All dressed up

Brig graduates this month, so I decided to take some pictures of him for his announcement. Then I realized, hey we're all dressed up for McKay's ordination (congrats to McKay on becoming an Elder!)...let's get some family pictures! We dont have any recent family pictures so I was excited.

and reagan (my awesome/gorgeous sister in law), the photographer!

.................

Maddix loves running in the sprinklers with Brig.
& he loves helping mow the lawn, we'll see how long that one lasts!

Some recent/daily quotes of Maddix:

"Watch the ball, step, and swing." (says this every time he gets ready to swing the bat)

"Hit the ball, run home base."

"Nephi good boy...No, Maddix good boy, Nephi good prophet."

"Teacher good boy" (talking about his nursery teacher)

"Go potty toilet, get treeeat."

"Oh man."

"Nice hit!"

"I see a sugar bug!"

Recently Maddix has been obsessed with washing his hands. He climbs up on a stool, and while washing his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror and does this hilarious fake laugh over and over again. Not sure why, but it's great entertainment!

M: "Dadda go?"
Me: "He's watching tv."
M: "Maddix watch tv."
Me: "It's daddy's turn to watch tv, he's been at work all day long."
M: "No Maddix turn watch tv."
Me: "You already watched tv today bud."
M: "Maddix older go to work, Maddix go to blue work, Mamma drive Maddix work."

Brig: "Maddix, who is your favorite baseball player?"
M: "This is Upton" (trying very hard to say, Justin Upton, but every time it comes out "This is")

That's all for now! I'm sure tomorrow he will come up with more :)

tonight

Oops, here is my post that I originally wrote that I thought got deleted..

Tonight as I was driving with Maddix in the car, I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Tears streamed down my face. I turned around, held Maddix's chunky thighs, and told him how much I love being his mom and how much I love spending time with him.
The other day I was telling Brig how much I love Maddix at this age. He laughed, only because we are in the process of potty training, and experiencing the "terrible twos" so not every moment in our house is exactly pleasent, but every day I feel that I grow so much. I learn patience or I learn the importance of meal time together. I learn that playing horses, legos, football, and baseball all day gives me the opportunity to bond with my boy. I learn more about my handsome little guy's personality and realize that what I do really does rub off on him and he really is learning by example. The other day Maddix and I were swimming in the pool and he walked over to the step, knelt down and began to pray. It went like this, "Heavenly Father, thank you body, thank you dada, thank you momma, keep momma safe, thank you happy, thank you swimming pool, thank you cereal, thank you prophet, thank you Jesus, Amen." He looked up at me with such a proud face and said, "Make Jesus happy." After the conference talk given that discussed the importance of teaching our children to understand, I have been trying really hard to explain why we pray, why we go to church, etc. I showed him a few examples in the Ensign where there were pictures of stories and I explained why the people were praying and how Heavenly Father helped them. Every time I teach him this, I can tell that he is really trying to understand. He looks at me with the cutest serious face ever and asks questions or repeats back what I say. It is so hard to teach a 2 year old, but they do absorb everything so I am really trying hard to be a good example.

This summer has been perfect. Yes potty training can be frustrating, but I love being home with Maddix. I love being there to watch him learn new things. I love our daily swims, our (almost) daily trips to Costco, our walks to the park to play football, baseball or golf. I love singing him songs before he goes down for his nap or to sleep at night. We sing the same three songs every night, "I love to see the temple", "I am a child of God", and "I hope they call me on a mission". I love watching his sweet tired eyes slowly close at he falls asleep. Some day's it isn't until that moment that I realize how precious and innocent he is. I love being a mom.

our week

Tonight I cried.

 It was a happy cry. 

I love this boy so much. 

I feel so blessed to be him momma.

This week we went swimming almost every day, made 3 Costco trips, 2 splash pad trips, 3 Walmart trips, read 10 books, watched too many movies, ate way too many otter pops, made cookies, built castles with legos, played trucks and horses, colored pictures, worked on potty training, went to McKay's high school graduation, fed the ducks at the Reparian Preserve, played football, baseball and golf at the park, got burned by the park slide, went to the Diamond Backs game, ate at Costa Vida, got a Lemon berry slush at sonic during happy hour, made a trip out to Chandler Mall, made up a new language with Maddix on the way there, watched the Vow (secretly cried during it), started reading "Heaven is Here" by the amazing Stephanie Nielson, and cuddled lots with my boys.

Life is good.

life update!

Life is busy. Busy, but perfect. I just went through my pictures from the last month and realized how blessed I am. Brig is still at University of Phoenix and taking some Seminary teaching Institute classes at MCC. He is really enjoying them! I am in my second semester of Dental Hygiene school and loving it. It is so stressful, busy, and time consuming. But now that we are seeing patients, I love it! I try to enjoy the time I have at home with my family. Lately I have been feeling so much guilt for trying to clean, study, do laundry, run errands, etc, while I’m home in the morning with Maddix before school. I have a really hard time trying to find a balance. I started taking Maddix to the park every morning for a little to spend some quality time with him. He loves it. That way he can have my full attention for at least part of the morning! Needless to say, he sits and begs at my feet to play with him if I try to study. It’s like he knows. This is exactly why I don’t study when he’s awake. It makes me so sad :( So basically we play most of the morning and then if I can get him to take a nap before I  have to leave for school (usually around noon), then I can get some studying done then. Even though it’s tough being in school with a kid, I wouldnt trade it for anything! Brig has been such a huge help. It is the best feeling coming home at night after a long day at school to a clean house and a sleeping baby.  Brig is such a good dad and cares so much about me doing well in school. I’m so blessed.
Enough about me. Maddix turned 2 on the 9th! That morning we went to the park, at waffles and maple syrup for breakfast, and then got some frozen yogurt before I dropped him off at my sisters house before school. That night the Weight’s had a birthday party for him and my nephew. I was at clinic til 9, but Brig took him and they had a great time. The Saturday after his birthday we had a little party at the park with my family. He loves his new toys!
Maddix is talking SO much. He loves to sing. He loves golf. My friend gave him a golf set and he loves it so much that he had to sleep with it that night! It was adorable. He loves his mimi and his grandma weight (basically his 2nd moms!) He loves to play hide and seek with daddy. He loves us to sing to him before bed. He loves horses. He’s very independent. He is a super sensitive little boy. He loves to be outside. He is the most handsome little guy I have ever seen. He is getting very good at sharing! “My turn, “Dadda’s turn, Livvy’s turn, Mimi’s turn”. It’s presh. He loves to play with the big kids. He had his first visit to the dentist and loved it! He loves nursery. He loves to color. Every time we pull out the coloring book, he says, “color dadda’s boot”. Brig no longer has to wear his walking boot, but for some reason he is obsessed with coloring dadda’s boot!!! We have about 50 coloring pages of Mommy, daddy and Maddix wearing walking boots. Its hilarious. He makes me smile so much. I love you Maddix! Can’t imagine life without you!!!
Here are lots of pictures of the last few months.

                     Grocery shopping with mom                                                              Jammin out to Mindy Gledhill :)

                      Frozen yogurt for the birthday                                                  His birthday party wore him out a little :)

                                     Park with mommy                                                                                   chillin with his BFF/cousin Tate
 
                         Birthday morning                                                        Papa spent so much time making this fun marble game for him!

                                        Brig, Maddix, my parents and sister when to the Romney rally while I was at school

My teacher told me to draw my notes in fun colors and tape them around my house so that I can study while I’m walking around the house. I’m a nerd :)

Working on Brig in clinic! I had so much fun having Brig come in. It was so fun to show him where I spend all my time :) Plus he thought I sounded super smart throwing around all my dental terms. :)

Polishing Laurissa’s pearly whites :)

Maddix loves the Arizona Childrens Museum. We had fun going with Gracie, Livy and Katie. Grandma Weight takes him about every week when she comes to babysit him!

Drawing on Brig’s cast before he got it taken off
That’s all for now!