The Happy Houghs : 2013

I have sprinkled in some of Madi's Most Memorable 2 1/2 Year Old Moments with her gorgeous cowgirl pictures taken this fall...wanted to record for Miss Madi Mae to enjoy someday:

This beautiful hilly pasture with gorgeous horsies is right out our back door! LOVE! Fence, schmence! Just get yourself a ladder and climb right over that farmer's fence ... what we won't do to get a great pic! Madi also got to ride a real horse "YEEE-HAW...I'm a real cowboy!" ...when our neighbor took us out to ride a few times this past fall.

Madi Cowgirl Pictures: Lovingly taken and edited by Grandma Black; September 17, 2013
Horse Ride: September 16, 2013

(After Daddy applied his delicious smelling gel and sexy cologne in the morning): "Daddy, you smell like handsome!"

Mommy: What kind of dog is Lily?
Madi: A QUEEN dog! See, I just did a magical spell: (she spins her hands and waves them over Lily's head)...Ta-da...I turn you into a princess!

(In the evening...Dad is finally home from work and is sitting in his chair in the living room....Madi lays herself at his feet and begs him for some rough-n-tumble-wrestling-playtime in the cutest way possible...) "BUST ME UP, DAD!"

The other day I was helping her get dressed and said, "...and now we'll put on your jeans."

"Like Punzel?" she asked confused.

"What, Madi?"

"You know, Mom. Jean in Punzel!"

Then it clicked...EuGENE/Jean in Tangled, the Repunzel movie. Hilarious! Where does she come up with this stuff?

We love Duck Dynasty around here. Like LOOOOVE it. Madi must be a fan, too because every now and then she'll pull out a choice quote from the show. After joking around with Daddy she hollered, "YOU CRACK ME UP, JACK!"

She LOVES to dance and anytime a catchy jingle comes on T.V. or when we are watching her favorite movies, she'll say, "Oh, I love this song." Then we have to stop everything and dance, gallop, jump and twirl throughout the whole house (alternating between Hanny and Madi's turns).

A few days back she was picking out her outfit for the day. "Can I wear that dress and be your angelbaby dreamboat?" I about died. During his latest visit, Grandpa had whistled and called her a dreamboat when she twirled around for him in her Sunday princess dress. I love how she soaks in language like a sponge and incorporates it into her own amazing vocabulary. Everything is cuter coming out of a teeny mouth in her sweet little girl voice.

She TALKS...a lot!!! And on rare occasions, I am grateful for her constant, out-loud babble. Awhile ago, I was out in the garage, busily buckling Hannah into the van and hauling things to and from the house. I was crawling around inside the van cleaning up the debris before our jaunt when Madi's somber tone clued me in that I had better pay attention and listen to what she was saying. She was on her trike cruising around the garage when she got still and quiet and started self-soothing with some serious sentiments, "Don't worry, Madi," she tried to reassure herself, "just be brave. You can do this!" And one second before she tore off down our very steep driveway I snatched her up and stopped the freefall to certain ~~death~~ injury.

She definitely has absorbed some of my favorite sayings and uses them on me at appropriate times. When I was bustling to get out the door for storytime at the library and stressing out that we were gonna be late, she yelled, "MOM, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER...TAKE A DEEP BREATH, EVERYTHING IS GONNA BE OKAY." Then she sang, "Don't worry, be happy!" What a hoot. She often advises me to "be patient and don't give up!" She melts me heart when she tells me, "Oh, Mom....you are beautiful gorgeous!" When she has an important announcement to make she'll joyfully shout, "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls..."

For a solid couple of months awhile back (thank heavens this phase is wearing itself out) Madi would quickly run and slam any opened door SHUT. If I was in my closet and it was open a crack, she'd slam it shut. There are MANY doors in our home and Madi would go through banging them closed whenever she saw one ajar (which is always). I asked Matt to take them all of their hinges it was driving me that crazy! Hannah would be playing in my room, I'd be in the kitchen, Madi would slam the door shut and Hannah would bawl being trapped and alone. AAAAAAA! She loved being able to turn the knobs and open and close (LOUDLY) the doors. Soooo irritating and no matter how I begged, she could not break herself of the neurotic tendency.

Hannah was all dolled up for church in an adorable Christmas red dress with white Santa trim around the collar. Madi studied and appraised her, then reported, "Hannah looks like Santa's little helper!"

Madi seriously takes 2-3 showers a day. LOVES her some relaxing soaks where she plays with toys, sings, listens to music (she loves when I play the Monster Mash C.D. for her from Halloween) and lets the warm water cascade over her (a girl after my own heart...I don't take 2-3 showers a day...sometimes one for every 2-3 days...but when I do there is NO rushing me....I enjoy that warm water until it becomes cold..LONG showers)

"Oh, he looks soooo cold. He needs some hot cocoa!" (you can not imagine how cute it is to hear her say the word COCOA...I say hot chocolate so not sure where she got this..probably some Mickey Christmas show)

She takes "pinky promises" very seriously and honors her oaths with Daddy.

She is much more cuddly and snuggly then she's ever been and always begs to snuggle in Mommy's bed.

She loves to tie belts, scarves or ropes around family members/toys and "WALK" them around the house. She also begs to be walked often.

My heart melts when she rolls around with Hannah and they have adorable giggle fits. Best sister friends.

Madi recently just randomly named her two walking stick horsies Jonas and Lucky. How much do I love that? A lot much!

LOVES Christmas light rides...cue the "OOOOs and Aaaas." She is so dang excited for Christmas she can barely stand it. She sings Christmas carols all day long and out-loud "talks" to Santa when she sees something she'd like for Christmas, "Santa, please bring me a track train, teddy bear and new pacis for Christmas (have yet to break her of those)...not the old yucky ones, but new pacis, Santa." She LOVES the decorations, nativities, ornaments and Christmas trolls (we have loved borrowing Grandpa's treasured Christmas decorations while they have been in storage in our garage).

She has been looking forward to Christmas ever since Halloween came and went. So on Thanksgiving day I was trying to help her understand the holiday timeline. "It was already Halloween a long time ago. Now, today is Thanksgiving. That means that next comes......"

"The Dinosaur Museum," blurted Madi. We were in Price at Matt's Mom's and had driven past and pointed out their dino museum. Madi was really trying to coerce us in to a visit. Which she was able to do. Cuz she's persistent. And fun.

Madi repeatedly and randomly shouts out, "SUUUULLLY!" (Sully from Monsters Inc. I am presuming). She'll also blurt out, "HELLO, JOHN!" when something drops or surprises her...have NO idea what this is from.

Madi had awful stomach flu recently, and woke up Grandma in the early morning hours with her cries for help after erupting from both ends. We only had to open her bedroom door and be knocked over with the powerfully putrid scent to know she had pooped and puked all over her cribby. She was a sad, sick mess. Grandma calmly assured her everything was okay and that she would clean everything up. She asked Madi if she would like a bath. Madi politely declined exclaiming, "I'm just perfect!" She has been a tough little nut lately through whatever bug she is fighting. I'll ask her, "How are you feeling?" and she'll always report, "I'm just perfect!" And she is.

Madi was a real WHIZZZ (bad pun but I couldn't resist) when it came to potty training. She was waking up dry in the morning so I knew it was time. I was reluctant to bite the bullet but one day we decided just to go for it! Madi loved filling in the circles with stickers on a picture Mommy drew. We started out with 5, then worked up. Each time she completed a picture, she'd pick a treasure. She was very motivated to earn the little Disney princess figurines and other Dollar Store delights (OOOOh, how we love the dollar store). She was MORTIFIED and broken-hearted when she had her first accident which helped her to never have another. The first few days of potty-training, we really went overboard to celebrate her successes! When she'd tinkle away (after what seemed like hours of sitting there in anticipation), we'd clap, whoop, holler, jump and DANCE. We'd find the song "Celebrate Good Times" on YouTube and dance all over the house. Lots of fun! That was months ago so I was a little confused when she asked me, "Mom, let's have a presentation." A presentation? "You know, Mom, a presentation." It took me a minute but I finally figured out she meant CELEBRATION... PRESENTATION/CELEBRATION ...hilarious! When I ask her how her panties are she proudly proclaim, "Cleam and dry!"

Quotable bathroom quote: (On toilet) "My peepers sounds like a waterfall!"

CHURCH TALES:
Our church meetings are from 11:00-2:00 pm...kind of a bugger for little ones starving for lunch and craving their cribbies--plum tuckered and needing naps. During sacrament awhile ago, Madi was growing impatient. "It's my turn. It's my turn!" The trays were slowly making it our way. Finally Madi took her sliver of bread (we have to hand it to her rather than letting her take one because she'll grab fistfuls if she can). But it was gone too soon and she was left wanting (doesn't really get the symbolism yet, just thinks of it as a far too meager snack). She loudly proclaimed, "AW, LET'S GO TO MCDONALDS!" She was craving a McDouble and the sacrament just wasn't quelling her ravenous appetite. Daddy was appalled but several rows in front and back of us got a good chuckle.

Side note about McDonalds. Madi doesn't eat anymore. Nothing. Ever. No appetite. Can man sustain life on a Sippy of apple juice and packet of fruit snacks alone a day? Man, no. But Madi, yes! She would be quite content with a tiny shot of sugar alone to get her through her busy, active days. Quite a marvel to me. But you get that tiny two year a McDonalds McDouble and she'll eat the WHOLE THING..pickles, bun, cheese, burger X2 and all. A girl after my own heart :) She adores McDonalds. When we are out and about and she sees the golden arches she'll BEG for a burger and fries and since she hasn't eaten anything for a week straight, I usually cave, much to Daddy's chagrin. When we were there a while back, she was sitting in her booth in the playplace area and sighed contentedly, "Aaaah, this is my hungry place."

Last Sunday, Madi was very anxious for Sacrament meeting to be over so she could finally get to nursery. There was a large space between us and the next family on our aisle. A handsome little boy walked the tray over to us. Madi gratefully proclaimed, "That little boy is so sweet to me." Finally, she heard the organ playing the closing hymn and loudly bellowed, "YAY, NOW I GET TO GO PLAY WITH TOYS!" She loves nursery. Thank heavenly days.

More Madi Moments:

Madi is Miss-Too-Big-For-Her-Britches. She darts into the van and rushes to the back to try to get out of her sitting in her carseat (she's scared to death of police men because I have to threaten that they'll take her away to jail if she isn't buckled up). She tears ahead of us to open doors, "MY TURN!" She likes to turn on every light, do the laundry, vacuum, close the garage door, put her potty ring on the toilet, wipe, flush..."MY TURN!!!"

Madi will do ANYTHING to get out of taking a nap or going to bed. "But I just woke up!" She begs to snuggle on Mommy's bed instead. "Just one more show...I PROMISE!" She claims she's suddenly hungry or thirsty...anything to prolong the bedtime routine and keep a captivated audience. Daddy puts her to bed every night. She'll beg for one more story. Sing one more song. She'll toss a pillow out and beg Daddy to lay on the floor by her cribby to keep her company for just awhile longer. She'd stay up til midnight without batting an eye if we'd let her. She's quite the little night owl, such a teenager wanting to stay up all night and sleep in til 10 in the morning.

Madi is a little firecracker with a pretty volcanic little personality. She can tantrum with the best of em. When she bawls and boobs I remind her that crying is for the cribby (uh, oh...am I resorting to threatening her with the chokey...YES!). She'll pull back her sad face in a "smile" that more closely resembles a grouchy grimace, and while scowling her spooky smirk will stop with tears streaming down her face and pathetically whine, "Look, Mom...I'm not crying. I'm smiling...I'm not tired, I'm HAPPY!"

Madi LOVES her white blankies...thank heavens we still have 2...if I can just locate that one...musta left it at the babysitters.

Madi loves all-things-slightly-spooky and has quite the imagination. The other night she looked out her bedroom window and said, "Nope, no...there's no monsters here...just Madi and Daddy." She FREAKED out about Halloween...I mean seriously LOVED it...would MARRY it if she could. Loved the scary shows/movies (still makes us watch the Nightmare Before Christmas and sings, "This is Halloween, this is Halloween...." all the day long. She is sucked in by aliens and monsters. Loved when we built a fort under the table and told spooky stories by flashlight. She is best friends with Grandpa's Christmas trolls by daylight but when things get dusky in the evening, she makes me come in to the troll/Christmas room with her and says, "Um, Mom...will you get that...I'm pretty scared to go over there." HA!

To sum it up (don't you wish I woulda done that an hour ago)...Madi-Mae-2- 1/2-Year-Old is a real hoot! We love her to pieces, all of her pieces (even the naughty ones) to pieces!

Pics From Cowgirl Night Ride: