Eliza's 1st Birthday

The actual day of Eliza's birthday she was seriously so miserably sick that we decided to postpone her cake. We made the mistake though of trying to still get her to open presents, but she was clearly not in the mood. My poor little baby had a really bad fever for 6 days straight. I finally took her into the doctor on the 6th day and found out that she had really bad ear infections in both ears. Poor little girl, she honestly just clung to me for days. She would just snuggle up to me and sleep on my chest. I have to admit, I loved how much cuddles I got from her that week. But it absolutely broke my heart seeing how sick she was. She was such a trooper though. Any way, the morning of her birthday we pushed thru the presents, Madilyn pretty much opened and played with all of them while she sat back and watched. But after a very rough and sick day we decided we would wait on celebrating. Plus Nicole and Bobby were on there way to come visit so Taylor was gone that evening anyway. So after getting some antibiotics and such by Sunday she was pretty much back to herself. So I got to celebrate my birthday with Eliza. It was so much fun watching Eliza destroy her cupcake, and she loved every minute of it. I had a really hard time deciding on which pictures to post...so sorry if there is a lot!

The morning of her birthday, pretty much the ONLY smile I saw on her face all day. She was such a trooper!

Trying to enjoy her new gifts.

Celebrating a little late, but she didn't mind!

I think she thought it was really funny that we gave that to her and didn't stop her from enjoying it however she desired. So cute!!

And then she just shoved it into her face...I honestly don't know how she could breathe...

Once again looking over for approval that what she was doing was ok. She was lovin life, and kept laughing.

VICTORY!

Madilyn really wanted to try it too, and we decided that would be just fine considering the wind blew her candles out on her birthday. She also enjoyed herself. And please don't judge my almost naked children...I hate getting food all over their clothes...plus we live in hawaii, it gets real hot!

Like I said, completely enjoying herself. We had so much fun watching her, and we were really happy Nicole and Bobby were able to be here for it. Its always so nice having family around!! And thanks for taking so many pics while you were here Nicole...that will be a post in the near future! Happy Birthday to my little 1 year old, like I said about Madilyn... I literally can't imagine life with out this little monkey..she makes things so much more fun and I just love her to pieces!!

Madilyn's 3rd Birthday

Madilyn's Birthday was jam packed with things. We started the day off with opening her presents...and lets just say she is extremely spoiled. Thanks to grandma Crockett she was able to have her dream presents on her big day. She got a tangled barbie doll, Woody, and Buzz. All that a girl named Madilyn could ask for. She was honestly in heaven. She had been asking for a Buzz and Woody for months. So after that we headed into Honolulu to hit up the zoo, another thing Madilyn requested we did for her birthday. Eliza was pretty sick this whole day, she was really fevered and sad...but she was such a trouper, it was such a long day and she handled it very well. After the zoo, my camera didn't have any more batteries so I can't document it with pictures. But we did go back to Mike and Becca's place, had lunch, then we drove around while Madilyn and Eliza took naps, and Tay went surfing. Then we played at Wikiki beach, and then went for some Yogurtland. SO GOOD. Wish I could have gotten a picture of Madilyn's face after eating all that. All in all it was a wonderful day, Madilyn I think had lots of fun. She didn't have any temper tantrums, so that must mean it was good!!

Even though Eliza was sick she couldn't resist chasing the birds.

Bentley finally arrived, and then the went hand in hand running wild. They have so much fun together. So glad the Olsen family and my mom were able to join us!

Haha, she kept trying to stand up...but couldn't quite figure out how.

This monkey kept pounding on the glass at Bentley, it was so funny!!

See the monkey in the background just lounging around.

My Favorite picture, she loved the petting zoo. Can't say the goats enjoyed it all that much, especially with Bentley around. They all went into their sanctuary, and the minute he left they came back out. Haha, he tried riding one of them, and they really didn't like that. Wish i would have gotten a picture of that. But anyway, there is my big 3 year old. I sure love her and and so extremely grateful she came into our lives 3 years ago, I can't imagine life without her!! I love you Madilyn!!

My good girl.

So the last few days we have been talking to Madilyn a TON about disneyland, we are not going for another year...but our family is obsessed with disneyland, so we like to start her young. And she has been so excited to go, everyday she asks me to get on the Disneyland website. So anyway...

I was sitting there talking to Madilyn, and I said to her, "Madilyn, if you could go and see anything in the world right now, what would it be"?

She sat there contemplating my question, and responded. "Jesus."

Here I was thinking for sure she was going to say Disneyland, but then she shocked me with an even more wonderful answer!! I love to hear these kinds of things come out of my little girls mouth.

Madilyn's 3rd Birthday Party

Ok, so I have to first off start by saying a HUGE thanks to all our friends who came out and celebrated Madilyn's Birthday with us. It is such a comfort to know that we have such amazing friends around us, especially since our families are not able to be here with us. Fortunately for us, my mom and Jim were able to be out here this weekend because Jill had her baby today also.

But my goodness, our child is SPOILED!!!! I hate how spoiled she is, but then we continue to spoil...what is wrong with us. Anyway, we had SO much fun hanging out with friends, even if Madilyn was particularly enjoying every moment of her party. I think it was a little overwhelming to her to have so many people there. And she is not use to having kids over playing with her toys, so it was a very hard thing for her...which resulted in some temper tantrums and LOTS of tears. But all in all I really do think she had lots of fun. So here a just a few pics I took from this afternoon.

Here is the "group"

Our friends Michelle and Jeremiah made this AMAZING cake. Seriously it looked and tasted awesome! No joke! Look at how cute it was, I was so sad we had to cut it up!

The other side of the cake!!

The wind was blowing too hard to keep the candles lit, so we pretended they were lit so she could blow them out!

Just chowin down on some awesome cake!

The only picture I got of Eliza, she was so good. she just ate her hot dog, a piece of cake and then slept for 2 1/2 hours. She was a good girl!

Then all the kids hit the water again for some fun.

Haha this picture is hilarious to me, the little boy waitings name is Morrison, and he had no fear when it came to this thing. His dad would take him and throw him down it...anyway, I think Madilyn was giving up at this point and just stopped in the middle and turned around while Morrison waited patiently!

We kinda forgot to do presents until Lili reminded me, at this point mostly everyone had gone home. But everyone was SO kind.

So while Madilyn was opening presents she also had some bubbles...and for some reason she was way more into the bubbles than the new toys she was getting. But I assure you, about 20 mins after everyone left I think she realized that everything was hers and she went crazy trying to play with everything at once. She was in love with everything, seriously in love. I think she is sleeping in her bed with just about everything she could fit on it. but we really had an awesome time, and so did Madilyn! But for Madilyn's actual birthday we are taking her to the zoo which she is also super pumped about!

Crazy May...

Okay, so its finally updating time. I have not had any time or desire to do so...but it needs to get done before I get even more behind. So here is a re-cap of the last two weeks.

We get a call from Taylor's dad saying his sister Christie is in the ICU, and they didn't know if she was going to make it. So immediately we got on the computer and bought him a ticket back to Canada. This was a Friday, and we were hoping he would be home by Tuesday. Well, that weekend was interesting to say the least...It rained and rained and rained some more. I am literally telling you, I have NEVER seen rain like that. So Sunday rolls around, Christie wasn't doing any better and things at home were not going so well either. Our house flooded, I walked into my room to put eliza down for a nap and noticed that there was a stream running from our door frame to the other side of the room where there are double doors with curtains, and the curtains were wet about a foot high. Well after some more evaluation the closet had a couple inches of water in it, and later the whole wall in general had little streams coming down from it. Just so you know, our house is slightly on a slope...so all the water just ran down hill. Anyway, after missing church and a long weekend with the girls I lost it. I had my pity party, got over and got back to work. Madilyn brought me back to reality by saying, "Mommy is crying like a baby." Thanks Madilyn. well some ward members came over and help set up a system behind the house to try and divert the water..which helped a bit. Oh previously to them coming, me and our landlords just toweled and shot vac'ed everything. Anyway, that day ended and we found out Taylor needed to stay longer because Christie wasn't making a much progress as they were hoping at that point. So Monday, I cried some more. And at this point my mom decided she would come out and help me, and give Taylor the peace of mind that he could stay and not worry about what was going on at home. Tuesday comes, I am suppose to pick my mom up at 4:00pm, 9:00am happens and more rain happens, and more flooding happens. So I spent all day Tuesday repeating Sunday's day, right after I put everything back Monday. Anyway, my mom saved me. I think I would have lost it at that point. Ok, so Christie starts improving and started to breath on her own a bit...so things were looking up over there. But Taylor had to fly home Sunday because it was the cheapest day to come home. But meanwhile I started having fun with my mom and the girls. But then Friday happens...and I break my toe, and about 10 mins after that I find out that we didn't get into TVA for summer, first, or fall term. Which means, January is the soonest we can get in. Okay, and if you remember correctly our rent is RIDICULOUS. So I bawled and bawled and bawled some more. There is no way we can afford to stay here if we don't miraculously get into TVA. So needless to say, May hasn't been the best month...but I am trying to look forward to the future positively even though we have no idea what we are going to do and how we are going to do it...looks like Taylor and I might have to start working. We decided that at this point the most important thing is for Taylor to finish school, and no more switching around...we have already lost too many credits doing that. And to end on a good note, Christie is now out of the hospital and apparently doing really well now, which we are extremely grateful for and it was most definitely a miricle!!

Ok, so here a few pics of this great hidden treasure, Kuloa Ranch. $5.00 horse rides for kids, free petting zoo, and you can feed the horses. Madilyn LOVED it. I am sure we will be there often now that we know its not just a place for tourists. That is where they filmed some shows like LOST, Jurassic Park, and loads of others. And once again, I am so grateful that my mom willing dropped everything to come help me, I don't know how I would have got Thur the rest of the week with out her. I LOVE MY MOM!!!!

Oh ya, Eliza has been taking steps for about a month or more now...but the last week she has started walking...she loves it.

Seriously, she was in heaven. I was a little nervous at first when I realized they were not going to ride with her...but she rode like a pro! Her horses name was JAZZ.

Next we fed the horse and apple, she liked it at first until...

The horse slobbered all over her, then she was over it and wanted to clean her hands.

Then we went to the petting zoo, so fun.

Check out those mountain goats, they were climbing all over that tree it was hilarious. and Madilyn thought one was a camel because how he was chewing on his grass.

Funny story, Madilyn was playing with her favorite white goat when all of a sudden the little Calf mooed really loud, she turn and ran for her life with a look of terror. SO FUNNY! One of those things that you need to see for yourself, it was the facial expression that really got me and my mom.

There was about 4 goats, a donkey, cow, hog, and baby hogs, and rabbits and instead she spent almost he whole time with this little white goat.

Eliza on the other hand hated the animals, she would squeel when I held her far away from them, the minute you put her down next to them she would freak out and cry. Anyway, it was a fun day. thats all.

And can I just tell you how grateful I am to have Taylor back home, things are definitely not the same with out him around and I missed him terribly while he was gone!