YOLOstone

A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to West Yellowstone, Montana with our friends.  Haley and Spencer have a cabin up there on Hebgen Lake and they invited a group of us up for a few days.  It was a fun pact weekend and it was great to hang out with the other couples.  I am starting to not enjoy blogging as much as I once did, so I'm going to post some pictures and call it good.

 It was freezing

 The whole crew waiting for Old Faithful

 The girls watching videos of ourselves

 The beautiful cabin. I want to go back

 Our View

 I love the swings!!! 

Goofballs.  I love these girls and had such a fun time.

 Getting ready to go rafting. 

 Sharing an umbrella with my bestie. I love her!!

 The water was SO cold.  By the time I got out of the water my jaw was almost locked from chattering so much

 The whole crew

 I got up my first time trying out the wake board thanks to my awesome teacher, Haley.  Unfortunately for me, it made me overly confident which led to me wrecking way hard!

Growing Like a Weed

Madden turned 6 months old on August 4 and he is developing so fast.  It seems that he is doing something new every day.  Here are some of his latest developments

-       -He can spin around while he is sitting so he can maneuver himself to play with the toys behind him when he gets bored with the toys placed in front of him

-      - Yesterday I put him in the laundry basket to play in while I got ready.  To my surprise, he pulled himself up to a standing position.  Then today he was sitting in his crib and he pulled himself up again.

    - He rocks back and forth from seated position up to his hands and knees.  I'm pretty sure he will be crawling in the next month.

    - He had his first weekend away from Andrew and I while we went to Montana with friends.  I was nervous that he would miss us, but he did so good.

-      - He is eating 1/3 C of fruit and 1/3 C of veggies with breakfast and supper.  He loves fruit, but still is not too fond of his green veggies.

-      - Tonight we gave him a little piece of banana and he gagged.  We will keep trying.  I think the texture threw him off.

-      - He loves to smile and laugh

-     -  He has two bottom teeth that are so cute and they make me smile every time he smiles

-       -He loves to have his tongue out.  I swear it’s out 80% of the time.

-      - He gives kisses and they are the best kisses ever; wet, juicy and open mouth haha

-       -He also gives hugs (today for the first time, I was holding him and Andrew reached his arms out to take him and Madden turned into me and hugged me.  I of course love it)

     -He loves Grandma and Grandpa Steeves dogs, Millie and Mia.  Though Mia isn’t too fond of him.

    There are lots more, but those are the ones that I can think of right now.  Being a mom is the best thing I've ever done in my life.  

  My camera is out of batteries so I haven't been able to take his 6 month pictures, but here are some recent pictures.  

 Big smile

 The 4th of July- Madden 5 months old.  He loves his daddy

 Haley and Madden at the derby

Madden and his new puppy, Zaydee

Life in Pictures

 Madden's second road trip.  We went to Vegas for the Nike Coaches Clinic.  The boys spend most of their time in the hotel, while I was at the clinic, but we took advantage of the pool during lunch and dinner breaks

 Madden did so well on the ride. We only had to stop once.

 Sitting on the porch listening to thunder and watching the storm

 The new house.  Our weekends now consist of yard work and I don't mind it at all

 Taking a break for the yard work.  Madden being a gangsta

 Aunt B, Madden, Andrew and Sofia

 Playing at the pool in St George

Madden loves the water

Letting Go

Letting go can be hard, especially if you're like me.  Once I've let go of something I forget about why I let it go and I find myself into missing it. It's as if I forget about all of the bad things that made me let it go in the first place. This is something I've done for years.  Years back it was probably a boy and then maybe it was a house and now it is a job/living situation, the day treatment house to be more specific. 

It really started to hit me last week when Andrew and I went out for sushi with the girls we used to live with.  As we were driving through the neighborhood to pick them up Andrew and I started reminiscing of all the memories we had there and then to both of our surprise we confessed how much we missed it. We then had to stop and remind ourselves why we let it go.  We. Started. A. Family. We. Built. A. House. We Wanted. Alone. Time.  We. Needed. To. Give. 100%. To. Our. Son.

I realized that I need to be grateful that I had such a wonderful opportunity to make an impact on those girls lives and how blessed I am that I was able to have them in my life to make an impact on me.  I also need to remember that letting go is necessary to move on to bigger and better things and that is just what we are doing.  Life is going so well for us.  We are best friends, we have a perfect baby boy, a new house and we are making new memories everyday.

Letting go can be hard, but it is necessary.

2 Months Old

Well our baby is two months old and today Andrew and I took him to his two month appointment.  He weighs 12 lbs 6 oz (75 percentile), he is 23 inches long (75 percentile) and his head is 16 ¾ inches round (90 percentile).  We weren’t at all surprised about his head size.  He has a good sized noggin.  

  Here are a few of the things Madden is up to now that he is 2 months old.

·         He still HATES being on his tummy

·         He loves to cuddle and he is such a good snuggler

·         He is constantly cooing

·         He loves to smile especially in the morning

·         He has slept through the night a few times, but it’s still not too consistent

·         Bath time is his favorite time of the day

·         Andrew and I finally gave in and started giving him a binky occasionally.  It’s been a lifesaver when we are out and about

Here are some pictures from the past week

 Madden at his appointment, before getting his shots

 Recovering from his shots (it was a traumatic experience)

 Cuddle time

Happy Boy

 

I

Life is WONDERFUL

 Madden and his cousins.  They are already teaming up on him, but he doesn't seem to mind.

 Andrew's hair is way too long.... and for some odd reason, I really like it in this pic

 Me and one of my handsome boys

I can't get enough of those cheeks.  Yes, I know Madden is a total code 9  in this picture.

 Madden and his twin cousins

Our first razor ride since we had Madden

Time is flying by here in the Vera household.  Madden seems to be growing every single day and it is is happening way to fast for this momma.  I catch myself getting excited for the things he will do in the future like playing catch and running around the backyard, but then I remember how precious he is right now and it makes me sad that he is growing so fast.  Madden's newest accomplishment happened about a week ago.  He was laying on his tummy, which he absolutely hates and all of he rolled himself over to his back.  Needless to say, he isn't spending much time on his tummy anymore.  If he doesn't roll himself over, he lays face down and screams until I pick him up.  I am so grateful for my little family and the happiness that Madden has brought to our family.  For anyone who reads our blog, here are a few pics and I will hopefully do a two month update on Madden in a few day.  WHAT?! I can't believe he is two months old already.  Time needs to slow down.

Sneak Peek