6 months

Madison turned 6 months on August 19th. How that happened I have no idea, but she is one sweet little girl. I am so grateful to have Madison in our family.
Here are some fun things that you must know about Madison:
~She is ALWAYS happy. She doesn't laugh very easily (unless you are Kelsey) but she smiles at you every time you even look at her.*
    So about 1 week after I wrote this I wanted to change it. Madison is NOT always happy. She is always happy if I am holding her. She wants mom all the time and screams until that happens. If she can hear or see me and I'm not holding her she is unhappy. If she doesn't know I am there or knows that I have left she is happy. It gets sort of old. She wants me to hold her all the time.
~She is a mama's girl. I am the only one that can make her calm down. She will be sitting in a room completely happy but as soon as she sees me she FREAKS out and wants me to hold her. She does this even if its Ethan holding her. Its flattering but sometimes it gets old always to be the one to calm her down.
~ Madison would live her life being held if she could. She LOVES to snuggle and LOVES to be held.
~ She is terribly jumpy :) She jumps when I sneeze, when the vacuum starts, when a door opesn, when a door closes, when a bird flies by etc. Its cute sometimes.
~ Animals terrify her. A dog walked passed her at Aunt Kays house and she freaked. I don't blame her
~ She LOVES water
~She loves to wiggle her hands and is super ticklish
~ Madison can roll both ways, and loves to sit and wants to crawl in the worst way. When she is sitting, she scoots on her bum all over the floor, until she gets to where she wants to be. She also rocks on her bum so that sometimes she is on her hands and knees. As much as I don't want her to crawl, I'm also sick of her landing on her face.

~ Madison loves Kelsey. She laughs at her all the time, follows her everywhere (with her eyes) and always scoots to where Kelsey is.
~ She loves toys especially baby dolls
~ She eats solids, sleeps on her tummy, and melts in the heat
~ When she wants your attention she coos in your direction, smiles at you, and then lifts her arms out to be held.
~ She loves to "talk" and spit. Like raspberry kisses spit. She also loves to screech which sometimes gets  a little old :)
~ She HATES to think that she is missing out and loves to be the center of attention. If she is sitting and you leave the room to grab something she gets so upset. She is a terrible napper because she knows she is missing things. She sleeps well at night, but refuses to nap.
 

We feel so blessed to have Madison in our family. She is such a sweet heart.

She started in the middle of the pillow, but is trying to reach Kelsey. It only took her about 5 minutes of scooting.

Love you Rooster!

Daddy Daughter Ball

On August 22nd, our ward put together a Daddy Daughter ball. Ethan accidentally mentioned it around Kelsey and she was ecstatic, but he mentioned it on August 9th... 3 weeks in advance! Needless to say, August has been a long month for Kelsey, but the night of their date finally came.
Kelsey was so excited she literally couldn't eat.

Mom and Kelsey getting ready

Presenting Little Cinderella

 and Prince Charming.
Can we take a minute to recognize how awesome Ethan is as a dad! I mean seriously. He heard Daddy Daughter ball and bought a costume for the event just so Kelsey could have THAT much more fun. He is so wonderful. He even snuck around back and rang the doorbell to surprise Kelsey.

I kept trying to take pictures but Kelsey kept jumping up and down and finally goes, "mom! I want to go to the ball. Get in the car dad." It was nothing but adorable.

The ball was such amazing. The young women were in charge and did such a great job. What I loved the most about this ball was that it was a daddy daughter in any form. Ethan took Kelsey, some dads were there with teenagers, some were there with babies, some girls brought neighbors, and one sister even brought her 70 year old dad. It was so cute!
There were games, cupcakes, dancing, pictures, and a crown for all the princesses. Kelsey came home elated. I think its safe to say it was the best night of her little life. (Despite the picture!)

While Madison and I were at home a really cool storm was rolling in. Madison went to bed at 6:30 that night so I had a lot of time to myself. It was really fun.

It was only 98 degrees!

The other night it was only 98 degrees outside so we played outside all night! We didn't even have dinner.

The girls and I walked around the neighborhood looking at plants while Ethan...

 

played with the 15 year olds down the street. 

We live in very interesting place and I can't wait for winter to learn more.

Summer

As summer is coming to an end, its still blazing hot (107 today) but we are finding lots of fun things to do. I AM running a little low on creative indoor activities so if winter wants to hurry up and come, I'd be totally cool with that.

Sleeping at night in our home is apparently an option, but it does allow for some cuddle time,

some adorable pictures,

and naps in very odd places.

I love how Kelsey will voluntarily read to and play with  Madison. It makes me so happy

I got a new phone so slefies happen a lot now.

 

On August 8th we bought a grill and I am in love. I have learned a lot about grilling with much more to learn but man I am having fun. So far I have grilled chicken (a LOT) , steak, hot dogs, salmon, asparagus, and foil dinners. This is a hobby that I could really get into I think

Madison wants to be held 24/7 and sometime its easier to clean the house with her strapped to me than listen to her cry all day. #cleaningmommystyle!

A night time dust storm

Kelsey missed Ethan and ran out to the garage and literally started climbing the door to get out. It was actually really sad.

Meet Teny and Emy

Blurry, but this is one of the best pictures we have to show the love she has for her sister

At the splash pad with my beach babes. This cracks me up and I love it! For the record~ this was August 15th, the day it reached 119. We are at the splash pad at 9 am. When we left at 10 it was already 106!! CRAZY hot day

 

Let the record also show that the day it was 119, was the same day that our AC unit broke. It got up to 89 in our house. It was "comfortable" if we stepped outside and then back in but it was not comfortable. 

I wanted to add this to remember what it took to plan family dinners. Every Sunday night, we plan out our week the best we can, then I plan our food. I look on line and in books depending on  how we are feeling. I always plan a left over day, I always plan a free day, and then I plan days based on sales and leftovers. I try really hard to include foods that Kelsey will eat and foods that are healthier. I also try to make sure we only do pasta or rice once a week, and that the meals vary light, heavy, light, heavy. It is a lot of work and takes a few hours but I honestly love it and find it completely worth it.
The only frustrating thing is when I ask the family what they want to eat :) Kelsey always suggests salad and Ethan always says tuna noodle casserole. They are not very helpful.

The girls double cart'n it at Sam's club!

And Kelsey being cute.