Thanksgiving 2009

I'm a bit late, so please forgive me!

I cannot believe how quickly Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We were blessed to be able to spend time with Matt's family as well as my own. It has been great the Madilyn has had the opportunity to spend more time with her extended family during Matt's absence.

Of course, I was so busy running around, I didn't get any pictures this year! Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday....Christmas will be here before we know it!

Marco Island, Florida

Madilyn and I started our adventure to Marco Island on Tuesday, November 17th. I woke her up at 515 am since we had to leave for the airport at 530. She was a bit disoriented (as expected) but quite cooperative. On our first flight she was able to sit in her carseat and did extremely well. She had breakfast on the plane and chatted with Grammy for most of the ride. Those of you on Facbook may have seen the video of her dancing (during the flight) to "if you're happy and you know it". After our first flight we had a layover in St Louis. This was a great thing because it allowed Madi to get down and run around. After getting the wiggles out we grabbed a quick bite to eat and set out on our next adventure. This time, there was no room for her carseat on board and so she had to sit on my lap. She hasn't done this since she was itty bitty (read- not mobile), so I was a bit nervous. But, our little trooper did great! She even took a nap on my lap. Once we landed, we picked up our rental car and started the hour drive to the Island. It really was an all day adventure!

Since then our days have been filled with playing on the beach, shopping, and lots of fun places to eat. We've had a great trip! I'm also happy to report (knock on wood) that Madilyn has slept through the night every night since we got here. This is HUGE news for our little girl!

Here are some photos from our trip!

Flagstaff Bound

Today I'm heading up to Flagstaff to pick up Brianna for the weekend. Megan will be joining us later when we return to Phoenix for a craft-a-thon weekend! I'm looking forward to having fun with the girls. I'm sure there will be pictures to follow after all the craziness!

We're getting closer!

With the Holidays now in sight, the end of this deployment is finally feeling like it is getting closer. Of course we've been counting down since day one, but the end seemed like an eternity back then.

We have enjoyed our time here and I'm sure there is plenty of fun to come, but we are also really looking forward to returning home and settling down again. It will be great to have Matt back again.

We have been incredibly fortunate to be able to chat via webcam with Matt in the last few weeks. Madi LOVES seeing him and comes running to him. She says "daddy!" and blows kisses to him. It's so adorable. He's also been able to see the little things like how well she runs now, watching her play in the backyard, or "eating breakfast" with her from across the table.

We have been keeping ourselves plenty busy passing the time. On Tuesday we are headed to Marco Island, FL for a 5 day R&R. The weather looks perfect, and the beach even more so. I think Madi is going to have a great time (as long as we make it though the flights!). We'll be back on the 22nd, and then Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

Breast Cancer Walk For Wendy

Today I woke up to a text message from Sandy, asking Madilyn and I if we'd like to head down to Tempe Beach Park for the Annual Breast Cancer Walk. Madilyn's Great-Aunt Wendy (Sandy's sister) has breast cancer and is a true fighter! She is doing great and we wouldn't have missed the opportunity to support her in her fight. Here's a photo Wendy took of Madi dressed for the occasion.

Happy Halloween 2009

Well, it's that time of year again. Madilyn's second Halloween has already come and gone! After only a couple of houses, she was a pro at trick-or-treating! Enjoy a few pictures from her fun night :)

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!!