The Cones

Emma cheese!

2012-01-24T17:59:00.001-07:00

Emma always says cheese when she sees someone take a picture!

Pictures

2012-01-24T15:18:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of my babies. Enjoy! Read the last couple of posts for some cute stories and updates.

Listen Sissy

2012-01-24T11:32:00.001-07:00

Today, while I was preparing to take Madison to the doctor, Emma was upset that I wasn't taking her along too. Madison leaned over to Emma, placed her hands on Emma's cheeks and proceeded to say "Listen Sissy, Me go doctor get medicine my rash" It was adorable. She repeated the sentence about three or four times. I guess she has heard me say that in similar situations...my little mimic. I thought that was adorable.

A Start

2012-01-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

I know that I am terrible about blogging...I make excuses but really, I just need to be better about it. So thank you for waiting patiently...Maybe I would be better if I didn't wait until I had time to upload picture to post. So be prepared for more posts without pictures...although I know you are all dying to see my beautiful girls. :)

Madison is growing up so fast...she is talking up a storm. Full on sentences, paragraphs and stories. It is so much fun to take her anywhere in the car because she gives a continuous narrative of the things she sees, and the stories that those things remind her of. She is a loving big sister, who wants to play with her "sis". She loves to play in her new kitchen that Santa brought...she makes cookies, coffee, ice cubes and sandwiches and then serves them to anyone she can find. She has learned how to play hide and seek...and will play for hours, even though she always hides in the same spot. She is learning how to count, and counts everything. Her favorite song is still the ABC's and she is even getting closer to hitting most of the letters. Madi loves books, she has a dozen in her bed that she reads to herself every night as she is falling asleep. For Christmas, she received a leap frog junior reader, which looks like a dog and reads the stories to her. She has been loving playing with that! She is definitely Mommy's girl, and wants to be doing anything and everything I am. She loves to cuddle and give hugs and kisses. She is truly a sweet child and I am loving every minute of having her in my life.

Emma Lea doesn't act like she is 20 months old, she thinks she is already much older than that...I imagine it is because her sister and cousin are so close in age. Emma talks nearly as much as Madi. She is making sentences, and is really good about repeating anything she hears. She has such a spunky personality...she still only has two major moods...happy and not. Boy, when she is not...she tells you! Emma wants to be doing everything that her sister is doing, from playing in the kitchen, to reading stories, to climbing the stairs...you name it, Emma wants to do it, and she wants to do it now. She is our little comedian. She loves to make you laugh. Her favorite person right now is Uncle Mike. Brandon's friend Mike moved in with us in September and Emma has claimed him as hers...she even calls him "my Mike". Emma has no fear, and will climb up on anything she can think of. I have found her standing on the dinning room table, the rocking horse, the desk in her bedroom, and the top of the toilet in our bathroom...I think I tell her 10 times a day that she needs to get down! I can't believe that she is almost two! She hardly resembles the baby she was, except for her size...she is still so tiny (21 pounds soaking wet).

Well I suppose that is a start. I will hopefully get some pictures loaded soon...Love you all!

Fall Memories

2011-11-20T18:18:00.001-07:00

1. Madison to Mommy on the phone from Grammy's house at the end of the day:
Madi: Mommy, me sick.
Mommy: Oh, well then I guess I will have to come and get you and take you to my meeting
Madi: Me sick, mommy go home
Mommy: Ok Be right there.

Upon arrival to Grammy's house:
Mommy: Grammy, I heard Madison say she is sick, whats going on?
Grammy: Oh...I didn't hear that part of the conversation...she isn't sick, she has been perfectly fine all day...I guess I need to pay more attention to her conversations...
Mommy: I guess Madison has figured out how to get Mommy to come home from school...Ha Ha

Madison's first successful attempt at playing hookie...2.5 years old.

2. Emma to Daddy on the day he stayed home from school to play with the Girls all day:

Emma: Mommy work. Daddy stay home. No Shelly today.
(Shelly is our babysitter on Fridays)

Emma's first successful spoken paragraph...1.5 years old.

Happy Winter

2011-11-20T18:15:00.001-07:00

Winter is Here!

Madison asked "Play Outside Mommy Please"

So we brought out the sled...

and the dogs...

and the mittens and gloves...

to enjoy the beautiful

Wyoming

Winter day

Happy Winter Everyone!

Madison Singing

2011-09-19T17:35:00.000-06:00

This is one of two great videos I have of Madi singing the alphabet song. Here she is playing the piano while singing. The other video she is playing the drums...however, she was in the process of getting dressed when we filmed the other one, so she isn't wearing a shirt...I am uncomfortable sharing that one online, so let me know if you want to see it and I will get it to you.

Emma Lea's New Favorite Thing

2011-09-19T17:21:00.004-06:00

Emma has discovered the names of her facial features. She loves to point out the new things she is learning. This is great...however, we have all learned to cringe when she yells "eyes" and sticks her finger into you eye...we are working on being gentle. Ha Ha..

Conversations with Madison

2011-09-13T18:54:00.003-06:00

Madison is really growing up. She is talking like crazy and loves to carry on conversations with us. There are a couple of conversations that she repeats on a regular basis. Here are the two most common conversations with Madison.

This first conversation occurs while we are driving to and from Brandon's parent's house. The route takes us right past the fields where my dad puts up hay every year.

Madi: Mommy! Hay!
Me: Yes, baby. Hay.

Madison: Mommy, Papa hay!
Me: Yes Madi, Papa makes the hay.
Madi: Hay Horses (which sometimes is the word, but most often is just her clicking her tongue which is how we call the horses.)
Me: Yes, the hay is for the horses.
Madi: Auntie Rawr hay (Auntie Rawr is my sister Jenni, somehow Madison decided her name was Rawr and it stuck.)
Me: Yes Auntie Rawr picks up the hay.
Madi: Yeah.

Nine times out of ten that we drive by daddy's hay fields, Madison and I have this conversation. Love it!

The second conversation we have consistently is when Madison sees the moon. She recently discovered the moon and points it out anytime it is in the sky.

Madi: Mommy! Moon!
Me: Yes baby, I see the moon.
Madi: Me go moon
Me: No baby, you can't go to the moon, it is a very, very long ways away.
Madi: Me go MOON!
Me: Okay, sometime a long time from now, you might be able to go to the moon.
Madi: Sis go too?
Me: Sure, Sis can go to the moon too.
Madi: Okay!

I am enjoying having these conversations with Madison. I know all too soon, they will be gone, and I will beg for my daughter to share her discoveries with me.

I also hope that you enjoyed the pictures scattered throughout. These were taken since the last post, and I never feel like a post is completed without sending a few pictures along the way.

And we are back to the grind

2011-09-04T15:35:00.001-06:00

As I posted as my status on facebook, one week down, 35 to go. Brandon and I just finished our first week at school with out new classes. So far I think it is going to be a great school year.

Madison and Emma Lea aren't going to have a chance to get bored this year. They are splitting their time between Brandon's mom, my dad, and my aunt Misti.

The days are starting to feel like fall. The cooler nights are sure nice, but I am afraid that the first frost isn't too far away. It was 42 degrees last night. Brr. I am sure not ready to lose my garden. I have really enjoyed getting it started this summer. Not excited to see it get covered in snow.

I am sure loving watching the four babies in our family play together. They are getting to spend more time together now that summer is coming to an end.

Not sure if you can see it, but Aiden and Madi are both in the car while playing in our backyard this afternoon. I just overheard Madi say "out bubba please" and the. Process to climb put over him and then sit down again next to him. They sure do love being together.

So much for baby proofing the back steps. The kids figured out how to climb through the back of the steps. I guess I will have to figure out how to block off behind the steps.

Two weekends ago, Brandon and I attended our ten year class reunion. It was crazy to see how our classmates have grown up and still pretty much stayed the same. Jessica and her two year old triplets made the trip up from Denver to attend. Emma spiked a fever the day of the barbecue in the park, so Madison and I went and had a good time.

Madi and Emma have found a new favorite cartoon. "Bubble Guppies" is now the only thing they want to do. We have limited it to special times only because otherwise they would watch it all day. Here they are getting to watch Bubble Guppies in mommy's bed. Extra special!

Well, I suppose I should take advantage of three out of four kids sleeping and start getting dinner figured out. Here's Emma saying bye for now.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Summer 2011

2011-08-27T22:02:00.001-06:00

So. Summer came and went and I realized that I haven't written here at all. Maybe I will get better now that our routines are starting up again.

School starts on Monday. This will be my seventh year already and I am much more ready to get started this year than the last two. Might have something to do with not having a new baby this year.

Well let's see. I guess my summer wrap up should start in June. This was our month to work on projects. Our roommates moved into their own apartment which opened our basement back up to us.

We spent quite a bit of time cleaning, organizing, and painting so that we could set up a guest bedroom and sewing room in the two basement bedrooms. I chose two shades of blue for the guest bedroom and have decorated with navy, white and gold. I love how it turned out and can't wait to have some company.

Madison was very excited to graduate into a toddler bed. It really only took her a couple of nights to figure it out. She is now a pro at sleeping in a big girl bed.

We also hosted a huge garage sale in June. That required quite a bit of time organizing, pricing and setting up. Family members described the pole barn as the "walmart" of garage sales, and we really had a lot of things. We were pretty successful with the sale and still have everything set up for a fall garage sale here in a few weeks.

Madison wearing a hat and carrying a purse she found in all of the garage sale stuff.

I finally had time to start working with my flower beds. I am really enjoying growing flowers and I am excited about the roses that are thriving.

We welcomed our nephew Damian Theodore Cone on June 22nd. He is an awesome baby and we love our Teddy very much. It is pretty neat to have two girls and to have two nephews. The four kids are going to grow up together and that is awesome.

Madison calls her cousin Aiden "Bubba". When Teddy was born she decided that his name is "Baby Bubba" and the name stuck. So now the boys are known as "the bubbas." Haha.

I guess that brings us to July. As much as June was focused on projects, July was focused on vacationing. We pit 5000 miles on my van in the month of July. Man were we busy. The first weekend in July Brandon, his grandma Marie, the girls and I drove to Colorado City. The girls and I stayed with my grandparents for a week while Brandon took his grandma fishing in the mountains with his extended family from Texas. We all had a great trip and were ready to be home after our 10 day trip.

The girls with Mimi.

Eating with Creighton. Who also goes by Bubba.

Madison and Nanny

Emma Lea and Nanny

Emma and Great-Great Grandma Boyce.

The following weekend, my parents watched the girls while Brandon and I went to Denver for a Braves vs Rockies game. It was our first overnight trip away from the girls together since Emma was born. We had a great time and really enjoyed the awesome seats we had at the ball game.

I decided that two years was too long to go without seeing my good friend from college, Mary who lives in Nebraska. So the weekend after we got back from Denver, I took a mommy vacation to go see Mary and left the girls with Brandon. It was awesome to get the catch up with her. She had an entire day of pampering arranged for me which felt great. Thanks Mary.

My new haircut.

My pedicure.

The girls and I took a day trip to Rapid City and Storybook Island with the Fischer Triplets. The girls had a blast.

We then got some terrible news that my Grandma Linda was diagnosed with advanced stage four renal cancer. So we made another trip to Colorado City to visit with her and to show our support before she started treatments. We love you Grandma and are praying for you.

Finally, the last weekend in July, we had a welcoming party for Teddy. My mother in law hosted the party in her back yard where she has an amazing above ground pool. Since it was a pool party, it had a luau theme complete with piña coladas and leis. Here is the cake I made for the party.

I guess that brings us to August. August always seems to be over in a flash. We have been working on finishing a few projects, spending lots of time in the swimming pool, and absorbing the last bit of free time we will have for a while.

Brandon and I have worked on getting our classrooms ready this past week and I guess we are as ready as we will ever be for students to arrive on Monday.

I suppose I should close for now. I hope to be better about updating. But no promises. Haha.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone (which might help me be better about posting) :)

Location:Hitt Dr,Gillette,United States

May 2011

2011-06-03T11:42:00.006-06:00

Well, May has come and gone with a quickness. Our lives were sure full this past month, with school coming to an end, two toddlers, and preparing for a massive garage sale.

Brandon and I are officially done with the 2010-2011 school year. We are both now tenured teachers and that feels good to know that we both have secure jobs. Brandon was very busy this year with trips to Las Vegas, Rapid City, Houston, and now Laramie. (I think I got them all...) He also coached the Robotics team and Skills USA.

Emma Lea has sure become Daddy's girl lately, and she is sure missing him this week while he is gone in Laramie for a conference. Emma is running everywhere these days. Grampa Bruce entered his '68 Chevy pickup truck in a local car show this past weekend, and Emma loved it out at the show. She would grab my hand and just start walking, dragging me along with her. It was cute!

Madison is definitely two years old. She is into everything, has her own opinions about things, and her favorite word right now is "no". She is loving getting to be outside and would be outside all the time if we would let her. This week is finally nice enough to let her be outside most of the time. I think we got over 5 inches of rain in May and it was either too cold or too muddy to go outside.

I was very busy this spring as well. I was teaching 4 different subjects at school, including three for the first time, and trying to keep up with a household of three toddlers. I am very excited to have the next few months off to try and make a dent in the projects that seem to pile up during the school year, and to spend lots of time with my girls!

The girls are in a race to see who is going to talk first. They are both adding a word or two to their vocabularies every week. It is helpful that Madi is now starting to be able to say what she wants. we are getting closer to talking all the time.

Next weekend, we are hosting a HUGE garage sale. Merchandise for the sale has filled our pole barn and garage. Wow! If you know anyone in Gillette looking for furniture, clothes, housewares, lamps, books, dishes, game consoles, or is looking for a car or motorcycle, please send them our way on Saturday and Sunday.

After two years, Brad and Amber will be moving out of our home in the next week or so. They have found an apartment and are anxious to get set up before baby Teddy comes into this world. Amber will be 37 weeks this week, and she is anxious to meet her little boy. We will be busy getting them moved out while we are also preparing for a garage sale. Sounds like a busy week.

I think we are going to stick fairly close to home this next month. At least I don't know of any travel plans for June. I am hoping to get the yard going and I guess my dad has figured out how to get us sprinkler systems and so we will be trenching and installing those this month too.

So far in July we will be spending quite a bit of time in Colorado. The 2nd-9th Brandon will be taking his Grandma to Wolf Creek Pass to go fishing, and I will be taking the girls to my Grandparents in Colorado City and Pueblo to visit. My two Great-Grandmas live in Pueblo and don't get to see the girls very often, so this will allow everyone to get to spend some time with them.

Well, the girls will be waking up from their naps soon, and I still have quite a bit to do before they get up.

Lost and Found Pictures

2011-06-03T11:07:00.008-06:00

So I knew I had used my camera more in the last few months than the pictures I have posted...So I went searching this week and found these in a different file on my memory card for our camera. Some of these are a little old, I am guessing back to late February or early March. I tried to get them in chronological order, but I might be a little off. Enjoy.

Daddy and his girls

Madison...we are still working on getting rid of the binky...so far no luck...hopefully by the time school starts again we will be done with it.

Emma has really become daddy's girl over the past couple of months.

These two sure like to sit together and cuddle...

or play...

or wrestle...

Here are pictures from Madison's birthday party in March.

First days of Spring. Hooray for playing outside.

Emma Lea's Birthday in April.

Amber's pregnant belly...Damion Theodore should make his arrival in the next 4 weeks or so...Check out my sister Jenni's photography blog for more maternity pictures of Amber.

Bathtime...

April 2011

2011-05-22T14:57:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures from the last month or so...I got really behind in blogging, but I am getting caught up now...Check the older posts for updates on Easter and Emma Lea's birthday.

Emma's First Braids

Playing Outside

Spring Snow...and more snow...and now rain...and more rain.

Being Silly at Dinner (Yes...that is her dinner plate)

Emma's Idea of Helping...I guess it keeps my shoe rack organized...ha ha.

Well I am officially down to 8 days of school. Then, I should have lots of time to take pictures, write posts and keep everyone updated on our lives. Thanks for being patient with this busy mom.

Easter 2011

2011-05-22T14:40:00.005-06:00

We had a great Easter this year. It was Emma Lea's first Easter, and Madison's third (although it was both girls first egg hunt.)

We had a great time spending time with both sides of the family.

The girls had a blast looking for and picking up the eggs scattered around Grammy and Granddad Cone's house. We had to hid the eggs three times before the kids were done.

The girls wore the dresses that Grammy Hitt made for them. I love how the flow and move around their little legs.

I love this picture!!

Happy First Birthday Emma Lea Ruth!

2011-05-22T14:30:00.006-06:00

Okay, so I know that I am really far behind in posting again. We moved the computer out of Emma's room this weekend (Finally) and so now I can work on these while the kids are napping which is so much easier than when they are awake. Ha ha.

Emma Lea Ruth turned one on April 6th. She had a very nice party with lots of wonderful friends and family present. She has always been our little "lady bug" so we had a lady bug themed party.

Here are her cakes...I got a little carried away baking so she got two.

Again, we had red-velvet cake since that is Daddy's favorite cake.

I think this is my favorite cake I have decorated yet. I am getting a little better as I go, and learning tricks to make things easier too.

Emma has been walking for a while now. She really got the hang of it about two or three weeks before her birthday. She still falls quite a bit, and that makes her mad when she is wearing a dress since she can't crawl over to the furniture to stand up again. Since her party she has figured out how to stand up in the middle of the room, although now she just stands up on her dress and still gets mad.

She is our little flirt. She has big blue eyes that turn almost purple at times. She loves make eyes at you and then bury her head into my shoulder if I am carrying her. She is super ticklish and has an incredibly high pitched squeal when she laughs.

That last picture fits her so well. She is very sweet and loving. You can tell that she has a bit of her daddy's ornery attitude with that gleam in her eye.

She is giving Madison and Aiden a run for their money in the race to talk. She is quickly catching up to them. Hi is her favorite word. I have also heard: Mama, dada, sis-sis, Madi, okay, rough (as in what does a dog say).

My girls are very interested in cards right now. Emma had lots of fun playing with and reading her cards. She is learning how to take them out of the envelope and that is a great trick for her.

The girls got these matching dresses for Emma's birthday. I love them!

Mommy and Daddy bought Emma a kid sized table and chairs set for her birthday. It is awesome. There are four toddler sized chairs each in a different color and a white table which has now found a place in our living room. The kids love to have snacks on it, or read books, or put puzzles together.

Grammy and Grampa Hitt gave Emma a train set which has been a big hit so far. It is awesome, with all sorts of tracks, cars, figurines, and even tunnels and bridges. The kids really enjoy playing with it. It really needs its own table so that it can be set up permanently, but they are having fun with it as is.

Emma is really starting to change into a toddler. She is always on the run, and is loving being able to keep up with her older sister and cousin. She is very opinionated, and lets you know if she is not happy about something. She is turning into a Daddy's girl, and that is awesome.

I love you Bean!

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2011-03-24T08:46:00.001-06:00

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Happy 2nd Birthday Madison Marie!

2011-03-22T18:29:00.008-06:00

On Saturday March 12th, my little Madi Marie turned 2 years old. I can't believe that my little angel has been with us for two years already.

She is quite the little character. She is full of joy and life. She plays hard all day long...she uses her imagination a lot, which is fascinating to watch.

Grammy and Grampa Hitt gave Madison a play kitchen for her birthday. It is amazing and the girls love playing with it. It will stay at Grammy and Grampa's house since the girls spend one day a weekend at their house.

I sure enjoy watching Madison transform into a big kid. There really is very little trace of baby left in her at this point. She runs and climbs, laughs and shows off, interacts with her sister and cousin, and overall is just no longer a baby at all.

Madison is our little cuddle bug. She loves to crawl up in your lap and play, watch TV, or read a book. She is really turning into a Daddy's girl. She loves to call him on the phone...and thinks that is who we are calling every time we make a call. She sits on his lap and plays with him any chance she gets. She loves to go out to his shop and hang out with Daddy. When we go out to say hi, I will often give her the choice about going inside or staying with Dad. She always chooses Dad.

Madi's birthday party was Saturday March 12 at 1:00. She did amazingly well even though she hadn't napped very well that morning. She stayed the night at Grammy and Grampa Hitt's house and came over to visit a couple of times that morning as we were decorating for the party. She was amazed at each transformation as she came in. First, it was the streamers hanging from the walls. Then the balloons. Finally, it was the cake and the table and the presents. She was pretty impressed I think.

Ya-Ya (Brandon's Grandmother) bough Madison the beautiful purple dress she wore for her party. It is so very feminine and dainty, I love it. When Madison changed clothes for her party, she got to pick which shoes she would wear...she choose the bright pink sequined tennis shoes. It was a pretty cute combination.

The kids had more fun with the balloons than with anything else that day. I kept the non-helium balloons around for a week or so. They would grab the balloons and punch them to get them to bounce around and make noise.

I made Madison's cake for her party. It was a fun adventure, but I sure didn't give myself enough time to get it done. (Note to self for next time!) I finished the cake about 20 minutes before the party started. Oh Dear. I was pretty pleased with the finished results.

Madison got lots of amazing presents this year. Mostly clothes, although there were a few other things that have been a huge hit since. Grammy and Granddad Cone bought her a pink John Deere wheelbarrow. It is a real wheelbarrow just smaller. I am excited for Summer to finally hit so that she can take it outside to garden with Ya Ya.

Madison is really into cards right now. She almost had more fun opening the cards this year than the presents. She takes the cards in and out of the envelope, reading the card to herself or others before repeating the process.

Madison got to blow out her first birthday candles this year. I was impressed that she was able to do so, we never practiced she just figured it out.

I love her little apron. It is a matching set with a Mommy sized apron I found last year for my Halloween costume. (I went as a 1950's housewife while pregnant with Emma, and Brandon went as the milkman. We got a lot of laughs.) I am glad that the apron now fits her. I guess it is time to start getting Madi in the kitchen to help out.

I sent Brandon to the store to get the cake mix for her cake. I was expecting a white cake or a confetti cake, or something along the lines of a kids cake. He came home with a Red-Velvet cake. I laughed at him, and he told me that Madison told him that is what she wanted...oh dear.

Madison Marie, You are turning into a beautiful big girl. I love your sense of humor and playful nature. You are outgoing and fun loving, and I love to see you show your affection. You are always giving your sister, cousin, parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents kisses and hugs. You are curious to see how the world works, and I am fascinated to see you learn these things. I love you so very much and I am so glad that you are mine. I love you, Mommy.

Emma 11 Months

2011-03-22T18:15:00.007-06:00

Emma Lea Ruth is nearing her big first birthday. It is amazing that she is almost a year old already.

Emma is changing and growing every day. She is starting to figure out a few words...We have heard yeah, mom, dad...we laugh that it will be race between Emma and Madi to see which girl will talk first.

Emma loves the phone...This sure makes making phone calls a challenge right now. As soon as Emma sees my phone...she wants it and wants it now. She is very persistent and has a little temper on her. It will be interesting to see how she handles learning to control that.

The dogs are Emma's current favorite form of entertainment. She is learning how to throw, and is starting to be able to play catch with them. She giggles and squeals when the dogs bring the toy back.

Emma has two teeth on bottom and three on top as of this post. She is working on a couple more, with the next one on top only a few days away from being through the surface. She is still our little "vacuum" putting anything and everything she can find in her mouth. Yesterday while playing with Grammy Cone, Madison started trying to get Grammy's attention and pointed to Emma...who had found some blue fuzz and had it hanging out of her mouth...oh dear!

Emma and her sister are great friends at this point. I can only hope and pray that this continues as they grow up together. One of their favorite things to do is to sit side by side in the same chair in the living room and cuddle together in the mornings. It is adorable and wonderful to see them wanting to spend time together.

Emma Lea is getting so very close to walking. She will walk as long as she is holding onto one of your hands. She is letting go of things and standing and has attempted to take a few steps from one object to another. She just needs to gain a little more balance and some confidence and she will be gone.

Emma's favorite game right now is putting things in and out of containers. She loves to empty a box/bucket of toys or her pajama drawer, and then put the items back in. Such a good little helper...haha.

We all caught a nasty sinus infection this past month that ended the entire family on antibiotics. Poor Emma got the worst of it I am afraid, she was pretty miserable for a few days but luckily is back to herself now. Madison just finished her second round of antibiotics for the infection and I think she finally has it beat.

Emma loves her grandparents, and is pretty good about spending time with them. She is still Mommy's girl for sure, but is good with everyone else when I am gone. But boy, when I get home, she is my little leech...I can't put her down for at least 30 minutes. I love that my babies are excited to see me at the end of the day...I dread when that is no longer the case.

Here is Emma and Madi at Madison's birthday party (post to follow). The girls had such a good time at the birthday party. We are slowly gearing up for birthday party round two as Emma will turn one on the 6th. Her party is scheduled for the 9th...although I need to send out a change of time...Brandon will be out of town that week and won't get back into town until at least 3. Oops.

Emma is really good about giving hugs. She will lay her head on your shoulder and hold on tight. It is an amazing feeling to have her show her affection like that. She is also learning to give kisses...although they are usually open mouthed kisses at this point.

Both girls are turning into big cuddle bugs. They will sit and cuddle for hours, and I am loving every minute of it. My nephew Aiden, who still lives with us, doesn't cuddle for very long so I am grateful that my girls like to.

I can't believe that my little baby will be one in the next two weeks. I am amazed at how fast this year has flown. It has been a challenge, for sure, with these two girls being so close in age, but we wouldn't change a thing. It will be awesome for these two to have each other so close as they are growing up.

Emma Lea, You are such a sweet baby. I love that you cuddle and hug. You are changing so much everyday. I hope that I have documented enough so that we can remember you at this age down the road. I am excited to see the little girl and young woman that you will become. I see some amazing personality traits starting to emerge. I hope that you keep your persistence and learn how to use it for good...instead of fighting with mom. :) May you always know and feel that you are loved more than I can describe. With all my love, Mommy.

Madi at 23 Months

2011-02-21T19:28:00.010-07:00

Well we are officially counting down to the big second birthday for our Madison Marie. It is hard to believe that our baby will be two in a few short weeks.

Madi is a very active little girl. She is running everywhere and climbing everything. She loves to play and is very good at playing with her cousin and sister. She is learning how to share, usually this entails bringing her sister or cousin another toy to replace the one they are playing with. She loves to read and do puzzles, play with her doll house, cars, and golf clubs.

This is one of Madi's favorite toys. Aiden and Madison got these cars from Santa for Christmas, and they are definitely the toy of choice for all three kids. They have so much fun climbing in an out, honking the horn (which plays songs) and putting things in the "trunk". They do a pretty good job of sharing even though Madi is usually playing in the green car while Aiden gets the pink one.

Madison loves to go places. She is always pointing to her shoes, hat or coat and waving "bye-bye". She loves to go visit the horses, Grammy and Grandpa Hitt, or go into town. I have a feeling that once warmer weather hits, it will be hard to keep this little one indoors.

Madison is still not talking very much. We have heard her say dozens of words....once. Then we never hear them again. We have been working on getting her to use more words and we are seeing slow progress. We have a running joke that Emma will be talking before Madi does. We took her to a developmental screening, and she was at or above age level for every thing else other than expressive language.

Madison is growing into such a big helper. She wants to help me to do my chores around the house. She steals my broom, dust cloth, etc and "helps" me clean. She is really getting good at picking up her toys (when she is in the right mood of course) and helps me put dirty clothes in the laundry room and trash in the kitchen. She is always trying to take care of her sister and cousin. She brings them cups, bottles, snacks, and toys. I love my little helper.

I just love the picture above. It really looks like I have a little girl instead of a baby...I guess it is time to admit that I do...haha

We are busy getting ready for Madison's birthday party. Brandon and I received a birthday party planning catalog in the mail and each picked out a theme for Madison. I choose this cute barnyard theme, with cows and horses and chickens...it was adorable with phrases like "Cock-a-doodle-two". Brandon chose a pink John Deere theme, which I do have to admit is cute, but I am not nearly as into John Deere as Brandon is. So we let Madison decide...I asked here three separate times which one she liked better...and every time she picked the John Deere theme. So I guess I got outvoted, and John Deere it is...Daddy and Grandpa Hitt are quite pleased with their girl.

Madison has already had her first haircut. She has beautiful curls in the back, but the top layer isn't quite as curly. So I got brave one afternoon and decided to give her some layers to help her hair curl. I didn't do to bad of a job, and I love the way her curls...I am almost jealous as I have always loved curly hair.

Madi is working on becoming a big girl now that she is almost two. She has given up (not by choice) her binki during the day and only gets her pacifier at bed time and nap time. She is starting to show interest in the potty, and loves playing with the potty she got for Christmas from Uncle Brad and Aunty Amber. She hasn't quite figured out the timing, but knows how to take her pants and diaper off, sit on the toilet and wipe....which she would do for hours if we let her...sit down, stand up, wipe, repeat.

Coloring is quickly becoming another one of Madison's favorite activities. She has crayons and markers (the wonderful color wonder ones that only write on the special paper) and several coloring books. She asks to color nearly every afternoon when we get home from Grammy Cone's. We are pretty sure that we have a left handed girl...her great-grandma Hitt would have been proud to have another lefty in the family.

Madison's favorite people in the world are her grandparents. She loves getting to see them everyday, and usually asks to see YaYa (Brandon's grandmother) first thing when she wakes up. She gets to spend so much of her time with her grandparents, and I am so excited for the close relationships she has with them. She spends all day during the week with Brandon's parents and grandma, and then on the weekend she usually gets to spend a night with my parents. We are so grateful to have all of the help we have and know that we are very lucky to have these 5 grandparents in town. Thank you to all of you for your help!

I sure hope that I will be better about posting now that our camera is fixed. Brandon also ordered a new lens for the camera since that is what I asked for this year for my birthday. So please check back for more pictures.

Emma at 10 Months

2011-02-21T19:22:00.008-07:00

Well, Brandon fixed our camera this weekend, so I can finally get some quality photos loaded of my babies. I know it has been a while since I have posted so I will try and give a quality update on my Emma Lea and the happenings of the Cone household over the past couple of months.

Emma is now 10 months old, and is quickly becoming more and more mobile. She is crawling everywhere, and boy is she fast! She pulls her self up on everything, and will walk along the couch, coffee table, behind toys, and with one hand. It won't be too long before she is joining the toddlers in our house.

Bath time is still a favorite time around our house. The three kids take baths together most nights and love to splash around and play in the tub. It is a busy time every night but we enjoy the quality time we get with the girls each night.

Emma is starting to say a few words. We have heard mama, hello, papa, and hi. She is starting to learn rules and has even had her first time out. Not sure she understands it all yet, but we are trying to get to her follow the same rules as the older three.

Emma is our persistent one...if she wants something, she will do anything she can to get it...she will even try and jump out of your arms if you aren't careful. Emma Lea's favorite sound is a scream, and boy does she let you know when she is not happy.

I imagine that Em will be our most detail oriented child. She spots any and every little thing on the floor and makes a bee-line for it, and of course, it goes straight to her mouth. I can vacuum and not 2 minutes later, she can find something to put in her mouth. Of any of the three kids in our house, Emma is the only one who has ever paid that much attention to the little things.

Emma likes to read too. She is really interested in learning how to turn the pages and to look at the pictures. I often will sit on the floor and one of the kids will bring me a book, and I will read to the three babies. They will listen in shifts in between playing with other toys. I really am proud to see these kids loving to read already. I sure hope that it continues throughout their lives.

Emma currently has four teeth, but there are nice little bumps for another four just under the surface. Emma's 9 month appointment came a little late due to the doctor rescheduling, but on Monday, Emma weighed 17lbs 10 ounces and was in the 13th percentile for her weight and was 28 inches long, the 30th percentile. The doctor wasn't too worried about her change in percentile for her weight, so hopefully she will hit a growth spurt before her one year appointment in April.

Madi and Emma are great buddies. They always want to know where the other one is, and Madi sure makes sure that Emma has toys to play with. Madison loves to give Emma hugs and kisses. Emma loves following her sister around and trying to participate in the big girl activities. I pray that this relationship will always be a close one, and that they get along more than fight.

Emma's favorite toy at the moment is a toy picnic basket that Aunty Amber and Uncle Brad bought for her. It has plates, forks (big plastic ones), different shaped food, cups, and a picnic blanket. Emma loves taking the items out of the basket, and then putting them back in again. She practices this skill a lot.

On an exciting note, Brad proposed to Amber last weekend. Since Amber is expecting baby #2 (or 4 depending on how you count it) I think they are planning on getting married in August of 2012. Congrats you two!

Emma is still the most ticklish of the three kids. She squeals and giggles when you tickle her under her chin or on her rib cage. I love her laugh, and I will be sad when the baby laugh turns into a big girl laugh.

I can't believe that Emma will be one before we know it. It will be busy around here in the next 6 weeks as we plan two birthday parties. I can't believe how fast my babies are growing up. It is so much fun around here with these kids. There is never a dull moment, that is for sure!

Emma is our worst napper out of the three. We are lucky if we get one good nap out of her in a day. Some days all we get is 30 minutes here and there. She is just too busy to slow down and nap. For as good a sleeper as she was when she was itty bitty, she is now not as good. Hopefully this is just a phase, and she will grow out of it soon.

I finally got my minivan on my birthday. Brandon finally ended up driving the tahoe down to Colorado Springs and picked up the van for me. It was such a nightmare waiting for the dealership to deliver it, but it is over now and I love my new van...it makes life so much easier!!

Well I suppose that I should wrap this up so I can help deal with the kids. I hope now that the camera is fixed I will no longer have an excuse to procrastinate posting. I know that a lot of people follow our lives through this blog so I will try and be better about sharing.

Happy Birthday!

2011-01-10T11:04:00.003-07:00

This past weekend we went to Pueblo Colorado to surprise Nanny for her 90th Birthday. She was very excited to get to see and hold her great-great granddaughters. We had a wonderful trip and loved getting to visit with family.

The girls were AWESOME!! They slept in the car, played with their cousins, and were in great moods the entire weekend. I was really nervous about spending a minimum of 16 hours in the car this weekend, but they did great!

On Friday, I got to buy my birthday present...a brand new 2011 Toyota Sienna...I love it!! It had to have a part replaced before we can get it however, so it will be delivered to our home sometime in the next week to 10 days.

Here is a link to the dealerships website and the vehicle that is now ours.
The color is south pacific pearl...which is a deep blue/green color that really reflects the sun light beautifully...these pictures don't do the color justice. I will take more pictures when it arrives. I am so excited!!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T11:42:00.004-07:00

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, and having little kids around makes it that much more special.

Granddad Cone works for BNSF Railway and every year, Santa comes to visit the Depot. Amber and I took the kids to see Santa (and to let Granddad show them off). The kids really liked the cookies and playing with the other kids, but weren't so fond of Santa...they all three cried when they went to sit on his lap...oh well maybe next year. (Granddad...Amber...I guess I don't have any pictures from Santa's lap...do either of you have them?)

The kids really got into the hang of opening presents this year. Madison really had it figured out. There were so many presents for the kids that they were kind of overwhelmed at first, but gradually they opened enough presents that they stopped fighting over the toys they opened.

Since the lens to our nice Cannon camera is broken, Amber and Brad bought me a small point and shoot camera. The kids loved being able to look at the pictures right away. The quality of the pictures is not quite as good, but it is sure better than no camera at all. Thanks Guys!

I am noticing now that I failed to get pictures of the time we spent with my family. Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Linda came up this year and we had a great time with the "Wade Clan". We had Christmas dinner over at my mom's house on Christmas Eve and then enjoyed games and smoked pork loin and ribs on Christmas Day. Christmas night was spent playing Kinect on the X-Box and learning how to play Bones...a domino game that Chuck taught us all.

New Years Eve was a blustery cold night with lots of snow. So friends of ours, Tony and Elizabeth, came over along with Jenni for Bar room Olympics...it was a lot of fun to welcome in the 2011 with friends and family.

Overall, we had a fantastic holiday and loved every minute of our two week vacation from school. It was sure hard to leave those girls Monday morning!

I guess that is all for 2010...Blessings to all for 2011.

Emma Lea is 8 Months Old

2011-01-03T11:37:00.009-07:00

It is hard to believe that Emma Lea is already 8 months old. She is growing and changing so fast!

Emma is crawling everywhere...she is not up on all fours yet, but she can slither with the best of them. She loves being able to follow Madi and Aiden around. She can also go from crawling to sitting...which still impresses me every time I see it. Madison and Aiden took a lot longer to master that skill.

We jokingly call Emma our "Little Vacuum" as she will search out any little thing she can find on the floor and put it in her mouth...thus I have started to have to vacuum daily and I still can't seem to keep her from finding hair, dirt, fuzz, etc.

Emma loves her older sister and cousin and tries to follow them everywhere. She has even followed them through the tunnel a few times. She gets so excited when they play with her, and doesn't even complain when they walk/crawl/fall on her.

Emma is a mommy's girl for sure...If I am in the room, she wants to be with me...and heaven forbid I walk through the room and not pick her up...The good news is, thirty seconds after I leave the room, she is fine and will go back to playing.

No more baby food for Emma...or at least that is what she thinks. She wants to eat whatever we eat and she wants to eat it now! This was great until she caught a stomach bug this month and couldn't tolerate any solid foods for two weeks...she was not happy that she was stuck with formula, pedialyte and rice cereal.

Emma Lea is definitely the most persistant of our "three" kids. When she wants something, she wants it now...and will do everything in her power to get it. You have to hold on tight when you are carrying her because she will try and jump out of your arms to get to something.

Emma is sleeping through the night wonderfully by now...However, she still doesn't like to nap very well. She did better over Christmas break, but some days we are lucky if she will sleep for an hour total during the day. She is way to busy to take a nap...or so she thinks.

Emma and her daddy love to play together...as long as mom isn't in the room. She loves to be tickled and completely goes limp when you tickle her. She loves to play with jewlery and hair...we are working on not pulling on these but haven't quite got the hang of that yet...much to the demise of a few of my necklaces...and is the reason my hair is up 90% of the time. :)

This morning, Emma was standing up in her crib when Brandon went to get her ready to go to Grammy Cone's house. I guess it is time to lower her crib to the lowest setting tonight...

Emma Lea Ruth, You are such an amazing baby. I love every inch of you and I am so excited to see parts of your personality emerging. I am hopeful that you will keep your loving attitude and your persistence as you grow up. Your hugs melt my heart and I will treasure these days for the rest of my life. I love you baby girl and pray for the best for you. I love you, Mommy.

Giving Thanks for Family

2011-01-03T11:37:00.008-07:00

Okay, so once again I am behind in posts...oops.

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving along with some sprinkled in from the following weeks.

Madi and Grammy getting ready to go feed the horses. Grammy Tammi is no longer Grammy...just the horse lady. Whenever Madison sees Grammy...she wants to go feed the horses.

On December 10th and 12th, Rick and Marie celebrated milestone birthdays. We had a small get together at our house for them both. Here is the cake Karen bought for the occasion...notice the candles...50 + 80=130...haha.

The week before Thanksgiving, my Grandma Bonnie and Great Grandma Boyce came to visit and to see the girls. We tried to capture some more family pictures...but the girls were not exactly in the mood for taking pictures. Here are some of the best pictures Jenni was able to take.

5 generations...

Daddy and Emma...

Mommy and her girls...

Great-Grandma Bonnie and her Great-Granddaughters...

Great-Great-Grandma Boyce with her babies...

Jenni's Christmas present to the Brandon's family was to take family pictures for her Christmas cards. Here is my favorite of the whole clan...

Madison 20 and 21 Months

2011-01-03T11:36:00.003-07:00

Our little Madison is growing up so fast...Here are some of her changes over the last couple of months.

Madi still gives us the "cheeser" grin, although not quite as often as she did a few months ago.

She still loves her dolls and rocks them, cuddles them, and tucks them in. She is also starting to learn how to dress and undress them. She is excited to figure out how to zip and unzip, snap and unsnap and put on and off her clothes.

Madison wants to be just like mommy and daddy...here she is "playing" x-box with daddy. She had to have her own controller and head set, just like daddy.

When we rearranged furniture to decorate for Christmas, we created a fort for the kids to play in...complete with tunnel...the kids loved it!

Madison is great with her sister and cousin. She has her moments of course, but she is usually very sweet and loving to them. For a week or two she would go up and push them over just so she could give them a hug to tell them she was sorry...she now knows that she can give them "loves" without hurting them...good thing!

Madison received a training potty for Christmas, and she is loving learning how to use it...we haven't had any success yet...but she is loving getting undressed and sitting on it. It is pretty funny.

Madison loves to help out. She takes dirty diapers to the trash, brings her sister her bottle, and does pretty much what we ask her too. She watches us learn how to cook and clean and tries to help in any way possible. I was washing the patio door in our dining room a few weeks ago when Madison decided to help. She grabbed a towel and put it in the bucket of water and washed the windows right along side of me. I think she made more of a mess than she helped...but it was fun to have a partner in my chores.

Madi's favorite toy at the moment is her foot-powered car she got from Santa this year. She and Aiden each got one and they have so much fun getting in and out, pushing them around, and using the tools from a puzzle to work on the car.

Madison, you are such a wonderful little girl. I am amazed that you are almost two years old already. I hope that you keep your sweetness and tender heart as you grow up. I love that you want to cuddle with daddy and me. Your hugs and kisses melt my heart and I fall in love with you all over again. You are such a blessing in my life. I love you baby girl! Mommy

Emma Lea 7 Months

2010-11-23T10:11:00.005-07:00

On November 6th Emma turned 7 months old. Stupid camera is broken still so these are Auntie Jenni's photos.

Here is Emma all dressed up for Halloween. She went as Pebbles from the Flintstones. She was adorable in the costume that Grammy Tammi made for her.

Emma is sitting up on her own, and is really close to crawling. She can get up on all fours and lunge forward with her legs, however her arms don't move yet, so she plants her face into the floor and repeats the whole process. She will get it soon I am sure.

Emma wants to be in the middle of everything that Madi and Aiden are doing. She gets so mad when they leave the room and she can't follow. She is really strong, and will try and climb out of your arms if she sees something that she wants to get to.

Emma still doesn't have any teeth, although she is working on getting the bottom set. She drools and chews on everything.

I just love this next picture...so much so that I included it in two posts. :) Nice job Auntie Jenni!

Emma no longer wants to be fed...she wants to feed herself. I am having to dice everything we are eating into very fine chucks so that she can feed herself like the older two.

Emma Ruth is the sweetest baby. She is so happy. I describe her as having two moods. Happy and not. She sure reminds everyone of her late Great Grandma Ruth Hitt. She would have loved her littlest Great Granddaughter.

Emma loves to smile and giggle and laugh. It is my favorite sound in the world, hearing my babies laugh. She loves to be tickled.

It is definitely apparent that these three are related. They sure have some of the same family resemblance. I am so excited for them to get to grow up together.

Emma is growing up fast. It is hard to believe that she is 7 months old already. Life is just flying by right now, I am glad that school is going fast, but I really want to just freeze time when I am with my kids...Christmas break will be well deserved and cherished when it arrives in a month. Two full weeks with my babies.

All pictures are property of Jenni Hitt.

Aiden Daniel is One Year Old!

2010-11-23T10:03:00.005-07:00

On November 5th, Aiden turned 1! We had a great birthday party for him. Amber decorated the entire house with a jungle theme, and "Monkey" had an awesome Monkey themed party. Again, my camera is broken, so I am relying on photos from Jenni and Amber...Ladies if you have more to add let me know...

For Halloween we dressed up as the Flintstones. Aiden went as Bam Bam, and he was adorable...scratch that...handsome as a cave man baby.

We gave him a cardboard club, and it didn't take him long to figure out how to bang it on everything.

Aiden is officially walking everywhere. He is getting better every day. Madison loves to have him up and walking with her and they are having a blast together.

Aiden is such a sweetheart, he loves to give hugs and kisses...although beware: he likes to give open mouth kisses...with tongue.

Aiden still only has two teeth, but has been working on the upper teeth for a month now...hopefully they will break through soon!

Aiden and the girls love to play together, and they spend most of the day together either at Grammy and Granddad Cone's house, or at our house.

We love you Aiden Daniel, and our glad you are in our lives.

All pictures are property of Jenni Hitt

Madison: 19 Months

2010-11-23T09:40:00.006-07:00

Okay...so much for being caught up with blogs...my new excuse is...our camera broke...imagine a household with 3 babies, two dogs, a cat and a very playful kitten...no one knows how the camera's lens managed to be jammed at an odd angle...but it is...so until it gets fixed, I am relying on Aunties Jenni and Amber to take pictures for us...which is great, but then I don't have the pictures to upload myself...so...anyways...I am including links to Auntie Jenni's blogs so that pictures can be added later...maybe...if I find time...

On October 12, Madison turned 19 months old. She is starting to try and communicate more and more, although the words we hear only happen once and then never again. She loves to run through the living room to her dad, or uncle brad, or granddad and be thrown into the air. This child has no fear.

Madison is still a ham...She loves to make people laugh and be silly. She has started to spin herself in circles until she is dizzy and then tries to run down the hall. She loves to wrestle and play with her daddy.

For Halloween this year, we went as the Flintstones. Madison was Dino. Here is her costume...the hat never stayed on long enough to get a picture of, but the tail was down right adorable as she waddled her way around everywhere.

The kids went and visited Grammy Tammi at her office's Treat Street. It was fun, although we didn't quite get there early enough to miss out on the scary parts of treat street. Madi did great. We also completed our first official trick or treating...we went to one house and decided that was enough, so we hung out at Grammy and Granddad Cone's house and watched the trick or treaters come to the door. I think Madi sampled every kind of candy in the house...

We have had a beautiful fall. The weather was in the 50-70 range up until the middle of November. It has been nice enough that the kids could still go play outside in short sleeves and they have enjoyed it. Grampa Hitt built a new patio in his back yard, and during the process, built a temporary sand pile in the back yard. The kids had a ball playing in the sand.

Our newspaper box is across the street in front of Grammy and Grampa Hitt's house. Madison loves to go get the newspaper. She wants to carry it home. She loves to help out.

The Aunties watched the kids one day this fall, and decided it was a good day to take some fall pictures of the kids. Here are a few of my favorites that Jenni took. Check out her personal blog for more pictures of the kids, and her photography blog for more of her work.

All pictures are property of Jenni Hitt

Emma 6 Months

2010-10-18T20:52:00.008-06:00

I am finally getting caught up with posts...or at least getting closer. :)

On October 6th, Emma Lea Ruth turned 6 months old. It is amazing how very fast she is growing and changing. Her 6 month appointment isn't until November 1st so I will post her stats after her appointment.

I have said since day one that Emma could win the happiest baby in the world contest, and that continues to be true. She loves to giggle and laugh. She squeals with joy when you tickle her chest or under her chin. Peek a boo is quickly becoming a favorite game...and even Madison can play that game with her now.

Emma is desperate to learn how to crawl. She so wants be able to follow her sister and cousin around as they move from room to room. Just today, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees for a moment or two. It won't be long before she figures it all out and is able to keep up with Madi and Aiden.

She is starting to use more syllables. She will say mamama and dadada. I have also heard her use yeah appropriately. She babbles more than Madi and Aiden did combined.

Emma Lea is starting to want to put herself to sleep. It seems so early for her to want to just lay down to go to sleep. I will miss the days of rocking a baby to sleep when my babies decide they are too big for that anymore.

Emma is working on sitting up. She can balance for a few minutes before falling over. When she falls over, she gets quite upset. Hopefully she will learn to sit up longer so she is not quite so frustrated.

This little angel can now hold her own bottle. As any mother knows, this is a huge accomplishment and gives me more freedom to chase the other babies in our home.

Of all of the kids, Emma plays with her feet the most. She seems to be the most flexible of the three and can put her heels by her eyes. Perhaps she will be our gymnast.

When I pick the three kids up from Grammy Cone's every day after school, I have to give them all a hug, or else. Emma is especially glad to see me and she throws the biggest fit if I don't pick her up when I get there. It is nice to feel wanted and missed by the kids. Since Brad and Amber now are both fully employed and work until at least 5 I have agreed to watch Aiden from 3:30 until they get home so that poor Grammy doesn't have babies for 11 hours a day...I am enjoying getting to have our special time together after school.

Cousin Aiden turns one on November 5. For his birthday, Brad and Amber bought him an inflatable ball pit/trampoline. It is set up in our basement and the kids love it.

This has got to be my favorite picture of any of the kids so far. After our photo shoot with Auntie Amber, I gave Emma her bottle on the blanket and went to go make my shopping list. I noticed that it became really quiet, and when I checked on Emma she was fast asleep. She stayed like this for quite some time. I couldn't resist capturing this moment. She looks so peaceful.

Whew...I think I am getting there. Life has sure been busy since school started. And now our camera is broken...so hopefully I can continue to update everyone in a timely manner. Until next time, Jami

Much Needed Update

2010-10-16T21:09:00.006-06:00

The Cone household has been very busy since school started this fall. Between crowd control duties, parent meetings, and commitee responsibilities, Brandon and I have also started a custom woodworking business. Check out Cone's Custom Creations website here. Brandon really does most of the work, and he does a really nice job too. I am just helping by making the felt bags for the custom cribbage boards he makes.

Our days are very full. We leave the house by 7am every week day, drop the kids off and are in our classrooms from 7:15-3:30 (at least). Pick up the kids, come home, cook dinner, bath time, bed time, and if we are lucky, we might have an hour to unwind before bed. I can't imagine how parents who work till 5 do it. I have a hard enough time leaving my kiddos for my day knowing that I will be with them again before 4.

Sundays are football days at our house. Brandon and Brad are in the same fantasy football league and are glued to the TV and their laptops all day. The kids hang out, usually together, while I try and keep caught up with chores. It is adorable when the a team scores a touchdown. Both Aiden and Madi raise their hands up high signaling "Touchdown".

Madison still likes to "help out" around the house. She will often carry around the broom pretending to sweep, or insist on carrying a diaper to the trash. One day Madison was playing in our bedroom and I didn't really think anything of it. After the kids were in bed, I went into our bathroom to take a shower, nearly tripping on a pile of my shoes. Madison had thrown every pair of my shoes from the rack over the gate into our bathroom. It was a pretty funny surprise, and gave me a chance to reorganize my shoe rack.

Labor Day weekend, our friends Tony and Elizabeth got married at Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota (right by Custer). Grammy and Grampa Hitt and the four of us loaded up into their RV for the weekend. We left Gillette around 5 pm on Friday and headed straight for the campground. After getting just a little turned around, (which is interesting in a RV on the curvy roads) we found our campsite and unpacked our suitcases. It was at this point when I asked Brandon where he put our suitcase that we realized it was still in our room in Gillette...3 hours away.

Luckily, the girls had there own suitcase so we had diapers, clothes, and pj's for them. So Saturday, Mom and I loaded up the girls and drove to Rapid City to buy clothes for Brandon and I to wear for the rest of the weekend. When we got to Custer, we had two choices for the route to Rapid. Mom told me to go left, so we did.

Two hours later...we were still not even to Mount Rushmore. The speed limit on this section of highway is 35 mph and I was lucky if I could go that fast. Switchbacks, complete corkscrews and one-lane bridges marked the "scenic route" to Rapid. Finally we made it to Rapid, ran through Target and Sonic, and headed back to Custer to pick up the guys from their golfing trip. (They weren't expecting us to take all day...so they ended up playing 27 holes...they were pretty sore the next day!)

Just a note...it took us less than an hour to make it back to Custer. We took the other route back. For future reference...turn right!

It was a beautiful day for a wedding and the kids were awesome. It was on the shore of the lake. The bridesmaids and bride arrived via horse and carriage. The lake made an awesome backdrop for the ceremony, which was very nicely done. Instead of lighting a unity candle, the couple poured colored sand into a common jar. I really liked the symbolism of the sand.

This is my favorite picture of the ceremony that Brandon took. We really enjoy spending time with Tony and Elizabeth, and it was great to see them begin their lives together. Congratulations, you two.

Other than that, our lives have been filled with school, working on the pole barn, which is now finished on the outside, building Brandon's business, and playing with our beautiful little girls. Brad and Amber are still living with us, which is wonderful. It is so nice to have another set of parents for our three kids. (We all consider ourselves to have three kids, there are just four parents :) )

I hope to be better about posting. Hopefully, life will start to have a routine again. I can't believe we are only three weeks away from parent-teacher conferences. Every year seems to go by faster and faster...only 26 more years till I can retire...

Madison 18 Months

2010-10-16T21:06:00.005-06:00

Madison Marie turned 18 months old on September 12. She is in the 75% for both her height and weight at 26lbs, 4oz and 32.25 inches tall.

She is quite the character. She loves to scream and run around with her cousin Aiden. The two of them will chase each other through the house and then will sit down amidst a pile of books and read to each other.

This is Madi's "Cheeser" grin...it is how she always poses for the camera now. Between cheeser and her buckets of energy it is pretty hard to get her to sit still for pictures, so these are the best I was able to get... :)

This is the rocking chair that Grammy Hitt made for Madi. The chair was Grammy's when she was a little girl. Grammy took it apart, refinished the wood and covered it with beautiful plaid cushions. Madison likes sitting in her own chair. She is getting more and more independant every day. Her biggest goal lately has been to learn how to get dressed. She will play with clothes and shoes for hours trying to get them on properly. She was able to get her pants on this past weekend, although her pajama bottoms were on underneath.

Madi is still working on learning to talk. She uses several signs consistently, but the words she uses often are still very few. My guess is that she will just jump to using full sentences when she finally decides to talk. She babbles and gabbers constantly, it would just be wonderful to understand her world.

Her favorite word of the month is "ice". She goes to the cupboard in the kitchen, brings out a dixie cup and runs to the freezer where she says "ice". It is pretty darn cute...especially since it takes her whole body to say the word, and it now has three syllables. "iieeccee"

Madison loves to help take care of her baby sister. She will bring Emma diapers, bottles, pacifiers, and toys. Madison is good about entertaining Emma and is adored by her little sister. My hope for them is that they always love each other as much as they do now. I am sure there will be days that they don't get along...every set of sisters has those, but I sure hope the times they get along outnumber by far the fights.

Madison, You are turning into such a big little girl. I can hardly see the baby in you anymore. I love watching you learn about this world, and figure out how to climb and run and talk. You are truly my little angel. I love you, Mommy.

Emma 5 Months Old

2010-10-16T21:03:00.002-06:00

On September 6th Emma Lea Ruth turned 5 months old. She really is the happiest baby in the world. She loves to giggle and laugh at everyone!

She is ticklish under her chin and around her rib cage. She will giggle and squeal when you tickle her there. She is fascinated with her older sister and cousin. As long as she can see the two of them, she is happy...for hours. She loves to jump in the jumperoo, stand in the walker, and roll all over the place.

If you can't read her shirt, it says "This is my little black dress". Auntie Amber bought it for Emma and I think it is adorable on her. :)

She is working on sitting up unassisted, but still needs support to do it well.

We are working on finding the right nickname for our little angel...Madi is bugger, Aiden is monkey, and Emma is all of the following...itty bitty...butterball...bean...ladybug...nothing has stuck so far as the pet name to last. (I love itty bitty...but according to the growth charts, she might end up being the tallest of them all...irony could be funny)

I love this last picture. She is absolutely adorable in it!

Emma Lea...you are my precious baby girl and I love every inch of you!

BNSF Family Picnic

2010-10-16T20:57:00.003-06:00

So I know that it has been forever since I have written a blog. Truth be told, life has been a little crazy adjusting to going back to school this fall. Finding the time to sit at the computer is a challenge these days, especially since Emma is still sharing a room with the computer. However, I have several posts started with pictures loaded...so hopefully you will get your fill of updates on our lives. :) Stay tuned for more!

September 12 was the BNSF family picnic in the park. YiaYia (Greek for grandma and what the kdis are calling Brandon's Grandma), Grammy and Granddad Cone and I took the three kids to the local fishing lake for a barbecue. There were lots of things to do...like ride the miniature train around the park.

The kids had a blast. They got to have their first sno-cone, which they all enjoyed...but none as much as Emma. I wasn't to excited about giving a 5-month old a sno-cone...but she wouldn't let me eat it without sharing it with her. Emma would pull the sno-cone to her mouth, so I finally gave in and let her have some of the ice crystals with minimal syrup.

Grammy and Granddad enjoyed showing off their babies to their railroad friends. It was a beautiful day and the kids love being outside. It was perfect.

The miniature train was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed riding it around the park. I can't wait for next summer and the adventures we will have with two one-year olds and one two year old.

Thank you Granddad for sharing your picnic with us. :)

Grandpa Hitt

2010-08-14T10:32:00.003-06:00

Harold and Ruth were reunited yesterday. I wish I would have had more time to get to know Harold and Ruth but the time I did get to spend with with them I will never forget. Especially every time I came to visit Harold would ask me "So are the kids at school calling you Pop yet?" Or the times we would play dominoes with Ruth and even as sick as she was she would still try and cheat by playing two at a time and just thought it was hilarious when she got caught. Thank you for everything Grandpa and Grandma Hitt we all miss you very much.

Thanks again and I love you both.

Brandon

Below is a PowerPoint that Janet (Jami's Aunt) made of Harold's life that we will be showing at the funeral next Thursday.

Harold LeRoy Hitt 3

See more presentations by Brandon4000 | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

The Cone Kiddos

2010-08-12T15:23:00.005-06:00

All three kids spent the afternoon together today. I took advantage of the opportunity to capture some pictures of these babies. Aiden and Madi sure love to play together. It is fun to watch them entertain each other. Emma loves to look at the two older kids, and boy does she want to join in! However, we still have to keep her out of Aiden's reach until she can learn to crawl away.

Here are some of my favorite shots from today:

These pictures are from last week, but they are too cute to not share so here are a couple more of my two girls together.

Madison Marie is 17 Months Old

2010-08-12T15:08:00.008-06:00

It is amazing to think that my baby is almost a 18 months old. She is growing up so fast, and is such a character. I think I tell her daily that she is a nut...because she is.

/

Madison is starting to change from two naps a day to only one. This is a pretty slow transition, and most days she does great, but every now and then she still needs two...or at least her parents need her to.

Madison continues to love books. This week I asked her to choose a book to read before bed...and she brought me "Charlette's Web". Brandon read her two chapters in it last night and she was ready to hear more of it.

Madison loves her baby sister, and Emma adores her big sister. It is so fun to watch them laugh and giggle at each other. I am sure they are both anxious for the day when Emma can get up and join in.

Grammy Tammy refinished the rocking chair that she grew up with and passed it on to Madison. Madi loves having her own chair to sit in. I found a similar chair at a consignment store in town for $12 and Grammy is going to refinish it to match for Emma.

Madison's favorite toy is still a phone. She loves pretending to talk on the phone. A couple of weeks ago Grammy Tammi asked if Madison could come over so that Madi could help find the phone she had lost at Grammy's house. No luck that night, but this past weekend Madi found the phone...in the tuperware capinet.

Madi is really starting to be a daddies girl. She will often choose to go with dad rather than stay with mom. They like going to town together and playing outside. Madison has been joining Daddy and Uncle Brad playing catch with a football...and loves being apart of the action.

Our little girl is quite the show-off. She likes to do the "cheezer" grin (where she scrunches up her nose and closes her eyes) "touchdown" where she raises her hands in the air like a referee, and if you ask her if she is ready for a nap she shakes her head no.

Madison loves riding her car. She will often grab her cell phone and sit on the car like she is driving and talking on the phone. It is adorable.

She is working on her next set of teeth, her last set until her two year molars. I am excited to have a break from teething for a while. Although Emma is not too far away from teething.

Madison, You are a precious little girl and you are the light in my eyes. I love you so very much!

Emma Lea Ruth is 4 Months Old

2010-08-12T14:59:00.006-06:00

Emma Lea Ruth turned 4 months old on the 6th. Again, I am amazed at how fast that time has gone by. She is the happiest baby I could have asked for. She loves to smile and laugh.

Her favorite place is still under her floor activity gym. She will play here for hours. She is starting to wiggle her way around, and can scoot herself quite a ways before she gets stuck up against something.

She gets one feeding of rice cereal a day, and she loves it. She can hardly wait for the next bite to come. I usually have to go make her more cereal because she eats way more than I anticipate. She is still not taking a bottle, so it might come down to rice cereal during the day. I guess we will find out next week as Brandon and I have to work three days.

Emma loves her baths. She kicks her feet and throws her arms around, splashing water everywhere. As soon as she hears the water running, she will stop fussing and just listen. Most nights she gets to share bath time with Madison, and those two have fun together.

I just love this next picture of Emma and her Daddy.

Emma adores her older sister and cousin. She smiles and laughs at them all the time. She doesn't even mind when Aiden is a little too loving...at 9 months old he doesn't quite get the concept of 'gentle'.

I don't have her stats yet from her 4 month well baby visit, but I will post them after we go. She doesn't go in again until the 23rd. Unofficially, on our scale with a diaper on she was 13.5 lbs last week.

Rolling over is the next stage Emma is working towards. She can roll from her tummy to her back (has been able to do this since she was only a few weeks old) but is now getting close to rolling from her back to her tummy. She so wants to get up and go like her sister and cousin.

Reclining is no longer something Emma likes to do...she wants to sit up. She has already used the bumbo chair more than Madi ever did. I am sure that she wants to be a part of all the activity around her.

I love you Emma Lea Ruth, you are a sweet baby girl and I can't imagine life without you.

More Pictures from Colorado

2010-08-12T14:52:00.006-06:00

Well I finally grabbed Amber's camera today and downloaded the rest of the pictures from our Fun Valley trip.

Madi and Aiden playing in the hippo pool at the campsite

The Great Sand Dunes National Park just outside of Alamosa, CO was a great day trip for the kids, Karen, Amber and myself. I went there several times as a kid with my Great-Grandpa Boyce. I had some awesome memories of the place as a kid, but hadn't been there since I was probably 10. So we took a chance and drove there for the day. We had a blast.

Madison wasn't too sure about the sand. She had just fallen asleep in the car about 10 miles out, and so she did not get her full nap before we got there. I am hoping that this is why she was so afraid of the sand. It took her a long time before she was willing to walk on it barefoot...and she never did sit down to play in it.

Aiden, on the other hand, loved the sand. He immediately started playing with, and eating, the sand. He was covered in sand, and loved every minute of it.

The two youngest played so hard that they fell asleep. The double stroller came in quite handy as a napping spot.

Note all the sand under Aiden's chin...

The stoller must have been pretty comfortable...or at least Aiden looks like he enjoyed his nap.

While the other two were napping, Madison and Amber had a photo shoot on the sand. Here are some of my favorite photos. Amber did an awesome job, and I am grateful because I forgot my camera back in South Fork.

The car ride back to the campground, all three ended up sleeping at one point after they played so hard at the dunes. We will definitely be going back again next year. I would love to make this an annual day trip so that my kids will get to have some of the same experiences my sister and I had growing up.

Five Generation Pictures (Twice)

2010-07-23T15:50:00.006-06:00

We spent a few days visiting my extended family in Pueblo, Colorado while we were there on our family vacation. We had a great time introducing Emma Lea to her two great-great grandmothers. Here are our new five generation pictures:

Hazel Cannon, Jerry Wade, Tammi Hitt, Jami Cone, Madison and Emma Lea Cone.

And the other side of the family:

Naomi Carlene Boyce, Bonnie Boyce-Wilson, Tammi Hitt, Jami Cone, and Madison and Emma Lea Cone

Mimi and her girls

Mommy and Madi

Mommy and Emma

My two girls.

We had a great visit and enjoyed our time with everyone while we were there. Love you all!

Fun Valley 2010

2010-07-23T15:27:00.005-06:00

We spent the first full week in July at Fun Valley Resort in South Fork, Colorado with Brandon's family from Texas. It was a great week of visiting, fishing, and relaxing by the Rio Grand River. Here are some pictures from our trip. (Amber, I still need the pictures from the Great Sand Dunes).

We had a great time and already have reservations for next summer.

3, 8, and 16 Months Old

2010-07-23T15:05:00.007-06:00

Well since I last posted, all three Cone babies hit another milestone.

Madison is now 16 months old and is full of energy. She loves to give her "cheeser" face to anyone who askes, especially if they have a camera. She is talking more now, we have even heard a few sentences.

Aiden is 8 months old. He is army crawling everywhere and is trying to keep up with his cousin Madison. He is also very interested in his little cousin Emma. He is a very happy baby and is loving being able to move on his own.

Emma Lea is already 3 months old. She is growing like a weed and getting bigger every day. She is working on learning to roll over, and has already accomplished the tummy to back roll several times.

Here are some pictures of the three babies in action:

Madi loves to give hugs, and Aiden is learning this trick too. Yesterday, he was "kissing"Emma, but it looked more like he was trying to eat her head. :)

I tried to get a picture of my girls together while they were dressed alike. Here are my attempts...

I guess a 16 month old just doesn't want to sit still. :)

Madison usually gets to share her bath with someone. Some nights it is Aiden, and other nights it is Emma. Here is their first bath together.

Madison decided to wash her baby sister...it was precious.

Emma is still an awesome baby. Here she is asleep under her floor gym after she played herself to sleep.

She loves her floor gym and will lay under it forever talking and playing with the toys.

If our lives weren't crazy enough as it is, we adopted a barn cat and her five kittens. They are ready to go to their new homes, as soon as we find homes, but it has been fun to have them in our bathroom. Anyone need a kitten? They are sure cute.

Our Flood

2010-07-23T14:56:00.004-06:00

On June 22nd, we had a small flash flood in Gillette. We got a lot of rain all at once and it formed a river in our back yard...right through the pole barn Brandon is in the process of building.

Brandon was quite frustrated when he had to re-do all of the dirt work since the storm washed away a lot of the sand he hauled in. Bummer.

By the way...no new progress to report on the pole barn. Hopefully we can get it finished by the time school starts...but I am not holding my breath. :)

Ready to go

2010-07-02T17:04:00.002-06:00

Well I promised myself that I would post again before we leave on our camping trip. However, I don't have any new pictures to add...so here is the promise of lots of pictures when we return from our 10 day trip to southern Colorado.

By the way, I am amazed at how much stuff we are taking for our 10 day adventure...and how much stuff we have for these girls. :)

Our packing list includes: clothes for each girl (both warm weather and cold weather as we will be camping in the mountains so that is a grand total of 24 outfits each plus pajamas, socks, and shoes)...blankets (swaddling, receiving, warm and cool)...swim wear...towels, washcloths, bathing supplies...travel swing, floor gym, bouncy chair...two pack-n-plays, sheets, blankets...diapers (and when I say diapers I mean two boxes worth)...books, toys, dolly, blankey...snacks...and that is just for the girls!

I am hopeful that the girls will be great travelers. I am a little nervous about Emma, she doesn't really like the car seat, especially if she is hungry or wet. Hopefully she can manage to go a couple of hours in between each stop. Otherwise our 10 hour trip will be more like 12-14 hours...maybe we should have gone half way today.

We are sure excited to see all of Brandon's extended family for a week of camping in the mountains, and then a few days of visiting my side of the family. It will be great to get to introduce Emma to her family and show off how much Madi has changed in a year. Well I suppose I should be working on last minute details, I promise to post lots of pictures from our trip when we return.

Well-Baby Check Ups

2010-06-23T11:12:00.004-06:00

Madison and Emma had their 15 month and 2 month well baby visits in the past week. Here are their stats:

Madison
24 lbs (75th percentile)
30 inches tall (50th percentile)

Emma Lea
11 lbs 3 oz (75th percentile)
22.5 inches long (50th percentile)

Both babies are healthy and developing right on track!

I am afraid that Madi is starting to work on her next set of teeth. She currently has 12 teeth and has started the new routine of brushing her teeth before bed...which goes ok most nights...and other nights I give in and just let her do it herself...independent little kid!

Madison Marie is 15 Months!

2010-06-13T10:33:00.003-06:00

I am amazed at how fast our little girl is growing up. She is already 15 months old, and acting more like she is 2 years!

She has started to use her imagination, which is so cool to watch. The other day, she was playing with her doll. Wrapping her up in a blanket, laying the doll in the doll bed, carrying her around. At the same time, she would pick something up from the coffee table, and bring it to her dad to hold. Then she would come back and get it. We still have no idea what she was moving around, but we were glad to witness her development.

Madison loves being outside. She wants to be outside all day long...and gets upset if we go back inside before she is ready. Her walking skills have improved so that she is comfortable walking on uneven surfaces.

Last week we were playing outside. She saw my mom's dogs in their yard across the street. She decided that she wanted to go visit the dogs, so she did. Mom and I watched from my driveway as she walked, by herself, to her Grammy's yard to visit. Her Aunt Jenni called me to tell me my daughter was running away...she couldn't see us watching her.

Stairs are Madison's next personal goal. She has the going up part down. She can fly up the staircase at her Grammy and Granddad Cone's house. She has even started to try and walk up the stairs, alternating legs, like an adult. We still are working on the going down part, although she did tackle the single stair at my parents' house last night without too much trouble.

Madison is a happy child. She laughs, talks, giggles and screams all day long as she is running from one place to another. We laugh that the only time she is still is when she is sleeping.

Madison loves her sister. She likes to be touching her, or rocking her swing, or bringing her a blanket. Emma is really starting to notice her sister too. Last night Emma was in her swing at Brandon's parents' house. Madison was trying to give her toys and setting them down in Emma's lap. I was surprised to see Emma just smiling at Madi instead of getting upset as I expected. I hope they are great friends as they grow up together.

Madison's vocabulary expands every day. Here are some of the new words we have heard her say in the past couple of weeks: ice, night-night, ball. Mama, Dada and dog are her favorite words to say, and she says them a lot!

2 Months Old!

2010-06-09T12:01:00.003-06:00

Hard to believe that Emma is already two months old. She fits in quite nicely in our little family, and I can't imagine life without her.

She is really starting to smile and coo. I think I even heard her giggle this week while she was waiting to nurse.

She is an awesome baby. She sleeps through the night about 2-3 nights a week, and the most we have ever gotten up in the night is twice. (I know I am spoiled!)

Here is the current progress on the pole barn. I think now we are waiting for concrete. We will be concreting the front half of the pole barn to serve as a shop/additional garage space. Brandon is out of town this week at a conference and so no new progress since Saturday when they sheeted the roof.

I have to share these photos, although at 15 Madison might kill me for it. This is how she woke up from her nap the other day.

Even after smoothing out her hair it was everywhere. I ended up pulling it back in a pony tail so she didn't look too crazy.

Cousin Aiden is now big enough to sit in the bathtub. So now Madison and Aiden can take baths together every now and then. Here is a picture from their first bath.

Last night during our co-ed bath, Madison decided she was going to clean Aiden. She was washing his face with the wash cloth. It was pretty cute.

I suppose that is all for now. I am officially on Summer Vacation, and loving every minute. I hopefully will be able to get more frequent posts done now that I am home. :)

Lots of Pictures of the Cone Kids

2010-06-01T05:59:00.004-06:00

Aiden and Emma in the wagon. They both seemed to enjoy being outside.

Madison loving on her sissy,

and her cousin.

All three playing together, it lasted only a few minutes before I had to rescue Emma from her sister.

Amber and I held a photo shoot to try and capture a good picture of the three kiddos. Here are some of our attempts. It was a little crazy trying to get a 14 month old, 6 month old and 1 month old to all pose at the same time, without trying to pull the hair, ears, clothes of the baby next to them.

The last one is my favorite. They are all at least looking in the same direction.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather was awesome. We planted flowers, built a fire pit, and worked in the house. It was a nice break. We have three more days of school before summer break. I can hardly wait. :)

Well Needed Update

2010-05-29T09:50:00.007-06:00

Well it has been a while...life really got busy as I went back to work full time. I sort of have an unspoken goal of a post a week...and it has almost been a month. Oops.

Here are some pictures of my babies sitting together.

Emma is really starting to be alert. She loves to watch everything that is going on. I love her big dark blue eyes. I hope they stay blue, but I wouldn't be too surprised if the changed.

Madison has been using a few signs to help her communicate. Here she is in the process of signing more...which she uses all the time. More juice...more food...more fun...

Emma is starting to smile and coo. I have a feeling she is going to be just as talkative as her big sister.

Cool Shades!

If Madison is hungry, and we ask her if she wants to eat, she will walk over to her high chair and grab the footrest. I guess this is her own sign for eat.

We are in the process of building a pole barn. Here are some progress pictures.

We now have all of the trusses up and are getting ready to sheet the roof. We will then poor a concrete floor in one half of the building before sheeting the sides.

Daddy and his baby.

Madi and her bubbles...she likes playing with the bubbles in the bathtub.

Playing Great-Grandma Hitt's piano.

Emma and her friend PJ who was born 6 weeks after Emma. Here they are at 7 weeks and 1 week. It was hard telling which baby is bigger.

Madison is playing in Grammy Tammi's pantry in this video. She loves to rearrange the spices.

And for all of the out of town grandparents who haven't had the chance to meet Emma yet, here is a video of her stretching and cooing.

Four Generation Pictures

2010-05-29T09:35:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, we took pictures with my Grandpa Hitt. He really seems to enjoy his great-granddaughters. After he had been holding Emma for a while, I asked if he was ready for me to take her, and he said that she was just fine where she was. I am glad that he gets to enjoy his great-grandchildren.

Here are the best of the bunch:

NASA

2010-05-11T11:02:00.002-06:00

Brandon's drafting classes have been working with NASA this year through the HUNCH project. Here is an article in the Gillette Newsrecord you should check out if you are interested. It is pretty cool. :)

http://gillettenewsrecord.com/articles/2010/05/10/news/today/news03.txt

My Girls

2010-05-01T19:23:00.008-06:00

Emma Lea Ruth will be 4 weeks old on Tuesday. Time is going by so quickly, I can't believe that it has already been 4 weeks since she joined our family.

Madison is such a great big sister. She loves knowing where Emma is, and wants to be touching her when they are close together. We do have to watch her because she also wants to put her fingers in Emma's mouth or up her nose, which Emma is not too fond of.

Here are my girls:

I can hear the phone calls home from school already for Miss Madison. I can see her being the class clown for sure. She is always trying to be the center of attention, and loves being silly.

She is really good about entertaining herself. She loves playing with her toys, and really likes the huge stuffed bunnies that Emma and I received for Easter.

It is a rare occasion when I can get her to stay still long enough to pose for a picture these days. She is always on the move, and is interested in anything electronic, including the camera.

But when I got her to pose, she posed, and I got some great pictures of her. I am thinking that some of these need to find a place on our wall. :)

I thought Madi had outgrown the bouncy chairs she used as a baby. However, she now uses them more now than she ever did before. She will bring her books, baby dolls and blankets to the chair, crawl into it herself, and "read" to her dolls. She also enjoys rocking in the chair to get it to bounce.

I got tired of having to lock and unlock the cabinets in our kitchen, so I rearranged the cabinets this week. Madi decided to help.

Emma is changing every day. She loves to cuddle and to be held close. She sleeps very well at night, which makes my life so much easier. I have been working every other day since she was two weeks old, so it is very nice to only get up once or twice a night already.

I was finally able to get some decent pictures of her awake this week, so at last I have some new pictures to share of our little Emma Lea.

Some pictures of her sure look like Madison at that age, but others look as distinctly unique as are our two girls. I am curious to see how they each will change as they grow.

Emma gives lots of smile-like looks. I'm sure they are just gas, but it is nice to pretend she is smiling at us already. Here is a half smile I caught on camera.

Well I better get to bed. Madi will be up bright and early wanting to play, and I need to get some rest before then. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Golfing Madison Style

2010-04-29T10:58:00.002-06:00

This past weekend, my grandparents drove up from Colorado to meet EmmaLea and to help celebrate my aunt Angie's graduation from nail tech school. They brought Madison a set of little kids golf clubs. She has been playing with the golf clubs and the golf balls separately since, but never really showed any interest in putting the two items together. That is until this morning.

Madison was playing in the living room. She found one of the golf balls and carried it to the middle of the living room floor. She then went over and picked up one of the golf clubs, the driver, and brought it to the golf ball. She carefully cleared away the other toys in the way, and then she hit the golf ball with the club. She chased the ball around the living room, hitting it with the driver, for several minutes. After every hit, she would look up at me and give me a huge grin.

I should have gone to get the camera, but I was nursing Emma and didn't want Madi to get distracted when I moved. We will have to try and catch that one on film.

A post from Grammy Tammi

2010-04-19T10:23:00.002-06:00

Thursday April 15

Tonight Madi and I went to the library. As part of National Library Week, a jazz septet called CoalTrane played for 90 minutes. (I always thought we had to be quiet in the library, but not tonight!) Madi enjoyed the music. We sat quietly for a couple of numbers, we danced for a couple, we toured the library and checked out the children’s area. On Thursdays they have pajama story time, but we’d already been there over an hour and decided to come home. We did check out a book – a fun rhyming book about dance steps – and we returned one of the books I had checked out for her a week before. As her first experience with live music, and her first experience in the library, Madi seemed enthralled with both. You can bet we’ll be back before long.

Grammy Tammi

Just the 4 of us

2010-04-17T19:46:00.005-06:00

Well we have been a family of four for 11 days now. The transition has gone fairly smoothly except for the fact that Madi and I came down with a nasty cold last weekend. I am finally starting to feel like myself although I still have a deep cough. Madi still has a terrible runny nose although her cough seems to have subsided. Hopefully we will both make a full recovery soon.

Emma Lea seems to be a pretty content baby so far. She is a great sleeper and seems to be taking everything in when she is awake. She goes in for her two week check up on Monday. She looks more like Madi every day. I am sure that as they get older they will be mistaken for twins...and when with cousin Aiden, triplets.
Here is Emma now...

Here is Madi when she was about 1 month old...

Quite the resemblance!

Madi loves her baby sister. She always wants to know what is going on and wants to know where Emma is at all times. When getting ready for bed a few nights ago, I put Emma into her crib while I got Madi ready for her bath on the changing table next to Emma's crib. Madi was not happy until she was sitting right next to Emma. It is precious how fast Madison decided to love her sister. I sure hope that lasts.

Here are Daddy's three girls. He is getting ready to leave for a few days to go to his best friend's wedding in Las Vegas. We will miss him greatly while he is gone.

Daddy got some good cuddle time in with his littlest one tonight while Mommy was putting Madi to bed. It was such a cute pose, I couldn't resist getting a couple of pictures.

We received a lot of flowers when Emma was born, they are still in great shape. Here are a few of the arrangements...our counter is covered with flowers.

I also realized I never posted any pictures of Emma's room. It is a work in progress as it is also currently the office. Eventually, the walls will be green and a matching wall paper border will be added. But this will have to wait until we have a new space for Brandon's office. He jokes that his world is being taken over by babies...first his theater room, then the bar, and now his office.

Of course we can't forget about our toddler...Madi is full of energy and is either moving or sleeping. It is getting more challenging to get good pictures of her, as she is more interested in playing with the camera than posing for pictures.

She often looks like she is trying to figure out how to get into mischief. I am afraid that she will be our boundary tester...she will always be trying to figure out how to get away with things. :)

Well I suppose I should get Emma's bath ready so that I can go to bed before too long. I start back to work part time on Thursday, so it is time already to instigate a bed-time routine so that I can get good sleep before having to be at school at 7 am. :)

Pictures of our newest addition

2010-04-07T08:49:00.003-06:00

Here are some quick pictures of Emmalea.

Emma and I are both doing well. We are planning on going home this morning. I am sure anxious to see my other baby girl. Due to RSV season, Madison was not able to come back to meet Emma except through the window, so I can't wait for them to meet later today. I will post her birth story later once we get home.

Emmalea Ruth Cone

2010-04-06T13:37:00.002-06:00

Emma was born this morning at 8:17am 4-6-10 19.25 inches long 7.22 lbs. Jami will post pictures and more later.

Surprise!

2010-04-03T17:32:00.005-06:00

OK I guess I should clarify that we do not have a baby yet...Last weekend my family threw me a surprise baby shower. I had no clue, so that was quite the surprise.

Apparently, it was time to make some jokes about my pending future...My mom and sister built me a plastic covered thrown to sit on inside of a wading pool, just in case my water broke during the shower.

One of our family friends, Samantha, made me this beautiful, lady bug-covered diaper cake.

Sitting in the pool...ha ha very funny.

Opening presents...lots of adorable clothes!

Madison thought she would join in on the fun...she was adorable in the pool full of balloons. She really enjoyed playing with the balloons.

Thank you everyone who participated in the shower! It was a very nice surprise!

38 Week Checkup

2010-03-31T20:58:00.002-06:00

Our doctors appointment went well this afternoon. I am dilated to 3.5 cm and the baby's head is really low. Our regular OB is on vacation this week and will be back Thursday night, so hopefully Emma can wait until she gets back into town. Everything else looks good, weight gain, protein levels, blood pressure, so we are just into the waiting game now...less than two weeks until we get to meet our little girl.

Brandon and I are sure enjoying our week vacation from school. I have been taking it easy and resting...trying not to go nesting crazy. :) Brandon has been doing dirt work getting the lot ready for the pole barn we are building this spring after the baby comes. It has been nice to get some quality time in with Madi before Emma joins us.

Well, I just thought I would give a quick update. Either Brandon or I will update the blog if anything exciting happens...otherwise our next appointment is Monday after school.

37 Weeks

2010-03-22T20:50:00.002-06:00

Well, we have reached the offical "full term" mark in this pregnancy, although no one is too excited about this baby coming yet. We had our checkup this afternoon and all is well. Our goal is to make it to at least April 2. If we can make it that far, our OB will be back from her week long vacation (and she told us she would be disappointed if she didn't get to deliver our little one), and Brandon and I will be able to have the full extent of our leave. So hopefully, this baby will wait patiently for another two weeks.

The last week has been pretty uneventful pregnancy wise. I can breath a little easier these days, so I think she is starting to position herself a little lower. No new stretches of contractions like before, just a few Braxton-Hicks contractions here and there.

So if I can make it through one more week of teaching, I think we will be OK. Next week is Spring Break, so I can rest and relax and not do anything strenuous until the 2nd. Then I can start to go back to doing more.

Well I better get myself ready for bed. Our next appointment is the 31st. Wish us luck!

Happy First Birthday Madison!

2010-03-20T21:05:00.005-06:00

Well my baby girl is offically now a toddler. She turned one on March 12th, and is really the light in our eyes. She is such a sweet and loving little girl who loves to cuddle and hug, on her own terms of course. We had a busy weekend as we celebrated her milestone. Friday night, we hung out with my parents and my friend Mary who drove up from Nebraska to join in the celebrations of the weekend. Madi got to have a mini cupcake with dinner on her actual birthday. It was a nice night and she went to bed shortly after dinner at my parents house.

Saturday morning, on of my coworkers hosted a baby shower for me and one of the English teachers. We are both expecting babies in the next couple of weeks. It was a nice shower, but I really had to limit my guest list. I am hoping to have another shower after Emma arrives so that more people can be included, and everyone can meet the newest member of our family.

Saturday afternoon was Madi's birthday party. I think we had at least 40 people in our home for the party...it was a little crazy, but Madi handled all of the attention like a pro. We had a great time, snacking on finger foods and watching Madi open her presents.

She really did awesome opening presents, until she opened her new piano...after that, she was done. All she wanted to do was play the piano. We finally had to take it out of the room so that she would help open a few more presents. It is still one of her favorite toys from the party.

Here is her cake that Grammy Cone had made for her. It was a very beautiful chocolate cake.

Grammy Cone also brought Madi her own little cake. Madi had no trouble at all figuring out what to do with the cake.

She ate about three handfuls of frosting and then was sugared out...I guess limiting her sweets so far has kept her from having too much of a sweet tooth. :)

Madi still loves the piano. She plays with it a lot. In the background is the wagon her Daddy gave her for her birthday. She loves to go on rides in the wagon, she just sits back and takes it all in. Luckily the weather has been nice enough this past week for her to get to enjoy it.

I am afraid that we have a precocious child on our hands. Between playing the piano very gently and usually a key at a time, and wanting to be involved in everything Brandon and I do, she amazes me at how fast she is picking up on things.

I was working on writing thank you notes last night, and she wanted the pen I was using. So I pulled her up on my lap and she grabbed the pen from my hand and put it on a scrap piece of paper...she didn't quite push hard enough to write anything, but I was amazed that she held the pen and knew what to do with it.

Later on, she wanted to see what her Daddy was up to. He was putting together a pnuematics kit made out of the building blocks he and I both use in our engineering classes. She "helped" him for quite a while, looking for parts and watching how Brandon was putting things together. I brought over her legos she received for her birthday and she played with them some as she intently watched her daddy. She definitely wants to know how things work.

I am still amazed at how much this little girl is growing up. Her personality is really starting to blossom, and I sure hope that much of it remains the same as she grows up. It really melts my heart when she hugs her toys, the animals, her cousin, or me. I pray that she will always be as happy and loving as she is right now.

Happy Birthday Baby!

36 Week Update

2010-03-20T20:55:00.002-06:00

Hi all,

We had our 36 week update on Tuesday of this last week. Everything seems to be going well, blood pressure and protein levels look good, weight gain looks good, and baby measured in at 37 cm. After telling the doctor about the few episodes of contractions I had the previous week, she decided to check my cervix and I was dilated to "2 almost 3cm". She also said if I have another episode of contractions like I had last week (3 min apart for a little over an hour) that it was probably time to head to the hospital. We all would like to see me last for another couple of weeks, but 37 weeks is considered full term so really this baby could come anytime.

This information put us in high gear getting ready for Emma to join the family. Mom and Dad came over a few nights this week to help get the crib put together, and rearrange furniture to make room for baby. After thinking about the reality of adding a baby to Madi's room, we decided it would be best to rearrange the office to add Emma there instead. She will share with the office for now, until we have a new location for the office.

The information also came with me spending lots of down time this week...thus the lack of an update until now. If the baby comes before Spring break is over, Brandon and I both will be charged maternity leave days for the days of the break that we normally have off. (Kinda of a crappy situation, but what can we do.) So I am trying to make it another two weeks until the end of Spring break. It would be awesome if Emma waited until April to make her appearance, but we really don't have a lot of control over her arrival.

Brandon and I have one more week of school, and then we get all of the next week off for Spring break. We are both ready for a break from school, although Brandon will spend the week preparing to build a pole barn.

Well, I suppose that is it for now. We will see our OB again on Monday so I will try and update after that appointment. :)

34 Weeks

2010-03-01T17:38:00.002-07:00

We had our 34 week checkup this afternoon. I am measuring 35 cm...right on target. My weight gain looks good, blood pressure and labs look good. I have had a little more swelling in my ankles lately, and had quite a few contractions last week, so the doctor told me I need to slow down a little bit and start taking it easy more. Baby was head down and we go back in two weeks.

Madi is busy as ever. This afternoon she was practicing climbing Grammy and Granddad Cone's stairs. She climbed them at least 3 times, and came down about 3/4 of the way on her own this afternoon. (Supervised closely of course).

She is braver some days than others with walking. This weekend, she just wanted to crawl, but today has been walking all over the place.

Madi also gave her cousin Aiden a hug today. We held Aiden up to Madi and she wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. It was priceless. She did it three times, and then was mad when we took him away.

The countdown to her first birthday has started. Invitations have been sent out, and decorations have been purchased. It is hard to believe that she will be one in a couple of weeks. Wow.

11 Months and 32 Weeks

2010-02-16T19:21:00.004-07:00

Mom has been a little busy lately, so I thought I would put some pictures up so that everyone can see how big I am getting now that I am 11 months old...

Hanging out with Daddy...we have lots of fun together.

Hugging my baby doll Mommy brought home from New York for me...

I like to give hugs...I will even do it when you ask me too (most of the time)

I love to read books, I have a whole pile of them in my bedroom and they are my favorite toy to play with.

I love to "talk" on the phone. I will hold it up to my ear and say "hi"...however I get a little shy when there is someone on the other end of the phone so then I won't say anything...

I love to help Mommy with the laundry. I am a good sorter, and I will empty the laundry basket for Mom (even if she doesn't ask me to).

I am one busy girl, it is hard to slow me down...

Mommy was trying to get some good pictures of me this past weekend, but I was more interested in the camera than in sitting still.

I can pull myself up to stand on just about anything, the furniture, the walls, Mommy's pant leg...

I will take a few steps at a time, but that is still scary, so I often will give up and just crawl.

Here is Mommy and my baby sister with 8 weeks left to go until the big arrival. I am not quite so sure I am ready to share my Mommy's attention. Mommy's doctor's appointment went well this afternoon. Emma is growing right on track, and everything is going smoothly. Down to less than 2 months till Emma comes.

It is past my bedtime, and Mommy looks tired. I should let her go to sleep by going to sleep myself. Good night.

Bye

2010-02-16T11:04:00.002-07:00

This morning as I was putting on my coat to go outside to start the truck for our morning trip to Grammy's, Madi looked up at me, waved her hand and said bye. She did this again when I opened the door. It is amazing to see how much she is changing and growing up!

She is still making progress in the walking department. If she is focused and balanced before she starts, she can go 8 or 10 steps before falling down. She doesn't quite trust walking yet, and prefers to crawl to get where she is going...and man can she get there fast. If she holds onto a hand she will walk all over the house, so everyday she is getting closer and closer to saying bye to being a baby and hello to being a toddler.

In other news...I have my 32 week check-up this afternoon. Emma is much more active then Madi ever was...it is fun to watch by belly jump with her movements, but not so much fun to have her in my ribs already. :)

Brandon and I went and picked out a washing machine last night. Ours broke while I was in New York, and our attempts to have it repaired have gone in vain. So, I guess it is time for a new washer. I am pretty disappointed that the washer only lasted 2.5 years. However, when we started to compare the cost of having it professionally repaired and a new one, it was not much different. So hopefully we will have a washer again soon. Thank you so very much to Mom Cone and Gram Frisbie for doing all of our laundry the past few weeks. I so very much appreciate your help!

Well I better go finish my lunch. I will try and post tonight after our appointment.

Love You Mom

2010-02-08T07:30:00.003-07:00

So yesterday morning, Madi was playing with Brandon and I while we were still lying in bed. She would crawl over to me and lay her head down, then go back to Brandon and lay her head down on him. This is her way of giving hugs. One of these moments when she put her head on my side, she said "love you mom". Or at least that is what Brandon and I both heard her say. Other words and phrases we have heard her say: dad, dog, cat, ok, yeah, hi, grampa, pee-boo (peek-a-boo), talk, (I am sure there are others, so I will keep adding them to this list as I remember them.)

Madi is getting closer to walking everyday. This weekend she was taking 4-5 steps at a time, unassisted, between us. She didn't have any preference who she was walking too, she was just excited to be walking. We still have to make sure she is standing on her own before she takes off, otherwise she takes a nose dive.

Madi also broke another tooth this weekend. She now as three teeth that are through the surface (two on bottom and one on top). There are two more on the top that I can see through her gums...so she will soon have five teeth.

We had a very nice weekend, my first in a couple of weeks. We enjoyed spending time with my grandparents who were up from Colorado. We also enjoyed taking a break and relaxing this weekend. I know it has been a while since I have posted pictures. I will try and work on that this week. :)

Home Sweet Home

2010-02-04T21:09:00.002-07:00

Well, I made it back to Gillette Monday afternoon. I left my hotel at 2:30 am Mountain time to make my flight, and I was exhausted by the time I made it home. Madi met me at the airport and I came home to a clean house and clean laundry thanks to my wonderful in-laws! It feels good to be home, but I am very ready for a couple of days off.

Brandon left Gillette on Sunday to go to Anaheim CA for a conference. He is expected back to town here shortly, and I am very glad that he is on his way home. It has been 2 weeks since we have been in the same place, and I am ready to have him home again.

Just thought I would drop a quick note to let everyone know I am home. I hope to post more this weekend when I am not quite so tired. :)

Update from New York...

2010-01-26T08:53:00.004-07:00

Well we are approaching the half way mark for our training. I have been pretty busy here, buss leaves the hotel at 7:30 am and we are at the college until 5:30 each afternoon. Then we usually have some sort of homework for the evening. By the time I eat dinner and finish my homework I am ready for bed. So not a lot of free time here.

I am excited about teaching this class next year...there are lots of neat projects for students to do to help learn the content. Here are some of the things I have been doing.

This is a marble sorter. It takes a bunch of different colored marbles (3 colors) and uses light to sense the color and sort it into the correct bin.

Here is a video of our temperature controlled fan:

Today we made "dog bones" from aluminum and brass, in the machine shop, that we will be using later in the week to test the strength of the material.

I also used Autodesk Inventor to "build" a lego car out of pre-programed parts.

I am doing good, a little tired with the non-stop action, but things are going smoothly. I do miss my little girl and being at home with my family. I will definitely be ready to see her when I get home on Monday. I suppose I better get back to work, just thought I would send out an update.

A Couple of Firsts

2010-01-22T11:33:00.002-07:00

This week has marked a couple of firsts in our lives...

Wednesday afternoon, when I picked Madi up from Grammy Cone's, Madi gave me my first hug. I was nuzzling her cheek with my nose and she pressed her face against mine holding it there for a while. Then she released the hold momentarily and then again pressed her cheek against mine but this time she wrapped her arms around my head and held me close for a quite a long time. I am guessing that she was sensing the next big first.

Thursday morning, I left Gillette for a 12 day trip for school to Rochester, New York. So this is the first time Daddy had his little one by himself overnight, which sounds like it was interesting trying to get her to go to sleep without her mommy there to tuck her in. It was sure hard to know that she was missing me and I couldn't be there to help. Hopefully she will adjust soon.

Today is pretty laid back until registration begins about 5:00 eastern time. Then it is off to the races. Class will be from 8-5 every day (including weekends) starting Saturday and running through next Sunday. I leave here Monday morning to head back to Gillette.

Brandon leaves Sunday the 31st to go to California for a few days for a different conference. Luckily my parents agreed to watch Madi in the overlap. However, I won't get to see Brandon for two weeks. This will be the longest we have been apart since we started dating 3 years ago.

So I know I promised belly pics, but I guess those will have to wait until I get back to town. It was decided Monday that I would be going on this trip, and it has been a bit of a crazy week preparing for this last minute.

I suppose I should go put my feet up for a while before our evening session starts tonight...wish me luck.

27 Week Check-Up

2010-01-12T07:55:00.003-07:00

I saw my OB yesterday for a check up on baby number two. Things are progressing nicely, she says my weight gain and blood pressure are perfect and that the baby is growing right on schedule.

The office is in the process of switching from the OB performing the ultrasounds, to having technicians performing the ultrasounds, and there has been some confusion. So my OB did a quick ultrasound yesterday just to make sure that she was getting the right information from the scans.

The due date we are officially using is April 12. The scans we did yesterday had us measuring right on the due date we found in our first ultrasound from September. So that bit of confusion has been resolved and we can now say with confidence that our due date is April 12.

After two scans that didn't show any boy parts, we can feel fairly confident in the fact that we are having another girl. So far the name we have chosen is EmmaLea Ruth, although the spelling might change before she arrives. I am getting excited about meeting our Emma. Although life will definitely be a little crazy with two babies 13 months apart. :)

Madison is going to be a great big sister. She is already trying to help out with her cousin Aiden who is 2 months old. Last week she was trying to give her bottle to Aiden while they were at Grammy Cone's house during the day. She is getting closer to walking every day. She can pull herself up on anything, including the wall. She is getting braver about letting go to stand on her own and even tries to take a few steps on her own. She still needs to improve her balance before she will be walking independently.

Well, with today being the 12th, that means that Madi is 10 months old, and three more months until Emma joins our family. I will post some pictures soon. I have belly pictures, ultrasound pictures, among others.

Sledding with Grammy

2009-12-30T12:14:00.002-07:00

Madi got her first sled from Grammy and Grampa Hitt for Christmas. We received 5 inches of snow this past week, although most of it drifted into much bigger piles. Grammy took the afternoon off yesterday to take Miss Madi sledding for the first time...she really seemed to enjoy every minute.

After I put the camera away, they ventured clear to Grammy's house and back before Madi acted like she was ready to be done. Thank you Grammy and Grampa for the fun new toy.

Madi's First Christmas in Pictures

2009-12-26T22:11:00.010-07:00

Playing in all of the packages...

Christmas Eve with the Cones...

Christmas morning with the Hitts...

The day after Christmas at Great-Grandpa Hitts...

Random pictures from the week...

Our Christmas Blizzard...

The new aquarium all set up...

Overall, we had a wonderful couple of days...with more to come!

Madison's 9-Month Check-up, Among Other Topics

2009-12-23T09:47:00.004-07:00

Madison had her 9-month well baby check up on Friday. She is growing great and seems to be right on track developmentally. She was 21 lbs and 4 oz (if I remember right) and 28 inches long, which puts her in the 75 percentile for both height and weight. She seems to be balancing out quite a bit in the chubbiness department.

She is officially crawling all over the place now. She is super curious about everything and wants to be in the middle of whatever we are doing. So, we have had to rearrange some furniture to keep her safe.

She doesn't like to be left alone however, so we have several areas around the house where she has a safe place to play. After she was very clingy yesterday, I took a peak at her gums, and I think we are working on some more teeth. She has two already, and her upper gums were sure swollen and white last night. Hopefully they will break through soon so she can be more comfortable.

Brandon and I bought a 75 gallon aquarium this past weekend and are working on getting it set up. We have been wanting a large aquarium for some time to merge our two smaller aquariums into one, and we found one in Rapid City this past weekend when we were Christmas shopping.

However, before we can set up the aquarium, I had to paint the living room. When we bought our house, two and a half years ago, the walls were just primed but never got painted. I have been wanting to paint the rest of the upstairs ever since. I figured that now was the best time to paint, so that we don't have to move the aquarium once it is set up. So...

I picked out a nice neutral color and Brandon's mom and I have been painting this week. Brandon, Brad, Amber and Brandon's dad have all pitched in to help the process and we are now about 2/3 done.

I am really happy with it so far. It has sure made the house feel finished...

Here is the new aquarium. Brandon painted the back wall black to help enhance the colors of fish in the aquarium and to hide all of the cords and tubes. The filter and filtration system should be here this afternoon so we can continue to get it set up. I will post pictures when we are finished.

Here is a picture of the living room after painting. Notice the aquarium in the corner.

We are hosting Christmas this year. Our tree has never had so many packages underneath it. It is fun to have a room full of gifts to open. Jack seems to like it too...we have chased her off of nearly half of the presents already, and they have only been in place for one day.

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas. I will be posting throughout our two week vacation, so stay tuned for more pictures and stories of our adventures. ;)

The Abominable Snow Baby

2009-12-14T20:10:00.002-07:00

Watch out....

here she comes...

the abominable snow baby.

We have sure had our share of cold days around here. It is sad when 20 degrees seems like a heat wave. Madi's snow suit is a little big still, but she is sure cute in it.

Other popular opinions on what she looks like in her suit: Ewok from Star Wars, or the Racoon Suit from Super Mario Brothers 3.

Pictures, as promised

2009-12-11T22:22:00.005-07:00

Hi everyone, Madi here. I wanted to fill you in on all the happenings around here lately. My Grammy Hitt made me my Christmas dress, it fits perfectly and I will be able to wear it for a long time. Thank you Grammy.

My Grampa Hitt had a birthday a few weeks ago. We went next door to help him celebrate. I like spending time with my Grampa.

Great-Grandpa Hitt came down to help celebrate too. He sure seems to have an eye for me. :)

Here I am in my Santa dress showing off my walking skills. I still need to have some help, but if you give me your fingers, we can walk forever.

I like to pose for the camera. I start smiling and squinting when I see the camera come out. That flash is bright!

Don't take your eyes off me for a second, I am on the go and you better try and keep up.

Mommy and Great-Grandma Frisbie decorated the house last weekend. They set up a village with all kinds of bright lights and moving parts. It is really pretty and I like looking at it. They also set up a big tree in the living room, and lots of other interesting things around the house. I like looking at all the lights on the tree.

Aunty Amber taught me a great trick today...if I put my knees underneath me, I can move! I have been "swimming" to move forward for a while now, but tonight I came even closer to a full crawl. Won't be long before I can go where I want. Watch out Mommy, here I come!

I still love watching the dogs play. Tonight, I thought I would play along too.

Mommy and Daddy tell me that I am going to have a little sister soon. They showed me some pictures of her...I can't see much, but maybe you can pick out her profile,

or her fist punching Mommy,

or her foot, Daddy says the toes are pointing up,

or her spine and head in these two pictures.

Well, I am one tired little girl. After "crawling" around the floor all night, I am ready to go to sleep for the night. Mommy starting moving things around today in my room, I wonder why...

With love, Madi

Baby 2-22 week update

2009-12-09T07:54:00.003-07:00

We had our doctor's appointment yesterday. We had our big ultrasound as well. I do have pictures but I don't have them scanned in yet. We did not get to see our regular doctor as she was out of the office yesterday. The ultrasound tech preformed the ultrasound and we met with a different doctor for the follow up appointment.

According to the doctor, the baby looks perfect, although a couple of the measurements were a little smaller than he likes, so we will have a repeat ultrasound in 3-4 weeks to make sure the baby is growing as scheduled. We are still using April 12 as a due date, which puts me at 22 weeks and 3 days, although that date might be off...

I am measuring 23 cm, which is right where I should be, and everything on my end looks good.

We did ask to find out the gender of our little angel. The ultrasound tech is the one who told us, but she never did say for sure it is a ..., however she did say that she didn't see any boy parts. So for now, it sounds like we are having another baby girl. We do have another ultrasound in a few weeks, so maybe we can have a better confirmation at that point to make sure it is a girl. (We were told Madison was going to be a boy at the first ultrasound...so we are not quite as trusting as we were with her).

I do have some other pictures to add at some point, but I don't have access to them right now. I will try and upload those pictures soon.

Our Chunky Monkey

2009-11-30T20:07:00.003-07:00

So...I kept having to pack away Madi's pants because they didn't fit her any more around the waist. She was running out of pants to wear in her12 month clothes she has been in for a while now...so I broke out the box of 18 month clothes...which fit her better than the 12 month clothes did. Only problem is...the pants are about 3-4 inches too long. I might have to do some hemming. So....I sure hope no one has bought her a ton of 12 month clothes for Christmas....even though that is what I said she needed...I guess now she will be in 18 month clothes for a while. Madi will be 9 months old on the 12th...I suppose we just have a chunky monkey for our little girl.