Awesome October

When we got back from Hilton Head, Madelyn still seemed pretty off.  I figured that two weeks of vacationing and having very little routine was what was messing up her sleep, but after a day or two, I realized that she was still sick.  She didn't have a fever anymore, but she just wasn't sleeping well and seemed to be in pain.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that she needed to go to the doctor until about thirty minutes before the Fun Run at Kirsten's school.  The Fun Run is a PTA fundraiser with lots of fun activities including a "race" for each grade level.  I put "race" in quotation marks because there isn't a winner.  It really is truly just a fun run.  Since Matt was out of town, my parents ended up taking Kirsten and Reagan to the Fun Run while I took Madelyn to the doctor.  I'm so grateful to live near my parents, especially when unexpected things like that happen.

When the doctor looked in Madelyn's ears, she said that ear wax was covering Madelyn's eardrum.  So, she couldn't see if they were infected or not.  The doctor had to use her tool to scrape the earwax away.  I think that would have bothered Madelyn regardless, but as it turned out, both of her ears were infected.  Can you imagine having to have your ears scraped when they're infected?  I felt so bad for her.

Kirsten and Reagan had a nice time with my parents at the Fun Run.  They ate yummy pizza and chocolate cake.  They got frog balloons and got their faces painted like kitties.  It sounded like a lot of fun.  I was sad I missed it, but I was glad that I was able to take Madelyn to the doctor.  Also, because my Dad came back to the house to bring me some of the food from the Fun Run, I got to talk to him for awhile, and it's not very often that I get to talk to just him without some little person interrupting our conversation.  I love my dad.

Kirsten and Reagan with their balloon frogs

After Madelyn got better, which didn't take long once she started taking her antibiotic, she learned to sit up.  She is really strong and has good balance when she sits up.  Also, it's so adorable to see how busy she can be with her hands.

Madelyn sitting up

On Friday mornings, I usually take Reagan and Madelyn to the library for story time, and I have especially enjoyed taking them since Madelyn learned to sit up.  They sit together like two big girls, don't they?

Reagan and Madelyn at story time

We celebrated my mom's birthday on the second Sunday in October.  It's always pleasant to spend the evening with my parent's and my brother's family, but birthday Sundays are even more fun.

My mom with four of her granddaughters and an especially delicious ice cream cake

Brian gave my mom this stunning original water color.  Isn't he talented?

Our family gave her a cute fox hot pad and kitchen towel.

Kirsten, Reagan, and Sierra love to dress up when they go to my parents' house.

No October would be complete for our family without Jaker's Jack-o-lanterns.  I bought a punch card this year, so that we could go several times and save 50 cents on the 2 dollar entrance fee.  Isn't that ridiculously cheap?  I also love that it's just a couple of blocks from our house.

Playing in the corn pit

Kirsten and Reagan could both climb to the top of the hay stack by themselves this year!

A cow and a horse

They added this fun new slide

One day while Kirsten was in school, Reagan, Madelyn and I went to Jaker's with Reagan's friend Gracie.  Reagan is a goober sometimes.  Look at this pose!

Reagan and Gracie in the hay maze

These are the small pumpkins that Kirsten and Reagan drew faces on

Kirsten and Reagan in the hay maze

A cute picture of Kirsten and Madelyn

Reagan got to go with her friend Harper to the pumpkin patch, too.  Lucky kid.

Reagan and Harper in the corn pit

Posing on a bale of hay

In addition to going to Farm Preschool, Reagan has been participating in Upstart, which is a free online preschool.  She uses the program five days a week for twenty minutes.  I'm really impressed by the program.  Since September she has solidified all of the upper case letters and learned all of the lower case letters.  She knows their sounds and is starting to be able to recognize words.  The most impressive thing of all is that when Matt and I ask her what she learned from Upstart on any given day is that she says that Upstart doesn't really teach her much.  "It's mostly just playing games," she says.  I love that she feels like she's playing and that she's learning so much!

Reagan doing Upstart.  Doesn't she look like such a big kid?

I spent one week in the middle of October systematically clearing out the clutter in our house.  I started with the girls' room, which took the longest, and went from room to room until all the junk was out.  It was a lot of work, but it felt really good.  Pretty much everything has a place now.  What a relief!  Of course, junk continues to pile up.  So, it's a constant labor to keep the house de-cluttered.

My mom's neighbor asked if I had any baby things to get rid of, and one of the first things I thought of was the Exersaucer down in the crawl space.  Neither of the other babies liked it all that much.  So, I hadn't made it a huge priority to bring it up, especially since I knew that I would have to clean it really well.  I decided that I could give that away, but once I went down to the crawl space and cleaned it for two hours, I put Madelyn in it instead of giving it away.  She actually likes it, too.  I ended up giving my mom's neighbor a ton of extra baby blankets instead.
   

Madelyn in the Exersaucer

One Saturday morning we were finally able to go to Jaker's with Matt.  He spent a lot of time out of town in October.  It was cute to see Madelyn slide down the slide on his lap.  Kirsten and Reagan were pretty excited to get to go down the slide with their daddy, too.

Down the slide with Daddy

We've also been playing a lot with our new neighbors, Madalena and Laila.  Madalena is Kirsten's age, and Reagan is Laila's age.  So, it's perfect.  They love each other!  All four of them love to do art.  They even had their first sleepover at Madalena and Laila's house.  Melissa, their mom, told me that Kirsten and Madalena didn't go to sleep until around midnight.  I'm glad they had so much fun, but when I got them back, they were a bit grumpy for my taste.

Doing arts and crafts

We went to the pumpkin patch one last time as a family, and my parents came with us, too.  Reagan led my mom and dad through the hay maze, and Kirsten led Matt and me.  They both liked being the leader.  Everybody got a turn to be buried in the corn pit, including Madelyn.  Matt really had to hold her hands to keep her from putting the stuff in her mouth, but she enjoyed the experience a lot.

Getting buried in corn

Smiling about it

We picked out the perfect pumpkin that evening.  It was thirty pounds, and Matt had the pleasure of carrying it home since we walked.  It looked very impressive on our porch after we carved it.

Madelyn playing in her room

The Saturday before Halloween we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point as a family. 

That evening we went to the Halloween party at the Church.  Kirsten and Reagan were unicorns, and Madelyn was a peacock.  So cute.  Madelyn didn't much care for her costume, which didn't really surprise me.  The party was pretty simple this year, but the girls loved playing on the stage with the other kids while the grownups ate and talked.

Afterward we went home and watched The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which made everybody giggle.  I'd actually never seen the Disney version before, but Matt tells me it's a classic.

The girls and I have been really enjoying American Girl dolls lately.  Occasionally, I'll get mine down and let Kirsten and Reagan hold them.  We've finished reading all the Kirsten books together, and now we have started reading the Felicity books.  You might not know it, but I'm a lover of dolls.  I've always enjoyed collecting them, but I haven't gotten any since my mission.  Well, with my rekindled interest in American Girl dolls, I started searching Ebay for a vintage Molly doll.  I placed several bids, but I always lost.  People are willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money on these dolls.  Finally, I found one for sale with the Buy It Now option, and I bought her.  I love her!  She's so pretty.

My American Girl Dolls

Halloween finally came!  Kirsten had a blast at her school Halloween party, and Reagan loved her preschool Halloween party.  We went trick-or-treating with Gracie and got tons of candy.  For trick-or-treating, I dressed Madelyn as a polar bear, which she liked a lot better. 

Dressed in their costumes

Going trick-or-treating

Matt took part in Charlie Wolf's spooky alley again this year.  He wielded the chainsaw at the end.  Kirsten and Reagan were pretty scared, but I made sure to laugh as much as possible as we went through.  That made it better for them.  Then we ate hot dogs at the Boyer's house next door.  We have such great neighbors who make Halloween a blast!

Eating hot dogs with Gracie

Hilton Head

We were at Hilton Head over a month ago.  So, yes, I am super behind on my blog, which unfortunately means that many of the little memories now escape me.  To top it off, I hardly took any pictures during the trip to jog my memory.  That being said, I do remember that I had a fantastic time with my little family and our extended family!

The fun began with the plane trip.  When we were at the airport, I was hungry for breakfast, and Matt kept insisting that I should eat on the plane.  I thought that was ridiculous.  Why on earth would I eat on the plane?  I'd never done that in the past.  So I ordered myself some breakfast.  Well, when we got on the plane, I understood why.  He handed me his ticket and said, "This is for you.  It looks like your seat is up here."  He had bought me a first class ticket!  I was so floored.  I seriously thought it was a mistake.  Unfortunately, I was so confused that I couldn't even properly show my gratitude until after the flight.  The meal was great.  The service was fantastic.  And I loved having the extra space, especially since I had Madelyn on my lap.

When we arrived at the Surfwatch Resort, we met up with everyone for dinner.  It was so nice to see Beth, Betty, Jim, Drew, Benjamin, and Daniel again.  We had just barely seen Marc in Jersey City the week before, but, of course, it was also good to see him.  Uncle Jake came the next day, and it was good to see the three brothers be together.  After dinner, we walked out to the beach, and then we took the girls for a night swim in the pool next to our room.  The lights in the pool changed colors, and everything was magical.

It was particularly fun to see Kirsten and Reagan play with Benjamin and Daniel.  They were all old enough to actually be friends this year!  Kirsten and Reagan have decided that Benjamin and Daniel are their favorite uncles.  Benjamin was so sweet with Madelyn, too.  He read to her and loved sitting next to her whenever he could
. 
Everyday we spent hours at the pool and the beach.  Reagan saw Kirsten swimming, and she decided that she could do it, too.  The amazing thing was that she could!  Now we have two swimmers.  Of course, we keep our eyes on them, so that they're always safe, but it was fun to see Kirsten and Reagan improve their skills over the course of the week.  Even Madelyn enjoyed swimming and spent several hours in the pool during the week.  She would splash and gasp with joy.  It was so cute!

We also spent time building sand castles, getting hit by the surf, and looking for sea shells.

On Wednesday evening we went on a Dolphin tour boat ride, which was so beautiful.  We didn't see lots of dolphins, but we did get to enjoy the breathtaking moments on the ocean before the sun set.  It was so relaxing.

Unfortunately, Madelyn came down with a fever on Thursday.  So, the two of us stayed in the hotel all day.  It's hard for me to feel like I'm missing out on the fun.  Honestly, I'm not extremely gracious about it, but I've gotten lots of practice as a mother.  I flatter myself that there has been some improvement.  Also, it's hard to have a baby be sick when I'm on vacation because I don't have all the usual trappings.  It's just more stressful than when we're at home.  Fortunately, her fever seemed to be gone the next day.  So, while we continued to take it easy, I did feel like I could take her out of the hotel room.  Also, since I knew she was doing better I felt more willing to leave her, and Matt and Jake each took a turn caring for her while, I played.

On our last full day, we went to the Harbor Town Lighthouse, which was really pretty.  As we climbed the steps to the top, we got to read about the history of the lighthouse, and at the top, there was a nice view of the harbor.  The girls got to pick out a souvenir at the gift shop, and I was a bit disappointed that they picked a Beanie Boo that they could have gotten anywhere.  However, I'd promised them that they could get anything they wanted that cost less than ten dollars.  So, there you go . . .  at least they were happy, right?  And that makes me happy, too.

After a fantastic week, we headed home and got back to the business of school and work, and hopefully, I'll be able to take the time to write about all of that soon.

 

Hanging out in the hotel

Madelyn and Benjamin

More hanging out

Madelyn and me on the boat.  The life jacket was ridiculous.

Enjoying the dolphin tour

Cute baby

Happy times

"Everyone's your friend in New York City"

They Might Be Giants sings a song called "New York City."  One of the lines is "Everyone's your friend in New York City," and I've always thought that was a funny line since the stereotype is that New Yorkers are so busy that they don't have time to be friendly.  However, I have to say that after walking through New York with a baby on my chest, I have to agree that everyone's your friend in New York City.  I swear, New Yorkers must not see babies very often because everyone was ohhing and ahhing over our sweet Madelyn--and rightfully so.  After all, she is adorable.

During the third week in September, Madelyn and I accompanied Matt on a business trip to New York.  Kirsten and Reagan stayed with Nana and Grampa in Utah while I took my first trip ever to New York.  The first night we were there we took the elevator to the top of the Freedom Tower and got a magnificent 360 degree view of New York City. 
 

Madelyn and me at the top of the Freedom Tower

The three of us at the top of the Freedom Tower

We stayed in Jersey City on the other side of the Hudson River, and in the afternoon of my first full day, I walked along the river with this incredible view of Manhattan.

View of Manhattan

 After Matt got off work, we ate dinner at a Turkish Restaurant and headed over to the 9/11 Memorial Museum.  The museum was detailed, interesting, and sobering.  There was so much to see that we couldn't possibly see it all before it closed at 9.

The next day was Saturday, and we went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  The ferry ride to Liberty Island was nice.

Matt on the ferry

Me on the ferry

The three of us on the ferry

I took a silly selfie in front of the Statue of Liberty.  With that face, I feel like I should be wearing one of those foam Lady Liberty crowns.

Matt took a nicer picture of me

We went to the museum in the pedestal, which was quite interesting.  This replica of the foot was there to give us a sense of how large the statue is and to provide an example of the original copper coloring.

Madelyn and me with Lady Liberty's foot

Next we went to Ellis Island, which apparently I didn't take any good pictures of, but even though Ellis Island is less visually iconic, I think I enjoyed it even more than seeing the Statue of Liberty.  I learned so much history and really got a better sense of what it might have been like to be an immigrant to our country during that time.  The cramped conditions, the hunger, the hope.  At one point I said to Matt that I would never have survived an ocean voyage like most of the Ellis Island immigrants had to endure because I do so poorly in crowds.  They spent weeks cramped up in steerage, and I have been known to panic after being in a large crowd after only a couple of hours.  Granted, as Matt pointed out, my expectations for space and comfort are much higher than theirs were.

The next day Matt and I walked to Times Square and continued on to Central Park.

Madelyn and me in Times Square

Madelyn and I met Big Bird and Cookie Monster in Central Park

Big Bird sure was silly

At the top of the Belvedere Castle

At the Friends fountain

After touring Central Park, we went to Sabinskys Cafe to eat some German food.  Matt and I both had Wiener Schnitzel, and I had Schwarzwald Torte.  Yum! 

That evening we met up with Matt's dad in Jersey City and had a nice dinner at a restaurant called the Vu, which had a fantastic view of the Hudson and Manhattan.  It was really nice to see Marc, and I had the pleasure of eating Prince Edward Island mussels.  I'll admit that I ordered them because they were from Prince Edward Island more than because they were mussels, but fortunately, I really liked the taste of mussels.

On Monday, Madelyn and I mostly stayed in the hotel because she was tired, and I suppose I was too.  At any rate, she needed some real naps.  That evening we went out to dinner with some of Matt's colleagues.  They were all very excited to see our baby, and a couple of them took pictures of her to text to their wives, which I thought was amusing.  That evening I ate what I think was the most expensive meal of my life, and it was delicious.  The veal was so tender I didn't even need a knife to cut it. 

On Tuesday, Madelyn and I went to the American Museum of Natural History, which was detailed and very fascinating.  We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Elephants

Entrance to the museum

On Wednesday morning, I went back over to Manhattan to buy some souvenirs and explore a bit before we had to catch our flight.  I went to St. Paul's Chapel, which is the church that President George Washington attended for a time.  That was neat to me.

I really enjoyed the trip to NYC, and I look forward to getting to see it again.  Someday I really want to see a show on Broadway.