First Tooth

First an update on Ian's last post: Madeline is really about 29 1/2 inches long. Both her weight and height were in the 95%. She is a big girl!

Last Thursday, 10 days ago, I put my finger in Madeline's mouth for her to chew on and I felt something sharp! Her first tooth popped through! I've been trying to get a picture since then. It's hard! This is the best one I have been able to get so far. You have to look really closely and there is a little white. It's easier to see in real life...

Here are some pictures that I took of Madeline today in her Christmas outfit.

Madeline always lays like this now. We call it her "model pose."

Madeline's New Stats

So I took Madeline to the doctor and wanted to post the new stats that we have for her. First of all, let me say that she was very good for how long we waited to see the doctor, and she was excellent and didn't even cry when she got her immunizations.

Madeline's Stats:

Height: 27-1/4 inches (although I think she might actually be a bit taller; no effort was made to stretch her out all the way)
Weight: 20.2 lbs. This is a healthy weight, but drastically less than Amy was claiming. I believe before the appointment, Amy was saying that Madeline was somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 pounds. Off by just a little. To be fair, she was judging solely off of how hard it is to hold/carry Madeline for long periods of time.
Head Circumference : Fits. So I might has zoned out while she was taking Madeline's head reading. I would like to think that I was calming her down for it, as I was holding her for the measurement. However, I do think her head does look more proportional to her body than it did when she was first born. Maybe I'll get into Keri's sewing kit and borrow her measuring tape and take my own measurements.

Like I said before, Madeline was perfectly healthy and the doctor loved her. The only frustration about the visit -- from my perspective at least -- is that they were out of stock of two of the immunizations she was supposed to get. They told me we could just get those next time, like it was normal practice. I am not sure what we will do, but we may take her back before nine months just to catch up on some of these immunizations, and I will consider it worth the co-pay. All in all, we are happy our little girl is happy and healthy.

Madeline's First Christmas...Picture

So there was a bazaar at the high school here in Woodland, and while I had no interest in going, Amy really wanted to go and have Madeline's picture taken with Santa. As a quick aside, I have always found these pictures to be a bit forced and creepy, and I am surprised that I didn't put up more of a fight. I am sure it wouldn't have mattered anyway; Amy put on the Christmas dress Grandma Payne gave her, and went to see Santa. Well, we finally got the picture delivered yesterday, and we wanted to show everybody how much Madeline has grown.



I do not mean to be too critical of a guy who puts up with holding children all day long, but Santa sort of ruined the dress in the picture. The dress is rolled all the way up to her waist, and so you see her diaper cover; so much for baby modesty. **Sigh** That dress was really cute. Additionally, while we still think she is adorable, it is clear that this is not her best picture. It is somewhat revealing of how many actual pictures it takes before Amy gets one she finds appropriate for the blog. From what she told me, it took herself and Grandma Moss forever just to get her to the point where she was looking at the camera. That is all for now, but we will post a more robust update in a few days. Thanks again to Grandma Payne for the cute outfit.

If a Tree Fell in the Forest...

...I would probably hear it. If you knew that I had to take a hearing test on Friday for work, you might think I am referring to my near perfect hearing that I have been bragging to Ian about all weekend. However, that is not the case. Saturday night it was really windy here. At about 2:30 am, I was awoken by a loud thump and the house shaking. It scared me. I was pretty sure that a tree fell on the house. I got up and looked in Madeline's room---no tree there. Then I looked in Abby's room---no tree there. Nobody else was awake and something had happened! I went outside and noticed that a tree that is on the side of our house was leaning and there were cracking noises. This tree has a lot of ivy on it so I was worried that it could be dead and was now falling over. I also saw a pretty big branch on the ground below where our room is. I figured that the branch had fallen off the tree, hit the roof above us, then fallen to the ground. Anyways, I was too worried that the tree was falling over so I finally woke my parents up to ask if it always leaned. They got up to look at it but said that it did usually lean. By the time I went back to bed it was after three. It was so windy and I kept hearing branches fall so I couldn't fall back asleep until after four. Unfortunately, I kept Ian up the whole time too. He wasn't very happy about it. He kept telling me that a tree was not going to fall and crush on top of us. This morning, this is what the yard and house looked like...

Our Favorite Hippie

There was a ward Halloween party tonight. We weren't going to dress up but Halloween is no fun without costumes! I quickly whipped together a costume for me and Madeline. She was a little flower child and I dressed up 80's. We tried to find another decade for Ian to dress in but we were unsuccessful. Anyways, here are some pictures.

At the party there was a chili and cornbread cook-off. Ian signed up to bring cornbread. He made a really delicious cornbread recipe that had green onions, jalapenos, and bacon. What isn't delicious with bacon? He ended up winning best cornbread! Here was his prize...more cornbread.

The Art of Sitting

So one thing that we have learned over and over about Madeline and her growth is that things happen suddenly; it looks as though she isn't even close to being able to do something, and then the next day she does it perfectly. The latest example of this is sitting.

Amy has been concerned for a while that Madeline wasn't progressing in her ability to sit up. The blame for this 'shortcoming' falls to me since I am with her most of the time. However, this past week I started to put stuff in front of her to entice her to stay balanced. The result is that she can now sit up for a minute or two on her own now. Here are some pictures:



This is one of Madeline's new favorite toys. It does the whole 'A B C' thing and it lights up, so I suppose it isn't stunting her mental growth, so I'm all good with it. Although, I must be honest, the songs it puts out drive me nuts (it is a jazzed up version of the ABC's; just leave well enough alone).


Here she is gaining a conceptual understanding of shapes and colors well beyond her age...or she might just be drooling on the toy; who knows for sure.

And this picture is the reason for the post. We think she is amazing and wonderful, and even better when she is in a good mood. If only she could always be this happy.

More Dr. Seuss

Ian's sister, Liz, left a comment on the last post saying that the Cat in the Hat picture was the second great Seuss picture Ian has taken. I had totally forgotten about this picture! It used to be the background on my computer (actually about 30 copies of this picture in a tile pattern) when Ian and I were dating. I found it on Liz's blog and stole it to show everyone. Doesn't he look so cute?!

Pictures Plus a Little About My Job

It's been a little while since we have put pictures up. Madeline is getting so big. She will be five months this week. So old! She has learned several new tricks the past few weeks. Here are a few...

Madeline has learned how to roll from her front to her back. She can't do it all the time but is getting better.

She learned how to eat more solid food (rice cereal). We started feeding her rice cereal. She is a little on the young side for solid food but she is so big and it seems like she is hungry all the time. She caught on really fast to eating from a spoon.


I guess she wasn't so interested in eating in this picture.


Ian also figured out how to do this trick with Madeline. It scares my mom when he does it. This picture reminds me of Cat in the Hat.


I pretty much think that Madeline is the cutest baby in the world. I hate having to be away from her half the day!

She has such big BLUE eyes!

Work has been okay. I have been there a month now and am fully trained (or so they say). I like the job okay, although I would not want to work there for the rest of my life or anything. I think I would like it more if I didn't have to drive almost an hour each way. A typical day for me, in case anyone is interested, goes like this...

I get to work at 5:15 am and inspect all the equipment until 6:00 am. I make sure that it is clean and tell the sanitation crew to fix anything that is still dirty. For the next couple of hours I test the samples of food from the day before to make sure they meet company specifications before they are shipped to the customers. For the testing, I taste the samples, look at the color and watch for defects such as lumps, test the pH, sugar level, and viscosity (thickness). If any of the products fail, I test the color using a machine called a colorimeter and set the samples up for management to decide if they still want to ship the product out. For the rest of the day, I collect samples from products being made, check the big kettles before each batch to make sure they are clean, check magnets and metal detectors, and generally make sure that people are keeping things clean and following good manufacturing procedures.

I am usually standing and walking around the whole eight hours and sometimes I get very busy and a little overwhelmed. It becomes difficult because the workers usually can't start something new until I get there and it usually turns out that they all need me at once. I have to try to time my lunch so that not too many people will be stuck waiting for me. It is also difficult because almost all of the workers are hispanic and only speak a little broken english. I really wish I had Rachel and Peter's spanish skills!

Overall, I think I am starting to get the hang of the job and am settling into a good routine but it makes me sad to be away from Ian and Madeline for so long everyday.

Finally, Video Evidence

So Madeline has been laughing in little spurts now for about a month; however, by the time we get the camera out, she decides that she is done laughing. Last night we finally got a good video of Madeline laughing. Her aunt Abby was making motorboat sounds by puckering her lips and blowing out. Apparently, this was incredibly interesting to Madeline, as she was captivated for several minutes. In the video you will hear Madeline first laugh at Abby, and then you will hear her try to imitate the sound.




While we all love hearing her laugh, there is one downside to this recording: Madeline now continues to try to imitate Abby, and has been spitting and drooling on me all day. The price we pay I suppose.

And We Go To Oregon

A couple weeks ago I was browsing the internet for any food science jobs in Oregon or Washington-just because I was bored. On a whim, I decided to send my resume to a company in Boring, Oregon. They ended up calling me that day wanting an interview. I interviewed with them last Monday and they offered me the job today. We decided to accept the offer. We will be moving next Wednesday. We have to continue paying for our apartment here until someone moves in so if you know anyone in Provo that wants a nice, two bedroom apartment, let us know!

A little about the job...I will be working for a company called Ever Fresh Fruit Company. They process apples as well as make other products such as yogurt and ice cream base. My official job title will be a Quality Assurance Technician. My job will be to check the equipment for cleanliness when I arrive, check the ingredients to make sure they are portioned out correctly, and take samples and test them throughout the day to make sure that they are quality products. It is a small company and seems like a good place to work.

I am grateful that we will finally have a full time job as well as the chance to gain some experience with my degree in case I ever want/need to work in the future. However, I am sad to leave all of our family and friends in Utah.

Madeline's Newest Trick

So we returned home from spending a week on the lake with Amy's family on Saturday. While we were there, we had hoped that Madeline would do something new for the family since she was so spoiled the entire time. Sadly, no such luck; however, within a couple of hours of returning home, she decided to mix things up for us.

Amy and I had set her down on a blanket in the front room and went back to our bedroom to unpack a bit. We returned a few minutes later and found Madeline on her stomach. After checking with each other to make sure the other had not put her in the position, we put her back on her back to see if she would turn over again. She did, and here is the video we took of it.



Sadly, I was not able to get a video where she starts solidly from her back, but we promise she really did (as a note to the video, please ignore the talking done by the parents, we are still not used to these pictures with sound). We have found that things are more difficult now that Madeline is able to roll over; it is harder to feed, change, and dress her.

Perhaps the only issue we have with this development is that she does not like being on her stomach for long after she gets there; this, coupled with the fact she cannot move from stomach to back means that she starts crying every few minutes when we lay her down. Amy and I are hoping that she soon figures out how to reverse the process.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

So Amy has told me, and I agree, that she is shouldering too much of the blogging weight, so I suppose that it is my turn to post.

Amy and I have been waiting for Madeline to start laughing; while she gives us an occasional chuckle, she has not yet decided she is ready for laughter. Instead, she has started to babble quite a bit. This past week especially, she has been very talkative at night. On Tuesday Amy went to a Relief Society activity so I got to spend some one on one time with Madeline that I am sure she will remember for the rest of her life. She spent almost a full hour standing on my stomach "talking" to me. I decided that I should get a video of her in action, so here it is.




We think she is adorable; we just can't wait until she starts to talk and laugh for real. And yes, at the end of the video when it looks like she is falling forward, she is...and ended face-planted in my chest.

Madeline's New Hobby

So...this week has been another camera happy week. I've taken about 50 pictures of Madeline. It's kind of ridiculous but oh well. Some day she will be older and will hate having her picture taken.

Madeline has a new hobby. She has been pretty fussy this week and I can't tell what is wrong. I decided today that maybe she is just bored. I took some yarn and tied some of her toys to my broom and set it up for her to play with. She has started hitting and grabbing the toys. It's pretty cute because every time she hits a toy hard she gets so excited. So far it has entertained her for a while both yesterday and today.


I absolutely love the next two pictures. I am normally opposed to naked baby pictures but I LOVE these. I think that they are among my favorites of Madeline so far.

Madeline's Stats

Madeline had her two month check-up today (even though she is really 2 1/2 months). She didn't do very well during the appointment. She cried pretty much the whole time. She got three shots and had a drink vaccine. The doctor said that she was very healthy. Here are her stats...

Weight: 13.21 lbs (84.7 percentile)
Height: 24.25 inches (90.55 percentile)
Head Circumference: 15.5 inches (45.62 percentile)

We knew before she was born that she would be a tall girl but apparently she has a pretty small head for her body...not bad small though. I guess she doesn't take after her Uncle Jeremy.

I was worried she would just cry the rest of the day but she was pretty happy when we got home. Here she is with her band-aids.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Today is my sister Emily's birthday. She is turning 21. So old! Since she reads this at work everyday, I wanted to say Happy Birthday and I love you! I hope you have a great day!

Isn't this a cute picture of her? She is cute.

The Latest Pictures of Madeline

Madeline has been pretty fussy the past couple of days. I don't know why. I think she might be going through a growth spurt so she wants to eat more often than she usually does. She is starting to get pretty chubby.

She has started holding onto her rags a lot. We have found that if we give her a rag when she is crying she will usually calm down. My little sister Abby used to have a "rag" like a blankie. I don't really want Madeline to have a crutch but I guess a rag is easy because it is small and easily replaceable/interchangable. Here she is holding her rag.

In other news, Madeline is getting a lot better at holding her head and neck up during "tummy time" although she still hates being on her stomach.

Madeline has also started wearing 3-6 month clothes. This is a cute outfit that our family friend Renee bought her.


Here are a few more pictures that I like of Madeline that we have taken recently. Emily made fun of me because she looked through the pictures on my camera and found out that I have a million. We decided first children have the most pictures not only because it is a new thing for the parents to have a kid, but also because the mom gets bored and needs something to do being at home alone all day with a little baby.

Looking at mom.

Watch out! She's not afraid to fight!

When she's crying a lot I try to remember how happy I am when she smiles.

Madeline's Blessing

Madeline was blessed last Sunday, July 5. Ian was able to give the blessing and he did a really nice job. Madeline stayed quiet until the very end she started to fuss just a little. I thought that two things were kind of special. First, my brother Elliott stood in the circle since he was ordained an Elder a couple weeks ago. Second, my mom had saved my blessing dress so Madeline was blessed in the same dress that I wore at my blessing.

We were also blessed to have so much family attend. Ian's whole family came from California on Saturday night. It was a quick trip for all of them since they left Monday. We were really happy that they were willing and able to come, even though we wish they could have stayed longer. My family also came from Washington for just a few days. We also had my Aunt Linda and her daughter, my Uncle Jeff and his family, and my Uncle Greg and his son come. Even my Grandma Moss and Aunt Marie came down for the occasion. After Sacrament meeting, we all went up to a park in Provo Canyon and made sandwiches, took pictures, and visited.

Here are a few pictures of the family and Madeline in her blessing dress. Notice my pretty awesome sunburn on my arms from mini golfing on the fourth.

4th of July

For the 4th of July weekend, our families came up for Madeline's blessing. My family came on July 3rd and stayed at a condo in Park City. Ian and I drove up on Friday night to hang out with them. We had a fun time playing games, specifically a game that my mom and brothers learned while they were in Germany. It is called Ligretto and I thought it was really fun to play. I'm glad they brought it back for us and taught us to play. Saturday was the 4th and Madeline got to wear her new festive outfit from Grandma Payne.

We went up to the Park City resort to play mini golf. This was the view. I thought it was pretty.


We had a pretty fun time putting...


although the course was pretty crappy. Each hole was really tilted so all of our balls would always roll together.


Oliver wasn't having his best game.


Elliott looking studly in his new shirt from London. I told him that he was wearing the wrong side for the 4th of July.

I did pretty bad too, although I did get one hole in one. Notice everyone elses balls all congregated to the corner. Emily told me to hurry and putt so she could get a picture of all our golf balls together. I was pretty excited to mess up that picture.


I don't have any pictures of Emily golfing but I do have a nice picture of her modeling her camera case, or as Elliott called it, her "fanny pack for her wrist."


After we went mini golfing, we were hot so we decided to go swimming. Here we are playing 500 in the pool.


Later that evening, we played croquet. Abby won the first round but after that, Ian started beating us pretty bad.


He was done with the course and we hadn't even started going back.

Since we were losing we just started taking random pictures instead.



Somehow Oliver managed to get hurt.
At the end of the day, we went up on the roof of the condo to watch the fireworks. I'm not going to lie, I was kind of scared climbing up the scaffolding to get to the roof. We had a really nice view. My mom held Madeline during the fireworks and said she slept through the whole thing. She can sleep through anything if she wants to.





Overall, it was a fun 4th of July and I was glad to be able to spend it with my family.