The next American Idol...

Madi loves Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift songs (as do I). She cracks me up when she starts singing! Here is some video of her performance:) You'll have to pause my music at the bottom of my blog before you pla

y it!

My Sweet & Sassy Little Madi!

Oh, my little Madison! She is my little OCD girl, who can either be the sweetest little girl on earth or a sassy little 4 year old who thinks she's already 14. Here are some of her OCD traits... Mike says she gets most of them from me, but I'm not quite so sure!

1. The minute she wakes up in the morning she has to immediately get dressed. (Even before breakfast)

2. She has only certain outfits she likes to wear because in her words, "This outfit makes me look so cute." (as she stares at herself in the mirror! Oh, no! what am I going to do when she's a teenager!)

3. The minute we get home from going anywhere, she puts on this little dress I bought her for 4th of July last year. (She reminds me of an old lady coming home and putting on her moo-moo:)

4. She recently only likes to wear certain pj's to bed, which drives me insane, since I just bought her some very cute pj's not that long ago, that she refuses to wear!

5. She is all about routine, and the minute you mess that up for her, she cannot handle it!

6. This last winter, she always wanted to wear her "little pants" (which are shorts). It was always such a hassle before preschool getting her to put on pants... Even if we had her outfit all planned out the night before. She would cry and want her little pants on... That was such a pain in the butt!

7. The minute she gets out of the bath tub, she wants me to blow dry her hair. She hates it wet... And no, I did not give her the idea to blow dry it, after many fights of her not wanting me to wash her hair she finally said to me one day, "You can wash it, but you need to blow dry it afterwards." Ok Miss Sassy pants...I'm glad we know who thinks they rule the household!

Those are just a few of her OCD traits...There are too many to mention! I could be here all night! (As you can tell, most of my struggles w/her have to do w/some sort of article of clothing.) What am I going to do w/this girl...

Now I have to mention Madi's sweet little traits, and believe it or not, there are more sweet sides of her than Sassy!

1. She is a great big sissy, and plays so good w/Luke...(As I'm saying this they're arguing over a toy...But that's pretty rare.)

2. She loves to help me w/chores around the house... and let me say she can fold laundry better than I can!

3. She is so good about reminding us to pray, and she can say a great prayer for a 4 year old.

4. She loves family home evening and she can remember so much. (It's just a reminder to me of how much little ones pick up on!)

5. She is very good at playing w/any child we are around, and rarely do I have to remind her to share.

6. She is very smart...and I'm not just saying this because she's my child. She really loved preschool and loves anything to do w/learning new things. (I think this has to do w/her being my first born, too!)

7. She loves her mommy and daddy and tells us all the time!

8. She knows when to put me in my place. The other day I was yelling at her and Luke for making a huge disaster mess in their room and she said, "You don't have to yell for us to know what you want us to do!" I was just like, Wow! She's better about dealing w/situations than I am:)

9. She will give Luke something and she'll say, "Do you like that little buddy?" I don't know why but I just laugh everytime she does that!

10. And last, but not least, she's just so darn cute, You can't help but love her!

I know this is long, but I mostly posted this for myself, so I can remember what my little girl was like at 4 years old. She is a very funny little girl, and we love having her in our family!

Mmm...Diet Coke!

Like most of you know I can drink Diet Coke like no one else! I love it, and always have to drink it. My goal is to only allow myself one Diet Coke a day, and then eventually stop drinking it all together:) I'm hoping since I'm posting it on my blog, that I will actually stick to it! I've been drinking a lot more propel, and crystal light lately, cause it's hard for me to drink plain water as much as I should. (I need some flavor!) I'm usually only good at drinking plain water when I work out. (which isn't often enough!) So, here's to me getting rid of my addiction....

Happy Birthday, Lukester!

Luke with all of his cousins (and uncle Brad!)

There's the birthday boy!!

Luke pulling the first string on the pinata!

Luke getting ready to blow out his birthday candle :)

Today is Luke's 2nd Birthday! He definitely has already hit the "terrible 2's!" He is a handful, but he is also our sweet little boy! We had a birthday party for him yesterday with just family. (With my family alone, there are a ton of kids!) He loves Buzz Lightyear and Woody, so I decorated with Toy Story stuff. The kids played pin the badge on Woody, and had a fun time w/the buzz lightyear pinata! I loved that pinata. It was a safer version, where each kid gets a chance to pull a string at the bottom of it and only one string opens the pinata. (Much better than one of them knocking another child out while trying to hit it w/a bat!) After we ate, played games, and opened presents, we gave all of the kids each a buzz lightyear kite, and they had a fun time flying kites for awhile! It was also exciting because my brother and sister-in-law were in town with their kids, so it was nice hanging out with them. Lukey got some fun gifts: Buzz Lightyear, lots of books, Buzz bubble blower, Toy Story 2, Baseball, baseball bat and glove, hats, Little Tikes land toys, and Woody. Today we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Christian's house and had more yummy cake and ice cream. It was a fun filled weekend for us, and I can't belive my little boy is already "2." Luke is so funny, and has started talking a lot more lately! His favorite phrase these days is, "To infanty an beyon" (translation: to infinity and beyond!) Go figure...LOL.

We Love Water Parks!

Today I took Madi and Luke to one of the water parks near us. They had a great time, and I know we will go back quite often over the summer! They are both at the perfect age to just run around and have fun! Luke was a little hesitant at first, but then he ended up loving it! Madison had been before so she was just having a good 'ol time :) Madison was a good big sissy though, she'd grab Luke's hand and say, "Come on little Lukey, let's run through the water again."

Check out my Slide Show!

Happy 30th Birthday, Mike!

Today is Mike's big "30th" Birthday! Yesterday morning we dropped the kids off with my sister, and she watched them for us until this morning. We first went and ate at one of our favorite little Mediterranean restaurants called Paymon's! It is over near UNLV, and if you've never eaten there, they have the best gyros in town! Then we went to the Bellagio and checked in... since we live in Vegas we never really go down on the strip, so I decided this would be a fun way to celebrate Mike's big 3, 0, kid free, and just a relaxing day with just the two of us. Anyhow, after we checked in, we walked around the shops a little bit (all of which are way to expensive), and checked out the Botanical Garden. Then last night we went and ate at a restaurant in the Venetian called The Grand Lux Cafe. It is owned by the Cheesecake Factory. We had this awesome Chicken Parmesan, and Greek salad. (We're on this greek kick lately!) The food was great. I would definitely go there again. Afterward, we went to see Phantom of the Opera. It was an excellent show! We had pretty good seats, too. The only bummer was I thought they'd be taking pictures there, and they didn't. So I had my camera, and was getting ready to ask this couple sitting next to us to take our picture, when the camera Nazi came by and told me to put my camera away. I told him I wasn't going to take pictures of the show, I just wanted a picture with my husband. He replied, "No pictures at all! The guy had to be around our age, and acting like he was the king of the Venetian Hotel. Jerk! Anyway, we took a couple of pictures afterwards. Then before we went back to our room at the Bellagio, we went to this yummy place called Jean-Philippe, and got 2 of the best crepes you will ever eat in your life! (If you can't tell we did a lot of eating! I'm going to have to go to the gym a lot over the next couple of weeks!) Anyway, the crepes are delicious, and right around the corner from the Botanical Garden at the Bellagio. So if you're ever there go get one! (See Pictures) That about ended our night, and let me tell you that the bed at the Bellagio was so dang comfortable. Mike and I both woke up feeling fantastic! I think we are going to be searching for a new bed here in the near future :) It was especially nice not having kids crammed up in our backs :) Once we checked out we came home and picked up the kids to relieve my sister who dealt with them for us! Thanks, Aunt Kerri! Anyhow, we had a wonderful time, and I know Mike enjoyed his Birthday fun! I also bought him a new Blackberry that he's been wanting! (all of this is well deserved! He is such a hard worker, and does so much for me and the kids) Happy Birthday, Mikey! I love you!