Family Visit #3

We have been so lucky to have so many of our family members come out and visit since we moved! Last week Alan's parents came to a work conference in Orlando, which was awesome because they were able to see us! On Monday they came and stayed with us. We were able to show them around our new home. On Tuesday they got to go on a tour of Alan's school, we then took them to our favorite beach, Siesta Key. They were able to watch Madi play in the waves and sand. They then had to go back to Orlando for the conference but we were lucky enough to get to meet up with them over the weekend and spend some time at Universal Studios and Disney World. 

Madi at the beach with her Grandparents!

They brought her this toy all the way from home that her Great Grandpa made and she loved it!

Marvel Studios after the Hulk ride. It was insane!

Grandma watched her while we went on all the rides!

Alan and Wolverine

Her First ride at Epcot!

Trying to walk around the park!

Madi and Daddy and Epcot!

At Biergarten Restaurant. This is her new smile! :)

Watching the Fireworks!

waiting in line for Dumbo at the Magic Kingdom.

Finally made it on to Dumbo

Chilling with Grandpa!

A Disney trip would not be complete without a Mickey ice cream bar!

Family Photo in front of the castle

On the Buzz Lightyear ride shooting lasers.

We had the most amazing time while Alan's parents were here. It was so good to see them and spend some quality time together. I know that Madi sure loved seeing them and getting spoiled! Thank you Sevy's for your generosity and taking the time to come visit us! We had so much fun! We love you guys! Can't wait to see you at Christmas! 

Cookie Time!

Every Halloween my Mom makes the most delicious sugar cookies. It is always a tradition that we carve pumpkins, frost cookies, and my sister and I do our annual thriller dance. I was feeling a little homesick and wishing I could do all these things with my family back home. I decided to be a grown up and make the cookies myself. They were sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard. haha. I am no professional like my Mom but I am sure in the years to come I will perfect them like she has. I thought it would be fun to have some of my dental wife buddies over with their kids and we could all frost them together. It was so fun and the kiddos had a blast! It was so worth staying up way too late baking just to see how much fun they had. It was also fun to chat with my friends! Poor Madi wanted so badly to get in on the action and feeling guilty I let her eat a cookie, don't worry baby girl maybe next year!

Lily frosting cookies, she was so patient and didn't even eat a cookie until she was done!

Madi eating her first cookie!

The Cookies!

The frosting Crew
Jenny, Lily, Brittany, and Ansley

Lily enjoying her cookie!

I feel so lucky to have made such amazing friends while we have been out here in Florida! They are so wonderful and I am glad that we are friends!

A little bit of Fall

Fall has always been one of my favorite times of year! I love everything about fall. I am so incredibly homesick right now. Everyone is talking about the leaves changing into the beautiful orange, red, and yellows, Breaking out their sweaters and boots, Delicious pumpkin dishes and the cold crisp air. It is still 90 plus degrees and still unbelievably hot so it is hard to get into the fall spirit. 

This weekend we decided to go to a Pumpkin Patch with our friends the Rubisch's. We drove about 45 minutes and found a cute little Pumpkin patch that was just the right size for the kiddos. Madeline loved the pumpkins and kept trying to pick them up and drop them on the ground. She also liked to eat the stems. She of course enjoyed the company of Lily and Levi. 

I am pretty sure this pumpkin is bigger than Madi

Poor Levi, he takes a lot of abuse from this girl

She loves Pumpkins!

Photo Cred: To the amazing Jenny!

Thanks to our amazing friends for a fantastic time and helping us get into the Fall Spirit!

Last week I also decided to make Pumpkin Chocolate cookies. These cookies are so easy and only have three ingredients. One of my friends brought them to my baby shower last year and they were amazing!

Ingredients: 

1 package Spice Cake Mix

1 15 oz can of Pumpkin

1 bag of Chocolate Chips (I used the mini Chocolate Chips)

Directions:

Mix together spice cake mix and pumpkin until well blended. Add Chocolate Chips. Drop cookies onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. 

They are so easy and so delicious! 

10 Months!

Madeline Nicole has turned 10 months old! Double digits (Yikes!!!) I know I say this in every post but time has gone so unbelievably fast. I can't believe that in two short months I will have a one year old. Lets not even go there..... Madeline is so much fun! She is a firecracker! She loves to play and does not want to sit still for 30 seconds. She doesn't even want to sit and eat because she just wants to be on the go! She is so happy all the time and loves attention from anyone who will give it to her. She loves to play with other kids and doesn't want to be left out of anything. I have so much love for this little girl words can't even begin to express it. I feel so lucky to be her mom and that I get to spend all day everyday with her. She makes our lives so fun and busy and I don't know how we went so long without her.

Here are something Miss Madeline does at 10 months:

• She loves to wave. She waves at anyone and everyone!
• She still loves to point, I am pretty sure she wont learn to talk because she will just point.
• She loves to play the game: Cut the Pickle. She cuts the pickle with her mouth and then giggles uncontrollably when we tickle her. It melts my heart every time.
• She loves to hide from us. She loves to crawl in the smallest spaces until she gets stuck and can't get out.
• Her favorite finger foods are Gerber Lil Crunchies. She could eat the whole can in one sitting.
• She has several different smiles. Her newest smile is where she smiles with her mouth open and squints her eyes. Alan and I will do this back to her and it can on for several minutes.
• She loves to scream, most of the time it is a happy scream or I am so excited scream.
• She doesn't like when we take something away from her, she instantly throws a temper tantrum but can move on quickly.
• She hates getting dress, she cries,crawls, or rolls away. It takes a very long time to get her ready for anything.
• She also hates getting her diaper changed.
• She loves to empty boxes or bins until there is nothing left inside them.
• Her favorite places to play are the kitchen and the bathroom. We keep the bathroom doors closed but occasionally she will sneak into the bathroom and likes to unroll all of the toilet paper off the roll.
• She loves to play with the door stoppers. They keep her entertained for a long period of time.

I could go on forever! She is so much fun! Watching her learn and grow everyday is amazing. Madeline truly is such a blessing to our family. We absolutely adore her and can't imagine life without her! We love you Madeline!

Family Visit #2

We were lucky enough to have my sister come stay with us for 9 days and it was soooooooooo fun! We were able to spend a lot of good quality sister time together which we both desperately needed. Madeline was also loving the attention from her Auntie. It was so great to see my sister! I have missed her terribly since we moved and I loved spending a full 9 days with her. We did a lot fun things while she was here. We went to the aquarium, to the beach, the pool, shopping, and a fun boat tour of Sarasota Bay.

Auntie and Madi at the Beach

We enjoyed doing some Sister crafting 

a lovely dinner by the water

Auntie spoiled Madi and bought her some early Birthday presents

At Siesta Key beach

On the boat ride

Another day at the beach

Delicious pizza

Bath time with Auntie

Thanks Nicole for sure a fun time! We can't wait to have you back! Thanks for being the best sister and greatest Aunt! Also, thanks for the fun memories! We love you!