It's a blogging rule...

You have to post the costume pics of Halloween. So here they are:

Addison, Cookie Monster, whose costume matched his eyes to be utterly breathtaking!

Carter, the dragon, that kept morphing into a dinosaur.

Alana, my pretty pretty princess ballerina

(did I mention I LOVE having a girl?)

I was a pumpkin (sort of) and Steve was Michael Jackson.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN...unless...

...Unless your neighbors' party guests park in front of your--AND ONLY YOUR--driveway. The weird thing: This has happened 3 years in a row, with different cars, and different parties.

Year 1: "Really? Someone parked in front of our driveway?" Politely go to the party and ask that the car be moved so we can go to our party (yeah, we have a life too you know, I muttered under my breath)

Year 2: "Are you SERIOUS? You've GOT to be kidding me." Throw a fit. Just because.

Year 3: "It figures." Figure out how to manuever our car around the blockade...it seems to be a useless battle.

So next year, could you modify your invitation to read: RSVP...oh, and don't park in front of the Maduras driveway...they might slash your tires.

My Toddlers' Guide to Carve a Pumpkin

1) Scoop out all the "Slimy Goo" 3 days beforehand with Mom...actually, decide it would be fun, but then after a few minutes...2) ...Let Mom do all the work while you go do this...which I didn't mind AT ALL. Thanks, Carter, for trying to teach Addison how to pedal! You were so patient and uplifting!

3) Then, on Halloween day, convince Dad that YOUR Jack-o-Lantern must have the BIGGEST smile on the whole block. "Bigger, Bigger, BIGGER" Carter kept making Steve draw it over and over again until finally, Carter gave his approval. "Yep, that's right."

Our Giving Tree

For all you mountain climbers disappointed with the Midwest's Flat Terrain, I've discovered the dream job for you:We watched as the tree-cutters cut down a 135-yr-old tree from my parents' front yard. The tree was massive! A 16 foot diameter, and about 80 feet tall. We never knew it was a climbing tree, but these guys had NO problem swinging from branch to branch to saw it down.

Of course, the boys (of all ages) were fascinated,

and felt this required some kind ceremonial farewell dance. Is it strange to say "We will miss you, Tree?" Probably not, since Shel Silverstein thought the same thing. Sadly, the front yard and the view from blocks away will never look the same again.

Today I've learned..

1) White Oreos dipped in chocolate milk is not nearly as addicting as chocolate oreos dipped in white milk.

2) Don't have weird dreams about people you don't know very well, because then you'll randomly run into them at the grocery store and it will be really awkward.

3) The rain has no mercy on Moms. An umbrella is useless; you don't have a hand to hold it. No use doing your hair in the morning since you'll get soaked getting kids in and out of the car, trying to keep THEM dry, while wondering why you chose to wear a white shirt this morning.

4) Have a 3 year old...they'll tattle on Daddy when he broke a plate. They'll tattle on Mommy when you served cereal for dinner. And they'll tattle on the lady behind us who picked her nose.

5) Alana has a heart murmur, but it's nothing to worry about. Then again, Laman and Lemuel also murmured in their hearts. Perhaps I should worry ;)

Living in Excess

Making fun of myself and my tendency to hoard things,
I said to a friend last week,

"I have 3 baby carriers;
I mean, really, how many do I need?"

Apparently 4,
since right now I can't find a single one.

Yet, this may also indicate I need 2 cell phones, 3 sets of keys, and 10 more sippy cups.

Happy Fall!

This year I've invested in pumpkins.

They've been going up the whole month of October.

And I got a feeling they're gonna peak right around January.

Then BANG! That's when I'll cash in!

--Homer Simpson

Finders Keepers

9 Jackets

7 Blankets

7 Books

3 Pairs of Shoes

3 movies

2 Pads of Paper

2 *full* packs of wipes

(wish I'd known these were there before the emergency run to the store)

and a partridge in a pear tree...

...is what I found cleaning out my car during nap time.

Except the bird in the shrubbery.

Am I the only one that can't keep my car clean (like Stefani, Katie or Steve?) What is so difficult about bringing things inside? Oh yeah...2 toddlers and an infant.

Steve'll be home in 25 minutes. Looking at the state of the inside of the house, I'm going to put this note on the door:

"Remember, I cleaned the car today".

Perhaps that will ease the blow of the toys strewn all around.

For Better or For Worse

Confession: I didn't feel the Mom groove today. I'm safe to say that, right? Since you've felt that way too? The kids woke up happy and charming...but within 10 minutes I realized I woke up a grump...what a bad combination. I mean, if the kids were in a funky mood, I'd feel justified having a rough day, but when they are giving me no ammunition whatsover to be in a bad mood? Not fair...that means this was all me.

So my solution to not drive everyone crazy was to keep my kids distracted as much as possible; so I was basically throwing activities to them left and right. I'm now paying the price with a new load of laundry and the family room covered in toys and it's 9:30 PM and I just finished cleaning up dinner, while there is still evidence of lunch on the counter. Here's how the day turned out:

Breakfast--this was clean. Thanks boys.

8:00-11:00

Activity 1: Exercise. The work out video was an attempt for me to blow off some steam. It worked! I even managed a smile to see how much my kids were enthralled by the "movie", until they eventually got up and tried "dancing" with me. That ended the work out shortly thereafter. New outfit for me.

2: Outside play. I insisted we stay out in the backyard for a long time since it was one of our last sunny days. I even managed to read an entire magazine--cover to cover--while they played. I got out sidewalk chalk (a cheap brand that marks up ALL clothes and won't brush off, but will ironically rub off onto any of our furniture). New outfits for both.

3: Colored Rice. Not messy on their clothes (phew, I needed a breather) but required clean up after it spilled on the patio...

**11:30-4:00: Lunch, naps, it was a gloriously quiet time..and let it be known that after the nap I was feeling much better.

4: Pudding Play. Plop the pudding on the table and let them play...cookie cutters, chop sticks for writing, cars, etc. make it that much more exciting. New outfits for both.

5: Baking. And I let Addison lick the bowl. New shirt for Addy.

6: Walk around the block while dinner cooled from the oven. Not messy.

7: Dinner included sticky syrup and crumbly cornbread. Messy. Sticky. New outfits for both.

I solved this last one by plopping them in the tub. That was the easiest clean up of the day.

So looking back I guess our day turned out alright. I guess I wasn't the wicked witch/terrible mother I thought I would be today. I mean, the kids are alive aren't they? And it looks like they had a pretty good day.

Because I ROCK!

Having a baby is awesome...paying the bills that follow=Not so fun. Unless you're me:

The other day I paid 2 of my hospital bills. I asked one magic question and ended up saving over $300!!! The question was: "Do you offer a discount if I pay in full?" (which was my full intent, anyways, but it never hurts to ask). And to my surprise the answer was YES! I got 20% off one bill, and 15% off the other! WOW!

And then, I received a bill from the anesthesiologist who was apparently out-of-network in an in-network hospital (grrrr...) and so my insurance didn't want to cover it, so they sent the whole bill to me...$300. I figured this was unacceptable, and so after talking to Humana, and then the Dr.'s office, I called Humana AGAIN and INSISTED they send my bill back to claims and have it covered. Sure enough, they covered it at 100%...Another $300 SAVED!

This is what we sometimes refer to as Madura Magic.

Sleeping through the night...

Yep, She did it again ;) I'm loving this uninterrupted sleep!

Alana's Blessing

If there's one thing you feel during a blessing, it's the immense amount of Love our Father in Heaven has for each of us. What a Special Daughter of God she truly is!

Thank you to all in my family, ward, and friends who added their faith to this experience!

...and a well-deserved 'Thank You' to Jared & Maryle who drove from Indiana to be with us! You're the best!

WAHOO!

Guess who slept 12 hours through the night and didn't wake up to eat :) Well, technically all 3 kids, but we are most excited for ALANA! That's right :) At 7 1/2 weeks Alana slept through the night last night. She normally does a 10 hour stretch, which gets us up at 4:00 AM, and she goes right back to sleep, but THIS--it was so fun and we are all so happy today! Including Carter and Addison! When I hadn't heard from them and it was 7:15 AM, I went into their room and this is what I found:And Carter was "reading" each story to Addison. What a fun morning!

But, speaking of "sleeping through the night", what do you think is the real definition? I mean, most would define it as [what I just did] sleeping all night long without waking to eat. Sounds great, huh, but truly unrealistic for little babies. They NEED to eat. Therefore I think a more accurate defintion of sleeping through the night at this age is being able to just sleep, then wake to eat but return back to sleep right away. In that case, my baby has "slept through the night" since day 1 (except for a couple wakeful hours within the first 2 weeks). I feel so sorry for you parents who have to stay up with a wakeful child who wants to be alert and playing at 2 AM. In that regard, I feel VERY blessed [as do my kids since they wouldn't want to face the beastly tired me in the AM]. So, with that said, why did I post that Alana slept through the night without eating? I guess it's just to celebrate that I had my first night of uninterrupted sleep since before I got pregnant!

And...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY!

Wedding Bells

Congrats Jim & Pam! It was a great wedding. And since all you wanted was cash...

TrickyTREATS

Carter's New Favorite Joke

Q: What do you call white visitors from Mars?
A: MARTIAN-MELLOWS!
So, naturally we HAD to have them as a Halloween Snack today!

It's 11:30 pm and...

Sleeping soundly since 3 pm (yes, 3 in the afternoon) and only waking once to eat...Will she keep us up later tonight? Stay tuned to find out...

***this just in****

Turns out, she didn't wake up until 9 AM!!!! 3 PM-9 AM is 18 HOURS OF SLEEP! And in that time she only woke up twice to eat (9 pm and 4 am), and went RIGHT back to sleep.

Right on Cue...

First smiles come around 6 weeks, right? Well, Alana is right on cue!

Some smiles are forced:

Sweet Carter trying to get Alana to "smile" for the camera!

But most of the time they are all natural from the inside out, the "I dare you not to smile back" how-can-you-resist-me smiles: