Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Playground Time

Jeff and I live right next to a huge park and have never taken Maddox there. One nice fall day we decided to venture over and see how Maddox liked the playground. I think Jeff and I enjoyed it far more than Maddox. It is so fun seeing your kids experience their firsts, even if they don't enjoy it as much as you would like.

Here are Maddox and I going down the slide. He really didn't know what to think of it. I think we got a half smile out of him. He is so observant and cautious.
Even when we put him in the grass, he just sits there and doesn't move, but tries to NOT touch the grass as much as possible. You can see by him lifting his leg and holding his hands up that he doesn't like it. Silly boy!

We also tried out the swings while we were there. I think this was the only smile we got out of him. Seconds later, he started fussing and reaching for us to get out.We tried to put him back in, but you can see he clung on to Jeff for dear life. There was no way he was getting back in that scary swing! I love how his legs are stiff and straight. He would flail them outwards so we couldn't put him in.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Volleyball

So I don't have any exciting pictures of us totally killing the other team (NOTE: By killing, I mean slamming the ball in their faces), but I do have some nice photos of our team, minus a couple people who played off and on throughout the season. From top left to bottom right:


Brad: Never played a game of volleyball in his life until now and now he is one of our best servers and getting very limber at the net too.
Juliana: She may be little, but she is vicious! Gotta love the forearm pads, which may just be her secret to being the best passer ever! She can send that ball right on over the net from any place in the court. And, she can serve overhand.
Jared: Don't let him fool you. While is also our comic relief and likes to entertain us by sacrificing his face, more importantly he is one of our best all around players and most improved. He passes well, serves awesomely and consistently (one of our starting servers), has great net skills, AND he is moving up in the world with his setting skills.
Amber: The best setter a team ever had. Need I say more? She is the reason we actually have the opportunity to slam the ball in the other team's faces!
Me: Just another member of the team. Mostly I tell everyone what to do and where to go and they are very patient with me.
Jeff: Our secret weapon. Once he realized he could hit the ball, he wasted no time in taking advantage of his skillz. There's no need for him to flex his muscles.
Chuck: He may be quiet, but he is backing you up all the way. One of our best all around players. Can't forget his awesome blocking skills. He can read a hit coming a mile away!

Now for the info on us. We were ranked 18 out of 19 teams in a local volleyball organization when it came to tournament time. But, a little practice and a lot of luck, we made it to the championship game. Really, the first two teams we were supposed to play never showed and so then we had time to actually practice and we all know that practice makes perfect! It was so fun seeing everyone improve practially overnight! We went on to win the next two games.

Then it was championship game night. We lost the first game horribly but came back to win the second by a long shot. We were on and totally could have beat the other team, who felt so threatened that they put in their best server to start. Somehow, we lost our rhythm and fell out of sync, but hung on until the end. We ended up losing the third game, but fought the whole way. We totally could have beat the other team. I saw the fear in their eyes. With a little more practice, we will win next year and I hope we get to play the same team. That would be awesome!

A nicer photo of us. Brad and Juliana are married. Jared's wife, Esther, played a couple times. Amber is one of our bestest friends in the whole world, as well as her husband, Noel, and Maddox is best friends with their son, Greg. Jeff and I are married, of course. And Chuck is married to the designated babysitter of the kids.

Juliana is sitting mighty close to Chuck, but she is not married to him, nor is she hitting on him, even though it may appear that way with her long, silky smooth, leg all up in his face. That is just the way we are-having a great time! Jeff and I wake up the morning of a game and say, "Today is a good day. We get to play volleyball tonight!" Thanks to all those who watch Maddox and make it possible. We really appreicate it!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Fun in the Sun

Jeff got Election Day off, so we decided to get out and enjoy the fall weather. It was gorgeous outside. You would hardly think it is November! After casting our vote for the next president of the United States, we played some disc golf with Amber, Noel, and Greg.


Not sure who won, but I can definitely say it wasn't me!


First Dance Moves

It is totally cliche, but being a mom definitely is one of the hardest things I have done and also one of the best. Watching your child grow and learn new things and do things for the first time is amazing. Here is one of those rewarding times. I was trying so hard not to laugh during this video. And yes, our house is really as messy as it looks. That is one of the joys of having a child. He gets into EVERYTHING lately. I don't even bother to clean up until the end of the day because if I clean it up, he messes it up again. This is fair warning to any unannounced visitors. We will not pay for medical bills due to injuries sustained as a result of our son's messes. Good luck walking through his mess. I love how he just sits on wherever and on whatever he feels. Note the orange block.

This is the last dancing one. I know they are long, but it is just so cute! This one he is dancing from a sitting position. Towards the end he becomes fascinated by the fan on the ceiling.

Monday, November 3, 2008

His First Steps

We found this walker at Goodwill. Maddox LOVES it!

Maddox's First Trick or Treating

Our ward had their annual Trunk or Treat. It was Jeff's idea to dress up at a Where's Waldo family. We ran out of time to do my costume, but Maddox and Jeff wore theirs, nerd glasses and all! Jeff spray painted the shirts all by himself! They turned out great and smelled even better.

The whole family. I went as a dentist, I guess, and wore Jeff's scrubs and white coat. Friday night, Halloween, we went around to a few houses with Doug and Roz and fam. Maddox was SOOOO tired and so we gave him a KitKat to boost his energy a bit longer. I think he was okay with that. Garrett, Amanda, Matthew and William were all cowboys/girl. They looked great! Here they are after playing in the leaves.
Doug and Jeff with their boys getting one of their first tastes of chocolate!Maddox even had his own little bucket, which collected candy mainly for Jeff to eat..and eat he did!
Matthew was chewing on a wrapped Crunch bar and before we knew it, he had eaten through the wrapper and was sucking out the chocolate. It was so cute.