Project-Phase One

We are in desperate need of more space at our house! We really need another room, but we're going to have to settle for a storage shed instead. I am dying to start my food storage! So, two weekends ago, Dad Gardner came and helped Todd lay a cement slab in the back yard for an eventual storage shed. They worked all day and were so tired their arms were cramping. We all looked like little lobsters too.




Evan was so excited about the pile of dirt he got to play on all day. Face it, he's a boy, and the dirtier he is, the happier he is. You can tell from the picture that we have done NOTHING with our backyard yet.


Because of poor planning, Todd and his Dad had no help at all laying this slab. I felt bad for them. Watching kids and making food and drink runs kept me pretty busy, so I didn't get to help out a whole lot. Working outside is one of my favorite things to do, so I was very frustrated to be stuck inside most of the day. My house can be dirt for a few days before I finally motivate myself to clean it. Not because I don't love a clean house, but because I have to be in the mood to do housework. However, I faithfull mow our lawn every week. I love love love to work outside. My poor husband!

We decided that since we were getting sand/rock delivered for our slab, that we would also purhcase the rock for our driveway. The guy was going to spread the rock for us, however, our neighbor tree graciously hangs into our driveway so he was unable to do so. Now we have a HUGE pile of gravel in our driveway that we get to spread by hand... ya, 15.6 TONS to be exact!

Evan was so excited when the truck came. He kept yelling "It's Mack, Mama!" Mack is the deisel truck from Cars. It was so cute. I had to get a picture of him on the truck, but he was scared to death!

Not planning ahead of time didn;t pay off much for us. Now we can't have the shed delivered until we get the rock spread since the pile is blocking the driveway back to the slab. Silly us! I have spent hours and hours in the mornings shoveling and spreading rock and have barely made a dent. Never a dull moment! I complain, but I love it. Having sore muscles makes me feel like I've had a great workout, and the sunshine is so nice when it's still cool in the morning.

So, I will keep updating pictures as we work on this project. Hopefully one day there will be a picture of a nice completed shed all stuffed with the things that are stashed in every corner of our house and carport.

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4-month doctor's visit

This week has been busy for us. I guess it's always busy with kids though. I have been having fun trying out new recipes. It's no fun to eat the same thing day after day. Last night we had stuffed manicotti, and it is now one of my favorites--so good!
I got Evan a new shirt and some transformers swim trunks on sale last night. Both were way too big for him in hopes that he can wear them next year. He had to put them on right away though. I wish I had gotten a picture. Todd was laughing because he looked like an 80's poster child. We sure love him!
Madilyn has been horrible lately with her schedule. She was getting on a pretty predictable schedule for a few weeks and I was excited, but that is gone now. Last night she was wide awake at 3 AM and it took awhile for her to go to sleep. Todd got up with her because I had already been up with her at midnight, one, and again at 2! What the heck! So I am dragging around the house today trying to get things done, and I stubbed my toe! It's the same toe I stubbed a week ago and it was still sore from the the first attack. I think I broke it this time around. Figures. I am constantly stubbing my toes.
So here's an update on our little lady:

Madilyn is actually 4 1/2 months today, but the doctor's office wasn't on top of things so her appointment is a little late. She weighs 20lbs 9oz and is 27.3 inches long, which is the 99th percentile for height and weight at her age. Again I am wishing she would slow down! She is 4 pounds heavier and 1 inch longer than Evan was at this age! Crazy!

This picture was just too precious not to share. I wish I had a better place to take pictures besides this chair.

Madilyn has two little teeth starting to come in (they haven't come through yet but you can sure see the bumps in the picture). She has been drooling like crazy so it's hard to take a picture of her with dry clothes. I got this cute outfit at the consignment store here. I love it!

Madilyn is such a happy baby and smiles so easily. I can't wait until she starts laughing. Her hair has been growing pretty quickly this week too and is still bright red. You have no idea how excited I was when I was able to do the little flip on top again. Todd says it looks like there's a fire on top of her head. It goes along with her little firey personality too.

Swimmin' and other pictures

My favorite time of day

4 months old!

Madilyn was officially 4 months old yesterday. We don't have her check-up until the 15th, but she was 19 pounds three weeks ago. People look at us like we're lying when we tell how old she is. She will slow down with growing I hope! We have had a fun couple of weekends. Two weeks ago we went up to Todd's family reunion for the day and had a blast in the rain and visiting. So, we missed the 24th celebration in Thatcher.

This past weekend we went to Val's to do some dream shopping ( I had to work Sunday so we also missed the St. Johns 24th as well). I would LOVE LOVE LOVE new couches-ours are serisouly embarassing, but I want to wait until we can pay cash for them. I am little more worried about our one-year food supply right now than I am about having a comfy (and great-looking) place to sit. Darn priorities! We are looking into getting a storage shed put out back so we can get the storage out of our house and fill that space up with food. Tiny house + 4 people = chaos and one unhappy mommy. One of these days we'll upgrade.

We are looking forward to this semester as this will be Todd's last! Yay! He'll get his associates, but we'll forever be taking classes I'm afraid for him to get his bachelor's. Having kids, going to school, AND working is way too much for a person! Todd is awesome though and almost never complains.

Here are some pitures we took recently:


Our lawn is REALLY loving the monsoon, and so is our water bill!

The reason why Arizona is so beautiful


Look at all my cute rolls!

Madilyn doesn't smile for pictures anymore like she used to... it's frustrating!

Madilyn loves her rice cereal!

Her floor mat entertains her for so long and I love it!

Aren't these the cutest cheeks ever?