These pictures..

...remind me just how fast my life is going. It has been six weeks since Sawyer got here and it seems like just a couple of days. I feel like Madelyn grew into a little girl over night.

The other day she and I were getting ready in my bathroom when we heard Sawyer crying in his crib. I went to get him and when I came back Madelyn had put on some lip stick. She looked up at me and said with excited confidence, "those are cute lips".

These are just a few pictures of Easter. Seriously, is there anything better than watching your kids get excited about things like plastic easter eggs filled with candy. No, I don't think that there is.

On easter morning Madelyn wanted to be in her princess clothes. I often have to choose a dress for her to wear because that is what she wants. It makes sense I guess, dresses are so much prettier that pants or shorts. Why would you want to wear something practical to play in when you can wear something pretty as a princess.

And here is Sawyer with his daddy. Like I said, the last six weeks have flown by. I really don't know where the days went.

Our Little Buddy

Sawyer Mckay Stephenson made it safe and sound into this world on March 21st at about 2:00 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz. and 18 in. long. Despite his little size he did great in the hospital and has been a great little baby since we have been home.

Madelyn has really taken well to being a big sister. She calls Saywer "littlebuddy", and is anxious to do thing for him like get him new jammies and "blankalets". She is also good at responding to his crying by shoving his binky in his mouth and saying "it's ok buddy, it will be alright". I am pretty pleased with how well she is doing.

As I mentioned before, I was anxious to see how Madelyn was going to react to having a little sibling and I must say that she is doing great. I would say that any misbehavior that she has had over the past week would have existed with or without a new sibling.

I also must say that Mom and Dad are doing great too. I was a little nervous about having two, but the transition has been pretty smooth. It was great that Spencer was able to take an entire week off of work, and that we had so much support from our family and friends. (We really had a lot of service via house cleaning, food and visitors). I attribute a lot of the successful two weeks that we have had to everyone around us.

So here we are with two now instead of one. I really don't feel like it is that different, but I am so excited that Sawyer is here. Not only because I am no longer 9 months pregnant, but also because he is a sweet little buddy and we are excited to have another member in our little family.

"Baby bwada Soy-ya"

I hope that you got the title of the blog. That is how Madelyn refers to the baby that is in her mommies tummy. She will hold up one of his outfits or maybe a blanket of his and say, "Dis is for my baby bwada Soy-ya". In case you didn't catch that, "Soy-ya" is Sawyer, and that is the name we have chosen for our baby boy.

I think we are ready for this baby. I am not as worried about having "everything" for this baby as I was with Madelyn. With Madelyn we bought things that we thought we needed and then ended up not using. So even though we don't have "everything" (like a million onesies) I think we will do just great getting started with this second babe.

Our families were gracious enough to throw us a shower. It is overwhelming just how generous friends and family can be. Not only did we get some fun clothes, but it was great to spend a couple of hours with the girls and get excited for baby Sawyer to arrive.

Mama Stephenson, Spencer's sister Mary, me and Spencer's sister Christina

My sister Bryn, Tanner's girlfriend Daniel, Cortney's wife Shannon, My mom, Me and my sister Carrie

Madelyn and Maci Helping with the gifts

And now the question on my mind is how will Madelyn do with adjusting to being a big sister. I think she understands that we are going to have a baby, but just like you can't understand what it is like to be a new parent I am sure she doesn't understand that this baby is coming and never going away. She is excited though, and I am hopeful that things will go well because she is a pretty good little girl as it is. The below pictures are of her helping me make soup. She was pretty excited about being in charge of unwrapping the bouillon cubes. I hope she will be as excited about going to get a diaper and waiting patiently while her Mama feeds the new baby.

I have less than four weeks left. If the baby does not come by March 21st then I will be induced on that day. I am glad to have a date that I can plan on. Between now and then we are just going to be wrapping up baby preparations and a few other household projects. It is a pretty exciting time for us to say the least.

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Its official. The holidays are over. Spence is back at work and I am back to our routine. Though I don't mind the routine, I am sad for it all to be over.

Madelyn had been asking for and anticipating a "Cindewella pwesent", and when she opened her dress ups with "glass slippas" she was in heaven. It showed by the fact that she wore her sleeping beauty dress for three days in a row. We had lots of tea parties with her new tea set, and one special tea party that Grandma Loveless put on for all the little girl cousins.

Visiting Temple square was an especially fun night for me. I had been looking forward to it all season and we finally made it the Monday after Christmas. It wasn't too crowded or too cold. I just loved being there with my family.

Every year there is an assortment of homemade gifts (my sister-in-law Meghan makes some of the best). Spencer's family draws names and we make a gift for the person we draw. Spence got two pair of mittens, one daddy size and one little baby boy size. (We were very inpressed with our brother-in-law's, beau, ability to knit.) Now he and the boy (who we still don't have a name for) can be matchy matchy. And from my sister-in-law Mandy, I recieved a "quiet book" to help with the kiddos in church. I love the homemade gifts, and next year I would love to do more.

The thing I will miss very most of all is having Daddy home. I loved not having a schedule (most days). I loved being the mom and having Spence by my side being the dad.The best times were in the mornings when Spence would get up with Madelyn before I was awake and I would come down to them playing on the computer together, watching a movie, or Spence making his girls breakfast.

And the below video is my favorite of all the season. We made my mom and dad a little "i love you" video and Madelyn recorded this for them. You should watch it, it is pretty darn cute.

"Do you like my turkey?"

"Do you like my turkey?" is what Madelyn asks every time she notices her paper turkey hanging on the fridge. She was one happy little girl when she got to make her own thanksgiving turkey. She couldn't wait to show her dad when he got home from work, and the next morning when she woke up the first thing she said, in that sleepy barely awake voice, was, "I want my turkey". So every time she asks, "Do you like my turkey?" we of course respond with various comments about just how amazing her paper turkey is.

I am especially enjoying this holiday season with Madelyn. She gets so excited about the little things (like homemade paper turkeys). Watching her play with her cousins on Thanksgiving made me so happy. Between jumping on grandma's bed, playing dress up and bouncing around on Grandpa's knee I think she had a fabulous thanksgiving, which made made me enjoy it just that much more.

Oh, did I mention...

...baby number 2 is on the way!

23 weeks and counting

Its a BOY!!

I should have known it was a boy based on the massive appetite I have had

During his ultrasound I couldn't stop smiling - that day was a really great day

Madelyn wants to name him Emily

I am already in love with the little guy and wish that we had a name for him

I decided I like being the mother of two

A Really REALLY Fantastic Idea

What is the idea you ask? Its a dinner group.

My neighbor, and good friend, decided it would make her life a whole lot easier if she invited three other families to be in a dinner group where we would each take one night every week and make dinner for all four families, and then deliver that dinner to each family. Which means that three nights a week I would have dinner delivered to me and I would only have to cook once a week. Sounded great to me....and turns out that it is great!

We have been doing it for about three months now and I seriously can't say enough good things about it. Like I said, I only have to cook once a week! The four families are all within a few houses of mine, and each family is similar in size. We had an initial meeting where we discussed foods that family members wouldn't eat, and other than broccoli, onions, mayonnaise and pineapple (yes, pineapple...isn't that weird) we make whatever we want.

The meals have been really good. And the best part is the variety of food we are getting and the quality. Because we each only have to cook once a week it is a lot easier to make a nice and delicious meal with sides that actually go with the main dish.

Another great benefit is that our monthly grocery expenses have decreased. I do not have to buy as many ingredients where we won't be able to use the entire package, and because we have good left overs Spencer goes out to lunch less and we eat more left overs on the weekend instead of eating out or making new food (though we still enjoy eating out.)

Each family purchased some disposable Tupperware which we use to transfer food for a lot of our meals. And when I am not home in time for dinner, my fantastic friends deliver dinner to my fridge so it is ready for us when we do get home.

I meant to take a picture of my massive pot of home made Mac 'n Cheese (not my most sophisticated meal, but very yummy), but I forgot because sometimes cooking for four families can be a little crazy, but I would say that it is definitely worth it. And after doing this for a few months I am getting better at cookie larger quantities.

My dinner for tonight should be here any time. We are having spiced citrus chicken, and tomorrow we are having stroganoff. Sounds good to me.

So there you have it, being in a dinner group is a really fantastic idea.