Mexico

Mike and I just got back from a fabulous vacation in Cancun. We met Mike's brother, Bryan and his wife, Jenny down there and just had the best time. They live in Memphis so we hardly ever get to see them so it was such fun spending the week with them. If you are wondering, yes they are biological brothers despite looking like complete opposites! My mom and sister-in-law flew out and kept the boys for us while we were gone. I dropped my mom off at the airport today and she said her time here was just as much of a vacation since she loves every second spent with the boys. When I returned I could tell they both had a ball with their Mia and Aunt Armine. We stayed for 5 nights and 6 days and did a whole lot of relaxing by the pool and stuffing our mouths with (way too much!) delicious food.

It was an all inclusive resort and therefore we didn't have to leave the whole time we were there. I really got use to the amazing service. I had never stayed in a place so nice so I didn't know how to act when they came in our room each evening for "turn down service." When we would get back to our room in the afternoons we had these towel sculptures, which were different each day, at the end of the jacuzzi. I wish I had taken a picture of each one but forgot to until the last day, which was this bunny.

While we were there Mike and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary and also Jenny's 30th birthday! One day we went snorkeling and rode jet skiis and admired the beautiful turquoise water. The last day we were there we decided to go "off campus" and enjoy the sites of the city of Cancun and eat something different. I was pretty impressed with the shopping and the restaurants that were available and we ate a wonderful meal and had a lot of laughs... The whole time we were there the weather was perfect, although we had a bit of a scare when we learned about the recent hurricane in the Carribean! Thankfully it didn't come or way! On our way home from the airport Mike and I decided that vacations are good for the soul and we really did feel refreshed and energized. We were so anxious to get back to the boys and although we got in at 9, my mom pushed their schedule back some so that they would be awake when we got home. Our reunion with them was so sweet.

IMG_1675.JPG">IMG_1633.JPG">
This picture was taken our last night in Cancun. If you are wondering, Mike is holding a bag of Mango (his fav. fruit). He was so thrilled to see someone sellling it by the side of the road. And yes, despite being in the sun all week I didn't look like it one bit! For those of you who know me know the only shades my skin gets are white and red so instead of being miserably burned I put a TON of sunscreen on and only came back with a few thousand more freckles. Depressing, I know.

This and that

Here is the long awaited play set that Mike spent so many hours putting together. The only thing that it doesn't have it the canopy. The one that was sent to us was the wrong size so we are waiting for the right one to come in. We really love it! It's so nice to turn Grant loose outside and let him play. I have a good view of the play set from our living room and kitchen so I can see him and don't have to be outside with him. Luke is loving it just as much as Grant and will stay happy in his swing for long periods of time. He even fell asleep in in the other day. We are looking forward to some cooler temperatures and we'll be able to enjoy it even more.





Mike's parents (Gran and Grandpa) came in town last weekend for a visit. We had such a fun time and Grant thoroughly enjoyed all the attention and especially riding the Grandpa horsie. They were our first house guests and the best part about that was that all the little things we've been putting off around the house (like hanging pictures) finally got done!



Grandpa also taught Grant that he can slide down much faster if he waxes up the slide with wax paper and then sits on it. As you can imagine this was great fun and Grant loved every second.


Every Tuesday and Thursday this summer Grant went to a Mothers Day Out program and really had a great time (and so did Mommie!) They ended the summer program with a little party last Thursday evening. His class (except for my son) got up and sang 3 cute songs...Father Abraham, If You're Happy and You Know It and Lord's Army. As soon as Grant entered the room and saw me sitting in the crowd he melted down. It was his first time to do anything like this so I couldn't be too upset. While he was sitting by me I could tell he wanted to sing too but wasn't about to budge. He sings these songs at home and it's too cute! I have him and Luke enrolled at another MDO program starting in a couple weeks so I'm hoping they will easily adjust. Here are Grant's teachers this summer, Mrs. Rowe and Mrs. Lupita. Oh, and this is super goofy Grant smile at its best.


This is the best picture I have of Luke smiling that shows all his teeth and his cute dimple on his right cheek. I think he's looking more and more like his Daddy. He's getting too big too fast!

9 months

Little Lukie (as we call him sometimes) is 9 months old today. He is just the sweetest little guy and he brings us so much joy. He loves to be standing up and can pull himself up to just about anything he can reach. The other day I was standing in the kitchen and he pulled up on my legs. He's cruising around the furniture and we have seen him let go and stand for a few seconds by himself! Mike recently saw him standing and turned himself around before falling. I have a feeling walking is in the near future. It's hard to believe because Grant wasn't doing these things until way after he was 1, and didn't walk until he was 14 months. Grant is enjoying Luke more and more now that they can (sort of) play together. Grant just likes putting stuff on his head and laughing at him. Grant has his own little nick name for him... Nukie, Nukie. I know this came from us calling him Lukie Lukie. Sometimes Grant just calls him "Nuke." Luke loves to eat just about every baby food out there. It's rare that he'll turn something down. Grant was the same way. He is so good about napping during the day and is ready for bed about 7:30 and sleeps until about 7 in the morning. I'm so thankful!

I had to add this cute one of Grant..

What's going on?

Anyone else having this problem?? When I post pictures to my blog it gives me the 3 line LONG url (I think that's what it's called) address and doesn't show me the picture itself. Although, when I preview my post the pictures show up. I know my pictures are probaly huge but it has never done this to me before. And, it's taking SO much longer for the picture to upload than it did before. Is this happening to anyone else out there? Any suggestions on what to do??

My birthday

Today was my 28th birthday. Ever since we got married the first thing that Mike does on my birthday morning is bake me a cake... always yellow cake and chocolate frosting, my favorite. This year Grant liked participating in the baking process but really just wanted to eat it. We were saving the cake to eat after dinner tonight so it was especially hard for him to see it all day and not have any. On the way to the restaurant tonight Grant said, "My tummy hurts me, I need some cake." Backing up a bit... Mike made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and Grant and I gobbled them right up. We went to church and had a lazy afternoon. Luke gave me a birthday surprise today. I went to get him up from his nap and he was standing up in his crib! He loves to be holding on to furniture and moving around some but I've never seen him get up on his own. Oh, and Grant also gave me a nice birthday "gift." He did not go pee-pee in his pull-up all day!! He was dry when we got home from church, after his nap and even after we got home from the restaurant tonight!!! All you mothers out there know how great that is! He told me several times that he had to go without me asking him. YAY! Tonight we went to eat at a great seafood restaurant and had invited some of our new friends to come too. They have 2 boys exactly the same ages as ours. SO, it was a little wild with two 2 yr olds and two 8 month olds but we still had a great time. Mike brought the cake to the restaurant so we all finally got to enjoy it! I wanted to get a picture of all of us but unfortunately it was impossible. By the time the cake came 2 out of the 4 were beyond fussy.

I did get a picture of Grant and his new buddy, Jet. They are so funny together and love to give eachother hugs. Usually it's Jet hugging Grant but this time it was Grant hugging Jet. They are going to be big buds.

8 months!

It's hard to belive Luke is 8 months old today. It has been such a joy to watch his sweet personality blossom and I know that with each month he's only going to get more and more fun. For the past week he's been scooting on his belly toward toys and things he wants but just today he has decided to venture out to bigger and better places... like the kitchen!



By the end of the day he was scooting all over the place. If he's like his brother he'll do this Army crawl for a long time before he decides to get up on his knees. Poor little guy is cutting his 4th upper tooth. He has cut all four within a few weeks time. He can be pretty fussy during the day but thankfully it doesn't bother him at night. Here are some pictures that have been taken recently...


Eating birthday cake for the first time


Bathtime. He loves chewing on this little Mickey Mouse toy.


Grant singing Jesus Loves Me to him. Grant has gotten in the habit of doing this after Luke wakes up from his naps. Luke really loves this and just sits as still as can be (which is rare these days)!


And he's off... better go clean the floors!

"My Favorite Book"

I know this looks like it was a staged picture but I promise, really, it wasn't. Grant came in to the kitchen yesterday holding this book that he pulled off our book shelf and said, "Mommy, this is my favorite book, I'm going to read it." So, off to his chair he went and I of course grabbed the camera! Did anyone of you have to study this book at Harding?? I did!
(I know you can't see the last word very well but it's the His Needs Her Needs book)

Ariel

This is my cousin Jade and the newest, well only, "celebrity" in our family. She recently found out that she was chosen to be Disney's Ariel at Disney World this year. She'll be there from August through December. The funny thing is that Ariel is supposed to be light skinned and red hair and they chose a girl who is brown as a berry with dark hair and eyes. She lives in Mississippi so she's got a rather strong southern accent. The people who hired her said that she needs to stay out of the sun and try and work on her accent... too funny! I can't wait to see how she'll look all dressed up in her costume. I'm sure she'll look beautiful as she always does. I'll be sure to post a picture of her in character when I get one.

Our new little Texan

Here we are!

Yep, we made it... almost a month ago! Things are still pretty crazy and we are living among boxes but I can thankfully say that we made it safely and the move went smoothly, for the most part. We really like our new house and things are beginning to take shape and it's starting to feel like home. We love having a yard although it's so stinkin' hot that I doubt we'll be playing in it much this summer. Oh, yeah, one thing we DON'T like is this blazing heat and humidity. I thought I could handle this climate. The places I've lived the longest were Pensacola and Virginia Beach, both on the coast and both very hot and humid so I thought I would be OK here. Well, I was wrong. This heat and humidity doesn't EVEN compare to FL and VA! It's on a completely different level. When I came out here to choose a house in May it was pretty dang hot but there was this constant breeze that made it a bit bearable. But, when we stepped out of our car the beginning of this month, we were almost knocked over by the heat. The "breeze" really isn't a relief at all. It just makes things worse. Not only is is hot but the heat is smacking you in the face. I've been told that this is only the beginning... that by August that "breeze" feels like you are standing behind the muffler of a running car! Oh, I did not want to hear that. I asked when Fall starts and I was told there isn't much of one but it starts to cool off a little in November. Wonderful. OK, enough about the weather. Now, on to the mean looking insects and mosquitos. I've never seen such mean looking bugs around here. Mike and I are seeing bugs we've never seen before! We are just waiting for a tarantula to come by for a visit since I hear they are everywhere. Mike actually saw one outside one the buildings on base and he about peed in his pants because he's terrified of spiders (not what you'd think of a fighter pilot, ha!) A girl I talked to said that one day her 18 mo. old daughter came up to her with a scorpian in her hand. Thankfully the exterminator had just come and it was almost dead so it didn't sting her. Yes, we will have an exterminator coming regularly. The fire ants around here will eat you alive and so will the mosquitos. After a rain mosquitos take over this town. And the bites they leave make welts on your skin that take days and days to heal. So, I'm sure you are wondering if I'm ever going to leave the house. The answer is only if I HAVE to. It's a scary place outside of these walls. I feel like I need to look in to special protective clothing to leave the house in! :)

The boys are doing great and have transitioned very well. I've come to realize that kids adjust super easily. We dropped off Grant in Pensacola while we came to close on the house, accept our furniture and start moving in. He stayed for 10 days and we were really worried how he was going to do without us (mainly his Daddy) but he did so well, better than we ever could have expected.

Grant is talking all the time. It's so fun being able to have conversations with him. He has such a fun personality and cracks us up by the things he says. I need to start writing down some of the things he says because I know I'll forget them before I know it. His favorite thing to do these days is push his lawn mower, or as he calls it "wawnmomower", all over the yard. This of course started after watching his Daddy cut the grass for the first time. I also think that Mike had as much fun as Grant did the first time he cut the grass here. Here's a picture. He was just like a kid when he bought the lawn mower and weed eater/ edger. I'm sure the newness will wear off, soon enough. :) We have officially started potty training Grant. Some days are good and some days are not so good. I'm sure I'll post more on that later. This week I started him in a Mother's Day Out Summer program. I was thrilled to get him in, especially since the program started a month ago. He was SO bored here at the house so it's a much needed break for both of us and he's having a great time.

Luke is getting so big. He's 7 months old now and is currently cutting 2 upper teeth. As you can see he's a drool factory. Thankfully the teething isn't keeping him up at night but his naps seem to be a little shorter during the day. He started sitting up on his own the end of his 6th month. He's not showing interest in crawling yet but likes to roll over and over and can manage to move a little bit that way. He loves being in the exersaucer and is loving watching Baby Einstein DVD's these days. Of course his most favorite thing to do is watch his big brother.

I guess that catches you all up a little bit. I just downloaded over 300 pictures from the past few months so I hope to get some posted on my flickr account soon.

*I had planned on putting the pictures throughout my blog but can't seem to do it for some weird reason! Oh well..

Goodbye Virginia

Moving day is just around the corner (next Friday!) and we'll be saying goodbye to Virginia. We've been here a little over 4 and a half years and there are certainly things we are going to miss (like our wonderful friends) but there is one thing we will NOT miss... the traffic!! This place will always be special to us because it's the first place we moved and started our life as a married couple, the place where we bought our first house and started our family. We made some lifelong friendships and God has certainly blessed us since we've been here. The packers will come on Wednesday and Thursday and the movers come on Friday. We'll head out on Friday after the moving van pulls away and then head down to Pensacola, stopping in AL and MS to see friends and family. We'll be staying in Pensacola a few days and then leaving Grant with my family while me, Mike and Luke head out to TX to close on our house and start unpacking. Whew, these next couple weeks are going to be busy! Pray that the boys will do well in the transition. I still can't imagine how we are all going to sleep in a hotel room together! I'm sure I'll have some stories!

I just realized that I haven't posted about my trip out to TX. It was quite a trip! I flew in to Houston, saving about $150 on my plane ticket, rather than flying in to Corpus Christi. I was told that it would take about 3 hours to get to Corpus but it took me FAR from 3 hours. I arrived in Houston at 5 pm and by the time I got my bag and the rental car it was 6. I'm going to back up a bit... when I was in the air and looking down at Houston I remember seeing this Highway that was backed up with traffic that never ended and thought to myself, "I sure hope I don't have to get on that road." Well, you guessed it, I did. About 7 lanes of traffic went down to 2 (because of construction) and this was in rush hour traffic, if you can imagine. I didn't get out of Houston for an hour and a half. I felt like I was back in Virginia Beach, only I think it was even worse! After getting off on country roads, getting lost a few times and trying to drive with a migraine, I finally arrived at Corpus at 12:30 am! I have never been so exhausted but slept terrible! I had taken strong headache medicine that had caffine in it AND the room was literally an ice box! Apparently they preset the thermostats in the rooms at the BOQ (on base) at about 60 degrees! I got up early the next morning to meet my realtor and we started the house hunting. We probably looked at 20 or so properties and I narrowed it down to 2 houses by the end of the day. It was tough deciding between the 2 houses but after MUCH consideration and a lot of talking on the phone to Mike, I decided. It's a new construction and it's completely move in ready. The pictures are a little unfinished but by the time we move in they will have put sod down, landscaped, a fence in the back, blinds will have been installed and the appliances will be in too. And, the whole house is painted, even the garage! It has a nice size yard, which we are most excited about since we do not have a yard in our house now.

Luke turned 6 months old this week! He is so much fun and such a great baby. He LOVES watching Grant and Grant adores him. I need to download some pictures of him and I'll post them soon. He's rolling over all the time and getting more and more active. He loves his exersaucer but especially loves to be in his bouncer that hangs from the door. He also loves to sit up but still needs some assistance. He looks so much like Grant did at this age. I think they are going to look like twins when they get older. He's sleeping so well at night ( last night he slept from 7-6:45) and is eating all kinds of fruits and vegtables and cereal. I'm about done with nursing. My goal was 6 months so we've reached it. He's doing great with formula and thankfully it agrees with him.

Grant woke up with a cold...probably because the high temp. was 59 degress yesterday! Yep, it's almost the end of May and summer still isn't here in VA! Grant also has Fifths disease. Nothing serious, just a rash that has been coming and going all week. It hasn't bothered him at all so we haven't been too concerned. We took him to the doctor yesterday and finally found out exactly what it was. It's a spring time virus that mainly affects kids. Starts out with a slight fever, although most of the time you can't even tell they have a fever, and then breaks out in to a weird blotchy rash all over his body. But the weird thing is it's been coming and going all week. The doctor said that heat triggers the rash which makes sense because we notice it after a nap (warm in his bed) and then after a warm bath.

It will probably be a while before I can post again. Hopefully it will be before Christmas! :)

SOLD!

We accepted an offer on our house last Friday (my posts are about a week late)! We got a full price offer so we were thrilled. They want to close the end of May so we just set up our move with the Navy. One nice thing about the Navy is that they will come and pack up our whole house and move us. The day our furniture leaves will be May 25. SO, we need a house to move in to! I'll be flying out to TX by myself May 7-10 to find a house. I'm going to have to find a vacant house so that we can have a quick closing and be able to move in the first part of June. SO much to do and think about between now and then! Mike is officially out of the squadron and I have him all to myself until he checks in to his new squadron mid to late June.

Have a great weekend!

New Happenings

There's so much going on with us I don't know where to begin! A couple posts ago I told you that we were given orders to Meridian, MS. They were actually "verbal" orders, which come before the written orders but are usually just as reliable as the written ones. WELL, for some reason we happen to fall in the small percentage of people who were given verbals but then told, "sorry, you can't go there, we need you somewhere else." We were actually told that Meridian wouldn't work out late February but we didn't receive our written orders until a couple weeks ago and found out that we will be moving to TX. Yep, TX. We were so looking forward to being just a hop, skip and jump away from our families but nope, we will now be in TX. Actually south TX! Corpus Christi to be exact. Mike will be stationed at a jet base in Kingsville, TX (about a half hour drive from Corpus). As far as housing and shopping goes there is a lot more to choose from in Corpus and most of the instructors live in Corpus. It's nice to finally know and start preparing for the move.... since it will be a short 2 months away!! I will be flying out there by myself to house hunt the middle of May. Mike only has less than 2 weeks left in his squadron and then has a TON of time off. I believe it's like 50 days to be exact. Woo hoo! So, now our focus is on selling this house. Unfortunately the Navy hasn't given us much time at all so we don't have the luxury of waiting for the house to sell at a price we want to sell it for. We put it on the market the end of January and have already had to lower the price 3 times. We hate to do it, but we just have to sell it quickly. Although we were disappointed to find out that we'll be in TX (only because we'll be so far from our families) for the next few years we have heard some good things about Corpus and I know that it will probably turn out to be a great place for our family. We are keeping in mind that God's putting us there for a reason.

Mike got home last Thursday from being gone almost a month. Hallelujah!! It's been wonderful having him home and getting a much needed break. He was able to fly in so we met him at the flight line. I don't know if I've said this before but Grant LOVES airplanes. I wonder why? Anyway, he was in heaven seeing all those jets lined up and waiting for his Daddy. He was a bit speechless and waited so patiently. While all the other kids were running around Grant just stood and watched and waited. So sweet to see. And then he ran out to Mike as he was walking to us. I tried to take a picture of him running but I was clicking and clicking the camera only to realize I hadn't turned it on! Ughh.. So, by the time I turned it on Grant had already reached him.






This is the T-shirt I bought for Grant for the special occasion. I told him once what it said that he did not forget it. It's now his "Daddy super hero" shirt and is his favorite, of course.

On another note... the boys are doing great. Luke turned 5 months old on Monday!! He's finally taking a couple bottles of formula a day so I'm loving the freedom of not having to be the only person who feeds him and occasionally I'm able to leave the house for more than an hour at a time!!! We discovered on Monday evening, after a very fussy day, that Luke is cutting his first tooth. I don't remember Grant having too tough of a time with teething but Luke has turned in to a different baby. Last night he was crying so hard and for so long that Mike was convinced that something else was wrong with him and that we needed to take him to the Doctor. We've been keeping him on Tylenol and loading him up with teething tablets hoping to give him some relief. Today he seems to be better. Thankfully he's taken 2 good naps so far, so that a good sign that he's relaxed.

Grant is so much fun. He's saying new things everyday. He is becoming very independent and we hear "my do it" a lot these days. He also is likes to be silly and is noticing funny things around him. He laughs and says, "my funny" or "mommy funny." He can finally reach the pedals on his tricycle and is loving that. Hopefully this weather will warm up soon so he can be outside and ride it more. I'm complaining about this cold weather now but I know I'm going to be begging for it once we are down in south Texas!! Another one of Grant's favorite things to do is sit in Mike's truck and pretend that he's driving it. Right now they are both napping, a rare occasion, so I better try and get some more things done around here.

Guess that's all, for now!

Happy Easter!!

"WOW, Daddy airplane" -Grant

I thought I'd share some pictures that were taken of Mike yesterday while flying around the ship. He didn't say which jet he was flying, but he's in one of them. Notice that "little" ship in the distance and that runway... yep, that would be the one he lands on! You know I've always thought that my husband had a challenging job but when I see pictures like this it really hits home how tough it really is. It also makes me aware of what a great pilot he is to be able to do what he does!! He really is a talented pilot and I am very proud of him. We are ready to have him home... he's been gone a week and a half and will be gone another 2 weeks!

4 months

Sweet baby Luke is 4 months old today! I took him to the doctor yesterday for his check up and shots. He weighs 12 lb. 11 ounces, a bit small but, considering he was almost a month early, his growth has been steadily climbing up the chart and the Dr. was pleased. He's still nursing about every 3-4 hours during the day and despite my best efforts to sneak in a bottle of formula every now and then, he won't have it! The doctor said he was probably ready for some solids in a week or two so we'll be trying that soon. He's sleeping so great at night. Last night he slept from 7:45 until 6 this morning. He's the happiest little guy, full of smiles. I can already tell that he loves Grant, watching him so intently when he is nearby. Grant loves to give him hugs and kisses and can't wait to go with me to get him up from his naps. He often says, "hold him" and wants me to put Luke in his lap... so sweet. Luke has been rolling over for a couple weeks now and is getting stronger and stronger. He really enjoys his Bumbo seat and also likes his bouncy seat and swing. I'm so thankful that I can leave him for a while and he'll be happy. He doesn't like to be on his back too much, unless the fan is on. He is the best baby and I can't thank God enough for giving me such a healthy and happy little guy. I know we are blessed.

I better go clean the house.. it's getting shown 2 times today! We are praying it sells soon!