Tears for Daddy

Mike's been gone for five weeks now. AND HE COMES HOME TODAY!!! We are so happy!

This det has been especially hard for Abby Kate. A few days ago she had a melt-down in the grocery store because I wouldn't buy her a balloon. She pretty much lost her mind- I had NEVER seen her act that way before. Her cries turned into to heaving sobs and yelling right there in the check-out line. I found myself almost laughing at how bizarre she was acting. I asked her repeatedly to calm down and maybe we'd get a balloon next time. That was not what she wanted to hear, so more crying, more screaming...

The check-out lady said, "I have a Food Lion balloon here if she wants it?" I smiled at her and said thank you, but ABSOLUTELY NOT! No way was I going to reward her tantrum. :) So we walked out of the store as she cried and reached back for the grocery store and the princess balloon.

We get in the car and I tell her I'm going to call Daddy and tell him how terrible she was behaving. She started crying "Noooooo!!!! Don't tell him!!!" Then said through broken sobs and breaths:

AK: "You... know... why I'm cr....y-ing, Mommy?

Me: "Because you wanted a balloon?"

AK: "Because I miss Daddy-yyyyyyyyyy!" [crying his name]

Daggers. In. My. Heart.

...

My reaction must have told her plenty because every time she cries now about anything? Turns out she misses Daddy. :) Which has changed my reaction to an eye roll. She has been spending lots of time with her new Daddy Doll, a popular item for kids with moms or dads in the military. (I ordered AK and Avery one each. You can find them here.) "Daddy" has been going everywhere with AK.

We are SOOOO excited to be reunited with real Daddy today!!!!!

Holiday Weekend Fun

This past Easter weekend was packed full of activity. I got up bright and early to run the Papa John's 10 Miler in Louisville with my friends Lyndsay and Pat. It was fun despite the hills and the rainy weather. My sore legs reminded me that I'm not so young anymore, and that I should actually train for those longer races. :) L & P - thanks for inviting me to run. Hope to join you guys again next year! And Pat, good luck on the mini!


Easter was great spent with my family. (We really missed Daddy, though!) We went to church and then spent the day outdoors - cooking out and playing with the little ones. AK and Avery wore matching blue gingham dresses. William and Austin wore matching blue and white vests and khakis. They were so adorable. If only we could've gotten them all to sit still, look at the camera and stop crying! haha

Excuse the pictures... though convenient, camera phones just aren't the same!

Missing Daddy

Yes, we are missing Daddy again. He's gone for over a month this time, training out west. So we packed up and came to Kentucky for a few weeks to pass the time a little faster. We've been super busy visiting and playing and going many different places everyday. It's been great! The days are flying by and we're so thankful to be able to spend time here in beautiful KY!!! We'll be here for Easter, and we are loving the 80-degree temps it's supposed to bring. Today is 75 and sunny and just gorgeous! By the time we get back home, it'll be beach weather in NC, so we're super excited about that too.

AK has been playing her hardest almost everyday with her cousin William and is loving every second of it. They are so cute to watch. Avery is warming up to everyone and finally getting a little less attached to me since we arrived. She is growing fast and becoming more adventurous each day. I just hope she doesn't start crawling before Mike gets back.

Visiting with friends and family has been great, and I'm glad I'll get to attend two showers while I'm here. I'm planning to run a 10-mile race in Louisville with my friend Lyndsay this Saturday. It's the last leg of the Triple Crown Run they do every year here leading up to the Derby in May. I'm looking forward to it. But I'm looking MORE forward to the end of it. :) I haven't been training near enough!

We've been talking to and actually seeing Daddy on the computer every few days using Skype. That's been a big plus. He can kiss the girls goodnight and they love it! Mike's doing well out there in CA, but I know he is missing his girls. We can't wait for him to get back!

AK's Prayer

Abby Kate truly enjoys her preschool class two days a week, and she loves church on Sundays and Wednesday nights. She has learned to recite a few different prayers at preschool and Sunday school. Naturally, she has begun asking to say the prayer at the dinner table. And well, we learned quickly that not only has she been getting a great dose of Christian life, she's also been subjected to way too much country music in the car...

AK: May I say the prayer?

Mommy and Daddy: Sure! Of course! Go ahead.

AK: OK bow your heads. [Closes her eyes, then opens one eye several times making sure all heads are bowed, then proceeds...]

"God is Great, Beer is Good.
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hands, we are fed,
Give us Lord our daily bread.
Amen."

Mommy and Daddy: [Eyes wide open as soon as "Beer" comes out, mouthing to each other... Did she just say Beer?!]

Hopefully she hasn't said that particular prayer elsewhere! :)

An Unexpected Trip to MT

We received the news last week that Mike's grandmother had passed away from a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She had gotten worse and worse in the past few years, both mentally and physically. Mike's family, while terribly sad at her passing, feels blessed that she is no longer in pain. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Verena Brunner a couple of times before she got sick. She was a happy, fun-loving and funny lady with a heart big enough to love her huge family of kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.

We left on Friday afternoon, with plans to arrive in Great Falls, MT, late that night and then make the a.m. funeral on Saturday. Well, we did arrive as planned after 11 p.m., but our luggage did not. There we were with no clothes, no toiletries (not even a toothbrush to be had for any of us!) in the middle of the night. So we did what anyone in that situation would do and headed to the 24-hr Wal-Mart. Since the mall and all other stores usually don't open until 10 in the morning, we had to get everything from Wal-mart. I'm talking clothes, shoes, socks, underwear, make-up, toothbrush, deodorant, contact case/solution, shampoo, soap, etc. for all of us.



Mike was a pallbearer and had to piece together a suit (of sorts) and I had to find funeral-appropriate outfits for the girls and myself. I realized quickly that even though we were in the cold Northwest, they still put all their summer clothing out in March. So off I went to the clearance racks where I found a black and white, tartan skirt and sweater for AK, and I found my own ensemble in the midst of Miley Cyrus's clothing line. I know. The only shoes I could find were a size too small. I finished up the spree buying chalky make-up and cheap toiletries for us.

$300 later... we went to sleep cursing air travel and prepared to wake the next morning and get ready for the service. :) At least we can look back now and laugh!

If all that wasn't enough, two days before we left for MT, Avery and I got the stomach flu. It lasted a terrible day and 1/2 and I thought we were all better before we left. Turns out it came with us and not only made Mike sick on Sunday, but then made it's way through Mike's mom, dad, brothers and their families - and pretty much all his aunts, uncles and cousins! We are sooo, so sorry!

We did have a fun time visiting with everyone despite the very sad reason for the trip. We toured different places Mike spent as a child including his cousins' ranch, where AK got to pet a brand-new calf and take a ride on a four-wheeler.

Jan and TC - thank you so much for all your hospitality! TC, I really think you should open a restaurant. :) The food was delicious! We also appreciate you taking us fishing. It was a great time!

On Monday, we finally made it through FOUR long flights to get back home. And thankfully our luggage was there waiting for us in New Bern!

(More pics to come when Mike downloads them from his camera.)

Avery at Six Months

We took Avery to her 6-month check-up yesterday to find she is growing steadily in the 25th percentile for weight (14.5 lbs) and 75th for height. She was all smiles until she was given four shots in her thighs! Ugh, I hated that for her!

She is still a super happy little girl with lots to coo and smile about. She's been sitting up all by herself for a few weeks now. She grabs everything within reach and tries her hardest to get to things just out of reach. She is loving all the baby food she's tried so far... peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, pears and apple sauce. She also eyes everything we eat and tries to grab for it. I almost feel bad eating in front of her. :) She still sleeps very well taking several naps during the day and sleeps 10 hours at night.

Finally, she's old enough to bring to my gym's child-care!!! I've really enjoyed working out indoors again. Running in all this cold weather was really getting old!

I'm just amazed at how fast these first six months have gone by! We love you, sweet Avery!

With the standard amount of spit-up on her chin.

Loving the sweet potatoes!

Seven Inches of Snow in NC!

We awoke to a winter wonderland this morning! We put on the warmest clothing we could find and headed outside to play. The snow was perfect for packing into snowballs or building a snowman. We did a little of both... after Mike shoveled the driveway with a gardening shovel (not prepared for so much snow in these parts!) we built "the biggest snowman ever" at AK's request. Then a snowball fight ensued. I got Mike pretty good a couple times, but he won. I had snow packed in my hair and down my neck! Naturally, we warmed back up with hot chocolate. :)

We only had baby carrots, so we went with coal for everything. :)

Helping place Frosty's nose.

And the scarf. This looks like a snow storm, but it was actually just the wind blowing the thick snow off the trees in our backyard.

Needless to say, Avery didn't stay outside very long. She napped, warm and cozy in her crib during the snowman building and snowball fight. :)

AK enjoying hot chocolate with marshmallows.

As I type this, the sun is already claiming old Frosty. :(

Hail & Farewell Party

A few weeks ago, I was jogging in our neighborhood with the girls in the stroller. As I came down the home stretch of our street, I noticed a big black flag sticking up beside the tree in our neighbor's front yard. I started to wonder what it could mean... then I noticed in was actually in OUR yard. [I'm running closer at this point] Had it been there when I left? [Nearing our yard] Is it some sort of gang sign? [Looking around to see if anyone is lurking around] Are we the next gang target? [Pulling up the flag to see some sort of Japanese symbol on it] Are we some Japanese gang's next target?!

I began to realize how absurd a direction my thoughts were going, so I looked at the other side of the flag and recognized Mike's squadron's tiger insignia. OK, so something to do with Mike's work... I call him to find out we have been tasked to host the next Hail & Farewell for VMA-542. They are for welcoming the new Marines and sending off the Marines who are moving on to a different squadron or wherever. And apparently these parties always have themes.

So Mike and I researched some fun ideas online and came up with a "Dead Celebrities" theme where you dress up as a celebrity who has passed. I know it sounds morbid, but it actually turned out really fun!

I designed the theme graphics we would use and Mike sent the invites out via e-mail. Then we rented some velvet ropes and made a red carpet out of red roll paper that we set up in front of our house. I made a slideshow including pictures of all the celebrities I could find online and listed their names and years. We looped it and played it on the TV all night. That was about as far as I got with the theme besides a few stars here and there.

We ended up having a great turnout. It really was a fun time. Mike dressed up as Paul Newman (because he looks like him anyway) and I was a very unconvincing Marilyn Monroe. Our guests had some fabulous costumes including Steve Irwin (crocodile hunter) - we had four of those, Audrey Hepburn, Michael Jackson, Caesar, Bob Marley, Anna Nicole Smith (a guy dressed as her which was hysterical), Bonnie and Clyde, Rick James, Farrah Fawcett, Pat Morita (Karate Kid's Mr. Miyagi), Billy Mays (the Oxy Clean guy), Johnny Cash, and so many more.

Here's a picture of the whole group:

"John Lennon" was especially good because this guy is British. He said he actually already had everything for his outfit! :)

Now we look forward to passing the black flag to someone else's yard!

Girls' Weekend in NYC!

I flew to NYC last Friday to meet four friends for a girls' weekend. It was SOOO much fun! My friend, Nikki, and her husband have lived in Midtown for several years, and we went up there to celebrate her recent birthday. We rented an apartment in Manhattan that was beautiful and a lot bigger than I'd anticipated. It had three floors and lots of space. We spent time just hanging out there as well as going to see Phantom of the Opera, eating a couple DELICIOUS dinners and going out on the town afterward. Did you know that you can order food from almost any place in that city and they'll bring it right to your door?! They have this whole web site set up where you browse any restaurant, click what you want from the menu and just charge it to your account. A few minutes later, a hot meal (yummy breakfast omlettes, in our case) shows up! It was bitterly cold up there, but we didn't get any rain or snow, so that was a plus.

I missed AK and Avery, but it was nice to have a short break for some time with friends I haven't seen in a long time. I was nervous to leave Avery because I still nurse her, but she did fine with the pumped milk out of a bottle from the babysitter all day Friday and from Mike on Saturday and Sunday. However, me trying to pump while out and about in NYC was interesting to say the least! So worth it though.

Times Square. The ball... Mike and I went to NYC for New Year's Eve ('98/'99) and I remember being surprised at how small this ball is. On TV it looks so big!

My college friend and sorority sister, Meredith.

Maggie drinking from her coffee cup in the Backroom's bathroom while I pumped in the stall. hahaha

Jill, Nikki and Maggie. Nik and Mag are also my ADPi college friends. Jill lives in Chicago and works with them. I had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time while there.

View of the Empire State Building from the rooftop restaurant/bar we visited before going to STK for dinner.

Funny Words

I've gotten a lot of laughs from Abby Kate's vocabulary lately. She knows so many words and speaks very well, but sometimes she hears them incorrectly and what comes out just cracks me up!

My favorite ones:

We were playing "I Spy" in the car. We passed a Hilton Inn and she said, "Mommy I spy a Ho-and-Tell!"

Often she tries to be funny at the dinner table and pretends to eat really fast saying yum, yum, yum, DONE! She giggles, then laughingly says, "Mommy and Daddy, I was just choking." She means joking. :)

They had movie day at preschool on Tuesday. She was so excited when I picked her up, telling me, "... and we watched 'Bugs-Ta-Life' (A Bug's Life) on the big TV scream!

Avery at Five Months

Avery's personality is really shining through at this stage, and there is only one word for it: HAPPY! She's a perpetual smiler and laughs at the simplest efforts by us. She's so laid back and easy. She eats well and goes right to sleep for every nap and at nighttime. She's a finger-sucker, so that puts her right to sleep every time. As you can see here, she LOVES her fingers. Any and all are fair game and she makes time for each including her thumbs. She usually has them lined up - one hand in there and the next on standby just behind it. Or sometimes she just shoves them all in there at the same time as you see here!

We don't deserve such a sweet and calm baby, especially after AK who was considerably easy as well. Maybe we'll be paying for it when they're 12 and 15. :)


Avery is long and lean, measuring in the 25th percentile for weight and 95th for height. She rolls over and over, sleeps 10 hours at night and is really enjoying her baby oatmeal. It seems to be going by MUCH faster than with AK. Too fast, in fact. I can't believe she'll be eating baby food next month! No signs of teeth yet. Or hair for that matter! But that's no surprise since she's a blondie like her sister. She looks more like Abby Kate everyday.

She does still spit up however. Almost as much as she smiles. :) The doctors still say it's nothing to worry about since she's steadily gaining weight and in no pain. We sure hope she'll grow out of it soon!

Oh, and I don't dress her in the same outfit everyday (clearly the spit-up issue would make that impossible even if I wanted to!). I took all of these pictures today because I realized that I haven't taken nearly the amount that I took of AK when she was a baby, and I'm feeling really guilty! Sorry, Avery, I promise I'll do better.

I Remember the First Cell Phones

... the big hunking things that were five inches thick and six pounds. My dad brought one home one day and I thought it unbelievable that you could call anyone from anywhere. And look at us now. You can call, email, text, send videos and documents, browse the web, buy a pair of shoes or book a flight... and much more all from a tiny little device. Technology is truly amazing!

I got a new computer a few months ago and I made sure I got one with the built-in video camera. During Mike's upcoming dets and deployments it'll be invaluable. With Skype's awesome (and FREE!) video/audio tool, we'll be able to see and hear Mike when he's so many miles away. And equally exciting, he'll be able to see AK and Avery's growth. Seven months is a long time and I can't even imagine how much they'll (especially Avery) grow and change in that time. And now he won't have to miss seeing their faces as much.

Of course it's great for being able to see faraway family and friends as well. We've tested it out a few times recently with my brother's family. Abby Kate loves being able to see her cousin William live on the screen. It's so neat! So if anyone wants to Skype us, let me know... hint, hint... you know who you are... haha, kidding. Sort of. :)

Hello 2010

Our friends Jaime and Shea came to visit on New Year's Eve and we were so happy to be able to spend some time with them. Shea is one of our best friends from college. We traveled to Raleigh last July to watch him marry Jaime - who we have come to adore as much as Shea! They love the girls and spent time playing all of Abby Kate's new games with her. We ate some delicious appetizers and then lasagna before putting the girls to bed and playing some board games ourselves. We had a great time just relaxing at home instead of trying to go out and fight the party crowds. Mike had to work New Year's Day, so Shea, Jaime, the girls and I all went out for breakfast before they made the trip back home to Raleigh. Thanks for coming guys, it was fun! Looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Last year came and went. I won't say it went fast because I was pregnant for well over half of it. And that part did not go fast for me. But Abby Kate's growth was certainly fast and the first few months of Avery's life have really flown by. The year brought us many good things. Avery topped our list of course! Other good things included Mike finishing his training and being promoted to Captain. We made that unforgettable trip to Disney World. AK started preschool and turned three. Mike and I celebrated eight years of marriage (and 16 years of being together...wow, can that be?!) I turned 30, Mike turned 32. We were blessed with several visits from family and trips to see them as well.

It was a good year, and I have high hopes for 2010. We already had one great blessing just today, in fact. We had a dedication ceremony for Avery in church this morning. It was a beautiful and perfect service. Mike and I were joyful in standing up to present our daughter to God and promising to raise her according to His word by teaching her the ways of Christ and by living godly lives as an example. The support of our church family here has been tremendous. We give thanks to God again and again for both of our precious daughters!

Cheers to a new year and hopes for many blessing to all of you in 2010!

Christmas in Kentucky!

We had a great time in Kentucky this Christmas! Thanks Mom and Dad for having us. We spent the holiday visiting with family and a few friends. It always goes by way too fast, however. I'm looking forward to going back in a couple months to see friends I didn't get to see while home.

AK and William had a blast. They play so well together with their big imaginations. They were off playing pretend all over the house the whole time. They're so funny and cute to watch. Here, they were playing "picnic" and chose the healthiest of food from Mimi's pantry: Doritos and Tostidos! :)

Avery just sat back and took it all in this Christmas. Next year, she'll be tearing into the gifts along with her sister!

Abby Kate was all about Santa this year. She helped Mimi bake some cookies for him on Christmas Eve. She got them on the plate, poured the milk and went to carry them to the table beside the fireplace and... well, you can see the cookies in mid-air... Good thing we baked more than enough!



We went to my Mawmaw's house after church on Christmas Eve. Mawmaw played Silent Night and Jingle Bells on the organ. It was special to watch AK stand beside her as she played because I spent so many moments of my childhood in the same spot.

The holidays came and went so fast. I hope each of you had a Merry Christmas!