ABCs

A Busy Week!

Phew! The last several days have been a whirlwind of motion around here.... and we've loved every bit of it!

The hustle and bustle started last week with Matt's "TDY" to Anaheim. He didn't have to stay overnights there thankfully, but with the commute and conference hours, he was gone quite a bit!

Wednesday my good friend Heather arrived for a visit! She had a big exam to take here in LA and was able to spend a few extra days with us. It was so wonderful to spend some time with her again. It's been harder and harder to get together as we've gotten older, but I suppose that is all a part of growing up right? Anyway, Friday night we had burgers at Islands, saw a movie, and picked up super yummy frozen yogurt on the way home. Saturday morning was spent at the farmers market in Torrance. I love going to the farmers market! Then it was farewell as she went to spend some time with family (and Mickey!).  Heather, I had a fabulous time and hope you did too!


Saturday afternoon Don, Sandy, and Melody all arrived. Just in time for Sandy's birthday! We celebrated with yummy grilled steaks, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, and of course, chocolate birthday cake!

On Sunday the Merritt clan (minus Madilyn and myself) went to Six Flags in Valencia. I think they had a good time. They sure were exhausted when they made it home last night :) Madilyn and I kept busy by spending the morning at the park with a new friend. The girls played chase, had lots of time swinging, blowing bubbles, and flying kites. Then we took a good long nap all afternoon!

This morning we took a beautiful drive along the coast and stopped for a little walk along the cove. It was a beautiful 64 degrees. Madi really liked tossing pebbles into the ocean with Matt and seeing all the puppies. Shortly after, we had to say goodbye to everyone as they started the drive back into Arizona.

Thanks again to all of our visitors! We had a wonderful time with each and every one of you and hope we'll see you again soon!

Imagination Avenue

Today Madilyn and I met up with our friends Ali and Cameron at Imagination Avenue in Phoenix. What a cute little place! It's 3500 square feet of toddler heaven. They have several different "stops" the kids can play in. Anything from a dress up room, to a grocery store, jail, and kitchen. The kids had a great time and Ali and I were able to catch up!

I just love watching their little imaginations hard at work. What fun to see them growing up more and more every day :)

Putting on a puppet show:

In Jail!

Grilling. She told me, "look Mama, I do it, I do it like Daddy!"

Welcome to the third trimester!

Yikes! I'm already into my third trimester!!! We've been so busy with moving and getting settled, the weeks have really been passing quickly. This little one is sure active, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm now just 9 weeks away from where I was when Madilyn was born....CRAZY.....

I took my gestational diabetes test 2 weeks ago and haven't heard anything, so I'm guessing I passed. Thank goodness too..... that drink was gross! I'd compare it to flat, stale sprite, with an extra cup of sugar mixed in. Yeah. They give you five minutes to down ten ounces. And this is first thing in the morning!

Other than that, things seem to be progressing well. My appetite is slowly decreasing as my stomach gets pushed farther and farther up to make room for Grace. I'm not sleeping well anymore, but I anticipated that day would come. I'm out pretty cold until 3 or 4, and then I just toss. I roll from one hip to the other most of the night and by 3 or 4 they are just aching too bad to get comfy again. Add to that having to pee for or five times and night and well, you get the picture :)

And speaking of getting the picture, here's the the belly at the start of the third trimester!

Just Like Daddy!

Madilyn loves to make the same faces as Matt. This is one of her favorite games to play with him (as well as ring around the rosie and chase...). Here's a fun little strip of the two being silly together.

A Toddler Vacation

During the move, Madilyn stayed behind in Arizona to party like only a toddler could with her Grandmas and Grandpas (and her Aunt Melody and Uncle Cole of course!)

Grandpa Don made a yummy breakfast before we left on Saturday morning. Megan stopped by to join in the fun as well. She and Madi had a great time.

Just before leaving, Don got a few pictures of Me, Megan, and Madilyn on the steps.

I don't know they full story behind most of the photos to follow, but here are some of my favorites from her week with the Merritts.

Friday evening she left to spend some time with Grammy Sam, Grandpa Scott and Uncle Cole. Here she is having dinner. Looks like she worked up quite an appetite that day!

She did lots of swimming during her week in the valley of the sun. She sure has a better tan than the rest of us now! Here she is swimming with Grammy.

And because I couldn't help it, a picture of her hair in little braids. I never have learned how to do this!

Thanks again to everyone for giving Madi such a fun vacation! She hasn't stopped talking about you since he got home!!!

"See you later"

I'm not very good with "goodbye".

This last week has certainly been a whirlwind of insanity, to say the least. As I write this, I am already in California.

The last three years have been a real time of growth for me personally, as well as for our little (growing) family. Little did we know that being sent to Altus would be a blessing in disguise. Sure we went kicking and screaming. I mean, don't most people? But, We found a fabulous support system there. Wonderful friends and a really great community that will both be missed. Am I excited to be closer to our families and in a big city again? You bet! But I also know you'll never forget those who touched your lives while you were there.

Madilyn and I both were very blessed with such a great group of girlfriends. I mean, who would have thought we'd all have babies at the same time and we'd all have girls? Then, to make it better, who would have thought we would all "mesh" so well? Madilyn is still talking about Maddy, Bella, and Eva. I know that even at just two years old, they made a difference in her life too.

I know this post is all over the place. I guess I'm not very good at keeping my thoughts together today. Just wanted to thank you girls for everything and wish you the best. I certainly hope our paths will cross again someday.  So, as I was once told.....in the military it is never "goodbye" but always "see you later". You never know where you'll end up next.

We all had a great time in our final days. Here is a short video of the girls laughing and playing together (as always!) the day before we left.



And here is one of us mamas (we're missing Tara, she had already left for her summer vacation).

She's a big girl!

Ah, potty training....... :)

I really had some mixed feeling about how this was going to go. In fact, with how little she's been interested in using the potty, I thought she might just end up having her little sister train her.....

BUT, last Saturday she decided she was interested in the potty again, and we ran with it. I'm so happy to say that it has been almost 2 weeks since she was in a diaper (other than for sleep)!!!!! I'm so proud of her :)

The only down side was being woken up 4 times last night by a little girl who needed to go potty. Guess it's time to start limiting the fluids in the evenings and pushing them in the morning.

Yay Madilyn!

Almost....

Almost halfway done with this pregnancy already! It sure felt like my pregnancy with Madilyn didn't go nearly as fast!

We had our big ultrasound today and there was no denying it, baby #2 is a GIRL. Madilyn is going to have a little sister!!!!!

Unfortunately, while baby kept showing us her gender, she appears to want to stay in hiding until D day, since she would not give us ANY profile pictures. So, no ultrasound pics this time. Everything looks great and she was very active in there....just a little camera shy :)

And in the spirit of updating, here's how I'm looking these days.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to Matt and all of the other Dads out there! You are loved and appreciated!

Today it was Matt's request to go hiking. He's been asking us for a while now and something would always come up. So, today was the day. We went out near the wildlife refuge and had a wonderful time. The scenery was beautiful and Madilyn even got to see a few buffalo up close. I will admit, they're a little intimidating in such close proximity!

After our hike we had lunch and naps. Then we spend the rest of the afternoon and early evening hanging out and the pool and grilled up dinner. I think Matt had a great day and I know we did too :)