Eighteen Months

Madilyn and I just got back from her 18 month check up. How is she a year and a half old already?!?! Besides being busy playing, she's also been very busy growing! She is 23.4lbs and 33 inches tall. She's grown 3 inches since her 15 month check up (one month late, so 16 months) just two months ago!!!

The doctor was also very impressed by her vocabulary and cognitive reasoning.

Our little princess is right on track and we couldn't be happier!

Pictures!

After 3 short weeks, we're back from Colorado! As you can see by all the photos below, we had a wonderful and busy vacation. The cool weather (and snow) and time with close friends was just the breath of fresh air we needed to keep on trucking through this deployment. Speaking of which, we're halfway done!!!!! This itself should be cause for a celebration. As we like to say, it's all downhill from here...

Madilyn the day we arrived.

Duke

Madi playing outside with Jordan

A morning at the zoo with our friends Debra and Isla

Madilyn is watching the seal show at the zoo. She loved it!

Checking out the Gorillas

Taylor's soccer game

Playing at the pool in the rec center. Altus needs a rec center like this!

Hanging out in the lazy river with mama.

What A Week!

The week started out great. Madilyn was finally starting to settle in ans sleep a bit better. Wednesday we met up with our friends Debra and Isla and had a wonderful time.

However, come Wednesday afternoon, Madilyn woke up with a fever after her nap. Considering one of Shelley's girls (Taylor) was just on the tail end of the swine flu, I was pretty sure we had it coming. I tried hard to wash wash wash.....but it still got her. By Thursday morning her temp had spiked way up and she was miserable. Since we're out of town, I had to take her to the urgent care center down the street. The doc said he was pretty certain it was H1N1. He told us he could run the test but that is has a 40% false negative rate and wouldn't change the course of treatment, so we declined. It was a good thing we went in through, because she had and ear infection in the left ear and was wheezing. Her O2 sats were hanging out around 90%. So, they sent us home with some antibiotics and a nebulizer. Here's a picture of our poor little baby. What a trooper.

Race for the Cure

Today we left early in the morning to head to downtown Denver for the annual Race for the Cure! We did the family walk, which is a mild version of the actual run. It is much easier with the stroller ;) A friend of ours, Shelley, lost her mom to breast cancer a few years back. Since meeting Shelley, we have tried to go with her family to the race each year. It is a very emotional time for all of them. This year, we had an extra reason to run. Matt's Aunt Wendy was also diagnosed with breast cancer.

I think it is awesome that every year so many people gather together for this great cause.

We had a great time meeting lots or fellow supporters and many survivors as well. At the end of the race there are several booths set up where they hand out food and other goodies to the participants. Madi sure loved all the new snacks.

Here are a couple of photos from the day. The first is the group we were walking with. The second is a photo of Madilyn and me. Be sure to see the pants I made her... she's quite the supporter too!!

Just a short update ...

Wow! Has it already been a week since my last post? Where have my days gone?

It seems like we have been very busy this last week, which is a good thing. Keeping busy helps shift our attention from missing Matt and passing the time!

Madilyn has become VERY chatty in the last week. She roams the house constantly babbling away. At this point, we don't really understand her sentences, but I'm sure we will soon! She will look you straight in the face and says "ajglkjgd akhlkj hehendj sdknksd" or something similar with much conviction. When we tell her we don't understand, she rolls her eyes or laughs at us and runs off. But don't worry, she'll be back in 5 minutes to see if you get it the second time!

Madilyn is now 17 months (as of the 19th). By my rough calculations she is just over 23lbs and has grown over 2 inches in the last month. It's like she woke up one moring and all of her pants were too short! She says many, many, words now including:
~please, thank you, more, all done, NO!, get down, sit down, swing, walk, go bye bye, night (night night, at bedtime), Elmo! (Aunt Bri's dog is named Elmo), Mickey, and wheeeeee!
~ She can also made the animal sounds for a cow, horse, dog, frog, sheep, and tiger.

We are heading to Colorado on Wednesday and we will be there though the 21st of October. We are looking forward to cooler weather and lots of fun with old friends. I will try to take plenty of pictures while we are away!

Just because....

....I love this picture :)

La Jolla

This weekend Megan and I took an impromptu trip to La Jolla! We left on Saturday morning and returned on Sunday evening. We had a great time!

After checking in to our hotel, we decided to head out for a walk and catch lunch at Islands. Boy, I have missed this place! They have the best burgers!!! After lunch, we had our nails done. I sure love a good pedicure!

By the time we were done getting pampered, we thought we would head to downtown La Jolla and wander around the shops. What a cute area. It was lots of fun browsing through the little stores and people watching. As dinner time appraoched, we decided on a fun Mexican bar. We sat outside, enjoyed great food, and watched the people go by and the waves crashing. Finally, it was time for desert! Melody had mentioned we should try Apple Green for some frozen yogurt. We took her up on her suggestion, and we are SO glad we did! If you are ever in La Jolla, you've got to try it too!

Sunday morning we ventured out to the La Jolla farmers market. I'm always a sucker for a good farmers market. We had some tasty crepes for breakfast and picked up some wonderful fresh produce. Nothing quite like local produce. This place is also a must if you are in the area on a Sunday morning.

Before heading home we went to the beach for a bit and just enjoyed the water. La Jolla is a great little town. I'm sure we'll be back!

My parents were happy to report the Madilyn was a perfect angel while we were away on out 36 hour mini vacation :)

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Yesterday while out to dinner with our friend Heather, Madilyn was getting a bit impatient. To try and distract her for a bit until the check came, I started singing the isty bitsy spider. Now, I've been singing this to her for a while, and she usually just stares me down. Yesterday she actually tried to sing along AND do the hand motions! When the song was over she kept on clapping and telling herself, "good girl"! Then she'll say, "again, again"! I swear she's more and more fun every day :)

Labor Day Weekend

What a great weekend! Saturday it cooled down to an unheard of low 80's here in Phoenix! We packed up are stuff and took off for the park. We couldn't help but enjoy the awesome weather!!!!






Today, after a nice BBQ, I pulled out Madi's sprinkler for the first time. Too fun! She was a little apprehensive at first, but ended up having a great time.

After sprinklers, it was time to jump in the water! Madilyn loves to be tossed up in the water! She's becoming quite the little fish :)

MyGym

Looking for activities to keep a very busy toddler entertained can be quite the challenge! Luckily, we found a great place nearby! It's called MyGym, and Madilyn loves it. They have all kinds of activities for the kids. The rearrange the place and set up new obstacles and challenges each week. This means there is always something new and exciting each week! They sing songs, do group activities and have special "stations" set up during the course of each class. Of course, right now Madilyn's favorite things include the swing, trampoline, double bars, balance beams, and anything with a ball!

Don and Sandy took her to a make-up class on Saturday and were able to get some pictures! This is great because I'm usually by myself and it is nearly impossible to get a good picture while my toddler is running in 20 different directions!