Our First Family Photo...

I got my birthday wish this year... a family picture with James smiling, Madi happy, and me with hair!! Last year we never got a picture of the three of us that was "acceptable" to publish.

For my birthday my great friends Brenden and Shay took our picture and some of Madi. They turned out really nice. Thanks guys.

Here is a preview...

Happy Early 2nd Birthday Madison!

While in Colorado we had an early birthday celebration for Madison. We weren't sure she would know what was going on, but she sure did. She sang Happy Birthday to herself, blew out the candles before we were done singing, and ripped open her presents!! I would say she definitely knew what was going on. The next day James and I found her closing her matching game then opening it over and over again saying, "Yeah!" She was pretending to reopen all her gifts because they were so much fun. She got her first My Little Pony, Memory Matching Game, and a Block/Shape Puzzle Cube.






Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Shores for such a great second birthday! We love you!

No Blue!

We had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with Grandma & Grandpa Shores and Uncle Jared last weekend. Madi loved having her grandparents attention and love. However, her undivided attention went to their dog, Blue. Madison loves dogs, especially ones she can boss around all week. Here are some of the things she liked to say to the dog:
- "Come here Blue"
- "Down Blue"
- "Sit Blue"
and her favorite...
"NO BLUE!" as she threw her arms out or pointed her finger at him!

Here is a great picture of her and Grandpa hanging out in the back of the pick-up so Blue won't get her baby doll.


Here she is taunting Blue.


Enjoying some much loved puppy kisses.

3 Steps to Pottytraining a Bunny

Step 1: Show immense enthusiasm for potty training...



Step 2: Make sure you don't fall in...



Step 3: Smile to show encouragement and celebrate success! This step is usually followed by "Good Job" and continuous clapping!

Happy Halloween!

I was so excited for Madi to dress up for Halloween this year. Last year I was in the hospital and she wasn't walking yet, so our costume choices were limited. This year James picked her costume... who would've guessed. He said by next year she would know what Halloween was and would most likely be telling us which princess she wanted to be. Being as James is a Batman fanatic... He choose Batgirl! She did make the most adorable Batgirl I have ever seen and I did have a great time making her costume. You must also know that Madi LOVES Elmo so of course her costume was not complete without her Elmo bucket. Here are some pictures of sweet little Batgirl.




We went trunk-or-treating in Hooper at Madi's Great Grandparents. My Grandpa Cooks chili for hundreds of people and everyone lines up their cars to pass out candy. Madi was a little nervous when we first got there with all the masks and scary faces, but after a few minutes she warmed up to the idea of costumes. At about the third car she had the whole taking candy from strangers thing down too. We trunk-or-treated for and hour and then went back to my Aunt and Uncles. When Madi saw that the kids were going to do more trick-or-treating, she was all about that. Grandpa took her out with Nicki for another hour and when she got tired he carried her on his shoulders. What a great Grandpa!







Here is a fun picture of most of my crazy cousins and my Aunt Carol. We had a great time celebrating with them. We are so lucky to live so close to such a fun and loving family.

Trick-Or-Treat Day 2008

This Halloween was great at my new school. They go all out for Halloween. The parade and party were so much fun... Most of the parents that come to watch the parade dress up as well. I dressed up as a clown... Kinda scary I know! I had to put my crazy hair to some good use.



Here is my great class... I know every teacher says that, but they really are.




Here are my two newest best friends... Fellow Second Grade teachers Linda (Minnie Mouse) and Holly (Wind Up Doll). They fill my long days away from Madi with laughter. We spend so much time "Playing" I mean teaching, that one of my students said "You love Mrs. Deaver don't you?" At least once a day I will go looking in one of their rooms to ask them something and they will be missing... so I will pop into the other room and low and behold there they are having a pow-wow without me... how rude :)

James or Chris?

I saw this tag and thought it looked like a fun one to brag about my amazing husband!

What is his name? James Paul Shores
How long have you been married? 3 and 1/2 years.
How long did you date? We dated for 5 months and were engaged for 5 months.
Who said "I love you first"? He did.
Who is smarter? He is better with literature and grammar, but I kick his butt at math!
Whose temper is worse? His.
Who does the laundry? We both do. He usually puts it in and I fold and put away.
Who does the dishes? He usually does. I do them about 3 times a week and he and my sisters do them all the other days while they are watching Madi. We don't have a dishwasher and we wash dished about 4 times a day... I am not joking.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.
Who pays the bills? I do... he doesn't even know what bills we have, where the stamps are or how much money is in our bank account. He is cute, not bright :)
Who cooks dinner? I cook for Madi and I. James doesn't get home from school til late and he eats way to healthy to eat our dinner. He eats spinach, cottage cheese, eggs, chicken and protein shakes a million times a day! you think I'm joking, but I'm not.
Who drives when you are together? He does, unless he wants to eat, then I do.
Who is more stubborn? We both are... but I like to pretend like he is.
Whose parents do you see the most? Mine. They just moved closer so now we see them a lot more.
Who proposed? He did.
Who has more friends? In San Diego I do and in Utah he does. But let's be honest... all his friends think I'm cooler.
Who has more siblings? He has two brothers and I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers.
Who wears the pants in the family? I always wear the pants! James even says I love my short hair because it makes me "the man" even more!
Who is taller? He is.
Who sings better? He does. I am tone deaf.
Who is first to admit it when they are wrong? I am. Even if it wasn't my fault. He likes to hold onto grudges and I like to get over it :)
Any Special message for Hubby? You are the hottest guy I've ever known. I love everything about you. I am so thankful for all of your patience and support through all of our struggles these last two years. You are smart, wise, funny, kind, and have big muscles... what more could a girl ask for. Thank you for being my best friend and my Indian Outlaw :)

HSM 3!

I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into when I said yes on Thursday night! I came home from school and my lovely sisters said, "12:01, are you in or are you out?" I said, "I am in." Then they said good give us your credit card so we can buy our tickets to the midnight showing of High School Musical 3 before they are sold out! If you know me well, then you know that I fall asleep in almost every movie... and the though of staying awake at a midnight showing was a far fetch. So I put Madi to bed at 8 and then took a nap myself from 8-10:30 before the movie. It was well worth it! My sisters and I had a blast acting like little hyper girls... oh wait we do that everyday :)



This is on the way to the theater...



This is waiting in line- Erin and Stacey bought just a couple of things to eat: grasshopper cookies, coke, rockstar, water, swedish fish, twizlers, reese's peanut butter cups and of course miniature hershey's bars! I think we gained about 10 puonds each!





After the movie we were even bigger dorks and posed next to the poster outside the theater! Ya I know you're jealous! James wanted to go really bad, but he had to watch Madi. I promised him he could go to HSM 4!

Zoo Trip to Hogle

Over the fall break at school we were lucky enough to enjoy some beautiful weather and visit the zoo again. Grandma, Grandpa, Nicki and Blake joined us for the day. Madi is so lucky to have half of her grandparents live so close now. If only we could convince the other grandparents to move a tad closer!



Madi loved looking at all the animals, especially the big cats. She would just point and say "Roooaaarrrr". Thanks to grandpa she was able to have a great view all day!





The tiger was out on the prowl so we got to see him up close and personal. Every time he went around the corner Madi would throw her hands up and say "Where he go?" She would do it over and over so dramatically. We love our adorable drama queen!




One the best things about Hogle Zoo is how manageable it is. It is the perfect size for Madi to walk (About 2 hours to see it all) then they have a playground, train ride, and carousel for the kids. It is just enough, but not too much!




The weather was perfect for a lot this... walking. Madi of course was way to big for a stroller so we slowly walked all day and it was great.

My class went on a fieldtrip to Cornbelly's last week. It was such a great day with my class and all of the kids had so much fun. The highlight of the day though was being able to bring Madi along. I spend all day with my class who I adore, but it was so nice to be "mommy" all day too. Madi absolutely loved everything there and was kicking and screaming when it was time to go home. Here is just a little sample of all the fun things we did...

Picking out a pumpkin in the pumpkin patch


Madi kissing her "baby pumpkin"


Mommy and Madi needing to kiss the pumpkin


Proud little owner of a perfect handpicked pumpkin


Crawling through the tunnel


Sitting on the train


Rubber Duck races


Riding on the animals


Bouncing on the "Pillow" trampoline


Playing teatherball with Auntie Stacey


Playing in the corn pit


Being buried in the corn pit


The biggest rocking chair ever...


Mommy and Madi


At the end of the day this picture sums it up. I am the luckiest mom in the world! I love Madi so much and am so grateful for the day I spent pretending I didn't have a day job!