Beautiful Eyes...

I love this picture of Hyrum! I think he has the most beautiful eyes...

Little Mommy

Madison loves to be a little mommy. She cares for her baby dolls so well. She makes sure that they are fed and changed. One night she had to change her baby's diaper. She told me that the baby had pooped her diaper and that her pajamas were poopy too. She insisted that we get her new clothes and that we had to wash the pajamas. Wiping it off wouldn't do.. she's too smart for that. She is very good at singing her baby to sleep and making sure she has naps during the day. She has learned this all on her own. What a smart girl! One of the things Madison likes to do as a little mommy is to take her baby for a walk.
This is the lucky baby!

Madison getting ready to head out for our regular morning walk.

Madison is such a sweet little mommy!

"When I grow up I want to be a mother, and have a family.

One little two little three little babies of my own.

And I will love them all day long.

And give them cookies and milk and yellow balloons.

And cuddle them when things go wrong.

And read them stories and sing them silly tunes.

When I grow up, I want to be a mother and have a family.

One little two little three little babies of my own."

Photo Shoot

It seems like we can never get enough of the outside. Sorry to bore you with MORE outside pictures. But this is the story of our lives. We live outside. One day I had taken my camera outside on our walk and ever since Madison always poses in the same position. Even if I don't have my camera she wants me to pretend to snap pictures of her. And yes, she still wears those sunglasses that Grandma gave her ALL the time!
Madison likes to play peek-a-boo in the tree. She loves to think that nobody can see her.

Madison checking the mail! (Its not even our mail box...)

She loves that RED fire hydrant.

We love our little Madi girl!

My "Buddy"

Madison's nickname for Hyrum is Buddy. They are the best of friends and love to do what the other is doing all the time. Hyrum was taking a break for some juice the other day and Madison definitely had to lay next to him and do the same thing. I love seeing my kids being buddies! I'll enjoy the moments while I can.

Blogging Issues...

I am having some blogging issues. When I go to any blog, whether it mine or someone else it does not show the newest blog post. I don't know why that is. I always have to click on "April" in the archives for the new post to come up. Anyone ever had this problem before? And when I posted today there was no comment post to go with it. Hmmm...I hope I can figure this out. But if anyone knows what could be the problem, feel free to share. This is really getting on my nerves.

It's Electric!

Baby proofing a house is such a simple task. All you have to do is go to the store and buy locks, gates, and plugs. And put them all into their places. After that you have a house ready for a mobile baby. Right?? I think NOT!The other day I found my cute little guy with his cute little pointer finger pop that electrical outlet plug right out of the socket in a matter of seconds. I was truly amazed! Babies aren't supposed to be able to do that Especially my curious 9 month old boy!
Hyrum: BUSTED! (and he likes it!)

Our liittle Mommy of the house (Madison) makes sure the plug is back where it belongs while Hyrum just laughs and laughs.

Hyrum happy he gave his mommy a run for her money!

(Now what am I supposed to do??)

It's About Time!

Cory and I got Madison this cute little bike for her birthday last year. She has been scared of learning how to ride it, but now we're finally starting to get somewhere! She has the pedaling down and now we have to work on her steering, for such a petite girl this is a hard task! I love how she wore these sunglasses the whole time riding. Grandma Renshaw got them for her and she won't take them off. She wears them almost all day long... so CUTE!

For some reason blogger wouldn't let me download pictures at the moment. But I did get this cute video- so that will do! I think this video is so funny for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because although Madison has learned how to ride her bike, she has not yet quite found an easier solution to turning directions other than getting off her bike and moving the whole thing herself. The second reason I love this video is because amidst the fun she is having she is still a great big sister and kisses Hyrum after accidentally bonking him on the head with her bike. The final reason why I love this is because Madison finally riding her bike keeps both of my children occupied. Madison loves riding, and Hyrum loves to try to keep up with her. I just get to sit and watch the show!

Good Times

Last summer when we moved to Florida I told Cory that we had to get a little swimming pool. It took us forever to find one because it was "out of season" by September. Summer equipment should never out of season in Florida! Crazy stores. We ended up finding one at Albertsons of all places. It was the only one we could find anywhere, and we (I) was desperate at the time. Here it is April and we have already gotten the pool out and are having a good time. The kids love playing in the water!
Hyrum is very determined to get his toy all the way in his mouth!Madison trying to empty the pool with her shovel and Hyrum minding his own business.

Here Madison is sporting her adorable swimsuit from Grandma!

Hyrum escaping the pool to eat the irresistible leaves, grass, and dirt. He is such a boy!

Nature

Every morning we go for a walk around the neighborhood. Madison has gotten very independent and likes to walk all on her own. Hyrum and I think she is very amusing to watch. It takes us about 45 minutes to just walk around the block. At first I used to get very annoyed about how slow we were going. But Madison has taught me how to enjoy simple things in life. She gets so excited about flowers (which are actually weeds), sticks, rocks, and trees. I've always wanted my children to appreciate nature, but I haven't done so myself. I have taken walks with my children just to take walks. But I need to be like a child and simply enjoy the beauty of the earth. I need to enjoy the simple things of this life. I always wonder who the teachers really are in this family...
Hyrum enjoying his stroller ride!

Madi makes sure to hop to the mailbox and back every day.

Madi loves to pick the "flowers" from the sidewalk. I don't want to break it to her that they are actually weeds!

Madison loves to touch the tree branches. She feels like such a big girl!

Words of Madison...

"Mommy, I'm a cowboy on my cycle!"

Pauly Want a Cracker?

(My Goofy Kids...)

Lately Madison has been expanding her vocabulary. The things that come out of her mouth are quite amazing. Every day when Cory comes home work all I talk about are the funny things that Madison has said/done. I notice that a lot of the things that she says and does are exactly what Cory or myself do. I don't want to ever forget the funny things Madison does, so this is the reason for my post. The best way to lay it all out is in a list... sorry folks!
* "Get off of me Boy!" she says while Hyrum is trying to crawl on top of her. (Cory often refers to Hyrum as "Boy".
* "We were watching General Conference last weekend and she couldn't find President Packer during a session. During the session, she leans over with her face in her hands saying, "Oh no, where did my President Packer go? Oh man, I lost him!"
*While getting in the car as a family the other day Madison noticed that Cory had an "owie" on his finger. She pointed to his finger and said, "Oh shoot Daddy! Oh shoot!" We asked her what was wrong, we'd never heard her say THAT before. She said, "Oh shoot Daddy, you have an owie on your finger!" (I guess we better watch what we're saying around our home... its a good thing that's the worst thing we say when we're mad.)
*Madison was helping Cory move a family in our ward one night. As he and Madi were helping the moving truck back out she told Cory, "Daddy, Hyrum would really like this big truck!"
*Madison notices that we put baby powder on Hyrum regularly. I guess she has felt a little left out. She came to me one day (as I got a whiff of baby powder freshness) after going to the bathroom by herself, "Mommy, I went potty and then I put powder on myself!" Very proud little girl.
*Madison is HILARIOUS at night. It takes her about an hour to fall asleep after she gets into bed. She gets up, cleans her room, puts her friends to bed, read them a story, sings songs, and the list goes on and on. I have to tell you, its very entertaining for Cory and I both. We just listen to her while we are reading in the family room.... yes, she is that loud, we can hear her from down the hall. Last night I heard Madi say, "No, I said no! No, I said no!" I don't know what she was talking about but Cory just looked at me with a smile. And I had to admit that yes, that is one of the things I usually tell her during the day. Oh, how I wish I could have had her mimic something sweeter!
Throughout this past month I've realized, and been grateful for my children. Madison and Hyrum are learning and growing so fast. They are at different stages, obviously, but they are both sponges! Hyrum is just so eager to stand on his own two feet... I wouldn't doubt that he could be walking before his 1st birthday. And Madison just soaks up everything she hears and sees. It makes my role as a mother more important as I make sure to fill their ears and eyes with good things. I need to be an example of the better, not the worst. My children are precious to me, and I am continually grateful for their good health and development!

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home...

Everybody wants to be with Daddy when he gets home from work. Madison wants to ride the Bull and Hyrum wants to chase Daddy around the house. Cory is so good- he's figured out how to do it all at once. The kids just LOVE to play with Daddy!

Love/Hate Relationship...

Madison and Hyrum have an interesting relationship. They have a love/hate relationship. Some days Hyrum will be pulling Madi's hair out while she dog piles on him. Or some days they will just laugh and play together. Lately they've been doing a little more of the playing than fighting. Which is always a good thing!


Madison loves to be the first one to get Hyrum when he wakes up. She is really good at it too! He loves to see his fun sister! I love watching my kids be friends!! (Its an amazing concept.)

During Conference weekend Madi and Hyrum would go into Hyrum's room to play. They shut the door, and all I heard were giggles. I didn't question what they were up to... I just let them be, and enjoyed listening to the fun they were having together!!

And He's Up...

Hyrum is moving too fast for me. Not only is he crawling, but he's pulling himself up! I ask him, "Isn't crawling enough for now??" This little boy doesn't think so! He has to catch up with big sister Madison as soon as he can!
Hyrum's favorite location these days is the bathroom. I think its his favorite because Madison never wants him in there, she always keeps the door shut. Funny, you think the mother would be the one wanting to keep him out. Madison makes my job easy. Its great entertainment for me.

This boy is a little proud of his accomplishment! Not only did he make it into the bathroom without big sister shutting him out, BUT he was able to stand up to the side of the tub by himself.

"Look Mom, I did it!!"
(I know, the spit-up on the side of his shorts is gross, I didn't even notice it until after I took the pictures. Poor neglected child...)