Thanksgiving with family

What a fun weekend with my sisters. Karla came over for Thanksgiving day and Kristin and Matt joined us on friday night. Friday, THe Wilders chose their Christmas tree and Jayden helped Mommy decorate it while Madelyn took her nap.

Jayden got to see his first big show. A two hour Disney on Ice. He loved it and sat through the whole show with his aunts (Karla and Kristin) and Uncle Matt. Meanwhile at home, Josie and Mady played and then took a morning nap while Mommy painted another wall of her bedroom. I'm almost finished with my bedroom.
On Saturday, the sisters all went shopping to help Kristin register for the Baby Shower. That was so much fun to see all her nursery decor and items to care for Baby Boy Dalton. Then we ordered take out Thai from our favorite Sweet Basil.
Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have so many things to be thankful for. I am so excited to share the day with my family and my sister Karla. She is helping with the spread (Turkey, Cornbread Stuffing, Cranberry dressing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Greenbean casserole, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread, Pumpkin Pie with Cool Whip. Afterwards, I am sure we will watch some football....GO COWBOYS

New things in the Wilder home: I have been busy with Christmas shopping, baking pumpkin pie, pumpkin cobler, wrapping presents, painting our Master bedroom (color-Spa), and chasing Madelyn.
Oh I didn't tell you the good news. She is now able to crawl forward....Wow she is fast. On Friday she took a few crawls forward and Saturday she was all over the room. Today she pulled to stand by herself on the edge of the couch. I can't believe how much she gets around. She follows Jayden everywhere and is beginning to call for him.
Jayden learned to play Memory cards today. I pulled out Bob the Builder Memory game, not sure if he understood matching pairs. After Mommy's turn he quickly jumped in and picked up cards eager to find a match. He was able to make a few matches with only eight cards on the table. His Mommy was very impressed :-)

Jayden is very excited to see his Aunt Kristin and Uncle Matt on Friday. They are in Atlanta currently with Matt's parents. We are excited to see her pregnant belly, and are very excited to here that she is having a little baby boy.....Yeah Congrats Kristin and Matt. You are going to be great parents!
Jayden made a Turkey with each feather listing something that he was thankful for. I asked him to tell me things that he was thankful for as he colored the feathers. Here is the list: Grandparents, Dan and Nicollette (next door neighbors/friends), Mommy and Daddy, Mady, his ear, his hair, friend-Sammy and Jonah, Alisa and Justin, & Elmo, Ernie and his duckie. What a list. I am so happy to have a son that is so thankful.

Jayden
Origin: Spanish
Meaning: Green stone, thankful

Madelyn's 1st Hand Held Steps

She did it!!!!! I can't believe Madelyn stepped across the living room while I held her hands today. I was so excited and her Daddy could hardly believe it when I called him at work. She was so eager to get to her brother. She will do anything to be near him.
Madelyn also has tooth #2. It arrived on Saturday, so she is feeling much better now. For a little while, until tooth #3 decides to make it's first appearance.

Bows Bows and More Bows

I just learned how to make hair bows this weekend. Madelyn is going to have enough bows for a new one every day....Just kidding, some will go to friends as gifts.

A Friday in the Fall

Here's a collection of pictures from friday. I taught Jayden to grin with an "orange smile", made a pumpkin cobbler, took some pictures of the beautiful colors in our yard & the neighbor's yard, and prepared to go and see Josie's father's side of the family.

Blog Award

My friend Lyndsay (actually one of my sister's friends) gave me this sleek and sexy bloggy award! I wanted to pass it along so here are the rules:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.
2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.
3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Here are 5 of my favorite addictions:

1. I have to say that my #1 addiction is to Coffee.. I love coffee and it is a substance that I have withdrawl symptoms from if I don't get enough. My favorite is Starbucks Vanilla Skinny Latte. I have not had these as often now that I staying at home with my children. One, trying to save on the money and two, I don't get out as much to enjoy one. Nonetheless, I still continue to make my coffee every morning and also I have decided to make a special coffee time every morning. Jayden even announces this time when I sit down to have my coffee.
2. Twizzlers and Chocolate would have to be right up there with coffee. My husband and I are Twizzler addicts and I have a difficult time without chocolate in the house. Right now I am without, except for the brownie mix in the pantry. I am tempted to go and make brownies right now just writing about CHOCOLATE!
3. Home improvements. This has to be one of my biggest addictions right now. I am currently testing paints on our bedroom walls to determine what shade of blue/green we want to paint our Master. I also am so inspired by the Lowe's Creative Idea catalogs that I often have lists of things that I want to work on in the house. This drives my husband crazy at times and keeps me extremely busy when Jayden and Madelyn go down for a nap.
4. I have to say that attending my church (RWOC) is another thing that has been an addiction lately. I am excited to be a part of the body of Christ which is committed to helping you break free of your past circumstances and provide you with the tools necessary to live a productive and abundant life in Christ. Our vision is to break poverty mindsets, to remove religious barriers, and to destroy the walls of racism that divide us and keep us bound.
5. Blogging.. I have just recently began to post more regularly and I love taking pics of the kiddos and blogging about what new blessings are coming our way.


Here are the 5 fabulous bloggers I want to pass the award on to:
1. Karla at Living Life's Journey to it's Fullest. A special thanks to Karla for showing me how to get into the blogger's world. I had no idea it could be this fun. And thanks for sharing special pictures and thoughts about God's creation. Love ya sister.
2. Jolinda at JShands's Xanga. I love seeing her pictures and funny stories of the Marin and Keaton (What beautiful babes). Hopefully there will be many more to come. I know it is hard to find time to blog with two kids, a husband234 and work. You are doing an awesome job! You are an inspiration to me (especially with your latest health craze, you go girl! ).
3 & 4. Jenny and Ryan at goddreamer's Xanga (jenny) and Showie247's Xanga (Ryan). I love reading my cousins blogs. Your love for one another is truly an inspiration, you challenge me to find ways to love my husband different each time I read your blog. Your faith to overcome anything that life brings you is truly a testimony. We are continuing to pray for you and your miraculous healing.
5. Melissa at Will Watching...Thanks for updating on that dashingly handsome little boy with adorable cheeks. Will, you are growing up so fast.

Madelyn Turns 8 Months Old

Madelyn has been doing new things all day today...hmm....must be her 8th month birthday....Congratulations sweetheart on holding a sippee cup with 2 hands (more for teething than drinking).

She is now opening a book and turning pages independently. Today she moved her legs in a reciprocal crawling pattern as mommy facilitate her arms (I know you can't take the therapist out of the mommy).
Anyway, I am so proud of my little girl....Happy 8th month Birthday Madelyn

Another Wilder Blessing

A moment to rest....How amazing! Both of my children went down for a nap together. I don't think this has happened in the last several months (where they slept 2 hours together) . It feels so good to just have the house quiet enough to think to myself. It may sound selfish, but if you are a mom, you know what a blessing these moments can be.

Other news: Madelyn cut her first tooth on Sunday...We didn't know why she was awake every 2 hours on Saturday night until I was holding her in church and decided to check in her mouth with my finger. She was teething on her vibrating star rattle, a lot on the car ride to church (highly recommend this First Steps Star teething rattle to anyone with a baby). Sure enough a sharp incisor bottom tooth was emerging on her lower gum line. Yeah for Mady! Today she tried a bitter bisquit for the first time. She loved it.

Jayden's creative side has emerged this weekend. First he asked Daddy to play Beach with him on Saturday while Mommy was getting a hair cut. He used his small cars for seashells and pretended the carpet was waves. Then, yesterday while I was sewing some pillows for Jayden's new daybed, Jayden was tossing my grocery bags into the air and saying "The leaves are falling from the trees", as the bags floated in the air. It was so cute. At dinner, Jayden used his fork and spoon to build a fire. He used the utensils to stack his chunks of meatloaf, green beans and Mac and Cheese onto a circle in his plate. He loved watching Dan build a fire during our camping trip last month. In all reality, it kind of looked like a fire with the ketchup from his meatloaf on top.....

Christmas Already?

I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. It seems like this year went by so fast. I guess that's what happens when your lives get so busy. We went for Christmas portraits this weekend. The slideshow at the bottom of my blog shows all the pictures (even the not so good ones). The kiddos did great. I was very impressed with the photographer at Portrait Inovations. She really knew how to work with children. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Happy Monday!

New Milestones in the Wilder Home

Madelyn is growing so fast. She now weighs 18 1/2 lbs. She is wearing the same size diapers as Jayden. She is very active and is now crawling from one end of the living room to the other. It is a modified crawl, but she has perfected backward crawling. She does not like to roll, so she transitions from her belly to all fours and then scoots backwards into sitting. Mady pulls up on toy bins to pull a toy out. She is able to maintain half-kneeling for a few seconds while holding onto the toy bin. She is also learning to push up on hands and feet with her bottom up in the air. Not sure where she thinks she is going. I'm hoping she is not trying to walk (I'm not ready for that). Madelyn's favorite thing to do is clap and say yeah. She loves when you clap with her especially to any music. She has started to say duh duh duh to a musical toy, keeping with it's beat. She makes the following sounds, b/d/t/, ma ma, da da. She has just began to mix the sounds saying baba, dada, mama, tttt. It is so cute. I think she thinks that I understand what she is saying. She loves to bang two toys together and is starting

Jayden is talking up a storm. He is able to ride a tricycle down the street, steering correctly and making turn arounds. He is able to jump forward on two feet and climbs everything. He loves to stack objects and also likes to build with Legos. He sorts all the colors and is able to say his colors. He counts to ten independently and attempts to count to 20 (missing a few along the way). He likes to work on puzzles with the alphabet. He is starting to put together interlocking puzzles. His favorite things are Mickey Mouse, soft blankets, sucking his finger while holding his shirt with the other hand, Winnie the Pooh, painting with finger paints, Elmo/Sesame Street workbench toy, riding his bike, taking baths with Mickey Mouse bubbles, and climbing on the swing set.

As for me, my new milestones this past month are having completed two bathrooms with new paint, caulking and re-painted the trim. I am currently choosing a color for our Master bedroom. I am excited but having a hard decision with picking the perfect color. I guess I am worried about having to repaint if I don't like the color. The ceilings are very high in our bedroom so this will be my biggest room to paint in the house so far. In the two years that we have lived here, I have painted our front door, Jayden's nursery (now Madelyn's room), Jayden's toddler bedroom, the kitchen (with Karla's help), the dining room (with Karla's help), all three bathroooms, and trim work throughout the house. Wow, I am almost through painting after this Master bedroom is complete.

I love you, Mommy

As I was getting Jayden ready for his bath today, he turned to me and said "I love you Mommy" as he hugged me. I melted. I think this is the first time he initiated saying I love you. And then after a hug, he asked "Are you happy Mommy"? I responded with a huge smile and explained that I was very happy because I was with my son, daughter and husband during their bath time. I can't believe how much he is able to communicate. I think bath time is Jayden's favorite part of the day. Jayden and Daddy use this time to reflect on what it is that they enjoyed about their day.

On Sunday evening, Jayden sat at the kitchen table, watching his Daddy prepare a meal. He pulled his finger out of his mouth can't break the habit of him sucking his 1st finger) and said "What are you making for dinner Daddy? Josie and I almost fell over. We can't get over the fact that he is asking us questions and starting conversations. It seems like just yesterday when we were probing him to use one or two word phrases to make his requests known. How fast they grow.....

Weekend with Grandpa and Grandma

Jayden and Madelyn had a great weekend with their Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Ray. We spent time Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood, taking a walk in the wagon to the slides, hunting for colorful leaves, celebrating Ray and Jayden's birthdays, and taking a tractor hay ride at the Pumpkin farm in Taylors SC. The warm weather and color change of the leaves made the weekend so beautiful to enjoy outdoors.

Trick or Treat

It is so fun watching Jayden learn how to Trick or Treat. He had so much fun with his friend, Sammy (and the Glinisty family), his aunt Karla, his grandmother (Josie's mother-Brenda and cousins.

Here are some photos of the night.