December Already?!

Wow, I can't believe that it is December already. How well I remember last year! It seems like just a few months ago.

I am trying very hard to get in the holiday spirit around here. I have done hardly any Christmas shopping yet, and I just barely got the tree put up. It's hard to feel like Christmas when it is still so hot and green outside. There are no Christmas song about when it's 80 outside and the palm trees are swaying... Although according to the weather people here we are having "winter" weather. Winter here means a few more clouds and rain, and some days the breeze is fairly cool. I'll take it! On the cloudy days I just look out the window, and pretend that it is as cool as it looks outside.

We will not be with family for Christmas either. While this makes me very sad, and I'm missing all the family stuff we usually do on Christmas, at the same time I am looking forward to starting our own family traditions this year! I get the opportunity to start something special that someday my girls will remember about Christmas! And that does make me a little excited. But I am still missing the big family gatherings, with all the food and fun that comes with being with extended family this time of the year.

I am so thankful for my little family. I'm thankful that Tony is here for the holidays. There are many people in his line of work that aren't able to be home for Christmas. And someday, he might be one of those too. So I am very grateful this year, because we have no guarantee on the next years. The girls are very excited for Christmas too! Especially Natalie. Her Christmas list changes everyday I think. Haha! Although there have been a few things that have stayed the same. They love the Christmas tree! They plug it in first thing every morning. When I finally got it put up, Gabbie went running to it and gave it a big hug! There aren't many ornaments on it, and the bottom half is mostly bare. The bead garland is already messed up. But between the girls and the cat, I didn't really expect much different.

We also have the added blessing of a new baby this year! I am 9 weeks pregnant with baby #3. Natalie and Gabbie are VERY excited. They both want another sister. Poor daddy. Ha ha! So far this pregnancy is exactly like the other two. I haven't been sick, just super tired! I have heard from several people that have both boys and girls that their pregnancies were different with the different genders. I have a feeling the girls will get their sister, but of course that remains to be seen! Either way we will be happy.

I better go try and do something productive with my day. Tony is working this weekend, so I am being lazy this morning. Have a blessed December, with much happiness in this special season!

It's been 4 years...

Of changing diapers and pull-ups on 2 kids. Now...I have a break! Gabbie has been doing GREAT on the potty! She still hasn't mastered the pooping on the potty yet, which puzzles me. I thought that was the easier to train? Anyway, I am totally counting my victory where I have it though! She is getting better every day, and she caught on so quickly this time! She only uses 2 pull-ups a day now. One for nap and bedtime. YAY!! You know you are a mom when this is one of the most exciting things in your life! And in this mom's opinion, a tiny bottom in tiny panties is just so cute!

Finally!

Well, you saw the front of the house in the last post. Here is some of the inside! We are finally settled into our house! No more hotel living for us. That makes me very happy.



The Staircase. There are lots of stairs.

The view from the front door.

The Girls' bathroom. I LOVE having more than 1 bathroom!

The "great room" Living, dining, and kitchen.

Living room
Dining area

Playroom!



And of course the kitchen!

I am so very happy to be in a house again. Our house is big and beautiful. We are so very blessed to be able to be living in a newer house here. It was worth the wait!

We had a bit of a rough time getting the house. The washer and dryer that were supposed to be included, weren't. The housing office told us it would be another 10 days before we could get one. Uhhh, I have 2 toddlers. 10 days wasn't going to work very well! So, I stayed persistent and kept calling the office until they managed to find me one after 4 days. Then, the day we got the washer and dryer we got a call saying that our dishwasher has been recalled...and we shouldn't be using it! Are you kidding me??! What's next, are they going to come and take my refrigerator? Ha ha. I have not been using my dishwasher...as much! I know, I know. But it's been running fine for the last 2 or so years. So I figure if it's going to start a fire, it would have already. I never leave it running when I'm not home, or overnight. I'm trying to quit, I really am. I'm just having to work up to it I guess.
I few things were damaged in the move, but nothing that can't be replaced. I'm thankful for that. The back of our leather couch got torn up, but I guess that's something that I'm just going to have to live with. We are turning all the paperwork in to be compensated, so we will see what happens. I'm not expecting much.
We have laminate flooring downstairs and high ceilings, so even with all our stuff in the house it is still very loud. It's very white too. We aren't allowed to paint or anything. So I get to buy curtains and some decor soon to soften things up a bit. I'm excited!

Almost 1 year ago, it was prophesied over me at church while Tony was away at basic training that "It's always darkest before the dawn. But the dawn is coming, and it's going to be brighter than you've imagined." Well, there have been some dark times since then. But I never imagined that I would be living in Hawaii, in a house like this! Maybe this is the Dawn that He was telling me about. :o) It kinda looks that way to me.

Almost There

Today is day 57 of living in a hotel. Not good. However, the good news is that we only have 3 days left! We get to look at our house on Wednesday, sign the papers on Thursday...and have all of our stuff delivered on Friday!!!




I'm so antsy and excited I can hardly stand it! I am so ready to have a routine again! All those things that get old and boring...like the cooking and cleaning, well I can't wait to do it again! Don't get me wrong. A break from all that is nice. Eating out often and not having to cook and clean up afterward is really nice! However, I think 2 weeks or so is probably sufficient. 9 weeks is a little much, especially with 2 toddlers! I can't even tell you how nice it will be for all four of us to not have to live in 1 room! I can't wait to clean, and make out a menu and cook again. I can't wait to decorate, and plant flowers and herbs. I can't wait to get back to teaching Natalie preschool, and potty training Gabbie. I will finally be settled for awhile! For over a year now, I have just been waiting for time to pass. Living in the temporary, just waiting for what was coming. Well now it's finally here! We will be here for 3-4 years. I will finally be able to really settle in and enjoy life more! I can't wait.

Tony is working different hours this week, 2-10pm. Don't know if it's that, or the fact that we are so close...but of course these last few days are really dragging!! Come on Friday!!!

Another Day in (not so) Paradise...

It is hard for me to believe that in 2 days we will have been on the island for a month already! We are still living in a hotel waiting on a house. I have good days and bad days. ha ha Today is a not so good day.

• The fire alarms went off at 7:00 this morning, waking the girls up. We hurry down the 3 flights of stairs and wait around outside for awhile. A guy from down the hall told me that it was his toaster that set it off. And he "hoped he didn't wake anybody up" Uhhh, just some children. Finally the Fire Dept comes and turns the alarm off so we can go back inside.
• We discover that there is no hot water for showers...again. This happens frequently.
  
• We discover that the money that the AF owes us is not going to be on the next paycheck like it is supposed to be. We have already paid almost $2000 out of our own pocket for lodging since we have been here. We need to pay $1000 more in Sunday. We don't have it. The AF is taking their time paying us the almost $7000 they owe us so far.

• We are supposed to move this Sunday into different lodging as they are out of room for us here. Tony was told that we are moving somewhere other than where we were planning to go. Which is fine, except that they only have room for us for a week. After that...we move again? Not sure.

Now I want to make it clear that I'm not really complaining...more like venting. At least that is the intention of my heart. I am grateful to God for the miracle that we have been living in Hawaii for a month, paying our own hotel bills and eating out every day without the extra money that we should be getting to cover these expenses. I have NO idea how that has been possible! Only because of GOD. Now for some more good things-

• Tony has been busy this morning trying to get stuff worked out. He has a great 1st SGT that is helping him out. It's complicated and a headache, but we are being taken care of. He is in a great shop. We will be ok.
  
• We are living in Hawaii! So many people would love this opportunity. So many people in the Military try their whole careers to get stationed here and never do. So many have to do a year long remote tour away from their families in order to get here. We got it as our first station! Basically handed to us. God must have a plan for us, you think?!
• My husband has a stable job. That's always something to be thankful for! While there are a lot of headaches involved with being in the military, it has a lot of perks too.
• I have a housekeeper! lol I may be living in a hotel, but I haven't had to vacuum, wash towels, clean the bathroom or make a bed for over a month. I'll focus on that part, instead of the homeless part. :o)
  
• EVENTUALLY...we will have a very nice house! Once we tough it out through all this, it will be worth it.
  
• I have met some great wives this week! Slowly but surely we are starting to make some connections and take some steps toward making some friends.
• I have a "girls night" planned for tomorrow night with a few of these ladies. For mother's day our hubbies are keeping the kids and letting us have some girl time to ourselves! We are excited!

• We think that we have found a church that we like.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. I feel a little better now. :o) I hope everyone has a great weekend! Happy mother's day to all you moms out there! To all my friends that want to be mother, and God has not blessed you in that way yet- My prayers are with you. May he comfort you in your tough times and fulfill your dreams.

We Were Surprised

Yesterday Tony went to sign the papers to apply to trade bases. We were told it would probably take a few days to find out if it was approved or not. They were behind in the office and it would probably take longer than usual for us to hear from them. So we were very surprised last night, when Tony checked his account with the Air Force online and saw that our next base would be Hickam AFB! We were not really expecting the trade to be approved, much less in half a day! (Now why can't the Air Force always do things this quickly?!)

We did not go looking to trade bases. The guy Tony traded with came to him wanting California. We thought and prayed about it and decided to go ahead and apply for the trade, even though our chances were slim of it being approved. We didn't want to pass up an opportunity like this, just in case. We were happy with the possibility of either place. We just want to be where God wants us to be. So we left it in God's hands, not that we can ever really take control anyway! We were at peace with wherever He put us.

There are pros and cons to being there, of course. The biggest cons would definitely be that we would be farther away from from my family, and a lot of his family. We plan to take advantage of all the Space-A travel that we can though, and come back to visit as often as possible. I don't know that being in Hawaii would cause us to visit less often than we would if we were in California. It would possibly prevent them from being able to visit us as easily. However it doesn't cost as much more to fly there as opposed to California as I thought it would. It will all work out, as we are confident that God has a plan for us being there!

On the pro side, it will probably be easier to see Tony's parents than it would be if we were in California. The experience and opportunity that it would be for our family and especially for the girls is another pro to us.

I know that my family is not excited about this for us. That's ok, I understand. Even though it makes me so sad to make them upset. We have always seen my family pretty often, so this will be an adjustment. I'm praying that God will give them peace and excitement for us.

We have lots to do in the next 2 months to get ready for our adventure. I'm very excited to follow God in this next step. Our first order of business once we get there-swimming lessons for me and the girls!

Hello 2010

I hope that this new year has gotten off to a great start for all of you. 2009 was a year of many changes for us, and there are a few in store for us in 2010 as well.

This time last year we had just decided that Tony would join the Air Force. Look how far we have come in 1 year! We survived the 2 month separation with limited contact for Basic Training. The girls and I moved 300 miles to be with him at Tech school. We are now half-way done with tech school. This time last year I would not have believed that I could go for 2 months without my husband, and move pretty much by myself! While it wasn't fun or easy, I wouldn't change anything about it. Everything we went through was used for learning and putting things in perspective. Our marriage and family as a whole has been made stronger and better because if it.

We look forward to our big move in the Spring. There is a possibility that we may not be moving to California after all. A guy that is in Tony's class came to him wanting to trade bases. He wants to go to the base in California that we have been assigned to. In exchange we would be going to the base that he was assigned. The base that he was assigned is Hickam AFB. I'll save you the time of Googling it and just tell you where it is....It's in Hawaii.

There are pros and cons to being in Hawaii instead of California. (More pros in my opinion.) :o) The biggest pros (aside from the fact that well, it's Hawaii) - are that I already have a friend there, and it would be a lot easier to see Tony's parents more often. They live in Okinawa. In the 6 years that we have been together Tony only sees his parents on average of once a year. They have seen Natalie 4 times, and Gabbie only twice. It would be harder to see my family, ( big con) but I would love the opportunity to spend more time with his parents. We would also make a little more money living in Hawaii as opposed to California. In the end we decided that you just don't turn a chance like that down. It may not happen again. SO, we are in the process of waiting to see if the trade will be approved. It may or may not be approved, but at least we aren't passing the opportunity up! We hope to know in the next week or two what the outcome is. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much...but some days it's really hard! :o)

Either way- whether we move to California or Hawaii- we have a big adventure awaiting us in about 3 months! I'm excited to get to our base and get settled. I'm ready to find a good church and make some friends. Natalie has also been asking about going to gymnastics lately-I think she misses it! Once we get settled we hope to get her back into it. She really loved it, and can still do some flips even though she hasn't had any classes in a long time.

I don't make resolutions, I never keep them so what's the point? Ha ha. My goals are pretty much the same every year. *Try to be a better friend, wife and mother than last year. *Learn to trust and follow God more. *Manage my time better. Those are a few of the basics. This year for sure I plan to... Do new things, see new places, and make new friends!

Blessings to you in 2010! Thanks for checking in with me as we start this year off. I hope we can end it together as well!

I'm Still Here

As usual it has been way too long since I have posted. I have been busy.

The move went well. The movers didn't break anything. So far the only thing that I am missing is the front tray from my double stroller. I am not saying that they lost it yet, I need to look for it some more. However the more time that passes, the more it looks like I may not see it again and it must be riding around the country on a big orange truck or maybe one of the other military families got something new in their household shipment. I will be sad if I don't find it. It doesn't affect my ability to use the stroller, but it sure is nice to have.

I love our new tiny house. It is only 900-something sq feet, but somehow we have all the room we need. We even have a little bit left over! Its like one of the several miracles in the Bible where God caused something to multiply. (bread and fish, widow's oil, etc.) The space in my little miracle house just kept multiplying until I had all that I need. Somehow we have 3 walk-in closets. I love that, as do the girls. It's like an extra room to play in! I'm sure that I love the house more because we are all together here, but it really is a pretty nice house. It is old, and a lot of people complain about them. Maybe I've just never lived anywhere super nice, but I don't see what's so bad about it. The kitchen has been remodeled and it has new paint and crown molding. Other than the bad carpet and dishwasher I have no real complaints. The base is tiny, but I love it too. The Commissary and BX are super close and sometimes I will go at least a week without even leaving the base. My gas tank has lasted a month!! This again is something to love. We live withing walking distance to the playground, and the weather here is wonderful! We are still able to go to the playground often. It is (until this week anyway) still in the mid to high 70s during the day...and the wind doesn't blow!!!! I love that for sure!
It is a lot more wet here than in Amarillo. There are more trees too. There are Pecan trees everywhere on the base. There is mistletoe all over the town as well. I may have to go get me some for Christmas!
The day we finally got here. Yay, living in the same town again! (We were tired....not sure about the look on Tony's face!)

Our house. The pictures are a little blurry, they were taken with my phone.


Living room
Girls' room Dining room
Kitchen

Tony is doing great in school...no big surprise there. I'm so proud of him. His classes are not easy for most people, but he is sailing through them. He is enjoying most of what he is learning so far, and is looking forward to actually doing the job.

Natalie loves the new house and going to the playground. I have started her in preschool (home school) We haven't done it very much yet, but she likes it so far. She already knows most of what is taught in preschool, and she is only 3. So by starting now I am able to take our time and not push her. I don't have to worry about getting behind when we move in the spring either. We have a year and a half until kindergarten to learn the rest of what she doesn't know. We are working on writing letters and their sounds right now. I am amazed with how much she already knows and how easy it is for her to learn things. She loves it. Just like her Daddy. I hope she is always this way!

Gabbie is like me when it comes to learning...there is just so many better things to do with your time! She doesn't like to sit still long enough. We are working on potty training. It is a lot harder than it was with Natalie!! So far she has learned to run to the potty AFTER she wets her panties, and to say that she needs to potty when she should be in bed. She will sit on the potty for about 5 seconds before she says "done!" One night we had 2 successful trips to the potty, and I was SO excited! That was I got though. Gabbie knows more than she lets on though. She won't talk much at all, but every now and then she will let a few words out in the form of a sentence! She gets a look on her face like, "oops!" Then she goes back to acting like she doesn't know how to say those words. Silly girl! One of these days she will probably just start talking in perfect sentences and surprise me. Maybe that is her plan with the potty too...someday she will go from acting like she doesn't have a clue, to perfectly trained in 1 day. I can only hope. The military doesn't pay enough at Tony's rank to afford pull-ups, so I hope that day is soon!

The girls love their new big room. They play together all day in it! They get along about 90% of the time too. They love each other. The first thing Gabbie does when she wakes up in the morning is look for "Nat nat".

I am just trying to adjust. Adjusting to my babies getting so big, and adjusting the learning and discipline that goes along with that. Adjusting to the "stupid rules" of the Air Force. Most of the rules make no sense and are harder, more time consuming, and cost more than doing things another way. Nonetheless, we (especially Tony) have to follow them. I don't mind rules if they just had a purpose and made sense! It will be a lot better once we are permanent party in the Spring, but even then there will be things that don't make sense. Oh well, such is my life now. I'm not complaining at all, just trying to get used to it. I'm adjusting to getting up at 5:00am in the morning with Tony to help him get ready to go to class. I'm adjusting to him being gone from 5:20 in the morning until 5:30 or later at night. Some days I feel like I am adjusting better than others! I am adjusting to a new church. I miss Trinity Fellowship SO badly! There isn't really a good selection of churches here, so I am glad that we are only here temporarily! We have found one that will work for now. I am adjusting to a new town. I can make it to Wal-mart and the rest of the shopping I might need (they are on the same street. shhh, don't tell ;o) ) without my GPS now!

We went back to Amarillo for Thanksgiving weekend. It was good. We look forward to going back over Christmas. We had fun with family, and it made me realize that I consider here to be home now. Home is wherever my family (Tony and the girls), and my house is. I can make anywhere be home. That will come in handy over the next several years I think!

We are so blessed and Thankful this Holiday season! It has been a big year for us. We have done things that we never would have imagined for ourselves. In it all we know that we are exactly where God wants us, and we are headed down the path He wants us to travel! We are so happy where we are right now, and excited for where we will be next year!

Enjoy this wonderful, blessed season!

We Are Going...

So I said that we should find out any day where we will be going for our permanent Duty Station. Well, it was actually that day! :o) Tony texted me that night with the news.
He will be graduating March 17th from his tech school, and then we will be going to BEALE AFB, California! That was not one of our top choices of places we wanted to go, but as soon as I found out that it was a possibility I had the strongest feeling that we would be going there. I was right! So I can't say that I was super surprised when he told me. Sometimes I just know things like that.

I have been praying for this-our first duty station- from the moment we signed up for the Air Force. I have been praying that God would put us at the best base for our family, one that wouldn't deploy Tony's job very much. I told Him I didn't care where we went, as long as it was His will, I just wanted what would be best for our family. From what we can tell with the little info we have on the base so far...it looks like Tony may not deploy very often from that base! So while we are a little nervous, and obviously very sad to be so far away from all our family here, we are very excited to see what God has in store for our little family!! We are at peace about this, and we totally feel God's hand leading us down this path! We will just take it one step at a time and hold tight to Him on the next stage of our adventure! We may not know why He is taking us to California, but I know I can't wait to find out!

But for now, the movers will be here in the morning to take our stuff to San Angelo. The next part of our adventure is upon us! I am so excited, and I know that the next 6 months will be a wonderful, happy time for us! For now, California is on the back burner and I am looking forward to embracing our time at Goodfellow! I will say that I am so happy to know where we are going next, but I also plan to soak up where we are now.

Your prayers are very much appreciated for the next couple of weeks, as we will be moving and getting settled into our new home. It will be at least a week after we get there before Tony is able to live with us, but we are still excited to see him everyday. We miss each other more than we thought possible! We will be living a few days without all of our stuff as well, so pray that the girls adjust and handle it well. The movers will be here early in the morning, and I must be up earlier than that, so I will say goodnight! I will be back in a few days to let you know how our adventure is going!

We Made It!

It has been a long time since I last posted. I haven't been all that busy really. I've just been focused on surviving! Tony being gone has definitely been the hardest thing I have ever done! I thought I was prepared for it, but I wasn't! There is no way you can prepare yourself for your husband to be gone with very little contact at all! It was like he didn't exist for those 2 months. I wrote him a letter everyday, but the most I heard from him was pretty much once a week. I went the last 15 days with no contact at all!

I met a great group of 4 other ladies online who's husbands were graduating the same day as Tony. God brought us together for sure! It was so much help to have someone going through the same thing at the same time! We knew exactly what the other one was going through and how we were feeling. They made these last 2 months so much better. We were able to help each other through the dark days of BMT.

It got a little easier at the end, but that's when everything started going wrong! It was the longest 2 months of my life so far! While he was gone I only got one real phone call, and 5 letters. I got a couple of other "official" calls where he was getting or giving me information, but we didn't get much time to talk on those calls. Not like we had a long time to talk on his 1 "real" call either....only 15 minutes! Well...

WE MADE IT!!!

Tony graduated BMT on September 18th! That is the Air Force's birthday, which was pretty neat. I am sooo proud of Tony! He graduated as an honor graduate! Only up to 10% of the 799 people graduating were handpicked for honor graduate! He also got a perfect score on his final exam! He did awesome, and I am so very proud of him.

I left here on the 10th of September and went to Wichita Falls to see my best friend. I left there the next morning and went to Houston to see my sister and her husband, and then my aunt and uncle. I left Houston on the 16th to go to San Antonio!

We had a blast in Houston, in spite of my car getting towed from the parking lot of my sister's apartment! My aunt took the girls and I to the Houston zoo, and the downtown aquarium. The girls had a blast and they got to ride a train at both places, which they thought was pretty neat. At the aquarium we rode the little train through a tunnel aquarium where dozens of sharks swim all around and above you. I thought that was pretty neat!

When I got to San Antonio I picked up a friend of mine from the airport. Her name is Jennifer, she is one from the group of ladies I met online. Her fiance was graduating the same day as Tony. We finally got to meet the day before graduation, and it felt as if we had always known each other! After we got to town we went and explored the base a little bit, and then we split a hotel room that night. We got up super early the next morning to be on the base by 7:00am.

Thursday was the Airman's run in the morning. It was so neat to see! I couldn't pick Tony out of his flight, so I was a little disappointed about that. Then after what seemed like a very LONG time of waiting it was time for the Coin Ceremony and Retreat. All of this waiting in the hot sun was not fun with two toddlers, let me tell you that!! It was so worth it though!! After the retreat they tell you to go and find your Airman!! They have to stay in formation on the grounds, and all the families get to go and find them. I had managed to finally pick Tony out of the crowd I thought during the ceremony. Well they told us to go find our Airman, so the girls and I took off to where I thought he was standing...but when I got there it wasn't him!! I thought "Oh no! Now what do I do? I don't know where to look!" Then I looked closer at the person that I thought was him...and I read his name tag...and it WAS him!!! I didn't recognize my own husband!! He had lost 20 pounds, which wasn't all that noticeable I don't think. He was so tan! And the way he stood and carried himself, and he had no hair. I guess all of it combined made him look so different. Let me tell you though...he looked goo-OOD!!! :o) (Check out the pictures on the side) We got to hug for the first time in two months! But only for a second. There are very strict rules about any kind of PDA while he is in uniform. Plus we had to hurry to get to the ceremony honoring the Honor Graduates. After all of that he finally got "released" to us. We had some lunch at the mini mall. Natalie would not leave her daddy alone!! She would not let me sit by him, or by her for that matter. That was "for my daddy to sit" We had such a good time being back together! I was able to stay at the hotel on base, so we were able to go back to the hotel and have some family time. I got to get a real hug and kiss! The kiss was better than our first! :o) The weekend went by way to fast though.

Monday morning at 3:30 Tony was on a bus to Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo(about 3 1/2 hours from San Antonio) Tx for more training. I met him there that evening to give him some of his personal things that he is now allowed to have. I left the next morning to come home, and left him there. Finally after 12 days and a little over 1400 miles, the girls and I were back home! We were all sick our first few days back. (Big surprise, huh?)

Because his school is so long, the Air Force is moving us to be with him! He will be at that base for 25 weeks. The movers will be here Friday! (Oct 2) I am so very, super excited! It could still be a couple of weeks before he is allowed to live with us, but we will be in the same town and be able to see each other every day starting this weekend! I'm happy with that for now! We have been able to talk everyday since he graduated which makes things a million times better than they were during BMT, but seeing each other everyday will be even better yet! I am working on patience for the next step- him being able to live with us! Each step is better, but I really want to be living in the same house again! Because of the no PDA rule, I am not allowed to even hold his hand in public when he is in uniform. So unless he is able to get permission to come to our house in his free time, there will still be no hugs and kisses for me for a couple of weeks! So will be able to see him everyday...but not touch him! So please pray for favor from his higher-ups, that they will grant him permission to come visit us at the house before he is able to live with us, and that the day that he is able to live with us is very soon!

I better run. Gotta get back to getting things ready for the movers to come pack it up! I don't know when we will have Internet after we move, but I will be in touch as much as possible. We should be finding out our orders for our next location any day! That is very exciting too! These next two weeks have a lot going on, and so much of it is unknown! That is the way my new life will be, so I am trying very hard to get used to it. I am so excited to take this next step! This week has been dragging!

Long Overdue

Usually my lack of blogging is for lack of something to blog about. That is not the case this time! We have been so incredibly busy the month of May. From Natalie's birthday, and 2 weeks of company, to the garage sale I had this weekend I have stayed very busy. Now I am sick. Not a huge surprise there I guess. The house is a disaster, but I am on light housework(just laundry and dishes) restriction, until tomorrow when I hopefully will feel better. Hopefully I can tackle the disaster zone then.

Here are the highlights:

The 10th was Natalie's 3rd birthday and Mother's day! Her birthday being on Mother's day brought back memories of my FIRST Mother's day- I had been a mother for all of 3 1/2 days! It was defenatly a special mother's day that year, and this year too! Both years there was more focus on Natalie than Mother's day, but then I guess that's kinda what mother's day is all about. The children that make the mothers. Natalie's great-grandparent's from Dumas came over and Auntie Neena, Uncle Clint, and Mimi and Pawpaw all made a trip to visit for the special day. It was a lot of fun, and a very busy weekend. I will put pictures in a separate post.

The week after that I had overnight company for a week straight. For the first couple of days Tony's grandmother from Rhode Island came for a visit. It was her first time meeting Gabbie, and only her second time to see Natalie. Both girls took to her right away. We really enjoyed her time here. My grandparents from Oklahoma came literally 30 min after I dropped her off at the airport. They were here for 3 days, and then a couple of hours after they left our best friends came to visit. They just moved from here to Wichita Falls. It was really good to get to spend another day with them. Natalie and Kaitlyn, their little girl are best friends. They still talk about each other every day, even though they don't get to see each other any more.

In the midst of all this we had been getting out storage trailer cleaned out and ready for a garage sale. That took up most of our evenings off and pretty much all of Tony's days off. We finally got it done, and our part of the storage is almost empty! Which makes me wonder why we even moved and stored all that stuff in the first place!!? Mostly because at the time of our last move we didn't have time to go through it all I guess. I didn't to move it all again, especially twice in a year like we will be doing, so we got rid of it. I had the garage sale this Friday night and Saturday. Tony had to work so I did it ALL BY MYSELF!! Rebecca helped watch the girls, which made it possible for me. Friday I started coming down with something, and Saturday I felt REALLY bad, but I wasn't able to take a break until today...so I crashed hard! I haven't felt this bad in a long time! I am so glad to have it behind me though. I didn't do very well on the sale Saturday. but I have a friend that is having a sale in a couple of weeks. I am going to put what I had that didn't sell in her sale. That one should be a lot easier, and hopefully with that one all of our stuff will be gone!

Gabbie is still having trouble with her ears. We have an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor on the 9th to start the process of getting tubes put in. I can't wait! I am ready for her to be sleeping through the night again. She is WAY too old for me to be going through this again! I want her to be feeling better too, poor thing.
She sure does think she is big stuff. We have moved her out of the highchair to a booster seat at the table, AND she has moved out the the crib into a big bed! We weren't planning to move her into a big bed this early, but we got some bunk beds for the girls. The only bed that we owned for them was the crib, so obviously we needed some for when we move. We decided on bunk beds in case we only get a 2 bedroom house when we move to San Angelo and don't have much room for 2 separate beds. The beds will separate into two beds for when we get a 3 bedroom house though. We were keeping an eye out for one, and found a really good deal, so we went ahead and got it now. We decided to go ahead and put the girls in the new bed so they wouldn't have to adjust to a new house AND new beds when we move. Adjustment to a bunk bed is kinda a big change in and of itself I think. For Natalie sleeping on the top, and Gabbie going from a crib to a bed. Both girls adjusted really well! Gabbie had a little trouble settling down the first night, but she slept great once she did. Natalie of course thinks it is really neat that she gets to climb stairs to get to her bed! We haven't had a bit of trouble with either girl in the new bed. They are both getting so big! Gabbie has started telling me when she is going to the bathroom in her diaper, even when she just pees. So I guess in August when the girls and I get back from visiting some family we will work on potty training. If I can get her to tell me BEFORE she goes, not AS she is going then I think it will be pretty easy. :o) She already is showing more interest in it than Natalie did at the time that I potty trained her! Hopefully I can get it done in that window of time that Tony will be gone and I am not too busy. It will give me something to do to keep me busy!

That's most of the highlights for now I guess!

Date Night

Last Saturday we went to an Amarillo Gorillas hockey game. It was the first time I had ever been to a hockey game, and it was a lot of fun! It is such a fast moving sport. I had a hard time keeping up with where the puck was some of the time.
The Air Force was sponsoring the game Saturday so we got to go for free! That made it even better! :o) During the break between periods Tony had to help with the entertainment. He said that it was a good thing he didn't know about that before we went. I told him that I still would have made him take me. :o) There were several people that are in the DEP (Delayed Entry Program) at the game. During the first break they had to form two teams and throw water balloons across the ice with big sling shots. At the other end of the rink someone had a bucket trying to catch the balloon. It was pretty funny, and Tony's team ended up winning, so we got a gift card to a pizza restaurant.
The Gorillas lost, 7-8. It was still a really good game though, they really fought for it at the end. I was disappointed to find out that it was the last game of the season...so it will be awhile before I can go again. :o) I told Tony that one good thing about Amarillo is that it is a big enough town to have a baseball, hockey, and arena football team, yet small enough that the people really get into supporting the teams.
It was a great date night, and Tony's first time doing anything associated with the Air Force-even though it was just having fun!

Birthday Fun

Gabbie had lots of fun on her Birthday!


She thinks the table is for standing on.

Gabbie LOVES cake!! She crammed it in her mouth as fast as her little fingers would go! It was all over her and the floor by the time she was finished.

Gabbie went to her 1 year checkup on Tuesday. She weighs 20 1/2 lbs, and is 29 1/4 inches tall. The Dr said that she looked great except for an ear infection. She has had a runny nose and cough for the past week or so, so I was not very surprised. She has not felt good the past couple of days because of the ear infection, and the 1 year immunizations that she got. Last night she would not eat (If Gabbie won't eat, then we KNOW it is bad!), and she had a fever of 102. She was so sad and wouldn't play or anything. All she wanted to do was just have someone hold her. That is unusual for Gabbie too. She is ALWAYS moving! She seems to feel a little better today, although she is still not 100%.

One Year Ago Today...

This time last year I was in terrible, horrible pain. I was in the hospital. I did not know at the time that I would be there for a total of 5 1/2 days. The year that has passed since that day has gone by so quickly! I can't believe it has been a whole year since that amazing day. That's right, amazing.(Only that day, not the following 4 1/2 days!) As painful as it was, it was good because THIS is why I was in the hospital...






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My little Gabriella Joy was born one year ago today, January 16th, 2008, at 5:40 pm. She weighed 7lbs 12oz, and was 19 3/4" long. She had a LOT of curly black hair. I can't believe how much a little person can change in the first year. Just one year ago this was all she could do...




Now she has been walking for 2 months, and if she is awake, she is MOVING and getting into things!!! There is a little trail all over the house. It is easy to see where she has been and what she has been doing. I am excited to see her personality continue to develop. Each day she does new cute things. She is always trying to copy her big sister. She spins in circles, tries to jump, and now she tries to turn somersaults!! She puts her forehead to the floor and takes off scooting it across the floor until somebody helps her flip over! It's so cute, but I'm afraid that she will get a carpet burn on her face!

As I reflect today on the past year, I can't help but be a little sad. Like I said, I am excited to see how she changes and grows in the next year, but I do so miss the little baby days! There is nothing better than a tiny, sweet-smelling, cuddly, baby and all the little grunts and sounds they make! (Although not having to get up every 2 hours during the night IS pretty good!)
I found out that I was pregnant with Gabbie just a couple of days before Natalie's first birthday, so it made that day a little easier for me. It was easier for me to let her be big, because I had another baby. That is not the case this time.

Now I just have two little girls who think they are so big! It's like I am standing on the sidelines, watching the hands on a clock just spinning and spinning. I am powerless to slow it down, so all I can do is just try to memorize every moment because I know that it will be gone all too soon! Now I know that one year is not that much in the big picture of their childhood, but it is just the beginning of the years that I know will be flying by!

So Happy Birthday my Gabbie! You keep me so busy, but I can't imagine this past year without you! We are so thankful for a happy and healthy first year.

Late Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everybody out there that happens to read this. I
know I am late in saying this, but I have been busy!! I have had family here for 11 days. It is great to have everyone here, but it makes it hard for me to do my regular stuff. Now I am trying to get caught up on all those things that I need to do, and get the house cleaned as well. Having extra people in the house makes it hard to stay on top of the housework.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We celebrated with my family on the day after Christmas after Kaleena and Clint got here. Our family (Me,Tony and the Girls) had our Christmas, and of course Santa came on Christmas Day. Both girls loved tearing into the packages. Natalie still asks to open Christmas presents every now and then! The new toys have been great at giving them something new and exciting to do.

Kaleena and Clint got married on Jan 3rd! Since they live in Houston all the last minute planning and getting decorations ready came from here. It still looks a little like a craft store here!! It was beautiful and everything went very smoothly. Natalie was the flower girl, and she did great!!! I was surprised and amazed at how well she did. She dropped the petals like she was supposed to and stood on the stage with me for a little while. She got tired of standing, so she just quietly walked down the steps and went and sat with Mimi and Pawpaw. We didn't practice that part, but she did it so perfectly. Hopefully I can put a couple of pictures up here soon. They are on a different computer, so I will go ahead and post this first.
We are glad to officially have Clint in the family. Natalie has really taken to him. She absolutely loves him. Every little girls needs an Uncle that they love. The girls have another Uncle, but Natalie has only met him once, and Gabbie has never met him.

So between Christmas and the wedding and two little girls I have been busy! Things have settled down now, so if I can just get caught up on all the house work, I will be good. My parents are still here but they have their "house" that they are staying in so we are able to get back to our routine for the most part.

The next big event for our house is Gabbie's birthday! I cannot believe that she will be one in just 10 days!!! My baby has grown so fast! She has been walking for about 3 weeks or so, and now she is working on running! She is getting pretty good at that too. The other day I heard quick footsteps come up behind me and I thought it was Natalie. I turned and was surprised to see Gabbie! She can dance and spin in circles too. She has suddenly turned into a toddler. Her personality and actions have changed so much. She and Natalie love to play together! They run through the house just being silly and laughing so hard at each other!

Natalie continues to learn new things every day. Tony and I are constantly amazed. We are always looking at each other and saying, "Has she done that before? I didn't know she knew that!" We are going to sign her up for a gymnastics class at AC this semester. She loves to jump and turn somersaults. I think she will really love the class. It starts in a couple of weeks I think, so we will see how it goes.

We look forward to what 2009 holds for our family. We are trying to figure out what God has planned for us and follow His path. Please pray for us as we prepare for the adventure that lies ahead. We know it won't always be easy, but if we hold on to Him and stay strong as a family it will totally be worth it. We'll keep you posted!

Lots Happening...

So it has been a LONG time since I have posted last. First it was because nothing much worth posting about was going on, then because TOO much was going on for me to get a chance to get it done! Go figure. So anyway, here is a few highlights of the last few weeks.
Here is a Horney Toad that we found in the yard. We actually saw two different ones over a couple of days! I was excited, I haven't seen any of these since I was a kid. This was actually Tony's first time ever to see one in real life! I guess they don't live up north.





Here is a one antlered deer that came up to graze in our yard. I figured the more it ate, the less we would have to mow. It wasn't afraid of anything, it just looked at us and went on with what it was doing.


This Is Molly. While Pawpaw was in town he found a puppy that he thought the girls needed. Molly is a nine week old, 3 1/2 lb Beagle. She is great with the girls, and Natalie loves her to death. She carries her around with her all the time. Once she catches on to the housebreaking than it will be even better. She loves being outside, so while the weather is still nice she is spending a quite a bit of time outside as well. I think she will be a great pet.




We had family in town for the holiday weekend. My parents, sister, and future brother-in-law were all here. I always love it when everyone is in town, but it always seems to take me a few days to get the house and schedules put back together! :0) It's totally worth it though. It took me a little longer this time, with two kids- both of them mobile- and a puppy. Plus I had several errands and appointments that I had to do, so that is why I am just now getting around to posting. A week later. I am finally pretty much caught up on the extra stuff, so now I am just doing the daily never ending stuff. The girls are on totally opposite naps right now, as soon as Gabbie wakes up from her morning nap, Natalie goes down for her nap. I miss having the break from them, but I guess at least I get time with just one instead of two.
I have gone back to working at Paramount Baptist in their childcare dept. This time I am working for a few hours on Wednesday nights. It is barely worth it with the gas and all, since we live a ways from town. I told them that I would do it through Christmas and see if it was worth me working longer. I don't think it will be, but I figure any little bit extra will help with Christmas and Birthdays coming up. Plus the season is changing, and both girls need new clothes.

All of us together.



Natalie with Auntie Neena, Uncle Clint and of course Molly.





Natalie in the tree.


Natalie, Pawpaw and Molly on the swing.


I guess that's it for now, I have to get back to the laundry and floor mopping.