Merry Christmas!

So we went to Target today for some pictures. I was really surprised at how well the kids did considering they have never liked having their pics taken. Maybe it's because I bribed them with a Wendy's frosty afterwards if they were good. They only one I ordered is the one above(the first one). It's the only one that I really liked and was good of all 3 of them. Don't mind Kenzie's flower on her head. Yes, it's a little big. It seems to look bigger in the pics than it really did!

Yes, there is a large flower in the middle. Looks like J an M are connected by a flower.
Senior prom anyone?

Winter Stuff

We have had so much snow the last few days, and more to come! As much as I don't like it, the kids love it. The one thing that is nice, is that when it snows it warms up a little. They also love to take pics lately. Of everything. Jake actually got this nice shot this morning of Daddy, Brannon, Jared, Paige and Riley out shoveling snow in front of the Gilson's. I was very impressed with his new photography skills, which also include many shots of the window, our bed, half of people's heads, the toilet, etc. You get the picture. :)
Our sweet baby Connor who is growing so fast. He got this super cute outfit from his Aunt Megan. Can you see the red in his hair? Yep, it's there. And if I can brag for a minute, he is sleeping 8 hours a night! Then sometimes going back to sleep for a couple more after he eats. It is really helping my sanity. Oh and he has been smiling more lately which we love. It's hard to get smiles from this little guy, so we get excited when we get one.
Kenzie LOVES Connor. She is a big helper ~ with everything. She is so careful and cautious around him, but also loves to be right in his face ALL the time. She gets pretty upset if I don't let her know EVERYTIME I change his diaper, so she can help.
Jake loves his brother, but is not as interested as Kenzie. He will say hi to him maybe a couple times a day, but doesn't make much of an effort to play with him. It seems he really is just looking out for him, always keeping an eye on him to make sure he's safe and happy.
I have not been as good with this baby about tummy time, for obvious reasons. :)
But here he is, giving it his best.
One of the great things about living here, is that every Christmas, the city fire truck goes around to all the neighborhoods in The Ranches, with Santa perched on the top, throwing bags of taffy to the kids. How fun is that? Jake remembered this year, and couldn't wait. They looked out the window all morning. Even though sis was sick, she was a trooper and put on her boots to go outside. Like she would miss it. My mom said when she was a little girl in Orinda, California, they did this. Reminds her of a small town. Does anyone know if there are a lot of other places out there that do this? So fun for the kids.

my babies

I realized the other day how fast my babies are growing up. Ya, they are still little, but it seems like yesterday Jake was born, then it seems I don't even remember Kenzie being a baby. Now we have a new little guy and time just seems to fly. I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since he has been born. Time went SO slow for 9 months, now it's like the days are gone before I know it. (and when do I fit in that shower?) My dad always says how fast kids grow up, but it really didn't hit me til lately. And I still feel like I have NO idea what I am doing! I just hope I am doing something right.
Anyway, Jake is a vampire for Halloween and Kenzie is Snow White. Jake wanted nothing to do with me painting his face or coloring his hair. Kenz on the other had sat pretty still for some makeup(which makes her look nothing like herself) and hair. These were taken before the church Halloween party. At least they got to go to that in case it snows on Saturday!
The kids love to kiss the baby and like to have their picture taken with him. I think he really likes it too!

Connor James Madsen

Our sweet baby boy Connor James arrived October 7 at 7:58am. He weighed 7lbs. 4oz. and was 19-1/2 in. Everything went as planned and we are loving having a new little man in the house. Jake was so excited when Mike told him he had a new brother, and Kenzie really didn't care that it wasn't a girl. She was just happy to have a new baby to help mommy take care of. She really has been a big help and it is so cute to watch her around him. She loves to hold the bottle, get me diapers, and gets REALLY excited whenever he opens his eyes. She always says, "Mommy, there are no more babies in your tummy. Baby Connor came out and now he loves me." As for Jake, I can tell he loves him but really doesn't care what the baby is doing. When we first came home from the hospital, the first thing Jake wanted to do was read Connor a book. So he did, but has had no interest in doing it since then. He does though like to make sure he is safe and gets upset when Connor cries. He has been telling us that when he grows up and gets married someday that he is going to be a "really great daddy." That you are Jake.
Oh, a sad part of being in the hospital was the kids could not come visit. No kids under 14 allowed. So no pics of them in the hospital with me and baby. It was hard to not see them for a few days.
As for Mike, he loves having a newborn to sleep on his chest. That is his favorite part of having a new baby. As for night time, you could throw a cooler full of ice on him and he would not wake up. So I don't even attempt it. Who knows what would happen to baby if I handed him over to a sleep walking daddy. :)
As for me, 3 kids will take some getting used to. Moms really do need more than 2 hands and 1 pair of eyes. I have had a lot of help the last couple weeks, and am so thankful for a great mom and mother in law. Wish I could always have an extra hand here!
We love our little Connor and are so grateful for 3 healthy kids and a great life. Welcome to the family handsome!

I don't sew. Really, I don't ever sew. Maybe to make the occasional curtain, tablecloth edges for YW, or to sew a button back on something for Mike. But even all this is rare.
Well, I really wanted one of these baby seat blanket cover thingys. I've seen them at various stores for $50-$60, and new I could attempt to make 3 of them for the same price as 1. So I did. They took me forever. But they are done and I can't wait to use them. The stitching isn't the best, but hopefully you won't look too close once I am actually using them! My favorite is the girly one, and I think I could use the blue one for either a girl or a boy. The green one is for sure for a boy. So if I have a boy, I will have to reluctantly give up the girly one to someone out there having a girl. If I have a girl, I will give away the green one if anyone wants it.
My favorite part of the girl one is the awesome brown buttons. The underside of the cover is the same fabric as the straps on top. I should have taken a pic of that. Oh well, you can imagine.

so cal and a fun wedding

i can't get these pictures in the right order so i am just not going to care because it doesn't matter! last month my cousin got married in malibu and we had a great time! good family time and overall a good vacation. kenzie was the flower girl and jake was one of the ring bearers. they did so well, were so good walking down the aisle and loved being a part of the wedding. everyone was so good to them and they were so cute in their outfits! yes, i am posting pictures of my largeness on here ~ i really don't want to but i like the pics of my family and hubby and i just happen to be in them.

kenzie really thought she was a princess and loved being right by ashlee's side. well, she is my princess!

our little man in his tux. don't you love the sleeves? we thought he would be dying to take it off, but he wanted to keep it on all night.
i love this pic. kenz is looking up at ashlee like, "oh wow, a real princess!"
our babies being silly.
daddy and jake at the rehearsal dinner. the kids loved the music and were dancing most of the time!
me, my sis, kenz and my mom
my nana and my sis
my sweet parents. don't they look so great?
we went to the beach for two days and the kids loved it. kenz wouldn't go in the water, but jake wouldn't get out of the water. i wish we lived closer to one we would be there all the time.

the kids were awesome travelers and we had a great week. it is so funny, since the reception the kids do "cheers" to everything. their drinks, ice cream cones, toys, etc. then they laugh, scream and clap their hands. too cute. one of the best parts of the trip was mike got upgraded to first class on the way there and back, and he was such a great hubby and gave it to me both times while he sat with the kids! unlimited diet coke and big seats for the big belly!

I know I got this off someone's blog, but I can't remember who's........so if it was yours I hope it's ok I use it! I love it, so funny.

My Big Guy & My Little Guy

This is Mike and Jake on Father's Day. I got them matching ties and it was so cute! Jake's clothes are a little big on him to say the least, but he will grow into them! I won't go into what it took to find these clothes(Carolyn and Brooke I still feel bad I dragged you all over town!) but it seems no one carries dress clothes for boys his size. If anyone knows where to get them for a good price, let me know! This is also the best pic I could get. Jake is getting better at wanting his pic taken, but still not great. Yep, nice smile buddy.
Jake really loves his daddy so much. The other morning he cried for the first time when Mike left for work. He kept telling Mike he wanted to go with him. He is always telling me how he is growing to be just like his daddy. Some days he talks about how his hair on his legs is just like daddy's, and then he will look in the mirror and think for sure he is growing a "beard". He wants to eat like daddy, talk like daddy, swim like daddy, be as tall as daddy, dress like daddy on Sundays and the list goes on. Everything is about daddy and I love it. Jake really looks up to him. He mows the lawn with him and helps him wash the car. He is the happiest when Mike comes home from work. Mommy doesn't matter anymore after that!

and the baby is......

well, we don't know! 20 long weeks have come and gone. we had our ultrasound on tuesday and actually went through with not finding out whether jake and kenzie will have a brother or a sister. i really can't believe we did it, i didn't think we would once we got in there. if mike wasn't there, i think i would've found out! :) i even thought that maybe i would "just know", but i don't! some days we are sure it's a boy, and others it's definitely a girl. either way, oct. 1 will be a super exciting day for us and we will be so happy to welcome a cute boy or girl to our family. i really wanted to post an ultrasound picture, but we don't have one because the little one really didn't want to look at us. baby was playing peek-a-boo most of the time. it was really cute. what really got to me, was the minute we first saw the baby, it was like the frst time all over again when we saw jake. we were just in awe of the little one and what a perfect miracle baby is. once again, i couldn't believe what is growing inside me. it has also been really cute to listen to the kids and all the things about baby i hear them talking about. jake was fascinated by the pictures of the baby's spine. he now wants to know all the things that the spine does. kenzie just wants to make sure the baby is warm and has a blanket. i can't wait to see how they really are once baby is here!

Kenzie's 1st "REAL" Haircut!

While Jake was in pre-school today, Kenzie and I went to get her first real haircut. We had so much fun! She loved it and sat really still. She even got to watch Tinkerbell to keep her entertained, and sit in a cool pink car. After, she got a pink balloon and a sucker. She kept saying, "I look pretty princess". She has been needing this hair cut for a LONG time. It makes her look a little older which makes me sad, but at the same time I love that she is old enough to do this and enjoy it. The girl who cut her hair was so sweet and made Kenzie feel like a big girl. When we picked up Jake, he even noticed she got her hair cut and I didn't even say anything! He kept telling her how pretty she looked. Such a sweet big brother. I have now been staring at her all day thinking how big she is getting and how fast time is going by. :(

EaSTeR!

So I didn't really feel like cutting and pasting so these are not in order, but they are still here after a long time of no posting. We really haven't taken pics in forever since I have not really been in the pic taking mood.

This is after church on Easter morn. We tried to get a pic before church when we "thought" they would be happier and the lighting was better, but that didn't work. So to get this one, we had to bribe them with a chocolate bunny(of course Jake smiled when he hears that) but Kenz was really tired as you can tell. She loved getting all dressed up like a "princess" and I was really looking forward to getting some cute pics of her but it never happened. So I think we will be heading to Target soon for some better pics. Jake loved his new outfit and thought it was really cool that him and sis matched. After she put her dress on she would twirl around and say, "I so pretty!" I love it. Now she just needs to start letting mommy curl her hair.
Our handsome little man
Hunting for eggs Sunday afternoon. It was kind of cold so it didn't last long. Jake just wanted the candy anyway.

This pic really describes sis! Putting her Easter basket in a dumptruck. So Kenzie!

Lounging with candy in one of her "outfits". We are not "allowed" to dress her anymore.
The kids super cool bunch of dyed and painted Easter eggs. They were so proud!
Sis would just put a little paint on.........
.........and Jake wanted to paint the whole egg
So on the day before Easter, we headed over to Nolan park for the annual Eagle Mountain Easter egg hunt. It was more like the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Thousands of kids. Not enough eggs. Thanks, but no thanks for next year. This is Jake inspecting his one egg he got after being trampled on the first one he tried to get. Kenzie didn't get one. She was holding on to us for dear life and would not cross "the line" to go for one. I didn't blame her. Shear chaos.
Oh I love my sister. I will share my candy with her. Maybe. Luckily there was a guy going around with candy for the kids baskets so everyone at least got something.