Gratitude

   I want to say how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father for my family.

   For my husband, Scott, who I love and miss. I'm grateful for the love he brings into my life and the happiness I have with him. I'm grateful for the father he is to our beautiful daughter. I'm even grateful when we don't always see eye to eye, it gives us the opportunity to talk, listen, understand each other more, and love each other more. He teaches me a lot. I want to be a better person with him. I learn to trust more deeply, and love more deeply. I'm grateful for the safety he's had in traveling to Michigan, where we will call home for the summer. I'm grateful for him being a hard worker to provide for us and giving me the opportunity to be home everyday with our daughter. I can never say it enough, I LOVE YOU! Can't wait until I'm with you again, one month!

   I'm grateful for my baby girl, Madison. For her health. For being able to hold her in my arms, to comfort her when she's sad, and to laugh with her when she's happy. For her smile, that continually lifts me up and makes me smile right along with her. I love how she watches me wherever I am. I love when she's sad, all she needs and wants is ME. I love when she falls asleep in my arms. I love her little frown before she cries. I love watching her making her little discoveries, like her thumb. I love the new noises she makes as she tries using her little voice. I love how when I sing to her, her face lights up with a smile and she starts making noises like she's trying to sing with me. I love when I nurse her and she just stares up at me with a big smile, not interested in anything. I'm grateful for all these precious moments that my Heavenly Father is blessing me with. For the constant reminder she is to me of my Heavenly Father's love for me, by allowing me to share my life with her. Madison, I will never let a day go by that you won't know how much I LOVE YOU!

I am extremely grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the knowledge that

Families Can Be Together Forever

and for Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice, making that possible.

Latest Project Finished!

   Our move to Michigan is coming up soon, and we are not taking Madison's crib with us. Since she will be sleeping in her pack-n-play for the next 6 months I wanted to make it cuter for her. I decided to make her a bumper to go inside it to bring in some of the bright, fun colors from her room. I spent one night sewing the bumper and another night adding the little embellishments. I love how it turned out, and the fabric goes with the fabric I used in her rag quilt. Here are some pics:

 

Just a preview, when it's really put together there
will be leaves and stems to go with it. I can't wait to put it all together.

   I will also bring out the butterfly mobile that I made her. Now that she can actually see it, she loves it. I'll put her down for a nap and when I go back to check on her she's still awake, moving her arms, kicking her legs, and talking as she just stares at the mobile. She's lasted 30 minutes doing that before finally succumbing to the sleep. I think it will go perfectly with the flowers I made for her wall.







Love This Girl!!

   I just have to say how much I love my little girl and her adorable smile!!! She is such a happy and amazing baby and smiles so much! All I have to do is look at her and a big smile breaks out on her face, and mine. When I look at this girl, I know the purpose of my life and am SO very grateful for her. I am truly blessed by my Father in Heaven to have her as my daughter. I had to share some of her amazing smiles that light up my life!

You can tell she's smiling behind the paci, she couldn't keep it in because she kept smiling!

She loved being with her cousins!!!

3 Months Old!!!!



Sad Moment

   I got this video when I was getting ready to take my sister Chrissy and her baby, Alexis, to the airport to fly back home to Iowa. The girls were all ready to go in their carseats. I joke that this was their reaction when we told them they had to say goodbye and weren't going to see each other for a little while.

Madison's Special Day

   Hello hello. It's been a little while since I've last written and we've had some very special moments since then. First and for most, Madison had her blessing day on February 6th. This last weekend was the first weekend that we haven't had family and/or friends visiting since her blessing. I also came down with the flu, which was horrible! So there are all my excuses for taking so long to write about it all :)

Madison's Blessing

   We were so blessed to have so much family with us to share this moment with Madison. Living here is Arizona where we have no family, it meant so much that our families took the time to come. We were able to have Scott's parents, sisters, and grandparents from Idaho here. We had my parents from Oregon, my older sister and her baby from Washington, and my younger sister and baby from Iowa. My sisters and their babies stayed with us... in our two bedroom apartment. It is a large apartment, but 3 babies is a lot for my poor husband, lol. It was such a great time!

Daddy getting her dressed

All ready to go!

   My sisters both stayed a little longer and we had such a blast having our three babies all together. They were so adorable. We got lots of looks everywhere we went.... three babies, three carseats, three strollers... "yes we are all sisters," "no they are twins, they are cousins," "they are all 2 months apart." Those were the common answers we were giving that week. Here are some of my favorite pictures from having them here:

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Bathtime

   I was so excited to give Madison her first bath! Too bad she wasn't. She absolutely hated it and screamed the entire time! I felt so bad for her. She finally calmed down only once I had her wrapped up in her towel and in my arms.  

  



Crying so hard she was turning red :(



"Why are you doing this to me Mom? I'm cold and naked!"





Glad it's over!

  Her baths after that have not been quite that experience. She rarely cries or gets upset anymore. She really likes getting her hair washed too. Here's some pictures from bathtime with Grandma Archer.


She was being so good, no tears.



Hello!

"Are we done yet?"





Best Christmas Present Ever!!!

   I am finally making a new post..... 2 years later! A lot has happened in our lives over the last two years. We have been able to experience a lot of new places and things, but rather than trying to go into all that I will focus on the best one..... our new daughter Madison!!!!



   In April, Scott and I found out that we would be expecting the first addition to our family of two. The pregnancy went really well and fortunately had no complications. My prenatal care started in South Carolina, continued into Pennsylvania, and finished back here in Arizona.... so I was very grateful for the healthy pregnancy.

   Our sweet Madison wasn't due until Dec 27, but decided not to wait until then (which I had no complaints about). At my 38 week doctor's appointment my doctor determined I was dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced. She said that I could still go another week at that stage, but Madison disagreed. That night I went into labor. I was unsure whether I was in true labor for most of the night. Around midnight I was able to time my contractions and was pretty sure it was the real thing. At that point the contractions were still bearable and considering I hadn't gotten any sleep the previous night I decided to try laying down for a bit to get whatever rest I could.

   Around 3-4am I woke back up with much stronger contractions. Still wanting to be sure I continued to time my contractions for the next 2 hours. We finally decided to head to the hospital and got there around 7am on Dec 14. When we got there I was only dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced. I walked around the halls for a little bit and began progressing right away. However, I had to wait in triage for several hours while they got a room ready for me.

10 hours into labor.

   Around 11:30am I was moved to my labor room. I was already exhausted from the lack of sleep that night and the night before. When offered the epidural I jumped at the chance. Scott had been very helpful and supportive to this point and was more than willing to let me have what I needed to be the most comfortable. I had planned on going natural, had really been preparing myself for it, but I didn't have the energy anymore. I don't regret the epidural one bit, best decision I made!!! I was finally able to relax, and my contractions actually got better and stronger after that. After the epidural was in effect they broke my water and waited for me to dilate the rest of the way. Around 6pm I was ready to start pushing. I pushed for a little bit and got her to the point where she was crowning. At that point they had me stop to wait for the doctor to get there, I guess they didn't expect her to crown that fast. Once my doctor got there and it took her a little bit to get everything all ready. I then pushed through 2 contractions and Madison was here!!!
She was born at 7:01pm, weighed 6lbs 9ozs, and was 19.5 inched long. She was a perfect, healthy baby girl and we are so grateful for that!
   It was truly an amazing experience. I was able to watch her come out and it was surreal that my baby girl I've carried for 9 months was finally here and in my arms. She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It's amazing how fast you can love someone you've just met. We've been truly blessed to have her added to our lives and thank our Heavenly Father for trusting us with the responsibility of raising her!

Proud Mama!

Her left eye had gotten a little swollen from the delivery.

Proud Daddy



Ready to go home!