Happy Birthday, Uncle Mark!

Just wanted to post that today is my brother Mark's birthday. His niece's love him very much and wanted to wish him Happy Birthday too!

Lots of Smiles

This is what we are seeing from Olivia a lot lately. She really responds to voices and smiles for just about anyone lately. I left her in her bouncy seat in the living room to get something from the kitchen and when I came back, she was smiling at the ceiling fan too! It is too cute to see her smile at just about everything right now. Can you see that big dimple on her left cheek?? She has one on the right cheek also, but it isn't as noticable!

Getting big cheeks - like mamma!A close-up! My mom is going to hate this picture because her head is cut off, but I love it! She looks so sweet and you can see her big blue eyes. (Her left eye is mattery all the time because she has a blocked tear duct, but hopefully it will open up on its own soon.)

Two Days After Her Birthday

So two days after Madison turned 6, she lost her first tooth. The dentist had warned me at her last appointment that the two bottom teeth in the front were getting loose. Here are some pictures of her with the missing tooth! What a grin! Sunday night we stopped by my brother's to drop off some pictures and she quietly asked me if I could come into the bathroom with her. When I asked her why, she wouldn't tell me and then she started crying. I think she thought she had done something wrong because the tooth was barely hanging on. She did settle down, but said it hurt a little.

Monday morning when she woke up, she had her tooth in her hand as she came out of her bedroom. This morning she was excited that the tooth fairy had replaced her tooth with money and she made the comment that the tooth fairy is MAGIC!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Madison!

My first born is 6 today! Hard to believe that she is growing up so fast. I was so excited to meet this child while I was pregnant with her and she has been a joy since. I was due on October 31, 2002 with Madison and she wasn't ready to leave her warm place inside, so I had to be induced.
(Madison's kindergarten teacher this year is pregnant and was due on October 31 also, but still hadn't had her baby as of Thursday. I told her it is those first babies who are due on Halloween that can be stubborn.)

When I was induced with Madison, I got to the hospital around 6 a.m., I believe, on that Friday. I was admitted and my doctor broke my water around 9 a.m. I was fully dilated around 3 p.m. and Madison was born around 3:30 p.m. I was so relieved to be done with labor that I finally looked at Terry to ask him what the baby was. I looked over and saw her and she was beautiful. She was a very easy baby, always happy, and sleeping through the night around 1 month old.

She still is very easy to deal with most of the time. She tends to be sensitive like her mom and cries very easily. Most days after school, there is some crying or whining at some point, I think mostly because she gets worn out from a full day of school. She loves school though and her teacher said that she really likes to help her classmates a lot. I can tell that she is really excited about going to school everyday and she is learning a lot. Hopefully the enthusiasm for learning will continue.

My hope for her 6th year is that she enjoys the rest of her kindergarten year, has fun this coming summer with Mom and her little sisters, and she continues to be a joy to Mom and Dad!

Be healthy, grow, and have fun, Madi!! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

Major Stress

So today Laci was beyond out-of-control! From lunchtime until bedtime, we struggled with this child constantly. Part of the problem being that today was Madison's birthday and she wanted to play with the Barbie Laptop that we got Madison for her birthday. Madison let her test it out a couple of times, but that wasn't enough for Laci. UGH!!! I don't know what to do with her. We put her in timeout, ignore, etc. Nothing seems to work. We finally said that she wouldn't get to go out to eat with us when we took Madison out for her birthday. She seemed bothered by that, but then when we left Olivia and Laci at Terry's parents, she seemed fine to stay. I am hoping that she grows out of this stage fast, but I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel yet!

So Busy!

The last several days have been very hectic around our place since Friday was Halloween and we had Olivia baptized on Sunday. Here are some pictures of what has been happening with the Even family. Although it is the end of October/beginning of November, we have had some really nice days. This was one of those days and Laci wanted to go outside to ride her bike and play in the leaves. It was cool enough for a heavy coat, a hat, and mittens, but sunny enough for the shades!

Our three beauties! Madison and Laci are fighting constantly about who gets to hold Olivia first and for how long.

Olivia wore this for Halloween - "So Cute It's Scary" is what it says - a gift from Great Aunt Penni. (Someone saw us in Denver and said she didn't know we had a little boy, she felt bad when I told her that it wasn't a boy - I needed a bow or something in Olivia's hair, but didn't have the ambition.)

It was warm enough that Madison got to wear her dress from Steve and Audrey's wedding and was a bride for Halloween. Laci wore the Grumpy Bear (Care Bear) costume to preschool for her Halloween party, but was Prilla, a Disney Fairy, for trick or treating that night.

My niece, Kendall, was a little black cat - Laci was this for Halloween when she was 1 year old.

Kendall again - this is at our church on Sunday for Olivia's baptism. Sometimes she is such a little ham for the camera and I think a lot of times when she does this she looks like her mommy except with big brown eyes.

Pastor Feldt, Olivia, Aunt Sherry (Terry's sister), Uncle Troy (Terry's brother), me and Terry - after church we took this picture to remember the baptism. After the church service, we celebrated with family by having brunch.

We also celebrated Madison's 6th birthday Sunday at the church - her birthday is this coming Saturday. Hard to believe that she is almost 6 already. Her cake was Hannah Montana and she got some great gifts from everyone.

She came home from school today and said she voted! They must have had a mock election today and she said she voted for Barack Obama. I asked her if she knew who the other candidate was and she very quickly replied by saying John McCain.

Last night before bed, Laci was holding Olivia and Terry let her feed her a little bit. She really is a good helper with her little sister!