Spring Break!

Well, a lot happened during spring break; we were quite busy. (Hence, the reason why we haven't blogged and have consequently been harassed about it.)

On Monday, Erin and her friend Molly watched Madi so Doug, Braelyn, and I could go to the beach. The weather was horrible; however, it was a break from reality for a few short hours. We went out to eat and window shopped at the outlet malls. The shopping part wasn't the most thrilling, since I hate shopping, especially window shopping. (When I HAVE to go to the mall, I like to go, get in, and get out as quickly as possible.) But we couldn't break tradition and not go to the outlet malls. Plus what else is there to do when it is pouring buckets?

So we began our trip by eating at The Mazatlan. They have the world's finest fajitas. Well, we got there, Braelyn puked all over herself and her car seat. The fun was already beginning. We changed her outfit and blankets. A few hours later, when we were shopping, I needed to feed Braelyn. I made Doug try on some clothes at Gap so I could feed her in the dressing room. It was a tight squeeze with the stroller, car seat, diaper bag, and our bodies, but we did it. Before leaving the dressing room, Doug wanted to change Braelyn's diaper. Well, she peed all over the dressing room bench. (Imagine a substantial puddle of pee.) There went outfit number two! Good thing we came prepared.

On Friday, our ward threw me a little baby shower. Surprisingly, Madi made out like a bandit too. Sheryl, my friend who put on the shower, knows that Madi loves Elmo and made her this Elmo blanket. (She now has two Elmo blankets.) The blanket complements her Elmo pillow that Grandma Terri made, her baby Elmo, and her Elmo potty time book (all seen here). She will absolutely go crazy when we see Sesame Street Live. Yes, we definitely live in a "Melmo" World.

Home Remodeling

Doug, my dad, and I spent several days working on the house. It was quite difficult juggling power tools and kids. Erin and her friend Molly helped take care of the girls several times. While we were working, Madi spent a lot of time in her p.j.'s. Doug and I love this picture. Madi found this lovely flower/headband in her closet. It is actually a bow to a box. Molly put in on Madi's head; she absolutely loves it. She asks to put this on practically every day.

Hair Cut Time!

On March 20, Madi got her first hair cut. She was such a big girl! She just sat on the stool and watched her hair being cut. Lisa did the best she could to get rid of the mullet. She now loves having her hair styled. When we have time, we put spray gel in her curls. It looks really cute.

Puke, Potty Time, and Cat Love

Well, things are getting a lot better. We have Braelyn on her sleep schedule. She is only getting up twice a night, which makes for very happy parents. Yes, we understand that she won't be perfect every night, but we are making progress. Something we do not miss, however, is baby puke. Last night, Doug was rocking Braelyn and felt some warm goodness. :) She had puked bubbly chunks all over herself and his chest. It was quite hilarious because I have been puked on numerous times by her, and this was Doug's first time. To top it off, it was even more hilarious because he was using her burp cloth as a blanket and not as protection.

We are starting to potty train Madi. She is only 18 months old, so we aren't going to push things. With that being said, she is definitely showing signs of readiness. We ordered her an Elmo Potty Chair. It is quite cute. Well, it came last night, and I put it together. This morning Madi had peed through her diaper. (That girl is a peeing machine.) I took her into the bathroom to take a bath, and she got so excited when she saw her Elmo potty. I tried to sit her on it, but she was scared. So she stood next to it while I filled up the bath. Then I hear, "Uh,oh!" There she stood-- peeing all over the floor! Oh, well. We'll have to work on that.

Matilda, our cat, has a boyfriend. I have learned that it is mating season in the cat world, seeing as I have been woken up three different nights from those lovely cat cries right outside my window. Now Matilda is spade and has never had a problem this time of year. However, this year is a different story. Last week, we started seeing an increased population of cats around our house. Many of whom we've never seen before. Then one young gent won the prize. He follows Matilda everywhere. He even comes up to our sliding glass door and looks in. It is somewhat disturbing; he's like "stalker cat." Matilda is literally the cat's meow.

Other Updates:
-Doug finished his class. Thank goodness. We mailed off his project yesterday.
-We are looking forward to spring break next week for several reasons.
*Doug will be home to help with the kids.
*We are hiring my dad to help us finish our odds and ends on our house.
*We are going to meet with our realtor. I will rejoice when that "For Sale" sign goes up.
*We are ditching Madi for a day and going to the beach.

Life with the Madster and Braelyn

I came in from the kitchen, and Madi had plopped into Braelyn's little vibrating rocking chair. It was absolutely hilarious.

Aunt Morgan made Braelyn and Madi really cute blankets. In this picture, Madi kissed Braelyn right after she patted her on the head. Unfortunately, the batteries on my camera went dead. Argghh!

Braelyn was sleeping by the fire. Our fire was going for four days straight. It's a new record. But hey, it wasn't hard because we were up at all hours of the night.

Although Madi does throw tantrums when she is really tired and hits Braelyn on the head to punish me, she does love her new sister.

Yes, Madi does have a mullet. Her hair is completely funky. We attempted to put a barrette in her hair; she wasn't a fan. It stayed in for about five minutes.

We Will Survive!

Well, we are alive. The first week we each averaged about three hours of sleep a night. We weren't functioning on all cylinders, which made it difficult to also take care of Madi. We never realized how easy it is to take care of one kid. Two are a completely different story. It is one of the hardest things we've ever done, especially since both of the girls are so young.

In the past week and a half and in the midst of complete chaos, we have had some glimmers of enjoyment:
-Madi used and abused her grandparents while we were in the hospital. We think her grandpas realized that taking an 18 month old out to a restaurant is not exactly fun. (Seeing as they ended up taking their food to go...) We did chuckle about this.
-Madi has become aware of all of her ouchies. She has picked up on Doug spraining his ankle and me being hooked up to an IV in the hospital. The other day she held up her pant leg and limped into the bathroom. She had a hangnail on her toe and wanted to copy daddy when he hurt himself. It was so dang cute. She now shows us every bump and bruise.
-Grammy got Madi an electric toothbrush with Dora on it. She is now more fascinated with brushing her teeth than ever before.
-Madi loves helping with her baby sister. She is always looking for Braelyn. Two days ago when Braelyn was sleeping in her bassinet, I was covered in blankets. Madi came up to me and asked, "Baby?" She lifted up my arm looking for her and began lifting up the blankets. It was extremely cute. She also loves giving Braelyn kisses.