Fruit snacks + teething = what was I thinking?!?!

So Madie loves the Curious George fruit snacks, simply because there is a monkey on the box. She found a box of them this morning in the pantry room and wanted one, but I told her she had to eat breakfast first. So we ended up taking them to church. I guess I forgot how much she drools when she is teething...oops! There are lovely redish pink spots all over her white onesie and my white shirt.

The monkeys are staying home next time.

Madie is getting to be quite the talker. She is picking up new words all the time. This is for my own purposes (for when I get all caught up on her baby book), she says: butter (for butterfly), elmo, want, salt shake shake, grandpa, grandma, burrito, apple, popcorn, window (apparently), pugsley, baby, bye bye, hi, thank you, bubble, book, diaper, big bird, out (for outside), ball, shoe, shoo (I know it sounds the same as shoe, but she says it when she sees flies), dog, ruff, kitty cat, meow, bird, tweet, quack, roar, vroom (for cars), bus, catch, mama, dad, no, ok and she knows the sounds for giraffes (clicking tongue), peacocks, and monkeys.
Katie is to the point of starting to make her own sentences and it's fun to think that that is just around the corner for Madie.

A couple of weekends ago, my dad was working on the sprinklers in the backyard and Madie wanted to help. It was really cute to watch.

Since Zach and I are both still alive I guess I'll give a little update on each of us. Zach is super busy with school. I can't imagine what it would be like if he were working 40 hours/week. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that he got laid off and is now working for ASU (not to confuse anyone, he only got laid off the one time). He is serving as the deacon's advisor and seems to really enjoy it. He has already been camping with them even. He has always wanted to serve with the young men.
I've just been working away at my bow site to get it to look how I want it to. Thankfully I have a brother who is really good with computers and coding and all of that, otherwise there is no way I could have reorganized things how they are now. Which, if you haven't checked out the site since my original post about it, you should and let me know what you think (click here)! I've had a few orders and in about one week I'm going to be sponsoring the site Make It and Love It and I'm really excited for that. I'm hoping to bring in some more business through that. More details about that next week.
I really miss my friends from my last ward. I feel like I haven't made any new friends yet. There are a few people at church that I'll talk to when I see them, but not much goes on during the week, and that has been hard for me and for Madie. It is a little better now that Jenny is in school because we see Kristi and Katie at least once a week now. I don't know what I would do without my family around!

Project: Flip Flops

Madie needed some new shoes. She outgrew all of her sandals and it is still too hot for shoes that require socks, which was all she had that fit. So I went to Target and found these on sale for about $6. They weren't my favorite shoes, but they had potential and a price tag that I liked.

First things first I got rid of the ugly knot at the top of the shoe. Since I couldn't just cut it off completely I did this:

That was an improvement. But I knew I could make them better still. I had originally planned on cutting the sequins off and attaching ribbon but each sequin was individually sewn on and that was more effort than I was willing to put forth. As I contemplated for a couple of days what to do with these new shoes, the sequins grew on me. So I let them stay and added a cute little flower. They turned out way cuter than I had pictured in my head (I love it when that happens!).

I'm not sure how much Madie likes actually wearing them but she loves putting them on and taking them off!

Randomness

I thought the post Zach did about me on our anniversary was so sweet. I felt so bad because I didn't even notice it until I saw in my email that someone had commented on it. Oops!

Apparently I was totally out of it concerning our anniversary this year. That morning I was making pancakes for Zach and Madie for breakfast. So sweet of me, right? Well I was about to pour the batter for Zach's when they said the date on the news and that's when I realized that it was our anniversary. Oops again. So I made his pancakes into hearts.

This has nothing to do with anything, but I think it's a cute picture. Madie loves to help me bake, and especially loves to help with the clean up!
I had never seen this before in my life!!! Do you see it???

In the top left part of my bowl of cereal is a triple, yes that's right, TRIPLE mini wheat. I have seen two stuck together on several occasions, but never three. I had to take a picture.

If this kid ever gets a cavity I will be shocked beyond belief!

She loves to brush her teeth and the other day I caught her like this...

Apparently one toothbrush wasn't doing to job, she needed two!

Hopefully I'll get to posting more regularly now that I just about have everything all settled with the bow site (which is going pretty well in case you were wondering).

My next post...probably some cute videos of Madie and one of Katie (since we all know Kristi's not going to post it :) ).

Drum Roll Please!!!!!!!!!!!

Here it is...the announcement you've all been waiting for!

BOWutiful Bows is now open for business.

That's right, I'm selling hair bows!!!! I've always loved making bows for Madie and have always received good reactions from those I have made bows for, so I thought, what the heck I'll give it a shot!

Please check out my site: http://bowutifulbows.blogspot.com

And if you all would be so kind as to do me the favor of passing the word along that would be super fantastic!

A Tribute to a Wonderful Woman

Three years ago today I married a Wonderful Woman. She is someone I can talk to and laugh with. She works hard to keep the house clean while at the sametime take care of an indepentant 15 month old who always wants to have someone follow her on her adventures (most of the time it's mommy). I love to watch Ashley and Madie interact with each other, there are times that I have no idea what Madie wants and Ashley simply without a second thought is able to verbalize what Madie wants, sometimes it amazes me! Even though I did not enjoy my 3 weeks of unemployment, I very much did enjoy the time that I had to spend with the two of them.

I admire her determination to have an idea and persue it, her ability to understand what others are going through and offer help when needed, and see insights into how others are feeling that I do not see. I am greatful for her ability to love me despite my faults and see the good intents. I am greatful for her willingness to allow me to persue my dreams and asperations in life and support and rejoice with me in my triumphs. She is a wonderful wife and mother who does so much for myself and those around her. Finally, I count myself blessed to have her in my life and to have the opportunity to tell her I love her, this is my tribute to my wife as we embark on the fourth year of marriage and on into the eternities.

I Love You Ashley!!

On Hiatus

So it will probably be a little while before I post to this blog again. I have a Stampin' Up! open house on Saturday - which anyone reading this is invited to, so if you want the details just leave a comment - and I'm in the process of something new.

What, you ask???

I can't quite bring myself to spoil the surprise and tell the whole world just yet. I'm hoping to have everything ready for the big announcement (and I don't mean that we are having another baby!) within the next week or so.

So unless something major happens (let's hope not) I will post recent adventures at a later time.

Madie's Boyfriend

I have a lot of things to post but I burnt my left index finger on the gift I made for Rachel for her baby shower, so this will be a short post.

So Madie has a boyfriend at church. His name is Austin. The first week we went to our new ward, Austin and his family sat behind us during Sacrament meeting and Madie instantly fell in love...I think the feeling was mutual.

Last Sunday in nursery, one of the other little boys put his hands around Madie's neck, so my mom went over and put that little boy in time-out, after which she picked up Madie and sat her on her lap. It was at that point that the prince charming in Austin came out and he came over to his damsel in distress. He gave her a hug and patted her on the head to make her feel better. As soon as I walked in the door to pick Madie up after church was over, Austin came over and three times told me how the other boy had his hands around her neck and he gave her a hug to cheer her up. I thought it was pretty sweet.

Again, since comments have been made in the past that I am not supposed to post with out any picture...

This is three months before I had Madie (I'm at Kristi's right now so my picture options are limited and I don't think there are any pregnant belly pictures anywhere on here). Yes, that's right, I still had three months before Madie was born when this picture was taken. What can I say...I was aaall belly!