New Experiences

Maddox has been experimenting with new things these past few days. He enjoys playing in his new activity jumper, loves the lights, the rattles, the music, the whole thing.




He also likes sitting in his highchair and watching us do our thing. I tried feeding him rice cereal. He opens his mouth for the spoon, but he doesn't quite understand how to eat off of it yet. He was kind of getting the hang of it towards the end. We'll keep trying over the next week, see how he is doing. Maybe he isn't quite ready or maybe he just needs to learn how to do it.

Before the feeding began.

After his first bite and not quite sure what to think.

Showing me that he is in control. He really wanted to feed himself.

Finally enjoying it.

All cleaned up afterwards.

Also in the past 24 hours, Maddox has rolled over four times! I didn't them on film, mainly because I was not there for any of them. Three were with his dad when I was at work last night and making his bottle this morning. The fourth was in his crib. He woke up crying at 6:30 this morning. When I went in to grab him, he had rolled over! Maybe he'll roll over more this week!

Self Control

I don't have any. What did I do tonight? Well, first off, Maddox usually goes to bed around 10. I was in the middle of putting together the new activity jumper we bought for him today, but he was just too dang sleepy. He ate his first spoonful of rice cereal, finished a bottle of formula and headed off to bed at 8. So, I threw on my apron and made homemade chocolate turnovers. Courtesy of the Hershey's website again. I figured I had already put away all of our laundry today, deep cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, vacuumed, and ran a few errands. So what the heck! I made them. No self control. Earlier today I wrote that I needed to cut back on baking sweets...yeah right. That didn't happen. I just couldn't resist. See how delicious they look? And they were super easy!


Rolling out the pastry puff sheet, cutting it into squares.
Filling made of chocolate chips and cinnamon.


Baking in the oven.


The finished product. Yum!

I've already had two of them. I think I am going to give a couple of plates away to avoid eating them all by myself. Can that be considered self control?

BIG

My little buddy is HUGE these days. Or at least I think so. He rolls over on occasion, but not too often. He doesn't really laugh, but when he gets really excited, Maddox will coo VERY loudly, or make a whizzing noise, or some other sound. He loves to talk and make noise. He also is starting to reach out for things and put them in his mouth. Needless to say, several of my necklaces, my phone, the remotes and so many other things have been covered in baby slobber. Maddox drools so much! Like a Saint Bernard. He's too cute. He has his first cold right now. Although he had a rough first day with it, he is still his happy little self. He hangs out at the playroom at the gym while I work out and try to get rid of this baby fat. Everytime I pick him up, they rave about how good he was. Maddox will just sit in the swing, in the jumper or on their lap and he is happy as can be. He loves sucking on his thumb and fingers and prefers that over his binky now. Maddox even retired his 0-3 month clothes recently and moved on to bigger sizes. Did I mention that he holds onto his bottle and can sometimes even keep it there, feeding himself while I unload the dishwasher or vacuum the floor? He is great. and I love him. Look at what a big boy he is!

From Scratch

I went on a baking spree a few weeks ago, baking cupcakes, turtle brownies, brownies from scratch, peanut clusters, all sorts of things. I couldn't stop! Here is the recipe for one result... Ultimate Chocolate Brownies from the Hershey's website. And here is a picture. I only put the buttercream frosting on half...Scott doesn't like frosting on his brownies, but I thought they were amazing with the frosting:) The Hershey's website has so many good recipes! Thousands! I can't wait to try more of them. But I may have to hold off for a bit, I'm trying to lose my baby fat and these treats are not helping!

Baby Blessing

This weekend, my dad, brother Bobby, sister Michelle and her two girls came out to Utah for Maddox's baby blessing. It was so fun to see everyone! They got here Saturday and left Monday morning. It was a quick trip, but they all had to get back to Vegas to go to a gun show. Basically, we had Sunday together and it went something like this....
wake up, eat breakfast, get ready for church, go to church, bless Maddox (who happened to pee on his sweater prior to church without his mother knowing), go home, eat lots of food with everyone, play in the snow, watch tv, play rockband, eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and another movie. It was fun!
Baby blessings are such a neat experience! Scott did great, and you could see a difference afterwards in how Scott and Maddox interacted. I didn't think it would make a difference, but they absolutely adore each other even more now. It is a good feeling.

With Scott's parents.

Payton making a snow angel.

Madi showing off her snow angel.

We had a snowball fight.

Pausing to take a picture with Payton.

Madi and Maddox.

My dad, me, and Maddox.

Madi wanted to take this picture...
Scott, Dad, Me, Payton, Maddox, and Michelle.

My little family.

Dad with two of his six (soon to be seven!) grandchildren.

Too cute. We think Maddox looks like my dad. Agree?

It was sad to see them go, but I'm glad to know that I will see them again and to know that families are forever! I miss them! Can't wait to see them again!

Check It Out...The New Kid On The Block!!

Ever since we have moved into our new place about a month ago, Maddox has gained so many new admirers! He's a hit! All of the ladies love him and oogle at his undeniable cuteness. Maybe I am a little biased since he is my son, but I think he is the cutest thing ever! And here is proof:)

Playing with his moose pillow.

Trying to sit up on his own...this was awhile ago.

Sportin' his handsome Christmas/Church outfit from his Grandma.

Squeezing into a new outfit from his great-grandmother.

Watching his mobile.

Crying cause the mobile stopped.

Giving me my birthday present...a Nordstrom gift card.

Relaxing in his Boppy pillow.

See, I told you he is adorable! Also, I am trying to figure out a way to get all of the pictures on my phone onto the computer. I have so many cute ones on there!

Late...but its here.

We had a nice quiet Christmas this year with just the 3 of us. Scott and I both worked on Christmas Eve when his family celebrates Christmas, so we decided to do our own little Christmas. It was great!

Let me back up. The Wednesday before Christmas, we went up to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square .

Scott and Maddox crossing the street to get to Temple Square.

Me and Maddox enjoying the lights.

Our little family.

Maddox's amazed face. He loved the lights.

In front of the Nativity scene.

The boys in front of the Christus statue in the visitors center.

We loved sipping on our hot chocolate while walking around and looking at the beautiful scenery. We love visiting the temple. We love the holiday season. And we even got to meet Santa while we were there. We learned that he likes to autocross, or race cars. He had his SCCA sticker on his car:) Maybe one day I'll be able to convince Scott to let me bring our WRX out to the speedway to get in a few runs. It has been so long!

Sorry about that little tangent. On to our celebration. Maddox opened his first present ever from my brother Jason. He loves it!

Grabbing on to the wrapping paper.

A little skeptical about what was going on, but he caught on...

Taking his first glance at the bear.

It kind of looks like he was crying, but he was really smiling. He loved it!

Smiling again at his new stuffed bear.

They are about the same size. It's great!

Maddox still loves the bear. I let him play with it in his crib while I put away his laundry and he can't help but smile...and chew on his nose. He loves putting things in his mouth these days, especially his little hands.

Back to Christmas. After work Christmas Eve, we just kind of relaxed. I made peanut clusters to enjoy the next day. They are quick and easy to make so we weren't up too late. This was our third Christmas together, and we have not spent one with my family yet since they are so far away. So...we decided to do some of the traditions from my family this year, with just the three of us. We slept in on Christmas day. Until about 10 am. That was Maddox's Christmas present to us:) When we did finally get up, I began to make some hard boiled eggs to make a traditional family breakfast, Eggs Golden Rod. While the eggs were cooking, we opened a few presents.

A new play mat from his Grandma and Grandpa Copeland.

After presents (I got a new old fashioned rocking chair!), I finished making breakfast and we ate. It was the first time I have ever made it and it turned out great!

Right after breakfast, we began preparing our very own Christmas dinner, showered and got ready for the day. Maddox took a nap for us so we could cook all day in the kitchen.

Scott carving our first turkey.

Our first Christmas dinner with just the 3 of us. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, apple cider, 2 pudding pies, and peanut clusters. It was delicious! And way too much for just the 2 of us.

It made a lot of dirty dishes.

After cleaning up, we took a nap, then had a couple of buddies over to help us eat the pie. Ryan, Scott's best buddy, even held Maddox for the first time!

After eating lots of food and getting in lots of relaxation, we ended our great first Christmas with just the 3 of us. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas too!