Fall

The day Maddie conquered the stairs, while Dad was behind to assist.

This was also the day that Maddie decided to climb up half way while Jon and I were both occupied both thinking the other was watching Maddie. I was sitting in the office and I heard something fall. I turned around in my chair trying to figure out what it was when I realized it was her. I screamed (the most frightening scream I've ever produced) as I watched Maddie cartwheel down the last 4 steps, just like a rag doll being thrown down stairs. Jon heard the scream outside and came running in. She has a few bumps and bruises but thankfully no breaks. These stairs are SO hard and steep. I walked into my apartment and I saw my big clock had fallen to the ground. She must have nailed the wall half way down. Poor baby, she must be doing ok because she tried to climb up there again today looking for her best bud Liz.

Maddie's BFF Liz, playing in Kelly's entertainment center. We're happy to have such fun neighbors.

Catching Up

Maddie loves to help with dishes.

What do think she's found?

Yes, she unrolled most of the roll today.

Thanks for the idea neighbor Kelly. My hook was a fabulous find at a garage sale for .50 cents.

Polka dots, these stickers come off the wall so I can reuse them when we have to move.

My "M" is crooked I haven't gotten around to fixing it.

The crib has become a play pen. Once we lay her down she starts to giggle and tries to stand up and bounce.

Interview tomorrow :)

Jon just called me the US Bank manager of a branch in store in Ogden called him and wants to hold an interview tomorrow. He told Jon that he could see that Jon didn't have alot of sales experience but was impressed with Jon's cover letter. YAY!!! Thank you to all the teachers that taught me how to write cover letters and resumes. You know I totally do all that kind of stuff for Jon. Please say your prayers and cross your fingers, we've been WAITING for this call. I'll keep you posted, even if this doesn't work out it feels so good to know my cover letter is solid.

Thank You

I don't know how to say it and I feel like I've been saying it ALOT lately. But thank you, to you, to you, to you, and to you (mother goose rhyme video) although I think it went "Good morning to you, to you, to you, and to you". Anyway I've been really touched by the overwhelming help and love that has been shown to our family. My mom has been sending things in the mail almost non-stop I mean books, talks, receipes, ideas, and words of encouragment. I have to be honest I bawled everytime I got something. My wonderful neighbors have been so good to share their vegetables with me. Even when they probably could have used them. My sister called and wanted to see how things were going. Our Stake President has been letting Jon golf for free. I got alot of feedback from my last post, THANK YOU for posting. If you'd still like to give me ideas please go ahead and share here. Even the Branch manager at US Bank who I see all the time when I take the nightly deposit said he'd take Jon's resume to hiring managers. I mean who owes me anything? No one! I've been really blessed with such wonderful people in my life so I just wanted to thank you for your thoughts and especially MOM for your fervent prayers. It's been stressful but I've slightly enjoyed having my best friend at home or maybe its because I don't have to watch Maddie. Both are nice :)

Jon and I donated plasma this week. It was LONG Jon's first visit was almost 5 hours and mine was almost 4. There was some creepies there but there was also normal looking people. Anyway I forgot how much they pay and its unreal, I swear you could make it a side job if you had all that time. Then they pay double the amount if you have had the hep B round of shots & $5 more if you've had your tetnus within the last 6 months, because they have a special program for those people (using their plasma for anti-bodies). Thank you again, I'll keep you posted as we've got more than 10 resumes circulating I swear.

We Need Your...

HELP! I've never been the best at saving money thus I've not been a frugal spender. I keep hearing about couponing (I don't get the newspaper and my "coupon printer" hasn't worked). I hear about buying in bulk, but I'm not sure what to buy. Should I buy food storage and then eat it?
Lately I've been rethinking everything like instead of buying canned Manwich sloppy joe, I found a dry Western Family mix for .50 cents and a can of tomato paste for .69 cents. I usually shop at Costco, Walmart, or the neighboor hood grocery Harmons next door. Costco is cheap for milk, eggs, diapers, wipes, formula, and bread. Walmart pretty much everything else. Harmons will have case sales (not totally sure what those are) and pretty good 2 for $1 or 10 for $10 (but gatoraide is no longer a necessity). Baby food is so expensive it kills me, suggestions on how to make your own? I think we would have saved alot more money when we had income if I had thought about my purchases more. I guess I'm a natural impulse buyer which now forces me to steer clear of ANY type of shop.
So I'm asking no pleading for your ideas and advice. What do you do when you start to count pennies? I've been avoiding this post but I'm sure you all know. I really hate what's happening with the economy. You think yeah that sucks and that your own family will be just fine and then it hits you. You're screwed and what do you do? No one is hiring, how does a family survive? Whoa sorry this is turning into a journal entry. Anyway your ideas are wanted please leave a comment maybe something you've tried?

9 Month Stats

Maddie will be officially 10 months tomorrow. But I finally got her to her 9 mo. follow up visit. She had to be tested for lead (wasn't optional for us), anemia, and had a hib. vaccination to catch up on. The best part of the visit was the stats, its always so much fun to see how much she's grown.
Head- 17.8in 75%
Height- 28.11in 54%
Weight- 18.32lbs 29%
So pretty much she's got a round little melon on her shoulders and still pretty small in stature(but has seemed solid lately). I had to include this picture, it was a bad one but I loved her face.

Go Fish!

We told her to give the fishy kisses, I think she would have.

The product of my fishing skills from last Friday at Jon's summer company picnic at a fishing farm.
After a hour of fishing at the fish farm and almost giving up I caught one, we were hysterical. I snagged it by the fin.
Maddie loves water, even dirty poopy water.

Jon had no luck tried three different ponds.
Oh we had lots of fish food too.