It Can Be Done!

This weekend I finished my hard New Year's goal as mentioned in this post! I knew it would be a difficult one, but I don't think I had really fully considered the time commitment. This stage of my life happened to be a good time to work towards this goal; I'm not sure I would've been as successful with it at other times in my life. I began with lots of reading in the wee hours of the night/morning when my little Maddox was keeping me up, and then later nap time became my prime time for reading. And I did it! I am grateful I took the challenge and accomplished this hard goal. As New Year's day is just around the corner, I again challenge us all to shoot for ambitious goals and work towards achieving hard things in 2014!

Our Little Man

Maddox is learning and growing so much. He is talking as much as ever. His vocabulary now consists of mom, dad, hot, hat, and no. I wonder if he has heard this last word a time or two… He also says brmm brmm (for cars/trucks), umm (when he points to what he wants), and mmm (when something tastes good), but I'm not sure those constitute "words." He understands a ton though. He will point to his eyes, ears, head, toes, tongue, teeth, belly button, hat, shoes, books, buttons, etc., and he follows instructions (most of the time) like bring me that, clap hands, clean up, or rub mommy's feet (haha, only kidding about that last one).

Maddox likes knocking on doors, and he loves to hide and for us to chase him. He simply loves to play!

Yes, he stacks all 5, just not always
in the right order...

We explored the Children's Museum
here in Portland one afternoon. I kept
thinking, Scott would have so much fun
here:) We'll definitely be going back!

Maddox is a dancing maniac! Any time he hears "music" (even commercials on tv), he busts out these moves...

Right around 13 months, Maddox began taking his first steps unassisted. I won't lie, we baited him in the beginning with his pacifier…

It is fun to see how much he has progressed in such a short time. He is totally comfortable and confident now.

Maddox got his own "electric" toothbrush from Grandma Quinton for Christmas (his old plain jane toothbrush just wasn't cutting it). Now he is just like dad! We just have to be careful about not brushing our teeth too much...

We love to watch the cars and trucks that come down our street. And he still LOVES when the puppies are out walking too!

Maddox is a good helper. He likes to push
the mop around, but he is the best help when
it comes to the laundry.

Maddox will help wash himself when he is in the bath. The best is when he is holding the wash cloth with his right hand and I ask him to wash his right arm… you can see the wheels turning!

He folds his arms for prayers and kneels with us each night. Maddox blows kisses and even makes a smack noise with his lips. He is just such a sweet boy!

We are gearing up for this toddler phase and looking forward to all the fun that lies in store for us still!

Movember… Out of Control

This has gone on long enough…

Can I get an amen?!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year up in Connell with the Quinton crew. Grandma Anderson was gracious enough to host again, as she has done in years past. The food was awesome. Maddox and mom competed to see who could eat the most dinner rolls. And dad won the prize for most pie consumed. It was wonderful to spend the day with family, a blessing we are extremely grateful for!

I experienced my first Black Friday shopping trip this year. I spent $45 (1/2 off the item I wanted) and walked away with a $75 gift card. I think I did alright!

Huge thank you to Tara, my partner in crime
that morning!

Plumber or police man… Maddox just can't quite make up his mind!

Maddox learned some important lessons during our visit, like how to put olives on his fingers. I remember dad teaching this to us kids. Oh the legacies we pass on...

We caught a movie, Catching Fire, while we were in town. It was fun to spend the time with my siblings, but we missed Tara. Thank you grandma for watching Maddox for us!

We saw this ad for Anchorman 2 while at the theatre, and it made us think of a photo taken 3 years ago. These guys were way ahead of the game...

Our trip wouldn't be complete without the traditional family game night (every night).

We had a little fashion show with old formal dresses from high school. A little confidence booster that I could still fit in them!

Maddox met his Great-Grandma Quinton on this trip. Although several strokes have left my grandma in a pretty dependent condition, she remembers who I am and was happy to see me. She, understandably, wishes she could do and remember more, but even so, we could definitely feel her love and enjoyed her humor. We had a lot of fun chatting and singing children's hymns with grandma. We love you!

One guess of which kid was shaking the gifts under the Christmas tree… He did guess all of them correctly, except for that tricky one.

We had Christmas early and opened presents while we were there. Maddox didn't disappoint and delivered some good entertainment as he opened the gifts. We are so lucky to have such a generous family and we were glad they could witness all the excitement too!

We have so much fun with our family and are very grateful for those in our lives who make this journey so sweet! Special shout out to my mom who works so hard to make sure we are all comfortable and happy, you are amazing. We love you all!