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!

Boys and Their Toys & Big Girl

Zach's phone is supposed to arrive today. He is just a bit excited...

At 7:30 this morning before he left for work he checked the door to see if his phone had come yet. I told him that it wasn't going to be here yet and his response was "I heard a truck and so I thought I would check." I proceeded to tell him that it was probably the garbage truck, since it usually comes around 7:30 and that UPS doesn't deliver before 9 and the earliest I have seen them deliver here is 12:30. I thought it was kind of cute how excited he is for his new toy.

We finally did it...we took away the pacie. I started by always putting the same blanket in bed with her when she would go to sleep. I noticed she was starting to take a liking to it when she would pull it off the chair in her room and drag it around the house. So I decided that was it, it was time to take the plunge. I cut off the tip of the pacie so that she couldn't suck on it like she used to and gave it to her. She immediately pulled it out of her mouth and looked at it funny and tried it again and again and again. I told her it was broken and yucky and that she needed to throw it away (she is way into throwing things away right now) and then she would be a big girl like Katie. So she did. Going to sleep fine but waking up, not so much. So spent from 4 to 6 in bed with us this morning after screaming for about 5 or 10 minutes and when she woke up from her nap this afternoon I could not get her to calm down. I had to put her back in her bed and leave her alone for a few minutes so that she would calm down when I picked her up. She spent the second half of her nap on the couch next to me with Elmo in the background.

And since I'm not allowed to post w/o a pic...

What can I say??? She likes her milk.

Monkey

It's official...my child is a little monkey with no fear. Guess what she discovered she can do this morning???

That's right, it's no longer enough to climb onto the couch by standing on the little rocking chair, she wants to climb to the top of the couch. What am I going to do with her???

She has also decided that she likes to bathe herself. This video is a couple of weeks old, so she has gotten a little better at it since then.

This is what my new phone looks like. It is the Samsung T349 (their version of the Blackberry Pearl (Zach's phone shipped separately from mine and should be here tomorrow, so no review of it today)). So far I like it. It has a lot of neat features, most of which I will probably rarely, if ever, use, but nice to know I have the option. It has a partial QWERTY keyboard and so it has taken some getting used to but in the 4 days that I've had it I'm already getting much faster at messaging with it, and since I have to look at it to type, maybe now I'll learn where the letters are on a traditional keyboard (not to confuse you, I can type pretty well (around 65 wpm) but I just go by feel and it takes me twice as long to type if I look at the keyboard because I don't know where all of the letters are if I look). So far the only thing I don't like is the camera, but that's ok because I have a nice digital camera for real picture taking.

So Julie & Julia...it was a cute movie. The first half was really funny! I think Zach laughed more than I did, so definitely not a chick flick. The second half was kind of sad, but in an effort to not spoil the movie for anyone planning on going to see it I won't say why. Overall a good movie, there were a few scenes that I could have lived without, but for the most part it was pretty clean. Now, the super awesome part. So Zach got us the tickets through the KTAR auction so we didn't have to wait outside in the super long line with people who got their tickets other ways, we got to just walk straight into the theater and check in with a guy with a clipboard with a bunch of names (one of which was ours). When we went to do that there was an older lady in front of us who got her tickets the same way and the guy asked if she had gotten her package yet. She seemed very confused and so he said he would point her out when the girl got their with her gift. She and her husband ended up sitting right behind us and so she asked me if he had said anything to us, which he had not. We were both very intrigued and ended up talking with them for about 15 or 20 minutes before the movie started. Then in walks this girl with two bags on her arm and they guy points out the lady behind us and then tells Zach to come up too! Surprise, we were special winners too!!! We got a little tote bag (I'm guessing to do grocery shopping with), two movie posters, a book light and an apron! Of course everything has the movie name on it, but who cares. Zach was excited for the book light and I was excited for the apron, since the only one I currently own is of Santa Claus (which was kind of funny when I was pregnant because then Santa really had a belly!). We'll probably post the movie posters on Craigslist, since we're never going to do anything with them, or if any of you want one let me know. This is what it looks like:

Delivery & Silly Girl

Madie and I went over to play with our friends Jessica & Ethan this morning (more on that to come) and since I'm expecting my phone to arrive today at some point I decided to check the door when we got home. I opened up and there was this huge package and at first I thought, oh that must not be for me, but as I got closer I saw my name on it. It seemed a little big to be my phone, but people ship things in all kinds of crazy packaging so I thought, well maybe??? Then I noticed the return address. Not my phone...

...laundry soap!

(I don't actually know what brand the soap is, but I'm not supposed to reveal any of the info I have so I can't post a pic of the actual bottle.)

I know, that might seem kind of weird so let me explain. I fill out surveys online and earn points that I cash in for money (it is totally legit so if you're interested let me know). At some point I filled out a survey that said I was willing to fill out surveys and try test products at home. I have been more pleased with that part of it than with the online surveys, because who wouldn't like to get free useful items?!?!?! Right now I'm taking part in a 12 week survey of this mystery laundry soap and so they sent me 2 more bottles of it today! I've also received free diapers (and they were pampers, so not some random cheapy things!) and something else that I can't recall at the moment.

On a completely different note, Madie once again found something interesting to entertain herself with while I was in the shower this morning. I'm not sure why I even put a movie on for her...

Yes, those are pantie-liners surrounding my child. I don't know why but she is fascinated by them. She is always trying to get them open and so I put the package on the counter where she can't reach so that she wouldn't play with them. She discovered that if she stood on the scale next to the counter that she is just tall enough to get them down and proceeded to open all but three of them. Oh, well, what are you going to do???

Do you like the position in which Madie watched her movie the other day??? It made me laugh, I just had to take a picture. She can just barely see over the arm of the chair like that.


So about going to visit our friends...

My friend Diana had a baby almost two months ago and she also came over the Jessica's house. Madie was so fascinated by that little girl (who is so tiny and cute) and was convinced that she needed to hold her. She was so worried when they first got there because the baby was just sleeping in the car seat, but I managed to finally convince her that she was ok to nap there but once that little girl woke up, it was a whole different story. So I asked Diana if we could take her little girl out and I helped Madie hold her. It was so cute, I wish I had gotten a picture. I'll have to remember for next time! It just amazed me how she is already such a little mommy to babies smaller than her and she is only one!