Madee's first day of pre-preschool!

Boy was Madee excited this past week!
She's too young for preschool... but the Little Gym offers a class called Terrific Tots. She goes 2 days a week for 2 hours each... WITHOUT mommy. It's great!
She missed the first week because she had surgery... so she went for her first time last Tuesday and Thursday. She had a great time! She has NO PROBLEM leaving mommy, however, she does have a bit of a wandering problem in class. What can I say? She's a free spirit and I am glad she's not a follower. I'd always hoped she'd have the personality of a leader. I only hope she can learn to respect teachers and follow direction :)
Here's a picture of her during snack time. It's blurry because I'm sneaking a peek through the window.

Here's a picture of her friend, Abby, and their two darling teachers.

My growing boy... 3 months old

Jackson is so much more alert these days! It's great fun to watch the curiosity in his big blue eyes! He turned 3 months old on Friday and I can't believe it!

The other day, he was playing around with this toy. It got me so excited! He wasn't consciously doing it... but hopefully his little hands will soon learn to entertain himself with all his colorful toys!

He has his follow up appointment with his surgeon this coming Wednesday. I am anxious to hear if things are healing well. I am sure they are. We've had a rough week, though. He's sure been fussy and it's made it difficult for me to continually console him, while trying to entertain Madee at the same time. Oh well, I'm really learning to fine tune my patience skills. I know both my kids are recovering so I know that's why they are more difficult than usual.

What would you take with you?

Last Monday, my phone was ringing off the hook. Friends and family were calling to make sure we were all right.

This is why...

That was the scene outside our backdoor. A wildfire not far from our home. It burned 600+ acres before it was finally contained. Dozens of families who lived much closer to the fire had to evacuate. I should have taken a picture upstairs in our bedroom because it would have shown it better.

This is the scene a day later next to the new temple under construction. You can see the dark red fire line created by firefighters.

Anyway... the winds were working to our advantage and it blew in the opposite direction. However, a storm was headed our way and I was very worried that the winds might change that.

It really got me thinking: If I were told to evacuate, what would I take? It felt good to realize that if I had my kids, an outfit or two for each of us, my photo albums, our laptop with the saved pictures on it, and my journals (I've written about every day for the past 10+ years)... then I would be good. Everything else could be replaced. If I had my memories and my family... that's truly all that mattered and it feels good.

Camping and Recovery update

Last weekend (before the surgeries) we had a great time camping with the Marsing Family! The kids had a lot of fun together and so did us 'big kids'!

Here's a picture of Madee on the horse with Grandpa.

The kids had fun building this 'fort'! They said they were beavers.

And they had a GREAT time painting rocks!

The 'big kids' had a paintball tournament - and this is right before the war began.

Here's a picture of our little family on Jackson's very first camping trip.

UPDATE ON THE KIDS:
Jackson had a very rough day yesterday and night before that. I was so grateful I had asked my grandma and aunt to come and help me because at least one of us was bouncing him the entire day!!! Poor little guy - his surgical area is completely black and blue. It breaks my heart. However, he slept until 7 this morning!!!! He was much happier today and I believe he's well on the road to recovery.

Madelyn's rough night was last night and we've had a rough day today. Her throat scabs must be healing and she's experiencing a lot of discomfort. The biggest struggle is getting her to take her medication without her spitting it all out. I've been worried about her today. I was grateful my mom is here tonight and she was able to force her to take her medication earlier this evening and it was amazing how much better Madee felt. I wish she was old enough to recognize the meds help her!

The kids have been spoiled with sweet treats, visits and phone calls from family and friends. I am so grateful my kids have so many people who care :)

P.S. I UPDATED THE POSTS BELOW ABOUT THE SURGERIES WITH PHOTOS.

Jackson's Surgery

Hooray! Both of my babies are on the road to recovery and are doing GREAT!

We left our house at 6:30 this morning to take Jackson to Primary Children's. We were checked in shortly after and they took him right in to surgery. It caught me off guard! When they took him out of my arms, I'll admit that it broke my heart. I didn't expect them to take him at the point. We had quite a bit of time with Madee yesterday.

Before they took him, they checked his blood pressure. This was the cutest little arm band... but boy did he hate it!

This is Daddy holding him before he went away.

It was the first time he's been away from me for that long - besides sleeping. It was hard, but I was also so relieved that his hernia was finally being taken care of. He's been so uncomfortable for so long.

After an hour, his doctor came in to update us. He said Jackson did very well (music to our ears!). One thing he did not like ... normally hernias are tear-drop shaped. They will get smaller towards the top, where they are coming out of the abdominal wall. Jackson's isn't like that - it was large from top to bottom and considered adult sized. However, he said he did the very best he could and Jackson's chances for a recurrent hernia are still slim.

This is a picture of my sweet angel in recovery. He looked so peaceful and I will admit I cried tears of relief when I saw him breathing and sleeping so sweetly.

Here's a picture of me finally holding him... oh it felt so good!!!

He's been a sleepy baby and is back to breastfeeding on his normal schedule. I think he'll bounce right back! Babies are so tough!!! In fact, he only has to take Tylenol for the next 2 days and he should be fine after that. WOW!

Madee update: She is eating so great!!! She woke up and told my mom (who was watching her while we were at the hospital) that she was 'all better'. She's been eating and drinking well and loves to play and color. Her neighbor friends, Rachelle and her daughter Matisse brought her popcicles and a coloring book today. What a lucky girl she is.

I am so grateful for the prayers in behalf of my kids and Matt & I. I feel so at peace tonight!!! It's been a summer of doctor appointments that never seemed to end and now my babies are hopefully going to be better next week than they've ever been before! Oh how I love them.

Madee's Surgery

Madelyn is one tough kid! We arrived at Primary Children's Medical Center at about 9 this morning to have her tonsils and adenoids out. She was such a trooper and was so cute. She liked her yellow hospital pj's and the ride in the wagon.

She even got a visit from these baseball players. Too bad we lost the baseball they gave her.

We decided against giving her the sedation medicine before she went back to the operating room... and she was fine without it. As they were taking her away, we heard the doctor tell her she was a big girl and Madee responded with a very happy "yep!"

As expected, she wasn't very happy coming out of anesthesia... but Daddy was there to snuggle her as she woke up. She even uttered some "I love you Daddy" and "I love you Jackson" comments that could melt any heart. The doctor rated her tonsils a 3 out of 4 on size. It's a good thing they came out.

When we got home, she was suprisingly very happy and wanted to be active. She tried tackling Daddy and wanted him to dance with her. When her medicine started wearing off, she took Matt's head and pulled it close to her and told him to kiss it better. She pulled his mouth in hers clear past her teeth. He made a kissing noise and she thanked him and said it was 'all better'. SO CUTE!

She was so happy to see this darling cookie bouquet from her Marsing family.

And this is her friend Ellie. Our darling neighbor Hailee and her daughter brought Madee some soup, popcicles, crayons, lollipops, gatorade... and some cookies for Mom and Dad! THANKS!

Madee is being such a tough girl, and we hope she continues to feel better! Jackson's turn is tomorrow... and we hope things go just as well.

Four Years and Counting

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!

Today we celebrate four years of marriage. I am more in love today that I ever dreamed I would be. Matt and I have experienced so much in four short years of married life. We've shared pure joy with the birth of our two children, devastating heartbreak at the loss of loved ones, unforgettable memories on numerous vacations, one move to a new house, a summer apart while Matt works and I care for a newborn baby, and the list goes on and on. We've seen a lot and experienced a lot that have forced the lines of communication to open and I believe it has helped us to learn and mature beyond our years of marriage. I am so grateful to Matt for his overwhelming drive to work to provide for our family, for his hours and hours of intense playtime with the kids, for his love and sensitivity he shows me. He's my rock this week as our kids have surgery. He's more of a husband and father than I ever dreamed I could hope for and I can't wait to share eternity with him. I love you, Matt! Thanks for loving me back!

"Let's go to the beach!"

That's what Madelyn has been saying for the past month... ever since we went to California! She also thinks Matt's parents' pool is 'the beach'. So every day she's putting on her swimming suit and telling me it's time to go. I am not kidding... she puts her swimsuit on three times a day and I put her clothes back on each time.

Today, she was really delaying her nap. She was good to stay in her room and I would keep checking on her. Most of the time, she was 'reading' in her bed - what a good girl!

The last time I checked (before she was finally asleep)... I saw this:

And what did she say the second I opened the door??? "LET'S GO TO THE BEACH, MOM!" Hilarious!

What was she thinking?

I often wonder why Madelyn does the things she does.

Why does she like to eat toothpaste? Why does she like to say she wants ketchup for her nuggets, but then spread it all over her arms and legs instead? Why does she eat dirt? Why does she empty out every drawer and cupboard in the house? Why, when I buy a new thing of floss, does she pull the entire roll of string out... and how does she do it in less than 5 seconds? Why does she spit? Why does she insist on drinking bath water? The list goes on and on... but the biggest stumper came this week.

This is a flower from my flower pot... isn't it pretty? (well, it is a little blurry)


This is the flower from the flower pot after 2 days inside Madelyn's nose... (3 of those babies came out!!!)

That's right. I caught her sticking petals up her nose Sunday night. I immediately pulled TONS out of each nostril and gave her the lecture about why we don't do that. She instantly began sneezing up a storm. Then the runny eyes and nose sets in. So... I give her Benedryl. Monday morning she wakes up, sneezes, and out comes a jelly bean sized glob of flower petals. Wow, glad it came out!

Monday night - she wakes up 4 times! Why?! I figure the poor girl is suffering allergies from smelling the flowers a little too closely. Tuesday things get real bad with a runny nose and eyes. I take her to the dr - another jelly bean sized glob comes out... we come home and a THIRD jelly bean sized glob comes out!

Oh my goodness! She's been perfect ever since. I can't believe she walked around for two days/nights with those things up her nose! Yuck!

So... I know I will continue to witness things that make me question WHY... but overall it makes her who she is and I love her for it!

Oh! The things kids say...

So I was driving in my car last night with my 2 kiddos, my 14 year old niece Carly, and my 12 year old nephew Austin. I thought it would be so cute for them to hear Madee sing Mama's favorite song. I really like Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love".



Madee was going around the house yesterday singing, "Keep, keep bleeding!" It was adorable. So I say... "Madee, can you sing Mama's favorite song?"

Out comes...

"BOW CHICKA WOW WOW!"

Oh my heavens, we were laughing so hard we could hardly breathe! I don't know what would make her think that's my favorite song... it must be my sexy post-baby physique! j/k

Back to the old days...

Does anyone even REMEMBER these?!



My son is such a 'lucky' boy to be able to sport the bulky cloth diapers! I've never known him without some sort of rash on his adorable bunners and it's now been 10 weeks of trying to fix it. I haven't used wipes in over a month - rather, I've used wet tissues or toilet paper. I've used every cream on the shelves - including one with a money back guarantee. And I've already gotten a prescription cream refilled once.

Last week the rash was almost gone - a near perfect bum! However, I am nervous about his upcoming surgery. The surgeon threatened me that he would cancel the surgery if there was the slightest rash. My pediatrician said there's NO WAY they would cancel because Jackson needs the surgery so badly. But I will err on the side of caution!

So, cloth diapers it is... diapers, pins, awful vinyl pants and all! I STRONGLY DISLIKE THEM!!! I'm doing a few loads of laundry each day because of it, it's nearly impossible to squeeze his big diaper into clothes, and I hate touching wetness to get the pins off - so hopefully it will all be worth it :)I will LOVE changing each and every diaper if I can ever get back to disposables!

Ready for the catwalk

Madee and her cousin Colton tested their fashion skills out tonight. Don't they look adorable?? They are 6 weeks apart and are great friends. I think it is so fascinating to see what kids come up with to entertain themselves!

It's the simple things...

I don't know if it's the cooler weather, the awesome schedule of my son, but today there are so many things that have made me smile! I will share 10!

* For the second night in a row, I fed Jackson at 10 p.m., put him to bed and he didn't wake up until 6:45!!! There's something about waking up to the sun that makes me smile :)

* I've been driving around with a nail in a tire... but Discount Tire came to my rescue! They met me before I hauled my two kids into the store and took my keys. Aw, they must have sympathy. Plus, it was fixed at no charge. That's a reason to smile :)

* After dropping off the car, I walked across the street to Madee's dr. appointment... in the rain, holding her hand, and carrying my heavy son in his carseat. I felt like that was an accomplishment and it made me smile :)

* Madelyn had a hearing test and passed with flying colors. Plus, it was determined that she will not have to have tubes in her ears when her tonsils and adenoids come out. Smile :)

* I now have somewhat of a schedule down and I got both kids down at the same time for a nap... and guess what? Mommy slept for an hour too! That's a BIG BIG reason to smile :)

* Madelyn is so sweet to her brother. She's comforted him several times today with snuggles, kisses, and the occasional "It's okay, Buddy" or "What's the matter, Buddy?". Watching my kids gives me a permanent smile.

* I rarely get to talk to Matt during the day, but I got to hear his voice today! It might have been about mortgage business stuff, but it was still a reason to smile.

* Madelyn says the funniest things today. Again, she told me her brother was poopy. So I said, "No, he's not, but you are a pooper." She looked at me and tilted her head and said, "No, I'm not! I'm just Madee!"

* After the "just Madee" comment... I called her a turkey. She said, "Yes, I'm a turkey! Mama, you are an elephant!" OH MY! No girl wants to be called an elephant, but it still made me laugh.

* And finally, but probably not the last (It's only 3:45!)... I left the room to put in another load of laundry and walked in to see this:



Madelyn looks pretty awesome sporting her swimming suit (which rarely comes off these days) and her dad's rocker wig!

"He's poopy!"

Matt has our camera... so I don't have a picture to go with this story... but I had to share it!

Within the past week, my dear Madelyn has become a big helper (in her eyes!). Throughout the day, she's constantly telling me that Jackson is poopy. Now she doesn't wait for me. She just takes his diaper off and tells him he's a good boy. She's so proud of herself for 'changing' him and Jackson looks so cute smiling up at his big sister, that I haven't explained too much that she should wait for me to change his diaper. At one point, though, I did frantically tell her that Jackson was going to pee all over her so she needed to put his diaper back on. She insisted his diaper needed to stay off and said, "I'll just scoot back."

Oh, I love these kids! Some days I feel like it's all I can do to make it from sun-up to sun-down without Matt here with us... but we're doing okay and we'll just make the most of our time with him when he's back! We usually try to do a countdown with Madee - and tell her how many days until she sees her Daddy again. He left early Monday morning and a few hours later she came up to me and said, "Mama, guess what?!" I said, "What, honey?". And she got a HUGE smile and an excited voice and said, "Daddy comes home in THREE days!" I didn't have the heart to tell her she was way off on the number - it was so darn cute!

Jackson's Special Day

Today was Jackson's special day at church. His daddy was able to give him a name and a blessing. It feels like I have longed for this day for so long! I am so grateful my Heavenly Father finally sent us our son :)
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Here is my little man... he's growing way too fast!!!


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Here is a picture of my family of FOUR! Wow, that sounds weird and I LOVE it!


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Four years ago, my parents were begging for grandkids! Now look at the Marsing clan... so much fun!

"Watch me swim!"

What a WONDERFUL weekend! We spent the entire day on Saturday swimming at Matt's parents' house. (thank you for letting us take your whole day, Jodee!) Madelyn has turned into quite the little swimmer with her floaties and she loves it! She would swim all day every day if we let her. It was pure joy to be with Matt and to watch him with our kids. They love him so much and Jackson did quite a lot of cooing for him too!
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Here's a picture of Madee, her Daddy and Flipper (or as Madee was calling him "Pipper")

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Jackson was a good boy and did a lot of sleeping on the sidelines.

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Uh oh! This picture is awesome! It's the typical look Madee gives when we tell her not to dig in the flowers.

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Madee played so hard... so she took a snooze on Daddy's shoulder after the swim.