Pictures

Last Saturday, the 6th, we had the opportunity to have some family photos taken. When we first got to the park it started sprinkling. Then as we were finishing up it started pouring. It was so crazy. But it worked out perfect for us. I just felt bad for the family that we saw walking into the park to get started as we were leaving. Hope their pictures weren't postponed. Our pictures did not come out as I would have liked them, of course the kids were a complete nightmare and didn't want to sit still very long. But we did manage to get a couple cute shots out of it. Thanks Shannon. You did a great job! My kids are just pills! Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

Fun times at the Zoo

On Thursday the kids and I went to the OC zoo with my friend Janica and her daughter Emily. It was the perfect day, the weather wasn't too hot and it was a weekday so it was not crowded at all.

Charles enjoyed trying to find the animals in each exhibit. Mad just hung out and enjoyed the ride. There isn't a ton to look at at the zoo but Charles still thought it was pretty cool. The best part was the barn area.

Charles got to feed the goat and rams (I think.) Madison didn't think that was cool at all. She was so nervous about going near any of those large funny looking animals. Of course she did want to pet a chicken. Hello, chickens peck! Luckily it was behind two sets of chain link fencing so she could not tough it. Emily didn't like the animals much either.
We went into this little gated area that has baby goats wandering around. It was really neat the kids could brush the goats and be right there with them. Charles thought it was neat and kept pointing out to me every time they pooped. Thanks kid. Like I was going to clean it. Silly Charles.



Madison wanted NOTHING to do with these baby goats. She stood far way near the entrance the entire time. I tried to grab her hand and have her pet them but she did not like it. It was so funny to see her so stand offish because she LOVES dogs. And the babies were not much bigger than my parents dog.

Charles found some bunnies, but we very sad that they were in a caged area and he could NOT touch them. I'm sure the bunnies were happy that they were safe.

After we left the zoo we walked around the park and fed the ducks, saw some horses and played on the play ground.

Charles also found a few peacocks and really want to touch them. I was surprised at house close they let him get.

It was such a nice day.
And so nice to be out of the house and with people we enjoy being with! Thanks Janica & Emily!!

18 Months Old

I really CAN NOT believe that our little Miss Mad is now 18 months. She is growing and changing so much we LOVE it. We went to her Doctor's appointment yesterday and she is doing very well!!! She now weighs 22.5 lbs and is 32 inches long. That moves her up into the 70% percentile for height and 40% for weight. Yeah! Now that she is more then 22 lbs she is able to ride facing forward in her car seat. I just turned her around yesterday before we left for the doctors (I knew she was more then 22 lbs. I just wasn't ready to turn her around.) She loved it! She loves that she can see me and she is not in a semi-reclined position. The only problem is is that her car seat is a little deep and has big sides so it is hard for her to see Charles. But oh well, she will get over it.

She is a pretty good toddler for the most part. She has her moments just like any other 18 month old. She is very friendly and loves to get peoples attention. I constantly see her doing this little shy/bashful smile to people behind us at the store and they always LOVE it. She is such an entertainer. She doesn't have a huge vocabulary maybe around 5-8 words. But she babbles and jabbers ALL day long. She is never quite. My dad jokes that she is speaking the pure language. I don't really remember when Charles' vocabulary exploded so we will just see how things go with her.

Things Madison Loves:
Giving kisses, both blowing kisses and closed mouth kisses (awh yeah we have moved on from the open mouth kisses)
Playing outside; in the dirt, with snails, & water
Swinging
Playing in any and all forms of water
Dancing to music
Dogs
Books
Still LOVES Wow WowWubbzy (she even says "wow wow" now)
Talking on the play phone
The Camera (She now smiles for me when she sees it. Charles has NEVER done that without some coaxing.)
Clapping
Smiling and Flirting with strangers

What's New

**On Saturday was our ward Primary Activity and the kids went on a pioneer trek. It was so cute I wish I had thought to bring my camera. Some of the kids came dressed in pioneer clothes. They split the kids into different companies/families (you couldn't call it a family with the kids because if you asked them where their family was they would look for their mom or dad or siblings, it was too cute.) Then they gave each family a few babies and a wagon and they proceeded to cross the plains. They had different stations with different activities. It was such a great idea and the kids had a really good time. One of the stations was the saints crossing the Mississippi River. They had a tarp laid out with a bunch of ice on it, then they made the kids take off their shoes and socks and told them how the saints crossed the icy river. Then they had the kids walk through the ice with their wagons. Charles was holding on the side of the wagon and VERY nervous about walking through it. (He didn't want to take his shoes off the in first place but I insisted he participate. I don't want him to grow up not wanting to do anything.) As they started to walk into the ice you could see Charles moving farther to the back of the wagon and hanging on pretty tight, maybe he thought he could keep the wagon from going in the ice. But once we realized he couldn't he clenched on to the wagon with both arms and pulled his legs up to his chest and just hung on for dear life. It was so hilarious. (I really wish I had my camera now!) Then when he couldn't hang on any more he let go and ran off the tarp. It was so funny! He had a great time.

**Yesterday was Madison's first day in NURSERY! Hooray!!! She did such a great job. I thought she may be a little hesitant because sometimes she is a mama's girl, but she did not care that I put her in there. She ran right in an NEVER looked back. I love having independent kids.
It was so nice for John and I to be able to sit together for Sunday school and the third hour (ours was combined). I can't even remember the last time that happened. In our previous ward I was in the primary presidency so I didn't go to Sunday school and relief society. So it was very nice to do so. We do not yet have callings in our current ward but the bishop wants to meet with us this week. Hopefully we can tell him we are in escrow! That would be nice.

**We are still house hunting and have found several houses we like. And one that we LOVE! We have two offers in on house but are just waiting for the bank. This market is so crazy! I just wish the banks had more staff to meet the demands of all these offers. We will keep you posted!