TRYING TO PLAY CATCH UP!!

I have not downloaded any new pictures in a LONG time (I think they got down loaded on Ryan's computer!), but I thought I would let you know what we have been up to.

Ryan went back to ISU to finish his finance degree. I want him to finish, and do well, so we have decided to survive on my income and student loans. And let me tell you what, it is a lot harder than I anticipated. The begining of October I had a nervous breakdown!! And you think I am kidding, but it is so hard being the sole provider, a wife, and mother who actually does things that mothers should do, a maid, a cook.... you get the point. So really, from October on I have been on survival mode.

For Halloween we carved pumpkins and I made my first batch of baked Pumpkin Seeds! And they were not that bad. Madison dressed up as a witch. At trunk-or-treat Ryan referred to as not a witch but "the witch"! I know it sounds mean, but this little red head can throw a mean temper-tantrum! MaCrae wanted to be a lion, and it took about 3 days (every lunch break I had) to find a Lion costume. But he was so happy, and looked like the cutest lion ever!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. A nice break from work and stress. We spent Thanksgiving with my parents and my oldest brother's family. Perfect! His kids are old enough to entertain my kids for hours and hours. Friday, while I was at New Moon (shocker that I went, yes, but I really thought it was good!) Ryan noticed something odd with Madison's right thumb. It was bent funny. So Saturday as soon as we got home, we called out Pedatrician, took MaCrae to play with his cousins, and had Madi's hand examined. They sent us over the EIRMC for x-rays, and we were really worried. Because Madi is so young, she did not hold still enough to take a really good x-ray, so they could not tell if it was dislocated or broken! So Monday we met with an Orthopedic surgeon and found out she has "Trigger Thumb"!! I won't mention the Dr's name we went to, but I was not very impressed, in fact he openly came out and said he had never done this surgrey on someone as small as Madison. HECK NO!! My daughter will not be his experiment, so I cancelled the surgrey after many people reconfimed my fears with bad stories. Today we meet with a local plasitc surgeon, and have 100% confidence that this will go well! I was kind of hoping to get a 2-for-1 consult (Tummy tuck, Breast agmuntation, and Liposuction!!) but I felt this was not the right time. :) Can't blame a girl for wanting!!

So, Ryan is studying hard for finals next week, and I cannot afford to shop anymore, so I thought I would blog. Who knew the internet had something other than to shopping!!! I have come to the conclusion that I make a terrible poor person! This to shall come to pass. Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays.

Preview of our Family Pictures...

SUMMER COME AND GONE

So I have not been a very good blogger, but none of you can really complain, becasue I think it has been a very busy summer all round, and all of our blogs have suffered. No thanks to facebook as well! MaCrae had the hardest time building up courage to go down Grandma Cindie's water slide. But once I did he would stay on it for hours, literally.

I was trying so hard to get a picture of MaCrae and myself, and this is the best that I could get. MaCrae is not happy unless he gets to be the photographer.

My mom and I went to Wal-mart and loaded up on craft items to do some "projects" to keep Mac entertained. This was his 1st rocketship. So fun, thanks Karissa for the idea.

My kids winding down a long day together. There is something about a sleeping bag to kids that makes laying down sound like a fun idea.

My handsome college boy! That's right. Last week Ryan started his first day back to college down at ISU. He will graduate next year w/his finance degree and from there he will either keep going for his accounting degree or find an amazing job with a huge paycheck!!

Once again, Madi likes to shred her clothing. Actually, her clothes got completely drenched at a family reunion so as I laid them in the sun to dry she decided that this would also be a great place to park herself and eat a snow cone! Funny thing, I think I have more pictures of her with no clothes this summer, than with!!

Rigby lake. Madison is such a water dog. No matter where we are, or what she could be dressed in, if there is any water she will find a way to splash in it, and sit down in it. MaCrae loves the water, but it takes him a lot longer to feel comfortable in it than Madi.

I am sorry for all you sensitive set of eyes, but I thought this picture was hilarious. MaCrae will drop his draws and pee ANYWHERE! Hey, atleast his is potty trained. About 1 month ago we had a graduation party for MaCrae (graduating from his sippy cup) and it has had such an amazing impact on him. He hasn't started eating a whole lot better, but he was able to be completely potty trained within a week. He doesn't even wet the bed! At first he still struggled when Madi was still allowed to have a sippy, and even starting calling himself a little girl, so I just threw them all away and he has not had a problem since.

Madison trying to play peek-a-boo with her sippy and a cup. This is such a cute age, when they try so hard to mimick everything you do.

The reason I am SO nervous for family pictures this Friday. My kids can never want pose for the camera. This was a quick attempt to practice, and we failed. Please remember us in your prayers and hopefully I will have some proofs to post early next week.

It has been a long time since my last post, but we are still doing well. The days seem to be longer, but with more to do during the summer. The kids are growing faster than I can keep up with. They are perfect partners in crime. They know extactly how to drive each other crazy, but at the same time they work together so well when doing something I should be stopping! The 4th of July was such a great weekend. We went to my parents and had a very fun, and relaxing time. I will have to get some pictures from my mom to post with the kids at the parade. Madi is starting to enjoy the activities she once watched MaCrae do. She loves to shot hoops and go down her little tikes slide!

Mac's 1st Shower...

Last Thursday night MaCrae wanted to take a shower with daddy. I am not sure what happened exactly, because I will admit I was on the phone, but Mac feel and cut hi chin open. I really couldn't tell how bad it really was because it wasn't bleeding heavily, but it was a pretty ugly cut. So I called Upper Valley Family Medicine and they held their doors open for us to come in. I am truely thankful, that saved us a very long and expensive trip to the emergency room. He ended up having 4 stitches, and we went back into the doctor tonight to have them removed. The wound still looks sore and ugly, but they said that the sooner they can get the stiches out, the less of a scar he would have. Every male that know thinks it's a cool "battle scar". Whatever, I am just glad he is okay. (If you look really close you will see the big bump on the opposite side of his forehead. He hit his head after cutting his chin!) If you ask Mac to see his stitches he will show you his extra Spiderman band-aid and toy he got for being so good. He doesn't relate that there is something in his chin because he was numb when they stitched him up. You have to ask to see his Ouchy to see the stitches.

You Don't Want to Catch This

So I have now expierenced the 24 hour flu! Well, I should not say I had it, but MaCrae came home from Lolo's Tuesday throwing up everytime he tried to take a drink. He was starting to get lethargic, so I ran him over to the doctors, where he continued to throw up in their garbage can. Lucky for them it was closing time!! We got him some medicine to settle his stomach and continued to provide him with plenty of juice, pop, and capri sun. He would drink a sippy cup, wait 10 minutes and throw it back up in the nice tub the doctor gave us to use in the car. After about an hour he was finally able to keep some juice down. That's when Madi woke up throwing up more that I ever thought she could have possibly ate. I think we did 3 loads of laundry last night and another 3 today! Lucky for us we were able to get to bed around 1 and sleep sound until 7. I know it could have been a lot worse, but I really hope they never have this happen again. Thank heavens for Ryan who helped me through it. He actually let me go to bed around 10, did all the laundry, and cleaned up all the puke! I have a pretty amazing husband.

Idaho Falls Zoo

Over Memorial Day weekend we took the kids to the Idaho Falls zoo. The weather was PERFECT. And there really weren't a lot of people there, so it was very pleasant. MaCrae doesn't look like he is having a great time in the picture, but he had so much fun going to each exibit and telling everyone around about what kind of animal we were observing. Madi was pretty excited about the zoo!! Her favorite part was riding in the stroller and eating sour gummi worms!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON

So I can't beleive my little girl is already 1 year old! This last year really has gone by SUPER fast. Since Madi's birthday feel on Mother's Day this year, we celebrated on Saturday. Despite the emotions and struggles getting things ready for the party, everything turned out very well. And I have to say, we only got Madi one toy, since she would be getting more toys from everyone else, and it was perfect. I tend to go way over board buying presents at birthday's and Christmas, and I was very happy with her birhtday. She really didn't need anything to start with, so I don't feel guilty about not buying lots of toys that will be forgotten a week down the road. Plus Madi didn't open any of her own gifts. MaCrae opened the gifts while Madi climbed all over this box! I know the joke is, we should just buy them a box, maybe one of these days someone will actually do and save themselves a lot of money!
This is Madi's before bathtime hairdo after pig-tails all day. Apparently I use to much hair spray, or something!

BUMBLES PARTY!

So I am sure I am the last one to actually buy a Bumbles watch, but I have wanted one for the longest time now. I was invited to a party like last summer/fall and could not make it, and had no idea where in the world to buy one. So I finally found a store that actually carries them, and I want them ALL!! They are so cute, love them. So, after much consideration I have decided to have a party. I am a terrible host, mainly because I forget to tell everyone. So here I am telling you. The party is actually at my office "XXXXX" Tuesday May 19 at 12:30 to 2. So if you want to come check them out in person, PLEASE come and stop by, even to say "hi". If you can't come, check them out online and let me know what you want. The pictures don't do them justice, and those who have them know. They are adorable. Sorry for the short notice, but I would LOVE to see you stop by and check them out!

Easter is finally here!

I am trying to get some what caught up with the Jensen's. Easter really wasn't too big this year. Saturday we had our neighbor Easter Egg hunt which is awesome becasue it too is age specific, and every kid recieves a big toy when all the eggs are found. Plus, there are always yummy treats for the adults! Madi didn't get involved with the actual hunt for eggs, but MaCrae was more than happy to share, until he found out there was candy inside. In fact, Mac was all over the egg hunt this year. But wouldn't you know, I forgot my camera. Then we went over to my in-laws and colored eggs. Thanks Cindie, because I really didn't want to make that mess at home. Sunday morning I lead a trail from Mac's door to the living room where the Easter bunny left their baskets of goodies. And every year I forget how small and how little those baskets actually hold. And the hit of the day was Madi's talking tea set. SO CUTE! I wasn't even going to do anything for Madi until I found this adorable Easter basket, and the tea set. I even bought 2 dresses for Madi, and actually neither one fit. Both were size 12 Months and the neck of the dress was almost to her belly! But hey, more to wear another day!Madi is totally a daddies girl! We can be playing and having a great time, but if daddy walks int he room, bye-bye Madi. That's okay with me, as long as she wants to dance!! (And you think i'm joking!!) These pictures are not from Easter, but I thought they were cute anyway. This is MaCrae's attempt to learn to skate. My mom gave him the skates for Christmas, and he has no problem on the carpet, but the hardwood floor is not so easy. Ryan got tired of pulling him around, I didn't want to do it, so I came up with the brilliant idea to use Madi's walker! Brilliant. But thank goodness for the helmet and knee/elbow pads. They were much needed.

I thought this picture was pretty darn cute of Mac and Madi riding scooters around the house. Madi is now officially walking. She is not fast, and can't make it all the way across the room without having some balance checks, but she thinks she is pretty funny when she does. Not a moment too soon, since her 1st birhtday is next week. Mac was running marathons at this age! Thanks Madi for taking it slow. But really scary story: Madi has also just mastered going up and down stairs. Almost overnight, and has become obcessed with them. Well, I didn't even think to mention this to her daycare, and she fell down a full flight of stairs! And the only reason she didn't hit the tile directly at the bottom is becasue she was holding a pair of Lolo's pajama's. It's a good thing Ryan picked them up that eveing, becasue I would not have been a pleasant mother to deal with. I am just SO THANKFUL that she did not get hurt. We are so LUCKY, it could have been a lot worse. But now the daycare and our home has gates to keep this little worm away.

California in a nutshell

I am about 3 weeks behind, but I don't have many free moments! We had so much fun, thank you Kaitlin and Melissa for letting me join you. This was the 4 of us (my mom, me, my niece Kaitlin, and my sister-in-law Melissa) at the airport ready to leave.Our trip was full of shopping, great food, and lots of cheerleading. The next picture was Kaitlin and I before we headed out for a fun night at Bubba Gumps. I found some awesome boutique shops and had a hard time saying "no" to all the fun clothes. I should be posting a picture of my new purse. It is SO cute, and SO me. Congrats to Kaitlin and her cheerleading group, they took 1st, but of course, we didn't expect anything less. They had 2 days of competition. Kaitlin is such an amazing performer. I really enjoyed watching you. Your awesome.

Kaitlin's team 2nd day of competition

BLOGSPOT CLOSET SALE!

I have been SO busy since coming home from Long Beach. (I will post pics later). I have been working extra days at work to get caught up from vacation, Easter came and went, and I have to keep the house clean all the time because it is on "the market" and we have had quite a few looks so far. Anyway, the point of this post is to give a shout out to everyone who might be expecting a baby girl, or knows someone who is having a baby girl. Some of you know that I went WAY overboard with Madi's wardrobe. I think I have become addicted to shopping for baby girl clothes. So I have storage bins full of summer clothes from last year that I am looking to get rid of. I spent way too much money, and thought I could sell them on e-bay, but after taking a few pictures I thought it was going to be way too much work. So PLEASE pass the word aroung, that if anyone is looking to get some great deals on baby girl clothes, I have TOO MANY. Probably a quarter of the clothes are still brand new with tags. And I don't think she wore anything more than 2 maybe 3 times. With the beautiful weather today, I dug out her new summer wardrobe, which is already too much! So I have sizes 0-12 months available. Talk about one-stop shopping! Most of the clothing is gymboree and gap. With lots of Carters and some Old Navy and Ralph Lauren. I also cleaned out Mac's closet too, but he wears his clothes more than she does, so I will just donate them, if someone needs them!

So I just thought I would let everyone know that my family is still here, and days are going by faster than ever. The kids are growing up so fast I can barely believe it. My little girl is almost 1 year old!! WE have been trying so hard to get Mac potty trained, but I swear Madi will get there before he does. We have now tried just about everything. Lolo (his daycare mommy) has been working really hard with him too, we even send him in big boy underwear with extra pairs, and things are just not working. I kid you not, we feel like we are at a dead end, so any advice is welcome. I also wanted to ask a special favor of everyone: pray for my husband and kids! I am flying out to Long Beach tomorrow with my mom and sister-in-law for a national cheerleading competition, and the kids are staying at home with daddy. Ryan is even taking Friday and Monday off to be home with the kids. I love them, and will miss them dearly, but I am so excited for this vacation. I hope to take lots of pictures and let you know how things go. (Only bad part about the trip is the flying. I am a terrible flyer and will have to take a xanax and dramamine to basically keep me sedated for the flight!!) Well, I guess I should really get off the computer and start packing!

So the verdict is in, this is an AMAZING product! I was introduced to TAISlim 3 weeks ago. I was very sceptic that it would work as a health AND WEIGHT LOSS product. So we signed up and I let Ryan try it 1st, because like I said, I really didn't think it would work. After 10 days on TAISlim Ryan said he had lost 2 lbs. Was sleeping better, more rested when he awoke in the morning, and had a lot more energy at night without feeling like he needed to snack! And the most amazing part of the whole equation, is Ryan has been driving truck! Without changing absolutely anything, he is feeling better AND losing weight. So only imagine if he started to try!! So if Ryan says it is working, which he is the biggest sceptic of anyone, I thought it would must be worth trying. I have now been on it one week and want to share this with EVERYONE. The best part abouth this product, you have 90 days to try it, and if you are not in LOVE with TAISlim, you can send it back for a complete refund. So really there is nothing to lose! You will be healthier and slimmer. My personal website is not quite set up, but check out TAISlim.com and give me a call. I would love to get you started. No regrets, and remember, you have 90 days guaranteed !! If you would like set up an appoinment to learn more or sign up e-mail me at kimmyzbiz@hotmail.com

MAC 'N MADI UPDATE

I can't believe how fast time is going, and that spring is here (kind of), with summer just around the corner! Yeah, not a moment too soon!! This last week I took MaCrae and Madison for their check ups. So I thought I should FINALLY post about the kids. MaCrae gets more creative every day. Last Saturday I turned on cartoons for MaCrae while I showered. Well, MaCrae never lays on the couch. When I think about it, you don't see MaCrae lay down hardly ever, anywhere. He is always walking around pushing a car or train around, even while watching t.v. So when I saw the bed he made on my coffee table I laughed to myself so hard. What an amazing boy. He truely is such a smart kid. He is finally talking in full sentances, and says some of the darndest things! This was our conversation Tuesday morning:
MaCrae laying in my bed watching cartoons as I get ready for work in my bathroom.
Me: "Mac, are you ready to go to day care today!" (I like to get him pumped up in
the mornings!)
Mac: "No, I stay home today"
Me: "Oh yeah, what are you going to do by your self all day, mommy has to go to
work."
Mac: "No, you stay home from work, MaCrae watching tv today"
I can always tell if he is being shy or in a bad mood becasue he starts to mumble his words almost to the point I can't understand him. He definantley keeps me on my toes! Lucky for me he didn't need any shots at his 3 year check up because he wanted nothing to do with the Dr. He had to get undressed for the Dr and he REALLY didn't like that. But he is now weighing in at 28.4 lbs and just shy of 3 feet tall. His feet seem to be growing though, so there is still hope! But there is not dought these 2 cute kids are brother and sister. Madison weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs. and 27" tall! She will be lucky to double her birth weight by 1!! I seriously wish I still had her metabolism becasue she eats like a stinkin horse!

And Madison, my sweet little girl has actually been a true stinker the last few weeks. She has been cutting teeth, and WOW, has she been miserable to be around. She is such a quite and content baby, and all of a sudden she has been living off Mortin, Tylenol, and screams! Then just this last Tuesday her teeth finally break through and she is back to her sweet, smiley self. She is getting around a lot faster these days, and has to pull her self up on just about everything. She is always trying to stand up on toys, that end up falling over on her. And the cutest thing yet, she tries to roll balls back and forth with Mac. So funny! It's hard to believe she is only a few days shy of 10 months! Madi had to get 1 shot at the dr's because aparently one of her previous shots had gotten out of temperature range, and they don't know if it worked properly. So of course, she got a shot, while she was already miserable from her teething! Let me tell you, it has been one heck of a week!

Happy Birthday MaCrae!

MaCrae turned 3 on Valentine's Day, and WOW what a day! MaCrae wanted a Thomas the Train party. So I went to Toy'r R Us and bought what ever I could of Thomas: Table clothe, plates, cups, but let me tell you, apparently Thomas is popular. They were almost sold out of eveything. So I went to get the supplies to make a train cake and ended up ordering a Thomas cake from Wal-mart. It turned out SO cool. BUT, Saturday morning I took the kids down to Idaho Falls to pick up the cake and ended up coming home LATE to his birhtday party. (I stopped at Baby Gap to pick up few things for Madi, and they have some CUTE new lines out, and it took me a lot longer, and lot more $$ to get out of there.) So we show up to his party 20 minutes late and Ryan can smell poop. Yeah, my kids have NEVER had a blow out until Saturday. MaCrae has been on antibiotics for an ear infection and it must have made him a little sick. So then, MaCrae spends the next 15 minutes in the tub getting cleaned up. So, by the time Ryan got him dressed I was running around getting pop out to drink, and pizza out of the oven. I forgot to take a picture of my Thomas get-up! Not so happy about that, but he did have a good birthday. And yes, despite a birthday party and crazy madness we also had a good Valentine's day.

Last Friday MaCrae had his 1st Valentine's party. And I totally spaced it until Thursday night! And of course Ryan was out of town, so we ended up going to Broulim's to get Valentine's. And let me tell you, there was not much a selection left! We got Spiderman cards (which he has never even seen Spiderman cards, but was still pretty excited about them.) He even had to take one to bed! But he had a great party and both kids made me a frosted sugar cookie w/sprinkles! Score one for me!!

So I don't even know if anyone even checks blogs anymore, or my blog for that matter. I have totally abandoned a lot of things lately to spend the time I do have available with my kids. But I had something totally ANNOYING happen yesterday, I think it happen way more than it should. I bought a pay of pants yesterday and they forgot to take the ink tags off! So, of course I go to wear them the next morning, and nope, the ink tag is still there!! And then to make it even better, I take them back to the store and they look at me with this look like maybe I stole them! Give me a break.