USS Ronald Reagan

I am loving experiencing all the new things that being in the military and stationed in Hawaii has offered us so far. Yesterday we got to see the USS Ronald Reagan coming into port in Pearl Harbor. We were able to stand by the water on Hickam AFB and see it just glide by. It was very cool! It was a little over an hour late, but that's not unusual for the military! LOL

That thing is HUGE!
Just a couple of things that I think is super cool about the ship:
It can run for 20 years before needing to be refueled
It has a crew of around 3000- that's bigger than a lot of towns!
It carries 90 aircraft.
It travels 35MPH

This is definitely one of those experiences where words and pictures don't do it justice! If you click on the pictures you can see more detail. That helps a little.


Here she comes!







Getting closer!








You can see some of the planes here.



I love how the Sailors were dressed and standing at attention on every deck, around the whole boat! It looked very neat!














See the Sailors? I think that was my favorite part. :o)

Tech School Graduation

Today Tony (finally) graduated Tech school! We are so excited! He got Distinguished Grad too! That means that he had really good grades, never got in trouble for anything and had an instructor recommendation. I'm not surprised, and I'm very proud of him! This day has been a long time in coming for us. He has already been in the Air Force for almost 8 months! It seems like forever, and not that long at the same time. The fact that it has been 8 months and he is still in training is starting to get a little old! He has another 2 week-long training class and then we are off to Hawaii! We are very anxious to get to our duty station and be able to start this new part of our lives

My parents are visiting us for a few days since we won't have time to go to Amarillo before we move. They took the girls out to eat tonight and they are spending the night at Mimi and Pawpaw's camping trailer! We have no kids for the whole evening AND night. That has never happened! It is so nice! We went out to dinner with the other married couples from Tony's class. It has been nice having some friends for our time here. We don't really do much with them since we don't have a babysitter very often, but we have a lot of fun on the rare occasions that we were able to get together. Tonight we had fun celebrating that tech school is finally over! All the couples except for us are leaving town tomorrow to go to their new stations. This was our first time to say good-bye to friends that we have met in the Air Force.(first of many I'm sure, so we will have to get used to it) :o) It is bitter sweet. We are all so excited to be going to our new places, but we will always have this common bond of surviving tech school together. I am thankful for Facebook that lets us all keep in touch. Someday our paths just might cross again!








Natalie gave herself a haircut last night. She cut the hair in the front down to the scalp, and took big chunks out of the rest of it. I took her to a salon today to get it fixed. I will admit that it could have been much worse. She looks a lot older now with her new layered hairstyle.





Natalie's version








Better

And a picture of Gabbie, so she is included. :o) Plus it is so RARE that she will actually smile for the camera! I think she is so cute in this one!

Missing Daddy

Before Tony left we took the girls to the Bear Mill and got them puppies in an Air Force Blues uniform. I put Tony's cologne on them so the girls have a little reminder of Daddy while he is gone. They love them, and Natalie is always saying "It smells good! It smells like my daddy!"




Daddy and his girls and their "Special Dada puppies"


Gabbie and her puppy watching Veggie Tales




I got my first phone call from Tony yesterday! This is the dreaded 30 second scripted call where he gives me his address. We actually got to talk for 2 min and 11 seconds! Yay! He was not very scripted, and there was no one yelling at him in the background. He sounded really good! Now I can write him letters. That makes me feel better, but we still miss him a lot.

Where Did June Go?!

Wow, this month has gone by so fast for me! I can't believe that it is July already. June seemed even busier than May was, and it definitely went by faster to me!

I want to start by saying hello to my new followers! I now have someone other than family members following my blog, Yay! Now I just need to give them something interesting to read... Hang in there, not all my posts will be about my kids! :o)

We finally got the tubes put in Gabbie's ears. She is doing great.

My parents are in town for awhile, so we are enjoying spending time with them. The girls of course are getting lots of Mimi and Pawpaw time which they love!

Tony's parents came to visit for a few days as well. They lived in South Carolina and came to see us on their way to Japan! Tony's dad is a MGySgt (Master Gunnery Sergeant) in the Marine Corps and they are PCSing (moving) to Okinawa for awhile. It was great to see them. We haven't seen them since March of last year. Gabbie was just a tiny baby last time they saw her! Both girls took to them right away and had so much fun with them. It's hard to believe that Natalie may be 6, and Gabbie will be 4- older than Natalie is now, next time they see them!
Yesterday marked exactly 3 weeks until Tony leaves for BMT! I am only a little nervous so far, but if I think about it too much than I get a lot more nervous! I have plans to visit some of my family while he is gone to help keep me busy, so hopefully those 2 months will go by fast. Right now we are just trying to get everything taken care of that we need to before he leaves. We have a list of stuff we have to get done. Once he leaves, he will not be back here to live! I will be moving everything myself in the fall. That's where things get a little nerve racking!

It seems like I had something on my calender a few days out of every week in June. It was crazy! July so far is pretty empty! That is good though. It will give us a chance to get stuff done and have some family time before Tony leaves. We are leaving on Friday after Tony gets off work to go to Wichita Falls for the weekend. Our good friends moved there several weeks ago, and the guys have days off that line up, so we decided to go! It will be a short trip but I am looking forward to getting out of town. I told Natalie yesterday that we are going to see Katie, her best friend and she is super excited!

Have a happy Fourth of July everyone! Be safe and remember all the men and women that make sacrifices to make this the great country that it is! Thank you!

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.