Happy Birthday Dear ONE Year Old!!!!!

The festivities have been going nonstop since the day Miss Grace turned one! We spent her actual birthday at Disneyland and had a wonderful time as a family. Grace really got a kick out of it. She took one small nap in the Ergo, but other than that she partied hard the whole day. (Pictures to come soon, I need to download them!)

The fun continued this weekend when Matt's parents and Grandparents flew in. We had a fun birthday party for her on the 5th. Enjoy a fun video Matt and Don put together about the birthday celebrations :)

Soon??

October has finally arrived and we're all excited and full of anticipation. This is the month Matt should be coming home. We don't know when it will be. But soon. Very soon. I can't wait to have him home again and I know the girls are just as eager!!

Trike-A-Thon

Tonight Madilyn's school held their annual trike-a-thon fundraiser for St Jude Hospital. Seeing as bike-riding is Madilyn's most favorite pass time ever, this was a bit hit! The videos do a much better job showing you than I can write :)

It was too much fun. I love all of these events! Here's a picture of Madi's class (well, the ones who participated anyway).

Another Month Has Passed...

....and boy have we been busy!!!!

The following posts are my attempt to get everyone caught up on what we've been up to for the last several weeks. Read on :)

Fit N' Fun

I signed Madilyn up for a little class at our local YMCA and it just started yesterday. I thought she would be really excited by it, but instead she reused to participate and just wanted to sit in the chair by the wall. Not sure if she was just tired, or intimidated by the room. The class size was small and the toys sure looked like fun. About 15 minutes into the class the instructor told us that Grace was welcome to play on the equipment if we'd like. So, we brought Grace out and within 2 minutes, Madilyn just had to get up and go play with her sister :) After that most of the time was smooth sailing. Here are some photos from their first fit n' fun experience.

Fun Pictures From the Weekend

I just can't believe how big the girls are getting. They're interacting more and more every day and their personalities are so fun! Enjoy the picture overload ;)

Pancakes are a BIG hit in this house!

Sisterly love :-)

A Visit with Don and Sandy

On Friday morning, Don and I flew back into LA and Sandy picked us up. The timing worked out perfectly since she was able head up there right after she dropped Madilyn off at preschool. Of course, since nothing comes without a little drama lately, just was we pulled out of the airport we realized we had a flat ire. Thank goodness Don was with us and was able to get us back up and rolling (pun intended) in no time at all!

We really put Don to work these last 36 hours. He fixed a tire, trimmed our bushes, fixed my vacuum cleaner, cleaned out spider webs, and spent many hours trying to fix our grill. Hopefully the solution is simple and will be a quick and easy fix the next time we see him :)

Thank you Don for all of your hard work! It was great to have you here!

Back to Phoenix

This last week my mom had to have surgery. Two days prior to her operation, Sandy offered to come and stay with the girls while I went home to be there for my mom. I am so thankful I was able to go back for a few days and help her out. She ended up spending more time in the hospital than anticipated, but is home now and recovering well. I am also extremely blessed to know that while I was away, the girls were in wonderful hands! From the sounds of it, Grandma sure kept the girls busy. Sandy said even she was in bed by 9pm each night!

Thank you Sandy for coming out here and taking such great care of the girls. We are so lucky to have such great families!

Counting Down :)

With this deployment 2/3 over, we're really starting to get more and more excited for Matt to come home. We all miss him dearly, but this one has really made an impact on Madi. She really misses her Daddy. She'll often point at a photo of him and tell me "Mom, you see that? That's my Daddy and I really love him. When he comes home, he's gonna take me to the ocean!" It is just precious to see how her bond with him has strengthened over time. Since we're finally getting nearer to the end (like I said, we still have 1/3 to go), I made a paper chain with Madilyn to help her count down to seeing Daddy.

Getting Back on Track

Well, after all of that "fun", we needed to unwind a bit. So, we took off for the Aquarium on one overcast Thursday morning. This is one of Madilyn's favorite places to go! She's always so excited to see all the "fishies". This wasn't Grace's first time by any means, but she seemed to love kicking back in her stroller and watching the fish swim by :)

Then this morning, Madilyn came in to my room at 730am, as usual, and said, "Mom, I had a great sleep. I think we need to get some doughnuts." Well, you don't have to pull my leg too hard! Ha. I hopped out of bed and got ready. After getting Grace ready we grabbed the stroller and went for a walk to the nearby grocery (which lucky for me has a Starbucks inside!).

Check out this fantastic hair!

 She's getting so big :)

A crazy 24 hours

Madilyn had been congested with a mild fever for a few days, but she seems to be doing alright. We had been to the doctor just the day before when she complained of pain in her ear. They rules out an ear infection, told us it was viral, and sent us on our way.


Then Madilyn spiked a fever of 106+. Since that's nothing to mess around with, we went right off to the Emergency Room. They got her back almost immediately and took some chest x-rays. Results would reveal that she had early pneumonia. Our poor little gal had to get two shots of antibiotics. She cried a lot, but was still such a trooper.

On our way to our car as we were leaving the hospital, I noticed someone had hit our car. Of course they left no note, and security doesn't know who bumped into us. The damage is all cosmetic, but I'm still peeved they didn't leave a note. Guess I expect more out of people.

When we finally got home that night, I got Madilyn settled in and went right for the shower. Ha! Just when I thought the day was settling down, my night was just beginning. Not only did I not get the shower, the downstairs of our house flooded. We ended up having to have new pipes laid in the main line running through our front yard, sidewalk, and driveway. They also had to remove and replace the drywall in about 30% of the downstairs. Fun, eh? Thankfully, since this would be a few day project, our housing office put us up with temporary accommodations while the work was being finished.

Home!

After a wonderful time traveling about, we are back home again. We had so much fun visiting with everyone, but there is always something nice about coming home, too.  I think the kids (especially Madilyn) really missed it here. It wasn't even 24 hours after we returned before she asked me when she could go back to school!

We had an easy drive back and my dad even came along to help. We just dropped him off at the airport about an hour ago. It sure was great having him here that last few days. He was a big help! We put him to work trimming the bushes, digging up weeds, spraying down the house, killing off the ants, and putting up a gate in front of the stairs for our super mobile baby!

That gate went up just in time, too. Just this evening Madilyn left it open and Grace was climbing the stairs! Yikes! Slow it down a little..... :)

Today we had the chance to enjoy the sunshine and hit the park for a while. The ocean breeze felt magnificent. Everyone had a wonderful time. I think Grandpa was having a good time mushing on Miss Grace.

Madilyn playing in the sand

Grace and Grandpa watching the waves roll in

Dad, thanks again for everything! We really appreciate all your hard work this weekend and look forward to your next visit :)

Denver, Colorado

After a wonderful time in St. Louis/ O' Fallon, we made our next stop in Denver, CO. Denver still feels like "home" every time we visit. 

We had a great week with Shelley and her girls (Jordan and Taylor) and also their roommates Joe and Taylar. The weather was beautiful and we spent many hours outside. Madilyn was especially excited to see Duke and Shiloh. While Duke was still a bit hesitant, Shiloh took right to Madilyn and they were instant friends! I think Madi misses playing ball with her still.

Madilyn baking cookies with Jordan.

Duke didn't want to socialize, but Madilyn locked herself in his cage anyway.

Sitting with Taylor by the pool at the rec. center

Gracie and Jordan catching a few snuggles

Pretty girls ready for their flight home.

Back to the Midwest!

This summer we have been keeping very very busy! Last month, we took a trip to visit our friends the Schildler Family in O'Fallon. (They are friends of ours from Altus). We had a great time!!! The two girls played nicely (most of the time) and it was cute to see the babies side by side. Madeline S is just less than 3 weeks older than Madi and Julie and I were due on the same day with the babies. Grace couldn't wait any longer, so she came a few days before Will.

This is how we spent our super early morning flight to St. Louis:

Playing at the St. Louis Children's Museum

We had started a nice picnic lunch outside, but then a thunderstorm came crashing down. While Julie and I enjoyed the rain, the girls found it a bit scary and wanted to go inside. So, we moved the picnic indoors!

Our resident messy eater :)

Thank you Schindler Family for hosting us! We had a wonderful time playing at your home, swimming, taking tractor rides, the museum, the zoo, and so much more!!! Hope it's just the first of many fun adventures :)