Dickson Family

Ruffle Scrap Skirt

2012-01-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

I had some leftover fabric from a banner I was making so I decided to make a ruffle skirt for madison. The base was from an old t-shirt. My little model wanted to brush her teeth, as she normally does all day long,

Texas New Year

2012-01-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

After Christmas the boys went on a hunting trip and when they got back the girls went on a girls shopping trip to Houston. I missed by hubby and baby but it was still fun to hang out with the girls. One of my favorite things was we took a painting class! It loved learning how to paint. My mom always says I have an artistic creative brain and it was fun to try something new. Christine also got a shellac nail set and I am in love with it. It was awesome, the nail polish looked so shiny and it didn't chip forever. She spent lots of time doing all of our nails and they all turned out awesome.

A trip to firehouse subs..
We also took family pictures while we were there. It was starting to get really cold, but I think they turned our great

I love this picture because it just shows how difficult it is to get three 1 year old kids to look at a camera

Not a posed picture. Madison loves to gives hugs. She is such a snuggly little girl!

New Years Eve...I look so tired

For New Years Eve the kids went swimming and we played games. We also had a chocolate fountain which was a delicious way to enter the new year.

Our Very Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T22:22:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Kade's birthday early with some friends. It was a pajama party, which is definitely my kind of party!

Madison got her very first baby doll from my parents. She absolutely fell in love with her. She walks her, feeds her a body, burps her, kisses her, and rocks her to sleep in her rocking chair. She is the sweetest little mommy

We had our first little christmas program with Madison this year. We have never really celebrated our own christmas with our little family. We read the Christmas story in Luke and opened gifts from my parents, Jan and Bret, and our gifts to each other. We got some amazing gifts! It was fun to instill some new traditions.

Finding out Christine was having a girl

Ice skating!! Madison got on the ice and loved it also!

Trying to take Christmas Jammie pics with Three babies

Family Christmas Picture after church with our very own Santa baby

A new Stethoscope just like her dad and mom

We then spent Christmas with Jeff's family. We have enjoyed some ice skating, watching christmas movies, having an elf themed christmas, reading the christmas story, going to church and playing with our gifts. The little babies are beginning to interact with each other and sometimes it is so cute, and other times it is a little traumatic with some crying. Also other exciting news Christine is having a girl and Cortney is having a boy!

Had to take a picture of this because Madison runs to play with this in the morning and basically all day long

My NEW Bedroom!!

2011-12-11T22:32:00.000-08:00

So for 6 years I have been wanting a bedroom set, but it never seemed to work out. The main thing I wanted was a headboard, so jeff looked up how to make headboards but he just doesn't have a lot of time to do stuff like that with school. So for weeks he wanted to surprise me and has been looking on craigslist, but no luck. Then one day I got a call and he said he found a really good deal at a store and wanted me to come check it out (he said he was too worried to make the final decision and decided it was ok to finally spoil the surprise). So I went and looked and I loved it!!! Merry Christmas. Thanks Jeff for thinking of me, I love it so much!

CRUISE

2011-12-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

We went on the best cruise ever!!!! We went to the Caribbean and stopped in Jamaica and the Bahamas. We had sooooo much fun. The pictures tell it all. I loved spending time with my family. It was so relaxing, and it was fun to have thanksgiving dinner on the boat! There was so many good pictures I just choose a few.

Holiday Cards

2011-12-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

We just got our holiday cards done, I am so excited. I love the holiday season.

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

I made this Turkey shirt for Maddie this year! I love the holiday season. I was trying to get Maddie to smile for a picture and so I started singing and she just busted out dancing. She has been dancing and singing all over our house now that she is walking and I can't get enough of it. I am glad I finally caught it on video (she usually stops doing everything once the camera pops out)! Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful this year for family more than anything and excited to spend the holiday season with them!

PLEASE IGNORE MY SINGING I AM JUST TRYING TO GET HER TO SMILE (OH YAY AND MY RANDOM FOOT JUST HANGING OUT IN THE VIDEO) Sorry I also don't know how to turn the video!

From Letters to Maddie Sue

2011-11-10T13:35:00.001-08:00

AHHHH you are one years old. I can't believe it. I know I am very biased but I think you are about the cutest thing in the whole world. You are sweet, funny, giggle, kind, compassionate, sneaky, active, beautiful, determined, daring, snuggly, loving, and absolutely adorable. You make every day so fun. One of my favorite stories of you recently was I getting all teared up after I saw something sad on tv and you were sitting in my arms and you looked up at me and wiped my tear away and snuggled closer to me. You have such a sweet heart and always make others feel like you care for them.

Some of the new things you do:

You are a talker. You talk alot of jibberish but some of the words you say very distinctly are duck, dog, cat, eyes, nose, dad, mom, and hi. When I walk in to get you in the morning you always say hi over and over and over.

You wave hi and goodbye very good now

You loved to be squeezed by your dad. Whenever you see him you run over and let him pick you up and you wrap your arms around him and then he says "squeeze" and you guys hug each other so tight. You always have a huge smile on your face

You walk very good. You fall also really good. Lol you are getting better and better every day.

You had your first really bad cold two weeks ago and it was so sad, but hopefully now you might have a little immunity before we go on the cruise.

You love to take things in and out of boxes.

You love to play in the kitchen. Whenever I open the fridge or dishwasher you walkover and try to get in. You now have your own kitchen that your grandma and grandpa andrus got you and spend so much time playing with it. You love to pull all the princess tea set dishes in and out of the sink and into the oven.

You love your bumblebee car that your grandma dickson got you. I push you around the house and whenever I am done you have a melt down

You have your 1 year left sided molar coming in

You pretend to play with your hair or pretend to put makeup on in the mirror while I am getting ready.

You are very curious about how everything works you love to try and put your shoes on, pull velcro apart and back together, put bows back in your hair, and many other things.

You do not like whole milk and you will not drink it. We are trying to get you to drink it so hopefully soon you will.

You love to shake your head "yes" and "no"

You love to brush you teeth

You love love love to dance and that is not a new thing, but you now do it on command, and whenever music comes on. If we tell you to dance you do and you are good.

You do baby sign language. You can do "more," "all done," "thank you," and "please"

And one of my favorite things you do is blow kisses and give hugs

These are all pictures off my iphone, so they arent the best but they show alot about just what a normal day is like for us

Stats:

Weight: 19.4 lbs (20%)

Height: 30 inches (70%)

Head: 43 cm (40%)

Shoe: size 2

Clothes: 6-12 months

Teeth: 7 with two on the way (molar and left bottom)

Happy Birthday to Jeff and Finals Week

2011-11-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

Jeff trying to get his trick candles to blow out

Happy Birthday to Jeff!! His birthday was about 2 weeks ago but I am kinda late posting it! Poor guy his birthday is right near finals week but a bunch of his friends to a little study break to come over and have some cake! We had such a good time. Jeff even got silly stringed by the Lloyds.

New Shoes

Getting Silly Stringed at the front door

Finals week is such a crazy time not only for the boys but also for the wives. The boys are studying like crazy (getting maybe 10 hours of sleep during the week) and super stressed so I have been trying to make the house conducive for studying for Jeff like keeping the house clean, having lots of snack foods ready for all the late nights, and staying up and quizzing him. If you ask any of the wives, finals are a very collaborative effort from the whole family! So while the boys were studying I had a bunch of girls over for a spa night. We did a foot spa and facials!

Cousins

2011-10-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

After the party Cortney, Christine, Lorraine and the babies hung around to play for a few days. The babies had so much fun together. It was sad to see everyone go. (My mom and dad also stayed an extra day, but since I lost my photos I only have pictures at the party of them) Here are some of my favorite pictures. (unfortunately I accidentally delated all of my photos off my camera and so the only photos I have are from Cortney's camera and my phone :(

getting into trouble

Duck Pond with Caitlin and Cortney

Halloween Party

2011-10-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our African Safari Family

The Girls

The Boys

Halloween Festivities. We went trunk or treating at the church, the we went over to Candice and Troys for some minute to win it games and yummy food. It was lots of fun.

Pictures tell a thousand words

2011-10-30T00:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Madison Sue!

Also instead of doing presents from your friends we did a stuffed animal drive and donated all the stuffed animals to a crisis center that takes in children that are taken away from their home or who have no where else to go until they are placed in a foster home. Thank you so much to all those who helped donate stuffed animals. They were so grateful for the donations.

Life at our house

2011-10-19T00:03:00.000-07:00

I say this now, but right now it has been so fun that madison started walking! She is loves to walk from mommy to daddy and back and forth and back and forth. She is so funny. She is also my little shadow. I can not leave the room with out her following behind me (Which having a circle hallway to chase each other around it, has given us tons of entertainment). She also loves to hold on to my leg and walk around with me. If she isnt attached to me she is attached to her dad. While he is studying she holds on to his chair or sits on his lap helping him study. (Notice to the right of Jeff he has his guitar, while he is reading through some of his notes he will pull out his guitar and just play chords or play mindlessly through songs, I asked him why he always plays it while he is studying, and he told me that if he wants to be a great surgeon he not only has to study like crazy, but he also has to prepare his hands for surgery! Wow the things I would have never thought of to be a great surgeon)

cooking a cake in the kitchen!

I absolutely LOVE JEFF. He is the greatest husband ever!!! He loves to surprise me, and so the other day I woke up to a sweet note on my mirror and a brand new working phone. (it is still my phone, but it feels like brand new to me). It was having some troubles so he updated it and fixed the power button that had broken! See I told you he really is the best!

Family Photos

2011-10-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

When we were in Midway this summer my mom took some awesome family photos for us!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Thank you so much mom for taking the time to do this for us! Some of these are posed, but some of them I wanted her to just take of us enjoying each other as a family and just playing around.

11 months Old

2011-10-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

(From Letter's to Maddie)

Madison is 11 months old. She took her FIRST STEP on October 3, which also happens to be her grandpa dickson's birthday. It was her special present to him. I did not get to see it, but I ran in afterward and you took two steps for me too. Your dad was with you when you took your first 3 steps.

New things about you:

You love to read read read. Your grandpa and grandma andrus bought you a halloween book that has your grandpa's voice on it and music, and you sit and listen to the story over and over
You love to dance, any type of music you get your little body moving.
You always have your tongue sticking out if you are thinking (just like your grandma andrus and your mom)

You LOVE shoes. You always try to put your own shoes on.

You love to give kisses! Honestly you kiss everyone you see, especially little babies. You could give kisses all day long.

You also love to brush people's hair. Here is a pic of you kissing and combing your grandpa's hair. Now that is talent

New thing you say: Duck (you love your rubber ducky) and the ducks by our house

You love to talk on the cell phone. Yesterday you called your Aunt Jan and she loved it. (Wow you are definitely a girlie girl....look at all these things)

Stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 10 oz

Shoe: 2

Clothes: 9-12 months

Diaper: 3

Food: You eat 3 times a day with 2 snacks

PARTY

2011-10-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Our little girls

Maddie and Kaylee

The Girls (sorry Callie this is the only pic I had. Don't kill me)

The birthday Boy

One of our friend's Bryan turned 30 this week, and his awesome wife threw him a Dirty 30 party, where we all dressed up like white trash. It was a blast. Juli decorated the house so awesome. The cake was a Little Debbie's tree of twinkies, hoho's, and zebra cakes. She used toliet paper instead of crepe paper, and had root beer in a never before used portapotty (at least we hope). She also had picture hanging up all over the house (mostly from the people of walmart). Anyways here are the pics.

St. George Marathon

2011-10-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

I love this picture, because it shows my mom coming in at mile 16 to hug my dad. He is her number one fan. I don't think he has ever missed any of her races (he started to race with her but had injuried his knee and has had surgery)

Hive fives at mile 16

My mom finishing the marathon side by side with her sister

Marathon finisher!

Gina running in with two of her kids

Lisa, my mom, and Carrie all running in together

Sisters! and St. George Marathon Finishers

Grandma with 4 of her daughters

The Fans and the runners

So sweet!

I loved getting to go see my mom run the st. george marathon! She is such an inspiration to me. She is such a dedicated runner. She makes it look so easy! She got to run this marathon with 3 of her other sisters. It was such a special day! They had lots of support from family members, which made it even better. My dad, madison and I had a great time running around st. george trying to cheer everyone one. My mom and her sister Carrie also are members of the 10 year club and this was their 12th time running this marathon, so we got to go to a special banquet to honor them.

And then to end the perfect day we went to the St george temple while the boys were in the priesthood session. What a gorgeous temple. A little bit of heaven on earth.

Letter's to Madison- 10 months old

2011-09-02T14:20:00.001-07:00

PURE JOY

Happy Ten months birthday. It is also our 6 year anniversary and your cousin Caitlins birthday. What a big day, and on top of that both your Grandma's, your dad, and two of your uncles completed a half ironman. It was amazing to watch them. Maybe one day you will be just like them. Your favorite event is to watch the bikes. You are memorized by the wheels as they soar past you! So what are your stats?

Weight- 19.0 lbs (40%)

Height- 28.5 inches (64%)

Head- 44 cm (40%)

You are growing just perfectly and your dad and I always are so excited to get you up in the morning and see your smiling little face bouncing around in the crib. The biggest event of all this past month is your finally learned how to official crawl!! I think Cason your cousin finally gave you the courage to just take off after you were watching him. Like I said in the past months you have been army crawling and inch worming your way around since you were 6 months old, but now you are just taking off.

New Things

You can stand by yourself for about 3-5 seconds

You pull yourself up so well on to furniture

You imitate everything we do (yesterday I was talking and using my hands and I look over and you are pretending to talk and doing everything I am doing)

You love to eat everything so far (we just started meats 3 days ago and you are also loving that)

Your favorite things to eat is torn up green grapes, graham crackers, green beans, and most of all banana's.

You speak gibberish about 6 of the 8 hours of the day you are awake. You shake your head and have inflections in your voice, and wave your hands around. You make great eye contact with the person you are talking to and wait for them to answer.

You love to throw bouncy balls and tennis balls

You have hair and had your first pony tail

You sign sometimes

You wave goodbye and you also clap for yourself when you did something good

You drink out of sippy cups

Started brushing your teeth

First time crawling caught on tape

Other interesting things

Clothes- anywhere between 6-12 months

Diapers- size 3

Shoe size- 2

Food- all vegetables and fruits (in the gerber baby foods), started chicken and now on to turkey

Teeth- 4 on top, 3 on bottom

To My Ironman

2011-08-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

heading to the starting line

I want to take a post to brag all about my husband. He doesn't like to be the center of attention, but he totally deserves it. Jeff decided right after school got out that he was going to do the Ironman in Sonoma California with a friend from school. When Jeff decides to do something he gives everything he has to achieve that goal. That is one of my favorite qualities about him! So he dove straight into to training. He was training 2-6 hours 6 days a week. We have been traveling all summer so it has been an adventure to try to find places to bike, swim, and run. His red bike became apart of our car. Everywhere we went, so did the red bike. He also woke up early or would work out after everyone would go to bed. He swam in both the atlantic and the pacific ocean and also in deer creek. One day he had to do a 5 hour bike ride, but we were driving to Disneyland that day, so he woke up early and rode the road to california. Madison and I went to pick him up, but we were in the middle of nowhere Utah and he had no where to shower. We had to find a random river for him to shower in and then put the bike in the back and took off to Disneyland. It has been an entire family adventure, and we were so happy to support him the whole way through.

His parents, my parents, and madison and I all flew out to Sonoma to support him. He also had two other boys from school doing the race, so it was fun to meet up with them and cheer them in also. It was an amazing, inspiring event. I still can't believe he did it, but I knew if anyone could it would be Jeff. I don't think the human body likes to be pushed that far, and it is so much a mental race. Jeff said he had to keep setting goals along the race to push his body farther, and that is what got him through the whole thing. I am so proud of him and loved getting to cheer him on the whole race!!! To my IRONMAN, I love you.

Here are race results

Swim was 1:08 for a 2.4 mile swim
Bike was 5:54:22 at 19 mph for 112 miles
Run was 3:53:53 for 26.2 miles

Total Time was 11:07:55 (with transition times)
And was 9th place in his age group

and 63rd place overall (997 people were entered to run the race (we saw people drop out during the race and there are people who dropped out before it even started.)

starting the bike

his number one fan

the support crew

jeff's dad was so proud of him. this is him at the finish line

the end!

so proud of him

friends from med school

more pictures to come....

9 months old

2011-07-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

(LETTER TO MADISON)

Madison is growing up fast. She has so much personality and brings so much happiness and joy to our home. She loves to smile and her smile is so contagious. She is getting so active and talkative. Also we are weaning her off her medicine and she seems to be doing pretty good!! It has helped so much but I am so excited to start taking her off.

Some of the new things you do

- you carry on conversations with yourself all the time. It seriously looks like you are talking to someone. You speak baby talk and you shake your head like someone is answering your questions. I like to pretend that you are talking to angels.

-(FIRST WORDS) you love to talk to people in the room also. You speak so much jiberous. You have lots of different tones. You have always said mama, but now you say it and you know it is my name. I count that as your first word. you also call daddy-dada. You also said hi dada when he picked you up this morning. You said bye once to grandma andrus when you were going to bed. You have only said those other two once, but you say mama alot and you for sure know what it means.

-you wave (not consistently), you love to throw both your arms in the sky and it seriously looks like you are trying to fly. You do it when you get sooo excited too.

-you clap your hands together and cheer (you also clap your feet together and you like to eat your toes)

-you sing when music comes on. (it sounds like ariel from little mermaid)

-you can pull yourself up on to furniture. You are getting stronger and stronger

-you love to stand on your walker and you will stand there for about 30 minutes just playing with all the buttons

-you love to walk when we hold your hands

-you kinda crawl. I don't even know what you are doing. You get all revved on all 4's like you are going to take off, then you kick your back legs up like a horse or you shoot your hands and legs in the sky then you fall and start army crawling. you are pretty fast. Every once in a while you crawl a little, but you frequently revert to army crawling.

-you LOVE to swim. You are a very good swimmer. You float on your back with my hand just holding your head and you doggy paddle with my hand under your tummy.

-you eat tons of food. You started loving food and you have liked all your vegetables except peas and you are just starting to eat fruit (so far so good). Today we went up to feeding you food 2-3 times a day. You also love ICE. we put it in your NUby ring and you love to eat it.

-You are a great mimicker.

-you click your tongue alot

-you love to give kisses.

-you giggle!!

-you dance

-you pick up snacks with your pointer finger and thumb.

STATS-

clothes-6-9 months

diapers- size 3

food- vegetables, oatmeal, bananas and you are starting to eat fruit

shoe size- 1

Sleep- Two 2 hour naps, and sleep 12 hours a night (when your teeth come in you wake up once)

-5 teeth (two on top, 3 on bottom)

Our rhythm baby

2011-07-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Madison loves music. She is always tapping, dancing, and dancing. She always taps her hands together or taps her binky so my mom calls her the rhythm baby. maybe her future will be full of dance team and piano like her mom!

3 days of fireworks

2011-07-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for those who fought for our freedom. We live in such a amazing country. I am especially grateful for our forefathers who trusted in God.

Only July 2 we went to BYU stadium of fire and listened to David Archuetta and Brad Paisley while sitting on my grandpa and grandma's front lawn. My grandpa's birthday is on the fourth of July so we celebrated his birthday.

On sunday we had a huge sunday dinner after church with a bunch of our family and my old roommate, Laura and her family. Madison and Laura's baby sophie had so much fun playing with each other and mardi grais beads. My uncle lit off some awesome fireworks that he had bought. They were incredible. We also roasted marshmallows and had reese's peanut butter cups s'mores (thanks to Britany for the idea) while we watched the fireworks.

On July 4th we woke up and had a pancake breakfast with the whole town! It is one of my fav activities. They were yummy!! Then we went and toured around the town. Then at night we watched the town fireworks from my uncles backyard. The whole town reminded me of a little movie. Families were all out in their front yards running around, shooting off fireworks, riding bikes, having bbq's. It was picture perfect. Madison loved the fireworks.

Vail, Colorado

2011-06-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Madison and her aunt Jenna


Such a tough husband

This weekend we went to Vail to watch Jeff compete in the Tough Mudder with his brothers and two friends. This was a crazy fun race!! They had 29 obstacles on a 10 mile trail were they ran a total elevation of 4000 feet. Cortney, Jenna, Lauren, Missy, all our kids and I hiked up parts of the mountain to watch them. We also went swimming in the nicest little pool, hung out in a cabin eating pizza, watched movies, and got stuck along the river for and hour and a half for a car accident. (not us) What an adventure!!

Ragnar Wasatch Back

2011-06-27T13:38:00.000-07:00


Van 1...this is the van we followed

INCREDIBLE. That is all I have to say to all those who did Ragnar. My mom and some of her siblings (Carrie, Helen, Gina, Quinn, Lisa, and Shane), Jeff and his brothers (Mike and Paul), my brother in law Bret, my soon to be uncle Isaac, and Linda my aunt's mother all ran Ragnar. What a team they were! There are two cars with 6 people in each car and runners 1-6 run, then they get a break and runners 7-12 run, then they get a break. They do this rotation for 3 rounds with a total of 192 miles! Each runner runs bt 12-20 miles. Jeff ran 20 miles. He did so good. His best run was an 8 mile downhill trail at a 5:50 pace.


The supporters and the team


The Killer Bee Team


Brothers


Our little family

In memory of my grandpa


My dad


My family

On a sidenote my partner in crime, Jan and I followed van 1 starting at 6 in the morning. We had our little babies in the back and we took pictures of the runners. One time we just blindly followed the runners in our car up a mountain on a dirt road. Sadly my sweet little car made it down the hill and then died in the church parking lot. It is finally getting out of the shop today and I can't wait. Luckily cortney and jenna pulled up right then and saved the day!!! We jumped in their car and followed the van the rest of the way. It was such a fun day.

SAVANNAH

2011-06-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

We went to Savannah, GA to see my parents and meet up with Jan. While we were there we also went to Tybee Island (it is where they filmed the miley cyrus movie Last Song) to go to the beach.
We had so much fun walking in the mornings around the park, going to get smoothies after our walks, going on carriage rides, shopping, going to the fountains, and EATING. Savannah has some of the best food in the world!!! YUM YUM. Got to love southern food. We decided our favorite place to eat was Mrs. Wilkes. So random story while we were eating there (it is family style food) we were just finishing up and this pretty old lady came and sat at our table. She said she just needed a little snack and started taking food from our left overs at the center of the table. We all kind of looked at each other and my dad and Jeff started sending food down her way, we figured she must have ran out of food from her table and came to eat ours. Why not? the south has some of the friendliest people. Anyways we told her we were headed out and to enjoy the food and then when we got to the front we saw a picture of her and she was the wife of the owner. So funny. Guess when you got to eat you might as well eat with the guests!

We also went on a dolphin tour and saw so many dolphins, it was incredible. Bella, my niece, was squealing with excitement and made the trip very fun. It was madison's first time on a boat.

carriage ride

We also had an incredible time at the beach!!! Oh how I love the beach (i used to hate it as a kid, but I grew up) We built sand castles, body boarded, and jumped the waves. Jeff has been training for an ironman so we also watched him swim in the ocean and run on the beach.

7 month post (from madison's blog)

2011-06-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

You are about the sweetest little 7 month old ever. You love to always hang out with everyone and you love to smile. You now have two fully grown bottom teeth and your two front teeth are starting to come in. You got pink eye on your 7 month birthday and I tried to take pics of you but your eye was so swollen, so that is why this post is so late. So now on to the new things you do

NEW THINGS-

army crawl all over the place. You are a little moving machine.

sit up and then flip on to your belly and start crawling (army style)

make new sounds (click your tongue, rap (its like a spit, bop noise), SING (all the time), take your hand to your mouth and make indian noises)

Say mama, dada, baba, lala

take your yellow shakey ball and shake it like crazy and put it to your mouth and vibrate your voice

when you get really excited you like to get really close up into peoples face's

reach out for what you want

starting to eat a little better. You will open your mouth but you still make the most disgusted faces

love to cook with mom, give you a spatula and you are happy for hours (you sit on your bumbo next to me and beat your bumbo drum with your spatula)

love to take showers

love the pool

love to play with friends

eat your toes

Give high fives

Starting to get stranger anxiety and likes to be with me

loves to cuddle!

Stats-

Weight- 16 lbs 10 oz

Diapers- size 2

Clothes- 3-6 months (occassionally 6-9 month for dresses)

Food- tried peas, bananas, and carrots

Wedding weekend

2011-05-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

We had a fun weekend going up to see Jeff's uncle get married in the St. George temple. We met up with his dad, paul, cortney, caitlin, and mike and jenna. It was fun to see them for a little bit. After the wedding we went and saw the IRONMAN race. Oh my goodness those people are so inspiring. I got all teary eyed watching them cross the finish line after 10 or more hours of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2. Jeff was so ready to go jump in the race with all of them. He is signed up for a Half Tri at the end of the summer, and is so excited. After watching the race we went over to Brick oven and I caught this cute video of Madison and her cousin Caitlin.

All about Mom's

2011-05-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

First off I love love love being a mom. Mother's day was always kind of hard for me in the past. I loved it because it was a day to show my mom how much I loved and appreciated her, but at the same it was hard thinking I might never be a mom (which I knew I would be somehow, but for what ever reason on mother's day my brain would think very illogically). Anyways I finally decided that I should stop feeling sorry for myself and really make an effort to focus all of my thoughts into something that made me happy and that was my mom. I love my mom. Even now that I am finally a mom I thought so much about my mom today.

My Mom

She is the greatest mom in the world. She is my inspiration. Because of her I feel like I am a better mom, wife, daughter and friend. She is so incredibly thoughtful and selfless. I remember one day in high school I was having a really bad day. I don't even know how my mom knew it, but I got a call to come down to the office and when I got there she had sent me a card telling me she hoped I had a great day. She just knows how to make me feel better. I talk to my mom almost every single day and I love to hear how much she is learning in school and talk to her about my day. Even though my mom only has two kids, she has touched the lives of so many through seminary, institute, through different church callings, in the community, and through her school. I could go on and on about my mom but one of my FAVORITE things about her playful side. She is so fun to hang out with and laugh with. I know at the times I did not like it, but my mom always pushed me a little further then I thought I could go. Not because she tried to push me, but because she believed in me. Every time I was scared to try something (I am a very timid person) new, my mom would say, "just try it once, and if you don't like it, you never have to do it again." Because of her I felt like I accomplished so much more than I ever thought I could, and I have become a better person because of it. I think that is one of the greatest parts of mom's, it's to have someone believe in you and who shows you that you can accomplish anything. I think mom's are the reason for success in life. I love my mom!!!!!!!

My mother in law

I have such a great mother in law. She has raised and given me Jeff, who is the greatest, sweetest, most kind husband and dad in the world. I know he is so great because he had such a great mom. Lorraine is always so caring and always so thoughtful. I feel so blessed to have her in my life and she is such a great example to me. She has such a kind heart and has made me feel so much apart of the family. I asked Jeff what his favorite thing about his mom was today and he told me it was the fact that she put everyone above her self. He said she always took care of everyone else first and she sacrificed so much for him. He said he loved his mom so much.

My first mother's day

Today was my first mother's day. It was one of the greatest days. Madison is one of the sweetest, happiest babies in the world. I could go on and on about her, but I will just tell one quick thought. Last night Madison was in so much pain. She has two teeth coming in at the same time and even though I had given her some medicine, the pain still seemed so bad. I got her out of bed and we went and laid out on the couch. I just held her in my arms and tried to comfort her the best way I could, and I couldn't help but be grateful for that moment. I was so tired and I haven't been feeling well, but all I kept thinking about was how in the past before we found out we were having a baby I would have given anything to stay up for the rest of the nights of my whole life just to have a baby. Being a mom is one of the greatest things in the world and even though it may be hard at times, I am grateful for every moment!! I am even more grateful for the sleep I don't get just to have Madison in my life! I love her and she is everything to me.

Updates

2011-05-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

From Madison's blog:

Oh my goodness you are 6 months. I can't believe it. You are such a fun little bubbly girl. You have a very contagious smile that always makes my day so fun!! You are a little ball of energy. You are always rolling and trying so hard to crawl. So you went to the doctor and everything is looking great. You are now off your monitor (which is a great thing because you roll around so much in bed it was getting tangled all around you and I was scared to death it was going to strangle you, so I took it off, but now we got the official doctor's orders to take it off).

Stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 10 oz (49%)

Height: 27 inches (91%) which is really not your real height, the nurse pulled your leg and you slid down the table, i remeasured you and you are 25 inches. My guess is you are probably in the 60%)

Head: (30%) I don't know the exact measurement because you were crying because you didn't like the nurse.

New things:

*Got your first tooth and the next one is almost here too

*giggle when you are hungry (it is like a cry/giggle) you get so excited to eat, but you are so hungry after naps it comes out as a mixed sound

*Make sounds while blowing bubbles

*love to babble, talk, and sing

*started eating rice cereal

*can transfer things from hand to hand

*sit up well on your own

*you are a rolling machine (you get rolled into corner's all the time and don't know how to get yourself out)

*Love to go SWIMMING (you kick your little legs and squeal)

*love to lay on your tummy while in the tub and chase around your ducky, and when you finally capture him, you chew on his beak and guard him close to your body

*turn your head when your name is called

*reach out with your hands when you want mommy or daddy

*get up with your arms fully pushed up and get up on your knees and try to move (no crawling yet)

*love to read books on your own and turn pages

*you love to sing!!! You sing so loud we have had to take you out of church a few times. If you haven't heard Madison sing before, you are sure missing out. When I took you to Detroit to see Jan, Bret, Bella, and Calder the stewardesses on the plane were all hanging out with you and taking you around the plane and you serenaded the entire flight crew. One of the flight attendants fell in love with you, and literally took you away for like 30 minutes to show you off.

Stats:

Diapers: size 2

Clothes: size 3-6 months

Shoe size: size 1

Foods: lets just say we are taking a break for a little while. You are just not interested

Nicknames: Always and forever you are your dad's little "Squeaker" (he calls you that 90% of the time), MJ (mini Jeff), Jeffina, Maddie Sue, Miss Madison, at the stores everyone calls you the Gerber baby or babydoll.

Easter dresses and hanging out together!

2011-04-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Love my sister! We got to spend sometime together in Michigan and I got to meet my newest nephew! The cousins got to see their Grandma and Grandpa Andrus also, they love their grandparents. We bought them matching easter clothes and took some pictures. Baby Calder is sooooooooo cute. I am obsessed with him. He has more hair than both girls. It was not easy to get pictures of all three kids but we tried the best we could.

Bret bought Jan and I some frozen hot chocolate!!!

Laughing and library days

2011-03-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

Madison loves to smile and laugh, but there are two people that can make her laugh so much and that is her daddy and Candice. Whenever she is with either of them she seems to just giggle and giggle nonstop. I caught this video of her laughing with her dad last night. I love her laugh. It reminds me of when I was a little baby and my dad would tickle me and I would laugh and laugh and wait to be tickled again and again.

At infant time at the library with Shanna and Austin

worn out from the library

We love going to the library each week. It is right during Madison's nap time but she just loves to sing along with everyone, read, and play with all the older kids, that she seems to do ok without her nap, that is until the walk home (as seen in the pic to the right).

Happy Birthday to my one and only favorite lil sister

2011-03-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today is my sister's birthday. She is one of the greatest sisters in the whole world!!! I can't stand not living near her, but thanks to the phone and internet we talk all the time. I am counting down the days for when her little baby boy is coming and maddie and I get to go be with her. I love you Janny Panny. I love you so much. Thanks for all the fun memories!

this was at world of coke and we just tried the nastiest drink ever!!!
Such fun memories!

Duck attack

2011-03-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Madison and I went down to the pond at our apartment complex to enjoy the weather and take pictures. After we had been there for about 20 mins I looked up and all the sudden the mean white duck in our pond who thinks he owns the places was charging us in the water and right as he was about to attack Madison I grabbed her up. He started pecking and biting my feet (I had flip flops on). I started kicking him out of self defense, but he was still attacking me. I kicked him again and swatted at him with my camera and he finally jumped back in the water. Serious crazy duck. Duck Attack. We did nothing to provoke him, he just is so mean! Anyways we packed up and went back outside. I honestly feel so stupid saying but I am terrified of that duck. Anyone who lives here can relate to this, because he goes after everyone.

Cousins!

2011-03-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun going to Utah and see all our extended family. Here are so cute pix of Madison hanging out with her cousin Caitlin. In the beginning the girls just kinda stared at eachother, but by the end of the trip they started interacting alot more.

We also got a chance to see Cason, Christine and Chris when they had a layover in Phoenix. It was so fun to see how big Cason is getting, I didn't want to let him go. He was such a cuddly baby. Cason was not as into Madison as she was into him. She wanted to play with him, but he was just happy and content where he was. It was so funny. I love this video because she starts getting frustrated that he isnt as in to her as she is to him!

We are counting down the weeks for Baby Boy Allen to get here. Madison and I are so excited to fly up there when he comes and to see Bella, Bret and Jan again, and meet Baby Allen.

Also this random pix is a picture of "Madison's bar." The only way she will sleep is if she is holding on to this bar. It is really funny what babies will do to fall asleep.

Update on Maddie

2011-02-24T20:26:00.000-08:00

I have had a few people ask me how Madison has been doing, so I thought I would post on my blog two post from her private blog about her progress and what happened (so the post is directed at Madison). *Basically when I talk about her choking, it literally looked like someone at a restaurant who is choking. Some episodes were worse then others.

(2/13/11)

You have problems with choking on spit or acid at night. I think I have already written about it, but it happens almost every night. Friday night you woke up about 3 times with it happening. I think it is a lot of acid cause either when it happens it burns or scares you, cause you always cry for a while after, esp on the more intense ones. Anyway Dr. Schwan ordered an EKG, upper GI, and an EEG for you to see what is going on. On Friday I took you to have two of the test's done. You did really good for the EKG but for the UGI you screamed so much. We had to hold you down and you had not eaten for 5 hours. It was so so so sad to watch, but they gave you barium in a bottle and you swallowed it while they take xrays.

You had been screaming for about an hour then your dad walked in the room. He held you in his arms and you were so happy to see him. You had the biggest smile on your face.

(2/24/11)

You were diagnosed with Acid Reflux, which is a huge relief cause now what we know what the problem is we can treat it. So the doctor put you on Zantac and you are doing so much better. Since the day we started the medication you have stopped choking, you still spit up some but not near as much. Through this whole experience you have been amazing. You always have a smile on your face. You are such a strength to our family. You deal with change so well and you truly are heaven sent. I thank God every day for you.

Some over the pictures over the past week that make my day!

Toes and no power

2011-02-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

On the way to Jeff's soccer games with my bestie

Yesterday Madison was acting different yesterday and I kept trying to figure out what was wrong. I did the normal things to try to calm her down but they weren't working. So I finally decided to strip her down to make sure she hadn't been bitten by something. Anyways to make a long story short, it ended up her strings on her socks had wrapped around her toe all day. I thought it was a hair, and we couldn't get a hold of jeff and so my friend's husband and her came over with his scopes from med school to make sure that there wasn't anything still wrapped around it. Thank goodness for such good friends who were willing to come help. Madison ended up being ok and Dan and Emily saved the day.

the sock!!!!! I now cut all the
threads

its her middle toe if you can
see the indention (this was taken
hours after. )

Yesterday was also Jamie's birthday so we all went over to Candice's house to celebrate. On the way there I saw the transformer blow and all the power on Candice's block went out. It was crazy. All these pictures are taken in the darkness (we had some candles lite)

Madison's Crib

2011-01-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

Madison slept in her own crib last night for the first time! I think she was ready, it just took time for me to be ready. She does some things that made me afraid to let her sleep alone but Jeff and I had a few trail runs with her and she seemed to do really well on her own and pulled out of it. I wish I could help her all the time, but she has to learn to do stuff on her own or else she will never learn. I did not sleep much at all last night but I am so glad she did. She is such a sweet baby.

the Smith's visit

2011-01-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

One of my favorites. They have almost the same expression on their face and they are almost holding hands.

Austin did not know what to think of the girls lying in his living room

We were so excited that Laura, Kevin and Sophie got to come visit us in Arizona. Kevin is from here and so they were visiting his family. Laura is my old roommate and she also used to live here about 4 years ago. Shanna (also an old roommate) and I live here now and it was so fun to have a little reunion. We missed Jenna so much, then we would have been complete. Laura had a baby right before madison was born and it was so fun to meet her little girl. She was so sweet, I wanted to keep her. Madison and her had a great time, and Austin just liked to watch the girls.

Disney World

2011-01-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

Jan and I and our girls went to disney world to watch my parents run in the half marathon. Unfortunately the boys were in school but they were nice enough to let us go. We had a great time. Bella made disney world such a magical place. She was so excited about everything and loved seeing Minnie and all the princesses. I loved getting to spend time with my mom and dad and jan and bella. We stayed at disney for a few days then flew back to atlanta.

We flew in right as the snow came in. We got snowed in my parents home for 3 days. Everything shut down because no one could get out. Everything was a solid piece of ice!

Jan and Bella Visit

2010-12-13T20:49:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love being with my sister. I have missed her so much. We talk everyday and it made it so much better to have her here in person. Her and Bella were a huge help with Madison. Bella and Madison were pretty much inseparable. One of the first things Bella would say after her naps was "Madison?" She also loved when Jeff would come home, she would yell his name and run to the door when he would come home from school.

Madison Smiles

2010-12-01T16:43:00.000-08:00

Madison's beautiful smile

Madison smiled for the first time today 12/1/10. It was so cute. She was sitting in her Bumbo and then she smiled about 4 times while I was clapping for you for keeping your neck up. She is 5 weeks old today. Jeff just walked in the house from getting out of class, perfect timing. She is such a sweet baby.

*These pictures don't show her smiling, because i couldnt catch her doing it, but these were taken a few hours before.

Blessing day

2010-11-24T11:51:00.001-08:00

Madison had her baby blessing on November 21, 2010. We felt so blessed to have some of our family come into town. For most that was the first time they met her. It was a very special day for us and we were grateful for those who put in so much effort to be there. Here are some pictures from that day. Also the dress was my blessing dress from when I was a baby made by my grandma Andrus.

Family that attended.

Generation pictures.

I am grateful for

2010-11-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

My new nephew... Welcome Cason Brock Mead. Born November 6, 2010. 7 lbs 1 oz. 20 inches long. He is so adorable I cant wait to meet him!! Congrats Christine and Chris.

My Mom.....I am really missing my mom right now. My awesome mom came and stayed with me for a little over a week. She helped me so much with Maddie. It is amazing how much there is to know about little babies I felt like I had stepped into a foreign country. She knew all these little tips and secrets I could have never figured out of my own. Maddie was in heaven with her Grandma always holding her and playing with her. Thank you mom for all your help and thanks for your example.

Jeff...Jeff is heading into finals this week. He has done an amazing job in his first semester. It is incredible how much he is responsible to know. On top of school he has been taking such good of me and Maddie. Some of our friend were talking about how whipped he is over his little baby girl. It is so true. Not a minute goes by when he is home that he is not with her or just trying to be near her. He is such a great dad. He runs to hold her when she is fussy, he is not afraid to change her diapers, and reads her scriptures at night. I am so grateful for such an amazing husband.

Jeff and his favorite study buddy

Madison's birth story

2010-11-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

Madison arrived on October 27, 2010 at 2020. She weighed 6 lbs 4 oz and are 19 inches long. She is prefect in every way. We are so excited to have her in our family. We love you Madison.

Birth Story

On Sunday I started contracting every 5 minutes during our Ward primary program. I told Jeff they were getting very strong and I needed to go home and lay down. I went home and took a short little stroll to see if they would get any stronger then I laid down for a nap. When I woke up the contractions were gone.

On Monday, contractions came and went all day. Some were strong, some were weak, but no real progression.

I woke up on Tuesday (10/26) morning and realized something was different. I was contracting the same as the day before, but I kept thinking that I had to use the restroom all the time. I was almost scared to get up because when I did more fluid came out. It was a very weird day. I went out with some girls to do some vinyl lettering, then Shanna Graff and I went out to lunch. Later that night I called my friend Juli and told her that I needed to walk. We went on a 2 mile walk and the whole time the fluid kept coming. I told her something is weird, but I had my appointment tomorrow and I would figure it out then. Everyone kept telling me my water had broken, but there were no other signs, like I never went into labor, it would stop and start, and it didn't seem like the movies with the gush of fluid (I should have listened, I know you are thinking you are a nurse. I know, I know. I think i was kinda in denial, and i kept looking for all the other signs.)

On Wednesday I went to my doctor's appointment. Jeff made it up there barely in between classes. I told the doctor my story and sure enough as soon as they went to check, all the fluid came out. He told me your water definitely broke and you will be delivering this baby tonight. Jeff had a final in 20 minutes, so with an adrenaline rush he drove me to the hospital and ran to take his final. (Can you believe he even got a 98 on the test). I hurried and called my mom and dad and then I got checked in.

I was at the hospital at around 1:00 pm. I sat in triage for a while they checked on info from the doctor. Juli came up to check on me, while our husbands were in the final. They moved me to room 7 and started my IV, Pitosin, and IV fluid. Jeff got back around 3:00 o'clock and then around 4 they started my epidural. Juli and Bryan brought us up some movies and jolly ranchers (Thank you). Then about 7 o'clock they told me that I was 8 cm dilated. They called the Doctor. I did a few practice pushes before he got there. When the doctor got there he gowned up and so did Jeff. The Doctor explained to Jeff (We were friend's with the doctor, and jeff is a first year med student) what he would be doing, then they told me to start pushing. I pushed for 10 minutes and then Jeff caught her(with the doctor right by him) then he cut the cord and passed Madison to me. It was amazing. He did so good. He was up at my side and we just looked at her. She was prefect in every way. I felt an overwhelming feeling of love for her. Then they took her away and cleaned her up. Jeff stayed with her, and would not let her out of his sight. It was a prefect delivery. Heavenly Father sent us an angel.

Bathtime

Visitors

Grandma Andrus got here about noon the next day. She loves to be with Madison. She love sitting with her. She is so good with her. She teaches me so much about taking care of her.

Midwestern Girls: Emily, Me, Kaylee, Callie, Juli, Chelsea

Rob, Jeff, you, Stephanie Medical school friends

BYU friends- Shanna (my old college roommate), Matthew and Austin

Bryan and Juli helped keep us company

Going Home

And the Winner Is

2010-11-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

Jeff is the winner...

Only by default because he guessed everyday. Our little angel was born October 27, 2010 at 8:20 pm (which the nurses kept telling me was 2020 in military time). She weighed 6 lbs 4 oz and was 19 inches long.

Welcome Madison Sue

Maternity Pics

2010-10-12T01:32:00.001-07:00

(Click for larger image)

So this weekend the Dewey's and us went to the Arizona Tonto Desert. Juli called our babies the "Desert Babies" so what better place to go take maternity pictures, then in the Arizona Desert. It was really pretty out there, and we had a great time. Here are some of my favorites.

Juli and I

(Juli- 28 Weeks, Me-37 Weeks)

Guessing Game

So update on the baby. I am measuring at 2 cm dilated, and I have been having contractions about every 15 minutes all day long. They are definitely getting stronger. My sister thinks that I should have everyone try and guess when Madison will be born. So here it goes.

Guesses so far

Jeff- October 15

Dad- October 19

Kaylee- October 22

Camie and Linnae- Oct 24

Juli- Oct 25

Ashley- Oct 26

Jamie Slade and Jan- Oct 28

Melissa- October 29

(which is her due date)

Kelly- Nov 6

Mom- Nov 14th (when finals are over)

Jeff told me his new guess is every day. He is says he is dying to meet her. He says the thing he looks forward to most is getting to take naps with her. :)

This photo was taken by Juli

(we were just playing around with the camera)

36 weeks

2010-10-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

Yea October has arrived. Madison is due in exactly 4 weeks!!!! I can't wait. So just a little update. We went to the doctor (who by the way we lucked out because he is an awesome doctor, I would recommend him to everyone) and I am 80% effaced and 1 cm dilated. He said I am a little further along then most people at 36 weeks, so he wouldn't be surprised if I went a little early, but at the same time it is a first baby and so they tend to come right near their due date. So we will see, whenever she wants to come is fine with me.

Also I have been having problems with blacking out and passing out. So I had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours and I have to have an ultrasound of my heart. They don't think there is a problem with my heart but just in case they are making sure. I just drink water all the time and am not allowed to drive anymore. (Thank goodness for such wonderful friends and a husband who help drive me around places... Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!) Here is a pic of my get up (I think i look like ironman, and jeff rigged up a strap for me so I didn't have to carry the box every where)

Babies

2010-09-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

Jan is going to have a little baby. I am so excited. Madison will have a little cousin her age and Bella will be such a good big sister. Jan is due April 11. Jan had a layover in Phoenix about a month and a half ago and called me early in the morning to tell me to roll out of bed and come see her (very unexpected- hence the bad picture of me and I barely have any makeup on), but we were so excited we would get to have a pregnancy pic together since we wouldn't see each other before Madison is born. It was very fun.

So I will be 35 weeks in 2 days. I can't believe it. Only about 5 more weeks left. It is flying by. Jeff and I went on a date the other night and we were talking about how excited we are for her to come and how our life is about to completely change for the good, for the good. She will be a wonderful blessing to our home.

Makes me smile

2010-09-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I had fun making sure that the baby travel bed worked well for the baby. It was awesome. I can't wait for her to try it out. Very comfortable...even fits her dad. He makes me smile.

Bella, Jan, and I had so much fun the other day on ichat. Bella is so animated. we worked on the fight song for the cougar game yesterday! Go Cougars. They won. She makes me smile! I love when she points like a little cheerleader when she says "U." She even has all her BYU gear on!

My Mom

2010-09-02T20:50:00.001-07:00

My Mom came to visit me here in Arizona. It was so fun to have her here. I had been missing her a lot, and since she starts school in about 2 weeks I am glad she made it out here before school started. We had such a great time, we went shopping, ate lots of good food, decorated the baby room, got a massage, worked out together, watched movies, and just enjoyed spending time together. It was so so much fun. I was so grateful to have her help me with the baby room, I could not have done it without her. I will hang up pictures in a little bit when it is completely complete.

First comes Love, Then comes Marriage, Then comes a baby in a baby carriage

2010-08-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

Heavenly Bliss

Today is our 5 year Anniversary. Man time flies by so fast. I love Jeff so much. He is a sweet sweet husband. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. He makes me feel like a princess every day. We have so much fun together. I could list off a million things, life is never dull with Jeff, but my favorite is when he comes up and hugs me for no reason just to tell me he loves me and how beautiful I am. I get spoiled.

Us on our Anniversary

He is gone a lot more now that school is started but I think it really makes us appreciate the moments we do get to spend together. The greatest thing that makes this anniversary so special is that our little baby will be here in 9 weeks, what could be a better 5 year present then that.

Us at our honeymoon in Cancun

Also my Paul and Cortney had a baby today also. She is adorable and such a sweet little baby. I can't wait to meet her. Here is a picture of baby Caitlin. I love all her hair, it is amazing.

My Mom

2010-08-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful amazing Mom today!! I hope I look just like her when I am her age. She is my role model in life. If anyone knows my mom the first thing you notice about her is her smile. She always has a smile on her face and always asks how your day is going. She has such a giving heart and loves to have fun in life. Also she is an amazing runner. Tomorrow morning she is running 22 miles to prepare for her marathon. She has been working with a trainer and running group and she has really improved her running. She will be running her 16th marathon in October (I think it is 16, correct me if I am wrong mom). She has so much dedication to everything she does in school, in church, in running, and in her family. She is the greatest women I know, and best mother ever. She always knows just what to say to make my day. I hope I can be as good a mother as she has been to be. I love you mom. Happy Birthday!!!

30 weeks

2010-08-22T20:47:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I am already 30 weeks. I am so excited. Only 10 more weeks left.

We get to meet our doctor on Wednesday, the actual doctor who will deliver the baby. I have heard a lot of good things about him so I am really excited to meet him. We will also have an ultrasound on wednesday. It will be so good to see the baby again.

Through this whole experience..starting from fertility treatment to now we have had 6 doctors. I am grateful for all of them, each had a little thing they were able to add to help us get to this point and then when they were done we got referred to the next doctor...so we will finally be meeting the FINAL doctor!!! Also we have had 7 different insurances and about to go on number 8. CRAZY CRAZY.

Here is how the pregnancy is going (Sorry this may bore you, but this helps me journal it for later)

-braxton hicks contractions (about 4-6 a day)

-acid reflux

-lots of pillows to sleep with

-baby is a wild kicker (which I am very grateful for because it helps comfort me to know she is ok) *for a while loved to be up near my right ribs (which I think have now been bruised) and made it very difficult to breath but now she has dropped a little so I can breath better.

-slowing down my workouts

-being in the pool is one of my favorite activities (I can float around on my tummy and feel bouyant)

-a very loving husband who always checks on me to make sure I am doing ok

-a brand new crib and baby bedding (I will post once the room is complete)

End of Summer.....School's back in!

2010-08-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

So we have had a very fun summer. Here are some of the things we have been doing. Also here are some of the pictures from the family shower that my sister and Mom threw me in Utah. They did an amazing job. Definitely play special attention to the adorable cake pops and the amazing baby "shower" cake.

So Jeff started Medical School. It felt very surreal. Jeff has been planning to go to Medical school since I have known him, and it is so exciting to see his dream beginning to become a reality. He came home yesterday after his first day, and said, "this is not going to be easy," and "I love it." It is going to be a fun, long, hard ride, but we are in it together, and I love him. Here is a picture before he left for his first day.

Moving Time

2010-07-16T19:39:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is moving day!! We are really excited for our new adventure to start, but definitely sad about living TEXAS. We have been so busy working, traveling and packing and I am excited to be relaxing a little bit once we get there before Jeff starts school.

BABY UPDATE!!! Our little baby girl is doing very good. I am 25 weeks today and time is flying by. I have been feeling pretty good. I have really enjoyed being pregnant and preparing for her to come. Jeff and her have daddy/daughter time while I am sleeping. She is active at all times, but mostly at night while I am sleeping and so he loves feeling her move because he doesn't really sleep either. I am sad to be leaving Christine, because it has been so fun to be pregnant together. Here is me at 25 weeks.

Here is what we have been doing...

UTAH family reunions

Mom, Jan and I at Sunday Dinner calder family hanging out in Midwayjeff and I at Ensign Peak in Utah

(Utah baby shower pics coming (jan can you please send them to me)

We have felt so abundantly blessed to everyone who came to the showers. I even had an great aunt run off a plane to come, and my Grandma drove in from another state. It really meant alot to me.

And last days in Texas (Jeff ran a triathlon and Bekah turned 16)

20 weeks

2010-06-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

This post is about a week late but I thought I would still put up the picture. This is me at 20 weeks. I have been about the same size for a couple weeks now but I don't think for long.

(not the best picture, I am kinda sick, but it will do)

So I am 21 weeks and life things are going good. We have decided on a name for the baby. Her name is going to be Madison Sue. She kicks non-stop and I absolutely love it. She keeps me company. She has got a great kick... Jeff is predicting a soccer/drill team girl. Whenever he feels her kick he gets the biggest smile on his face.

I had a doctor's appointment last week and they told me she is right on target. She measures the size she is supposed to right now, she has all her organs, all her little fingers and toes. It was so fun to see her on the ultrasound, she loves to move a lot and be active (like her dad) and then curl up in a little ball (like her mom, I love to sleep all curled up).

This is a gift from my mom, dad, jan, bella, and grandma calder when we found out we were having a girl. Lots of pink!!! Love it!!

BIG HAPPENINGS

2010-05-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

My mom graduated from SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) with her bachelors in Photographer. It was an amazing graduation ceremony. I am so proud of my mom she has worked so hard and graduated Suma Cum Latte (which I probably did not spell write, but it means she graduated top 1 percent in her class.) She inspires me everyday.

Also Jeff ran a Sprint triathlon last week and placed third. This week he ran the Austin Olympic Triathlon and did amazing. Jeff has trained so hard. Jeff has this amazing determination and drive. Anyone who knows Jeff, knows that if he sets his mind on doing something he does it. He doesn't just do it partially, he does it full out. He amazes me all the time.

And the third BIG happening is we found out that we are having a BABY....................

I love Jeff's face in this video. It is pure joy. We are so excited!!

Week 18

2010-05-30T12:25:00.001-07:00

Baby Update!

Things on going pretty good. I have felt blessed. I am kinda a boring pregnant person. I had been sick in the past but that's mostly gone (unless I smell or taste mint, cooked mushrooms, fish, or jalapenos), I don't really have any cravings, I love to sleep, and other than that not much else.

I am beginning to start to show, and getting out of the "she looks like she is gaining a little around the mid section," which is fun. Jeff says all the sudden this week I started growing by the day (He was very clear to make sure I knew he was talking about my belly not the rest of my body).

Here is my 18 week picture!!

Also it has been so exciting to be pregnant with my other two sister in laws Christine and Cortney. Congratulations to them. Cortney is due 8 weeks before me and Christine is due 3 1/2 weeks behind me. It has been fun to swap stories and hear good advice from them.

Days off

2010-05-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to have my first day off in about 2 weeks!!! I have been exhausted. When I got home from work I told Jeff I have no idea how I made it home driving. I was so tired and completely worn out that I couldn't focus on anything but sleeping.

So what am I going to do on my day off....RELAX. Of course I couldn't sleep in because my body is so used to waking up so early, so I decided to go work out, update my blog, and sleep, sleep, sleep.

Anyways I was looking through some old pics and I found these. This was from last winter when The Webbs, Paul and Cortney, Brad, Jeff and I all decided to take Scuba Diving lessons. Scuba diving is awesome.

Our little blessing from God

2010-04-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

We feel so blessed to announce we are 12 weeks pregnant. Jeff and I couldn't be more excited. We have been waiting for this baby for a long time. Jeff has been so amazing and supportive through this whole experience. He has such a tender spirit and has been so sweet to me (sorry I know you are supposed to be tough) Through this trial Jeff and I have grown closer together, learned to rely more on each other, and rely on the strength of God. I couldn't have asked for a greater blessing. We have felt strength through this trial and have really learned to appreciate the little things in life. We truly began to understand God's plan for our family and His hands in our lives. We appreciate all those who helped us through this and the many prayers on our behalf. We couldn't have asked for better family and friends, especially my sister, sister's-in-law, jeff's parents, brother's-in-law, my Daddy, MY WONDERFUL AMAZING HUSBAND, and my wonderful sweet Mom who supported me through all the tears and helped show me the type of mom I want to be.

Celebrations

2010-04-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the sweetest, kindest, best sister in the world. Jan celebrated her 23rd birthday on March 28th. I love you Jannie Pannie!!!!!

Happy Birthday to the greatest, most fun, kindest, best dad in the world. My dad celebrated his birthday in India, as he was on a business trip there. The life of my dad, it is truly amazing. This was his big 50th birthday. My dad says he feels even better than he felt when he turned 40. He started running alot with my mom, and he says he feels so much better. I love you Daddy!!

Also congrats to my brother in law Michael who got engaged to Jenna. They are so cute. Jeff and I got to meet her when we were in Utah for my birthday and we are so excited to have her as part of the family. She is an awesome girl and I am really excited for the two of them.

What the future holds

2010-03-19T17:35:00.001-07:00

Jeff will be going to Midwestern University for Medical School. We are so excited!! We are really looking forward to it. Jeff absolutely loved the school. Medical School here we come......

This picture was taken on the day of his interview.

Spring Break

2010-03-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

We had a great Spring Break. We went and saw the phantom, which was amazing. We were 5 rows from the front, dead center. Then we went to the Austin Fair, rodeo, and the concert for boys like girls. Such a fun night.

That is a fried milky way, gotta love the fair.

These boys definitely like their girls..... it just shows all over their faces!

Busy February

2010-03-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

So first off February is such a hard month to spell. I swear I always spell it wrong. Second off this month has been very busy.

We went to go visit Ashley and Brad, our friends from BYU. It was so fun to go see them in Arizona. They had a beautiful house and showed us all around downtown. Ashley and I kept busy making hair pieces and cookies as you can tell from the pictures.

Second off Rebekah's team won the stake church girls basketball tournament. Rebekah did great. She scored 4 points. It was fun to watch her play. It reminded me off playing when I was younger.

Thirdly it is finally starting to warm up. We went out for ice cream and I am happy for it to start warming up.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T17:31:00.001-08:00

My Valentine

I love my Valentine!!! Jeff is an awesome husband. He had our whole Valentine's Day planned (we actually celebrated on Saturday.) He took me to the movies, took me to dinner, and then had roses and a present for when we got home (he had hidden them under the kitchen table, I have no idea how I didn't find them). He had bought me a back massager...my back has been hurting so bad lately after work....I told him no presents, but he said he couldn't help it. Love him. He seriously is the best husband. I love him more and more each day. The next day on actual Valentine's I heart attacked our door with a banner I had made (thanks to Cortney teaching me), made pink heart shaped pancakes, and pink heart shaped sugar cookies, and pink heart shaped blueberry muffins. So I went a little out of control with the pink heart shaped stuff. Then after church we had a wonderful Valentine's dinner at Jeff's parents house. Christine also had the same idea as me and dyed the potato casserole pink. Great minds think alike.

I am LOVING the Olympics. I really liked watching the speed skating, ice skating, and freestyle race. GO USA!!

Celebrities

2010-02-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

Since this week on facebook is the doppelganger week, I thought it would be fun to see which stars Jeff and I looked alike. I thought before I plugged it into the computer I would guess which stars I thought we looked most alike...but the computer did not seem to think I was a good guesser. Which celebrity choice was the best...the computer's choice or mine?

My Guesses

The Computer Guesses

And My personal favorite, the computer seemed to think Helen Hunt, Britany Spears, and Jeff looked alike. I was laughing so hard. I decided to put the bald picture of Britany so it was easier to compare.

Utah Trip and My 25th birthday

2010-02-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

So Jeff and I took a spontaneous trip to Utah for my birthday and for skiing. Jeff knew I was not looking forward to my birthday and so he tried to make it fun. It was awesome we had a great time. We took me out for dinner and then we went up to his grandparents cabin in Wyoming with Paul, Cortney, Mike, and Jenna. Cortney made me an amazing birthday cake. The next day we went sledding and riding the four wheeler.

When I came back I had an awesome surprise. My mom had flown in to town to surprise me. I was sad she was going to miss my birthday because my mom has only missed one birthday in my life. It was the best surprise ever. We had cake with my family and it was so nice to see everyone. So many people made an effort to come down, it meant alot to me.

My mom had needed to also take pictures of me for her photography class and let me tell you she is an amazing photograher. We had so much fun taking pictures.

When I came back I got I had an another amazing birthday party with Jeff's family. Christine and I have the same birthday and so we got to celebrate it together. Happy Birthday Christine

This movie is what we did on the trip!! I got a new computer for my birthday and I am loving the new iMovie. So here is my movie. Its about 4 minutes long.

Friends

2010-01-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

Erin is such a great friend. Jeff and I went over to her house tonight to have dinner with her family and the Smith's and I had a fun surprise. Erin and Jeff had made me a birthday cake. My bday is coming up this week so it was a great surprise. Jeff wrote in cursive on it, which he said was a big tasks for him, and he did a great job. Thanks so much Erin and Jeff, you guys are the best.

My yummy cake The gorgeous Erin

Kristina's Baby Hannah....so adorable.

I was also going to get a pic of Erin's baby Harper, but I forget, but oh my gosh she is so cute.

Disney Half Marathon

2010-01-12T09:38:00.000-08:00

Taking Pictures with Daisy!!

The most amazing racers. Way to go Mom and Dad.

So my amazing parents decided to run the Disney half marathon and Jan and I flew out to support them. It was my dad's first and my mom's like billionth (not really but she runs marathons and half's alot). They did awesome, despite it being the coldest in 20 years it has ever been at Disney world. It even snowed. Crazy Crazy. My dad wanted to keep running he was feeling so good. They got to through Cinderella's Castle and all around the park and Epcot. The Disney characters were along the race supporting them also. They said it was so fun. We also spent a couple of days in Disney world enjoying the parks. It was so much fun.

I love this pic of my mom and Bella. Isn't she the most fun grandma.

A great December and looking forward

2010-01-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

Whoville Christmas Austin, Texas

Fergeson's Navtivity Set

Christmas Lights

Corpus Christi with Jeff's realitives

Jeff and I have had a really good December. I will just quickly recap, but the pictures tell way more. Nutracker ballet, 3-d Christmas Story, shooting, Corpus Christi, hunting, Bethlehem, large Nativity at Fergason's, Whoville Christmas, Remember Jesus Christ, Working at Great Harvest Bakery, Christmas lights, playing games, hanging out with friends, New Year's Eve Party. It was a great December. I am really looking forward to 2010. I am looking forward to go to Disney with my fam to watch my dad and mom run the Disney half marathon and watch Texas win the national championship next week!!! Its going to be a great year.

Jeff learning to shoot better with Jacob Gottfredson

Walking through Bethlehem

3-d Christmas Story

Rebekah's Nutcracker ballet

Addresses Please!!

2009-12-14T18:56:00.001-08:00

We are sending out Christmas Cards. If you would like one please email me your address at missysue85@gmail.com. If you are in my family, I already have yours. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

The NEW ME and my Mom

2009-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

So Christine dyed my hair. I was a little scared at first, but Christine did a great job. Here is the new me. DRUM ROLL..........................................................................................................................

TA-DAH

I also got to go to Dallas with my Mom. We went to Jani's Annual Christmas party. I also got to see a bunch of my old friends and my friend's mom. It was an awesome Mother/Daughter time. I love the Christmas Season so much. I will put up pictures of my house later.

Ang, Me, and Mere

Mother/Daughter Breakfast

Ashley, Me, Jame

We also got to watch to the First Presidency Christmas message. It brought me a lot of hope and peace. It also really helped me to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, the Christ child. I am grateful for my Savior and his life.

An ATL Thanksgiving and Family BYU video

2009-12-01T05:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving From Georgia

We went to Georgia for a awesome Thanksgiving with my parents. My mom and sister made all the food the night before and then my Dad made a great Turkey. That night we went to the Macy's Christmas Tree lighting.

Macy's Tree Lighting at Lenox Mall

We went to Stone Mountain and even found a plaque of TEXAS

Stone Mountain.... Carving in the mountain done by the same man who did MT. Rushmore

"The Fabulous FOX Theatre" as the door greeter would announce as we entered

We got to see the Rockettes Perform

I am grateful for my family, my loving husband, a great doctor, BYU winning the football game, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My family made this BYU video!!! GO COUGARS

A special thanks to my uncle Quinn for letting me use his voice singing the "Utah Man"

And dancing Bella, the future Beyonce

A larger, better view of this video can be seen at this website. http://gallery.me.com/bretallen#100404/BYU%20Cougars%202009

MIdnight

2009-11-20T10:58:00.000-08:00

At at New Moon

Jeff suprised me yesterday by telling me he was going to take me to NEW MOON at the midnight showing. I was so excited. Yes, we decided to brave the tiny boopers yelling when Edward or Jacob appeared on the screen. We went to the movie theatre and waited in line for the 1210 showing. The movie was great!! I really liked it, and the best part about it was I got to spend watching it with Jeff. Afterward we meet up with Bekah, Jeff little sister who was at the same movie theatre but different show, and we went to IHOP at 3 in the morning. Fun memories. Thanks Jeff for making my day. I love you.

Also it was my brother-in-laws 27th birthday the other day. We had a great day with him. Happy Birthday Chris.

Walking

2009-11-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

So over the past year and a half of being a nurse I have had three patients who have really impacted me. All these three people have all something in common they don't have the use of their legs. Two of them had one of their legs amputated and the other was a paraplegic. They each had many different medical problems going on, but they were so optimistic. Whenever I would come in and ask how their day was they all told me that it was a wonderful day to be alive. They were so full of life and loved by their families. They all told me how grateful they were for everything in life, and most importantly God. I admire these patients. These people have truly been an inspiration to me, and have helped me gain a greater appreciation in life especially during this month of Thanksgiving. These are the moments I love being a nurse for.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey

2009-11-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Jeffrey

I love you Jeff. You are the best friend in the world. I hope you had a great day. What would you do if you were turning 26 to make the prefect day? Of course....go to the lake and have pizza. That's what Jeff wanted to do. The lake was prefect, the most amazing water I have ever seen. The water was chilly, but not as bad as I thought. I drove the boat for the first time and Christine was my navigator. We made a great team. It was awesome. We had his dad, bekah, christine, and chris over for pizza and chocolate pudding cake also. what a great day.

I am in love, I am in love, and I don't care who knows it. (I can't remember what movie that quote is from, so if you remember let me know.) I love Jeff. Best husband ever. He is loving, fun, funny, loves to laugh, loves to watch cartoons, loves to work at the hospital, loves to figure out the most complex ideas of life (medical, electrical, me), wants to be a doctor, always a good friend, service oriented, very spiritual, and most of all kind.

Oh yes, he is mine. So hott.

Christine and I had to just get in the water just because Jeff was so brave to get in November, so we had to support him.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

So this year has been kinda hard for me because I am away from all my friends and family, away from things that are familiar for me, away from my comfort zone. For halloween I felt like I am in this middle area..I am not at college with friends, I don't have a little baby to dress up, and I don't have a house to pass out candy. However this year we got to watch Rebekah because Stewart and Lorraine were out of town. It gave me the opportunity to help dress up Rebekah and pass out candy. It was so fun. NACHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

What made it even more fun was Jeff had us do a little skit for passing out candy.

It went like this....ME, "Happy Halloween, what are you dressed up as? Do you mind helping me put my helmet on my friend it keeps rolling off him?" Right as they would grab it and put it back on this is what happened, Jeff, "Whoooooaaaaa." Kids, "AHHHHHHHH, lol." They would be laughing so hard, because they were unsure if something was in there, but knew weren't quite sure. Everyone loved it. He was also really sweet with the little kids, he didn't scare them, they loved him.

Then after we went to Nate and Lindsay's and watched Monsters and Aliens in their backyard with a movie projector. It was so fun. We love hanging out with them.

I was unaware of how my Halloween was going to go, but it ended up being great. Tender Mercies.

Also I just wanted to say that the reason Jeff's parents were out of town was because we had a recent death in the family. It was Jeff's aunt Rosalie. We found out she had cancer about 3 weeks ago and then 15 days later she passed away. She left behind a loving husband, and two little kids. She was an amazing, sweet, spiritual women. I feel very privileged to have known her. It was very sad, but more than anything the knowledge that we can be together forever as a family forever brings to me peace. I know that it has been a strength to her husband and kids also. This reminds me every day how grateful I am for Jesus Christ and that he has a plan for each of us.

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-10-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

I love the Fall!!! I love the weather, the trees, the smells of fall, and most of all it means that Christmas is coming!!! Here are so of my favorite things we have been doing this fall.

FOOTBALL!! I love watching football, going to games, and watching Jeff play. He plays around with a couple of guys from Church, and he loves it. Last night we went over to Nate and Lindsay to watch the Texas football game and have chili and burgers. Fun Memories!!

Here are the girls watching our husbands play football. I love spending time hanging out with them.

Here is Jeff scoring a touchdown.

Jeff and I watching the Cedar Park high school football game. (Jeff's old high school)

I love hot chocolate, rootbeer, Chili, and hot tubbing. The weather is prefect for all.

Christine and I out with our husbands having burgers and rootbeer!!

Drinking Hot chocolate and hot tubing with christine, bekah, mike, jeff, and chris.

I love watching Jeff enjoy spending time riding his bike! We went to a track with some people he knew. He was is heaven. He was so so so happy. He wanted me to see him ride so I got up on a stand and got to watch him. I loved spending time with him.

I love washing my clothes in my new washer and dryer. Every time the chime rings on the washer and dryer I remember how happy I am to have one. This is our first w/d and I couldn't be more grateful. Sometimes its the small things in life that make me the most happy. One of my favorite small things is watching my husband smile.

Family Updates

2009-10-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Most recent to today...

1. JANNY PANNY and Baby Bella came to visit Jeff and I. I was in heaven. See below post for more info.

She makes me smile!!

I absolutely love these girls!!! Sleepover

2. Next Paul and Cortney came into town. It was fun to hang out. Also as a side note, Paul found out this week that Taylor Turnbull and him won BYU Entrepreneur of the Year. Congrats to you paul!

LOVe you Cort

Look what happens when you get these boys together.

3. Next Mike, Jeff's brother, came home from his mission in Taiwan. It is fun to have him back. He brought me back a jade necklace and two guardian lions. He brought jeff back a knife...hours of entertainment. The brothers threw him into the water to see how his skills were after two years on a wakeboard. Apparently he did good. (I was not there)

We have missed you Mike!!! (Jeff and Mike doing what all taiwainese people do for pics)

4. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...my Mom ran her 15th Marathon. It was her best time ever. 4:02 minutes. Her sister, Carrie, and her got inducted into the ten year club for running the St. George Marathon 10 times. They are amazing. I can't imagine running for 4 hours. She is such a great example of dedication. She sets out for a goal and works as hard as she can to accomplish it. She is one of my heros in life. She is the type of woman I want to be. (I don't quite know if I want to run a marathon, but I definitely want to be dedicated like her.) I love you mom. Congrats. Also congrats to my Uncle Ben who also ran the marathon too!!!

Can you believe they look so good after running 26.2 miles!!

I love this picture b/c it shows how much my parents love and support each other