Christmas Fun!

Here are the beginning of the cards that I made for Madeleine's teacher and teacher aids. I used her hand prints as the angels wings then wrote "Thanks for being an angel" on them. These were then put in the goodie bags full of cookies that Madeleine helped me make.


Here is Cory on Santa's lap!



Here's me on Santa's lap!



And of course Madeleine.

For Christmas eve we went to a family friends. There we had dinner with LOTS of food and treats. The kids acted out the Christmas story. Santa showed up and gave us all Nerf Guns! We all opened them up and started running around the house shooting each other. I think it helped wear out the kids in excitement of Christmas the next day.

We went to Candy Cane Lane. Its a street where every house is decorated in some amazing way. The city even blocks off traffic, so only foot traffic is allowed and Santa comes and sits at the end of the block in his sleigh.

Even though our car ended up breaking down Christmas Eve, and we were in a panic to find a rental car, this was a great Christmas.

Parchment Paper

What can I say? I'm a fan. I made so many cookies last night and this morning that I still feel like I'm swimming in them. It was so nice to be able to slap that on the cookie sheet and not worry about having to clean it after. Yay for that it made my holiday a little bit easier.

Here's a picture of Madeleine's bed currently. With all the boxes from xmas I decided to open one up. Madeleine and I sat on the floor and drew in crayon (unfortunately you cannot see our beautiful designs) a door, windows, flowers, pets and even a car. She calls it her house and insists on having it on her bed when she goes to bed at night. Who needs the fancy toys anyways!

Seriously?

So as I'm browsing posts this morning and I see this add:


Sexy Santa Dresses
Turn heads this season in our sexy Santa dresses and holiday gowns.
http://www.chelseasofnewyork.com/



Sexy Santa Dresses? Are you serious? People like order those and like wear those?



Also no test scores from the LSAT, and yes its starting to drive us a little crazy... just a little so it means our insanity level is about the same that it is always at.

Checking In

Nothing too exciting going on here. Cory took the LSAT on Saturday, and its 1-3 weeks until we know the scores. So basically we are just waiting around for that, once we know we can decide what colleges to apply to. Cory's been busy working at Game Stop with the Holiday Season about. I've been busy trying to get all the Christmas presents and get them sent out so people can get them on time. Maybe one day I'll have a deep thought and I'll post about it!

Me At Three!

So I was looking through some photos and I found this one of me at 3 1/2 oh so many years ago. People say Madeleine looks like Cory, it'd be interesting to see a photo of him at 3.

I also found a picture of my 15th birthday... I look... just... AWESOME! Can you tell how much fun I am? What a snot I was... WAS? Still am!

Because my birthday is so near Christmas people were usually out of town for it. But for my 16th birthday I decided to throw a huge slumber party a week or two before school got out (don't remember exactly when). If I remember right it was a lot of fun, and what were my parents thinking agreeing to a party with so may teenage girls?

Wow, She Sat Still!

Here are Madeleine's school pictures. I can't believe they got her to sit still long enough. She's growing up, thats for sure. I dropped her off and thats when I found out it was picture day. I didn't bother going back home and getting her a new outfit, like most the parents did, cause I figured hey black t-shirt can't see any of the stains on it. And don't worry grandparents you'll be having hard copies sent to you through snail mail with christmas stuffs.

Law School?

Nothing like preparing for things last minute, am I right? A few weeks ago Cory came to the decision that he is going to go to law school. After the struggles that we have had with finding work and his current problems at Game Stop, he woke me up at about 1 am and said, "I'm going to go to law school." my response was "I have no comment at this time." And why? Cause he just woke me up from a deep sleep at 1 am! We talked it over and he took a practice LSAT and we decided, if we start on it 100% right away, he may get into law school somewhere for next year. This means taking the LSAT December 1st, and getting in applications to law school by Janurary. Then we get to wait and see if he can start school next September or August, and start in on the student loans (and we all know how much I love debt). Cory feels really good about the decision, so wish us luck!

About That Time Again

If you know me at all, you know that one thing that constantly changes about myself is my hair. I'm not attatched to my hair at all. I'll grow it long then chop it short, be a blonde then dye it red. Well its that time again, where the length of the hair just isn't worth my time to do in the morning. I also have very fine hair so the longer it gets the flatter it seems. I chopped it above my sholders, so at least I won't be stuck in the perma-ponytail that has been with me for so long. One of my favorite stories is that when Cory met me I had red hair, and when he came to pick me up for our first date I had bleached it blonde. I later found out that it my red hair was one of the reasons he liked me when we first met.

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of Madeleine before we went to the Halloween Party on Saturday night. Madeleine was a fairy princess and loved her crown and her wings, course I think she called herself a butterfly all night. She had a good time at the party, and even had her first lollipop. She did a great job at the Trunk or Treat, and now walks up to me with her treat bag and says "trick or treat". When we got home she opened all her lollipops, lined them up and started to pick one up lick it once then place it back down and move to the next one. Don't think she actually finished any of them.

I like the picture of her pumpkins this year. We haven't carved the one yet, but I don't think it will be better than the mini pumpkin that looks like it spent the night at Mardi Gras.

The Sunset That Lasted All Day

I am sure many of you have heard of the fires that are currently happening in Southern California. Yesterday I could start smelling the smoke in the air, and driving inland I could see the grey skies overhead. Being near the beach and having the wind blowing helps keep the air moving. But today was different, the air was still. I had to close all the windows and run the AC. It was up to 90, which for El Segundo if very hot. The grey sky just loomed over the city as well as the smell of smoke. When I dropped off Madeleine at preschool today, the sun was giving not its bright yellow light, but a dimmed orange light over the city. This effect made it feel as if the sun was setting, and it felt that way all day. Madeleine's teacher told me when dropping her off, that they would be playing inside all day, which I was greatful for. Even short trips to her preschool and the store would make me feel sick. Luckily the fires aren't near us, and making for some great sunsets.

Pony Ride

Well Madeleine's preschool went to the pumpkin patch last week (and yes I forgot my camera). They had animals you could feed and pony rides. Madeleine had a blast. She loves animals, has no fear of them. When going on walks or at the park, she'll walk up to any dog that's there. So she was able to feed some sheeps and goats, and giggled so loud every time they ate the feed out of her little hand. She then got to ride the pony, and it wasn't just a short pony ride either, they were long pony rides. Some of the kids in the preschool were terrified of riding the pony, so their parent would hand me the ticket and say "Your daughter seems like she'd go again." And of course they were right, so Madeleine got extra pony rides. When leaving Madeleine got to pick out one pumpkin to take home with her. She picked a small pumpkin and had to carry it in her lap the whole way home. When we got home she asked for cereal, sat the pumpkin in a chair next to her and insisted on getting a bowl and spoon for the pumpkin, as well as putting cereal in it.

DisneyLand

So while my brothers and their families were in town, Cory took a day off of work so we could enjoy a day at Disneyland with them. We went to Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast, unfortunately we had to be there at 7 a.m. which meant leaving our house by 6 a.m. Besides the lack of sleep, I think all had fun. Madeleine had a blast with her cousins. Even if she didn't really know what to make of the characters at first (I love her face with Pluto). We were able to get the Southern California Pass, which has weekends and holidays blacked out (but who really wants to go to Disneyland during those times anyways). So I am sure we will be back a few more times, since we weren't to get everything done we wanted to in one day. Oh and the picture of Madeleine and the car, is her hugging the car. Everytime we go out to the car she hugs the hood and says "hello car".

Something A Little More Light Hearted

So I decided I'd post something not so serious. This picture was taken a few months ago, when we were trying to see how well Madeleine would do with Pull-Ups. She decided to put one on as a hat and some others on her arms. She'd run around the house screaming at the top of her lungs. One day I tried to take a picture of her but she wouldn't stay still for one, this is the best one I got (our camera is also dying). And please ignore the mess of our bed and our room...

Comfy Pant Day

Today I have decided is a Comfy Pant Day. I've had one of those few weeks where today I can kind of finally relax some.

Little over 2 weeks ago, the managers at Game Stop where having a conference in Vegas. Which meant Cory would be in charge of the store for a week. It was good, things went smooth, but of course some added stress for that week. Near the end of that week I went to the doctors, I was about 8 weeks along in a pregnancy. The doctor couldn't find a heartbeat, so she tried to get me into a specialist to confirm or deny the miscarriage, but of course the first opening would be Tuesday, 5 days away.

So in order to try and keep my mind off of things the following day I decided I'd take a day for myself, drop Cory off at work and browse the clearance rack at Old Navy. On the way to dropping Cory off I drove over a curb, very unlike me (guess my mind was somewhere else) and not only broke the tire but bent the rim pretty severely too. So after I dropped Cory off I drove to the nearest tire store. But they just do tires and not rims, so they directed me to a used rim place that was almost all the way back home. They of course did not have our rim size so they called another shop, and found me one. This used auto part place was of course in the complete opposite direction. So once I got the new rim, I then had to drive back to the tire place have the put on the new/used rim and a new tire. Of course I hadn't showered before leaving the house cause I was just going to be dropping Cory off and headed straight home to get ready for the day. This also meant that Madeleine did not have any shoes or pants. I'd carry her into these auto places and she'd scream "HELP HELP" until I put her down. She was filthy from running around on those floors. By the time I got back to the tire place I walked Madeleine to the McDonald's next door to get lunch. After the tire was all fixed we drove home I showered she bathed and we headed back out to go pick up Cory from work. So my day to try and keep my mind off the situation worked, was too busy worrying about trying to get the car fixed to think of anything else.

One of my close friends wasn't feeling well and asked me to watch her little one while she napped. I of course agreed as I know how hard it is when you are sick with a child. While watching the child Madeleine was able to break a glass bowl on the floor and he spilled a gallon of milk on the floor. Later that week the rice cooker broke, I tipped over a stack of glasses and broke them all. On Tuesday I went to the specialist and he confirmed that I had a miscarriage. I decided to wait 2 weeks to see if my body would get rid of it, but my doctor wouldn't let me go longer than that and I had to schedule a D&C to remove the tissue. I then got an email from family saying they are coming October 10th for Disney Land, and not just their family but another sibling and his family. So that means another 10 or so people in the house in October.

My body didn't seem like it was getting rid of the tissue, so I had a D&C done Thursday. Cory took the day off so he could drive me, and we had a friend watch Madeleine. Friday Madeleine went to preschool, she isn't tantruming when I drop her off anymore just says "hey wait" when I leave the class room.

So today is Saturday, Cory works from 8pm to midnight tonight getting ready for inventory. So I have him most the day, and I'm thinking... its gonna be a comfy pant day. I have to go grocery shopping seeing as we are out of bread and Madeleine food, but for the most part I think I'm gonna take it easy try and relax, maybe even nap.

Overall we are doing ok, just you know... its been one of those weeks...

Socks

So as I was getting Madeleine ready for school this morning, she picked her shoes over her sandles. I then realized she has no socks, well no socks that fit anyways. Maybe its from living in Southern California where we can wear sandles all year round. Maybe... just maybe... I should pick some up.

The Correct Way To Eat Pudding

Tuesday was one of those days where the big thing I did was shower and got ready. Was a pretty lazy day in that I wasn't feeling 100%. For a snack Madeleine and I had those snack size pudding cups. Madeleine actually began to eat it, which I was greatful for since what she is willing to eat is very limited. She began with a spoon, and somehow it turned into her using her finger and licking it off. Now when Madeleine doesn't like something on her hand she wipes it in her hair. So soon after she had pudding in her hair. The pudding eating became much more elaborate as she began to dip her finger in the pudding then running it along her arm and licking the pudding off of her arm. By this point in time I had already decided she was taking a bath after this snack.

Peace and Quiet

Well Madeleine went to her first day of pre-school today. I'm assuming she did ok, as the teacher didn't say anything to me when I went to pick her up. The pre-school is only about 3 blocks away (and I will say ONE BIG HILL) easy enough to walk to, since Cory and I still only have one car. After dropping her off I came home, and just sat on the couch for a few minutes. It was... quiet... oh so quiet. No noise of video games, the tv, computers or Cory chasing Madeleine around making her squeal, just quiet. To celebrate this amazing feeling of not having to take care of anyone I cleaned the kitchen. Exciting I KNOW! Well at least I'm excited. I also took a power nap, one that wasn't interrupted every 5 minutes. Madeleine will be going to pre-school Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to three. Not a terribly long time, but I think this will be a very good thing for her and me. Maybe, just maybe I'll feel just a little sane.

High School And Ten Years Later

Living 2 blocks away from my High School, I had assumed that I'd be going to my high school reunion when it came about. Well a week ago or so I got an invitation in the mail that my 10 year high school reunion would be this month. It is being held in Torrance and its $100 to go for an evening. I must admit I was hoping for something more casual and free-er (I know its not a word). So I'm most likely not going. There are very VERY few people that I want to see from high school and $100 dollars isn't something Cory and I can spare right now, especially if it means me having a mediocre night talking with people I really don't want to be talking to.

Today I'm going to attempt to get Madeleine in some pre-school classes. I'm hoping this will help her speech as well as make her more independent of me, and of course give me some sanity time. She's potty trained and ready to go... I hope.

It's been STUPID hot here the last week or so. Where you wake up and its already hotter outside than in, and with the humidity you just feel sticky if you stay out too long. Today is also Cory's day off, and we'll most likely go to the beach just cause it can't be too hot there (and its cheap).

Horray For Grandparents

So for the last few days we were fortunate enough to have Cory's parents visit us. It was great having them here, and Madeleine loved playing with them. Cory was able to get sometime off while they were here. So we were all able to relax and hang out. I must admit even though I know they were on vacation, I almost felt like it was a small vacation for me. Grandma and Grandpa Swainston entertained Madeleine and I was able to cook dinner without her tugging at me once, I was very excited. I even was able to sneak into my room and read a few chapters in a book, I don't know how long it has been since I've sat down and read, but I will tell you its been too long.

We spent one early afternoon at the beach. Cory and I try and go with Madeleine once a week, take advantage of living where we do. Each time we go Madeleine gets a little braver with the waves. This last time she even ventured out on her own a little. I think this was the highlight for the trip since you can't really go wrong with the beach. If I was more prepared I would have taken a camera, but that's what grandparents are for taking the pictures and emailing them to you... right? The beach wore out the adults and I think we all took a very lovely nap when we got back, Madeleine on the other hand continued to play all afternoon.

Cory and I even sneaked out for a small date to go watch a movie, we take advantage of free babysitters when we can.

I think this was a great way to end our summer. Overall I think good times where had by all.

August... already????

Well July came and went. And I really wish I had something exciting to post, but I don't. I got a terrible cold, and ended up taking 3 naps in one day. It literally knocked me out. Cory worked hard and Madeleine of course played hard. I've tried keeping up on house work, but I feel I have been playing catch up with it since I was out for those few days. Madeleine did great at her 3 year check up. If her speech does not improve in the next 5-6 months I'm to call to get some referals. Her potty training was going well, but has taken a few steps back recently. She knows all the words to the opening song of Spongebob Squarepants, and will sing it at the top of her lungs. And of course I can't make a post without posting some pictures of Madeleine, this is her playing in her Dora tent, which she insists on being put over her when she goes to bed at night. Tomarrow is Cory's day off and I'm not sure what we are going to do, but I'm sure whatever it is, it will be great.

Madeleine Turns 3!

Madeleine turned 3 on June 21st. We didn't do anything huge for it. I brought some treats and some toys to the park with some friends. Cory and I took her to the beach, which is something she asks for everyday now. "Beach?" is repeated over and over all day. For presents we bought her a trike, it has a handle that comes out of the back of it so I can push her and she doesn't have to pedal if she doesn't want to. I actually enjoy it more than the stroller as the handle is actually tall enough for me. With money from both grandparents we got her a train track and set it up on the little table in the family room. This is a great gift for me cause she loves to play with it and I can actually get dinner done on some nights.

I also gave Madeleine her second hair cut ever, she didn't sit very well but at least I don't have to pin her down and brush out the tangles every morning and night.

We are just staying in El Segundo for the 4th. Cory will most likely have to work (as 2 of the key holders were let go recently). So Madeleine and I will go to the block party where she can ride her new trike in the street with the other kids and have water fights and play in the bounce house. Cory will be home in time for fireworks, so we'll watch those all together. So over all it should be a quiet holiday.

NOGGIN.com

For the past week Madeleine has been playing on NOGGIN.com. She climbs into Cory's chair opens the Internet browser and clicks NOGGIN under the favorites tab. I am not allowed to help her play the games on the computer as she will just scream if my hand even gets near the mouse. She would probably play all day on the games if we let her.

Here is her in her "performing" outfit. She puts this hat on everyday along with the shall, and sings into my powder brush as if it were a microphone. When she's done singing she'll clap and jump up and down.

We also went to Denny's the other morning, there she would walk up to people eating say "hi" and try and climb into their booths. Then she decided to crawl on the floor on all fours and barking like a dog.

What can I say, Madeleine is a lot of fun to be around.

Cleaning Party At My House

Well the windows are in. Yay! They still have to fix the furnace and the finish the frames on one of the doors but I think they are done. Which means I can clean and get things back to where they are supposed to be. My sanity can finally return. The windows look great though they are a bit thicker than the old ones, and so my parents will have to get some new drapes and blinds for some, but I say its just a reason to redecorate.

And I know you were all worried about my closet, don't worry they've fixed it, and covered up the metal tubes with drywall. All the workers have been very nice (except for one that got after me about Madeleine) and have cleaned up after themselves. So overall the expeirence wasn't horrible. Now I just have to clean and put things back, so yeah cleaning party at my house!

Who Needs Sanity Anyways?

Monday began my main adventure while watching over my parents house. My parents are in NYC for 2 more years serving as mission presidents, and Cory and I agreed to watch the house while they were away. One of the things my parents had already had in motion was LAX coming in to put in soundproof windows and doors. If you've never been to my parents house, maybe if I told you they were replacing 43 windows in the home might tell you how big of a project this is.

In order to get ready for them we had to take down the window trim and move anything in front of the windows by at least 3 feet. Monday morning came and by 8 a.m. the house was full of men working in each room, each doing their specific job. For some reason LAX finds it necessary for my parents to get a new furnace and a new heat vent in order to reduce sound in the house. So while the windows were being popped out and new ones being put in, they were also in my closet drilling a hole to the outside. Who needs closet space anyways?

They said this was a better option than creating a hole in the roof and cutting the tiles. So I'll trust them and hope my parents don't kill me. If anything I can put in some nice shelves cause you can never have too many shelves in a closet.

I'm having a hard time deciding what has been my funnest part so far of this experience. Maybe it the fact that Madeleine is 3 years old and hates to wear shoes so every time I heard glass breaking I'd cringe, or maybe it was the fact that she's 3 and loves to help, so I spent my days running after her saying "no". We tried to spend as much time out of the house as we could, and went on several walks around the block.

Madeleine is also going through a stage were she wakes up in the middle of the night wide awake. For example she was up from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. last night, but I guess that gets me a baby that can sleep through even nail guns going today.

So I'm on day 3 out of 2 weeks where my OCD is going a bit crazy because the house is all out of place and dust on everything. I feel like I'm in a small section of one of those house make-over shows, without the luxury of the family being sent on vacation while its all done.

Four Years And Still Going

Our anniversary is on May 9th, and this year marked four years of being married. Our friend Charlotte was nice enough to watch Madeleine while Cory and I went to a grown-up restaurant. We went to the Santa Monica Bistro (http://bistroofsantamonica.com/). It was perfect. Cory had sword fish and I had a bowtie pasta with a pesto sauce. We also tried their Chocolate Souffle, which you have to order when while eating your entree since it takes 20 minutes to prepare. This place was absolutely delicious, for the environment and the quality of the food, the prices were more than worth it for me. I know, I'm talking a lot about the food, but it was so good and a nice change of pace from the Chili's that we go to regularly.

After the restaurant we rented N'ever After came home and watched it with Madeleine. Our gift that we decided on was getting our car fixed.

So it was a pretty quiet anniversary, but with some really good food. Which is the most important thing right?

Brain Freeze

Today Cory had the day off, so to celebrate we decided to go to Cold Stone for some ice cream. We hadn't been there since we moved to Southern California but from what we remembered about it in Utah was that it wasn't just good, it was GOOOOOOOOOOD. Our memories were correct in that the ice cream was extremely tasty and hit the spot on this hot Saturday.

It was also Madeleine's first taste of Cold Stone. She got to share with me, but once she got a taste of it she had to have it right near her and spoon it up herself. She got a big spoonful and put the whole thing in her mouth then gave this incredible look like "oh my goodness my brain is freezing" (which was an absolutely hilarious look). So I do believe Madeleine has had her first brain freeze.

Other than that our Saturday consisted of laying in bed and reading books like "No, David" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?", with a Sponge Bob episode or two. What can I say, we are very exciting people.

Along came Saturday

A part of Cory's job at Game Stop is to check out games from the store for a few nights and test them out. So that he can give informed answers to customers questions. With our tax refund Cory has convinced me that him having an xbox 360 to test games out on would be very good for him. He was able to get a deal with co-worker who is planning on buying a new black one that comes out next week. So we are now the owners of a xbox 360 with not many games. One of the rules of the purchase was that it was just a device in which Cory could bring home games to test. That was until he introduced me to Guitar Hero 2. One game which we now own and which Madeleine is a huge fan of. And not just Madeleine I must admit that I'm a "bit" addicted to the game. Its a lot of fun with lots of great music. And if you know me at all, you know how much I love music. It won't be a problem to get Cory off the game... me and Madeleine on the other hand...