Swings

"Thanks for the push Ryan" (Maddy's new pseudo-sibling)

Liberty Park

training

Scott has told several people how he taught Maddy to stand up by herself but I didn't realize till today that I had videotaped it!

He had the two dogs and Maddy in sitting a line in front of him. He'd tell Jake "get it" and Jake would stand on his hind legs and get a cheerio. Then to Toby "get it" and up Toby would go for a cheerio. Then to Maddy "stand up" and . . . she did!

Who says that training a dog is that much different than training a child!

28 April 2010

into my lap

My whole life I have just been blessed with things sort of falling into my lap. When I was excepted for an internship in LA back in 1999 I had planned to stay with an old roommate for the few months but unexpectedly, they moved and I found myself without a place to stay. Warren and Jennifer, from their ward, said that they would take me in. What a blessing it was that they would let me stay - a complete stranger. I am so blessed to have known them and to grow to love them for that time we spent together. Even though Warren has passed away and I don't talk with Jen very much - hardly ever, I will love them forever and great feelings of gratitude fill my heart every time I think of them. What a great sacrifice they made for me!

Once again, I have found myself the recipient of a great blessing - something that fell into my lap that could have taken much work and stress to resolve. I wrote the following email to my family on 13 June:

Hi all, just thought you'd be interested (in case you saw my facebook status) in the changes around here. Maddy and Jackson are driving Katie crazy. I was there for a half hour this morning and wanted to pull my hair out. They scream, they hit, they steal toys, they steal binkies - it is a never ending saga of fighting. So, since it was going to happen at some point anyway, Katie and I are parting ways. I talked to Linda over the weekend to see if she knew anyone and then on Monday I emailed my ward to see if anyone had a suggestion. i also posted on facebook to see if anyone there could help. i love people! They are so good to me. I had a lot of people email with suggestions and even those who didn't have suggestions emailed back with nice little comments about how they were sorry they couldn't help.

Well, Monday evening, I got an email and facebook message from Stacy. Not only will she charge me the same as I pay Katie (I thought I'd end up paying a lot more) but she lives 4 houses down!! That is wonderful. Scott can drive home and then walk down and pick Maddy up if for some reason I can't get her. Stacy and her husband Jake are one of the younger families in the ward. She has 6 kids, from 14 down to 3 (so, no babies to compete with Maddy) and she has two daughters 12 and 10 that love Maddy and are always wanting to play with her and hold her at church. They will be a great help.

Beyond all those practical things, I read Stacy's email and just felt a weight lift off. I have been so worried about making a change and how it would work out and both Scott and I felt really great about this. Then, I got the email below from her (in response to my "are you sure about this?") and it sealed the deal.
I am not only sure, but excited to tend Maddy. My girls are all excited too. Monday will be great to start. Give me a call whenever you can. Last night when I told Jake, I mentioned how I had had some hints that I might be tending Maddy. He said that he had too. Our old Stake President said that the Lord is a bad secret keeper. I think it will work out great! Stacy

So, Katie, you can stop feeling guilty about not being able to calm these two kids, looks like the timing is right and this is the time to change. I for one am always glad for the Lord to help us in making these hard decisions and I'm so glad that he has prepared Jake and Stacy for this.

I love you all,
Melissa

As I said, I am blessed - that I didn't have to search for weeks and weeks to find a sitter, that I didn't have to take her to a day care center, that I didn't have to take her to someone I didn't know, that I didn't have to ask a friend or family member to do it who would - but wouldn't really want to.

The Lord loves me and watches out for me and for that, I am extremely grateful.

busy

Just a lame-o post to say, sorry I'm not posting. There have been so many family things going on and I haven't had any downtime at work (my normal blog update time) so my blog suffers.

I hope to be able to blog at some point in detail about my wonderful Grandma'dele's funeral, my great visit with Rachel who came for the funeral, my fun Saturday in Payson to celebrate Scott's dad's 70th birthday . . . and everything else that has been going on since my last post.

We shall see.

Driving

I've done a bad thing. Maddy now wants to always get the big carts and is no longer content to sit in the cart looking at me. She is wanting to face forward and if she has a steering wheel, all the better! What will I do when I'm in a store that doesn't have a car-cart? I guess she'll have to revert to sitting till she can't stand it and then standing in the basket!

Till Noon

Yesterday I was sitting out on the porch with Sarah, some of her girls, and my mom and dad. Sarah invited me to go to the water park with them the next day because I had expressed interest in taking Maddy some day. I said "I can't". (frowny face, frustrated drop of the shoulders "I have meetings from 11:30 all the way through till noon!" My mom and dad looked at each other and started laughing "11:30 all the way through till noon huh?" Oh, I meant to say 8:30 all the way through till noon.

This is what Lillian and I have to say to you for laughing at us (with love)!

the 4th observed, the 4th, and the 4th observed again

Note: it is now the next day at 3:34. I started this post last night and decided to finish it today. I could have done one post per activity but they are all squished in here for one massive, long blog post. Skim if you wish!

Whew, we have had quite the weekend! With the 4th being on a Sunday, we ended up with activities for three days straight. It's now 9:15 and I'm dreading a little bit the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow!

Saturday morning we got up and went to the neighborhood picnic. We have a police officer in the ward and the kids loved to see his car with the light flashing and the siren "honking" periodically. The officer blocked off the main street as our parade passed from one part of our neighborhood, over the canal, and into the other part of the neighborhood. We then had a nice breakfast. Later that afternoon I went to help a friend of mine propose to another friend of mine at Gardner village. I was able to play around like I was a photographer and I was pleased with my pictures.

Once I returned home, we quickly jumped in the car and headed to Tabiona. This is a small city outside Duchesne. Scott's friend has a ranch in Tabiona and we were invited for the weekend to attend the rodeo. We decided to just do the rodeo but not the whole weekend - too much else going on. We got there and Maddy got a tour of all the animals. We saw sheep, baby chicks, a kitten, many dogs, and some of the most beautiful horses! We had a lot of fun running around the property. There was so much grass and Maddy could just run wild.

I've never been to a rodeo before. Surprisingly - I loved it! Even with the fact that it started at 7:30, a half hour after Maddy's bedtime. In order to keep her happy we walked around the arena a lot. We had to constantly watch her because of all the people and all the horses milling around but it was the only thing that would keep her from screaming. And beside all of that, I still had an enjoyable time. At 11pm, we packed Maddy in the car seat and started the 2 hour ride home. By 1:45 we were asleep.

Sunday morning we attended church, I had a temple recommend interview, we had a nice Spaghetti lunch, Maddy took Toby for a walk, and then we headed to Dan and Linda's house for our annual barbecue and fireworks. We had steak and great salads and I ate 4 cupcakes (it's a holiday, so it's ok). It was another late night and we were home and in bed just after midnight.

Before we know it, Maddy and Maya will actually play together instead of fighting over the same toys!

Monday morning we were a bit more lazy. By 11am we were on the road headed to visit Scott's family in Payson. We had great hamburgers, played with water balloons, blew bubbles, set off smoke bombs and pops, and took a ride in the train. Scott's dad built the train and is planning to travel around the area doing rides at fairs and city events. We had a great time, Maddy bounced up and down to the rythm of the wheels and laughed out loud the whole time.

Maddy and cousins Anna, Brinn, and IrelynMaddy with mom, the cousins, Grandma Edi, Aunt Brandy and Uncle Tony in the back

Cousins Braden and Caroman in the way back

We got a great photo of Maddy and her cousin Khloe (sorry Chan if it's spelled wrong). I think Maddy was happy to be bigger than someone for a change and so she asserted her position as oldest by stealing toys and binkies.

What seems like a huge age difference now (9 months) will be nothing when these girls get to be 3! I can't wait for them to be able to play together.

So there you have it, a crazy, long, fun, full weekend. We got very little work done at home but we saw lots of people and had a nice holiday.

go for a walk?

Maddy brought the dog leashes to Scott on Sunday. She wanted to take the dogs for a walk. Sweet Toby let her walk him up and down the hallway, around the kitchen, into her room and back again. He was very patient and good. She loved it. When Toby wanted to take a break and sat down, Maddy came up behind him and pushed on his bottom to get him up and moving again. What a team. Scott eventually hooked a second leash on to make sure Toby didn't take off too quickly, and they all went outside for a real walk. Maddy walked Toby all the way up to the school behind the house. Can't wait till she's even older and can walk the dogs for real!

Happy 4th of July

Well, it's actually the 3rd of July but happy birthday United States of America.

Neighborhood breakfast

"Mine!"

Remember in this post how I said that Maddy and Jackson were great friends. Well, that has changed a bit. I do still come home from work to find them up in Holly and Allison's room playing together but more often, I find them fighting. They steal each other's binkies, they steal each other's toys, they fight over who gets to be held by Katie, they hit, they yell "mine". It's a wonderful thing - right? They are acting like siblings and I suppose that is a good thing. Eventually they will grow (mostly) out of this selfish stage and get back to playing with each other. I hope.