December oh December!

The princess in all her jewels with chocolate on her face playing spiderman!

Santa brought Maddie (or mom) Connect 4!

Spiderman Costume thanks to Auntie Shannon and Uncle Adam!

Chance trying to figure out how to work the webs

Surprise 30th birthday party

This December has brought gifts a plenty! And my big 3-0 birthday... Where my husband and my friends surprised me with the best dang party! Not to mention my dad and prego sister flew in for the festivities. :) It was an absolute blast. I'm completely shocked that everyone was able to pull it off... Joe only had to sleep on the couch once. (He made up a pretty absurd lie to cover his tracks!) :) All in all 30 isn't feeling so bad... Just noticed a few more wrinkles in my hands.

Christmas is always my favorite time of the year... all the decorations, yummy food, presents, Santa, and family. This year with Madelyn really understanding it was an absolute blast. Pretty sure that Santa spoiled her a little more than he should have. She actually got tired of opening gifts! Mimi, Uncle B and Chance all drove up to spend the holidays with us... always sad to see them go! But fun to have them here.

Now on to 2011!!! Hoping this year will be full of wonderful surprises!

Mission completed!

Halloween was a success! Maddie absolutely loved it. She went to every door... that wasn't too scary! If there was a witch or smoke or any scary music she opted for the next house instead. It was cute. There was a guy sitting on his porch totally dressed up... I said come on maddie let's go trick or treat. She said, "No... too scary!" So the nice man took off his mask and brought her some candy at the end of his driveway. :)

But other than that she said "trick or treat" at every house... followed by a Thank you! She was sooo excited... grinning from ear to ear. She was so cute and polite that people were giving her extra candy. So her bucket was full after 40 minutes. Then we went home and she ate A LOT of candy... and had her very own dance party... She finally conked out after some kicking and screaming. But all in all this year was much more fun than last year!

Joe and I went to a Halloween party too... I was all sorts of 80's sexy. Didn't get a good body shot but the lace leggings and black poofy skirt was totally awesome! Joe was an indian, but was often called a hippie or Pocahontas. :) He dyed his beard black but he wasn't very careful and he got the skin around his beard black too. So now he can't even shave it or he will have a painted on beard.

Fall to winter already?

Geez... I feel like fall was here for such a short time! Now all the sudden snow. Not sure how I feel about that yet... Maddie on the other hand LOVES it. She likes to walk around and crunch in it. This year is going to be so much more fun with her... actually taking her out in the snow... sledding and playing.

Last weekend we went out to the good ole pumpkin patch. It was a nice crisp day ... and our mission was accomplished. We pet lots of animals, played in the hay, ate kettle corn, picked out 3 perfect pumpkins and got our annual Fall family picture. :)

Seriously where is the time going? It's already time to get ready for the holidays! Oh Yeah and Uncle B (brent) is heading back to so cal to continue on his journey to teaching. Going to miss him TONS! But happy for him that he has a plan. Good Luck Uncle B!

End of Summer

I know... I know...
Long time since I blogged! But I still am grieving the last days of summer. :) So since July we have had numerous house guests (which I LOVE) my family, Joes Family, friends from Cali... We tried to take the jet skiis to the lake quite a bit... which was great when they were both running at the same time. :) Unfortunately, they have been at Pro Caliber a lot this summer. Guess that's what happens when you have water craft. Anyhow, had a blast during the painfully short summer. The weather didn't turn really warm till well into July and then ended abruptly at the end of August. Bummer~ But on to fall festivities.

For Joe's big 3-0 we took a trip down to the bay area where his mom and sisters had an awesome BBQ for him and then Joe and I went to the 49er game. Monday night vs. the Super bowl Champs... New Orleans Saints. IT was a fun game to be at... Jerry Rice's jersey was retired and all the greats joe montana, steve young, coach mariucci, among others. It was a real nail bitter. Poor joe and his 49ers aren't doing so hot... but hey the KC Chiefs are 3-1. Who would have thunk it?

We also took Maddie to the ranch again... for her second time. It was hilarious because Harry said... "we need to keep the door shut to keep the snakes out" and Maddie all weekend kept saying the snakes are coming... the snakes are coming! But she kept the door shut! :) She had a blast... loved the horses and especially LOVED the ATV's... couldn't keep her off of them.

Now that it's officially fall... the weather has gotten colder which is sad... but Football Sundays have started which is FANTASTIC... Love snuggling up with my family eating all day and staying in our PJ's. :)

Fair Fun!

Mmmmmm...

Pig Ear!

Maddie has no fear

Love these two!

Family Fun at the Fair!

I have to admit that I have been the worst mom lately. I haven't brought the camera out in many of outings... I guess we are just so busy I forget to take pics. :) Doing a lot of pool days, lake trips with the jet skiis, family visiting, and birthday parties~ Gotta love Bend Summer!

Luckily Meghan had taken some pictures of us at the fair this year. It was a lot of fun... well except for the part where my child ran away from me and I had to spank her in front of lots of people. But other than that... We had a good time and even got to hear STYX do their sound-check before the concert... pretty cool.

SUMMER!

I'm so happy to report that summer is FINALLY here... With several days in a row well into the 80's and 90's it's official. I heard a funny quote the other day... Bend has 10 months of winter and 2 months of house-guests. Thought that was funny. On that note my mom and younger siblings will be here for a week starting this monday- very excited to have everyone here. :)

We also took our first professional family photos... thanks Meghan for let me borrow your friend when she was here to visit.

Enjoy your summer!

2nd Birthday, Cali Trip, grad parties, and big girl beds!

Wow as I'm sitting down to write this I think that a lot has happened in the last month. :)

Starting with Maddies 2nd birthday bash! We had 10 kids come to a local gymnastic center with cupcakes and balloons. Maddie really was bell of the ball... she had a blast being the center of attention... not sure where she gets that from. :) Thank you to everyone of our friends and family that came to celebrate with us. (thank you cards will eventually make it in the mail)

Then we headed down to Southern California to visit family and go to graduation parties for my brother Brent (my new roommate/manny) who graduated from Providence College with his masters degree and my little sister Cortney who graduated from High School. I'm very proud of both of you and I know that you will be very successful in all of your future endeavors!

All in all it was a blast... It was a very busy trip...with little to no down time and the 16 hour drive was really not fun with a 2 year old.

Now we are home and have headed into a new phase... for the last 3 days Maddie has refused to sleep in her own bed. Joe has been in Portland so I have given in and allowed her to sleep with me... But come Friday night it's going to be a fight that I'm sure will last all night long with the strong willed Madelyn Sue. I have even changed her bed from the crib to a toddler bed- thought that would make her excited... Not quite. She is in my bed watching toons as I type. Yes I know it's 10:30 for all you moms judging me!

Maddie in her Mrs. Potato head glasses and pretty jewelry

Maddie and Hunter (Jeremy friend from High Schools son)

Me and Kim... Brents girlfriend... Some day sister-in-law

Maddie and My Dad sharing Cake. Do you see my dads 70's porn star hair!

Maddie holding Joe's bud... Pretty sure I have the same photo from my childhood

Brent and Maddie playing. She loves her "B"

Fascinated with the fountain... So cute

The princess at her birthday party

Bell of the Ball

New pics coming soon!

Things have been very hectic lately... between Maddie's 2nd birthday to vacation/graduation parties and work... I haven't had a chance to do much of anything....

But I will be updating with photos really soon.... I promise.

Mother's Day weekend

Terrwilleger falls

Hike to the hot springs... Gorgeous!

Family Picture

I Pout...

Cammo and Mads

This weekend we went out to a cabin on the McKenzie river... It was a blast.
Well, except for Friday night when Maddie was throwing up every half hour from 11:30 pm to 7am. That meant no sleep for either of us. :) Happy Mom's day... I earned a badge i'm sure of it!

Anyhow, she was totally fine the rest of the weekend. Angela and her son Cameron joined us for some fun in the sun too! :) Maddie loves CAMMO!

On Saturday afternoon we decided to check out Cougar Hot Springs.... clothing optional. And most everyone opted not to. It was very interesting. I saw lots of naked hippies. But overall, had a nice hike up to the springs and can now say that I have been to hot springs. :)

On Sunday we had a nice relaxing day... Joe cooked breakfast, then we went on a nice little walk and took our time getting home. It was the best mother's day so far! (it was only my second though)

I am very lucky to have such a wonderful husband and a healthy spirited almost 2 year old. Not to mention the best doggie in the entire world- Love you all!!!
Thanks for a great weekend. :)

Time to get ready for Uncle Brent to move to Bend and be my "manny"!!! So excited. :)

Almost 2!

Saying "Cheese" for the camera

Maddie and her Baby in her new panties!

Spending some time with our pal Geno!

Rockin our new Cinderella shades!

The countdown begins... exactly one month from today my baby turns 2! who would have thought it would go this darn fast. I still call her my baby... but she's really my bratty toddler! The other day at a friends house. I wasn't paying attention and she smacked me across the face and said, "Shut-up MOMMY!" I was totally mortified. She is soooo mean to me! Her new favirote word is shut-up. We have tried everything... time-out, spankings, flicks in the mouth and now we are just ignoring it. She must say it atleast 50 times a day. She totally uses it in the right context too! I know this is just the beginning too. She is so smart, manipulative, tough, strong, stubborn, and loving all at the same time. Sounds kind of like someone I know. :)

Anyhow, besides the new favirote word we are also trying to start potty training. She has been using the potty (and I say that loosely) for the past 6 months. But I have some training underpants and we are trying to keep them on. Wish us luck.. I have a feeling their is LOTS of loads of laundry in my future!

Such a big girl now...

All Done!

Patiently sucking

The Park... She insisted on the hat

Morning Mullet

Well, the last 2 weeks have been full of firsts... We took the binkie away and got our first hair-cut!
The Binkie... We (the parents) were getting way too dependent on the binkie... everytime she whined or cried I would pop it in her mouth to chill her out... But we noticed that she would try to talk through the binkie... and not very well at that. We were going to wait till 2 to take it away.... But Joe decided one night- we are going to throw it away. So he took her to the outside trash and tossed it... Maddie said "bye-bye" and then for the next hour or so... she would drag Joe and I to the door and say "daddy did it!" After all of the fuss for the first hour she seemed to forget about it. She went to bed just fine and hasn't missed it since. Such a big girl!
Hair-cut. For those of you who know how little hair maddie has always had... the first hair cut was a hard this decision was... It got to the point where it was an official WT mullet. After several friends encouraged us to cut it... Aunt Sandy almost doing it herself... Joe finally caved. Once he was on board we took her out for a nice family day... Lunch, Park, then to Kaleena. I had to bribe her with a sucker but she did good. No tears... But she has lost some of her baby look. She if officially a little girl. Sad!

MY MIMI

My mimi, my mimi, where's mimi? MI-MI!!! That is all I have been hearing for the last week. And I love it. :)
My mom was just up visiting for almost a week. Madelyn calls her mimi. It's the cutest darn thing! It was much needed mom and grandma time. There is just something about having your mom near when you aren't feeling great.

We had lots of late night chats... Maddie had lots of time with mimi since I worked a few days- she got her all to herself and LOVED it. Whenever my mom comes to visit... it's bitter-sweet. I love having her in town to talk to, drink a glass of wine with, vent to... but most importantly I love when her and Maddie get to spend time together. But I always get a little sad and homesick when she leaves. It's hard not having her here... and I'm really sorry for Madelyn not to have her "mimi" close by. It melts my heart to see how much she loves her- but it breaks it when she leaves and maddie wants more "mimi".
To all my friends that have lost their moms... I am very sorry that you have to endure life without them in it. And to all my friends that have their moms close by- CHERISH them... Life is so darn short!

I will get off my soap box now. On another note... my blood levels are staying steady... So I get to go a whole 2 weeks between appointments now!

Dear blog: I'm sorry I've neglected you!

Beau Lewis Wedding 2-6-10

Maddie loves the snow!

She loves playing music on her piano- especially naked!

Wow... Has it been a while since I've posted. Let's see- Where do I start... Christmas with Maddie was fantastic this year. She actually understood opening presents. She thought every single one was for her- but we worked through it. I was lucky enough to have my mom, brothers Brent and Chance and sister Cortney in Bend to celebrate! It was a nice relaxing week... Oh yeah and I turned 29. (whoo-hoo)
New Years we had a great night with friends - small intimate crowd, great food, great conversation, and endless drinks! Just the way I like things.

Things were going along nicely in our boring lives- nothing out of the ordinary.... Till one day I got a pain under my right boob- on the side... I thought I dislocated a rib. I went and worked out thinking that would help... it didn't. Then it just kept getting worse. I coughed up a little bit of blood... then the pain got so bad I couldn't cough, take a deep breath, yawn, laugh, sleep, or really do anything. So I made a chiropractor appointment. Still sure it was my rib bugging me- just need an adjustment. Went to work and a guy I work with said I've had a lot of rib injury's and that doesn't seem right. (Joe had been saying it wasn't a rib the whole time) So I thought- sure I will go to the DR. some pain pills would be nice. I went at noon and he did some listening to my lungs... checking things out and then said, "I'd like you to go get some blood tests done and come back in an hour and a half for a chest x-ray". I asked what he was looking for ... he said, pnemonia, pluracy, and worst case scenario blood clots in your lungs. Then he followed me across the hall to the lab and wrote STAT in red letters on my orders and told the tech to get the results asap. So I went in the car and cried... called Joe, my mom and my sister. Everyone said reassured me that he was being cautious and to calm down. (But I knew) I came back to do the x-ray and everyone in the office seemed to be much nicer to me... I did the x-ray, waited some more... Then the dr. came in the room and said- you have blood clots in your lungs and i'm admitting you to the hospital. I started to cry- he said Shocking huh? You thought it was your rib. Anyhow, I called Joe immediately to meet me at the hospital. Luckily Abbey is a saint and picked Maddie up within 10 minutes.
Got to the hospital and went straight to the CT scan. waited some more... they called me a "trauma" Wasn't super stoked on that. Then finally got up to the ct scan- they put this stuff in your iv... it feels like you pee yourself. I had to check to make sure- the tech was laughing at me. :) Then joe and I are waiting for the results and he comes out and says it's confirmed you have multiple clots in your lungs and you are being admitted... Joe got a little pale. I had already accepted it hours ago. Go downstairs to check in. Then we go sign my life away and there isn't a room ready! Shocking. So we wait... I have been at the hospital for 4 hours at this point... not one drop of pain meds. Not thrilled. Joe got a little testy with the ladies and 10 minutes later I was in a room. But oh - shift change for the nurses. We were in my room an hour before I FINALLY got some morphine. Needless to say I wasn't happy. They struggled to keep my pain under control while I was in the hospital- The nurse suggested I stay another night- but I wanted out of hospital hell- and home with my family.
Pulminary Embolism... something you really don't want to know that much about. Over 300,000 people die every year. I luckily am not part of that statistic. Although, it's hard to be thankful when I'm facing thousands of dollars in medical bills, Endless Dr. appointments and tests, Coumadin (blood thinner) for minimum of 6 months- no birth control, no babies, and worst of all no drinking! Not to mention being scared to death to shave my legs and part of my lung is dying.... This experience has made me more scared for my health then ever before. Every pang in my chest, every headache I think I'm about to die. I'm extremely emotional and thankful that for every minute I get to spend with my amazing daughter. I still don't have very much energy and still am having pain on my right side. But overall am doing much better.
Wishing I never got on birth control- (the reason this all happened- they say) Although 5 kids would be a handful right now. :)
Hoping I can get back to my uneventful life very soon!