Christmas

Here is a copy of our 2012 Christmas Cards. If you didn't get one this year and want to be on the list for next year, email me your address. 

Our day started very early, as most days with a newborn do. Zach had worked till 5:30 that morning so we decided to let him sleep in before all the fun began. So Madi and I hung out downstairs and played around all morning until it was time for her morning nap. I think this is probably the last Christmas morning we will be able to sleep in ... ever.

 Around noon everyone came over and we opened presents and had a ton of fun playing together. Its so fun to have family close to us that we get to see often. My nieces were very "helpful" with opening Madison's presents for her. 

 Zach surprised me with a rocking chair as my Christmas present. I was spoiled. I can't tell you how much this baby has already been used. It is a wonderful addition to our home and I love it. I can't wait for it to one day go in the nursery. 

 Jono Cough, I mean Santa gifted the family with an Xbox Kinect. Apparently we have been very good this year. We spent a good portion of the day taking turns playing the dance party game. Its a family favorite of ours. Sadly, the Xbox was broken so we only got to play with it for a day before we had to return it to get another one, its still on back order. 

 All of Madison's presents. We went a little easy this year and just got her a few books and things. Babies already need so much their first year of life and there really isnt many toys that a 3 month old needs/wants. She loves reading books and so we now sit in her rocker every day and read them. I'm sure next year Santa will bring her lots of toys. 

 Then after lunch I went outside and played in the snow with Finleigh and Maizy. We had planned on making a snowman but the snow wasn't good enough to pack so we ended up just running around throwing snow at each other and making snow angels. Then the girls helped Grandpa get the eggs from the chicken coop, they were completely frozen. Did I mention its freaking cold here? Who's idea was it to live here?!

After that the entire family bundled up and went sledding, Zach went back to work and I stayed home with the baby and sicky Aunt Lindsay. 

 I love these notsolittleanymore  girls. 

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours and you were surrounded by all those that you love!

 Merry Christmas from our growing family to yours!

Lyman Family Fiesta

One of my favorite family traditions by far. The Sunday before Christmas (in this case 2 Sundays before because next week is too close to Christmas) we all get together and have the Lyman family fiesta. We dress up,  listen to mexican music and eat lots of mexican food. It is a blast! There is no real reason for the mexican theme other then the Lymans love mexican food and love to party. This event has started to snowball over the years and it seems to just be getting better as time goes on. Every year we add a little something to the party to make it special, but I'm not sure what we can do to top this one, unless next year we have the party in Cancun. 

 We had a penguin pinata.

 We dressed up. 

 We had a photobooth

 Jono made us pina coladas IN actual pineapples. So yummy!

 We all wore mustaches. Silly tradition I know, but its soo funny. 

 Don't worry, we incorporate Christmas in here somewhere. 

We all dress up and read the story of Christ birth in the scriptures. 

These were the Shepherds. 

 The Wise "wo"men

 Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus

 And then we finished off the night with the pinata and dancing!

Feliz Navidad!

Love, 

The Lyman Familiy. 

3 Months

Can you believe its already been three months since I became a Mom? Woah. I have a feeling the rest of my life is going to start going by much more quickly now. I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

 Happy three months, you little stinker!

Bummer

I think all my friends died after I had a kid. I guess I'll have to make new mommy friends.

dear blogger friends, any idea where I can find some?

Sleeping is overrated

I think I know why parents don't sleep much those first few weeks/months of their baby's life, it's because if we blink, they grow up. If we slept we would miss it all.

My little girl will be 12 weeks on Monday. Seriously?!

I'm already a horrible wife and mother these days and my dear husband has to pay the price. I have a to do list a mile long and I cant seem to get the baby on a set schedule so I never know when I can get things done. I'm so behind on laundry because I would rather cuddle little one. Cooking is a thing of the past because she loves to walk around and be held and staying up late watching tv and cuddling my husband has been replaced with begging to go to sleep as soon as the baby is down and compromising by falling asleep in his arms. I have a great husband who never gets upset when his clothes are still dirty, who does not mind eating fast food often and who's favorite thing in the world is if I fall asleep in his arms. I'm lucky that he loves me in spite of my imperfections, one day I get the hang of it all.

But she is only little once and I should enjoy it. I know my next child will not get the same luxuries Madison gets. By the time baby #2 comes along I will be chasing a toddler and not be able to sit still and just hold him/her. What a sad reality.

Such is the life of a parent I guess.

blessing day

Today my sweet baby girl was blessed. My heart is so full of gratitude. I am thankful for the gospel.  I am thankful to have this beautiful family. I am thankful for a wonderful husband who holds the priesthood

 and I am thankful for the happiest baby in the world. 

Madison was blessed in the dress Grandma Vikki made several years ago.

All of the Lyman girls have been blessed in it and I am a huge fan of tradition and sentimental things. 

 It is a beautiful dress. It is actually made from a table runner and napkins for the sleeves. Creative, right?

Another family picture with our beautiful girl and her very sleep deprived mother. 

My parents.

4 Generations

Zach's parents

After the blessing we had a brunch with our family and close friends. These were the centerpieces on the tables. I am horrible at this sort of stuff so I am so glad my mother was there. She worked so hard putting this all together and running me all around town to get things done. I wish we lived closer. 

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a fun one. Zach and Madison fell asleep watching football, while Grandma Webster and I cooked dinner. My poor mother in law was battling a stomach bug and was forced to spend most of the day in her bed. I learned to cook Thanksgiving dinner that night, and lucky for everyone else Grandma was there to supervise.

Lindsay did a great job of decorating our table. And after dinner we went to my grandparents house to spend time with my parents while they were in town. I forgot to take lots of pictures there.

After that we did the Lyman tradition of going to the movies after dinner. We saw Wreck it Ralph. Madi slept for most of it then woke up, had a bottle, and sat quietly and watched the rest of the movie. Her cousin Maizy, not so much. She left half way through because she would not sit still... oh the life of a three year old.

After the movie we all came home and made turkey sandwiches and played card games. I really like this tradition.

Count your many blessings

This year I have so much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my beautiful and healthy daughter. She has brought so much more love and joy into my life.

 I am thankful to be a mother because I know there are many that would do anything for that privilege.

Of course I am thankful for my hard working husband. He puts up with so much from me, he is a wonderful father and not only is he so driven, loving, amazing... He is also extremely good looking. I really hit the jackpot there.

I am thankful for my family. Zach and Madison mean so much to me. I can not imagine loving two people more then I do these two. I am excited to watch us grow and add to our family over the years

I am thankful to live in Utah.. there I said it. It's a beautiful place to be, though I do miss the beach.

I am thankful for the financial blessings we have received this year. Our Father in Heaven has truly been looking out for us and has always made sure we are taken care of. I would say this has been one of our biggest blessings by far.

I am thankful for my parents who have poured out so much love for me over the years. They are my biggest supporters in life and I don't know where I would be without them. They have shaped me into who I am today and for that I am truly thankful to call them Mom and Dad.

I am thankful for technology in all forms. It is so wonderful to be able to stay in touch with my family far away. The ablilty to video chat with them and get to not only hear their voices but see their faces as well. I can't imagine life without it.

I am thankful for my amazing friends. They are so supportive and so much fun to be around. I am thankful that I was able to make friends quickly after moving to Utah and I know that these friends I will cherish for a lifetime. They are always up for a good time and have been great ears to listen as well.

I am thankful for my nieces and nephew. They are the cutest things! I love spending time with them and watching them grow. They say the funniest things and they always make me laugh.  I appreciate being able to try out my parenting on them too,  before I became one of my own. Sorry kids. Aunt Sara still loves you.

I am thankful for my brother and my siblings in law as well. I am so lucky to have them all in my life. I am thankful that my "new" brothers and sister have accepted me into their lives and treat me like their sister. They are all such great uncles and aunt to Madi too, she is a lucky girl. I am especially grateful for being able to build such a great relationship this past year with my sister in law. She is a great person inside and out. I love her so much.

I am thankful for my In laws who I have loved dearly since I first met them. I am thankful for their generosity in letting Zach, Madi, Sophie & Me take over their home for a bit while we prepare for our future. I know that they may re- think their decision from time to time, because living with a dog and a newborn isn't always peaches and cream,  but they have been nothing but welcoming and loving to us and we appreciate it more then they will ever know.

I am thankful for the gospel in my life. I am thankful for the strength and guidance it gives me daily. It has comforted me in times of need and sorrow. I am grateful for the knowledge that families can be together forever. I am thankful for temples and the wonderful blessings they hold. I am thankful to have a place here on earth I can visit when life seems too hard. I am grateful for the comfort it gives me.

I am thankful for my health. Though I may get sick often from months October - March. I have never had a severe sickness which landed me in the hospital or anything and I consider that a blessing in itself.


I know there is so much more to be thankful for but if I wrote about it all you would be reading this thing for days. I want to try to find something to be thankful for every single day of the year, But I am glad we have one day to reflect on all that we have been blessed with.

10 weeks

Madison's second month of life was an eventful one. She had her first trip to the ER.

spent time hanging out with her Uncle Will.

and has learned to do all sorts of fun new things...

This kid cracks me up! She is  becoming so much more animated and fun to watch. She  never sits still. I know  I will be in BIG trouble when she starts really moving. She can almost copy my faces and every time I say "oh" she copies it and it makes my heart hurt. She  thinks I'm funny most of the time and laughs at almost everything I do. She loves being propped up against pillows and being able to check out the whole room. She is the most happy when she is being held facing out and people are paying attention to her. She is  starting to eat closer to 4oz now and I'm hoping that will make her sleep more. She hardly take naps during the day anymore. I think she is afraid she is missing stuff if she falls asleep. She is still sleeping pretty good through out the night but she loves our EARLY morning cuddles after the 5 or 6 am feeding. I know I should be putting her on a real scheduled but we are kind of all over the place sometimes and its hard.

Pretty baby

Since the day Madi was born, I have tried to figure out who she looks like.

 Everyone says she looks just like her dad. 

 

 I guess you could say shes a nice mix of the two of us. 

But there is no doubt she looks JUST like her Dad in the picture. 

Maybe one day she will look like me. 

Oh poop

 Today Miss Madison had her first "blow out". I know, I know. I'm the gross mom who stopped mid chaos to get a picture of the event but you can never have enough blackmail pictures for when they are older. 

Mid lunch today we were about to take her out of the carseat and give her some cuddles when the smell hit us. I knew she needed a diaper change and as I went to reach for the buckle, it was wet. I gagged and raced to the car. Needless to say, she got a bath this afternoon. 

Ah the joys of parenting. And while we are on the subject of poop. Yesterday she had a dirty diaper and Zach being a very helpful Dad, decided to change it for me. He laid Madi on the bed and opened the mess. He started gag and say how gross it was. I just laughed and ignored him. He kept saying "I'm going to throw up, I'm going to throw up." I didn't believe him because he has changed several dirty diapers before and we always say how gross it is. Well suddenly I look up and the poor kid is running to the bathroom to actually throw up. Meanwhile, Madi is sitting on the bed and has now used our bed as a bathroom and Daddy forgot to put anything under her.. so Mommy got to clean up a messy baby, comfort a sick husband, do a load of laundry, and try not to laugh too hard at a husband who "tried to help". 

This story only makes me laugh more because Zach works in the ER. He sees and smells all sorts of horrible things all day long and the thing that throws him over the edge? Baby poop. Ha. 

So its official, we have now been introduced into the wonderful world of parenting.