our first date night since having our baby girl! We had a romantic dinner at P.F. Changs. :) It was a FABULOUS day, complete with MANY gifts. Spencer always makes sure to go out of his way to spoil me--I am soooo lucky to have him as mine! Thanks to all who called, emailed, came over, and sent gifts. My day was so special because of all the special people in my life! Here's a few shots of the day. Goodnight to all!

All my wonderful presents! :) SO excited about the piano!!

Close-up of smaller gifts

The loves of my life

Me and my precious Maddie

Precious!!!!!
All bundled up :)...it was in the mid-thirties this weekend!!

A Rewarding Life

So i haven't updated for a while, and i apologize to you all! Things have been wonderful for us. I've adjusted to working in the office again, and life is good! I was so afraid that Maddie wouldn't know me or prefer me, but my fears were quickly dismissed now that I see that she still loves and wants her mommy! :) And now I have lots to look forward to at 5p.m. Although I had my reservations about going back to work, it seems to be working out okay. We feel really blessed to have this job. Afterall, it's a WELL paying job, we get free rent on a 2 bed/2 bathroom townhome, and i receive health benefits as well. What more could we need?!? The Lord has surely blessed me and my family, and we're so grateful. I'm not gonna say that going back was easy, but after many prayers, fasts, and constant scripture study, I finally feel at peace with this decision. I feel that the Lord has put his "stamp of approval" on my life so far! :)

But I cannot say in words how much I love my Maddie girl! She is constantly learning and growing! Last night we went and met one of Maddie's new friends (my friend Janine had her baby), and i forgot how little they are when they first arrive!! Maddie was 7 pounds 11 ounces and now that she's four months old, she looked like a giant compared to that newborn!! But she's constantly becoming more social day by day. She coos, laughs, and her new favorite thing to do is RASPBERRIES!!! Oh--and she loves her hands! They are constantly entertaining her and she loves to suck on them! She loves to go on walks and is SOOO interested in trees! She never stops looking at them! It's fun to see her explore her new world, and her parents are trying their best to teach her too!

Spencer is doing super well in school! He's got a big load, but he's handling school and being a "stay-at-home" daddy well. Now that Maddie is better about her naps during the day, he's able to do all that he needs to do! He'll be applying for dental schools in the spring of '09, so we're looking forward to seeing where that'll lead us. It's really fun to watch him with his little girl! And what can i say?!? I enjoy seeing his soft side~he's so gentle and loving with her...he's definitely a GREAT father. VERY patient and VERY loving!

And tomorrow is my birthday!! :) Spencer got tickets to Body Worlds, which is basically a museum of preserved real bodies--it shows the muscular, skeletal, and other body systems. We've heard really good things about it, so we're excited to go!! It's only in Salt Lake for a short time, so we're making sure to see it before it leaves. Spencer has been very secretive about all the birthday presents, so I really have no idea what i'll be getting. And--I haven't searched for presents this year either. lol. That's probably because we're constantly busy, so i haven't even had time to search. Later tomorrow night, we'll have a date night, just Spencer and I. I'm really looking forward to that since he and I haven't been alone since Maddie was about two months old.

It seems that everything is coming together pretty perfectly, actually. We love life. Having a baby has really put life in perspective for us and has really given purpose to our lives. Now we're living for someone else which is VERY rewarding. I'll make sure to keep updates coming! But for now, i'm gonna enjoy my Friday night with my family!

Madisen Laughs

Here is a CUTE clip of Maddie--this is the first time she's ever really "laughed" out loud before, so we about melted when she started a couple of days ago. She really is the pride and joy of our lives and we're soooo grateful to have her! :) Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!! (you might have to pause the music in order to hear it, just fyi.)

First Week...

So i've finished my first week back at work, and i'm not so sure how I feel about it all. I definitely miss being home with my baby girl, but it's getting easier each day to be in the office. However, Spencer was telling me how Maddie was giving him big smiles today, and I broke down. I mean, maybe it's selfish of me to think this way, but I missed out on those big smiles because I had to work. I feel like because i'm at work during the bulk of the day, i'm gonna miss out on a lot of her development, etc. I want to stay at home, but for now I must work in order to get Spencer through school. I talked with my parents tonight and my dad made a good point. He said that later in life, I'll look back at this time and say "those were the good ol' days." It's hard to think about, but Maddie will only be small for a little while and once she's grown, I will only have the memories of her as a baby. So even though I do have to work (and i HATE it), I need to focus on my Maddie and enjoy every minute I have with her because it'll go by so fast. And if I have only focused on the bad things or wish for the time to go by fast, I'll look back and regret that I didn't enjoy her more.

So for now, i'm gonna enjoy this weekend with my little family and take one day at a time. I feel like this is the subject in a lot of my posts, but it's a big issue that i'm trying to work through. And MAYBE if i write it enough, i'll start to believe and DO what I write. :) But for now, goodnight!

Labor Day Weekend

Happy Labor Day!! :) Today was a really relaxing day, and for the most part my emotions were in check. My parents-in-law left today which made me sad because it once again reminded me that real life is knocking on my door. Tomorrow I start work tomorrow...for real. But I feel that this time i'm a bit more equipped to deal with the change. I HAVE to be ready to go back because I don't think they'll give me two more weeks leniency. But this weekend was a great last "hoorah." All the in-laws were up helping Kelli and Andi move. Kelli is literally around the corner from us and is actually living in our old apartment. And Andi is not too far from us either--she'll be living with her cousin in South Jordan which is about 30 minutes away. So all of Spencer's siblings are living close by (C.J., Spencer's brother, is about 5 blocks away as well). It was fun to hang out with them this weekend, especially because it kept my mind off of the dreaded day of going back to work. But I just have to keep telling myself that it'll be okay. It's temporary for the next year and a half and I'll still get to be with her a lot during the day. PLUS, i'm literally seconds away from her if I feel the need to come home and visit for a minute. It seems the more I repeat these things to myself, the more it helps me feel peace. It also helps that both family and friends are supporting me in this decision and are willing to help at a moment's notice. Anyhow, it's about time for Maddie's feeding and bedtime, so i'll go for now. Adieu...

Family Togetherness

The Cougars won their first football game of the season!! :) It was an exciting day. Spencer, Maddie, and I all dressed up in our BYU garb to cheer on the cougars, and apparently it worked. They won their game 41-17. GO COUGARS!!!!

Spencer's family has also been in town this weekend which has been really nice. I always love having family close, and since both his sisters and brother will be moving up, we'll get to see them a lot. While we taped the game, the whole family went out to Kiwanas park for a picnic and had a blast. Spencer's aunt and uncle were down from Idaho with their three boys. They are such a hoot, especially the four year-old twins, Garrett and Kyle. We basically watched them run around and laughed at the cute things they did. It was pretty fun to spend time with the in-laws. Hopefully we'll get together often during this year. I think having them close will help me to feel a litle more at ease. And later on, Spencer's parents watched Maddie while Spencer and I went swimming at the downtown marriott. It was nice to have one on one time with Spencer. Don't get me wrong--I love spending time with both Spencer and Maddie an doing things together as a family, but I feel it is still very important to spend quality time with your spouse to strengthen the marriage relationship. Anyhow, tomorrow we have church at 9 in the morning, so i should probably start heading to bed. And now that Maddie's down and asleep, maybe i'll be able to sleep as well. A good night's rest would be the best thing for me right now...

Crazy Day...

Today was the first day of fall check-ins at the apartment complex I manage and WOW was it a busy one. I wasn't planning on going for very long since i'm still on maternity leave until Tuesday, but of course I had to go in for at least a little bit to see how things were going. That "little bit" turned into all day!! lol. Maddie and I went in around 9:45a.m. to see the LONG line of people that were waiting to be checked in. The line was at least two blocks long if not longer, and it took 5 of us about 3 hours or so to chop the line down. They just kept coming and coming. But, the dreaded day is now over, and we won't have to deal with another one of those until next year. :) I was a little worried about having Maddie in the office area (our owner was very concerned that she'd be a distraction), but it turned out okay. She was VERY good most of the day which is no real surprise because she's been good-natured since she was born. Later today, my in-laws came. My sister-in-law, Kelly, is moving to my complex for the fall/winter, so they were helping her move in. It's fun to have so much family around now, especially since Maddie's here now. ***FREE BABYSITTING*** Anyhow, we're planning on pulling at least another half day at the office tomorrow (Maddie was invited back since she was soooooo good). Hopefully these two days will help me transition back into the groove of things. Only time will tell

The Working Blues

This week is going by so quickly, and before I know it i'll be back at work again. Since Spencer has at least a year and a half more of his undergraduate to do, I will be the temporary provider for the family while he finishes up. I am the office manager of one of the biggest complexes in the area, and they provide very good benefits. We live on site for free, they provide health insurance, AND I get a salary paid position. I would love more than anything to be able to stay home with my baby girl, and I'm having a very hard time leaving her to go back. However, Spencer and I have worked our schedules around so that Maddie is with at least one of us all the time which will be a blessing. She'll always have someone who loves her close by. So, even though I feel very strongly that a woman should be at home with her children if she can, I must do this for my family. I tried going back last week for 2 days, but I was a complete wreck and couldn't make it through the day without having crying fits. So my owner told me I wasn't ready to come back and sent me home for two more weeks to be with my Maddie. The two weeks is almost up, and I go back on Tuesday, Sepember 2nd. I have a feeling I'll still have issues with being away from my baby, but I just have to remember this is temporary. Hopefully with that frame of mind, i'll make it through...one day at a time...

Madisen Brooke Empey

After two years of being married, Spencer and I welcomed our new little bundle of joy into the world. Madisen Brooke Empey was born on June 17, 2008, and what an entrance she made!!! About a week before my due date, we found out that "Maddie", as we lovingly call her, was breach and would not be delivered vaginally. Thus, we made preparations for a scheduled C-Section to take place about a week later. We were so excited to meet her, and having a scheduled C-section took the guesswork out of when she would come--this was quite a blessing for me because my biggest weakness is impatience--this way, I knew exactly when she would be arriving. At 11:33 a.m. Maddie's first cries were heard by both mom and dad who couldn't hold back their own tears. During my pregnancy, many people told me how our lives would change with that first little cry, but I didn't quite understand what they meant until it happened. The minute she was born, we began living (and worrying) for someone else. As the nurses took Madisen away to get cleaned off, measured, etc., all I did was worry about her and what was happening. To ease my worries, Spencer followed Madisen and never left her side. He took more pictures of this new baby than I have EVER seen before. And she has changed our lives completely, but in a good way! :) Aside from the sleepless nights we encountered during the first month (she's sleeping through the nights now at 2 months, thank heavens), we have loved every bit of the parenting journey thus far. Her bright eyes, little coos, and smiles are enough to warm our hearts for a lifetime. After praying for guidance, both Spencer and I knew it was time to expand our family, and the Lord blessed us with such an agreeable, beautiful girl. We are so fortunate to have little Maddie in our lives and even now we can't imagine life without her. Yes, there are rough times ahead as she grows up, but we're excited to be together as a family. :)

Why start a blog?

I guess everyone starts blogs for different reasons. So what's ours? With family and friends so far away, it might be nice for everyone to have an easy way to access what's happening in our lives. And with a new baby, there's a lot of special developmental moments ahead of us, and documenting them will not only be good for family to see, but this blog can also be a sort of "family journal" or a way to document the events in our lives. So...we hope you enjoy the entries.