And I Love It

*WARNING: LONG POST

what have we been up to?

little grace occupies all my 'spare' time. i just want to sit and snuggle with her all day long. she has such a sweet temperment and takes all madison's kisses and luvs without a peep. she is a great eater and usually sleeper, but especially loves to be awake from 10 pm till 1 am. we're working on getting that changed! she has fit into our family perfectly and it seems like she's been with us much longer than 19 days. we love her every bit as much as we love madison!!!

i am not a girly-girl. princesses, bows, flowers, and the color pink, are not my thing. (i am trying to teach madison that blue should be her favorite color!) but with two girls in a row i am slowly coming around. in fact, i happen to think this picture is adorable. but the headband came off shortly after the picture. :)

i put grace's bouncer on the ground so madison could have easier access (i know, that seems crazy) because she kept wanting to kiss her. i glanced over later and noticed madison 'dressed' grace up a bit. she is so good at sharing!

madison is only 21 months but she seems like such a big girl now! we are introducing potty training slowly (she just sits on the toilet before bathtime), she attends nursery at church, and she is trying to talk more every day. we are so proud of her and can't believe how fast time has gone by. it seems like just yesterday it was HER that we were bringing home from the hospital. i am trying to keep madison as involved as possible with grace to make sure she doesn't feel left out or misplaced. so she is quite good at helping (holding the clean diaper and grace's hand, and then throwing the dirty one away) change diapers.

well she bumped it up a notch. yesterday madison decided grace should get to have story time while her diaper was getting changed. she even turned the book around so grace could see the pictures. she is such a good big sister!

just a quick smile and wave for all her fans - while sleeping. so talanted!

ok, so here is a good close up of the cowlicks we have to deal with. notice the multiple directions, on each side of her forehead, her hair is going. and yes that is a completely full circle, front and center.

cute story: i was nursing at my in-laws, in another room, and when i came back in the family room madison ran right for me. cute huh? she loves her mom. actually, she started yelling, "baby...baby...baby" when she was half way to me. apparently she loves her little sister more. but we can't be happier about it.

i got madison all dressed up for a girls day out with her aunt lindsay (thank you AGAIN for taking her and giving me a break - plus madison loved it!) and wanted a picture. she refused to look at the camera. notice all the BLUE...my favorite color! and thats the first time she has kept a bow or a bracelet on all day long!

we were worried about madison and bringing home a new baby so i bought this set at costco (LOVE that store!) for $35. best purchase ever! it came with a stroller, carseat, bassinet/moses basket combo, diaper bag and all the supplies - bottle, pacifyer, etc. madison LOVES it and anytime i am nursing grace, madison takes care of 'her baby'. sometimes she wants grace to drink the plastic bottle and nurse at the same time though. we're working on that.

our first excursion with the good ol' double stroller. luckily madison can't reach grace's face from where she is sitting, or else she would have been giving kisses the whole time.

another potentially cute pic, again refusing to look at the camera.

i feel like i am just boasting left and right today. must be the mom in me. look at this tower! developmentally, madison should be able to stack objects four high (says the book). well folks, her tower has FIVE blocks. but the coolest part is she stacked them VERTICALLY. apparently she likes a challenge!

now to sum up the rest. dan started a sub-internal medicine rotation in phoenix last week so instead of flying down right when grace was born, my mom waited until dan had to go back to work - which worked out perfectly! it was so fun to see her and hopefully it gave her somewhat of a break from everything going on in cedar. madison was so excited to see her and so sad to see her go. when my grandparents drove away to take my mom to the airport, they honked several times. the rest of the day madison would point to the door and say, "beep, beep, beep?". so sad.

chillin' with grandpa

"grandma ellsworth" with her two granddaughters. i still can't believe she is a grandma - she looks like she could be their mom. we are going to have to get a cousins photo with porter in the mix next week.

thank you for all your help mom! it was so great to see you. and i owe a big thanks to everyone else who has helped us the past several weeks - our ward for arranging meals and all our friends who brought them in, the phone calls, comments, emails, cards, and presents from everyone, my in-laws for watching madison while grace and i were in the hospital, and finally dan who is an amazing husband and father. he has taken on more responsibility at home and is great with both girls. madison now prefers HIM putting her to bed instead of ME.

i feel so blessed, even though we are still going through a hard and emotional time. i know we are being watched over and provided for. i am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mom. i love hearing madison say,"mom", whether she is laughing, crying or screaming.

i am a mother.
it is my divine role.
my full time job.
and i love it.