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...