Rothlisberger Randoms - August

Not gonna lie - I've been super busy this past week and every time I think about sitting down to write this blog post, it just seems too overwhelming! So we're gonna go short on details this month :)

McKinley
- Had her 15-month appointment ... 24 pounds 15 ounces (1.5 pounds lighter than Madison), 30 inches tall
- Her new favorite game is playing Hide and Seek in the pantry. I came out of my room one day and started calling her name when I didn't see her in the living room. After a couple minutes, I heard some rustling in the pantry and walked over there. She was crouched down and started laughing and squealing as soon as she saw me. We've now played this game dozens of times :)
- Has started folding her arms for prayers. It's kind of funny hwo her little mind works. She immediately folds her arms after anyone sings a song (since most prayers in church and our nighttime prayer are said immediately after songs) and whenever I walk to the table to sit down for a meal. The latter is especially funny. I'm usually the last one to sit down as I prepare everyone else's plates and sometimes we've already prayed with me standing in the kitchen so the girls can start eating. But even still, when I come to the table, she folds her arms and we have to pray again!
- Is obsessed with shoes - Everyone has to have shoes on all the time. She brings random shoes to us and tries to put them on our feet and is always wanting her shoes or Madison's shoes on her own feet. I've started wearing shoes at all times now just so I don't end up wearing Jordan's shoes or high heels that randomly brings me throughout the day.
- Her new favorite word is "Daddy." She says this all.the.time. When she sees Jordan coming home through the window, she says it like 700 times in a row until he comes in the door and kisses her. So cute!
- She loves to be outside and go places. She heads for the door and says bye when I get the key.
- Fighting over toys is starting to be a real problem in this house, but the girls are so cute when they get caught ... all we have to do is say one of their names using the "tone" (you know the one) and they immediately drop whatever toy they're fighting over and hug. It's seriously the cutest thing EVER!

Madison
-  Loves bologna. This is so weird to me. I hate bologna. But the girl who refuses to eat anything loves bologna. She tried some at Sam's Club and said she liked it so I bought it for her and, sure enough, she eats it like a champ, although she calls it hot dog for some reason. I'm just happy to have something besides macaroni and cheese that she'll eat for lunch.
- When Jordan left one morning: "I want my daddy to come back because my daddy is very special to me"
- We were hanging out one night and decided we needed a more structured activity so Jordan suggested we play Don't Eat Pete. This is now Madison's favorite game!
- 6:19 am: "Mom, the sky outside is pink and white and blue and golden." #firstsunrise
- One day she informed me she was Super Madison and needed a superhero cape so I rigged one out of a receiving blanket. She wore it the entire day, even to the grocery store :)
- Went to the dentist for the first time and did AWESOME! I was really worried about how she would react, especially since I hate the dentist and have to be dragged every time. But we got her a couple library books about doing to the dentist the week before and read them a lot in the days before her appointment - she started calling them her brave books. And she seriously didn't have any problems at the dentist! I was very impressed with her!
- Still loves all things pink and princess

The Rest of Us
- We finally made it to "The Decision" ... and we got what we wanted!! Well, kind of. We got exactly what we requested for externs, but we're both still coming to terms with the fact that we're leaving in less than a year! Yep, we're moving back west and doing the last two externs in Arizona! We really felt like this was the best thing both for Jordan's career and for our family. But it's so hard to think about leaving this place. We have seriously LOVED living here! We have made some incredible friends and grown so much as a couple and as a family. I love our lives here. But I think that just means we'll love our next adventure too :) I'm so excited about having family close and letting the girls finally be part of all the fun things their cousins have been doing over the past two years!
- I got a "new" calling at the beginning of August. Our Relief Society President was released, which means the counselors are automatically released as well. But the new president wanted me to keep serving so I'm still the 1st Counselor. It's been very interesting adjusting to a new president, but it's always good to learn new things and new ways of dealing with people!
- Jordan finished another semester of school, and we definitely enjoyed having him home for a few days! I can't believe how fast this is all going! He only has two more semesters of actual school and then he'll just be doing his thing full time :) I'm so proud of all that he's accomplished so far - he's worked very hard and done an awesome job both in school and at home! I'm looking forward to the day he gets a paycheck, but it will be tough to not have these nice big breaks every four months :)

Another reader :)

How can you not love this scene?!

Another artistic shot by Madison looking through her dollhouse window. I had actually left the camera in her room following the two photos above and forgotten about it. Several hours later, she went in her room for quiet times. After about 15 minutes, she came out and said she couldn't think of anything else to take pictures of in her room. She had taken 83.

Resourceful

At the dentist. Even this picture makes me break out in hives, but she did great!

Madison was having trouble falling asleep one night to we caved and let her snuggle on the couch for a little while. She was very content to watch Dad play games on her iPad :)

Bedtime story

Pudding face

Yep, that's McKinley stealing food from Madison's plate when she's not looking.

Harvesting

I love Madison's face in this picture. You'd think she was going down a roller coaster!