Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
9/365
This is a picture of the necklace my wonderful fiance got me for Chrismtas. I love it. It is my birthstone (Garnet). The last piece of Garnet jewelry I owned was a garnet ring that my mom gave to me when I was 12. I treasure this necklace so much.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
8/365
My picture for yesterday is a picture of me and the other girls minus a couple I think.
Friday, January 7, 2011
7/365
Thursday, January 6, 2011
6/365
We enjoyed walking around downtown phoenix, and I really got to see how beautiful that area is. Architectural and cultural. I once lived on that side of town, but when I did it wasn't as "grown up" as it is now. I loved looking at all the buildings and just feeling the buzz of the people walking around town.
It was beautiful.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
5/365
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
4/365
My little man decided he was going to be a super hero today, and wanted to wear a cape. We had so much fun playing outside and enjoying our beautiful weather today.
Here's Madyn's sweet little smile as my 4th picture of the year.
Monday, January 3, 2011
3/365
Here is pic 3 out of 365:
Its Me, without my glasses. Which happened to come in today. Look for more pics with my glasses!!! :)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
2/365
If I use a recipe I'll make sure to post here which one I tried. I love this cookbook and can't WAIT to crack into it!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tried to do it last year but failed! (1/365)
Last year I tried to do the "365" project but got all mixed up when we went to Ryan's wedding and then at Memorial day. So this year I'm going to give it another try. So this blog will now become my "365" blog! :D
Here is day one!
So the coloring is really weird, and yeah I kinda airbrushed my skin because i was REALLY red and no makeup, but its me and my baby. Today.
I'm really looking forward to this new year and all that it has in store. Hope everyone had a safe New Years and look forward to seeing you guys around!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas and other random thoughts. . .
My neice, DiAnna-Jo ended up in the hospital on Christmas day this year. She would NOT stop screaming and was in pain, so my sister and her future mother in law and the babies dad all went to the hospital and they admitted her (DiAnna-Jo). The dr's brought in a GI specialist today and they did an upper GI test and found out she has acid reflux, and is now on a special formula that is basically amino acids. The valve on her stomach doesn't close all the way, which is why she spits up a lot! I went to see her today and she looked so much better then she's looked since she was born. She's starting to really use her hands, and really focused on them. She goes cross eyed when looking at them. Such a little sweetheart. I love her so much and she's only 3 months old tomorrow! It's CRAZY! lol
So, Madyn got a bike for Christmas!! He went and rode it today for the first time. From what I heard he only fell once, but he didn't cry! I wasn't able to see him ride it unfortunately since I went to be with my neice today, but daddy took video of it and if I can figure out how to get it on the computer i'll try and post it!
Madyn is getting so big, and I can hardly believe in about 8 months I'll have a kindergartener. Seems like just yesterday I was walking up to this GIANT blue door myself covered in teddy bear stickers with other kids names on it as well as my own starting this adventure. I am so nervous for this adventure to start, and find myself being a little selfish with him. He's such a sweetheart and definitely a momma's boy & I not-so-secretly hope that doesn't ever change.
Anyways, I am looking forward to the new year, lots of new things happening this year! Hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday season, even if you didn't celebrate Christmas, I hope you guys enjoyed all the family time and all of the memories that were made were good ones :)
Friday, November 12, 2010
Get ready for a lot of updates! :)
September 12, we attended my fiance's youngest cousin's birthday!
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September 22nd My sister, her fiance and I all went to the park and I took her last maternity pictures before my beautiful neice was born. Here's the pictures
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On September 27, while at her doctors office getting checked out her water broke so she was sent to the hospital to have her baby at 8 am. DiAnna-Jo Nicole Steinbauer was born at 5:06 PM weighing 6 lbs 4 oz and was 18.5 in long. She was so beautiful instantly. It was so amazing to watch the birth. My sister did an AMAZING job. Didn't cry once during the entire labor process, nor did she yell or scream. She received an epidural at 8 cm dialated and shortly after having the epi she was ready to push. In just a few short pushes DiAnna-Jo came into this world. Brittany was in the hospital for another 3 weeks with complications after the birth of DiAnna. She went home 4 short days of a month. I'm proud of her and she is my hero.
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After DiAnna got here things were busy, with all of the family helping bradley out to watch DiAnna so he could work and sleep. I loved the times when DiAnna-Jo would come to visit and took many opportunities to photograph her.
October brought halloween fun!
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And now we're into november. Look for more updates soon! :)
Friday, September 10, 2010
September 10, 2010
Enjoy :)
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Monday, September 6, 2010
July 2010
July was quite an exciting month. At the beginning, Brandon, Madyn and I celebrated 4th of July right from home. The fireworks pictures are ones that I took off the TV.
The next day we got up pretty early and went up north to go to Brandon's grandma's cabin. We took his sisters quad up there and all rode around. It was so much fun. I spent 90% of the day on a quad. It was the first time I had ever ridden one, let a lone drive it. We had lunch up there, and then headed back down town at around 5, making it back home safe and sound at around 8.
July 6th, 2010, was Madyn's 4th birthday! I couldn't believe it when I woke up that morning, but my son was 4!! He's such a joy, and so amazing! I had planned on going to breakfast and he got a free rooty tooty jr from IHOP, only he didn't like this plan. Instead, he woke up and was cranky about almost everything. I finally got him to calm down, and then we got into my mom's van and she had tried really hard to hide part of his present..(a yellow smiley face balloon) behind the back seat, but the little stinker saw it and got all upset once again!! So the rest of the ride to Ihop was loud! He unfortunately is still a temper tantrum throwing little boy.
Once we actually got to Ihop and the balloon was placed in those little hands all was right with the world again. We got in, waited to be seated and listened to madyn talk nonstop. Its so much fun hearing all about what is in his brain. We were seated shortly after and all chaos ensued once again. Madyn did NOT want to sit still, and only wanted to see what else his grams had brought for him. So after calming him down once again, we gave him the present. He started tearing tissue after tissue out of the bag, to reveal at the bottom a toy story sticker book, an eric carle board game, and a new toy story jump rope! He was so happy! ...So happy that he didn't want to eat any of the breakfast that was picked out for him. We finished breakfast and headed home. We needed some rest to refuel, from the morning we had just had.
That afternoon when Brandon got home we opened the gift I picked out for him. A package of action figures, a yo-yo, some temporary tattoos, and a stuffed caterpillar. He loved all of them! Then we headed to dinner, which was Madyn's choice. We went to Grimaldi's, a really nice pizza restaurant! It was my first time there and it was so yummy! Madyn agreed! After that we headed to every little boys favorite place....Toys R Us! Madyn got to pick out some new toys! It was so fun to see him picking out what he wanted. Then we went home for the day.
I think overall Madyn had a very good birthday, and I hope he enjoyed himself. :)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Twas a good day!
Brandon's getting sick, and I feel bad because I can't help him much except to keep Madyn busy so he is able to rest. Hopefully it will go away soon though! I hate when he's sick. :(
Tomorrow I am hanging out with my friend Heaven and her little girl (possibly her husband too but not sure!). I'm going to be taking 1st birthday pictures of her. I am super excited for this opportunity! I love being able to do this for my friends. Photography is my main hobby.
Saturday and sunday I may or may not work, who knows. Even if I'm scheduled I could get called off, or get called in early. Its so funny how it works, but I love my job. Monday we're going up north to see Brandons grandma, and enjoy some time with family up there. Madyn may get to ride a quad for the first time, who konws though. It will be an excellent time to take pictures! On Tuesday is Madyn's 4th birthday, so again...More pictures!!! Keep your eyes pealed for picture blogs coming up! This next week will be fun for sure!
Hope that all my readers/family/friends have a great and safe independence day weekend! Those in Arizona, stay cool!!!! :)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Half way through the year already?
I had my application appointment with the headstart for Madyn last week or the week before, and have decided that I am just going to "homeschool" him this year to get him ready for Kindergarden next year. I think this will be better then sending him to an actual school this year, because I am his mom and I have succeeded in teaching him what he already knows now, and because we can do it at our own pace and not worry about him getting behind. He is a really smart boy and I know that we'll have fun doing this together.
Also, Brandon has planned a camping trip next month and I'm super excited! I haven't been camping in ages. We're going to go to the Grand Canyon!! Madyn and I have never been there, and the last time Brandon went was a while ago, so it will be a great vacation for all of us!! I'll have lots of fun and interesting pictures to share when we get back I'm sure!
This weekend Brandon spruced up our master bathroom and I'm in love with it! He completely surprised me when I came home from work on saturday. It was nice. He put some shelves up, but I'm not quite sure what to put on them. I wanted to put candles, but since our wall slopes out the shelves aren't secure enough to hold candles on them. If you have any suggestions let me know!
Friday, June 25, 2010
My Dream House
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I think I'm gonna have a great summer!
Today I finally took Madyn to the pool for the first time since it started being steadily 90 degrees plus! It was SO much fun. We spent about an hour and a half there. Even though I thoroughly applied sunscreen I still managed to burn on my shoulders and possibly my face. Oh well. I can tell you it won't be the last! I love the water. Its probably the only part about summer that I look forward to right now.
After swimming we ate lunch and got ready for our consultation appointment with a pediatric surgeon. We spent one and half hours in the waiting room and then got back into a room where 5 minutes later we were done. I'm now waiting for my insurance to "approve" the surgery and then we'll schedule a date to have the hernia removed. I'm so glad that this isn't hurting Madyn at all.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Today was a good day!
Friday, June 18, 2010
TGITSF :)
The weather lately has been HOT, which isn't unusual for Arizona in June, but the "oficial Monsoon season" is in full swing and we have no rain. Odd huh?
Monday, June 14, 2010
I am going to be an AUNT!
She is registered at Walmart, babiesrus, Target & Baby depot inside burlington coat factory. I went with her to register at target & Baby depot. It was a lot of fun and we were able to visit and enjoy each others company.
Today I went with her to the first ultrasound since she found out she was pregnant. She is 23 weeks along. DiAnna had been pretty still through the first part of the ultrasound when the technician was doing the measurements but when myself & our mom came in the room she started wiggling around and it was so much fun to see her. Unfortunately she didn't get any pictures printed because it was inside the hospital but it was just SO amazing to see my neice!
I am SO excited for october!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Memorial Day 2010
2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
june 1st already?!
Anyways, I'm still doing swagbucks! Wishing id get more referrals so that I can earn points faster! I have a goal to use my points for my neice and baby things aren't cheap which means I need lots more points.
(450 points=$5 amazon gift card!) :)
Friday, May 28, 2010
I've got Swagger
What is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks are points that you earn from doing basic searches on their website. Every so often you'll be awarded points for your searches. For 450 points you earn a $5 amazon gift card. You are able to stack these gift cards, which means you can buy things for free!
I already have 1717 points which is enough for almost 4 $5 amazon gift cards. However I'm saving my points to get $50 amazon gift card (5,900!)
Its really easy!
If you want to join click this link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Mandaraye89
Good luck to all!
I promise its not a scam! I would NOT be doing this if it were! :)
Friday, April 9, 2010
OHH… Madyn…
Okay so when I hear pots and pans being shuffled around while I am in the bathroom and its just Madyn and I in the apartment I automatically know something is going on. When I came out of the bathroom yesterday I was greeted by Madyn who had a yellow “meatball” in his hand…This yellow “meatball” looked suspiciously like the yolk to one of our Easter eggs that we had left in the refrigerator. I took the “yellow meatball” from my sons hand and I walked cautiously into the kitchen to find this:
Yep…My brilliant 3 year old had definitely gotten into the Easter eggs and was trying to make scrambled eggs. I was fuming mad at him because I was going to take pictures of our pretty Easter Eggs for another blog post but when I asked him what he was trying to do with the eggs he sweetly replied “I was trying to make scrambled eggs.” How could I possibly be mad at him for that? My little guy already has a strong desire to cook in the kitchen! I can’t deny him that learning experience!
So yes that little event pretty much made my day.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Being a Mom!
No one told me when I was pregnant just how much I would love my boy. No one told me how much he would steal my heart on a daily basis, and nobody told me that no matter what he did during the day, at the end of the night he would still want to cuddle up with me before going to bed!
At age 3 (and a half!) Madyn is my pride & Joy. He’s my everything. He’s in love with running, and jumping and climbing onto anything that seems “sturdy” enough to support him! He loves to eat BBQ chips, Pop tarts, Lucky Charms, PB & J sandwiches, Chicken Nuggets, Popcorn, Broccoli, Strawberries & Bananas! And sometimes if we have all of the above listed he’ll beg me to eat at least 95% of what I listed …In one day! He’s definitely got the appetite of a man already!
Madyn loves toy story (Buzz is his favorite!) He loves Paper airplanes & coloring. If I had to sum him up in one word it would be “Energetic!”
My Life has changed dramatically in the past few years since I became a mom! I’ve become quite opinionated on diapers, pacifiers, potty training and other mom related issues. I’ve stayed up later than other women my age, and I’ve also been up way earlier than most girls my age too.
I had Madyn the summer before my senior year, which made going to school really hard for me. I did not have my own car so I walked my infant to a baby sitter who lived near my high school and did 3 online classes a day after my one on campus class (which was marching band!). Since I put top priority to Madyn, my grades dropped dramatically in my online classes and I dropped out of my high school to take care of him. In 2007, the year after I had Madyn I started school at an online campus. It took me 2 years to complete the classes I needed to do to graduate, but when I completed them, I received my high school diploma. The road was far from easy, but I definitely would not take anything back.
When my 21st birthday came around this year unlike most 21 year olds I was not able to do the “power hour” with my honey because of the fact that I had to think about Madyn first. Instead we enjoyed a day of bowling and being together as a family for my 21st birthday. It definitely made my 21st birthday more special because I was able to share it with my son!
I’m not really sure what inspired me to write all of this, but I do know that if I could reach out to one young girl about how being a young mom has impacted my life, then I am happy. Honestly the only way to 100% prevent pregnancy is to use protection (birth control/condoms/abstinence!) until you and your significant other are ready for a baby.
I’m also not sure if all of this made sense, or if its just my ramblings but this came from my heart!
This little boy is my whole world.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
He's just not that into you....
Today however is off to a very rough start. Madyn's being a pain. I've already had to take two of his toys away which is not making him happy at all, but I want him to know that it is NOT okay to throw toys, or punch your mother! He currently is screaming like he was beaten (which sucks because we live in an apartment with neighbors really nearby to our apartment) and I had the windows open until he started this tantrum.
I'm starting to think that age 3 is worse than age 2, because at least age 2 they didn't know how to talk quite as much and they are still taking possibly 2 naps a day. I am seriously counting down the days until he is 4! Hopefully things will go well and I'll be able to get him into a headstart *(preschool)* in the fall so I can get a day job during the week!
Anyways. Things have calmed down now so I'm going to go enjoy playing a game with him...or we may just go outside and play. I love arizona right now!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Hey it’s okay…
I stole this idea from another fellow blogger who stole the idea from Glamour Magazine!
to not read the articles about “what your baby should be doing” because you know that your child is NOT following the trend and does things their own way and probably always will!
to want to cook a full meal every day of the week
to not cook every day of the week, even though you have the desire to do so.
to love nick jr simply because it keeps your toddler entertained …And its educational too!
to take 50 pictures of your son in one day!
to sleep when there’s nothing else to do!
to want a baby girl…just so you can buy the most lacey, frilly, girly things ever!
to change your twitter/facebook/myspace status whenever you’re doing something different!
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Today has been a very nice relaxing day. Madyn took a nice two hour nap again today which will definitely be nice for when his daddy gets home! Hopefully there won’t be any crankies around here tonight!
We went and played golf outside for about an hour, and we ran and jumped and climbed on trees. I hope that he always enjoys playing outside!
Nothing really new happened so far today, but I just wanted to make sure I updated you guys!
<3
He loves golfing…Just like his daddy!
Monday, March 29, 2010
So Exhausting
This month has been full of fun, but tiring events. The most recent one being the wedding of Brandon’s cousin this past weekend. We had so much fun and I really enjoyed being able to attend it. Madyn behaved pretty well, we made it through the ceremony without him yelling out or making a scene so woohoo for that one! The ceremony was beautiful and so was the reception! I wish them many years of happiness!
Congrats Ryan & Sarah!!
Us at the reception. I loved seeing Brandon in a tux and Madyn in his suit. He is getting SO big :(.
Brandon’s mom made Madyn’s suit!!! :D
Anyways that’s a little of what’s been going on here. Next month shouldn’t be TOO busy so hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently!
<3
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Hey, It's Okay Tuesday!!!
Hey it's Okay...
to not want to get out of bed until 8 am, so that you don't forget to take the birth control!
to stay in your jammies until 3 pm or later, if you have nowhere to be!
to rearrange the furnature frequently!
to hog the blankets in bed at night!
to not want to get rid of the baby clothes because you may have another baby down the line that could wear them. (because those clothes are too expensive!)
to be blogging when you should be doing the dishes, the laundry or cleaning the bathroom! :/




























