Happy late Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween yesterday! It started out with play group where we painted our own little pillowcases. Christian's was beautiful...so very colorful with a lot of green (I'll have to post pictures of it later). Brooklyn's turned out to where you could actually tell what was on her shirt, mostly because I painted it. She was just a little too young to understand what to do.

As for costumes...Christian was the handsome and strong Superman and Brooklyn was the most beautiful little green fairy princess! They looked so adorable, I loved taking them around. There was one house that she decided to go to after all the other kids had gone to, so we walked up there by ourselves and knocked on the door. The man that answered was so surprised to see her there, he gave her an extra little treat. She even wore her little crown all night too! I was quite surprised.

We carved some pumpkins yesterday afternoon. A silly face and a skull. They turned out pretty well. Christian and Justin did the cutting on the silly face. A little clean up was done by Sheila (he kinda needed it). They turned out well though. Now for pictures!!!






Oh, Shane left on Sunday and made it to Virginia safe and sound. Today when I talked with him he said that he was sore from exercising, but other than that, he was doing well. Saturday he leaves to go to South Carolina for a couple weeks. I'll keep you posted.

Some funny pictures to lighten it back up!!


A rare moment with Shane!

Being silly for the camera.

This just happens to be our first family portrait ever!

little ears

Yesterday...sorry, I'm a day late...I got Brooklyn's little ears pierced. She did really well! She didn't like them marking her ears for the placement and even was complaining that it hurt. I gave her a little giggle and told her that she hadn't felt anything yet. The thing that she cried about most though was the popping sound of the gun. She somehow looks older to me, but I love them, anyway.


There's her ear with the little earring in it!!!

Christian and I thought this was funny because they had string cheese in their hands and were saying cheese...that was a little giggle for a while.

Here's Christian's cheesy cheese picture.

time flys!

Wow, over a month since I've last blogged. I can't believe how fast time is going by! So, just a quick update and then on to pictures of the kids!

Christian's doing very well...getting big! He measured 40 inches this week on Monday and the last time we were at the doctor's office, he was 38 pounds of boy! He's so much fun and becoming quite the little comedian. Although, if you're not between the age range of 3-8, poo and pee jokes really aren't funny. Once you've heard "stinky, poopy head" for the 40th time of the day (and it's only noon), you get a little perturbed. Justin thinks it's funny every time though, so he continues to say it...unless it's directed at him.

Brooklyn's getting big as well. She had her first experience with Fire Ants last night, so her poor little foot and hand are all "bumped" up with little pustules. I felt so badly, I was mowing the lawn and came inside to take my shower. Poor DJ (Sheila's husband) was outside finishing up with the weed eater and looked up to find Emily and Brooklyn in the mound. Thank goodness he was looking! Please, don't think I'm a bad mother, because I already feel horrible and think the same! Oui! On a lighter note, the bumps aren't bothering her a bit.

And now, the news we've all been waiting for was finally delivered on Friday. For sure, Shane will be going to Afghanistan. He's leaving Oct. 28th for 2 months of training and then is being shipped to Afghanistan. He did tell me though that as soon as he touches ground over there that his time starts and it's only for 6 months! Hooray...he'll make it back for my birthday. Too bad he'll miss both the kids' and our 5 year anniversary. Oh well, we'll just have to celebrate them all when he comes back.

Me, I'm doing well. Doing the church thing on Sunday, which I'm enjoying, but not as much as I thought I would. It's fine though, it's a lifestyle change, so it's going to be a little rough in the beginning right? Adjusting?? I also have MOPS every other Thursday where I get a 2 hour break from the kids and I get to go gab with other moms. Sort of like the playgroup on Wednesdays that we go to! I sound so busy, but that's only 3 days a week...anyhow, things are well, and we're all happy.

And now, the pictures!


She loves her daddy...especially at bedtime! I try to catch her when I tell her it's time for bed, but she runs right for Daddy's arms and he gladly scoops her up to cuddle.

The kids all dressed up before church one Sunday.

Brooklyn attacking and loving brother all at the same time! He doesn't like it at all, can't you tell?!?!

Dirty boy face...sorry it's blurry. I don't know what happened!

Brooklyn in the bathtub...she didn't want to get out, so I started taking pictures of her little face. Little chubby cheeks!

The rest of the post

More things of note from our vacation...Kel's wedding!!! It was absolutely so much fun! The food was great, the conversation was wonderful and it was so awesome to see old friends from USF. What fun. Kellan and Tony looked so happy, it made all the wrong things in your life feel small and minute compared to the happiness they shared. I was truly blessed to be able to partake in that great day. Kellan was absolutely radiant...


See what I mean???

And, my other two girls were amazingly beautiful also. When are they not though?


Again, see???

To follow the festivities from the night before...this is my wonderful hairdo the next morning! I love my new haircut, it's SO MUCH FUN!


What's with that...and how did that happen??? Either I slept really badly, or really well!


Silly goof...

Well, the last week of our vacation was a little crazy...out of all that though, we did take time to pay a little visit to the Jelly Belly Factory. The kids had a ball! We got Christian to wear that little hat the whole time and Brooklyn floated around the tour like a little angel. In the end, we took pictures outside because we weren't allowed to take them during the tour. We got an "absolutely no picture taking inside the factory!" from a lady that wasn't even our tour guide. Any event, we still had fun!


Mom and Gordon holding B and C, and me...hovering above. :)


Brooklyn in the factory.


Brooklyn was trying to put some lip smacker on Christian while I was taking his picture. They're so cute!


The kids and I in the gift shop.

I'm having a bit of writer's block now, so I think it might be time to stop. I still have plenty more to write about, so I'll be posting again soon!

Finally back!

We've hit our one week mark of being back home. Gosh, it's been so long since I've written on here, I don't even know where to begin. First off, day before we left to go to CA, I chopped my hair off. Most of you who read this already know that. My friend Sheila did a wonderful job on it and I'm so thankful to have her next door with all her talent. Hence, the new profile pic!

Some of our big things that happened were...spending more than just a couple hours apart for Kel's wedding. The kids did two nights with their Papa and Nonni who did a wonderful job of taking care of them. Definitely a lot better with Brooklyn being bigger this time! We also did a couple of trips to the Micke Grove Zoo in Stockton, once with Grandpa John and another with my Mom, her boyfriend, Gordon, his two daughters Stacey and Tracy...along with their kids. We were quite a group!


Tracy, her daughter Alyssa, Gordon holding Brooklyn, Mom holding Christian, Bailey, Wyatt and Stacey. What a fun day!

We also hit the Japanese Garden that day. Partially my favorite!


Coy in the pond, a little hard to see them, but...they're there.

Just a random shot.

The beautiful Japanese house from the bridge over the pond.

My favorite out of the whole thing...the small, metal tower.

We had a few great BBQ's that we attended...all equally as fun, in different ways. The meaning behind that last statement...some, meeting people and getting to know them for the first time, others were reacquainting and rekindling friendships. Lots of fun anyway!

We discovered the Brooklyn is the biggest flirt EVER! We went to lunch at a sushi restaurant one afternoon with my Mom, and at the end, after washing up...she walked right over to the sushi chef and raised her arms for him to hold her! It was amazing! FYI, my daughter NEVER does things like this. He promptly picked her up, tickled her, gave her kisses on her cheek, put her down and held her hand while we walked to the door...the five of us. She also did it two other times...thankfully to family that she just hadn't met yet, but still!!!

I'm going to have to stop for the night with this post because I'm actually tired now. I haven't been sleeping well, so now that I'm tired, I'll get to bed. I'll post more about our trip tomorrow! But, before I go...PICTURES!


Just a smidge of frosting on him, he's getting cleaner with his eating. Still gets milk mustaches though!

This little girl had it ALL over the place! It was dribbled down her chest and on her diaper and leg...oi, what a mess I had to clean! Well worth it though.

Brooklyn with her bunny slippers on. Check out her cute little legs!

Actually got him to look at the camera, he was too busy playing walkie talkie's with Papa.

Night.

About today!

Today was supposed to be the first day of the meeting to decide our future here in Meridian, but come to find out this morning..."Oh, they cancelled that until November...I've known about this for about a month now." OK!!! Would you like to let me in on this?!?! Hello??? I've only been freaking out about it now for weeks on end!!!

So...as of now...we're here for a good half a year more. Even if they decide to move the school, we won't be moving right away.

Oh, also...we leave for California in 2 days!!! Can't wait!!!

Now, for cute pictures!


Kissing babies...in the bath tonight (taken with my cell, that's why it's fuzzy)!



I must make a killer chocolate cake!!! Check out the cake on the bottom, tip of her nose...she really liked it. I couldn't stop laughing, they were just so cute!


Self explanatory...can't get any cuter, beside the first picture!


Naked booty and baby tan lines...she's got her mommy's skin! Yeah!

long time.

I know, it has been a while. Almost 2 weeks...it's just flying by and every day goes faster than the one before it. To catch you up on where we are...here's this blog post.

Christian is just big. He's so tall that he reaches my belly button standing up straight. Not to mention, in the middle of the night when I pick him up to take him to the restroom, with his head laying on my shoulder and legs straight down, his big toes scrape the tops of my knees. I can't even believe it myself. He makes me laugh, he's quite the little comedian...here's a story from this morning. WARNING! It's a little gross (toilet humor), but here goes...so, he can't wipe himself yet when he does a #2, so he'll call me in there to do it for him. This morning he tells me, "Mommy look, it's a big chicky nuggie poop!" First off, I was already grossed out because I'm having to wipe him, but then for him to tell me what it looked like...I just started laughing and told him that I had seen it and I agreed.

Brooklyn...little baby girl, she's getting big also. She now has a repertoire of about 10 words and can ask, "what's that?" and also tell you, "that's good." She knows what a dog is and can quack like a duck. She also blows kisses and will give hugs and kisses. Every night, we tell Daddy and big brother "nigh, nigh." Then, she goes "neigh, neigh." She's also insanely jealous of when anyone sits on mommy's lap or loves on her...I, of course, think it's really endearing.

I've been doing well too...last weekend we went with our friends down to their condo in Alabama, which is about 4 blocks or so from the beach and had a blast. We drove down Friday, had some pizza, sat around and relaxed for a bit and then, went to bed. Saturday we were up at 7 (thanks to Sheila's alarm that we forgot to shut off!). Sheila made us all some breakfast, bacon, eggs and biscuits...yum! Then, we went to the beach where the babies played and when we got back to the condo Brooklyn took a 3 hour nap! Guess she was tired! Christian swam in the pool and then came back in and passed out on the couch. He was so cute all cuddled up in the corner of the couch. Then, DJ's Mom (DJ is Sheila's hubby) watched all four of the kids while we went out to dinner. I had half a rum runner, while Sheila downed 2 and the other half of mine...and then we went back to the condo and played a few drinking games and went to bed. Pretty mellow, but a lot of fun. Sunday was a lazy day, the kids went swimming for about half of the day and then we packed our things up and went to dinner at Lambert's. It's a really filling restaurant where they are known for throwing their rolls! The kids got a kick out of being able to catch their rolls. After dinner, we drove home, and got right into bed...tired kids and Mommy!

Here are a few pictures...none from this weekend, but still cute nonetheless!



We went to the mall to play on the "Pooh Tree," so through the parking lot, we had the kids hold hands. They decided that it was fun enough to continue on into the store!


Christian being silly, upside down at the "Pooh Tree."


Brooklyn sunning herself at the pool on base.