Happily Ever Madsens

Ten Months | Milestone Pictures

January 13, 2020

Ten Months | Milestone Pictures

Clyde is getting so close to his first birthday!! Ahh! He is such a ham and keeps us constantly entertained! We love him so much!!

This month Clyde:

Tried these new foods: grapes, cottage cheese, shrimp, crab roll, ginger, blue cheese, brisket, pineapple, sparkling cider, cheese ball, licorice, chicken parmesan, cinnamon roll, cheesy potatoes, breakfast pizza, monkey bread, and… his new favorite, dog food. Hahaha.
Got a puppy!! Her name is Rooney and Clyde LOVES her. She follows him around everywhere he goes and they are constantly sharing their toys and their food. Yikes! But he is super good with her and she is gentle with him too. It’s been great, honestly. His favorite thing is in the mornings when we get her out of her kennel and race down the stairs!
Pulling himself up on to things!! It started with him climbing the bars on our railing and he hasn’t stopped!
Met Santa twice! Once at grandma’s school and another at Cabelas! He hated them both.. hahaha.
Celebrated his first Christmas! He loved it all and did NOT take anything off of our tree which I was super impressed by. Haha. His favorite presents were dad’s summer sausage and the Little People toy story figures he got! He has had one in each hand ever since.
Can stand for a few seconds unassisted.
Climbs over and onto everything!
Reallllly started teething this month and popped TWO teeth (bottoms) right after Christmas!

This month we:

Became dog owners! That was definitely the highlight of our month! It has been a big adjustment but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We love Rooney and she has been such an awesome addition to our family!
Hosted a few Christmas parties with our friends and family! We had so much fun having dinners, games, white elephant exchanges, the works.
Went and saw the lights at temple square on Christmas Eve! We started our tradition of donating to light the world and had such a fun night!
Ended the month with me being sick and Clyde teething. Which meant, lots of time at home, extra snuggles and movie nights!

Here’s this month in pictures..

DIY

How To Make A Blanket Ladder | DIY Christmas Stocking Holder

December 20, 2019

How To Make A Blanket Ladder | DIY Christmas Stocking Holder

Blanket ladders have been all the rage for a while now and I have wanted one so bad!! That is until I saw the price tag! Yikes! I started looking at the cost of supplies and realized I could totally make one myself for way cheap!! So, I did. Here’s how I did it!

Supplies:

(2) — 2×4’s by 7 feet
(1) — 1×4 by 8 feet
Drill
Sandpaper or sander
Pack of 3” wood screws
Circular Saw (optional)
Wood Stain
Cloth and gloves to stain with

Steps:

Cut the wood into the length you want them to be! We had our wood mostly cut at Home Depot. I’d definitely recommend that! It was like $1 to have it all done and saved us the work. Although, we didn’t have them cut the bottoms into the angle we wanted, so make sure you do that too! Hint: to decide how much of an angle you want, lean something of similar size (like a broom) against the wall to give you an idea of what to tell the guys at Home Depot. Or, do this at home after you have your wood cut and cut it the angle you want yourself. For the small pieces (rungs), decide how wide you want them and cut accordingly. Ours are about 16”.

Sand all of the wood! Sand everything until smooth so that your blankets don’t get snagged!
Stain all of the pieces! Make sure to use gloves so you don’t get it all over your hands. I just cut up an old shirt and used that! Make sure to let it dry for at least 24 hours before continuing.

Lay it all out! Once it’s all dry, you’ll want to lay it all out and make sure it looks how you want it! We just eye balled how far apart each rung was!
Screw it all together! We attached our rungs at about a 45 degree angle so that the blankets would hang how we wanted! You could also attach them straight on like a traditional ladder. Up to you!

For Christmas time right now, we decided to also hang our stockings on the ladder! We absolutely love how that turned out! We don’t have a mantle and we didn’t want our baby or dog to be able to pull them down off of our entertainment center on traditional stocking holders, so this worked PERFECT. Try it out and see what you think! (:

If you have absolutely any questions about the process, leave a comment below or send me a message!

Clyde, Milestone Pictures

Nine Months | Milestone Pictures

December 19, 2019

Nine Months | Milestone Pictures

Nine months!?! How was Clyde been home with us as long as he was in my belly?! Nine months seems like such a huge milestone. I’m not ready for this babe to grow up!

This month Clyde:

Tried even more foods including: refried beans, oatmeal, pickles, chili, steak, broccoli, muffins, roast, creamed corn, curry meatballs, salmon, mandarin oranges, olives, dried cranberries, black bean quesadillas, potatoes and gravy, rolls, parsnips, turkey, pretzel jello, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, Mexican bean salad, peanut butter and his new favorite–banana smoothies and popsicles!
Does this sniff/snort thing when he’s excited that is to die for!
Is always on the move! He’s either on his hands and knees crawling, scooting or “swimming” haha. He is into everything but he especially loves to dart toward Alexa when mom isn’t looking!
Speaking of Alexa.. Clyde definitely knows who she is and anytime we go to ask her a question he will quickly look toward her and wait for her response. Oh and cat noises.. he loves when she plays those.
Stands up while holding onto things! He hasn’t mastered pulling himself up but if I help him stand while holding onto something, he gets so excited!
LOVES to suck on his bottom lip and make a clicking sound with it! It’s truly the cutest too.
Clenches his hands open and shut when he wants something!
Learned to wave! He especially enjoys waving to random people at Costco and the ladies at church! Haha.
Claps his hands! One day he just started clapping and hasn’t stopped! He loves to show people his new trick and when they clap back he is always surprised that they know how too!
Still loves reading books and will do so any chance he gets! He will take the book from us after we’re done and smell it and kiss it! Haha
Loved seeing the snow again from the window with dad! We still haven’t played in it yet but hopefully next month!
Likes to bathe without his baby bath! At first I was nervous to let him be without it but he loves to lay on his back or belly and splash and play!
Graduated to a big boy carseat aka convertible carseat! He wasn’t sure about it at first but loves it now!
Weighs 17 lbs 6.5 ounces and is 26.8 inches tall! Clyde made a HUGE leap on the charts for weight and we couldn’t be happier! He’s growing so quick!

This month we:

Got new family pictures taken and we are so obsessed with them!
Got my sister ready for her school’s dance and took my brothers photos!
Got Disney Plus and we are loving every second! We don’t have enough time in the day to actually watch everything we want to but we sure have our lists! Haha.
Went to “Bowling for Turkeys” for our sister in laws non-profit Blessings In a Backpack. That was a lot of fun!
Celebrated Clyde’s first Thanksgiving! We started it off with our favorite tradition of going to the Salvation Army and delivering meals to those who don’t have family to celebrate with. Then, we visited family and had thanksgiving dinner! Clyde loved ALLLL the food just as we expected! He tried everything and couldn’t get enough. Holidays are so much more fun with kids!

Here’s this month in pictures..

Clyde, Milestone Pictures

Eight Months | Milestone Pictures

November 12, 2019

Eight Months | Milestone Pictures

Our little Clyder is 8 months old!! Wow! Everyone keeps saying “oh he’s almost one!” and it’s freaking me out…! Haha. These months go by way too fast. But as always.. we really love watching him grow!

This month Clyde:

Tried SO many new foods! Including: homemade mac and cheese, biscuits, chicken, pizza, cheesy bread, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pudding, white bean chicken chili, almond butter, banana, applesauce, quesadilla, pork, guacamole, banana bread, french toast, bacon, potatoes, cheesecake, sweet potato fry, rice, pesto pasta, fries, coke.. lol, penne pasta with marinara, garlic pita bread, shredded carrot, pea pod, spaghetti, elk meat, cucumber, cherry tomato, raspberries, zucchini, rolls, butternut squash soup, & some prune juice.. because well.. when you try that many new foods after only having had milk, you get constipated.
Can now scoot backward AND forward! He will turn himself in whatever direction he needs to go and scoot himself there!
Can say “dada” now! He still says “mama” quite a bit but he loves to say dada and totally knows what it means!
Started getting himself up on his knees early on in the month! Now he gets so excited when he’s on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth and breathes really heavy because he’s so anxious to get moving… hahah
Sits perfectly unassisted!
Loves to suck on his toes!
Experienced snow (through the window) for the first time and was so amazed!
Tries to climb over things!
Loves to play on dad’s piano!
Is in all 6-9 month clothes
Has made a few strides on his hands and knees! He will be crawling in no time!

This month we:

Took another trip to my family’s cabin! The last time we took Clyde there he was not even 3 months old so it was fun to see him enjoy it a little bit! He ate with the family, and slept like an angel while we played games! I was so impressed because it was pretty dang noisy. Haha
Took advantage of our Cornbelly’s season pass and went with my siblings, friends and our little fam. (:
Celebrated Clyde’s first Halloween! We had so much fun! I love dressing up and coordinating our costumes, so it was extra fun to do that this year. We dressed up as Mike Wasoski, Boo, and Sully! When Clyde saw himself in his costume in the mirror, he was first shocked and then soo excited!!

Here’s this month in pictures..

Recipes

The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER! | Easy pumpkin cookies | Fall Desserts

October 16, 2019

The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER! | Easy pumpkin cookies | Fall Desserts

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are the BEST! Plus, they are SO EASY!! If you love baking but don’t have too much time to do it like me, you will love this easy recipe!

Ingredients:

15 oz can of pumpkin puree (I use Libby’s)
1 box of spice cake mix
1 cup ( or a little more (; ) mini chocolate chips

You can also easily double the recipe and use the big can of pumpkin puree, 2 boxes of cake mix and a whole bag of mini chocolate chips! I like to do this because the dough freezes super well!!

Directions:

Mix all three ingredients together
Use a cookie scoop to make perfect portions
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until edges look crisp!

That’s it!! A single batch will make about 3 dozen cookies!

Pro Tips:

I like to use this silicone baking mat on my cookie sheet so the cookies come off super easy and without any mess!
If you’re going to freeze the dough, pre scoop it into balls first!

Lucky for me, I have the cutest taste tester around! I’m happy to say that they are Clyde approved! (:

Clyde, Milestone Pictures

Seven Months | Milestone Pictures

October 10, 2019

Seven Months | Milestone Pictures

Clyde is seven months! This month was a month of a lot of firsts for Clyde! He has had a lot of changes to his cute little world and it has been so much fun seeing him learn!

This month Clyde:

Was sleep trained! Toward the beginning of the month, we decided to sleep train, which you can read a little bit about how it went here. We did the Ferber Method! It took a couple long nights, but he hasn’t slept in our room a single time for naps or bedtime since! AND he no longer falls asleep while nursing which has been AMAZING! We stuck it out and it has definitely paid off.
Has started Baby Led Weaning! I’m going to post more alllll about it, but in short: he has started solid, table foods and he loves it!! As soon as we put him in his high chair he knows it’s go time and gets sooo excited!
Has tried: peaches, greek yogurt, roasted sweet potato, meatloaf, baked potato, green beans, peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, tortilla, cafe rio pork, chicken enchiladas, avocado, balsamic pizza, potato soup, puffs, string cheese & waffles!
Sleeps in his crib.. on his tummy! He is such a tummy sleeper. He almost immediately rolls over as soon we lay him down. He loves it!
Sits up unassisted for good periods of time! He started sitting up at the very end. of last month but now can do it without falling over seconds later! He loves being able to sit in shopping carts now too!
Is still a redhead! Ahh I love it! It’s hard to tell in pictures because his hair is pretty light and he doesn’t have much BUT in the sun you can totally tell it’s red!
Loves to giggle! Especially late at night he gets SUPER giggly. Hahaha. It’s the BEST! He also has started to get when things are funny. Like for example, I tripped and he busted out laughing. Hahaha so there’s that.
Still loves his binkies! At bedtime we put 5 in his crib at a time. Hahah. This way, when he knocks a few out he still has one to find in the night! Our FAVORITE binky is the Dr. Brown one! They have these little animal lovey’s that attach two binkys (so it’s easy to find and can’t fall out) that we found and they have been a lifesaver.
Has learned to drink from an open cup and a straw! He was so happy when we got him a straw cup because he has been watching us drink from straws for months and thought he should have had one months ago! Haha
Went on his first swing and slide! He wasn’t so sure about the slide but loved to swing!
Got his very first pet! Our robotic vacuum! (; Caden was determined “Clyde” needed it sooo we got it. Haha
Has loved having his first friend Ella back in town! They’re the cutest together and always hold hands!
Has moved to size 3 diapers! Still in 6 and 6-9 month clothes!
Is learning to scoot backwards! Has no clue how to go forward but loves slowly getting around by going backward!

This month we:

Volunteered with Blessings In A Backpack! Such a great cause that our sister in law is over that helps give kids food to eat over the weekends!
Went to Dan + Shay (3rd time) and Florida Georgia Line!
Did “no sugar September” which mainly meant no coke. (; I caved at the end of the month for Waffle Luv. Haha
Had a fun family game night with Caden’s parents and siblings!
Caden OFFICIALLY qualified for the President’s Club trip at work! Woo!!
Went to the sunflower festival!
Went to Caden’s mission reunions!

Here’s this month in pictures..

Clyde, Motherhood, The Struggles, Weight Gain

My “Skinny” Baby

September 30, 2019

That little bit of chub you see in these pictures (on Clyde not me😂😘) means so much to me. ⁣⁣
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Ever since Clyde came home from the hospital, we have heard COUNTLESS comments about his weight. Each and every comment really got to me and I struggled so much with doubt that he was actually doing fine like the doctor said, or that I really should just quit breastfeeding and MAYBE then he would gain weight on formula, like everyone else said. Add that on top of being a new mom and all of the fun postpartum emotions I was going through and it nearly caused me to quit something I REALLY loved and knew was best for me and my son. ⁣⁣
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It hasn’t been an easy road but we pushed through and we did it. He is back on the charts and in the fifth percentile for weight. That might not mean much to some people, but if you’ve ever had a child who struggled to gain weight, you know what a victory this was for us. ⁣⁣
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That was at his six month appointment 3+ weeks ago and since then I’ve thought a lot about it. Isn’t that just a number? The fact is that whether he’s on “the charts” or not—he’s growing at his own pace, he is healthy and he is SO happy. He is much much much more than a percentile and I’m so proud of him for all of the progress that he has made! He’s been through the ringer with a traumatic birth, tongue and lip ties, having to go through multiple consultations, Craniosacral therapy AND daily stretches and exercises—he AMAZES me. And I love him so much, no matter what size he is. ❤️

Motherhood, Sleep Training, The Struggles

Why Sleep Training is Hard for Mama | Sleep Training

September 19, 2019

Why Sleep Training is Hard for Mama | Sleep Training

Sleep training is a lot harder for me than I thought.

This past weekend we started “sleep training” Clyde. For a long time, we didn’t see any need in ever having to do that since he has been an amazing sleeper since day 1 and always slept through the night.

But.. sleeping through the night wasn’t our goal with sleeping training.

Our goals include:

Fully transitioning Clyde to his own room to sleep during the night and through naps
Clyde being able to independently put himself to sleep aka not nursing to sleep
Me being able to have some extra time on my hands and sanity from not constantly nursing him to sleep 😅

As soon as he was asleep that first night I was so happy and EXCITED to have some freedom and time to myself. Then by night 3, as we took his bassinet out of our room for good, it hit me. It hit me HARD.

I was suddenly so full of emotions and mainly so sad to not have him right next to me. Thinking about it, I had him next to me or inside my tummy for the past 15+ months every single night. I was so caught up in the exhaustion and frustration from CONSTANTLY nursing him to sleep, that I didn’t even think about how hard this new transition would be for ME. I immediately had feelings of “look, he fell asleep all on his own, I’m so proud of him” to “I guess he doesn’t need me anymore” “he DOES need me, that’s why he cried so much tonight” “I’m a terrible mom for letting him cry” etc etc etc.

As I sat there confused by all of my own thoughts, cried, and told Caden what I was feeling.. he reminded me that it’s OKAY to feel this way. It’s OKAY to be sad that Clyde is growing up and will learn to do things without me. It’s OKAY that we have to teach him these things and sometimes it takes time (and more and more time!) And most of all that he will ALWAYS need his mama, no matter what, just like I still need mine.

If you’ve made it this far.. I just want to say that:

1—being a new mom requires patience with yourself and faith that you’re doing the right thing.

2—you need a support system. I’m lucky enough to have a husband to support me through it but I also know it is SO possible to do it without a partner too (shout out to all of you single parents—my mom did it and remembering that gives me so much strength)

3—It is always okay to put YOUR mental health first. Happy mom, happy kids, happy life.

4—no matter how fast those little ones grow up, YOU will always be their mama. ❤️

Uncategorized

Sunflower Festival | Hee Haw Farms

September 13, 2019

Sunflower Festival | Hee Haw Farms

We went to the Sunflower Festival at Hee Haw Farms this past weekend and had so much fun! We of course took lots of photos with the huge sunflowers and went on a hay ride together! It was such a fun way to spend the night!

Soon it’ll be pumpkin patches that fill our days and I’m so excited!

Clyde, Milestone Pictures

Six Months | Milestone Pictures | Half Birthday Pictures

September 12, 2019

Six Months | Milestone Pictures | Half Birthday Pictures

Clyde is SIX MONTHS OLD!! How?! The fact that half a year has already gone by is killing me. I’ve been looking through and sending Caden alllll of the videos and photos of Clyde as a tiny tiny baby and it has us feeling all the feels. Six months is already a huge milestone, but Clyde has also grown up SOO much this month so it’s making it all the more real. He seriously makes us laugh EVERY single day and usually tear up too because he is just so precious.

This month Clyde:

Said his first word! MAMA! Toward the end of last month/beginning of this month he was always saying “ma ma ma ma ma” but without much context to it. Then on 8/18 he just straight up reached for me and said “mama!” I obviously died in that moment.
As I mentioned in my last point, now reaches for people! He hasn’t really turned anyone down yet either.. the kid loves to be held.
Is SO ticklish! I’ve said this before I’m sure, but he gets more and more ticklish as the days go on!
Rolls both ways now! This month he learned to roll from his back to his belly after practicing all last month! He especially thinks it’s SUPER fun to roll over while I’m changing his diaper.. haha
Has mastered the fake cough! Haha! I didn’t know that was a thing until he started doing it out of no where and clearly for attention! It’s pretty cute.
He loved to hold my hand and will always intertwine his fingers in mine.
LOVES when we “bite” his hands and toes! He also gets SO excited when Caden pretends to bite his sides aka “corn on the cob!”
Can finally reach the floor in his little walker toy and exersauser! The day we gave him the exersauser– he about died with excitement. He absolutely loves figuring out all of the sounds and toys it has!
Has a new found love for books! We need to be better about reading to him more regularly, because he is SO interested and loves every single minute of it!
Has transitioned his arms out of the swaddle! I thought that might be tricky to do, but he handled it like a champ and actually sleeps even better since he can now put his own binky back in!
Has slept 10-12 hours straight each night!
Started sitting in his high chair at meal times and exploring with utensils, bowls, and cups! He is SO ready for food. We will be doing BLW so we’ve been waiting to start food til he was 6 months AND sitting unassisted. However, he has been watching us so closely for months now and has mastered what to do with silverware and cups!
He loves to pat MY back while I burp him. He’s hilarious and he knows it.
Rests his head on our shoulders and rubs his little eyes constantly when he’s tired. It’s probably my most favorite thing about him right now.. it’s the cutest. The resting on shoulder part is so cute too especially since he hasn’t really been one to cuddle like that since he was a few weeks old!
Weighs 14 pounds and 10.5 ounces and is 25.3 inches tall! This is HUGE for him and I’m SO proud of our little guy!

This month we:

Celebrated Caden’s 25th birthday! Clyde got to visit dad at work and loved all of his co-workers loving on him! Caden and I got a night out and went to Desert Star and saw the Sunday School Musical. Haha. It was a mix of High School Musical & The Greatest Showman. It was pretty funny! Not our all time fave but funny and a fun night out! We also went to our all time favorite dessert place The Chocolate. (:
Went to Cherry Hill with my side of the family! It was a ton of fun! Even Clyde liked it!! We were so happy that he finally enjoyed water.. haha. He slept through me carrying him while walking through the lazy river, and floating on a tube, until we got splashed.. haha. But he did great and actually loved getting in and swimming in his Otteroo!
Went to Caden’s family’s cabin over Labor Day weekend! We had so much fun there! We spent time with family, four wheeled, played games, ate good food, and went on a Razor ride!

Here’s this month in pictures..