*Madison loves school!  She is just now starting to come out of shell where she will talk to the other kids.  This is progress!  Each day she brings home a daily report of what they did and crafts and projects they have been done.  She has made a couple of friends that she actually comes home and talks about…MacKenzie and Bryson.  Maybe BFFs?  :)  They had a Halloween party where they were able to wear the PJs to school that day.  All in all, Madison is very much enjoying going to school 2 days a week.  I’m really glad we made the decision to put her in it.  We have also been dealing with an intestional issue with her.  She has had about 3 to 4 good, solid bowel movements since JULY.  We have been seeing a GI specialist, and with 2 separate stool samples testing and lab work (which we won’t get into…since most of you know my fear of needles and now having to hold Madison to get hers done..wasn’t a good time…but Ryan was there to help calm me down…notice I said me and not Madison), all 3 tests came back normal.  Even so, he is treating her as if she has a parasite with a 3 day medication.  If it works, great.  If it works while she takes it and then her poop is back to the way it was, we will do a 10 day medicine.  If neither work, then we will have to proceed with a colonoscopy.  Otherwise Madison is doing well.

*Lauren is doing very well!  Not a whole alot to report on her.  She is saying more and more words.  One thing I can’t seem to do is shake her of the bottle.  Her pediatrician told us at her one year appointment to start working with her to get her off the bottle.  I’ve tried nipple like sippy cups, regular sippy cups, “big” girl cups that Madison uses…nothing.  She will drink water out of anything, but milk..only bottles.  If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them on!  She is right in the 50% for height and weight, but we will find out in December if that has changed any.  She is doing very well, too.

*My dad had a birthday in September!  Happy birthday dad!  We all love you very much!  We celebrated by going out to lunch one Sunday afternoon (the 4 of us, my parents, and my brother and his family) and then going back to my parents house for a relaxing afternoon.

* Our niece and goddaughter Katie Lynn turned one November 5th.  She is such a strong little girl who has grown up so fast right before all of our very eyes.  She is doing very well and is going to walk anyday, I can feel it!  Madison and I were able to have dinner and cake with her on her birthday (Lauren was sick so she was at home with Ryan), but we all had a great time at her 1st birthday party!  We love you Katie Lynn!

*My sister-in-law Melissa is pregnant with their 3rd child!  The should find out at the beginning of December what the sex is!  We pray for a continued healthy pregnancy for her.  Congratulations Hardins!

*Ryan’s mom is doing well and is cancer free.  We recently found out she has a pretty big sized blood clot that she will have to manage and take care of for the rest of her life.  Please pray for her as well. 

*We had a garage sale back in September.  Ryan helped me as much as he could since this was during football season and everyone knows wives are widows during this time, so I want to thank him and my friends and co-workers Celia and Bill for helping me get ready for it.  We made about $200 from it, so I can’t complain. 

*Four of my good friends celebrated birthdays in October…Paula, Joseph, Jennifer and DeeAnn.  Happy Birthday to all of you!  I was glad I was able to attend Paula’s 50th birthday party and DeeAnn’s 30th.  Jennifer, I miss you!

*Madison went to a birthday party for a boy at her school and was the only girl!! It was at a fire station where they got to explore the fire truck and ambulance.  She was a little clingy to mommy…maybe because she felt a little out of place?

*The girls and I were able to celebrate with Brady Prazak at his baptism!  Congrats little one!  It was really good to see the Prazak family.  We miss you!

*My friend Tracy from high school and college lost her father about a month ago.  Our prayers continue to be with her and her family.

*I’ve worked at this middle school now for 4 years, and each year we have a Halloween dance for the kids.  Our principal puts together a haunted house called the Terror Tunnel and staff members are in it.  Well, for the first year I decided to take part in it.  I am sure glad I did.  I had such a good time.  

*The four of us went to Trunk or Treating at our church one Sunday night.  This year Madison was Dora and Lauren was a lamb.  Lauren was a little too young to catch on to what to do, but Madison did.  She had a good time.  Then on Halloween night, Ryan had a football game, so I took the girls around the neighborhood.  We lasted about an hour, which was longer that what I expected!   I am actually proud of Madison for not being as shy as I thought!

*The four of us also went to our neighbor’s daughter’s 1st year birthday party!  Happy birthday Alayna!  We were grateful to be able to celebrate with you!

*Ryan and I have been trying to lose weight (as always), but I have to say that I am very proud of Ryan.  He has worked out hard and consistently for about 3 months now and is doing great.  Keep it up Ryan!  I love you!

I think that is about it.  If I’ve forgotten something important, hopefully I will post sooner than this last time.  Ok, now to share some pictures. 

At pumpkin patch at our church

Our carved pumpkin this year

The pumpkins the girls painted; a tradition we started :)

Happy 1st Birthday Katie Lynn!

Ryan making sure the Florida Gators are supported since Texas Tech is ranked higher! GO TECH!!

Just a recent picture taken Friday :)

Madison with Chuck himself :-)

 Secondly, Lauren took her first steps!  July 26th to be exact.  Madison was 15 months when she walked, and when she did, she took off.  Lauren is 13 months and takes a few steps at a time.   She is taking it a bit more slowly, but that is ok!  We are just excited that she is doing such a great job! 

Lauren taking small steps

Day 7 - July 6:  We left Clearwater around 6:45am and on the way out I had to stop at Dunkin Donuts.  This is my all time favorite place for doughnuts and there isn’t one near us in Texas.  We arrived at the resort Shades of Green around 8:45am.  Shades of Green is a military resort on the Disney property.  We were able to stay there because of Mike…he was in the Air Force and currently works for the Department of Defense on Eglin Air Force Base.  The room wasn’t ready so we met up with The Carnley family and proceeded to the Magic Kingdom.  As we would talk to Madison about this trip, we would tell her we were going to meet Mickey and Minnie.  So, on this first day, we went and toured Mickey and Minnie’s houses and then, we got to meet them!  Madison was soooo excited (and so was Mommy!)!!  To see Madison’s face light up when she met them was the best feeling.  As we said goodbye to them, Madison said, “Mommy, time to go home?”  She knew she was here to meet them and as soon as we did, I guess she thought it was all over!  If she only knew…  :-)    We watched a 3-D show starring Mickey (similar to the movie Fantasia) and Madison was SCARED.  She screamed and cried throughout the whole thing and would not wear the 3-D glasses.  She kept telling me to turn it off.  It didn’t end soon enough for her.  The day was also spent in Tomorrowland where we rode the Toy Story ride and Pooh Bear ride, ate, walking around looking at different things, shopping, taking a few picutres and watching part of the parade.  Madison loved riding the monorail and the bus from the monorail to the resort!  I think that was her favorite part!  We checked into the resort, took showers, and proceeded to Red Lobster for an awful meal.  They were not busy whatsoever, but the service was as slow as molasses.  Then, when the food was brought out, Ryan and Mike’s meals were wrong, so the waiter took them back.  The manager came to talk to us and said that somehow their food was given to someone else or something like that.  So, he said they were remaking them and that we would not be charged for either meal.  After being there forever, the bill was brought to us.  We paid for our part with cash, but Mike and Jennifer were paying with credit card.  The credit card machine was not working for some reason, so they didn’t have to pay at all!!  Completely free meal for them!  How lucky!  Then it was on to Downtown Disney were there is more shops!  Our first day was a great one and we were really excited to be here with the Carnley Family.

Hotel:  $377     Tickets:  $723

Watching your daughter meet her idols:  Priceless

Day 8 - July 7:  There were turkeys outside our room!  We had a first floor room where the patio doors lead out to the golf course right there, and there were actual turkeys roaming!  It was really neat.  Ok, but more importantly we began the day at Hollywood Studios.  Ryan and Mike rode the Tower of Terror.  You will never catch me on something like that…it’s a ride that drops you 10 stories!  We saw Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live with the Mickey characters, Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny.  If you don’t understand that, watch the Disney channel first thing in the mornings.  :-)  We then watched a 3-D show starring the Muppets.  I was a little worried, based on yesterday’s circumstance, but this time I didn’t even put the glasses on her, so she was fine!  Yeah!  Hollywood also has a big playground called Honey I Shrunk the Kids, based on the movie.  So, everything is gigantic.  Madison was afraid of that and wouldn’t play on it.  It started to rain so we had to take cover at the near by eatery.  We also watched Beauty and the Beast show.  Both girls liked that, although Madison….yes, you guessed it….was afraid of the beast.  Otherwise they both watched very intently.  We also watched another parade.  Madison was asleep for this one but Lauren and Gavin enjoyed it!  Then, we all went to Epcot.  Not much for little kids, but boy, were Madison and Gavin excited when they got to meet Minnie (again), Mickey (again), Pluto, Chip and Dale, and Goofy!  We also rode a Finding Nemo ride, and after exiting the ride there were fish tanks to look at and a fake shark to take a picture in.  I stuck my head in it and Ryan took a picture.  See below.  :-)  It was getting late and there wasn’t really anything else for us to do there with kids, so we got in line for the ride in the big ball thing (I’m not sure what that big silver ball thing is called).  All 3 kids were VERY restless, so we got out of line and went back to the resort.  It was time to call it a night.  Little did we know that once we got back to the room, both of our girls would scream and cry and not want to go to sleep.  It was 11:30 before they were asleep. 

Day 9 - July 8:  I guess I should have mentioned earlier that for the first 2 days we were here, we put sun tan lotion on both girls - of course.  Well, by this day, Madison was broken out.  We have had this problem with lotions with her…no matter which one we use (and we’ve tried them all) she breaks out.  She was also recently “diagnosed” with excema so between that and the lotion she was broken out all over.  So, this day we decided to take it a little easier and drove around in the morning, running errands and sight seeing.  Then about 1:00 or so we met the Carnley’s at Animal Kingdom where we looked at different animals, ate (this is a pattern..ha!), and got rained on, again.  It rained a good bit here, so we didn’t ride anything here.  We did get to meet Pooh Bear, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger.  Again, Madison’s face just lit up.  I always say Madison, but Lauren liked them too but doesn’t know who they are.  This night we went to an Italian place with the thick stuffed pizza.  It wasn’t very good.  Gavin said he wanted to hold Lauren so see picture below.  :-)  Then Ryan, the girls, and I went to Downtown Disney again where they have a huge Disney store.  Day over.  One more to go.

Day 10 - July 9:  Our last day at Disney World was spent at Magic Kingdom.  This was the best day of all, except that Madison was severely broken out.  We were at the park 30 minutes after it opened and spent the morning riding Dumbo, Peter Pan, It’s A Small World, and the Carousal.  Madison actually liked all of these rides, but least liked Peter Pan.  We also met Claribelle Cow and Daisy!  Then for lunch we ate at the Crystal Palace, which was dining with Pooh Bear, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore.  The girls loved this!  In fact, when they had to go to another table, Lauren got upset!  Madison was looking pretty bad by this day, and I cried.  I felt so bad for her.  We decided to call it a day since we rode just about everything there was to ride, so after eating we went to get in line to meet all the princesses.  It was an hour and a half wait, so we decided not to wait.  Madison was okay with this, since we bought her a doll collection with all of the princesses in it.  Bribery.  Sometimes it works.  :-)  The girls fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the room.  Once in the room we all took a short nap.  That night we went to the world’s largest and unique McDonalds.  They serve more than just the typical menu that included some mexican items, pizza, sandwiches, and wraps.  It was a neat experience.  We went back to the resort where Madison and I walked all around it.  We had such a wonderful time at Disney World with the Carnley’s.  Ryan has such a wonderful friend in Mike, and I’m glad we are good friends with them.  Thank you to them for allowing us to vacation with them and enjoy their company!

Day 11 - July 10:  We left the resort about 10:30 and Madison was not ready to leave.  She kept asking to go see Disney World.  But, when we told her we were going to see Grandma and Pop Hardin she was fine!  The drive back to Pensacola was pretty uneventful.  We stopped in Gainsville, Florida to see the University of Florida, where Ryan graduated from.  We ate lunch at a hole in the wall Italian place..to keep our newly started tradition.  See pic below.  :-)  After lunch we thought the girls would take a nap.  Boy, what were we thinking??  Madison didn’t sleep one wink.  Lauren did some, but was cranky the rest of the time.  We got to Pensacola about 8:00 or so.  It didn’t take much to get them to sleep.  We will be spending Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday here in Pensacola and either heading back home late Monday or Tuesday.  We will see Ryan’s grandparents and spend time with his family while we are here.  One last post about our vacation to follow then. 

We arrived Thursday night as Ryan stated and ordered pizza for dinner.  It was a relaxing evening at my uncle’s place, where he was able to spend time with us and our girls.  This was his first time to meet Lauren, and it has been 2 years since he has seen Madison.  Then, Friday, I began the day by making breakfast for everyone…yes, I made breakfast!  For those of you who know me pretty well, you know I don’t cook.  Well, the eggs burned a little but were edible.  Awhile later we went out to run errands/shop, and on the way back to my uncle’s we went by my grandparents (my mom’s parents) old house.  The woman who now lives there was sitting on the porch.  I wanted to take a picture of the house of what it looks like now so as we passed by I was crying just thinking of the memories of coming here to visit them.  I asked Ryan if we would go back by would he ask the woman if she would mind if we took a picture.  Ryan was great and said he would ask.  I’m sure the woman thought I was nuts, but Ryan told her that his wife’s grandparents used to live in this house and she would like a picture.  The woman was very nice and said no problem, but she went inside because she didn’t want to be in the picture.  I thanked her as I continued to cry.  After that we went back to Uncle Bill’s so we could have lunch and the girls could take a nap.  Ryan, Uncle Bill and I then spent the afternoon talking about memories we all had of our families.  That night we went to eat at a mexican restaurant.  Word of advice…don’t order mexican in Florida.  I guess I shouldn’t say that, but it just isn’t what I’m used to in Texas.  Then Ryan, the girls, and I proceeded to a park to watch fireworks.  Of course the spot we chose was not the best, but it really didn’t matter.  As soon as the first firework went off, the both let out screams and cries.  The picture below shows how Madison spent most of the time.  Now we are to today, Saturday.  I made breakfast again.  Ryan said he could get used to this.  :-)  About 11:00 we visited my grandparents’ mausoleum.  Although it may be morbid, I have included a picture of it with the girls and I.  Madison didn’t understand what it was or why I was crying.  Try explaining to a new 3 year old where we were and why.  I miss my grandparents…all 4 of them.  Then we proceeded to a citrus stand where they sell fruits, freshly squeezed orange juice and souvenirs.  Then again, we headed back to my uncle’s for lunch and a nap for the girls.  Lauren refused to sleep so we just knew she would be cranky later.  We went to eat dinner fairly early to a place my uncle frequents often.  It was called Finley’s..an Irish Pub.  It was a really neat little place.  Now, we are back at my uncle’s and we have packed up everything and got things ready for Disney World tomorrow!  And like we thought…Lauren is so overly tired, she is having a hard time going to sleep.  :-)  We are going to Disney World Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  I’m sure we will just make one long post on the last day.  Here are some pictures from our time here in Clearwater.  Thank you Uncle Bill for allowing us to take over your apartment.  We love you.

My parents are both doing well, and Neil, Melissa, and the family are also doing well.  We will be having a big family get together today to celebrate my mom’s cancer being in remission.  It was a year ago this summer that she had surgey for her colon cancer diagnosis.  She also went through chemo therapy and radiation.  All of her boys  and families are here and we are celebrating the family.  Happy birthday to our niece Ally, she turns six today. 

Well, we will blog more later.  Lauren woke us up at 6:00 am and helped me decide to blog.  More about the trip later……