Maddie's 1st Christmas

We hope everybody had a great holiday season! We are finally back from our long trip and getting back into the swing of things. We had a great Christmas with Mike's family in Utah, and then spent New Year's with my family in Idaho.

It was so fun to try to teach Maddie about Christmas presents. Of course she was more interested in the paper and bows than anything, but she loves her new toys! Even so, she will still choose a remote or a cell phone over anything else, silly girl. Before we left we had to open Maddie and Mike's Santa presents because they were too big to take in the car!

Maddie got a reading chair of her very own!
She pretty much just likes to climb in it. But every time she sees it she squeals and points. Maybe it's because she likes red, or because it's little like her. She squeals at most things that are little like her (animals and other kids).

Daddy's big gift was an electric stove/fireplace. He is always wishing for a fireplace so he can feel warm and cozy, and this is the best I could do. He loved it!

We watched the Las Vegas Bowl on TV with Mike's family... unfortunately not in person... but gooooo Cougars!

Mike and Maddie got to open a present each on Christmas Eve. Bet you can't guess... jammies!

Christmas Eve was spent with almost every member of Mike's family! A few couldn't make it because of snowy conditions, but almost all 23 grandchildren were there. This is a picture of the cousin gift exchange--chaos, to be sure.

Maddie, Daddy, and his Daddy too

Christmas morning was fun! We were a little sad not to be at our own house under our own tree, but my sister's tree worked out well. We also missed Christmas morning at the Jensen's, but after talking to them on the phone I felt a little better. As you can see above, the spoilage was NUTS! I thought I was done shopping for Maddie, but then Mike decided to add more gifts of his own picking. The biggest spoilage of all, I'm afraid, was myself. Mike gave me my long-wished for NutraMill wheat grinder... and then at the very end, I opened a Kitchen Aid!!! It was a very big surprise, but I guess it shouldn't have been because Mike is notorious for going overboard when it comes to giving to me. Thanks, babe!

This is Maddie's favorite toy. It is a snail and when you pull him along the shell turns. The shell comes off and is also a drum (the antennaes are drumsticks) and stores blocks too!

We had Christmas dinner as a family--once again, a few were missing, but almost everybody. Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas 2007. It was spent the best way possible, surrounded by loved ones. I don't know if you've heard the Barbara Streisand Christmas song, but I agree with her when she says that the best gift that she ever got was a tiny, newborn child. Maddie isn't newborn anymore but she's our miracle of the year. And of course the newborn child in Bethlehem was the greatest gift of all.

Ya learn something new everyday...

We are having a great time on our holiday road trip! We thought we should do a mid-trip post so we won't have as much catching up to do when we get home. We have loved seeing so many friends and family--Mike's entire family was together for the first time in years and we had 5 nights in a row of family gatherings and festivities. More pictures and details will follow, but for now we had to document a few firsts!

Mike played his trumpet for a family music night (those Andrews are seriously talented!). It was the first time I have ever heard him perform in the 6 1/2 years I have known him! He has a renewed passion for anything trumpet-related.

Maddie discovered snow for the first time! On Christmas morning there were 2 or 3 fresh inches and Mike took her out to touch it. She was very interested but pulled her hand back real fast when she found out it was coooooooooooold!

On Christmas Day Maddie learned how to clap!!! She and Daddy were performing acrobatics for everyone and the aunts were clapping for her, so she joined in. It is so precious! Hope you enjoy the video.

Ode to Target

It has been a busy shopping day! My Christmas shopping was pretty much done, but it was for the last minute things like white elephant gifts for our Christmas Eve party, food stuffs for the big meal, and baby food for the long trip. Do you ever feel like you have 10 stores to go to in one day, and at the last store you realize that the price on that item at the store across the street is a lot cheaper, so you decide to go to yet another store, and when you get home it takes forever to sort through everything and you feel guilty that you hauled the baby around all day and she got in and out of her car seat a million times and feel like you need wash your hands really good because who knows what you have touched? Whewww. That was us today. But that should be the last of it until after Christmas!

My favorite store in the world is Target, hands down. I think most of you would agree with me. Somehow they are just so good at convincing me that I want to buy, well, just about everything. I go with a specific thing in mind, hoping to find it in the dollar section, and I end up with lots of things from the dollar section, plus this and that because I realized that I've been needing/wanting it and it's just so cute/useful/cheap! Wow, there's a glimpse into the mind of a crazy consumer.

Maddie actually did amazingly well during all of this. She smiled at everyone she met, especially the kids, who also got squeals of delight. She seriously makes everyone around her smile! I wish I could hide a camera on her somewhere and let you all watch the reactions she gets. My favorite today were:

1. What a cute baby! You are really blessed. (This I know.)
2. She so cute! What shelf did you find her on? I need to get me one of those. (Wish it was that easy!)
3. How did you get that bow to stick on? (x3, everyone is curious... well, it's called Elmer's!)
4. What a beautiful baby. Just like her Momma. Yep she's going to grow up beautiful just like her momma. (Ummm... regardless of the veracity of this statement, it was said by an old man who was a little too friendly, if you know what I mean. Creeeeepy.)

I realized that I have been posting a lot lately. I think it's because I am stocking up before the Christmas break famine. We are leaving town tomorrow for about 12 days! Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Thinking of you...

One day Mike brought me a Nips from the reception desk candy jar at work. I love them and said "Yum, you should bring me one every day!" I didn't expect him to really do it... but it's nice to know he's thinking about me during the day.

Look-alike Meter

From the beginning everyone has said she has Daddy's cheeks, and we both have blue eyes, so that was a given. My sisters used to say she looked like me, but I hear votes for Mike more often lately. Still others say she is a perfect cross! Thanks to the Lindsay's for reminding me of this look-alike meter... it was soooooooooo helpful.

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Last name

1st Christmas Dress

Maddie wore her Christmas dress yesterday because it was our last Sunday at home before Christmas. She looked sensational! :) She turned lots of heads at church.


She helped wrap presents too.

And here's another shot of those 8 teeth (you can only see the front 2 on top). In other news, Maddie climbed the whole staircase yesterday, all 18 steps!

Mischievous Maddie

I thought since Maddie just turned 9 months old I would do a post dedicated just to her. She is in such a fun stage, although she is getting mischievous now that she can crawl and climb! We love to watch her personality develop. At her 9 month check-up on Monday, Maddie weighed 18 lbs 11 oz, just above the 50th percentile. She just had a huge growth spurt and changed from short and chubby to long and lean right before our eyes! Usually when you see someone every day you don't notice the difference, but even I could tell she was losing baby fat on her tummy and thighs. And then of course her pants were all high watered.

We gave a bookshelf to her to go with her lounge chair coming from Santa. She loves books!

Now that Maddie can move she is all over the place. She will follow me from room to room unless she gets sidetracked by a door stopper (to which she will say Oooooo as it doings). She loves to look in the full length mirror and laugh at the little girl she sees. She has recently discovered the stairs and tries to escape my watch to get a glimpse from the top--scary!!! She also climed her first stair last week. I saw her near them but she had never moved from the landing before, and when I looked over again she was up one! Needless to say it is time for gates.

Before

After the climb!

Maddie now has almost eight pearly whites. I can't believe they are coming in so fast! She has 4 on the bottom and 3 1/2 on top (one is almost but not quite through). I may be imagining things but I think there are little points trying to break through too. Our usually happy girl does not teeth very gracefully... a new tooth usually means a couple of days of fussiness and bad sleeping. Naptime + new tooth = one unhappy baby!

Do you think the gap on top will close? Mike is worried that she won't be as cute... good thing we're friends with Devin! :)

Our favorite new development is her mimicking of sounds. She says dadada sometimes and now when I say it back she looks around for Mike. And just in the last few days she has caught on to "uh-oh"... probably because I say it all the time when she drops things off her high chair. Her rendition sounds more like "oh-oh" but it's so cute! We weren't sure at first that she was really making the sound on purpose, but after some expirimenting we realized she was mimicking us!

Another cute habit she has is nodding her head. I'm not sure why she does it yet... it doens't mean yes, but if you ask the right question while she's in a nodding mood you can pretend! :) She always nods at the alarm clock, Christmas tree, and people at Wal-Mart. Go figure! Here is a video clip of the nod... her sound and movement make me think of a chicken!

Spirit of the Season

I love to do things that get me into the spirit of Christmas. Traditions have always meant a lot to me. So now that I am the woman of the house, and now that I am creating Christmas for a child for the first time, I am more aware of traditions we have and ones I want to create. We have been reading our Christ-centered Christmas book every night with a carol, scripture, and inspiring story, and I have enjoyed how it sits us down together to focus on the real spirit of Christmas.

My bud Jeanie invited us to go with them to see the Christmas display at the Bellagio conservatory. You may remember the pictures we posted of the fall display--it was incredible! The Christmas one was amazing too, but not quite as intricate... but it definitely did boost my Christmas spirit!

Maddie and the penguins
She still wants to touch everything! :)

Family picture in front of the big tree (I love the big silver stars hanging from the ceiling)

Another family shot (thanks Jeanie!) in front of this greeting card made of flowers!

Eskimo baby watching the fountains from Dad's shoulders (you can seem them faintly in the background)

We also enjoyed our ward breakfast with Santa yesterday. The line was really long to sit on Santa's lap, so we just snuck behind for a quick picture! (Don't mind me looking like I just woke up--I did!)What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

We got our tree up last Friday!!! In following with Jensen family tradition, it is a live Noble and it smells oh so yummy! It was actually raining that night, and even though our tree was a little soggy it felt more Christmassy to be cold and just want to snuggle up in a blanket with hot chocolate.

We had fun introducing Maddie to the trimmings.

The first snowflake.
And the final product! Can you tell it says JOY? My mom gave me the idea to put letters IN the tree.

My handy man

Mike fixed the brakes this weekend. He looked like a regular pro! One of the things I love best about my hubby is that he seems to know something about everything. He is my walking encyclopedia/dictionary. I learn something new just about every day.

Showing how far worn down the brake pads were! We had to get new rotors because the metal had been rubbing on metal!