Serendipity

2010-10-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

My first born is now six. Six, people! I can't believe it and don't know where the time has gone. She has been waiting to be six since her 5th birthday and is now shooting for 10. While she has no intentions of slowing down, I am trying to savor each moment. Compared to Elijah and Kayla, she looks so big. However, getting off the bus each day she looks so little. It is surreal that I have a child in kindergarten. She has matured so much. Though the past several weeks have been very tough due to much reverting on her part, the past week has been so, so much better. She has had a much needed positive attitude change. She, and the rest of us, are definitely ready for Daddy to be home! Only a couple more weeks to go!

Abigail and I talked about what kind of party she wanted and she, very adamantly, wanted a Wonder Woman party. I don't know why or where that came from but I looked into it. As it turns out, there are a very limited amount of WW party supplies (I pretended to be disappointed). So I convinced her to change the theme. What did she decide on...a pirate party. That screams sweet, six year old girl party, doesn't it? So we started looking for things and I actually found some really cute supplies and ideas. However, one night while cleaning up I came across one of the kids books called, "Cooking With the Cat." It is a favorite around here so I asked Abi what she thought about a cooking party with a Cat in the Hat theme. She loved it! Score! We found some cute things, mostly teaching supplies on sale at Michael's.

This guy greeted each person as they came into the house. He now resides upstairs.

Each kid got a Cat in the Hat hat to wear and an apron. They each made their own pizza. I thought they would really enjoy making their pizza but when it came to eating it, they would only take a couple of bites and take off. They all cleaned their plates! They were so cute. Unfortunately my camera, which I kept my eye on ALL day, was missing through the beginning of the party. But believe me, they had a blast. My parents came in the Friday before the party and were a lot of help. My mom read the Cooking With the Cat book while the pizza's were cooking.

After eating it was pinata time! Abi picked out one of those big star like pinatas. It fit the color scheme perfectly. However, by the time of the party it had lost 75% of its streamers. Something about it being in a house with three kids...

Afterwards, we came inside for cake. I made the cake and decided the easiest thing to do would be to make the inside of the cake look like the cats hat with alternating white and red velvet layers. I also printed out some Dr. Seuss images and mounted them on foam core. I curled wire and then put the pictures on one end of the wire and the other end into the cake. I thought the springs looked very Dr. Seussish. I was really happy with how it turned out, if I do say so myself.

It was busy, but necessary!

Terrible picture of me, but it kind of shows the inside of the cake.

Abi opened her presents and then the idea was for each kid to decorate a cookie to take home with them. A few were interested which meant there were more for us to enjoy later. Each kid got to take home their apron, hat and a goody bag with a wooden spoon and bookmark. They all had such a great time. It was a full house too with 13 kids! We were exhausted when it was all over but it was worth it!

The decorations in the house were pretty simple. There were going to be almost 20 people in the house after all. The people were the decorations...(yes, I'm aware how cheesy that sounds).

All in all, it was a great time. I love planning and having birthday parties. Luckily I get to do it three times a year. Well really just two times for now seeing how Elijah and Kayla can still share parties...we'll see how long that lasts.

Happy Birthday Abigail. Love you so much!!!

Little Stinker

2010-09-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning Abigail started in on the 'I don't want to go to school' business and mentioned that the mean boy was going to be back today. Apparently Max didn't move away, he was just going to be gone for a few days. So I told her how to handle the situation, yadda, yadda, yadda. Tuesday afternoon I asked her about Max. She said that she thought he was going to be back but her teacher forgot and he did move away. About half and hour later she comes up to me and says, "Well actually that boy in my class isn't real. I made him up." What! Are you kidding me? That's not what I said but that's what I was thinking. She said she really just misses being at home. I can't believe she made up a whole person and a story about him. I started thinking about it and saw the holes in her story. She initially said he was moving to Alaska then yesterday it was the North Pole. Also, she couldn't remember his name. I didn't think too much about the inconsistencies because I was getting information from a five year old. Man, she got me. This morning she tried to start the 'I don't want to go to school stuff' and told her she wasn't going to do that and I've done everything I can think of the help her. That's enough! She went to school happy this morning and even drew a picture for her bus driver. The more and more I think about it, the more I laugh.

My Little Big Girl

2010-09-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

I am now officially the parent of a kindergartner. Abigail has actually had two first days of school. Her first, first day of school was August 16. She started at Borman Elementary, the school on base. Because of budget cuts for the Tucson Unified School District all elementary schools could only offer half day kindergarten. I was reluctant about this from the beginning. Tucson is notorious for being a bad school district. However, I looked at the school's past ratings, which were good, so I decided to go ahead and enroll Abigail. Also, I liked that the school was right around the corner and she would be with other military kids. I felt that teachers might be better equipped to deal with kids coming and going because of moves and dealing with deployments. I volunteered in her class the third Monday and was not pleased with what I saw. There seemed to be very little order or discipline. The kids all seem pretty well behaved but they got to do whatever they wanted. There was a restroom, sink and water fountain in the classroom and the kids were allowed to get up whenever they wanted to use the bathroom, wash hands or get a drink. How about asking first? Also, Abi would come home with homework, usually one worksheet, and would have the whole week to complete it. The things they worked on during centers seemed like preschool work. I realize that I was only there for a short time, but I felt she should be doing more and be in a classroom with more order to it. I immediately started looking into charter schools because they offered full day kinder. I ended up touring and talking with someone from The Griffin Academy. She was enrolled and had her second first day of school on September 2.

It has been a rough transition. Abigail has seen the other side, the half day kindergarten side, and she likes it. Her first two days went really well. She got to ride the bus to and from school on her second day. She loves riding the bus, despite the fact she has to be at the bus stop, which is just around the corner from our house, around 7:10, bus comes at 7:14.

She looks so little compared to the big bus. Luckily there are two other kindergartners at the stop and she immediately made a bus buddy. I was very anxious her first day of riding the bus. I even called the school to make sure she would make it on the bus for the ride home. The kinder and 1st graders are gathered up by the aids and put on the right bus. That made me feel much better.

Over the long weekend, labor day weekend, she decided that she didn't like her school and she wanted to go back to her first school. After much, much discussion, pleading and crying Abigail finally said the reason she didn't like school was because of lunch time. She said it is too loud. Can't argue with that. She eventually mentioned that they turn out the lights when it's getting too loud. She said everyone gets in trouble for being loud but she is being quiet and shouldn't get in trouble. I understand her thought discipline as personal. Tuesday morning she was in tears begging to not go to school because of lunch. I prayed to God for help then got the idea of letting Abigail decorated a brown paper gift sack tprocess. Abigail puts on a big front as being rough and tough. She is so, so sensitive though. She took the hat I had. Problem solved. Thank you God. Could have knocked me over with a feather. She colored the sack and bounced out the door to school. So I went out and bought more sacks. I figured that was a pretty inexpensive solution to make lunch time easier. Tuesday night, school no bueno again. Ask if getting a new lunch box would help. So after school on Wednesday, that's what we did.

Abi's new lunch box. She was using the same one she had for preschool in San Angelo. Guess it was time for a new one.

Wednesday night she finally (I say finally because you can't imagine the number of talks we had to try and figure out what exactly was going on and how to help fix the problem) told me that a kid at lunch told her that the food she had in her lunch box was not allowed. So she was not eating her lunch, other than her sandwich. She was coming home starving. So I got out the student handbook and read to her what was not allowed and told her I would only put things in her lunch box that were allowed. She said if somebody told her she had the wrong thing again that she was going to tell them that her mom read the paper that said what she could bring and everything that she has is OK. You tell 'em girl!

Then she said she didn't like music class because all they do is sing and she wants to play the instruments. Also, can't blame her for that. Apparently there is a xylophone with her name all over it. I told her she just had to be patient on that one.

So then Abi tells me that a boy in class at centers told her that she didn't draw well and that he was better and that she was a loser. Are you kidding me? Five years old people! So I was starting to tell her to not listen to him and she interrupted telling me that she is a good artist and that he only needs to worry about his own work. She then told me that she thinks he probably acts that way because of his parents. It took all that I had to not bust out laughing. So she said if he told her that again she would say what she said to me and that if he would be nice to people then people would be nice to him. Saturday night I asked her about the boy. She said he moved. Asked her where. She said Antarctica. Then mentioned dog races. Alaska? Yeah, Alaska. Serves him right. Just kidding.

So, we are working through the first day jitters during the fourth week of school. She's still the new kid. By Friday we had worked out A LOT of kinks and I think we're going to be OK. She really likes her teacher, which is great. There haven't been any bad reports on him. She has excellent behavior in class also. She has homework every night, a behavior report and the class has restroom breaks as a whole. Seems to be a much better environment. I realize that she has a lot going on right now. She misses her daddy, misses being home during the day and is trying to adjust to being the new kid. She has a lot of people praying for her, and me. I love that girl! She's going to be great, just have to take it one day at a time. That's becoming my motto for life.

Showing off her new backpack.

Abigail loves Justin Bieber, or she thinks she does, at least. So I made her some Justin Bieber pajamas. I gave them to her the night before school started to help her get a good nights rest. I'd put this at the beginning of the blog, where it seems more appropriate, but I'm too lazy to move it.

Like I said, it has been a rough week. There have been some behavior issues that I won't go in to detail about because I've already written a novel. I find myself praying for many of the Fruits of the Spirit these days. I am proud of my kids. They have kind spirits and have dealt with a lot of change in their short lives. More than the average kiddo. On to week two at the new school. It's gonna be a good one, I can feel it!

Blog? What? Oh yeah...

2010-09-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

Funny finding myself back here. I almost forgot that I had a blog. I haven't written anything in such a long time that I don't even know where to start. Guess I'll just jump in.

David has been deployed since July 18th. Some days it feels like he will never be home. Then I stop to think and realize it's already September and we only have like two months left. I can do this. I get to hear from him pretty often, usually by e-mail or chat on Facebook. I love getting messages and chatting. I miss seeing his face but it is so great just to hear from him. He really enjoys hearing about all that we're up to also, even the boring stuff. He is working really hard and doing a great job! I am so proud of him!

A few of the things going on around here:

-Abigail started kindergarten. (That will be another post and, at this rate, probably when she graduates from high school). She looks so big compared to Eli and Kayla, but she's still a little girl. Don't tell her I said that though.

-Elijah is still in his own world. You may not understand it and you may question it, but don't try to fight it. The world is his race track (yes, still obsessed with cars). The side of him that most people don't get to see is that he is very loving and sweet. My Buddy!!

Kayla is 5. Well she thinks so, at least. As a baby she was, by far, the most laid back. Lord help me, because she is something else. A sweetheart, yes. A tornado, yes! Love that girl!!

All in all, things are running pretty "normal" around here. Normal is good. As long as nothing is broken, mechanically or physically, we're good. For me, deployments are a reminder to step back and take a breath. My patience and faith are being tested. Satan would love to be able to step in right now! I finally got a clear understanding of faith a few years ago when David and I were dating and I finally handed over David's deployment to God. Gods got this! I have learned that worry gets you nowhere. Until you decide to hand it over to God, you will never find rest. I have too many kiddos relying on me. I can't let worry take over. Sure, my mind wanders to the dark side. The side where you imagine something happening to your husband. I think that is normal. But I try to not let my mind go there. I have to regain focus and pray for God to protect him. I don't want this to sound like everything is peachy and wonderful all of the time. I'm taking care of three kids by myself. I have meltdowns. I get stressed and frustrated. I'm not going to lie. We just take it one day at a time. Sometimes, one minute at a time. I remind myself that I'm not the only mom going through this and it's only temporary. My hat goes off to the single moms out there that don't have somebody to lean on. I am so proud of David! I can't wait to see him again!!!

And now I'll step off my soap box.

HallowThankChristmaNew Day

2009-01-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

Oh my stars, I am so behind on blogs it is ridiculous. Umm, I didn't even post Halloween pictures. The kids looked really cute so even though it is almost February I am going to put up some pics of the kids in their costumes. I figure I can do that since it's my blog.

Elijah had a cowboy hat as well but I suppose by this point he was no longer interested in wearing it. He wears it at home all of the time though.

Paging Dr. Abigail. She too had a surgeons cap and mask but quickly passed that on to me or Daddy to hold. Eventually we ended up carrying a majority of their costumes. That's what we're there for!

Okay, fast forward to Thanksgiving...

We drove to Texas for Turkey day. I was like 30 weeks and drive just about did me in but I was really glad that we got to see everyone, especially since we were not going to make it to Texas for Christmas. While we were there we got to meet Joshua and Josiah, Lori and Marcus' new twins, and we found out that April is having a girl. We made a trip to the Dallas World Aquarium with my parents for an early Christmas present as well. The kids really enjoyed it and Abigail is still talking about it.

Me, my dad and Elijah. Like I said, I'm about 30 weeks here, give or take a week.

The kiddos with Mamaw and Baba at the World Aquarium

The quality of this photo isn't all that great but I thought it was really cute.

Bath time with the cousins. Hmm, which one is mine? Maybe the pale one of the bunch?

Let's see, I think this brings us to December. We practiced making cookies for Santa.

Abigail really likes helping in the kitchen. She's an excellent little chef. I love this picture because she has flour on her cheek.

Before I knew it Elijah had emptied the whole bottle of sprinkles onto his cookie. He looks pretty proud of his work.

How proud is she of her cookies!

This are a few of the fruits of our labor.

For Christmas my parents drove out to see us in Tucson. This was my first Christmas where I didn't travel somewhere. It was nice to be at home but felt a little awkward. I was in no position to make the drive though. This was the first year that Abigail understood who Santa was. We discussed his role quite often till we had it all straightened out. Just when I thought everything had been discussed she asked how Santa would get into the house since we don't have a chimney. I explained that Santa would use his magic to build a chimney and when he left the chimney would also be gone. That answer seemed to calm her fears. However, she did pray on Christmas Eve that the builders would come and build a chimney so Santa could go down it. Such sweet innocence.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I loved getting the decorations out and Abigail really enjoyed helping me decorate the trees. Yes, trees. I had three. What, that's too many? I had one full size tree, then a smaller one that was the kids tree and was adorned with Cars, Sesame Street and other kid ornaments, and then I had a small 3 foot tree. I was lovely.

Okay, so we made more cookies for Santa and left some out to keep him nourished. I received the honor of eating his cookies and left one of them half eaten. The next morning Abigail was thrilled to see that some of the cookies were gone and that he ate so much he couldn't finish one of them. It was precious to see the holidays through Abigail and Elijah's eyes.

So on to January. We rang in the new year at our home with some friends. The kids got to stay up super late. They roasted marshmallows and had a good time. We had over some of David's coworkers, two of which were being deployed the next day. A good time was had by all with good friends.

This is the edited Reader's Digest version and I have only hit the high points but I'm so behind of blogs and too tired to elaborate any more. So this brings me to current day. I am 38 weeks and ready to not be pregnant and to meet our baby. I've had contractions all day today. Maybe baby day is close! I'm ready!

Abigail is very excited about the baby. She keeps asking if the baby is ready to come out yet. She has been very sweet and I'm excited to see her with the baby. She loves playing dress up and playing pretend. Her birthday was in Oct. and everyday since her birthday she has been asking about her next birthday. Oh to be four. She loves preschool and last week she got a good behavior award. Her teacher said that everyone was acting up that day except Abigail and another girl. So Abi and the other girl got Star of the Day awards. Her teacher said she always behaves very well and if there was a star of the session award that she would get it. I'm not trying to brag, really. It's just nice to hear that your child is well behaved when they are away from their parents. I am very proud of her!

Elijah will be two Feb. 2. He is definitely making we work. He thinks he's already two and has therefore already developed quite the little, shall we say, personality. He's quite funny though. He likes to say things like, "Ahh man" and "Come here, I show you." If he's wearing his cowboy hat he says, "Ye haw." In his pirate hat he says, "Arrr." He doesn't miss a beat. He's very sweet and sincere. I love watching him and Abigail play together. They both love going to Bible class, playing outside and digging for treasure, building tall towers with blocks and reading books.

Whew, I guess that's it for now. Did anybody actually read all of this? Hopefully I'll stay up to date a little better. I'm not going to make any promises though. I'll try to update with any baby info. Hopefully our baby will be here soon! I can't wait to meet him or her! Later.

Flying high

2008-11-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is old by a few weeks.

On Oct. 22 the kids and I flew to Texas so I could attend my 5 year reunion at ACU. I usually wouldn't think twice about going but I found out a few of my really good friends that I had lost touch with were going to be there so I decided to go. At first it was going to be just me going but a little elf offered to pay for Abigail's seat. Eli can still sit in my lap and fly for free since he is under 2 yrs. The flight out went great because the plane was not full at all and Eli ended up getting his own seat. I was so nervous but they did great. Abigail thought everything was so neat and had a million questions about everything she saw. I had packed coloring books, stickers, snacks, DVDs and the player and books. Eli had the window seat and really enjoyed looking out the window.

The kids watching the air planes while waiting to board.

ACU had a carnival as part of the Homecoming festivities. The musical theme was Elvis so at the carnival they had a 20' inflatable Elvis. Earlier in the day Abigail saw it and thought it was so funny. Somewhere between lunch and 6:00 she decided it was scary and uncool. Sarah took her inside the campus center and explained to her that Elvis was there to watch over us so the birds didn't potty on us. After that all was well. Thank goodness Elvis the bird watcher was there! The carnival had several bouncy houses, face painting, a petting zoo and carnival foods. Unfortunately I didn't get too many pictures of the festivities though.

Abigail after getting her face painted. It's a butterfly. Sort of.

The kids at the petting zoo. And no, that is not my belly. Can't actually tell you who that belly belongs to.

Waiting for the parade to start on Saturday morning. We met up with some of our good friends from San Angelo, Nathan, Andrea and Heidi, and later had lunch with them along with the Tovars, who live in Abilene now. It was so nice to see some of our really good friends again.
Martha and Andrea with Heidi.

Our kiddos, minus Eli who had fallen asleep. Preciosa, Abigail, Heidi and Anthony.

Saturday evening I went to my class dinner. While attendance was surprisingly low I did get to see my good friends, some that I had not seen in 5 years. I loved getting to catch up with them and wish we had more time.

This are two of my best friends from ACU, Angie and Dearing.

Sunday after church we cooked hamburgers at the park with April, Jeremy, Zoey, Lisa, Chris, C.J., and my family. The weather was perfect and despite a few run-ins with bees and trouble with the grill it all worked out and we had a great time.

We got home safe and sound though I wasn't quite sure Eli and I were going to survive the flight. I hate to be negative but I think the flight went just about as bad as it could have. Eli was completely unhappy and tired which made for a very long, loud flight. I was so happy to get off the plane. At DFW I got our boarding passes when I did curb side check-in. They said Gate A38. Once we got inside though they said we needed a new boarding pass that had a record of Eli on it since he didn't have a ticket. Assuming nothing had changed in 10 minutes I headed to Gate 38. It got time to board and nothing was happening so I double checked our boarding passes only to realize that we were supposed to be at Gate 20. I gathered everything up and told Abigail she had to run. Poor thing, she was a trooper. The whole thing was pretty sad and was breaking my heart but there was nothing I could do about it. I felt so helpless. Abigail was going as fast as she could and started saying that here legs and tummy were hurting. One of her shoes started hurting her and I told her to take it off and carry it. So she was running through the airport with one shoe on dragging her little suitcase. I was carrying Eli, my carry on, the car seat and my purse. We got to about Gate 29 and I hear, 'Boarding for Tucson has been moved from Gate 38 to Gate 20. This is the final boarding call.' Now why couldn't they have said that 20 minutes earlier? By the grace of God we made it. Poor Abigail. Bless her heart. She was such a trooper. Eli was exhausted on the plane but wouldn't give in and fall asleep. He spilled our drink all over himself and me before I could get it in the sippy cups. Needless to say I was so happy to get off the plane. He was asleep in the car before we left the airport. I was happy that the kids were able to go but I can't say that I have any intentions of flying with them by myself any time soon!

Gone but not forgotten

2008-11-17T13:22:00.001-08:00

We have, or at least our cars have, officially become residents of Arizona. I write this with a sad heart and tears in my eyes. Anyone that knows us knows that we have a large, and maybe abnormal, amount of Texas pride. We have little touches of Texas all over our house which usually bring snickers and laughs from any non-Texans that visit our home. We love Texas. We especially love and miss Texas now that we are no longer residents of Texas. The time has come though for our vehicles to be registered in Arizona and therefore receive Arizona plates. The removal of our beloved Texas plates caused heartache and could have potentially sent me into early labor. We survived the transition but we're not happy about it. So even if you see Arizona on our vehicles know that Texas is still in our hearts.

Still young...

2008-11-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Wendy!

Hope you have a great day!

Rockin' and Rollin'

2008-10-14T14:18:00.001-07:00

In an attempt to put to rest the rumors that I have fallen off the face of the earth I decided I should finally update my blog.

David was in Omaha for all of Sep. Me and the kids are quite thrilled to have him back home. My mom came in for the last two weeks and was a lot of help. I am glad she got to spend some time with the kids. And the kids really enjoyed having some grandmother time. Poor Eli was so confused and often called my mom, "Mommy," despite our many attempts to get him to say Mamaw. The last two days that my mom was here he got to where he would say, "Mom mom." Closer.

We visited the Children's Museum one afternoon. Abigail is exploring the space program. And apparently had a growth spurt over the summer because her shorts are getting too short. I still don't understand how she is in the 50% for height and 90% for weight. Seems a bit backwards.

Eli is talking on the phone about his latest discovery underwater aboard his submarine. Don't mind the apparently angry girl in the back.

Trains!
Abigail and my mom made homemade rolls one day. Abigail loved cooking with my mom.

**********

Abigail turned four Oct. 5 and I still can't believe that I have a four year old. It has gone by so fast. She has the attitude of a 12 year old but is so hilarious and so much fun.

This year we decided on a music theme for her birthday. She and Eli both love music. I made C.D. labels that read, "Abigail's Rockin' Birthday Party." The tracks to the "C.D." were the info. about the party, the who, what, when, where and why. I put the labels on circles cut out of silver poster board and mailed them in a paper C.D. holder.

The kids decorated cardboard guitars, beat open a guitar pinata and jammed with different instruments to Abigail's favorite songs. We finally had a guitar shaped cake to wrap things up. They had inflatable microphones and guitars, slide whistles and beads for party favors. We still don't know a whole lot of kids so it wasn't big in numbers but it was big in fun. Abigail had a good time and that's all that matters. We definitely missed having family around though.
This is Eli's attempt to beat the pinata with an inflatable microphone. As you can see below...it worked!

**********

A couple of weeks ago we tried to go to Chuck E Cheese, which we had visited many a time before. Let me preface this story by saying that Abigail has a fear of puppets that, over the past two years, comes and goes sporadically. We pulled into the parking lot and Abigail and Elijah nearly jumped out of their seats, bypassing any safety restraints, and busted through the windows, they were so excited. So, we proceeded in, got stamped and started towards the games. Abigail caught a glimpse of the puppets and was overcome with fear. I had never seen her so scared. She bolted towards the doors and grabbed the hand stamping girl. She was terrified. I grabbed her up and struggled to keep her from jumping out of my arms and running right into the parking lot. We left immediately and instead dinned at a much more pleasant and quiet McDonald's.

**********

We have a new addition to the family. Two days before Abigail's birthday we were out doing a little shopping. I ran into Wal-Mart for a couple of things and David took Eli to the adjoining pet store. When Abi and I finished David took us to see a Papillion puppy that was at the store. He was unusually calm and easy going with the kids. I can't tell you how many times I have turned down a request for a new dog in the past 4 years. I caved. This dog lets Abigail carry him around like a baby. Chulo wasn't too fond of another dog invading his space but they have become good buddies. So now we are a family of six...and counting.

David and Abigail were discussing what we should name our new, excuse me, Abigail's new dog. Apparently it's her dog. Anyway, David suggested that she name the dog after someone from her favorite show. Her first choice: George Lopez. And since we were not clever enough to come up with something else, George it is. Though recently it has transformed into Georgie. While I don't actually believe that George Lopez is in fact her favorite show, it did give the dog a name because before it was just Puppy. So, welcome to the family Georgie.

To my friend on her day...

2008-10-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Libby Melton!!! I hope you have a terrific day! Love ya.

Temptation

2008-09-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

As you all know David and I like to wait to find out what we are having until delivery (which, as it turns out, is also when we like to finally start thinking about names). While our families do not appreciate this at all, we really love the surprise. Though they would never admit it I think they like the surprise too. When it comes down to it we don't care if it is a boy or a girl, we just want a healthy baby. And I know that is what everyone wants! Everyone says that the like to find out so they can get everything ready. Well it has been my experience that the little tike only needs food, diapers and something to wear in the beginning. We've always kept the baby in a bassinet in our room for the first few months anyway. And don't you know that as soon as we find out what the baby is that David and every other member of our family rushes to the stores and clears the shelves and within a few hours the baby is set for the next two months? So I say, wait.

However, I am now presented with a whole new temptation of finding out what we are having. I had a sonogram yesterday and everything looks great. The baby is right on schedule. Of course I told the tech that I didn't want to know what we are having, like I had always done in the past. But this time was a little different. I told the lady that I didn't want to know right now but if she could find out and put it in an envelope in case we wanted to find out later. Why later you ask? Well there is a slim, slim chance that David could be deployed when the baby is due. David wants to know what we are having if he is in fact deployed. So now I have this envelope filled with all of the answers as to what we are having and it is just sitting there, tempting me. I would still rather it be a surprise but the envelope is just waiting to be opened. I haven't even so much as peeked...that's why I actually have it inside one of my drawers so it's less tempting. It's just knowing that I have it, even though I am OK with not finding out, that is so tempting.

So know I am curious as to who would and would not be able to keep from opening the magic envelope?

And I do have to say that whether one does or does not decide to find out what one is having is totally a personal decision and should be one you make and not influenced by anyone else, it is your baby after all. I'm just letting you know where I'm coming from. And if you're looking to send me a gift, I'd go with diapers. Just letting you know. You don't really have to send me a gift.

California Dreaming

2008-09-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

We have been back for over a week now so I suppose it's about time that I write about our vacation to San Diego. We had such a nice time and even extended our trip one day. We didn't want to leave the nice weather or the beach. The kids had a blast and it was amazing to see them experience so many things for the first time.

To begin with we bought a refrigerated cooler for the car. We checked out Sports Authority to see what they had. The were selling a nice cooler for $129.99. That seemed a bit high so we decided to stop by old faithful, Wal-Mart. Not only did they have the exact same cooler but they were selling it at a more logical and reasonable price of $79.99!!! What's the deal Sports Authority?

Anyway, I have a ton of pics...that are not really in order either, bare with me.

As you can see Eli had enough of picture taking!

This is how Eli started the day at the San Diego Zoo. What a place. It is huge and beautiful.
Of course we started our zoo experience in one of the restaurants. You can't see animals on an empty stomach. Abigail is always in charge of the map. The zoo has a bus ride you can take that hits many of the major stops in the zoo. I was a bit skeptical at first but it turned out to be a life saver. We got to so a ton of animals, the kids loved riding on the bus and it saved a few miles of walking. We actually went to the zoo the day after we went to Sea World so David and I were already pretty tired from walking the day before. Gotta love the Double Decker bus!
There were still a few things we wanted to see that were not included on the bus tour. So we headed out to the first thing that Abi insisted on seeing...the snakes. She loves snakes. Why, of all the things to love, does she have to like snakes? This child is scared of bugs but loves snakes?!?
This is the peninsula that we stayed on the last two nights. It was beautiful and surrounded by sailboats.

La Jolla Beach. Abigail is beginning her sand castle.

We toured the USS Midway. It is a retired air craft carrier. It was amazing to be on such a large ship. There as an area where they had cut out part of the upper deck and covered it with glass. You could walk out on it and then look down, several feet down, and see a missile. David and Eli thought it was pretty neat. Abigail and I did not. I do have to say it was neat to look over and see down but I had not desire to walk out onto it. I know steel beams are strong but it still freaked me out. Abigail was terrified by it. She didn't want David, Eli, me or anyone else about the ship walking out onto the glass. She was absolutely terrified. It was sad and funny. Yes, funny. Sometimes our kids emotions are a little funny. You know what I'm talking out.
Eli was tuckered and wanted to take a nap on this cot inside a helicopter.

You remember how Eli started his trip to the zoo? That is also how he enjoyed seeing Shamu. Both shows. We went to the afternoon show and the evening show. He slept through both. Well he almost slept through both. As pictured below, we went to the dolphin show first thing upon arriving at Sea World. Abigail took note that the people that sat closer to the tank of water tended to get wet. She decided she would have no part of that. So it got time to see Shamu. We tried to sit in the bottom section of the stadium but she wouldn't let us. So we moved up to the "dry" section. In the evening we decided we would sit in the middle of the stadium, at the top of the lower section. Now in the earlier show we noticed that this section did not get wet so we knew we would be safe. Oh dear, were we wrong. Keep in mind that Abigail DOES NOT WANT TO GET WET. Just after the show started Eli passed out and enjoyed watching the back of his eyelids. So the show went on and was wonderful. At the end the whales go to each side of the tank and splash the audience, as they did earlier in the day. Then we saw the trainer point to the middle section. The same section we are sitting in so we could see better but NOT get wet. It was literally slow motion. We saw the water coming but there was nothing we could do, no where to go. By the third splash Abigail is all kinds of upset and Eli, who has just been woken up by cold water, is unglued. Again it was one of those things that was so, so sad and so, so funny at the same time. We rushed them out and wrapped them in towels. Eli calmed down pretty quickly but all Abi wanted to do was go home. Meanwhile, Eli managed to kick off both of his shoes within a five minute period from the gift shop to the Shamu show. We never noticed till we go to the Shamu show but didn't have time to look for them. We stopped by the lost and found afterwards and as David was filling out the lost item form a very kind woman was turning them in. That was nice.
This is actually before the Shamu incident. The kids were just getting cold so we wrapped them up. Believe me, Abigail was not this happy after getting wet!

Souvenir t-shirts.

OK, the kids first experience at the beach. Both were very skeptical about the sand and wanted nothing to do with the water. However, they eventually realized it was all pretty cool.

Abigail was still unsure about the water and didn't want her brother to get too close either. So sweet.
Water is OK now.
Water is still OK even though Eli just fell in and got completely wet.
Such a sweetie.

Outside the Navel base that we stayed at the first couple of nights.

Driving on Coronado Island
We went to a Midway that was long the boardwalk of Mission Bay. There were all kinds of rids but this and the carousel were the only things the kids could ride. I loved watching them and was relieved that Elijah didn't try to go overboard and take a swim. We had ice cream then called it a night.

We had such a nice time in San Diego. The weather was beautiful. I was not looking forward to coming back to Tucson heat but it was nice to be home. We were pretty exhausted when we got home but we got David's clothes washed and packed so he could head back out to Omaha for the month the day after we got home. The good thing is that San Diego is close enough that we are planning a trip back eventually. We've got a couple other spots to hit first like the Grand Canyon. It 's nice being in this part of the country and closer to a few places we really want to visit that may not be able to otherwise. For now, surfs up!

Going for the Gold

2008-08-08T08:22:00.001-07:00

We have Olympic fever here in the Ortiz household. If you haven't been watching, you should be! So far the swimming and gymnastics have been amazing. These athletes are not normal. They are accomplishing unbelievable fetes! Seriously, watch!

Last Thursday was library day and it turned out to be quite fun. The base library was celebrating the end of the summer and had a little shin dig involving face painting, cup cakes, pizza, drinks and balloons. I tell you what Elijah will be happy for hours with a balloon on a long streamer. Anyway, Abigail had a ladybug painted on her cheek and was very proud of it. I am still so surprised at how much she enjoys face painting and how well she does to not mess it up.

They also colored masks.

The other day David needed to quickly run into Best Buy. Not wanting to bring on an unnecessary amount of frustration I stayed in the car with the kiddos. Abigail quickly hoped into the front seat and started fishing. She grabbed the dog leash (what, you don't have a dog leash in you car) and threw it into the back seat hoping to get a bite. I clipped on a napkin that was laying around and she pulled it up. First she caught a regular run of the mill fish. The second time around proved that her skills were definitely improving because she caught a shark! I admired her humanity because she kindly threw both back.I think I finally got her to understand that we were having another baby, not that she was going to be a baby again. There has been a lot of confusion. Anyway, I feel like she now has a better comprehension. I asked her if she wanted a baby brother or a baby sister. She very decisively said that she wanted a baby sister. I'll see what I can do.

Last weekend was mission car seat and stroller. Status: Mission Accomplished. Elijah's car seat was too wide to have room for the baby's car seat and I didn't like the seat that Abigail was using. So, seeing how buying new car seats is cheaper than buying a new car, we got new seats for each of them. And we found a stroller that can be a double or the back seat can be removed and become a sit and stand.

Abigail got to decide between the seat with the flowers or the seat the the hearts. She insisted on the hearts.

I took the kids to McDonald's after my app. last Friday. This particular McD's had a playground, a three level playground. To my surprise Elijah climbed all the way to the top. That was fine, I was proud of him...until I couldn't get him down. Abigail finally emerged and I told her to find her brother, since they had been playing for like an hour and I was super ready to go. Now I saw her with him more that once but they never managed to come down. Eli actually slid down the slid by himself, got to the bottom and just out of my reach climbed all the way back up...inside the slide, to the third level. He's a monkey. Anyway, Abigail emerged again and I asked her to please find her brother and bring him down. I saw both of them at the top by the slide. Elijah did not go down the slide but Abigail did which means their paths HAD to cross. Abigail came down the slide and said, "I can't find him." Ahhhh. I eventually got both of them down.

This is the best picture I got of the playground. It seems a lot bigger in person. Especially when you're trying to get two kid down from it!

It probably doesn't need to be said but I'll go ahead and say it, Elijah got a haircut. Against my will. I love his curls. Anyway, David got a hold of him and the rest is history. "It'll grow back," David says. This coming from the same person that wouldn't cut the hair of someone else for 3 years. Now that I am used to it he does look pretty cute. It has already grown out a bit.

The baby is doing well. I'm 14 weeks and will have a sono in five or six weeks. David may be deployed for three months and if he is then he wants to find out what we are having. That's uncharted territory for us. Anyway, we should know by the end of the week if he's being deployed.

That's all for now I suppose. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

Just for laughs

2008-07-25T01:05:00.001-07:00

What can I say?

Still catching up

2008-07-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm still playing catch up so these are just a bunch of pictures in no particular order. Enjoy!

The cravings of a pregnant woman took us to Long John Silver's. These are my little pirates.

They may be just straws to you but to Abigail they are her "sharks", or what we commonly refer to as swords.

More corn!

So I'm taking a cake decorating class. This is my first cake from class. We practiced the star pattern and writing. Each row of the rainbow is supposed to be a different color but since it was just practice I didn't chance bags with each new color so it created a tie-dyed effect. Kind of cool. I obviously need a bit more practice. Abigail was happy to see cake!

Eli is trying to wear Mr. Potato Head's glasses. Why don't they fit?

Fun with watercolors. Eli uses them more like finger paint-hence no clothes on. I love how excited Eli is to have his picture taken and how much Abigail is concentrating in the background.

On Thursdays we go to the library on base for a story/craft hour. One day the base fire department was kind enough to come out. One firefighter put on all of their gear and showed the kids how things worked. The last time Abigail saw a fireman with his gear on at preschool she was very intimidated, but not this time. She's growing up!

Eli was literally jumping out of my arms to get inside the truck! He wasn't hesitant or intimidated by any of it!

Abigail even got to spray the water hose.

Daddy/daughter date night to see Wall-E. Abigail fell asleep near the end of the movie but woke up when they were leaving. She got very upset that she didn't finish the movie so David slid into another theater so she could finish watching the movie. She was pleased after that. She saw the preview for Space Chimps and proclaimed, "Mom is taking me to see that movie." Later David asked me if I had told her that I would take her to see Space Chimps to which I inquisitively said no. He then told me what Abigail said.. I guess she has her schedule all planned out.

The kids are growing so fast. Elijah is all boy and is into EVERYTHING. No surface is safe from being climbed on. He will move chairs, stools, anything that he thinks will help him climb. If we forget to shut the bathroom door he will move the trash can to the sink, climb on top of it, then climb onto the counter top, sit in the sink and turn the water on. There is never a moments rest.

Abigail is already a little mommy and feels it is her duty to tell Eli when he is in time out. She remembers everything and surprises us all of the time with the things she can recall. Right now she is focusing on time and everything is "one weeks." Any and everything is one week away, even things that we will do within a few minutes. They really have no concept of time. It is really fun seeing the world through her and Eli's eyes.

Delinquent Blogger

2008-07-20T18:59:00.001-07:00

I'm still here. Yes, I'm a little behind on posting anything but I have thought about posting several times, if that counts for anything. When I finally sit down I'm too tired to want to do anything. And as I write this the kids are undoing a roll of paper towels and pulling it across the living room. Do I care? A little bit but not so much to jump up and fix it right now. Oh dear.

Deep in the heart of Texas

2008-07-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our time in Texas, in no particular order:

Taking a nap with Ba-Ba

Full service gas stations still exist! This was in Vernon, TX on the way to Shamrock.

Corn on the cob is so fun!

The only reason Chulo is brave enough to be this close to Eli is because Eli is asleep, and apparently so is Chulo.

This was at the hotel that we stayed in on out way back to Tucson. Don't they look peaceful!

This is how Abigail plays the guitar while in the car. It was a long trip-she got inventive.

Checking out an Air Hogs baseball game. Eli was a little restless but he, Abigail and Jeremiah loved to dance every time the music came on. Going to dinner with cousin Zoey.

Eli swimming in the inflatable car.

I love how Abigail looks in this picture.

We took the kids to the Dallas Zoo one day. I haven't been there in years but it was really nice. We usually go to the Ft. Worth zoo but our Tucson zoo pass got us in free to the Dallas Zoo. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.

Eli loved the fish!
Why don't these horses move?

On another note, as many of you know my grandmother passed away. It was a blessing that I was already in Texas. She was 96 and lived a great life. She was a wife, mother, school teacher and grandmother. She lived a respectable life and set a great example. Saying goodbye is never easy but it is comforting to know that she is in a better place and free from any discomfort. Her funeral was in Shamrock, TX, which we had not been back to in years. It was really neat to see the town again and brought back a lot of great memories.

This was my grandparents house. It was a great house full of charming details. It had wooden doors with glass door knobs, wall heaters, red carpet, creaks and many other special characteristics that were so neat to me as a child. I loved this house.

Overall it was really great being back in Texas. We stopped in San Angelo for a few days and got to catch up with all of our good friends. And in Grand Prairie we loaded up on family time. We really like Tucson but we are Texans at heart. I know there is more to report on but I'm tired and can't think of anything else.

Oh, how could I forget, we also got some surprising and, once it sunk in, exciting news which all of you already know about. Baby #3 is coming near the beginning of Feb. 2009. The baby and Eli may have the same birthday!

Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

And baby makes...5?

2008-06-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Life is full of surprises and I love surprises. With that said, we are having another baby! Surprise! Eli is going to be a big brother!!! Ahhh! I'm still soaking it all in. We are all very excited. I'm a bit nervous about making sure everyone gets enough attention but I think it will all work out. I'd love to include some pictures but I don't really have any of the little bean yet. Anyway, I hope this finds everyone doing well. I'll post some pictures of our time in Texas soon. Take care.

Memorial Day

2008-05-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

For most people Memorial Day is just a holiday from work or the chance to work overtime. However, today David experienced something that really puts Memorial Day into perspective. I encourage everyone to read his blog.

Today the casualty remains of a soldier flew to the base to be buried. I am guessing he is from the Tucson area. We went out to the street that meets the flight line to salute the soldier; show our respects to him. I don't know why but I wasn't expecting the family to be there. The plane landed and I was not prepared for the sorrow and anguish expressed by the family.
It was very windy, we were about 100 yards away and on the other side of a brick fence from where the family met the casket. Even though we couldn't see it happen, we could hear the moment they came into contact with their loved one. As mentioned, I was not prepared for that, it was chilling and very sad. Even though I was not able to see what was happening the sounds of their emotions put vivid images in my head. It was very hard for me to keep my bearings during the salute when the flag and hearse/ body passed by, I could feel my lips quivering and my eyes water-up. I knew I would get a little choked but not like this, I am having a hard time getting that moment out of my head. I have been playing it over and over in my head.

I haven't had to worry about deployments the last three years since I have been a tech school instructor for the new trainees. This event brought a little perspective back to me. I will be headed to the Middle-East soon, my job is...different to say the least. I contribute to the war in different ways than the Army Soldiers and Marines. At times, I don't know how they, or their families do it.

The President sent out a message asking for the American people to have a moment of silence Monday at 3pm. I hope everyone can block sometime out of their day to participate.

AnniMotherVersary Day

2008-05-13T17:17:00.001-07:00

Thursday was our anniversary. David told me on Wednesday that me and the kids needed to be ready to go at 5:00 for a 5:30 appointment. He wouldn't tell me what it was for, just to be ready. He was running a bit late so I actually picked him up from work and then he told me where to go...well which direction to drive and where to turn. We pulled into a parking lot and he literally kicked me out and told me I was going to the spa for a massage and facial. I was so surprised and excited. It was so nice! The massage almost put me to sleep and the facial was fantastic. I had never had a facial before so I didn't really know what to expect but it was so refreshing and relaxing. When it was time to pay I found out that David had bought me a 3 month membership to the spa. I am still so excited. I have manicures and more facial planned! What a great husband I have!

Friday my parents had a delivery to Albuquerque and decided to come the rest of the way to Tucson. We had already arranged for a babysitter but with my parents in town they got to spend time with the kids and we didn't have to pay for a babysitter. Friday night was the first time I had been out since we moved to Tucson. We ate dinner with some friends and then we all went to a concert at a hotel downtown. It was so much fun. I really enjoyed being out with adults and just being out. We heard the band Sunday Afternoon. Check them out. They are from Tucson and have a good sound.

This is while we were at the concert.

This is Steve, on the left, Sarah and Josh. David was really good friends with Steve and Josh while he lived in Omaha. However, they are no longer in the military and David kind of lost touch with all of them. But, fortunately, Steve is from Tucson so we get to hang out pretty often. And, as luck would have it, Josh was passing through and stayed for the week. It was a lot of fun hearing all of their stories from Omaha.

Yes, he went in public like this. Despite my plea he wore his mullet wig into the coffee shop we went to before dinner. He is a usual there and all of the baristas' know him and they only encouraged the wig. However, he did eventually remove it due to the fact that it started itching. It was so unfortunate though, he looked so good.

Mother's day was lovely. We went to church and then to lunch. We tried a chain restaurant and were met with an hour and a half waiting list. So we went to a smaller, more local restaurant called Sauce. It is a pasta, gourmet pizza type place. It wasn't overly crowded at all and was so nice. Abigail had a sucker that she got from church and while she went to the restroom at Sauce I held her sucker for her and gave Eli a lick. He wouldn't give the sucker back so my dad told Abigail that he would take her to a sucker house - a house that had nothing but suckers. Apparently my dad thought Abigail would forget by the time we finished eating and was quite surprised to hear that she said she wanted to go to the sucker house. With no candy store nearby we went to Target, the next best thing. We did end up finding a bag of Dum Dum's. She is set on suckers. The rest of the afternoon was spent at home with family and it was so nice to just sit and relax. That evening David and I went to dinner. Again, it was so nice to get to have a meal with just him. I adore my children but now and again I need a break. My parents headed back to Texas Sunday night and it was really nice to see them.

And now a couple of pics of Eli:

Apparently Elijah dumped his cereal on his head...I didn't see it happen but the picture is pretty self explanatory. We try to go to the library on base on Thursdays for a story/craft hour. They have some kid size chairs and ottomans. As you can see Eli is taking full advantage of them and is quite comfortable...even kicking off his shoes.

Baby blue

2008-05-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

These are a few pictures I took of the kids yesterday since I had them dressed the same...though I didn't plan despite what David says. Enjoy.

Spinning our wheels

2008-05-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today we went bike riding along the Rillito Park Trail. The trail is about 10 miles long, one way. We rode about 19 miles today. And by ride I mean David and I rode our bikes and the kids rode in the trailer, which David pulled on his bike. The last few miles were tough. David and I were spent and ready to see the car. We did have a great time and I actually came away with a souvenir...sunburned legs! Seriously. Actually only the backs of the bottoms of my legs are burnt. They hurt. I had sunscreen everywhere else but my legs. Darn it.

One of the things we have really enjoyed about Tucson is that we are always discovering new things. Today we stumbled upon a small water park. It is the kind of place that has several different water fountain, sprinkler, toy type areas. Now we have encountered the same type of water park before and Abigail thinks she wants to play in them. However, when it comes down to it she has no desire to get wet. The same thing happened today. She really wanted to play in the water park, she just didn't want to get wet which poses a problem, seeing how it's a WATER park. Eli shared her desire to not get wet so we left the water and headed to the regular, dry park. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera to capture the moments.

Oh, by the way, it was in the 90's today. It has been in the 80's and 90's for about a month now. Warm, very warm.

Last week the pantry door was left open and Elijah immediately took note. Unknown to us he pulled out the new box of pancake mix and went to town. He didn't just get into the mix but he took it to another room so he wouldn't be caught. It worked.

Isn't he proud of himself? I suppose he thought he would find pancakes when he got into the box but was pretty excited to find flour because it makes a better mess.

More than ever Abigail has really taken to taking care of her babies. She is so sweet with them. She tells me when they are crying and that they need some milk. She even puts them to bed and, as you can see, gives them a bath. Actually she only gives one of them a bath because it is the only one that is all plastic but believe me, it is the cleanest baby doll around!

A couple of days ago Abigail and Isabella gathered up all of the cars and were playing with them. I taped several pieces of black paper together and made a little city for them. It was complete with a school, police and fire station, airport, neighborhood and park. They had a really good time driving the cars around and taking the kids home from school on the bus.

Things here are going pretty well. As previously mentioned David's birthday was last Sunday. Our anniversary is on Thursday, Mother's Day is next Sunday and my birthday is on 19th. I'm not going to lie, May is a good month for me. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

I'm on the edge

2008-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday was David's 28th birthday. And while we don't want to think about it too much, 30 is creeping up closer and closer. However, with only 4 known gray hairs and a full head of hair David is not too worried about getting older. Right now his hairline is his main way of measuring his age and since it is still all in tact then he's doing pretty well. We had a nice relaxing day which is always welcomed.

While perusing the Internet one day David came across an edges only brownie pan. It is quite common that David and I battle over who is going to get the corner pieces of the brownie pan. Those are the best parts after all. You get the softness of the brownie paired with a hint of crunch...perfect. Anyway, the pan cost too much to buy simply to end a battle, but for a birthday it was doable. So here is the best thing invented since sliced bread...which is also better with a crunchy crust and soft center. I love bread. I digress.

How cool is that? We are big fans. David once said that he loved being part of a family where it was ok to give food as gifts. I totally agree.

I also got David a 60 oz. coffee cup. He loves coffee. Think that's enough? It should get him through the morning.

Happy Birthday David! We love you.

My heroes

2008-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

The other night we had a family jam. David was playing, excuse me, David and Abigail, oh wait, David, Abigail and Eli were playing Guitar Hero. There all my heroes!

David had not been home from work long. He almost got changed out of his uniform.

Pics from the Children's Museum:

Where's the ocean?

Eli sounding the fire alarm bell.

The kids had a really good time dressing up and pretending.

Eli feeding the giraffes. We went back to the zoo on a Sunday afternoon. We went later in the afternoon and it was great because the cats and larger animals were actually up and moving around. For a while one of the lions was roaring which was so cool.

It was a super warm day but she insisted on wearing her toboggan. Can you see it? Or are you blinded by the neon orange?

Abigail with her new trike! It is a serious trike. Obviously, this is pre-hair cutting experimentation.

On another note, I was putting up a curtain in Eli's room one night and had the tape measure out. Abigail came in and grabbed it. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was measuring. I then asked her was she was measuring and she said the wall. She then pulled out the tape, put it up in the air and said, "Yep, it's big."

This past week a good week. We all went bike riding last Saturday around Reid Park which is like the Central Park of Tucson. We then rode to our favorite coffee place and had Italian Soda's. It is a lot of fun discovering more of Tucson.

Oh, Eli had is check-up a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I'm a little behind. With the move and all I didn't get him in till he was 14 months old. We'll get it back on track soon. Anyway, he was in the 25% for his height, no surprise there. However, he was only in the 10% for his weight! I was shocked. The doctor came in and immediately addressed his weight. He said Eli needed to be on a sugar cookie diet. I chuckled, like OK, sure. I kept waiting for him to say that he was kidding but he never did. He was serious. Once a day he needs a sugar cookie. Whole milk and a sugar cookie, or a cup of ice cream. He said that his weight was descending on the curve and that's why we need to get some weight on him. Apparently it's common for babies to lower in percentile when the get off an all milk diet. He started out in the 90% and slowly over time he has made it down to 10%. So, he just needs more fat. We're working on it. He is the only kid I know that would rather play with a cookie then eat it. He really likes to feed them to the dog as well.

I was having problems with the spacing...sorry.

Have a great week!

We didn't make it to church...

2008-04-06T10:51:00.001-07:00

The thought has often crossed my mind, "I can't believe we have gone this long without a major hair cutting disaster." Well, as the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end." Today, a good thing ended. I took a shower, got out, walked down the hall and found:

I was not going to take her to church looking like this. Instead, we got ready to get a hair cut. She told David she wanted her hair short like mommy's. We told her that if she wants a hair cut then she needs to tell us, don't cut your own hair. We were able to get an appointment at the beauty shop on base and this is our new Abigail:

Before the stylist started I told her that Abigail got hold of some scissors this morning and that is why we are here. The guy next to us said we must have a future stylist and I said, "Not with this style." She basically had a baby mullet before getting it fixed.

She's a cutie!

Have a great one.

Time flies

2008-04-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a blog with all of the things that the kids are doing now so down the road I don't forget. I tend to write about the things we are doing as a family but don't always write about what the kids are doing individually. There is a little bit of old and new...

What Elijah is up to:

Likes to dance, has a cheesy camera smile, is blowing kisses and loves to give his stuffed animals kisses, gets so excited to see David when he gets home from work and will run to him saying Dadadada..., is very good at shaking his head for yes or no and can tell you exactly what he wants, says love you and loves to say look, says thank you and likes eating with a fork.

Another exhausting lunch. I turn around after getting lunch ready and this is what I find. He has busy mornings of playing hard. Isn't he sweet!

First Peep. He was pretty intrigued by it.

Abigail at 3 yrs old:

In February she became very aware of things that are for boys and girls. When doing something she'll say, "All girls can..." and I'll say it's for boys and girls or yes it's for girls or vice versa.

She is becoming much better at putting something back that she wants from the store. I'll say not today and usually she'll say that she already has it at home even is she really doesn't. It sure does make things easier for me.

In March she has become very aware of moms and dads. She'll say that an animal she sees is looking for their mom or dad and has become aware that all animals and people have a mom and dad. We were watching The Biggest Looser the other night and towards the end the blue team, which is made up of 4 guys at this point, all started crying because they were having to vote one of the members off. Abigail was watching it with me and when she saw everyone crying she said, "He needs his mommy." It was so funny and so sweet. But that's what moms are for!

She got her kite out the other day and said she was looking for some sky.

We told her we were getting her a new TV and she said she wanted 11 TVs.

Towards the end of Feb./beginning of March Abigail completely came out of her shell. She talks to everyone now and is not afraid to ask strangers questions. We were eating out one night and after eating Abigail said that she wanted cake. We told her that we didn't have any cake. We were getting ready to leave and she saw someone that worked in the cafe and went up to them and asked, "Do you have cake?" He said, "No, but we have cookies." He then proceeded to give her a cookie in a to-go container. We got to the car only to find that he had given us four cookies for free. We were so surprised but were even more surprised at Abigail's lack of shyness with a stranger. The other night I was completely exhausted and got food to go from On the Border. We had just run into Target for a couple of things and I let Abigail pick out some band-aids. She picked out Diego band-aids and immediately put one on in the car. So, we went into OTB and she proceed to show EVERYONE her band-aid. She never would have done that just a few weeks ago. She's a hoot. Guess we need to work on digression now.

Both of the kids are changing so fast, so quickly. They are so, so much fun. Abigail is maturing so much and both of them are learning new things all of the time. It is so neat to watch them change. I love watching them play together. Eli is now at the age where he can keep up with Abi better and Abi really likes to make him laugh. I know one day they will gang up against me but for now they are really cute.

I realize it seems like my kids fall asleep in the strangest places...and I guess it's true. We get them ready for bed and then leave to get their toothbrush or something and come back to find them like this. They drop like flies.

Week in Review...

2008-03-28T15:13:00.001-07:00

This past week was jam packed and lots of fun. Saturday we drove up to Tempe, AZ, which is just outside of Phoenix, to Ikea and got Abigail a new bed which she is very proud of.
I am still getting her room situated but here is her new bed that she LOVES. She is such a big girl in her new bed. The first night in it she was so excited to get into bed and get under the covers. I talked to her for a bit and then told her that Mama and Aunt Sarah were coming tomorrow. She then said that Mama and Sarah were coming to see her new bed and her new heart blanket and her new heart pillow and on and on. I told her that I love her and good night and she said I love you too and good night mommy and went to bed. A new bed sure does make wanting to go to bed much more fun.

Sunday was Easter and the kids looked cute all dressed up. We went to church and then to lunch. When we got home we put Abi's bed together and then the Easter bunny made a visit with baskets full of goodies. Abigail was SO excited. She is really into holidays and celebrations now. It is so neat to see them grow and learn about what everything means. Abi woke up Easter morning asking if the Easter bunny was coming and when she could hunt for eggs. She really enjoyed everything.

David said that he looks like he is playing dice in this picture.
Abigail in her Easter skirt which she refers to as her princess skirt. She is so long waisted, like me, and I should have made it a bit shorter but it's hard to measure a moving target. I am still pretty pleased with how it turned out. I didn't use a pattern and just designed it off the top of my head so I think it turned out pretty well.

Yea EASTER!!

I think this picture is funny because he's eating a carrot. Easter, bunny, carrot...funny.
Thursday before Easter I made the girls bunny masks. While the girls loved wearing them they look kind of creepy in pictures.
On Friday before Easter I made Abi and Eli a bunny cake. Abigail helped me decorate it and both Eli and Abi helped me eat it!

My mom and sister arrived on Monday morning. Abigail called me to her room and the first thing she asked was if Mama and Sarah were here yet to see her new heart blanket and new heart pillow and new bed and on and on. She couldn't wait to show it off.

We took the kids to the zoo on Tuesday. It was our first time to the Tucson zoo. It is the perfect size. Not too big, not too small. Abigail and Isabella got to feed the giraffes. I was very surprised that neither one of them got scared of putting their hands so close to a giraffe's mouth.

We made some foam animals and then glued them on visors for our visit to the zoo. While Abigail doesn't look happy in this picture she was actually quite thrilled to be at the zoo. This is the best picture I have of the visors, despite her glare.

Eli was so happy to play on some grass!

On Wednesday we went to the mall so Mama could buy Abi some new books. Abigail loves books and the teacher in my mom loves buying them. She got a book called Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder which is a lot of fun. I recommend it for toddlers. And she got We're Going on a Bear Hunt, the pop-up addition, which is so cool. Both are a lot of fun. After shopping we had ice cream cones. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera but the girls were really cute eating their cones.

On Thursday we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is an outdoor museum that has all kinds of things that make up the environment of the desert. There are areas of plants and cactus, gems, birds, reptiles and animals. It's like a zoo with more nature. It was actually really, really neat. The museum covers a large amount of land and it is very difficult to see all of it in on visit. However we did get to see two wolves, a white tail deer, four big horn sheep, fish, an otter, and some cats such as mountain lions and the like. There was a lot more that we didn't get to see and I was worried that the kids wouldn't have a good time but they really enjoyed seeing the animals. We will definitely go back some time.

My mom and sister left Friday afternoon. I was so happy to have family here for the week. I don't really feel homesick but I think I get lonely sometimes. I'm looking forward to finding a church home to make some connections.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a nice Easter and this finds everyone doing well. Take care and have a great week.

Practicing Patience

2008-03-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

Things here in the Ortiz house have been going well. Two weeks ago I started watching a little girl that is the daughter of some of our friends. David works with her dad and we were stationed with them in San Angelo. They got stationed here in Tucson a few months before we did. Anyway, their daughter will be three in April so she and Abigail have a lot of fun together. Although, having two three year olds in the house also causes a lot of disagreements between the two. But they are kids so they are mad and then best friends again in no time. But the continual bickering stresses me out and I am working with the girls to learn how to get along better. Meanwhile, Eli is being left out so we are also working on letting him get to play. Things are getting better and I think in about another week or so we will have eliminated some of the problems...I pray so at least.

With all of that said, Abigail and Isabella really do enjoy playing together.
They are playing beauty shop here. Ignore Abigail's room. It is the result of a massive explosion of toys and all things fun. She currently has a queen size bed in her room and it takes up the whole room. We are planning on getting her a twin size bed next weekend so she will have a lot more room, literally. And since she was still in a toddler bed in San Angelo she doesn't have any bedding that is her own so hopefully we'll take care of that as well. We are pretty much unpacked but still getting settled in. Are we ever really settled in though? There's always something to do!

On another note, David was in Pensacola, Florida last week doing some parachute training. It was a lot of work but he seemed to enjoy it. I am very happy to have him back home!

Ok, some pictures now. I don't have many pictures this time though.

David and Abigail had gone to watch a little league baseball team that one of David's friends coaches. Afterwards they stopped somewhere for a cooling beverage. I adore how she looks in these photos. She is such a big girl now. And as you can see below, quite the silly girl as well.
Lunch can be exhausting!

Have a great week!

Funny kids

2008-02-21T21:18:00.000-08:00

David has been out of town since Wednesday afternoon. He gets home tomorrow. Yea! This is a very short trip, and I'm thankful for that. He is in New Mexico so he's not too far away but not here is far enough. So I'm sitting here all alone, the kids are in bed, and I'm thinking about my funny kids. David got me Godiva chocolates and beautiful flowers for Valentines day. We had to tell Abigail that the chocolates were mommy's. She managed to sneak several out of the box though. However, a couple of days ago she stealthy got out a cordial cherry and quickly decided that she didn't want it. I don't know how it all went down but somehow Elijah got a hold of it. I think it could have been filled with dirt and he would have eaten it. He loves chocolate...just like his mommy! If he just saw the box he would start throwing a fit. It was so funny and he was quite disappointed to find it empty. Anyway, thank you David for the wonderful chocolate and beautiful flowers. The kids thank you too! Can't wait for you to get home.

Just pictures

2008-02-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is just a bunch of pictures. The family is always asking for some and I'm a little behind so this is catch up time. Enjoy.

Here mom, try this.

Sunday we drove up a montain into the Coronado National Forest. David turned off at one point to take a look at the scenery. We went around a corner and saw the mud. I told him that if he drove into it and got stuck, I was not going to help him get unstuck. He decided to back up. Good call.
This is a Saguaro cactus. Each one is different...like snowflakes.

Mmmm, ice cream.
If I could just get my hands on it....

Excited about ice cream...again.

We were eating outside at a restaurant that had several orange trees. Eli and Abi had a good time running around on grass and rolling the oranges around.

Are you kidding me, is that not the sweetest face?

I have no idea why Abi was making this face but it cracks me up.

My little monkey.

Abigail is throwing a ball in the air but to me it looks like she's being a drama queen.

Just chillin'

Thanks sister.

My personal chef.

I love this picture. He looks so grown up to me. It's probably the hair cut.

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures. This should catch me up for a couple of days...

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day was an exciting day for the Ortiz family. We had a lovely day, no pun intended. The most exciting event was that both of the kids got their first haircuts. Yes, Abigail had not had her hair cut yet. She's three years old, in case anybody was wondering. Anyway, beforehand I told Abigail that she had to sit very still and listen. She did such a great job. I was so proud of her.

She just got a trim but it looks much better and shaped up.

Now I had said a couple of weeks ago that it was probably time for Elijah to get a haircut. Althouh I said it I didn't actully believe it. I love his curls. But it was getting a bit long. So I gave in...though I wasn't happy about it. Now he looks all grown up. David did a really good job. I'm sad his curls are gone, I know they will grow back, but he does look really cute.

Here is the before:

The during...David just sprayed some water. It took Eli by surprise.

And the after:

I know that hair cuts are no big deal...except for moms. It's not just that their hair is getting cut but a hair cut makes them look so grown up. We did save the hair that was cut off. It will be neat to show them someday...I guess. Maybe it will only be neat for me.

Ok, so before the cuts I had a couple of errands to run and Abigail had to go to the restroom. The restroom had one of those toddler seats in it which I have seen several times but the straps are always broken. Finally I went somewhere that had a working seat. It was so convenient. Since I had my camera I had to take a picture. Eli and Abigail thought it was pretty neat too.

Hope everyone had a happy Valentines day or, as Abigail says, Balentimes day!

What's Tucson like?

2008-02-08T23:41:00.001-08:00

Several people have asked me, "What is Tucson like?" So I thought I would try my best to describe it.

Tucson, Arizona is actually quite a lovely place. I'm sure, just like I did, when you think about Tucson you think of the desert. However, we are surrouned by beautiful mountains. When a storm is rolling in over the mountains it is absolutly beautiful. You feel like you're in Colorado.

Also, there are palm trees everywhere. One of the main roads in town in called Broadway. There is a section of the road that is lined with palm trees on both sides. I love driving down that section of the road. It is so neat to see so many tall and pretty palm trees. There are also orange trees everywhere. In fact we looked at two homes that had orange tress in the back yard. The back yards were only about 10' deep but the oranges were good. We know because David picked one. We both think it was the best orange we have ever had. Really.

And last, but by no means least, are the cactus. The Saguaro cactus are really amazing. It is against the law to damage one. It takes a very long time for them to grow so when you see a really tall Saguaro you know it has been there forever. And of course there are several other kinds of cactus, even some that have purple on them.

The landscape around town is rocks. In San Angelo a lawn that had only rocks on it stood out. Here every lawn is rocks. A grassy lawn stands out here. Anywhere else I would be annoyed by a rock yard but here it's no big deal and seems right. It looks like we won't be needing the lawn mower!

From July to September, I believe, is the monsoon season. Yes, monsoon. Apparently it rains every afternoon, floods, receeds overnight, beautiful sunny morning and starts all over. There are "washes" all over town that are there for the monsoon season. Right now they are full of weeds but, from what we hear, they fill up during the monsoons. And Dec. -Feb., I believe, is also the rainy season. We have had about 3 days of rain since moving here. Not too bad for the desert. In fact a few days ago it was cold and rainy here and warm and sunny in San Angelo. It seemed backwards.

The winters are mild. Highs are usually in the 50's-60's and lows in the 30's. Quite pleasant. It gets chilly very quickly when the sun goes down. Even in the shade on a warm day it can be a bit chilly. You have to dress in layers here.

The town itself is like any other town I suppose. There are the old, new and super new parts of town. The farther north you go in Tucson, the more expensive it gets...living, shopping, eating. There is every store you could every imagine here. More than is really needed. It was a bit overwhelming at first. When I lived overseas I quickly learned that the grocery stores were very, very small but they had everything you needed. Living in San Angleo was kind of the same way. There wasn't a surplus of shopping, but there was everything you needed. While I was initally very excited about having more options I realize more is not always better, sometimes it's just more. I'm sure when we get a bit more settled in we will enjoy browsing some of the local places though.

So far, everyone we have come in contct with has been very friendly. There are alot of baja mexican restaurants. Basically that is California inspired healthy mexican. As David says, "If I'm eating mexican I don't want it to be healthy." We have tried a couple of them and have learned that we don't care for baja mexican. There are several other local places that we are looking forward to trying. There are several Greek restaurants here which I'm very excited about. There is crime and traffic like any other big city. We got spoiled by the small amounts of both crime and traffic after living in SA and are having to adjust to hearing about crime on the news again.

I guess that covers it for the most part. Tucson is proving to be a lovely place. We are getting settled in and acquainted with the city. I say city but, despite being quite large, I don't feel like I live in a big city. Sure there is a lot of traffic, but it still feels like a small community nestled between some mountains.

I know this is very long and if you've read to this point then I thank you for sticking it out. Tucson is a neat place that I am warming up to. If you're ever heading this way let us know and stop by. We'll save a rock for you.

THANK YOU

2008-02-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write a thank you to my mom, Lisa and April. All of you helped us so much with our move. Thank you to my mom for all of the help with the drive. I really don't know how I would have managed by myself with the kids. And thank you to Lisa and April for all of their help with unpacking. It would have taken me weeks to get done what you did in a few days.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Getting settled in

2008-02-07T22:01:00.000-08:00

We have been in our new house for about a week and a half now. The movers delivered all of our household goods on Monday the 28 and I've been working nonstop ever since. Davids mom, Lisa, and sister, April, had vacation time and came to see us. They arrived on Saturday the 26th and were able to stay till Thursday. They helped me so much! I don't think they had much of a vacation but I really appreciate their help. We are slowly getting settled in. We can find our way aroud pretty well too. The other night we were all meeting David for dinner and Lisa had just mentioned that we seem to be finding our way around pretty well. And I was doing great, until that night. I got us so lost. I was able to get back to town but I had us so far out of town and turned around that we were almost to California.

Before all of our furniture arrived to the house, as you can imagine, it was pretty empty. Abigail was riding the the car with Lisa and April. April asked her about her house and she said that she was going to her new house with the windows. I guess there wasn't anything else in the house but she knew we had widows. It was pretty funny.

*I forgot to mention this funny quip from Abigial in my previous blog. On the drive here we were in the middle of nowhere and Abigail had to potty. There was no sign of civilization in sight and the poor thing had to go. We had tried the going outside bit while driving back from Grand Prairie a few months before with no luck. My mom told Abigail that she was going to be a wilderness girl. After that she got very excited and sure enough used the potty in the grass. We got back in the car and Abigail proclaimed, "I pottied in the grass like Chulo." Oh the mind of a three year old.

Here are a few pics...I'm a little behind on updating.

David got some donuts one morning and we tried to keep the box away from Abigail. However, while David and I were not in the room she managed to not only sneak a donut but got the whole box. At least she shared with her brother!

David got the trampoline set up. Abigail loves it! Eli, wants to like it but isn't quite big enough. He loves watching Abigail on it though.

Happy Birthday Elijah

2008-02-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Elijah's first birthday. A year has gone by so fast. He is such a big boy. He has been walking since Christmas, loves to play peek-a-boo, blow kisses, wave bye bye and say hello on cell phones. He loves making funny faces. I can't imagine not having him.

We had a party for him in Abilene just before we left with our family and a few friends. On Saturday we got him a cake and he dug in!

Mmm, cake.

What did you say? How old am I?

This is Elijah's camera face. He has learned to make a big smile when the camera comes out.

Happy birthday Buddy!

Our new house

2008-02-04T09:06:00.001-08:00

Ok, I finally have some pictures of out new house. Our family has been itching to see some pics, so here they are. Feel free to pass on this blog if you're not interested. This is my best attempt at a tour though. All of the pics were taken before all of our things arrived. I'd take some now but it's still a bit chaotic.

This is the entrance to the house. Just to the right is a living/dining area.

The above is the dining and the below is the living area. It's one big open space.

This, obviously, is the kitchen. There is a large family area opposite the kitchen, pictured below.
On the other side of the half wall is a hallway which leads to the bedrooms. The green room in the back is Elijah's room. The center room is the extra/office and just to the right is Abigail's room. Our room is down the hall, to the right. If you turned left down the hall instead you would find a restroom on the left and further down is the laundry room and garage.

Ok, this is looking over the half wall towards the kitchen.

Laundry.

The kids/guest restroom.

The master bedroom and closet. Check out the closet space! So nice.

The master bathroom. There is a large linen closet to the left and a garden tub as well.

And finally, the backyard. Yes it is covered in rocks. I really thought this would bother me but it has turned out to be no problem. This is how every yard in Tucson looks. Grass is rarely seen. It can grow here, it just has to be watered all of the time. Elijah really like the rocks though. This is boy country!

So that's it. If you would like to see it in person, feel free to make a visit. It is really pretty here. Seriously. We are surrounded by montains. There are palm trees everywhere and saguaro cactus. Before moving here I never would have been impressed with cactus, but they really are pretty neat. Come check them out!

Abigail's views on house hunting

2008-01-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

A few funny and kind of sad things Abigail has said:

When we asked her about her house in San Angelo, "I'm looking for it and I can't find it."

She saw a picture of our house on the computer and said, "I miss my house."

She thinks the temporary housing that we have been staying in, which is really like a hotel suite, is her new home. Then other times when we are driving around she will say she wants her new house and we tell her we are trying to find one for her. Everything is very confusing and I can only imagine what it is like for Abigail. Elijah is along for the ride and really doesn't mind all of the house hunting because it mean more quality naps in his car seat while we are driving around.

David has an old friend that lives here in Tucson and we went to see him at his house on Sunday. It was the first time we have been in a real house with real furniture since just after Christmas. She went crazy. Usually around strangers she is very shy and timid. Not on Sunday though! I think she was so happy to be in a house that she didn't care that she didn't know anyone there. She was laying all over the furniture, eating potato chips and cookies. She had a good time. It was totally not like her to be that comfortable with strangers. Poor thing needs a home.

We are about 95% sure about a house so hopefully within the next day or so we will have a place to call home. I'll send pictures as soon as I can.

We are slowly getting adjusted to Tucson. It was a bit overwhelming at first but we are finding our way around and have stumbled upon some really neat spots. We got so used to a slower pace that it is taking some time to get used to traffic again. We visited a church on Sunday and hope to find a place to worship soon. There are not many Churches of Christ here though. I pray we find a place that we can mesh with. Ok, I better go. Things to do! I send my love to everyone. Take care.

*This has nothing to do with hunting for a house but it is quite funny!

A few days ago while I was trying to find a parking spot at the grocery store after circling four times I let out an arrgh and Abigail soon asked, "Mommy, are you crazy?" I responded, "No, I'm not crazy." I'm not sure I was completely truthful with my answer though!

Home: Tucson, AZ

2008-01-18T16:58:00.001-08:00

We made it to Tucson! I hope to update later with all of the details but I'm a little short for time right now. We are searching for a home and had a lot of luck today. Hopefully we'll find something soon! The kids are doing ok. They are adjusting. Abigail is having a little bit of a hard time understanding everything that is going on but I'm doing my best to make it all make sense.

David mentioned just after we arrived that he used to be afraid to drive the truck to Abilene and it made it to Arizona with no problems. A true blessing! Thanks for all of the prayers! We couldn't have made it here without them. We send out love to everyone. Keep in touch.

Catch up time

2007-12-21T12:24:00.001-08:00

Whew, I don't know where to start. Things have been so, so busy around here since Thanksgiving. Hence, no posts! I've wanted to post oh so many times but just didn't have the time or any energy. We have been in overdrive mode trying to get everything done for the move. We had a garage sale a few weekends ago and the turnout was great. It's amazing how much stuff you have that you don't need!

Anyway, we also attended a Christmas party for David's squadron (work) On the way there David stated that since this was his last function with his co-worker he wanted to go out with a bang - he wanted to be 'That Guy'. He fulfilled his mission. The following day we drove to Austin and visited a good friend that I went to ACU with. It has been four years since I last saw her. She is from Nashville but is going to Grad school at UT. I wasn't sure the next time I'd be able to see her so we made a quick trip to catch up.

(I am taller than Dearing, and I had boots on, but I look abnormally tall in this picture.)

Last week; the movers came and packed everything up. We received a call Thursday morning stating that all of our things have arrived in Tucson. Too bad we're not there. It's cool, they'll store everything till we get there. So, we have been living in an empty house since Friday. At first, when I thought about how this was all going to work out I was quite skeptical - which is not like me. I'm usually very optimistic. As it turns out, it is all working out just fine. Really. Which brings me back to the idea of living with what you really need in life. Now, I will admit that a sofa would be nice but we have done just fine sitting on the floor for the time being. It gives me more opportunities to play with the kids which is great. Christmas shopping, plus cleaning the house, fixing it up and running errands has left us with very little down time. The kids have been troopers. They are doing so great. I was really concerned with how Abigail was going to handle everything but she is doing terrific. I'm shocked. We gave here a couple of new, small toys and that seems to have really helped with her not having any of her other toys. Last week we celebrated Christmas and the kids got some new things so Abi and Eli are good-to-go. We had a great Christmas with all of our family in Grand Prairie. We have become really spoiled with being to close to our families that it will be an adjustment since we will not be able to see everyone so easily. We are really looking forward to Tucson, though.

David's squadron had a party for all of the kids and David took the pictures of the kids with Santa. The parents brought a book for their kid with their name on it and then Santa handed out each book individually. Abigail has never been a fan of Santa until she got a present from him. A few days ago she said, "I love Santa." What a change of heart!

(The picture with my friend in Austin was taken on Monday and on Tuesday I chopped my hair off. I love it!)

Oh, David reenlisted in the military last week as well. Congratulations on a job well done and at least four more years of service, David. I am so proud of you.

Abigail also had a Star Party at preschool. Each kid has a month during school that is their month. They get to bring photos of themselves and then on one day at the end of the month their parents do a special activity with the kids. It replaces birthday celebrations. It's really great for the kids that have a birthday during the summer. Anyway, for Abigail's Star Party we decorated cookies. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. They enjoyed eating everything at least.

I am staying in Grand Prairie until the 4th of January. We are then heading to Abilene where we are going to have a birthday party for Eli/going away party on the 5th with family. Then, on the 6th, some friends are having a going away party for us in San Angelo. David's squadron is having their farewell lunch for David on the 8th. We are then heading to Tucson on the 9th! So busy but so exciting. We have been very blessed during our time in San Angelo!

Does anybody want to buy a house? Does anyone in San Angelo want to buy a house? I know of a really great one that is for sale!

Tonight Elijah took some steps! At the most he took 9 steps before falling down. It was so exciting to see. It's amazing to watch a little baby grow and develop. He'll be taking off in no time! He is beginning to fight back when Abi takes a toy away from him. That a boy! He has put up with a lot for a long time and, it's sad to say, but, Abi deserves a bit of her own medicine. Although, I can guarantee she doesn't see it that way!

Well I feel like this has been a bare minimum info. blog because I'm so behind and there is so much to say. I think I touched on everything but didn't say nearly as much as I wish I could. But there it is. Hopefully I'll keep this up to date a little better. Anyway, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year! We can't wait to see what 2008 has in store for us. Take care.

Veterans Day Parade

2007-11-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday we went to a Veterans Day parade that was downtown in San Angelo. Abigail was pretty impressed with the parade as it began. We weren't too far into watching it that some of the parade participants started handing out candy. Once she realized she could get candy then she became really excited and impressed with the whole thing. More candy! Yea! So soon after Halloween, just what she needed. Anyway, Abigail and Elijah both had a good time. It was really neat to see all of the branches of the military represented as well as different military organizations such as POW/MIA, Purple Heart recipients and more. As they all walked by the onlookers applauded them for all that they have done. It was so great to see all of the support. I would like to add a THANKS to all of the military members, including my husband. I know he says that he is just doing his job but I am still really proud of him because he is doing a job that many people are not willing to do and he is doing it really well. Thanks David, I love you.

David took a lot more great photos at http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b257/zitro_joe/2007/parade/

Check them out!

Check-ups

2007-11-09T06:50:00.001-08:00

Abigail and Elijah both had their check-ups on Tuesday. They are both doing really well. Elijah weighed in at 18 lbs. 14 oz. and is 27.5" long. That placed him in 25% for both his weight and height. Abigail was 31 lbs. and 38 3/4" tall placing her in the 60% for wt. and 90 % for ht. Hearing Eli's percentages initially made me think he's going to be short. But then I remembered to not place too much in those percentages. When I got home I looked at Abigail's numbers for when she was 9 months old and she was 10 oz. heavier and only 1/4" taller. So Eli may catch up too! Anyway, Abi had to get a shot which she was less than pleased about but enjoyed the band-aid a great deal.

Now a few pics:

Two years ago David bought this Lone Ranger mask for a costume. Abigail found it and wore in around for a day or two. And, as you can see, tried to eat lunch with in on as well.

My parents had a delivery to San Angelo on Tues. so they got to stop by and play with the kids for a little while. We got the dinonsaures out and Abigail proclaimed, "It's dinosaur time!" And I didn't know it, but we have a dinosaur farm in our house!

Bitter Sweet

2007-11-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

Since we moved to San Angelo we knew in the back of our minds that we couldn't stay here forever and that someday we would have to move again. And that's fine; it's part of the military. It's also very exciting to take on a new adventure. A month or so ago we were given the option of moving to Omaha, NE, Tucson, AZ, Ft. Walton Beach, FL, or England. We tossed the ideas around and decided on Florida. I have to throw in that the military never lets you decide where you want to go so letting us decide made it an even harder task. Tuesday David talked with the man in charge of placements and he told David that we could still go to Florida but it would not be guaranteed and that if we don't get Florida that we would be going to Omaha, which David did not want to do because of the job up there. But Tucson would be guaranteed. So, Tucson it is! We figured we'd be going to Tucson for about a year now anyway so it is a fine decision. The hard part right now is knowing that we will not be close to family. But if it wasn't for the military and their need to move folks around then we wouldn't be in San Angelo in the first place. We truly have been blessed by living in San Angelo. We are close to our family, have made some incredible friends and have a wonderful church family. We will sincerely miss all of these things. But we are excited about taking on a new town. Tucson has a lot to offer with many outdoor activities, skiing only like and hour away, the Grand Canyon is close, California is not too far away either and I've looked on the Internet at the shopping available and it surpassed San Angelo by leaps and bounds. Yes, I check out the shopping. I've been deprived by the Sunset Mall here in town. The only thing I'm really bothered by with Tucson it the weather. It's hot in Tucson! I don't like being hot! Guess I'll get over that real soon. Anyway, I'm sad to know the kids won't be able to see family nearly as often but Southwest does fly to Tucson fairly cheap. In the end it will be an exciting adventure though we will be leaving behind a lot. Oh, did I mention that we have to report in Tucson by January 15! Yeah, that's like two months away. Well actually we have to leave before that so we have like an month and a half. The military does pack everything up for us and ship it for us but we sill have a lot to do to get ready. We've got a few things to do with the house before we sell it and we really need to have a garage sell. At times I fight back a few tears knowing we are leaving, and some times a few tears make it through, but I know we will have a great time in Tucson. Life is full of changes and you can either fight them and get angry about it or look for the positive and trust in God. I've decided to go with the latter, it just makes life easier. We ask that you keep us in your prayers as we prepare for this transition. Thank you to everyone for making our life so much fun.

Fall Festival

2007-11-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Last night our church had their Fall Festival followed by Trunk or Treats. Yes, it was after Halloween but the kids didn't seem to mind too much. Who cares when you get candy as long as you get it, right? Anyway, Abigail went as a monkey, which she refers to as Curious George, and Elijah went as a banana. They were pretty cute. This year Abigail was pretty interested in the games and did a great job. Eli was basically along for the ride but had a great time as well, I'm sure. By the time we got to the last two or three cars Abigail proclaimed that her pumpkin was heavy and asked me to carry it. Too much candy!

I'm still amazed that Abigail wants to get her face painted and sits still enough. It totally goes against her personality. It's a pumpkin by the way, not an apple.

My happy banana.

Mmm, candy!

By the time we got to Trunk or Treats this little banana decided to split!

My two monkeys and banana. Elijah had been asleep so that's why he looks a little drowsy.

Abigail sat down to chat with these sweet girls and they started showing her some of the cute things she got in her pumpkin but she was concerned that they were getting a little too close to her candy. She is moving here candy to the other side to increase the security just a bit.

I wanted to give a little shout out to my husband: They had a nice area set up for pictures, which David took. They then printed out the pics and the kids could decorate a frame for their picture. David did an incredible job taking the pictures of all the kiddos in their costumes. They looked great. Way to go David!

Yummy

2007-11-01T08:35:00.001-07:00

Elijah is pulling up on absolutely everything and has been for a few weeks now. He's cruising a little bit too. I know reaching the walking milestone is exciting but I'm trying to put it off as long as I can. He's growing up so fast. We've been looking and looking for any signs of teeth and finally, after almost nine months, he has four coming in at once. Poor guy. He actually seems to be handling it all very well. He loves wearing down on Cheerios so the addition of teeth should make things a little easier for him. He says bye-bye and waves and started clapping his hands last week. He's changing so fast! Abigail is such a good big sister. There is the usual disapproval of Eli playing with her toy's but she can be very comforting towards her baby brother too. She is very protective as well. They are good buddies.

Eli was munching on Goldfish crackers and was quite pleased with it.

Abigail was very proud of her daddy. Would you like some wine with that cheese?

There they are! You can barely see them but he finally has some teeth coming through!

Elijah got into Abi's Handi Snack and really liked it!

Fight for Heros

2007-10-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Midland for a grappling tournament benefiting the families of three police men that lost their lives in Odessa. Our friends Martin and Chrystal went with us. David and Martin competed while Chrystal and I looked on and grappled with the kiddos. David placed third in his weight class, no gi and third in the open weight with a gi. Martin placed third in his weight class and it was his first time to compete in jui jitsu. They both did very well and I am very proud of them. You can go to myspace.com/fightforheros if you want to read more about the benefit.

David won this fight with a submission.

For anyone that doesn't know, this is a gi.

David and Abigail with UFC veterans Jake O'Brian and Justin McCully.

The kiddos

2007-10-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

I don't have anything too exciting to tell, just wanted to post some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

I went to the back of the house for five minutes to get ready to go to the mom's class that we have at church and I come out to find this. Abigail not only colored his face but his chest, back and legs. He never once complained about getting colored on. I had put him in the tub and do a quick scrub down to get all of it off. Needless to say, we were a bit late to class.

This is David and the kids watching a video on the computer. All Eli wanted to watch was the camera though.

Thursday was fire safety day at preschool. Abigail seemed a little intimidated by the whole thing. We usually reserve her team jerseys for football days but she picked out what she wanted to wear that day. She paired it with her new pink cowboy boots which she calls her Spiderman boots for reasons I have yet to figure out.

Abigail with her Moon Sand that she got for her birthday. I love her expression in this picture.

This is actually from last month but I thought I'd include it anyway. It's just another example of the outfits that Abi puts together, as is the one below from this past summer.

Fall time fun

2007-10-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had a few really busy days during this past week. Thursday was the trip to the pumpkin patch with Abigail's preschool class. She had a good time and would have preferred to take home every pumpkin she touched but had to settle for one medium pumpkin. Although she was able to talk us into splurging and spend $1 on two itty-bitty pumpkins for her and Eli.

Later that same day we headed to Grand Prairie and went to the State Fair on Friday. At first Abi was less than impressed with the car show and would rather have never seen Big Tex. Turns out he's a bit scary to a three year old. We next wandered into the Exhibits building and got caught up in a cooking show. After taking it as long as she could Abigail proclaimed that she wanted to go home. So it was on to fun kid things. We saw the dancing dogs show, went through a really cool petting zoo, saw a huge pig, and ate a funnel cake. Abigail kept saying she wanted to see a horse. Wouldn't you know that we couldn't find a single horse in the whole place? We finally stumbled upon a police horse and that had to suffice. Abigail got her face painted and we ended our trip with the always fun bird show and the parade. Abi is still singing like the parrot that sang Old McDonald and asking to go to the dog show. A good time was had by all.

We ended our weekend o'fun by going to the Angelo State vs. Abilene Christian football game in San Angelo. We took one of our friends with us. His name is Ben and we go to church with his family. ACU won 52-28! It's always fun when the team you're supporting wins but it was a little sad for ASU because it was their homecoming. Anyway, we had a great time and we are still resting up from all of our fun.

I'm jumping in...

2007-10-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm going to try this blogging thing and see how it goes. I really enjoy reading the blogs of my friends, especially those that I don't live near anymore. I also figured it would be a good way to keep record of the funny things that happen from day to day. Anyway, it may not always be intriguing or thought provoking but maybe it will be fun. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Abigail!

2007-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Abigail had her third birthday party on Saturday. She o'fish'ally turned three on Fri. but we had her party on Sat. It was a fish theme-hence the o'fish'ally mention-and was a lot of fun. The party was outside at the Goodfellow Recreation camp which is a rec. camp for the folks in the military here. Anyway, we had goldfish crackers, Swedish fish candies, a rather cute fish cake, a fish pinata, pin the tail on the fish game, made wave bottles, had a bouncy house and David got the kids a dunk tank since the pool was closed. The food table was decorated with fish net and plastic sealife creaturs. We had a bunch of family there and the kiddos had a great time. It is so hard to believe that Abi is three years old now! She's such a big girl.

The kids made wave bottles by putting some small plastic sea life creatues, glitter and blue food coloring in the bottles. Then I added baby oil and when we put the caps on and turned the bottles on their side they made waves. The kids really enjoyed them.

This was the pin the tail on the fish. Abi helped me make the fish and she did an excellent job.No peeking, Abigail!

Our niece, Arianna, was the only kid that got in the dunk tank. And, as you can she, she really enjoyed it. David took several dunks as well which we all enjoyed. By the end all kids were wiped out and fell asleep on the way back to our house.

On another note, Elijah is 8 months old now. He's crawling and pulling up on things already. I'm afraid he'll be walking in no time. He started waving hello and goodby as well. He's usually a very happy little guy but does have a temper. He and Abigail are a lot of fun. Abigail loves making her brother laugh and Eli thinks everything Abi does is funny.