If you haven't already sent me your current mailing address, and/or it has changed from last year....PLEASE either leave a note with your address or you can e-mail me your address at tiffanyltoronto@yahoo.com for privacy :) I would love to send you a Christmas card; I am hoping to be done with them by early next week and moving on to the rest of my Christmas things!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
What Have We Been Up To????
Jesse- work, work, and more work. Has got his wife on his back constantly (sorry honey) about finishing up all the projects before baby number 3.Tiffany- in the full swing of pregnancy and all the fun details that go along with it. Tired all the time and yet when it is time to sleep is up all night with back aches. Sick of people asking when that baby is due... and giving sympathetic looks when they hear another 4 weeks. Has completely 100% hit the nesting instinct and is constantly worrying about finishing everything, including Christmas, before baby.
Madison- growing up WAY too quickly, no longer taking naps (part of why mommy is soo tired), constantly talking to her imaginary friends, LOVES her fish tank compliments of Uncle Adam, and continues to add new things to her wish list for Santa (pink lipstick, chapstick, white jacket "like Kaylee", and most recently fishy candy from Home Depot).
Robby- also growing up too quick, but thank heavens still takes 3 hour naps and sleeps in until 9am!! Favorite phrases now include "what's that noise?" and "where daddy go?" STILL going through a massive hitting and throwing phase (does that ever end with boys??). His latest victim was his cutest ever cousin Kaylin, who now has a blue goose egg on her forehead and a fear of going anywhere near her cousin.
Family Life- Went to the zoo with Grandma Sheffield and thoroughly enjoyed seeing different animals, eating a sack lunch, playing by the fish pond, and eating cotton candy together. Had a fabulous Thanksgiving, that included me sleeping in with the kids while daddy had fun playing mud football, cooking our VERY FIRST turkey EVER, dinner at my parents house, visit with the Toronto's-- with Uncle Adam included!!, and pie night at my Aunt and Uncle's house. Fun, fun, fun! Day after Thanksgiving had me up at 3:20am for shopping madness with my mom. I am not quite sure I have yet recovered from the lack of sleep, but it is a fun tradition we do every year.
.....perhaps at some point, some pictures will follow as well!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Maddie Loves....
Makeup.
In fact she seems to enjoy it a little too much. When I am not working, she will sit in the bathroom while I get ready and beg to put her makeup on. Today, while I was trying to rush to get ready and make it to church on time, this was her newest "do". She was really upset when I cleaned it off her face and proceeded to tell me in the middle of a sobbing session that "I need lips on to look like a princess. I won't look pretty like a princess without makeup." I finally convinced her that the "lipgloss" (chapstick) I had in the church bag would make her look very pretty. :)
Sunday, November 2, 2008
HALLOWEEN OVERVIEW
***updated***
Above: my mom and I handing out candy. Below: Jesse at our street party.
My in-laws invited us to their ward Halloween carnival on Wednesday, Oct 29th. We happily obliged and the kids got decked out in the costumes a few days early. Robby was the cutest ever ASU football player and Maddie went as "Cinderella, Cinderella," as she says. I have to say that Robby HATED when we put his football padding on, but luckily forgot about it after a few minutes and rather enjoyed the endless supply of popcorn, candy, and hot dogs at the carnival. This was our attempt at taking a picture of the kids in their costumes that evening: Robby, Grandpa Toronto, Maddie, and Mommy (Tiffany).
Another picture of my Maddie and I. As you can tell she just loves posing for pictures, NOT. So for those of you who have been asking for a lovely 7 month prego picture of me...there you go. There probably won't be too many more like it; I tend to be the camera-man most of the time, but especially when I am pregnant!
There were tons of games at the carnival, but the kids especially like riding these metal horses behind a tractor (aka the train ride) 
On Thursday morning we had our joyschool Halloween party, so Maddie was able to dress up AGAIN. I am loving the fact that she was able to wear her costume several times this year and she LOVED the fact that she could be Cinderella again.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture of Robby in uniform. This is such my little guy, always on the run with his sippy cup held in his arm just like you would cradle a football. Even though ASU football is in the pits right now, we are forever ASU funs and thus Robby went as an ASU football player anyways :)
My pretty Cinderella all ready for the ball (she even insisted that she wear lipstick so she would look "gorgeous")
Yep...this is the ONLY picture I was able to take of Robby and Madison sitting together out of all the pictures. At least they are both sort of looking at the camera, although there are NO smiles to be found :(
A group picture of some of our neighborhood street kids in their costumes.
In the afternoon/evening, we had a block party for our street where we each brought a side dish, meat and drinks. It was so much fun to meet many of our neighbors for the first time. Some poeple even set up games in their front yard for the kids to play. For one of the games, our friends had doughnuts hanging from strings. The kids had to try to eat them off the string. Maddie loved this game and seriously was hanging out by it forever (I think she had four doughnuts for dinner). Oh I guess she also had four or five sodas as well; every time I turned around she was picking up some random soda and drinking it....how do you teach a three year just how disgusting this habit is?
When it was dark, we set off trick or treating with our good friends on our street and Nona and Grandpa (Jesse's parents) even joined us. Maddie totally got the concept of sitting in the wagon and then jumping out and running up to each door to say "trick or treat". She loved sitting in the wagon with a neighbor friend. Robby sort of understood the candy part of Halloween after a few houses and would drag his bag up to the door and hand it to whomever answered the door. He had to have some sort of candy piece in his mouth between each and every house.
Above: my mom and I handing out candy. Below: Jesse at our street party.
My in-laws invited us to their ward Halloween carnival on Wednesday, Oct 29th. We happily obliged and the kids got decked out in the costumes a few days early. Robby was the cutest ever ASU football player and Maddie went as "Cinderella, Cinderella," as she says. I have to say that Robby HATED when we put his football padding on, but luckily forgot about it after a few minutes and rather enjoyed the endless supply of popcorn, candy, and hot dogs at the carnival. This was our attempt at taking a picture of the kids in their costumes that evening: Robby, Grandpa Toronto, Maddie, and Mommy (Tiffany).
Another picture of my Maddie and I. As you can tell she just loves posing for pictures, NOT. So for those of you who have been asking for a lovely 7 month prego picture of me...there you go. There probably won't be too many more like it; I tend to be the camera-man most of the time, but especially when I am pregnant!
There were tons of games at the carnival, but the kids especially like riding these metal horses behind a tractor (aka the train ride) 
On Thursday morning we had our joyschool Halloween party, so Maddie was able to dress up AGAIN. I am loving the fact that she was able to wear her costume several times this year and she LOVED the fact that she could be Cinderella again. 
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture of Robby in uniform. This is such my little guy, always on the run with his sippy cup held in his arm just like you would cradle a football. Even though ASU football is in the pits right now, we are forever ASU funs and thus Robby went as an ASU football player anyways :)
My pretty Cinderella all ready for the ball (she even insisted that she wear lipstick so she would look "gorgeous")
Yep...this is the ONLY picture I was able to take of Robby and Madison sitting together out of all the pictures. At least they are both sort of looking at the camera, although there are NO smiles to be found :(
A group picture of some of our neighborhood street kids in their costumes.
In the afternoon/evening, we had a block party for our street where we each brought a side dish, meat and drinks. It was so much fun to meet many of our neighbors for the first time. Some poeple even set up games in their front yard for the kids to play. For one of the games, our friends had doughnuts hanging from strings. The kids had to try to eat them off the string. Maddie loved this game and seriously was hanging out by it forever (I think she had four doughnuts for dinner). Oh I guess she also had four or five sodas as well; every time I turned around she was picking up some random soda and drinking it....how do you teach a three year just how disgusting this habit is?
When it was dark, we set off trick or treating with our good friends on our street and Nona and Grandpa (Jesse's parents) even joined us. Maddie totally got the concept of sitting in the wagon and then jumping out and running up to each door to say "trick or treat". She loved sitting in the wagon with a neighbor friend. Robby sort of understood the candy part of Halloween after a few houses and would drag his bag up to the door and hand it to whomever answered the door. He had to have some sort of candy piece in his mouth between each and every house.
(don't you love Maddie's white face in the picture below after the doughnut game. Naughty mommy for not noticing and cleaning off that face before we went trick or treating)
Later on in the evening, Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield stopped by as well and visited with us for a few minutes. They were the cutest Gandalf the White and his young wife that died before the time that the books were written (according to my mom).
Later on in the evening, Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield stopped by as well and visited with us for a few minutes. They were the cutest Gandalf the White and his young wife that died before the time that the books were written (according to my mom).
It was friends at first sight for these two. They loved riding their bikes together and did so for literally hours.
The next few pictures are mainly just for my own delight! Robby was such a stinker all of Halloween and wouldn't give the camera the time of day. But as soon as we headed home and got ready for baths he was all grins. His smiling, happy face makes me want to spoil him rotten and give him everything he wants--even when it is covered with food, candy, soda, etc...... 
(for some reason Robby has this odd fascination with anything that belongs to his sister...aka the pink princess sippy cup)
After baths were done, he was more than ready for bed and actually tossed his blanket in his crib and was reaching to lay in there. Two minutes later and he was zonked. Once he was down for the night, I headed back over to clean up our stuff at the neighborhood street party and then took Maddie home for bed. When she finally made it to bed, all she kept telling me was "Mommy, I so tired." I have to say, that this year Halloween was a FUN holiday. I am loving the age that Maddie has reached where she is so excited for each holiday.
The next few pictures are mainly just for my own delight! Robby was such a stinker all of Halloween and wouldn't give the camera the time of day. But as soon as we headed home and got ready for baths he was all grins. His smiling, happy face makes me want to spoil him rotten and give him everything he wants--even when it is covered with food, candy, soda, etc...... 
(for some reason Robby has this odd fascination with anything that belongs to his sister...aka the pink princess sippy cup)
State Fair
Last month, my parents were so sweet and took the kids to the state fair with them for the WHOLE day. They had so much fun and both even managed to fall asleep for awhile in their strollers. I am seriously so grateful for such wonderful grandparents for my kids!!
Robby REALLY wanted to ride the elephants
Later that evening as I was putting Maddie to bed, she kept telling me about how she got to ride an elephant named "Dixie" at the fair with Grandma!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Joyschool at the Pumpkin Patch
We had so much fun on Tuesday going to the pumpkin patch with our joyschool group. We didn't end up actually going into the farm it was on because it cost money, but the kids loved climbing all over the pumpkins and riding in the wagons.
Maddie was showing off a fall leaf that she found amongst the pumpkins
A shot of all the kids playing in the pumpkins
Robby's favorite part was sitting in the back of the wagons and going for a ride, or pushing the wagons around
The group of five girls that are in joyschool, as well as a little brother
Maddie was showing off a fall leaf that she found amongst the pumpkins
Robby's favorite part was sitting in the back of the wagons and going for a ride, or pushing the wagons around
The group of five girls that are in joyschool, as well as a little brother
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Schnepf Farms
We had so much fun tonight at the Schenpf Farms Pumpkin Patch and Festivities. My in-laws were super sweet and invited us to come with them for some much needed fun! 
Robby loved the tricycle they had in the kids play area. He was sad that he wasn't quite big enough to pedal around the small maze of hay. Maddie on the other hand was quite content to run along the hay bales instead.
We also had fun riding the carousel, going through the petting zoo, and riding these fun four person car/bikes. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my job as the photographer for this ride :)
The Aunts were so nice and took Maddie and Robby on the bumblebee ride, airplane ride, and even down the long tunnel slide several times. Joanna and Abby are always so much fun for the kids!!
We walked through the corn maze for a few minutes, but it was really too dark to see much so we gave up on that idea.
Maddie couldn't resist hopping out of the double stroller to be a part of this picture!
We found this small pumpkin/hay hill which the kids loved climbing up and down. They didn't love all the times that mommy tried to make them smile for pictures, however.
The last place we ventured was the pumpkin patch. That was so fun to walk through there and Robby was hilarious when he picked up a pumpkin all on his own. I tried so hard to capture a picture of that, but it turned out so blurry....darn it!
Thanks Nona, Grandpa, Jo-Jo, and Abby for inviting us to come along for a fun evening of festivities, we will definitely have to do it again :)
Robby loved the tricycle they had in the kids play area. He was sad that he wasn't quite big enough to pedal around the small maze of hay. Maddie on the other hand was quite content to run along the hay bales instead.
We also had fun riding the carousel, going through the petting zoo, and riding these fun four person car/bikes. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my job as the photographer for this ride :)
The Aunts were so nice and took Maddie and Robby on the bumblebee ride, airplane ride, and even down the long tunnel slide several times. Joanna and Abby are always so much fun for the kids!!
We walked through the corn maze for a few minutes, but it was really too dark to see much so we gave up on that idea.
Maddie couldn't resist hopping out of the double stroller to be a part of this picture!
We found this small pumpkin/hay hill which the kids loved climbing up and down. They didn't love all the times that mommy tried to make them smile for pictures, however.
The last place we ventured was the pumpkin patch. That was so fun to walk through there and Robby was hilarious when he picked up a pumpkin all on his own. I tried so hard to capture a picture of that, but it turned out so blurry....darn it!
Thanks Nona, Grandpa, Jo-Jo, and Abby for inviting us to come along for a fun evening of festivities, we will definitely have to do it again :)Maddie's Cooking Lesson
Mmmhh.... who can resist a delicious batch of brownies to go with Sunday dinner! We enjoyed a restful day at home watching General Conference and then cooking dinner as a family. Maddie loved helping out making our yummy brownies and was quite the expert at stirring!Friday, October 3, 2008
Doctor's Visit: 3 yrs and belated 18 month
These days I am either extremely behind or have thrown in the towel on most extracurricular activities. I have thought many times that I should just give up keeping up to date on our blog with our families adventures. It is moments like this evening that remind me that I truly care about journaling our crazy, busy lives. I know someday I will look back on this and be happy that I recorded a few thoughts and feelings during this time period.
I honestly cannot believe how quickly the past few months has flown by....and yet dragged on at the same time. Most of you know that I have been busy working since the spring and have now been working full time since the beginning of August. It's not an easy feat being six months pregnant, but I am hoping in the next month things will settle down. I miss my kids more than anything when I work and it is especially hard to leave the house as Maddie cries to me to not leave her again. I have gained a new level of respect for working mothers and have learned to appreciate the opportunity I have had most of my children's lives to be a stay at home mom.
I simply cannot believe I have a three year old now and that Robby has already passed the 18 month mark. As with most things, we ended up doing Robby's 18 month Dr's appointment about six weeks late and just threw it together with Maddie's yearly appointment. I am happy to say the kids are still happy and healthy as can be!! We had to wait a LONG time to see the Doctor so we took a few pictures in our little room to pass the time.
Madison Lynn Toronto
3 years old
27 pounds
36.5 inches tall
She loves to talk ALL THE TIME now. She is very imaginative and is always coming up with creative things to tell me and anyone who will listen. She has adopted our ghost stuffed pillow as her "favorite friend" and insists that he be strapped into a seat belt when he is in the car, have a spot at the dinner table, go potty and wash hands with her and even sit by the shower to get a bath. She loves to do puzzles, color pictures, help mommy cook and clean, read books, and snuggle with her mommy. Lately she has become obsessed with doing things "all by herself" and will literally lock people out of the bathroom so she can go potty alone. She loves to pick out her clothes in the morning and will dress herself...sometimes I try to redirect her in another direction when it is an odd assortment of clothing that she has on. (the other day she showed up in our room wearing two pairs of underwear, a skirt, a dress, a clashing shirt, and mismatched shoes) Maddie is such a sweet girl and is always reminding me how much she loves me. I don't think I can ever get tired of the way she will hold onto my chin and make sure my eyes are on her when she says "I love you so much mommy." She started dance lessons across the street in August and loves to practice dancing. Whenever the end credits come on from a movie she will get up and start dancing. She also loves to sing "I'm a Mean Old Witch", the happy family song "I love mommy, she loves me...", "I know an Old Lady who swallowed a fly", etc... I am so grateful for my Madison and the extra spark she brings into our home. She is an independant little girl who is always reminding us that she is no longer a baby, but a big girl!!
Robert James Toronto
18 months old
29lb 9oz
36 inches tall
Robby is getting to be so big now....LITERALLY! He is starting to repeat everything I tell him and a few words he has learned include apple, juice, plane, Papa- grandpa, thank you, all done, nose, moo- for cow, etc. He is my fearless little warrior (not kidding) and LOVES to rough-house with his sister. His favorite games is where he runs at her and then tackles Maddie to the ground. Unfortunately that doesn't go over to well with the other kids his age. I am slowly trying to teach him to be soft with other people, he is just so strong and doesn't always understand his strength. He is still a marvelous sleeper and will generally sleep at night from 7pm until 8am and then take a good 2-3 hour nap during the day. He is a good eater and his favorite drink is juice. He almost always out eats Maddie at meals. His favorite movie is "Cars" and he is obsessed with choo-choo trains and planes. He is such an inquisitive little boy and loves to figure out how things work. After I clean him off and take him out of his booster seat after meals, he loves to climb back up and try to buckle the seat belt by himself. I always love how excited he is when I first come home from work. He starts to squel and will clap his hands and run right over to me. He is a little tease and will pretend to come over to hug you, only to run away laughing. I adore his slobbery kisses he gives me! He has just started to give me real hugs where he will throw his arms around me and lay his head on my shoulder...pretty much to die for as a mom! I sure love my sweet little boy and the laughter he brings into my life.
I am so grateful for my beautiful kids and the noise they bring to our home. Our house isn't always the cleanest and is rarely quiet, but it is sure fun to spend time with the kiddos! They love to play with each other, even when it feels like they have a love/hate relationship. Robby walks around looking lost when Maddie is away from the house and Madison will keep asking about her brother when he is gone or asleep for naps/bedtime. They truly are fun to be around and there are so many happy moments when they share toys, hide under blankets, tickle each other, have running races, and crack each other up with funny faces.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)