I think she likes it....

Yesterday I was able to find this great climber for Madilyn on Cragslist! It was too good of a deal to pass up, and I think she loves it! We have it inside for now. Once it cools off we'll move it out to the backyard. She woke up this morning screaming "more wheeeeeeee!" which is Madilyn for "I want to go play on the slide again"! Too cute.

Brianna's Off to College!

I can't believe my little sister is already in college. Where do the years go?

This weekend Madilyn ad I went up to Northern Arizona University to help my sister get settled in her dorm and celebrate her birthday (which was yesterday.....the big 18!). We enjoyed seeing her new place and of course cooling off. Just 2.5 short hours away, but the weather is sooooo much nicer than it is here in Phoenix. Lucky girl!

She says she'll be back at Thanksgiving, but I hope she'll visit us again a bit sooner than that :)

Here are a few pictures my mom took. Madilyn and I left flag before the family picture.


Good luck on your first day of classes today, Brianna! We love you!

Keeping Daddy Close

Madilyn has grown quite fond of any pictures of Matt. She holds them close and carries them around the house, talking to Daddy. She has since ruined a couple of pictures with all of her loving, and we decided to get her something she could take with her everywhere. this way she can always keep her Daddy close. Operation Hug-a-Hero makes items for children with their deployed parents' picture on it! As I browsed the site, I decided a taggie blanket would be perfect for our little girl. It came in the mail tonight and I can't wait to show it to Madilyn tomorrow. Here's a sneak peak!

Madilyn will be staying with her Grandma and Grandpa Merritt this weekend while I help Brianna move in up north, so I'll be sure to ask them to get a few pictures of Madilyn and Daddy while I am away :)

"New" Chair

Recently, while talking to my Grandma about Madilyn's love for finding things just her size to sit on, she remembered she had a little chair of mine from when I was a kid. I brought it out for Madilyn today and she loves it! She sits in it for a while and reads to herself, then hops down puts the books in the chair and pushes them all around the house. When she's done walking around, she grabs the books and starts the process all over again. She's just so darned cute I had to put up this picture!

Splash Pad Playdate!

Today we met up with our friends Ali and Cameron for some fun playtime at Desert Ridge Marketplace. The kids got to play out by the splash pad until it got too hot. Afterward, we took them to Barnes and Noble to play in the children's area. They both had a great time playing with the trains and running around on the stage. (Madilyn also fell in love with a new puzzle). For lunch we headed off to Paradise Bakery...yummy! After lunch we parted ways (Cameron had to head home for a nap). Madilyn and I hung out for another hour or so and wandered through the shops. Here are some fun pictures from our day!

Fifteen Month Appointment

Miss Madilyn had her 15 month well baby check up this afternoon! She's in the 50% all over. She is 30.5 inches and 22lbs 2oz. She was doing very well waiting until the doctor came into the room. Once she saw the doctor, she put on her shoes, grabbed my purse and headed for the door saying "bye bye" as she walked. She was really less than pleased when I made her stay! She had a few shots and she cried pretty hard. I'm glad I gave her some tylenol before her visit!

Swimming with Mama!

Well, the days here in Arizona are HOT. I think my dad told me they are heading for a record breaking month. Normally July is filled with awesome monsoons and the like. There have been a few great storms since our arrival, but also way too many days over 115!

Madi and I like to try and keep cool by jumping in the pool. However, it doesn't keep us cool for long. See, it's so warm outside, even the pool water is like bath water. Ah, I'm looking forward to it cooling off and it's not even August yet! Here are a few pics I got Bri to take of Madilyn and I out for our afternoon swim the other day :)

Mmmm, Nutella!

For snack this afternoon, Madilyn had a Nutella and (homemade) strawberry jam sandwich. You know, kinda like a PB&J....but better!

I think she really loved it. What do you think?

New Pictures for Daddy!

Overdue updates!

Whew! It's been a while since I've had the time to update, but I'll do my best to get everyone caught back up. Life has been quite the adventure in the Merritt home these past couple of weeks.

Many of you know that Matt was getting ready to deploy. This meant many changes for both him and for our family. One of which was Madilyn and I returning home to Arizona to live with my parents while he is away. We also decided to move out of our home, put everything into storage, and save some extra money during this time.

Packing up the whole house with a toddler is no easy task! Thankfully, my sister, Brianna, was able to come out to Oklahoma for almost a month to help out with packing and with Madilyn. Matt's parents were also able to join us in the few days before Matt's departure to help with the final packing, loading, and unloading of all the goods into storage. We are so thankful for every one of you!!!!!

During this process we had to spend a few nights in hotels before leaving town. This was pretty rough on Madilyn! We had our final move out inspection on Monday and left for New Mexico from there. We arrive in Albuquerque around 6pm and met up with our friend Adam and his girlfriend Katie for dinner (Thanks again for hosting us!). From there it was on to one more hotel. Madilyn had a rough night, but finally went down around midnight and slept until about 630. We grabbed some breakfast and gathered our things.......back on the road again. The second day was a bit rougher than the first as Madilyn was becoming more and more impatient with all these hours spent in the car! Thank goodness for our DVD player and snacks!!!!

We made it home to Phoenix Tuesday evening and are settling in. Madilyn is doing much better now that she is back on her routine and has lots of room to run, play, and SWIM!

Since I haven't put any pictures up in a while, here is one of the Little Miss playing this morning :) She'll be 15 months on Sunday!