White Christmas Wonderful-ness

My parents graciously gave each of us kids (Aaron and Billie, Wade and me, Dani and Mark) tickets to see “White Christmas” at the Orpheum this year. To the Madsen fam, this is no ordinary concert, seeing as my parents raised us on musicals from the 40’s and 50’s. When we were kids, dad would rent not only a few movies, but the VCR too. Yep, I said rent a VCR. “Singing in the Rain”, “My Fair Lady”, “Oklahoma”, “Anne of Green Gables.” Okay, the last one isn’t a musical, and I believe it was filmed in the ‘80s but it still counts as an oldie but goodie. It was a great movie childhood- very full of music and culture.
Needless to say, when the number “Sisters” came on stage, Dani and I just couldn’t help ourselves, we had to look at each other and squeeze each other’s hand. We were often like fire and ice as kids, but this song always seemed to bring us together. As long as I got to be Judy. Hahahaha, Dani!!
It was great to share this experience with my family- and the new guy in Dani’s life, particularly because he actually loves oldies too- and has seen “White Christmas” numerous times. I think that sealed the deal. He is in.
Here are a few pics, and yes, I really am that tall. With the help of my fancy shmancy boots that is. You can’t keep this girl out of heels no matter how tall it makes her;)

Jesus' Birthday!

This year was a wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior. We had a great time as a family, just hanging around, playing games, and chatting. We went to Papa and Grandma Peaches' house (G and G Madsen, for those of you wondering...) for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We were blessed to have in our presence a wonderful young man that Dani brought with her ( I just sounded like an old lady, didn't I??) named Mark Castro. He has been a friend of Dani's for over a year, and now he is her very caring, generous boyfriend. She seems to be the happiest I have seen her in a long time! And not just because she has this guy in her life, but it just seems like she is reaching out more- to me (I loooooove that!) and everyone around her. She has a great relationship with her boss, her employees, her Lord, and her family. If she reads this, I know she will blush, but I am just so proud of her!!

Anyway, it was just a blast having the kids older to celebrate all the 'fun' that goes along with Christmas- the food, the presents, the laughter!! Ethan and Emri had a great time opening gifts and they played until they crashed. Little Crewbie was a great baby- soaking up all the attention. Here are a few photos from Papa and Peaches' house:

The Madsen family

Nothing will deter Emri from her food;)

Mark held Crew every chance he got!

Cute couple and Crew

Crewbie Santa

Adrian wishing you 'Peace'

Wonderful Auntie B

Fun with Papa!

Crazy E-man!

AAAhhhh. lovely fire and family!

We then spent a day at Grandpa Fish and Grandma Snuggles (aka G and G Werder!) with Kyle and Erica, Syd and Isaac. The kids play so well together- they are so blessed to have cousins close to their ages. Here are pics from that celebration:

Grandma Snuggles true to her name, kiddos loving the presents.



Beautiful Sydney

Emmers loves the horsey!

So many fun things!

Grandma soaking it all in. Blessed family.

Mohawk Man!!

I have always wondered what E-man would look like with a mohawk- now we know! His hair grows soooo fast, and he really hates getting his hair cut, so we took out the buzzer. All we did was leave a bit on the top! A little convincing that it is cool, and we had a little stud-muffin on our hands! Look at him ham it up!!

Little Mommy Part Two

The kids got to open their gifts from Grandpa Greg and Grandma Janet today! We let them open them early, since they left them with us when the went back to Arizona. The kids were great to not open them for a month!!

Ethan loves his new Leap Frog book and pen. The pen actually reads the book with you. Want to know the funny part?? Wade had to bring it to work to figure out the technology! It even had him stumped- doesn't happen very often!

And my, oh, my, little Mommy now has a way to travel with her baby. She got a carseat and stroller combo. She hasn't stopped playing with it for days. Here is proof:

Crew is one month old!

Okay, so why did the last month of my pregnancy seem like a YEAR and this past month absolutely flew by! I can't believe my little man is already one month old! He is a very good baby- I get up 3 or 4 times a night, but that is to be expected. Not all babies are like Ethan- sleeping through the night at 2 months! He is a combination of our other two kids- likes to be in between mom and dad in bed like Ethan, but grunts all through the night like Emri. We are thankful Ethan doesn't wake up to his grunts- as the boys are sharing a room.

We turned the fourth bedroom into a tv/playroom for the kids instead of a baby room. Sharing a room never hurt any kid! Looking back, I cherish memories of my sister and I sharing a room. Speaking of sisters, I always thought I would like 4 or more children, thinking at least two boys and two girls. Now, I feel like if God is done blessing our family with children, that would be okay with me. I feel complete. Wade, on the other hand, is now talking that he would like more kids! He always said, 'just two'. Time changes us, I guess. Here is a video of the little man at one month:

The little Mommy.

This post is about the "little Mommy" in our house, aka Emri. She is such a loving caretaker of her baby. But, it is only one baby out of the 8 she owns that she really takes care of... the others are unfortunately neglected ;) Emmers changes, burps, cleans, hugs, kisses, and as of late, *ahem* nurses her baby. This, of course, has been ever since Crew was born. The girl says 'baby' one-hundred times a day (at least!) and her other words are coming so quick.

No jealousy for this new big sister!! As she says, "mama- your baby." referring to Crew. And, "My baby." for herself. Too cute.

Crew is Here!!

Yay! This morning at 4:20, Crew Allen Werder was born. 9lbs. 1 oz, 21.5 inches long! And, joy of joys, he was two weeks early!! Trying not to think about how big he would have been full term... haha! I am so very glad he is here- and he is beautiful. Brown hair (and lots of it!) and a perfect little face. He reminds us very much of Ethan right now, however, I caught a hint of a dimple just like Emri.

Labor went really really well- don't throw tomatoes at me ladies! I can't believe how well natural labor can go- didn't have any time for drugs and didn't need them I guess! I chuckle when I think about how I told mom before we left home, "I hope this is it!" and he was born about an hour later. It was an intense drive to the hospital, that's for sure!!

The kids were here earlier and Emri brought her baby with- I have a feeling she will do with her baby whatever I do with Crew. And Ethan had to hold him- he is trying to figure out where mom's belly went. They are all such a blessing and I can't believe how my family has grown!

Here is a pic of the new little guy (wrapped in Emri's pink blankie- oops):