Mangum Memories

Monday, March 24, 2014

February

I was under the impression that moving to Oregon meant very little to no snow. Well, I was wrong. In total we got a foot of snow, which meant that our town shut down and the schools were closed for three days. The snow only lasted for a few days, but it was enough to give us cabin fever. We did enjoy playing in the fresh powder and Madi got to make a snow angel.

This month Madi went from walking a few steps to walking around the house all by herself. She also now prefers walking and if she falls down she stands back up and walks again. This has posed a problem at church because she would rather practice walking than sit with mom and dad. We can't wait for her to be able to go to nursery, and I think she will have more fun in there too.

Madi loves to carry things around. She is constantly trying to figure out how to stack things so she can carry more. She likes to carry pens, balls, paper, and magnets. On a recent trip to Target, Madi stacked four tomato soup cans on top of each other and she probably would have stacked more if she had them. Madi also likes to carry around Cody's golf balls and golf clubs. Cody can't wait until he can start teaching her how to swing a club.

Teeth have not been good to Madi this month, she got three more- her top right molar, bottom front right, and bottom front left. She now has ten teeth- six on top and four on bottom.

Cody and I worked very hard to not say the word 'no' around Madi. Instead we would say 'don't do that' or 'let's do ___ instead'. Our efforts failed us and Madi's new favorite word is 'no'. :(

Our silly Madi still won't eat fruit. She would rather eat the orange peel than the orange, which has happened :) I have discovered that she will eat banana pieces but only when they are covered in graham cracker crumbs. A few times she has sucked off the graham cracker and spit out the banana. We also discovered this month that Madi likes to eat marshmallows, another food to add to the list of foods only given to Madi right before bath time.

14 Months Old!

Ready to play in the snow

Madi opening a Valentine's Day package from grandma

Busy Walking

Always carrying things around

Our future engineer

The before picture from Madi's first hair cut. I forgot to take an official after photo.

A beautiful day at the park

At the driving range with dad and cousins John and Michael

Cousin John

Cousin Michael

Madi helping mom open her birthday presents

The big 26

Madi quite enjoyed the ice cream cake

Sunday, March 23, 2014

January- a little late

I have come to the strange realization that my baby is no longer a baby, she is a toddler!

Madi had her one year check up after we came back from Utah and she is growing! Madi weighs 20 lbs 14.5 oz (67%) and is 29 inches tall (35%). Our doctor told me that Madi can give up the pureed baby food and eat mostly what we eat (which she loves), that we can try to get her to use a sippy cup (which she loves), and Madi can start having whole milk (which she and daddy love- Cody drinks as much of the whole milk as she does).

A trip to grandpa and grandma's house wouldn't be complete without getting a tooth. It seems like every time we go another one comes in! This time when we went for Christmas, Madi got a molar and we didn't even notice until we were home in Oregon. Madi was her normal happy self on our trip, so it came as a surprise when Cody spotted her top left molar.

Our ~~baby~~ toddler has also become more mobile this month. She started the month of January by standing all by herself when she was distracted. She would stand holding her bottle, dance, or hold a phone, but when she realized she wasn’t holding on to something she sat down. As she practiced more and more she was able to consciously stand and eventually took her first steps! By the end of the month she was walking from the coffee table to the couch, which is a few steps away. Madi also mastered getting off (sliding off) the couch all by herself. The trick is to now help her understand that she can't turn around and slide off everything- she has tried getting off the bed and counter this way with negative results.

This month we went on a hike up to Silver Falls with Jay and Brit and their family. We kept saying how strange it was to be outside hiking in 50 degree weather in January while our friends were back in Minnesota enduring negative degree weather. We had a great time walking to and behind the falls, it was great to be outside.

Cody's fellowship at the hospital is going well and he was offered an interim position as the manager over the sleep center. Madi and I were able to visit Cody at work, check out his new office, and have dinner together. Madi and I are so proud of Cody and grateful that he works hard to provide for our family.

Waiting at the doctor's office

Our sippy cup expert

Madi's first chicken wing from dad's favorite- Buffalo Wild Wings

Where's Madi? Camo jammies courtesy of Papa and Nana Mangum

Silver Falls

Visiting dad at his new office

Madi has figured out the nesting bowls and is pro at stacking them together

Friday afternoon at the park with dad. Madi's favorites are the swings and the slide.

So glad to have cousins around to play with- playing with Michael and Evie

Relaxing with dad

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Christmas/ Anniversary/ Madi's 1st Birthday

We had a very exciting holiday season! I think it will always be that way though, with Christmas on the 25th, our wedding anniversary on the 26th, and Madi's birthday on the 30th. What were we thinking?!

We started out December with some local fun. Madi sat on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party and she didn't cry. This is quite the feat because lately she hasn't been too excited to be held by men, but I guess Santa was the exception :) Keizer has a light parade that goes down River Road and we were able to take Madi to watch all of the floats and marching bands. Minneapolis has something similar to this called the Hollidazzle Parade that Cody and I went to two years ago. We about froze in MN, so it was nice to not be so cold here (it was about 40 degrees outside). There is also a fun Christmas light route close to our house that we were able to drive through twice. It was fun to watch how mesmerized Madi was by the lights. My favorite holiday activity in the Salem area was the Live Nativity in West Salem. We walked around and saw shepherds,wise men, angels, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus; and Nigel the camel :)

We flew to Utah and were able to spend our wild week of Christmas, anniversary, and birthday with my family. Madi was a pro at opening presents and loved pulling tissue paper out of bags. Madi also mastered climbing up and down stairs and wore herself out in the process. We would usually have her go up and down a few times before she went down for a nap, just to make sure she was really tired.

We also went snowmobiling, sledding, met with lots of friends, and visited Temple Square.

The traditional gift for 6 year wedding anniversaries is candy. Independent of each other, Cody and I got each other the exact same present- personalized m&ms in blue, silver, and white. Great minds think alike! :)

We had a party for Madi's birthday and invited friends and family to watch Madi eat her cake. Our plan was that she would smash it and make a huge mess, but Madi had other plans. At first she didn't want to touch her cake, but once she tasted it she was ready for more. She never got messy though, everything she touched went into her mouth and we could tell she liked it by the "mmmm" she gave after every bite. She was quite the ham opening her presents and "ooh"ed when she pulled things out.

We flew back from Utah on Jan.1 and Madi went to the doctor for her 1 year check up the next day. She is now 29 inches tall (35%) and weighs 20 lbs 14.5 oz (67%). We were also shocked to find a molar, she must have cut it while we were in Utah. She was so happy though that it didn't even cross my mind that she was teething. What a big girl!

It is so hard to believe that a year has passed since Madi was born. At times I thought we would never survive, but looking back I wouldn't give up this past year for anything. I love you Madi and am grateful to be your mom :)