Home Sweet Home

I'm 4 Months Old today! Dale came into this world screaming and didn't really stop until almost 3.5 months later. Justin and I wondered what kind of child we'd brought into our family and seriously questioned whether he should be the last! He pushed me to my limits both emotionally and physically. It's sad to say but I really didn't enjoy him at all those first few months. As time passed and Dale learned how to smile, however, I really started to feel like he would actually be an incredibly sweet child. Justin scoffed at that but in the past 3 weeks he has turned into such a sweetheart. He likes to be entertained still, of course, but I've never seen a kid LOVE getting his diaper changed like Dale does. He starts talking and giggling as soon as we lay him down, and I'm pretty sure he is most ticklish when laying on his changing table. There isn't a part of his body that isn't ticklish, come to think of it. He breaks out into giggles for his older ...

This was a really busy week for us! On Monday Justin graduated from Basic Training, marking the midway point for his overall training. He received additional awards for Expert Marksmanship, Academics, and Crazy driving. This graduation wasn't really such a big deal since training isn't over and the guys didn't even have the rest of the day off, but we won't be here for his second and final graduation in April so we wanted to be there for this one. Justin won't brag about this but I will....Along with his awards he was also voted by the remainder of his classmates (half the people in his class were with the Secret Service and they are finishing their training in another state) to be their class president for this half of training. I think that's quite a compliment because they voted in the first class president when nobody knew anybody at the beginning of training. Now that everyone has been together for three months they voted for Justin. They must think he...

I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME! We kicked off the Christmas season making Gingerbread houses with the kids. This is a tradition Justin picked up from his Grandma Rena and he still likes to do it with the kids every year. The night before we decorated Justin stayed up to cut out the shapes and "glue" them together so they had time to dry. He made a little house for every person, including Dale, plus the kit house from the store. We ate so much junk that day and the next day... I feel sick just thinking about them. In our efforts to accumulate as little as possible while we are in Georgia, and spend the least amount of money, we opted to use the landlords artificial tree out of the attic and make all homemade ornaments that we can toss after Christmas. We had a pretty good time making them, though the kids aren't quite at that stage where they could do it all themselves. Justin came home and saw my basic snowflakes and had to out-do me with his fancy and ornate ones, that he ...

Before I forget to mention it... The day after Thanksgiving we took a day trip to the Okeefenokee Swamp Park here in Georgia. It was about 1.5hrs away and a miserable car ride with Dale, but it was definitely something you only see in the South and our friends were going so we decided to go. It's 700 square miles of swamp reserve land and they have lots of wildlife, but the main exhibit are the gators. They have alligators roaming free (meaning zero fence between gators & visitors) but we really didn't get close to any since they choose to keep their distance. The area had a little train ride around part of the park, as well as a few exhibits with reptiles and black bears. They had a wildlife show with the guy below teaching us about different snakes and about gators. He doesn't look it, but he was Native American from a local tribe there and was hard to understand! He was good to interact with the audience and let people touch the baby alligator here. I think he said ...

A question to all you experienced bloggers out there. How come I don't have the "add video" button on my toolbar when I'm posting? It used to be there because I used it when I posted the video of Brighton's first day of school and the monsoons, but now it isn't there anymore. Any tips for me?

She's got the moves.... that would be string cheese in her mouth...

Little kids... I've often wondered if I will REALLY miss having little kids at home. Sometimes I think I'm just meant to be a mother to older children because there are so many things I CAN'T WAIT to do with them once they are old enough to learn. I don't care much for the baby stage at all (I could completely do without the first 3 months). To me babies are fun once they hit about 6-8 months old. Brighton and Adaira are great because we can finally teach them games and outdoor activities. We had a blast with them at Sunsplash and I think next summer we'll be able to take them tubing down the river. I think soon I'll get Brighton a little racquet and take him to the racquetball courts to hit a little bit. Maybe I'm just selfish in that I enjoy my kids more once they can do things that I like to do, but regardless, I look forward to doing a lot with them. That being said, there are definitely a few things I will look back on and miss. Besides the obvious ...

A quick note: One day last week I came home from work a with a sore back because we had practiced a lot of ground escapes during physical training. Basically, some one is on top of us and we have to fight them off. I happened to get all 200lb+ guys that day so my ribs, chest and back were sore. I was trying to explain this to Adaira and she kept saying "Ohhhhh, I am sorry". I told here I needed to lie down because I was so sore. She asked me if I wanted her to rub my back. I was eager because I hadn't had a massage in a while. Needless to say my three year old didn't know how to apply pressure properly to relieve muscle discomfort but I felt an out pouring of love from her which, warmed my heart and I forgot about my body aches. Wanting to help, Brighton came over and started scratching my head at the same time. Somewhere he started doing this, maybe because I run my fingers through Audra's hair at church some times (it makes her purr like a cat :-). Nonetheless I...

November 2009 (Disclaimer: Post cut short by crazy kids screaming and hurting themselves and a mother ready to give herself a time-out...)   We had so much to be grateful for this year! The many blessings were also huge changes in our lives: our long awaited house (that we enjoyed for such a short time before leaving to GA!), a new healthy baby, Brighton starting and LOVING school, Justin's new federal agent job that he has wanted so badly, healthy families and enjoyable relationships with our siblings, and the list could go on. More recently, however, the thing I am most grateful for (and THANK YOU MOM & DAD) is the generosity of my parents in helping us pay for Adaira to attend preschool here on the island so I can get some rest. Dale, at three months old, still sleeps like a newborn and requires constant attention during his waking hours, and with Justin gone at least 12 hours a day I felt like I was going to lose my mind. Adaira surprised me with her behavior toward th...