The Curti Family

Another reminder....

2012-02-08T22:45:00.000-05:00

I started my day out feeling a little blah! My sink was full of water backed up with dishes, dirty dishes, all over my counters. My car was dead when I woke up. And I was not motivated to workout, even though I did. Then the maintenance man showed up, Blue barked at him and woke Mason from his nap all while I was on the phone with a potential client. Cranky baby for remainder of day. called potential client back and did not get her. Rain started and it got colder. Bleh! Ann and I jumped car but could not get it to hold a charge and I desperately needed to go to grocery store. When I got home I could not get the TV on. Boys were hyper and just crazy until I put them to bed 30 minutes later than I wanted to. Makes me want to scream just thinking about it again.
While I was laying with Sullivan I was thinking about my day and I was thinking about how my tomorrow was going to be. I felt a bit stressed, frustrated and a little sad. You see these are the times when Mike would have been here to help. And immediately my frustration started to slip away as I remember something someone said to me today. As I was walking to the car from the gym Mason got in a mans way. I apologised and he said, "It is OK, I like children." He then started to tell me about his granddaughter he lost last year at 13 months young. As we got more into conversation he ended up telling me that his father was diagnosed with lung cancer last year and his wife last week. My heart sank just thinking about it. I will certainly pray for health for this family. He then said that the loss of this innocent life as bad as it was made him really appreciate his grandchildren. Wow. And here I am complaining about a dead battery or that my TV wont come on. Yes today was frustrating but I am so thankful for my families and my friends health and safety. I do not take that for granted not one single moment. And...I am so thankful that my dear friend Ann was there for me the entire day. She helped me with my car, gave me a ride to the gym, worked out with me, gave me her keys while she was gone in case I needed to go anywhere, let me take her car to store, fixed me dinner, figured out the issue with my TV and then gave me a great big hug. (I am sure there is more) Wow, I have so much to be grateful for. Sometimes we have these days where everything seems to go wrong and we just need to settle in and go to bed, or stay up late and get things done. But no matter what, this too shall pass. It could always be worse and there is always something, lots of things to be thankful for. I will have a much better attitude tomorrow, I promise. And, I will see my husband in 40 something days!!! San Diego here we come!!!

I turned 37 - OUCH

2012-02-03T12:34:00.000-05:00

For real.....I can not even believe I am that close to 40. Where has my life gone? I know, I know I have so much life left but It just feels like I was JUST turning 30 and 25 and 21. I must be having fun! Birthdays are so different for me now. I was talking to one of my dearest friends. She was trying to take me to lunch and make me feel special she had a lot going on that day including her sons birthday. I said, "It is OK, it is JUST another day!" And then it hit me. It is NOT just another day. It is the day that the Lord blessed my parents with their very first baby. I still remember that excitement, fear, love and all the emotions when I had my first child. So it is never JUST another day. It IS a day to celebrate. But...I was sick so there was no celebrating in the Curti household. However being sick did not keep me from feeling loved. From facebook messages, cards and gifts, flowers and goodies I felt loved. Now I just need to make time for a pedicure and some fun!!!
Happy Birthday to Me!!!
(and to my birthday buddy Dominick!)
Thank you Mom and Dad for wanting me, for taking care of me and for loving me! As a Mom I now know just how special that Jan 19, 1975 was to you! And I will remember to celebrate!

Book Review

2012-01-21T22:15:00.002-05:00

Tonight I posted my very first book review under the review tab. I am not sure if I have done this right or not but, it is there! Check it out!!!

Swimming in My Head

2012-01-19T13:20:00.000-05:00

I constantly have blogs swimming in my head! I mean all the freaking time! Every single day there is something that I think I want to blog. So I asked myself, "Allison, why do you want to blog it? Who is it for?" And I have thought about this a lot. This is what I decided: I like my family and my friends. Matter of fact, I like people. I do. I genuinely like people. All kinds of people. There is only one kind of person I do not like and that is mean people. I like to talk. I like to listen. I like to have friends. As a Mom of 2 boys, a step daughter a husband and a dog and all we have going on my time is limited for people time. I am sure most of you Mom's totally get this. I guess blogging is MY way of keeping up with the people who I like and like me. It is my way to share the going's on in my family. It is my way to reach out and be reached. I am not looking to make money by blogging, although it would be nice. I am not looking for approval or for a round of applause. I am looking for a way to share my life, my family and my self with the people who care. With all that being said, as you all know I have some extra time on my hands with my sweet hubby gone and my business slow. Not a lot of extra time since I have a 16 month old who HATES when I am on my computer but more time and I want to blog. I have things to share things to talk about. I want to share some books I am reading, (now that I have time to read) I want to share reviews on items I love, places I love and even some tips and tricks I find useful! I want to share my family, my pictures and anything else that I think may bring joy to at least 1 person I love. But, my agenda here is actually my own. You see I am communicating to each of you, communication being the MOST important tool in a relationship, and I would be thrilled if you would communicate back. I know blogspot makes you sign in, but you can do it!! Just Sign up(it is free) and sign in and post with me. It will be so much more fun! And we can learn from each other! It will be so much fun! I know that while my hubby is gone this will be one saving grace for me. One way to be girly, to be in touch, to get support, to give support and to just get by! Thank you all who read my blog now and are interested in the Curti family! My blog is not changing, just revving up a bit! Stay tuned my friends....I am rescuing some blogs that are drowning in my head...
ciao for now
Oh and PS, if you have any tips for me on how to make my blog better, please feel free to indulge.
PSS I do not like mean people so please stay away if you are mean...

69 days and counting!!!

2012-01-15T11:38:00.002-05:00

So, we made it through the first week of the first leg. I have this weird thing where I group things... I know it is weird, actually I do it more than I even realize. This deployment is broken down into legs. Three legs to be exact. The first leg is school. The second is his first 6 months (or until we see him again) in Bahrain and the 3rd is the last part of the year he is in Bahrain. The first leg is the shortest with 11 long but comparatively short weeks. We just finished week 1 and we feel good! We had a rocky start. Sullivan has struggled a lot with being extra emotional and not listening but we are falling into the routine of things. Luckily we have been able to talk to Mike lots as well as face time him and this weekend we figured out skype. Seeing him helps lots! Plus Mason has turned into a little ham and keeps us laughing lots! We have been relatively busy but mostly I have been trying to get our house in order. I am in simplify mode. Yep, my trash is full and not only because I missed putting it out this week. ( That was Mike's job!)
We had a urology appointment for Mason. He has another hydrocele on the same side but this time he wants to see if his body will absorb the fluid on it's own. On Friday Mason and I surprised Sullivan and had lunch with him at school. Made him a little emotional but he was fine. I promised Sullivan that every Friday night he and I could have movie night and he could sleep with me as long as he went to bed like a big boy during the week. So, we watched Kung Fu Panda 2, had ice cream and then fell asleep to a little monster jam. It seems I end up with both boys in my bed every night at some point. That is fine though, as long as they sleep most of the night in their own bed. We also made a countdown link! Sullivan decorated each link and we hung them on our tree. (Yes I know it is dying but I am hoping it will live) We did a weekly one for the first leg so we get to pull our second link tomorrow! How stinking exciting to see the weeks are passing! Each link has something to look forward to that week. This week is my birthday. :) Going to be a weird one not having Mike here but it will be fine... So I think that is about all for this week. Just counting down the days and weeks and trying to enjoy them as we count down!

The first day....

2012-01-10T21:04:00.000-05:00

The first day was not too bad. I thought we would be sad all night and the first day would be tough but, it was fine. When we got home from the airport our sweet friends, Ann, Samantha and Dominick came over with dinner and a box full of goodies and cards as well as hugs! Just what we needed. Plus they understand. Their daddy/hubby is gone right now too, for his 3rd year deployment. Mike made is safe and sound to Atlanta and then to Gulf Port. The only issue was a pounding headache. Otherwise smooth sailing. Knowing he was safe and sound meant the world to us. This is when the frustration kicks in...
When he got to the airport there was not a shuttle (as he was told there would be) so he had to pay for a cab. They dropped him off at the place to get his paperwork and key to his room to find out that his room was quite a walk away. He had 3 bags and all 3 were quite heavy. Not to mention it was 10:30 at night and you could not see the numbers on the buildings. When he got there he had a roommate who was asleep. He had to go down the hall to get his linens and was told they were out of pillows. Then he had to makeup his bed and settle in my the light of his cell phone. The bathrooms are community baths and he was supposed to bring his own towels. Would have been nice to have been told this info. He has a twin bed in his room, no TV, no microwave, a very small fridge and a roommate but plenty of closet space. There is always a silver lining. (feel the sarcasm??) The silver lining here is that it is only for 27 days. Yes my friends THIS is how our military is treated. I am sick by it. After 18 plus years of service and he can not even relax in his own room. Just another part of the sacrifice.
Anyway, school is kicked into full gear. Today they did land navigation and were dropped in the woods to find their way out with only a compass, at night. I can not wait to hear how it was.
As far as the home front we are good. Sullivan wakes every morning saying he wishes Daddy did not have to go but, he is doing fine. We will make him proud. We can do this.
We are in touch with a friend in Bahrain who is giving us the scoop. Sounds like we will have steady contact, even on missions, which makes me happy. Just hearing his voice makes my day.
Time is passing, not too slow and not too fast. Time is passing.

Goodbye Daddy

2012-01-09T13:16:00.000-05:00

After our traditional Sunday morning making pancakes and a lunch date it was time for the inevitable.

We had to take Mike to the airport so he can start his deployment. He is currently in school in Mississippi, will then go to Cali and then to Bahrain after a few weeks home with us. It was a sad day. I held back tears all day but as we neared the airport it became harder and harder to hold back. Mike is not only an amazing father but he is an amazing husband and friend. We love spending time together and this time apart will be hard on all of us. When we got to the airport, they let us through security so that we could say our goodbyes. And when it was time to say goodbye, we all cried. (Well, except Mason. He just doesn't have a clue yet.) After Mike boarded the boys and I stayed and watched the plane all the way until it was out of site in the sky. And then we blew him kisses.

You will be missed dearly Mike. Our next 16 months will not be the same with out you but, we know you are coming home. And for that we are forever grateful. We will be right here waiting on you with arms wide open. You mean the world to us. Do well in school and at work. Make this sacrifice matter. And most importantly stay safe. We love you and will see you soon.
You loving wife and adoring children

Daddy Date

2012-01-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

We took Sullivan out of school a little bit early Friday to do something special with him. He chose Chuck e Cheese, I mean because what kid wouldn't? Right? He and Mike played every game in there while I chased a very active 16 month old. Trust me, they had more fun than me but...it is OK. They needed this time together...

This year...

2012-01-05T22:12:00.000-05:00

Welcome 2012! I know, it sounds weird from someone who is about to send her BFF off for almost 16 months and become essentially a single mother. But I have to tell you, I welcome 2012. Yes, this year will be hard. I do not doubt that for 1 second, but we are going to survive and we are going to do it well. We have a choice. We can mope and cry or we can make it something special. (remind me of this if need be) So, we have decided as a family that this year is going to be special. We are incredibly blessed. Our lives will not be put on hold. Yes, we will be sad. Yes, there will be times where we feel desperate for each other. Yes, we will feel like some days last forever. And yes, we will most likely just want to scream with frustration. But, we will not let it define us. No we are going to live life. Mike may be leaving us for a while, but he will be coming back home. It could always be worse.
Mike leaves on January 8th to report to Mississippi for school. It is going to be a pretty interesting school for him. He will learn to give IV's, put a breathing tube in someone and navigate his way out of anywhere. All skills we hope and pray he will never have to use but if he does, we hope he saves lives and finds his way home to us. He will also be shooting guns a lot. Fun for him, I guess. After he graduates from this school he heads to San Diego for a month of just hanging out. Yeah, we were not too happy with this but, it is what it is. The next school will start in the beginning of March and will be a month of serious physical conditioning as well as other skills needed. He will then come home for 30 short days before leaving to go to Bahrain for 12 months. We are so thankful for the technology that we have today. We will be able to talk to him and even see him on Skype just about every day. This will help us all a lot. His job in Bahrain will be Mobile Security. He will be going on missions during the year to provide port and vessel security in foreign countries. I guess it will be more exciting than his last few jobs. From all we hear Bahrain is a nice place to be stationed and the only downfalls are the obvious. Distance from the ones you love. He will get paid more but that will not make our home less lonely or our hearts full. We will miss his dearly and he will miss us even more. But, he will be busy learning a new job, working out, going to school and keeping in touch with us. We will be busy too. I have plans. Lots of them. They all swirl through my head constantly!!! And these plans, along with communication and our faith not only in each other but in our Lord will get us through. Wish us luck, pray for us all often, especially for Mike and I hope to be able to see you and/or talk to you this year!

This year I will:
1. Stick to routine - especially bedtime routine for the boys :)
2. Learn to love and communicate with my husband in a whole new way
3. Chat more with my wonderful girlfriends - call me after 9:30
4. Become a healthier me - workout and eat healthy
5. Scrapbook - must finish both boys first years
6. Have girls nights at my house occasionally
7. Use and enjoy the babysitting coop
8. Go to church - not a fan of going with out Mike but I am going to try
9. Blog lots - I have blogs in my head all day, they just don't get on here
10. Revamp my business and step it up in photography
11. Plan a trip to Disney
12. Work on getting out of debt
13. Simplify my house - yard sale etc...
14. Update pictures and frame in my house
15. Clean out many nooks and crannies in my house
16. Re-do the playroom
17. Read more books - and report on them on my blog
18. Miss my husband and Best Friend like crazy!!!!
19. Survive

Each and every one of you will play a part in our sanity this next year. I hope if you have to time you will plan a visit or a phone call! Please feel free to keep in touch with Mike as I am sure this will be lonely for him. I will send his address' as I get them and you can always contact him via Facebook, e-mail and Skype!!
Now, I am off to enjoy my amazing husband before he leaves Sunday! I am so proud of him and want him to know just how much he is loved by us.
xoxoxoxo

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2012-01-04T10:58:00.001-05:00

What can I say?? Christmas came and it went.... It was wonderful, filled with some shopping, a beautiful candle light Christmas Eve service, happy children, yummy food, gifts galore and time with family! I could not ask for more. OK, well maybe more time and for it to all move a little slower but it was good. It was great! I was adamant that this was going to be a special Christmas since Mike will not be here next Christmas. And it was! Santa was good and so much fun! Sometimes being a grown up is more fun than being a kid. :) After all the wonderful Christmas Shenanigans at my parents house with Zeke's family we headed to Belton for some Christmas Love there as well. Missed seeing John Paul and the girls, Diane and Tina but, it was still so nice. Always good quality time at Noni's. And Anna FINALLY won Phase 10 with us there! She was so happy! More yummy food, more gifts and before we knew it, it was time to leave. Santa had left Anna a special box and we had to get back so she could open it. We were all dying to see what what in it. (*wink*wink*) The box had a note and that started one FUN scavenger hunt! In the end she got what she really wanted, a laptop. :) She cried. It was so much fun! She is one special girl!
Anna got to hunt with Mike twice and Zeke left the 4 wheeler for us to enjoy at Mom and Dad's. All was great. Until New Years Eve that is....Sullivan got to go play at Elliott and Laurels house. When he got home he did not feel good. We had an oyster roast that night and bless his heart he puked well into the New Year. Boo. Anna did try her first oyster though! And she liked it! The next day we had to take Anna to meet Noni in Columbia and Sullivan had to stay home. He was so sad to see her go and that he could not go with us. Both of them just cried. G.G. took great care of him though. He was feeling better once we got hime. We were just about to enjoy our New Years Day dinner when Mason started with the vomiting. I am hoping this means that we will have a healthy year. :) Here's hoping right? On the 2nd we said goodbye and headed home to prepare for Mike's departure. He leaves January 8th. We are so very thankful we had such a wonderful visit with everyone that we did. Now to get this 2012 started, organized and kicked into full gear. It will be one heck of a year but even with the impending deployment, it will be a good one.
(MOM, DAD and NONI, please send me your pictures from Christmas!)

It's Begining to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-12T21:18:00.000-05:00

Every where I go.....
Everyday it feels more and more like Christmas. (Other than the 70 degree days and the tulips sprouting in my yard.)
The elves have arrived and are up to no good.

Our tree is up and the house is decorated. Sullivan got to put the tree again this year. Our tree is so pretty and makes our house feel so warm and cozy. I love Christmas!

Almost all the gifts have been bought and some even wrapped. (Still more shopping to do but I'm getting there) Mom came up to shop with me and we got a good bit done and of course had a wonderful time. Only wish we could spend more. ;) I love buying for people I love. The boys of course loved having her here. She also watched the boys so we could go to Mike's command Christmas party and my Coop Christmas Party. Thankful. Thankful.
Mike's command party was a great time. Most importantly they presented him with his Sailor of the Year award! I am so proud of him. And to top that off he was the big winner of the raffle! He won an LG Sound Bar. Good friends, good drinks, good times, good prizes! Notice I did not say good food or good belt. Ha Ha. Mike's belt broke right as we were getting seated. And, his pants were too big. Nice. He was a little worried about accepting his award but, no one saw his cute GAP snowflake boxers! Lucky for him, there was no pressure to dance. Not so lucky for me, as I wanted to shake my groove thang.

And then we saw Santa. Told you it was feeling Christmasy! I love it! Took the boys to Bass Pro Shop. Sullivan had a blast! Mason, not so much!

Then the last night she was here we had by Co-op Christmas Party! It was another good time. Awesome food, delicious wine, and great company! Mike and I were the winners of Santa Bingo which meant we got to choose last for the gifts! I got a saucy black scarf and he got a bottle of Craken and we both stole our gifts! Another evening that ended too soon! I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful group of ladies. I know that they will be part of my sanity when Mike is gone. Yep, that dreaded day is coming too. He leaves for his first school January 8th so....we are enjoying this joyful, cheerful time of year! Merry Christmas dear friends, Merry Christmas! Oh and I LOVE getting Christmas Cards! Just sayin'.

ACC CHAMPS

2011-12-09T23:32:00.000-05:00

So, our Tigers were found. I do not know what happened. After 8 games of playing hard and winning we had a losing streak all the way through the USC game which really hurt. Somehow, the night of the ACC Championship game, we pulled it off and beat Virginia Tech! It was SWEEEEET! Our boys were back! By the way, Virginia tech was 10-1 and their only loss was to us. They are now 10-2 with both losses to us. I am very proud of this young team if TIGERS! I am very proud of Coach Dabo and all the other coaches that stood behind these boys. I am excited to see them play in the Orange Bowl and am looking so forward to next year because I think we will ROCK just that much more. I am so proud to be a tiger, through and through. My blood runneth orange...
GOOOOOOO TIGERS!!!

Thankful all over again...

2011-12-09T22:36:00.000-05:00

I have to say that we are blessed beyond belief and I am truely thankful for all we have. I think about how fortunate we are daily and I try to remind my inner self when I am out shopping and have to put back the hot and sassy Nine West heels that would look great with my party dress that I will wear once, that are $100. :)   No but really, we have a roof over our heads (a brand new one at that), we have cars to drive, Mike has a job, our kids have toys(too many), we have wonderful friends and most importantly our family is healthy and happy. Blessed beyond belief.
This Thanksgiving we went to Belton to spend some good quality time with Noni, Anna and John Paul. Sullivan was so excited! When we got there Anna and John Paul were already there and we all stayed up super late catching up. We were sad to not be able to see Maya and Ella but, they were welcoming home their new baby brother and that is exactly where they needed to be. On Thursday we ate Turkey dinner and it was buono. We played cards that night as we enjoyed pie and wine.   JP whipped our butts in our traditional phase 10. Friday morning Mason woke up at 5 am. We could not get him back to sleep so we went shopping. We only bought 2 Christmas gifts but it was good quality time for Mike and I, which we both crave lately. Plus, we got to see Diane and Brenda. :) Thankful, thankful.
That afternoon Noni's friends Rachael and Woody came down to visit over wine and pie. (imagine that) They are both around 30 (i think) and professors at Clemson and just super neat people. But let me tell you their story... I will shorten it.
     Met at Clemson. Fell in love. Married. Decided to have a baby. Tried to have a baby. No baby. Decided to adopt. Decided to go through DSS and with all these decisions, decided to take 2 children. Wow. Amazing couple I tell ya. Anyway, got the phone call that they were getting 2 brothers that were almost 1 and almost 2 and they would be coming Tuesday after Thanksgiving. They were super excited! Shopped. Celebrated! Consulted Mom and friends and shopped some more. They had to get everything. They were so fortunate that so many people were giving them stuff. Litte twist - The foster parents wanted to adopt these boys but DSS denied them. So, Sunday rolls around and they are putting together cribs etc and their social worker calls. Apparently the foster parents got angry and call and told them to "come get these kids if you are not going to let us have them." DSS got them and put them in emergency foster care. Rachael and Woody got the call and the boys came home to them Monday! They are healthy, beautiful boys and Rachael and Woody are thrilled to be parents. I am so thankful there are people like them in this world. And I am so thankful these 2 boys are home....
That eveing after they left we played some more Phase 10. This time, Mike was the "weiner". (Dont ask) We had a wonderful, wonderful time. I am so thankful that we all have each other and that we really do enjoy our time together. The kids had a blast and Sullivan got to try a hand at Phase 10. He felt like such a big boy. On Saturday we hung out most of the day and then headed to Sumter trying to see an old friend. Things did not work out but we did make it in time to hug Aunt Nancy's neck and watch the Clemson vs Carolina game. Not real thankful for that upset... Oh well. Sunday morning we were up and at em and heading home by 9 am. It was nice to get home at a decent hour. What a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Why yes I did go to the MIDNIGHT show of Breaking Dawn...

2011-11-30T16:29:00.000-05:00

And our old butts almost fell asleep!!!
But we had a great time. Drinks at a local pizza shop before hand and darling wolf men.....
(Yes, I am more of a Jacob fan)
It was a good, good night!

And a few days later, his second!

2011-11-30T15:54:00.001-05:00

This time he was at Samantha's house playing and bit into an ice cream sandwich. It was obviously hanging from a thread! He was so excited! And another visit from the tooth fairy!!! He looks so different. I am so not ready for him to lose the top ones....
11-16-2011

He Lost His First Tooth

2011-11-06T11:50:00.001-05:00

Oh so bitter sweet, for me that is. For him this was like Christmas even though it was Halloween Day. He feels so grown up now that he lost a tooth. What a special, special day for my big guy. He said, "I just pulled it out myself at school!" He really wanted to lose it at school because you get a tooth box and a note home and a sticker. He saved it all! Love it! I will say, mama had tears when I saw him get off that bus missing his tooth. Time flies too fast. He is not a little baby anymore, but he will always be my baby. Tooth fairy game him the first tooth hook up!!! Lucky boy! Lucky Mama and Daddy to have such an amazing kid!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

It was quite an eventful day for us this year! Sunday night we carved pumpkins with Ann, Dominick and Samantha. Yes, we waited until the very last minute but, we did it and the kids were thrilled. Monday was a school day and a work day. Boo. But it was a very exciting school day as Sullivan lost his first tooth at school! He came off the bus so excited!!! :) So glad I took pictures of him before he lost it! After school we started getting ready! Thanks you Mrs. Thomas for NO HOMEWORK! Mike rushed home and the festivities began. We had delicious dinner and snacks at Ann's with some of their family and we hit the road. We were quite frightening let me tell you. :) After a ton of candy, a lot of fun and a screaming hungry baby, we headed home. It was a great night with friends! I love Halloween! Richard Downs you were certainly missed this year and Mike, we will miss you next year. Happy Halloween from The Curti Family!

Proud Tiger Fans!!!

2011-10-25T14:14:00.000-04:00

What a season this has been!?!
Fun Fun Fun! Right now at 8-0. So good!
We have so enjoyed watching the games. Even more so is that Sullivan is getting into them more and more. He has finally earned to do the Clemson cheer and spell both Clemson and Tigers correctly. :) He wears his CJ Spiller jersey every game! We spend most games at home watching on TV or with the Tidewater Clemson Club. But on homecoming, we got to take the boys and Anna to the game! It was a blast! We stayed with Ashley and had a fabulous birthday/Clemson weekend! GG and Pop came up for the game and we all tailgated at their spot. John Paul and his friend Tom came and hung out a little bit as well as Candy and Scott. GG and Pop kindly gave us their tickets (Thank you, thank you, thank you) and we really had a wonderful time at teh game while they tailgated. The weather was beautiful. The game was great. And the kids were amazing. We sent Mason to the car with GG and Pop during half time and after the game we jumped the wall with Anna and Sully. We got a few autographs and pictures. It was awesome! When we were taking Anna home she said the words that summed it all up, "I just don't want this weekend to end!" I agree baby girl. I agree.
We celebrated Ashley's birthday on Sunday evening and then we headed home Monday with a stop by pottery barn and IKEA. :)
The whole way home we dreamed about being a SC resident again. We miss SC and all of our family and friends that are there or near. Maybe one day our dream will come true. But, until then...GO TIGERS!!!
WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY and LOTS OF ORANGE. IT MAY MAKE YOU WANT TO ROAR AND EAT CHICKEN.

Student of The Month?? Yep, he's mine!!!

2011-10-25T13:48:00.000-04:00

I am one proud mama! Exceptionally proud this month! Sullivan was chosen Student of the Month for the month of October. They choose based on citizenship. He wears a pin everyday saying he is Student of the Month. He got to have snack with the other students that got Student of the Month and his principal. He received a certificate and a pencil. He is so proud! Mike and I are so proud. He is a good boy. We are incredibly blessed. He also was awarded 3 "happy napper" tickets, a clean desk award and and incredible moment award. What a month!
On top of this great achievement he also learned to ride his bike with out training wheels this month and got his first wiggly tooth! Growing WAY TOO FAST! October has been quite a month for our Sullivan!
I had a client send me a message last week telling me that she was so happy that we did her sons pictures when we did because he lost a tooth and he looks totally different. So, I had to snap a few of my big boy. I am not ready for his looks to change but he is so ready to lose a tooth. It is fun to watch him grow and change and he does it all so happily.

Look What Sully Can Do!!!

2011-10-13T12:23:00.002-04:00

He has begged us since Spring and was asking last summer. But, Mommy and Daddy were not ready. He hopped right on this bike and with VERY little help was off and riding. We are so proud of him and so excited for him. More importantly he is so proud of himself and so excited!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

The Latest with Mason

2011-10-03T13:53:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a turn around this kiddo did. His first year of life he was a little on the cranky side. I do not know if it was turning 1 or the surgery but with in a week of surgery, DIFFERENT KID. He is so happy. Demanding still. But, Happy! More laughs, more smiles and just more content. He is still not walking but is standing and balancing on his own. We call it his zombie pose. He stands with his arms out like a zombie or mummy. He smiles and waits for you to tell him just how great he is. A total ham. He has just stood there for quite a while. Just no steps yet. It's coming.
He sleeps better. Much better. And therefor Mommy sleeps better. And Daddy. Still wakes occasionally but mostly 8-7 everyday. (insert sigh of relief)
He is a pretty good eater. Pickier than Sullivan ever was but not so bad. You just have to hide the fruit until he eats the other stuff.
He loves his crib now. When he is mad that is where he wants to go but then it turns into a game. He loves books. We read to him at night but he is happy just turning the pages. Likes books better than most toys. He loves balls too. Loves to throw them and chase them.
We are pretty sure he is cutting a few teeth right now. One on the bottom and possible 2 molars. He has been a bit cranky, wants to chew on everything and a little bit of a runny nose. Pretty sure it is teeth. We'll see when the pearly whites pop through.
He is doing awesome in the gym now. I did have to have a heart to heart with gym manager and lo and behold he does great now. Shows where putting effort into something will get you. Today I worked out for 2 hours and he would have stayed longer! He totally deserves a prize!
His incision looks great! We go back in a couple of weeks for a post op check up. I suspect no issues. :)
I guess that is about all with our little guy! Mainly just wanted to report that he is a happy baby now!!! God is good!

So proud of our TIGERS!!!

2011-10-02T23:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, was not expecting the season we are having! I have not personally felt this much passion, desire and hunger from our team in a long, long time. It is such a great feeling. I love Dabo. I love his name. I love that he is a man of God. I love his passion. I did not want to see him go. Doubt he is going anywhere, anytime soon, except maybe to a great bowl game!!
Pride fills me. We have watched/listened to every game. We have also joined the Tidewater Clemson Club and watched 2 games with them! What a great group of tigers! I encourage you all to join a Clemson Club near you! So much more fun to cheer them in a sea of orange, even if it is just 4 tables of people. Our little sea of orange. Perfect!
We are headed to Tiger Town this weekend! So excited!!! It will be Mason's first trip to Death Valley. I hope he does well. We are going to see some near, dear friends and family and just have a blast!
Sullivan asked Mike and I Saturday is God made is Clemson Tigers. And I looked at Mike trying to come up with a good answer and with out skipping a beat Mike said, "Yes buddy He did. When he made us he added a drop of orange in our blood. Maybe a little more for some people." And he is right. There is orange in my blood, tiger spirit in my soul and pride in my heart. I am proud to be a Clemson Tiger.
Where the blue ridge yawns it's greatness,
Where the TIGERS play...

Movin' On Up

2011-10-02T22:11:00.000-04:00

PICTURE TO COME...
This year we decided to let Sullivan give coach pitch a try. He has played 2 seasons of t-ball and was starting to get silly on the field. Because he was starting to get silly and was not always silly we thought he may be bored. Thought maybe he needed to be challenged. Being that fall ball is the more relaxed season we thought it was a good time. We had lots of encouragement from friends who have children in the league as well. Even thought he technically is not old enough to play coach pitch, they let him. :) He is on the LS Cardinals and is the youngest one on the team. His coach is serious. He wants to teach these kids to play ball. And even though we still catch him drawing in the dirt or not paying attention he is getting it. His batting has improved dramatically. We need to work on fielding. He can throw a ball but his accuracy has declined in attempts to throw hard. Trying to work on this with him. He is having fun. I am the team mom and Mike is helping me with the duties. The main duty being keeping kids in the dugout in order and ready. That is a treat, let me tell you. It is fun though. So far, they have won both games! GO CARDINALS!!! I like that the rules are the rules as I am a rule follower by nature. I think it helps Sullivan want to hit better, run fast, throw better. He wants to play catcher but her is not ready yet. He can not catch that ball coming from the machine so it is dangerous. Been hard to explain that to him because he thinks because he caught the ball a few times and was so proud of himself that he can catch. Certainly shows his age. Looking forward to seeing more and more improvement and him really getting into the game. Oh, his favorite part so far has been getting to wear a cup. And he has worn it! He wore it for 2 straight days when we got it. He had worn it on his nose, on his head and yesterday I found it on one of his animals head. Yes we wash it! Still gross I know. BOYS will be BOYS I guess. Funny guy. Our little guy is growing up super duper fast!!! He is so much fun!

Our little Monkey has surgery...

2011-09-30T22:28:00.000-04:00

On Sept 9, 2011 Mason had a hydrocelectomy.
What is that? Is is to repair a hydrocele.
What is that? A hydrocele is a fluid-filled sac surrounding a testicle that results in swelling of the scrotum, the loose bag of skin underneath the penis. Up to 10 percent of male infants have a hydrocele at birth, but most hydroceles disappear without treatment within the first year of life. Thank you MayoClinic for this definition. If they do not disappear then they must go in and close off the hole that is allowing the fluid into the scrotum to prevent a hernia or painful swelling later in life.
We noticed Mason's right "boy" to be swollen and took him to the doctor. After lots of lights shining through his "boys" and ultrasounds they sent us to a urologist. He scheduled surgery.
I was all geared up, not freaking at all about the surgery. Ready to quit worrying that he may get a hernia.  Had it in my mind it was a 30 minute surgery with no IV only under gas. Not sure why.
Had to be at hospital at 5:45 on Friday morning. Before we went in that morning we had to give him a bath and scrub him down with antibacterial brush. Got there a little early. Got him signed in, checked in and went to waiting area. Met resident, anesthesiologist, nurses and doctor. Had to wait until 7:30 before we handed him over.  He was in Mike's arms sound asleep.  So sweet. Mike handed him over to the nurses and the male nurse looked at me, (guess it obvious I was about to lose it) and said, "Don't worry, we will take good care of him and he will be just fine." Yep, I lost it. Stood in the vending machine room and cried my eyes out. You would have thought he was having a major surgery.
They gave him orange flavored gas and once he was out they gave him other stuff including a caudal block. A caudal block is like an epidural except it is in the caudal space. It is not near spinal fluid or spinal cord so it is safer. Made him numb from the waste down. Surgery took a little over an hour. We went and got breakfast in cafeteria and sat in waiting room watching the screen.  He was assigned a number and we could watch his number on the screen to know when we went into surgery and when he was in recovery. When surgery was over the doctor came to find us to tell us all went well! He said the hole was very small. Had a little bit of intestines poking through but the hole was too small to have had a hernia. Relief washed over us. We knew he would be OK but...when it is your baby there is always that feeling of relief when it is all over and all is OK.  We waited until they called us and we were able to go back to the recovery room. He was pitiful. The anesthesia really made him feel bad. But we loved on him and he did very well. We were home by 10 am. He has a little over a 1 inch incision on his right lower belly but has healed very well.  His swelling is all gone and some how as he has healed he has also started sleeping through the night. Wondering if the 2 may have been related. Things that make you go hummm....
We are just so thankful to our doctors, to CHKD and to the Lord for taking good care of our baby. It was a minor surgery but, cutting on MY babies is a HUGE deal to me. We are blessed beyond belief.

First Day of Kindergarden

2011-09-17T20:53:00.000-04:00

Well, school has finally started! Can I get a who hew?? Yes ma'am I am so ready for routine and some good old fashioned learning!!! Sullivan started Kindergarten and I never knew he would be so excited! After 2 weeks he still says daily, "Mom, I have to tell (insert any name) that I am in Kindergarten now!" Too cute! We are thrilled with his teacher and as you know love his school!!! He got some school supplies, some new clothes and most importantly a new back pack and lunch box! He HAD to have one that hooked to his lunch box. I finally found one for boys at Lands End and he thinks it is the best. Is still showing it off! It makes me so happy that he does not bed for a character one. ;) He has homework every day but Friday and when he comes home from school he is so happy! I could not be any more thrilled. So...as my heart is a little sad that my big boy is growing us so fast, I am filled with uber amounts of joy for him as he starts a journey in the best way possible. Sullivan, Mommy and Dad are so proud of you! Keep up the good work and good attitude and you will go far. I promise! Hugs and Kisses to our amazing boy!

All of the Kindergarten children wore these hats with their teachers name on them. When they got off the bus they were able to be directed to their classroom. Of course this is old school to him since he was here last year but it really helped with getting them to their classes with less confusion and tears. And....this is not his new backpack. It had not come in the mail yet. I know, bad mommy!!! This was actually his diaper bag when he was little. Ha Ha! I love it and he does too but it was just too big for him to carry to school! Didn't he look so handsome???

Our little Monkey, Mason, Turns ONE

2011-09-16T22:43:00.000-04:00

On September 4th, 2011 our little guy turned 1 year old. Wow, how time has flown. What a wonderful sleepless year it has been. I have always heard that when you have your first child and are pregnant with your second you wonder if you have room to love the second one as much. I am here to tell you that it is a FACT that your heart actually grows. It makes room. And it HAS to because not only have I fallen head over heels with this little guy but have fallen even more in love with his big brother and Daddy. Mason has brought so much love into our family. We have laughed. We have worried. We have cried. Isn't that exactly what parenthood is all about? He is definitely a head strong little guy. Knows what he wants and is going to do his best to get it. He reminds me a lot of Sullivan as a baby yet is his own little self. Mason is crawling and cruising but not quite walking. Blessing in disguise?? Maybe. But we are ready for him to take off. I want to see him go and the look on his face when he does. He has the most gorgeous eyes. With lashes that women pay for. He can say Mama, Dada and tried to say Uh Oh but knows he can just grunt to get what he wants. We are working on some signs. He has 7 teeth and may just be teething as we speak. He loves his big brother so much. Loves group kisses. Loves books like I have never seen. Loves to swing, press buttons and ride in his little red car. He loves cars and balls. And he loves his mama and daddy. We simply adore him and are so blessed to have him. For his birthday we did a sock monkey party with family and a few friends at the Santee. For us this is special because it is a place we want our kids to love, a place they can grow up being kids and a place that has been special to us for a long long time. Sullivan's first birthday party was here too.
It was a sweet party. Good weather. He got some wonderful gifts and enjoyed his cake!!!! Sullivan was so excited to give him a gift he picked out and well it was just perfect. (other than missing a few special people) Thank you all for being a part of his special day. It really means the world to us.

Mason,
We love you more than you will ever know and are blessed to have you in our lives. You are the birthday gift! We wish you all the wonderful things life has to offer. Happy Birthday little guy!!! And many many more....
With all our hearts...
Mommy and Daddy

Firsts to be Celebrated

2011-09-08T12:31:00.005-04:00

Labor Day weekend we took off to celebrate Mason's first birthday at the Santee with a few friends and family. It was a wonderful trip! We swam, relaxed, the kids rode the 4 wheeler, played in sand etc... Always a good time at the Santee. Mom and I prepared for the party and Mike and Zeke hunted. We sure missed our Anna. On Friday afternoon I dropped Mike off at Mr. Scott's farm to go hunting with Zeke and I picked up Laurel and Elliott. Sullivan was about to die for them to get there. Usually I keep my phone on when Mike is hunting hoping to get that text that he got one. But, it was dying so I left in inside on the charger. We played outside until it was dinner time and then headed in to fix spaghetti for dinner. I was feeding Mason when I heard a text come through. Sometimes Mike will text me from the stand telling me he had not seen anything or something like that. So, a few minutes later I went to get my phone. I have 4 new text messages.

1. In the stand. Nothing yet.
2. Still have not seen a thing.
3. MEAT IS SERVED!
4. GOT ONE

I was so excited!!! I ran through the house telling everyone and even got a l ittle chocked up. This has been a long time coming. Zeke has been taking Mike hunting for 10 years and he had never killed a deer. Not that Zeke is not good at what he does but somehow he has just never gotten one. Tonight was his night. He got it. We ate fast and loaded everyone up and headed out to the farm. We were all so excited! When we got there Mr. Scott and Candy were there waiting on them. A few minutes later Jason and Austin pulled up beeping the horn. And about 10 minutes later here comes the killers!!! They came barreling in laying on the horn, Mike fist pumping out the window. We were all so excited. Zeke backed his truck up to us and opened the gate and there was a beautiful 6 point. A beautiful shot. I wish I could have been a grasshopper in the field watching them as they looked for the deer and when they found it! After hearing the story, hand shakes, some smooches we took pictures and Zeke taught Mike how to clean his first deer. And of course the traditional blood bath and wearing of the boy parts for killing his first buck. It was a good time. (other than Sullivan getting upset about the dead deer. Love my sensitive boy) These boys were on cloud 9 all weekend long. Thanks to all who helped him finally get one. Especially to Zeke for taking him and never giving up. Mr. Scott for welcoming him to your land and club and Dad for the use of your gun! Good times, good times. We can not wait to feast on our first venison meal!!!

FAIR WARNING: SOME OF THESE PICTURES ARE GROSS AND MAY MAKE YOU GAG OR FEEL SAD. DO NOT CONTINUE LOOKING IF YOU ARE AGAINST HUNTING OR DO NOT WANT TO SEE WHERE MEAT COMES FROM OR IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO REALLY GROSS THINGS.

WAITING ON KILLERS

THE BOYS CHECKING IT OUT - THEY WERE SO EXCITED

TRADITIONS

So the hunters took a break and spent the rest of the weekend with the family. Actually they did dog drive Saturday morning and Zeke and Dad dove hunted Saturday but other than that...we had them to us. Sunday we celebrated Mason's first year of life. It was a sweet little party with lots family, friends, gifts, cake and fun!

My little guy deserved a special special birthday blog so Stay tuned!
Sunday night we enjoyed fresh dove on the grill compliments of Zeke and Pop with hamburgers and hotdogs! No vegetarians in this household!
On Monday we headed home and told the Santee goodbye for the last time this summer. As we say goodbye to summer, we welcome fall and all the wonderful things it has to offer! Like football season, Halloween, Air shows, and much more...
So, farewell swimmie diapers, sunscreen, mowing the yard, the pool and the heat and HELLO colorful leaves, tiger paws, fall ball, school, jeans and what I look forward to most, routine. Hel-lo routine!!!! Nice to see you again!

We've Got The Itch

2011-09-08T11:49:00.000-04:00

It has been 7 years since we said "I do". Seven short years since we vowed to love each other for better or worse, through think or thin... Where does time go? In 7 short years we have sure lived and loved. We have lived 3 of those years in a foreign country. Seen Anna grow from a sweet 5 year old to a pre-teen. Had 2 sweet dogs join our family and 1 leave us. Lost Mike's brother Kurt. Brought 2 amazing boys into this world. Seen Sullivan play golf, t-ball, soccer, go to Kindergarten and learn to ride a scooter and bike. We've seen Thomas the train, friends get married, friends get divorced, the Presidents house, the 9/11 site at the Pentagon and much much more...We've gained nieces and nephews. We've been in an earthquake and hurricane. We have bought our first house. We have laughed lots. We have cried less. Through all this and more we have continued to love each other unconditionally. Because of all of this and more we love each other more today than 7 short years ago when we said those important words and meant them. So, here it is the 7 year mark. And yeah, we've got the itch, but for each other.
Happy Anniversary baby. I am still the luckiest girl in the world. Hands down. No competition.
i love you
(PICTURE TO COME)

Hurricane Party

2011-09-07T22:17:00.001-04:00

August 26-28
Wavy 10 said Hurricane Irene was headed our way! We, as well as the rest of the East Coast, stocked up on the important things in case of power outage:

1. H2O

2. D Batteries

3. Milk

4. Bread

5. Ice

6. Beer

7. Something to mix with vodka

8. Chocolate

9. Candy

10. Glow sticks

11. Propane

12. Candles

You know the bare necessities. Right? Isn't that about what your hurricane kit looked like?? We were ready. Sullivan had 9 flashlights strategically placed including one that attached to your head. The weather started looking wet and windy Friday. Ann and the kids came over for dinner but decided to sleep at home Friday night because the brunt was not to come through until Saturday. Christina came out Friday and spent the night in case of flooding in Norfolk or tunnel closures. After a good night sleep we woke to a messy Saturday. Ann and kids came over for breakfast and not long after we finished cleaning up and getting ready to cook for the evening, we lost power. I think it was about 11:15 am. Earlier than we expected. Bets were made in advance:

Mike - we would not lose power

Me - We would lose it for 1-2 days

Ann - power our for 3-5 days

And the HURRICANE PARTY began!!!

The kids got bored at times, but we didn't. We ended up having all the right ingredients for 2 pitchers of Hurricanes! Yum! We played Doggy Doo with the kids and some old time college drinking games with the adults. Ok, well there was only 4 of us and 1 is pregnant. She was our dealer. What a good sport she was! We sure made the best of it! Cooked spaghetti, spinach dip, hamburgers, chicken wings, etc... It was like a large camping slumber party in my house! It was awesome! We were thankful when our power came on around 10pm Sunday night but the end of the party is never fun. However...AC is always a good thing and I won the bet.

We did not have much damage at all. A few crepe myrtle limbs down and 1 piece of vinyl siding lose but that was the extent of it. We are grateful for that as well as for the friends we have to huddle together during the storm and weather it together. We actually had fun! Sorry, Irene, you may have rained on our house but you did not rain on our parade.

Doggy Doo - every kid needs this game!

Mason loves Bella

No power means no makeup.

Outside during the storm - not too bad.

AFTER

Neighborhood pool??
Why yes, we DID experience a hurrican and earthquake in the same week! Crazy world we live in.

Did you feel that wiggle?

2011-09-07T21:13:00.002-04:00

August 23, 2010
We were sitting on the couch, Mason in my lap and Sullivan playing at the coffee table, half way watching TV, when the house started to "wiggle". It felt like a huge gust of wind that really rattled the house or like a black hawk was landing on the roof but there were no signs of any such thing. Sullivan was sure it was a "twister". I assured him it was not but, I was clueless. Earthquake popped into my head and quickly left... I did not know what was going on. Sullivan ran to me and grabbed my leg and the "wiggle" stopped. We were scared. We walked outside. It was a beautiful day. Not windy. Beautiful blue sky with puffy white clouds. Picture perfect. Clear. No helos, no twisters, no large pressure washers held to side of house... We walked out front, the same. Weird. Not a person in sight. The only logical answer I could come up with was a large gust of wind but if that is what is was then there is something wrong with our house. I went inside to call Mike and noticed my satellite was out. Mikes phone rang busy. I knew something was wrong now. I felt like I was on a really bad sci-fi movie. I called Mom and as she was answering the phone our satellite came back on and across the TV was,

A 5.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HAD ROCKED VA.

Holy mother of pearl. An earthquake in VA. Where??? As Mom answered I told her I was freaking out but trying to keep calm. I told her what happened. She turned on the news. Mike beeped in and I breathed a sigh of relief. We watched the news together learning the facts and being so thankful that it wasn't worse. It was scary but all was OK, at least in our area. We experience our first earthquake. When Mike got home the first words out of Sullivan's mouth were, "Daddy, did you feel that wiggle?" And when we put him to bed he said, "Mommy, I do not want to feel another wiggle tomorrow. OK?" Me neither buddy, Ne neither.
Simply. Adore. This. Kid.

Got Him

2011-08-26T11:35:00.000-04:00

While Mom was still here visiting Mike took me on a date. A very different date. He took me to the shooting range to shoot his pistol. I had never shot a gun before and was ready to learn. I am glad to have it for protection but am also scared of it. We keep in in a safe so that it is not going to land in the wrong hands but where I can get it fast if I needed to. I guess with Mike leaving in January it was time I learned.
So, off to the range we went. Got our ear plugs and protective eye wear and headed to our bay. I had never been to a gun range before. Kind of expected to be separate from everyone else. When I walked in I immediately felt like I was underwater. I could not hear, it was hot and my voice sounded muffled to me and the anxiety seeing others shooting targets scared me. I did not feel safe. Light panic came over me and after a few minutes I was OK. Not a fan of being with strangers shooting gun. There was an M-16 a few lanes from us and a rifle right next to us and a pistol 2 bays away. I had no idea when they were going to shoot. Lets just say this, I am glad I did it. Glad I learned the gun. Glad I know what to do if I HAVE to. But...I do not think going shooting is fun. Did not get to the point of feeling empowered. Yet. But I will. I will go again. I want to be comfortable with it and I need more practice. Although....he would be dead. I got him.

After shooting we went to eat sushi at Ninja and we were not impressed at all. Oh well, it was nice to be out and about with my husband with our children. We have fun no matter what. After dinner we went to Ann's for drinks and then home for bed. Thanks Mom for taking care of my babies! Mike and I both really appreciate it. I love date night.

A little visit from loved ones...

2011-08-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

I am sad to say I did not take 1 single picture. Mad at myself. My Mom's baby sister,Cathy, and some of her family came to visit us for a couple of night. It was such a nice time chatting and eating and chatting some more. I wish Nancy could have some up too. These sisters just do not see enough of each other. Wish we all lived a little closer. Hum...this picture MUST have a post...but of what??? This cute one will do!

A new "pet" for Sullivan

2011-08-25T23:48:00.000-04:00

We got him an ant farm for his birthday and the ants finally came in the mail. As much as I am not a fan of ants, they really are quite amazing. I think every 5 year old should have one. :) They have made tunnels and actually picked up pieces of the gel and moved it. Interesting little creatures. Now, they MUST stay in the farm.

A Brand New Top

2011-08-25T17:00:00.000-04:00

To our house that is. Yep, we got a new roof. We have been needing one bad and have been dealing with so many roofers. Finally we did it. We feel like we got a great deal and a great roof! Yeah!!!

BEFORE

And After....

We've got orders!!!

2011-08-25T16:38:00.000-04:00

As hard as it was to hear, we finally got orders. Mike will be deploying to Bahrain for 12 months to a mobile security det. He leaves Jan 8th, 2012 for school and will return for 2-4 weeks in between the 2 schools for leave time. Then he flies off to Bahrain for 12 long months. I am happy for him to get to do something fun. He will be deploying from Bahrain to help protect ships as they pull into ports, or something like that. We are not looking forward to being apart but are really, really trying to focus on the positive aspects of it. What are they, you might ask?? More pay, new laptops, possibly moving home for a year to be closer to family, maybe a job that could help him make chief (no he did not make it again this year. Even his senior chief says the system failed this year. Oh well... maybe it is his time to consider retiring...), gold and diamonds, and a new aspect to our marriage and family. I'm trying here. He will be traveling for a year by bike because he will not have a car. Luckily we know someone there now and have another contact who will be there when he is there AND, his senior chief will also be there. Some days I feel scared to death and others I feel like we will be fine. Some days I worry about him getting lonely and some days I worry about the kids, especially Sullivan. I guess that is all part of being a military wife. I will finally know how it feels to be a military spouse holding the fort down and how it feels to have him return home! Maybe instead of photographing a homecoming, I can get a photographer. So, life is changing for us but, we will be OK. We don't have a choice. Many, many women do it and so can I. I will need visitors so plan your trip!!!

A Quick Little Vacay

2011-08-24T23:42:00.000-04:00

Our plan was to spend the last week with Anna at the Santee with family. Well, due to leave time etc... we decided not to spend and entire week but that Mike would head home on Sunday and I would stay until the next weekend. So, we headed South on Tuesday night. We played Santee style which means sleeping in, lots of swimming and relaxing and fishing. If it could have only lasted longer... Mason took his first dip in the Santee and loved it. That child loves water. He drove the boat for the first time and took naps in the hammock. Sullivan finally learned to tee tee off the dock or on a tree. He was so proud. And we did a grandkids photoshoot. We all had a blast!

Unfortunately we had to take Anna home. Fortunately that meant we got to go spend time with Noni! We went out for pizza and played some Phase 10 Twist and had a good ole time. The next day Noni took us to Calhoun's Farm to play. It was such a good visit.

We dropped Anna of Saturday afternoon and headed back to the Santee so that Mike could get up and drive Sunday morning. Chief results were due to be out so he wanted to be back just in case. Sunday morning we went on a boat ride before Mike left to put the ashes of our dogs in the lake. It was their favorite place so we put them where they love to be, finally. Daisy, Shelby and Bella. You were all great dogs. And after we took a little ride...

And more Santee fun until it was time to head back home...

Oh wait, that is not true. Santee fun, until Thursday, when Mom had her Remacaid appointment. The boys and I went to Columbiana Mall and piddled while she got her infusion. We picked her up 10 years younger and took off shopping. Actually we had to go to Build A Bear first. Sullivan was dying to go and G.G. said she would get him a prize for being good. So, off to build a bear. As we were walking in I noticed Mason felt warm. And as Sullivan was building his bear, Mason ruined his good time by puking all over me and the floor. I was concerned because a few days earlier he had fallen in the chair and hit his head. He was fine but started screaming and vomiting in the middle of the night. We took him in and they did a CT and all was fine. Just a minor concussion. Said he would feel puney for a few days. So, when he started vomiting in Build a Bear the mommy alert went off. I just knew he had ear infections. Would have put money on it. We went ahead and took him in since the lake house is in the booneys and I do not have doctors here. After lots of shopping time lost, a CT scan and ears checked they said one of his ears may be infected. Also said that he did not have a temp but I just knew he did. Mama's know these kind of things. Gave us antibiotic script. He was acting better so we headed to eat. Sat down at Chilis at 10:30 pm and he ate. Just as I was getting into my salad good he started vomiting again. Oh boy... We packed up and left. I was at a loss of what to do. Was it is head? His ears? Or could he have a hernia from his contracting hydrocele?? I just did not feel good about that Urgent Care so we stopped at an ER. Glad we did. 102.5 degree fever. Double ear infections. Ultrasound showed no hernia, only hydrocele. And an hour later we were done but...Sullivan was not vomiting in the parking lot. Oh no. A bug. It was a bug all along. Not his head, Not his ears. Not a hernia. Just a belly bug with a rash all over both of them and fever. We pampered the boys for 2 days and they were pityful. It was so sad. I hate seeing my boys feel so bad. Luckily I did not get it but Mom did. Once everyone was better we came home and I was ready. And, G.G. came with us. Mason had an ENT appointment as soon as we got back and the doctor said that he did not have an ear infection nor did he show ANY signs of ever having one. Never took anymore antibiotics and was fine. Mama-mia.

A night out to a holocaust meet up

2011-08-24T22:22:00.000-04:00

OK, well not really but that is where we told Anna we were going. She pouted the whole way there. It was so funny! Sullivan had gone home with G.G. for some G.G. and Pop time at the lake so we just had Anna and Mason. We even told her they would serve the same food the people back then ate. After being in the holocaust museum she was scared... Well not really scared but pouting for sure. You see, she wanted to go to the movies but the movies she wanted to see had already started. So, we were headed to Jillians but she did not know it was a grown up Chuck E Cheese and so she pouted. Even though she swears she wasn't. :) When we said lets play, she was so happy! We played and played and played! And that sweet sweet child used half of her tickets and bought her little brother something. She is thoughtful for sure. Heart of gold. It was a good time and we are so thankful for the quality time we got with her this summer. It was different than in the past. Not sure why... Maybe that is why I bawled dropping her off. Miss that girl, miss her bad!

He's mobile and I'm in trouble

2011-08-24T16:13:00.002-04:00

Our little man started crawling on July 18th. I was ready but not ready! He was 10 1/2 months old so I was ready in that sense but not ready for him to be into EVERYTHING. Sullivan was already walking by now, however, this little guy has a mind of his own. It is his way or the highway. Love him for his determination, since of adventure and assertiveness. That is what I keep telling myself anyway...
Look at him go! Love my boys!!!

Second actual crawl - Thanks Anna baby!

Our last WONDERFUL day in DC

2011-08-24T13:30:00.001-04:00

We woke up a little sad to go but thrilled to see the boys! Off to the Smithsonian Institute National Air and Space Museum first! Hand down our favorite museum there. We did a free tour and had the best docent ever! Heard the best stories and learned lots! Anna stayed up front and was interested in ALL of it. The last picture at Air and Space was my favorite story...too long to add here but lets just say I was choked up and I was not the only one... After our tour we walked around a little, ate lunch at the ginormous McDonald's inside the museum and headed to get our car!

Off to Arlington....if we can ever find it. Ha ha! Yeah, we got lost even with a gps. But, we made it and it was well worth it! Beautiful day and beautiful place to honor these men and women. Saw the Kennedy family grave, several past presidents resting spots, the once home of Robert E. Lee and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers with the Changing of the Guards. Very humbling...but beautiful honor.

Our trip to Washington D.C. was amazing!!! We had a wonderful time and learned so much. That sounds so cliche' but honestly It was a blast! I have been feeling like my children were missing out because we had not taken them to Disney. Hands down this trip was much more than Anna would ever get out of Disney. A years worth of History lessons wrapped up in one wonderful weekend and it was fun! At 12 (and 13, 14,15....) I thought history was boring and frankley I hated it but this was NOT boring and she got lots our of it. I wanna go back! I can not tell you how laid back everything was. My expectations were 100% totally different. I really loved it, every bit of it. I highly recomend everyone make this a MUST VISIT and 12 is a fabulous age to take with. So glad Anna banana came with us. The trip would not have been the same with out her. We will see D.C. again one day...soon I hope.

And one more thing checked off my 100 in 100 list - even though I am WAY over 100 days...
#10. Visit Washington D.C. - CHECK

D.C. Continued...

2011-07-25T16:50:00.001-04:00

Saturday morning we got up and got moving. Mike went and got us yogurt and fruit from the deli across the street to eat in our room as we got ready. We headed out with an agenda. How much can we see?
We saw lots! We started out at the United States Navy Memorial. It was good. My favorite part was the Lone Sailor out front. Should have moved faster through this one but, glad we went.

After getting our fill of the Navy we headed to the National Archives Museum. Our first line. But we only waited about 45 minutes. Once in we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Glad we saw it. Thankful for it. For obvious reasons, no pictures were allowed.
Next, we went to the Holocaust Museum. This was a beautiful museum but, it took forever to go through it. It was sad and so much information that was just depressing. The most moving part was the pile of shoes. I'm a realist. The pictures were sad but the shoes made it all real. We left there feeling depressed and headed somewhere fun.
The National Museum of Natural History was our next stop for fun! I did not think this one was going to be all that wonderful but it was. It was beautiful! Animals everywhere! And, the Hope Diamond. I had no idea it was blue. And I thought it was bigger! Ha ha! We saw most of this museum but left before seeing it all because the crowds were out of control. Seriously out of control AND Anna really wanted to see the National Museum of American History.

So, we headed to the National Museum of American History. Crowds were MUCH better. No lines at all! Neat museum. Saw lots of First Lady's dress' including Michelle Obama's inaugural dress, Michael Jackson's hat, the American Flag that inspired the lyrics for the Star Spangled Banner, Fonzie's jacket, Minnie Pearls hat, old Superman Comics that cost 15 cents, Dorothy's red slippers, the original Muppets and much, much more... It was fun!

By this time, our feet were killing us, our brains had soaked in all they could handle and we were starving. So, off to Old Ebitt Grill . A cold beer and some delicious food at the oldest restaurant in town. We were set for the night. Well, not with out a dip in the rooftop pool! Which was sweet I might add.

OK, now we can call it a night. One last day in this amazing city and our body needs rest.
TO BE CONTINUED

The BEST History Lesson I EVER Had

2011-07-25T00:26:00.003-04:00

I have never really enjoyed History. Bored. Me. To. Death. However, as I get older I appreciate it more and more. Last weekend, I ENJOYED it! I loved it! And, so did Mike and Anna. How, you ask, can two grown adults and a pre-teen all enjoy history?? Duh, obviously we went to Washington D.C.
G.G. and Pop came to have a weekend with the boys and we(Anna, Mike and I) took of at 4 am Friday morning to D.C. Well, that was what was supposed to happen. We woke up late and left at 4:45. We somehow made it to the Pentagon in 3 hours flat with ZERO traffic. We were so fortunate to be getting a private tour of the Pentagon by our family/friend Tripp Duke(Brett's brother). Unfortunately we could not take camera's so I do not have any pictures but it was AMAZING!!!! Actually there are a couple from my phone...

It is truly like a little city right there in it's own building. It has 5 zip codes, a dentist, a jewelry store, 7 different food courts with the largest subway I have ever seen, a few banks, a florist, a chocolate store that is amazing, a huge red box room and much, much more.
We got to see where the plane hit the building on Sept 11 as well as all of the memorials. They have done a beautiful job of remembering and honoring the people who lost their lives. We went through the corridor's of the main 4 branches of the military. We saw the "tank" where the military talks to the president. Several rooms have a wooden box outside the door for your cell phones. It is such a secret room that if you take any electronic in, it will erase everything on it. There was so much to see here. But, my favorite part was the Wounded Warriors parade. We were so fortunate to get to see this, closed to the public and press, celebration of our military injured in service. We lined up along the corridor 1-2 people deep and as the patriotic music played, we clapped our hands to the beat. It was feel good patriotic music, upbeat and happy. And as we clapped the wounded warriors and their families walked or strolled down the hall. It was humbling to say the least. I clinched my jaw tight to keep from being emotional as I clapped with pride for each of these men and women who have sacrificed more than just time with their families. Most had lost a limb. We saw burns, pins in one guys arm, scars and deformities on anothers face. Heartbreaking. Two little boys dressed in uniforms walked and shook hands as their dad wheeled down with them. Another strolled next to his wife who was carrying their infant. I hope that as they came down that long corridor they knew we were not just clapping because the music was playing but our clapping was the sound of our appreciation, our pride and our encouragement. I know I am not the only one who felt this way...you could feel all these emotions from everyone. An experience I will never forget. And don't want to.

We ended up spending most of the day in the Pentagon, and I am sure we did not see it all. After a big Thank You to Tripp and a few chocolate's from the chocolate store we head to check into our hotel. Another pleasant experience. We got our hotel through MWR/ITT(military travel agent). I was a little nervous. I read the review and although most were good, some weren't. We were VERY happy with it. It was modern, eclectic, great location, nice beds, GREAT roof top pool, very helpful and nice people working and the best price we found. We stayed at the Liaison Capitol Hill. And we were very happy with it!

After letting out feet rest and cooling off a bit we headed for a quick dinner at the deli across the street and then did a night tour of the monuments. So glad we did this. It was not on our itenerary but, a great reminder of why it is important to be flexible. We had a wonderful and hilarious guide packed full of GREAT info for all ages! Monuments were gorgeous at night. My only draw back was that our pictures were not that great due to low light. Oh well... After a great evening we went straight to bed because our bodies were T.I.R.E.D.

TO BE CONTINUED

I promise to blog before I go on vacay again...pinky promise.

2011-07-20T20:52:00.000-04:00

Yes I know I have been slack. I have LOTS to tell you!
Our garden is growing like crazy, DC was a blast, Anna is a gem, Sully went home with GG and Pop, Mason is now 10 months and so on..
Yep, I will try to blog tomorrow. Promise.
toodles

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2011-07-13T09:18:00.000-04:00

Take me out to the crowd.....
Thanks to Subway we took the chil-ren to a Norfolk, Tides Baseball game! They are the farm team for the Orioles! It was a blast!!!
Subway had a meal deal: Buy 4, 6 inch meals and get 4 regular tickets to a Norfolk Tides Game. Perfect for us. We did the $1.50 upgrade to box seats and we were set. We arrived WAYYYY too early so we left and came back and we were still the second family in line. :) Oh I forgot to mention, it was free jersey night for the first 2000 kids. By babies were getting a jersey! The players were supposed to be signing shirts so we had our sharpies in the diaper bag. We were ready!
I have not been to a minor or major league baseball game in years, if ever. I was so impressed! When we got it there was a 4 man band made up of 70 year old men playing music in the stands. Very festive. Clowns, all American food, face painting, etc... It just made you feel good. At one point I looked at Mike and said, "I feel like I should be drinking a beer. Feels like I am on vacation!"
I can not say enough about the entire "show". Their patriotism was amazing. Two Wavy 10 news anchors showed up and landed their helicopter in center field. Then another USNAVY helo showed up and hovered. They dropped a rope and about 10 Navy Seal came down bearing guns, rolling through the grass etc... It was awesome, especially knowing that that is a glimpse of how they got Osama Bin Laden. Then that helo flew over and dropped an American flag down a rope and circled the field with it as we sung Our National Anthem. It was just so neat. So patriotic and not even a holiday. I loved it!!!
The game was fun! It was good and went into 13 innings. The Tides unfortunately lost but at that point we were thrilled it was over. The kids did the kids base run after the game and we left! A wonderful family night out! The 1 and only disappointment is that the players were no where to be seen before or after the game so there were no autographs. Oh well... The kids crashed in the car and slept in their jerseys.

Fishin' with Daddy

2011-07-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

Mike took the kids fishing one afternoon. It is a good thing we were not depending on them for food! Both kids caught a fish and Mike caught a turtle. No dinner but a good time had by all.
In need of a good fishing hole.

Santa in the Summer???

2011-07-11T22:14:00.000-04:00

Yep, that is right, we saw Santa in the summer. The Yankee Candle flagship store is located in Williamsburg and is a must do if you live in this area or visit this area. We had such a wonderful time. The kids made me a beautiful candle. They dipped candles. They talked to Santa who was decked out in a Hawaiian shirt and informed us that he had to get away from Mrs. Clause every once in a while. Sullivan got to put his name on the nice list and Anna put hers on the Maybe list. Ha Ha! She told Santa that she was not always a good girl. Such honesty when it matters right?? We ate the most delicious popcorn ever and bought Mason his own owl who we names Hoot(see post about the VA Living Museum). Again, a must do!

Dunk-a-roo

2011-07-11T16:16:00.000-04:00

Mike's command had a family picnic the Friday before the 4th weekend!! Sullivan was thrilled when he saw they had a dunk tank, so when Mike's Senior Chief got in, the kids tried it out!!! Lots of fun! Lets just say, Senior got wet!

Butterflies, Bald Eagles and Screech Owls....

2011-07-11T12:19:00.000-04:00

So I braved it and took all 3 kiddos by myself to the Virginia Living Museum! And let me tell you, we had a blast!!! We went on a whim kind of late in the day so we did not get to see it all, but we saw lots including a live animal show and a laser show in the planetarium! This is such a neat museum and we have enjoyed being members this past year!
The funny part was during the live animal show they showed us a screech owl. Mason had not been interested but he liked this little guy and started talking to him. Everyone was laughing!! It was so cute!
Thinking we might need another trip back this week to see the rest of the butterfly exhibit! We flew through it. No pun intended.

Bouncy Birthday

2011-07-04T23:35:00.000-04:00

We could not decide what we wanted to do for Sullivan's birthday but he had decided on the bounce house. Not my thing but not my birthday and then with us all sick that week it worked out perfect. We had very little to do. I of course made it hard on myself. He had a blast, had some wonderful friends come, received some wonderful gifts and just had a blast! Oh and his 2 little girl friends were there!! What a great way to start the summer and celebrate an amazing kid! Happy Birthday Sully!

PROMOTED!

2011-07-04T23:27:00.000-04:00

Our big boy was promoted from Pre-K to Kindergarten! Yeah Sullivan!
We are so proud of him and all he has learned and accomplished in Pre-K.
We were thrilled with the program, his school and his teachers and truly could not say enough good things about it all. He is ready for kindergarten. He is so excited to be going into Kindergarten. I love it! He talks about it all the time. We could not be more excited for him and proud of him.

The ceremony was cute! Of course it made me cry. Our big boy did a wonderful job. He had been sick and I though he was better so I sent him. When we got there I could tell he was not 100% and then he was that kid that yawned through the entire thing. I felt so bad for him. Later that day he ran 102 degree fever. Boo. Stayed home from school until Friday and got to go his very last day. He was actually quite sad about it. But he did make it through the ceremony and we took him home.

Congratulations Sullivan for being promoted to Kindergarten!!! You deserve it and we are so very proud of you! Love Mom, Dad, Sissy and Mason

June 9th, 2006 - The day that changed my life forever

2011-07-04T23:14:00.000-04:00

On June 9th, 2006 my precious Sullybear was born. Given the name Sullivan Anthony Curti and expected to be called Sullivan. Now he is called, Sullivan, Sul, Sully, Sullybear and many other loving names. :)

Sullivan,
You are loved more than you know. You came into our world and changed it forever, for the better. You amazed me as you grew. Changing daily. You amaze me now as you grow, changing daily. You, my sweet boy, are amazing. A true gift from God. Your little personality is one I adore. Your heart is bigger than life itself. Happy Birthday to our big kid. The ones who teaches me something everyday. Usually to be silly occasionally but there seems to be life lessons along the way. Happy Birthday to our 5 year old. I love your excitement to be 5 and all that comes with it! Your excitement to grow up and be just like your Daddy. I can not wait to see what you will become but not as bad as I long for more time with you at each and every stage of life. Happy Birthday Sullivan. We hope your day is special and that on this day you know just how very special you are. It was an amazing day when you were born, an amazing day indeed.
We love you to the moon and back.
Mommy and Daddy

Toot Toooooot

2011-07-04T22:55:00.000-04:00

Yep, that is right folks I said Toot Tooootttt! Zeke and Brett invited us to go to Tweetsie with them to go see Thomas the Train. At first I was a little skeptical because Sullivan is not really into Thomas the Train, especially not the way Elliott is AND we had to take a trip to get Anna that weekend. It was just going to be too much. But...after thinking and talking to Brett it worked out that they got Anna for us and brought her to Tweetsie and we met them there. And let me tell you, it was a FUN trip!
We drove up on Sullivan's birthday, after his half day at school and a birthday lunch date to Chic-Fil-A. We got there late but they had already check into our room for us and Anna met us in the lobby! She has changed soooo much since Christmas. Just growing so fast and a real pre-teen. Still as beautiful on the outside as in the inside. We crashed the best we could with the EXCITED children! Well mine anyway, poor Elliott had stayed up as late as he could waiting on us but finally gave in to sleep...
We slept in and hung out that morning and finally made our way to Tweetsie, stopping first to see our cousin Stevie at his shop. He is a florist in Boone, NC and does amazing work. Matter of fact, he did my wedding flowers. I loved my flowers, esp my cake! Wish I had a picture on this PC to share.

We finagled our tickets to be after 3pm which meant we got 2 days at the park instead of just 1. So glad we did because it rained the first day. We rode Thomas, shopped, played, rode rides and had a wonderful time. All the kids had a blast, even Anna! We left and headed to dinner and celebrated both Anna and Sullivan's birthday with a delicious dinner, games in the kids meeting room, cookie cake and gifts! Sullivan even won a gorilla in the claw machine and was so excited! I am sure the little guy cost us like $8 but the joy on his face was worth it. The next day we spent the first half the day at Tweetise again. Riding more rides, panning for gold and gems, feeding animals, shopping, eating and lots more! Tweetsie is a great place and one I highly recomend for a family trip! That afternoon we headed to Blowing Rock, a sweet little town next to Boone. Again another delish dinner, well after ice cream, and we headed to our rooms and sacked out.

And our weekend had come to an end...

Sullivan was sick. We were all ready for our own beds but sad that the fun had to end. Thank you G.G. and Pop for our tickets to Tweetsie!! What a wonderful gift! Thank you Zeke and Brett for inviting us! It was a wonderful weekend, it truly was, And we topped it off by meeting Alla, Colin and Hudson on the way back for lunch! They showered us with gifts and we were thankful for the 1 little hour with them. Every minute counts! We miss them so very much! And....5 more hours and we were home sweet home and sacked out again, with smiles on our face and stories to tell...

Field Day

2011-06-30T22:41:00.000-04:00

On June 9th not only did we celebrate Sullivan's birthday with a donut and a candle, not only did we get on the road to Tweetsie and to get Anna but Sullivan also had field day at school! It was a good, hot time!
The kids really had a blast! After all the fun we went back to the classroom and Sullivan got to pass out cupcakes for his birthday and then we head home to pack for our trip!

Be Free....

2011-06-30T12:12:00.000-04:00

The Easter bunny brought Sullivan a butterfly habitat! We ordered the caterpillars and had the best time! It was so much fun to watch. We watched them form cristalus'(hummm is that spelled right?) and then turn into butterflies. And we learned lots! OK, maybe not lots but we did learn! For starters I learned that butterflies are born to mate. Yup. Sullivan wanted to know why they were stuck together by their butts???? So I used trusty google and well....they are mating. The male butterfly will chase the female around with his thorax turned towards her until he gets what he wants. At the end of the thorax is his penis. I know GROSS right??? And they were all doing it on my kitchen counter! I wanted to flick the males every once in a while and tell them to leave her alone. Anyway, back to a G rated blog, once they were all butterflies it was time to release them. Sullivan released them on our butterfly bush and they flew away...

And he is 9 months now....

2011-06-30T10:31:00.000-04:00

How time flies....
Mason turned 9 months old on the 4th - yep I am a bit late on this post but, he is still 9 months! He is a handful for sure I tell you. Demanding and ambitious! And has a scream that will make you think he has a hair tied tight around his little toe and can not tell us to get it off. A scream that says I am in pain, real pain. But, he isn't. It is a scream not a cry and you will want to rush off to the ER because you just know something is wrong. We know, because we have. But, it is his little way of communicating. Sweet little Mason. He has been called a trouble maker at the gym because he will start screaming and then all the other babies start crying. Yup, that's my boy. Lets see, what all is he doing now??? (besides screaming) He wants to get into everything, EVERYTHING. He is not crawling yet but he is pulling himself up to standing. He has had his 3rd ear infection and a referral to the ENT. He has had thrush(me too). He LOVES his walker but still liked being held better than anything. He loves formula. Still nursing but had to supplement because thrush HURTS!!!! He loves music. Adores his brother and sister but thinks his mama is the best! Yeah me. (sarcasm) He now has 5 teeth with 1 more about to pop through. Still has the hydrocele and subsequently a urologist appointment in July to decide what to do. His laugh lights up his entire face and his lashes are amazing! He is eating stage 3 foods with banana chunks, puffs, baby mum mum "cookies" and a few other real foods. He loves the bath tub but is still getting used to the pool. He is sleeping better at night. Most nights sleeps from 8:30 ish until somewhere between 3:00 and 5:00. He will usually go back to sleep until at least 6 and sometimes later. Hurray for more sleep! Hip hip hurray! He is wearing 9-12 month clothes. I do not think he is going to be quite as tall as Sullivan. He is so tan. I get asked weekly is he is a mixed baby. Cracks me up. Love that Italian skin and those big beautiful eyes. He is simply darling. I adore him and am so bless to have him! I can not believe he will be 1 in 2 months. Time sure does fly when you are in love! And we are..

#26. Take kids Camping

2011-06-02T15:08:00.000-04:00

Well, I am marking things off my 101 in 101 even though it will take me much longer than 101. Maybe I should have called it something else. Like maybe a To Do list! I like lists, I just do not always stick to them. Anyway, back to the subject. We went camping! We camped at Newport News Park with the Downs family. It was interesting to say the least. I have NEVER EVER felt so buggy in my whole life. I had 3 ticks bite me. GROSS!!! But despite the bugs we had a nice time. The weather could not have been nicer. Roasted marshmellows, cooked a low country bowl, roasted weinies over the fire, went to the park and just did camping stuff. Sullivan did not want to leave. He really loved it! We will do it again this summer but next time will be closer to water that we can get in and less woodsy! Oh how I wish we had a camper!

God Bless America and God Bless our Friends

2011-06-02T00:39:00.000-04:00

As Memorial Day Weekend began we had to say goodbye to one of our closest friends. Rich, our across the street neighbor-friend, Ann's husband, Dominick and Samantha's Dad and a proud Army officer boarded a plane and left everything he loved to serve our country in Pakistan. He will surely be missed this year! Be safe Rich and hurry home. And thank you for your service and sacrifice. We'll all be right here waiting on you!

#2. Get a 70-200 2.8 zoom...

2011-05-31T23:21:00.000-04:00

GOT IT!!! It is one HUGE lens. I will have to build up some muscles to really use this baby. Can't wait to take it to the ball park!

Not sure why it keeps coming up sideways????
Here are a few of the first picture I have taken with it! :)

Jubilee Time

2011-05-31T22:43:00.000-04:00

We had blast at the Chesapeake Jubilee this year! After Sullivan's 5 year wellness exam - which he did AWESOME at by the way - we picked up Samantha and headed out for some rides!!! The weather was perfect and the crowds were thin! The kids had such a great time! Consequently, so did we. Their smiles were worth every single penny.

PRIDE

2011-05-30T23:15:00.000-04:00

That is the word that comes to mind at graduation. Whether it be pre-school, kindergarten, high school or college. The room is always full of pride. As it should be. A few weeks ago we had the honour of watching a sweet friend graduate with her associates degree. She is a military wife, a mom of 2, vice president of the PTA, teaches Religion School at her church and attends baseball, dance, soccer and whatever else they have going on just about everyday of the week. But somehow, with a ton of support from her hubby, she did it. She took a full load every semester and did it. She was proud when she walked across that stage and accepted her degree. Her husband was proud as he watched. Her children were learning a lesson as they saw their mom persevere. Her Mom, Step Father, Grandmother, Mother in Law and friends were all proud of her as she became a college graduate. Not just full of pride but also of inspiration. She not only graduated from college while raising a family but during this time she also kept her house clean (not sure how) and made a 4.0. Now that my friend is something to be super proud of. And she was...

As I was watching the ceremony which like most was long I noticed other people with stories too. Makes you wonder what their story is? This man was sitting in front of us and I could not help but wonder about him. He sat and listened. He accepted his degree. He gave a thumbs up. He too was proud.

Every single person there was full of pride. Graduating from college is such an accomplishment. It feels good. Actually it feels Great! And these graduates deserve all the pride and joy that came that night. The flowers, balloons, limos and love that was there for them, to celebrate their very own, victory.
Congratulations my dear friend Ann. Thank you for letting us be a part of your special day! We are so very proud of you. Job well done my sweet friend, job well done.

My little man is 2/3's of a year old....

2011-05-11T12:35:00.002-04:00

I love watching my boys grow. I do. But I so wish it would all slow down. Mason turned 8 months old on the 4th. And with it came his 2nd double ear infection and round of antibiotics. Bless his little heart. It has been a rough week. But, last night he was the happiest I have seen him in...well, EVER! He is starting the seperation anxiety but I think as he feels better that may get a little better. I think he is cutting a few teeth. Lord help us the drool is out of control!!! I mean seriously it pours from his mouth at times. We sometimes have to change his clothes an hour after we dressed him because his shirt will be soaking wet.
He is such a cute baby. He has beautiful skin, lips and eyes! His little wrists look like they have little white rubber bands on them because of his baby rolls and his tan. (Yes, I use sunscreen) We had a little scare last week. We knew from a previous scare - this kid is going to give me gray hair - that he has a hydrocele. [Hydrocele- fluid in scrotum, around testicle from the canal that lets testis drop not closing off. Should close up by age one and if not, possible minor surgery to close off] I took him to pediatrician for all this congestion that just would not go away. I thought he had a little cold but he was so cranky. Turns out both ears were infected AGAIN and after a close check up she was sure that he had an inguenal hernia with a hydrocele. Told us to bring him to ER if he starts vomiting. Prescribed antiobiotics. Bleh! Yep, second set of ear infections. That was Friday. Saturday he felt a little crummy and wouldn't really eat. Sunday he threw up 3 times and had diarrea 4 times. Happy Motheres Day to me! So, we took him in. After x-ray, ultrasound and a whole lot of time...oh wait let me tell you about his ultrasound. They had to call in the tech who had 1 hour to get there from being called. Felt like we waited for hours. Anyway, finally they come get us and we head down. She started out with a bad attitude but it got better. She started "looking" around and asked me to hold him really still, which was practically impossible. Sully and I were singing the ONLY song I have found that calms him, Wheels on the Bus. He was OK. She made a terrible face, said, "hold on I have to get the doctor!" and jetted out of the room. I did not see her face but Mike did. We were alarmed to say the least. Then...she comes back in and said the doctor was coming in to do the ultrasound in "real time" when meant she would be doing the procedure with him over her shoulder talking to us about it. She asked us if he had been on an antibiotic for this and if we had been referred to CHKD (local Childrens Hospital) and she was obviously worried. Mike said," Can you at least tell us a little of what is going on?" She said no because she is not a docor and can not diagnose blah blah blah... She left the room again. Now we were freaking. No clue what was going on. What if's going crazy in our head. She came back in, again with out the doctor and said he was on his way and told us to please ask him as many questions as we feel we need to. She started ultrasound again and honest to God said, " Oh nevermind, I found it. I couldn't find his left testicle earleir. I'm sorry but I take these testicals seriously. I dont play around." Really? Really? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Well to be honest, I was not mad at all...just relieved, tired and ready to get my babies home. Turns out he only had a hydrocele and the stomach upset we think was from his medicine. Praise the Lord he is OK. I told you this kid was going to give me gray hair. On to better things...
He is trying to clap. It is so cute! His "Auntie Ann" has been teaching him and until lately he would only do it for her. No matter how hard I tried. I tried to get it on video tonight but he would not do it for me. He wants to crawl but is just not there yet. He leans forward but I do not think has the strength or confidence yet to rock all the way forward. He squeals and giggles and babbles and I love it all.
He still thinks his big brother is the best thing sinced pureed sweet potatoes. His entire face lights up when he sees him. I love having one forward facing and one rear facing in the car. They both laugh so hard and talk and play! Sullivan is an amazing big brother. He makes me proud every single day. We are having some listening problems but we will stay diligent and hopefully this too shall pass. He is doing great in school and at t-ball. He is growing so very fast. He finally started taking showers a few weeks ago. He thinks he is something. Man oh man I love my boys!!! Looking so forward to this summer! Anna will be here the entire summer. We are all so excited but I think Sullivan is even more excited than all of us put together. I simply adore my family and am blessed beyond belief.

SPRING BREAK and Mason's First Trip to the Santee

2011-04-30T00:04:00.000-04:00

Last week was Sullivan's Spring Break! We layed in bed and watched cartoons in the mornings and just hung out all week. It was nice. I loved having him home. I can not even express how proud I am of him for being such an amazing big brother. Anyway, on Thursday when Mike got out of work we headed to SC for our annual Easter at the Lake. (We should have t-shirts made.) As usual it was a wonderful time. Lots of firsts for Mason. First trip to lake, first Easter, first time doing lots of stuff!!! We relaxed, died eggs, fished, swung in the hammock, played corn hole, drank beer, laughed at these kiddos, hunted eggs, ate quail, and whatever else you do at the Santee. Mike and Zeke golfed Friday but it ended up cold and rainy so they only played 9. We had our annual egg hunt Saturday and although all of the normal crew was not there it was still a wonderful day with wonderful friends and family. Love these kids! The kids swam all week in freezing cold water. I guess I probably did when I was their age too. They had so much fun. The Easter Bunny came Sunday morning and well...we unfortunately had to pack up and leave Monday. It flew...always does when you are having fun! I love my family and I love the Santee.

Meet Maggie! This is Zeke's new addition! I adore her. She is the cutest thing.

Bass Pro Hop...I mean shop

2011-04-29T23:23:00.000-04:00

Took the boys to see the Easter Bunny at Bass Pro Shop! Adore this place. With a house full of boys I have to right? It is the ultimate dream land especially for boys! OK, so I love everything about it but their Pictures with the Bunny. (Dont tell my boys.) This was OBVIOUSLY not the real deal because he was a boring ole bunny that just SAT there. And he did not even give out jelly beans. It was just not exciting at all and to top it off...the pictures stuck like rabbit poo. But...my kiddos were happy and if they are happy then usually mama is too. But who is not happy at Bass Pro Shop???

Nice wrinkled backdrop! Just sayin...

Hunting Eggs at School

2011-04-29T23:15:00.000-04:00

Sullivan is so lucky! He not ONLY goes to a school with a great principle and great teachers and great kids in his class but...the Easter Bunny even came to his class and left easter baskets of goodies for him and all of his friends. Yep! Sure did. And it was Mrs. Hares birthday so...there was extra excitement in the classroom. And some of us Mom's came and hid eggs and that just topped things off. Bet those kids all slept good that night. What a wonderful day at school! Mike and I could not be more thrilled with where he is right now. Oh and his Mascott is a dolphin named splash. Told you he was lucky.

Wish I could show more pictures of his whole class but since I do not have permission from parents I decided it was best to jsut show my handsome boy! They were just all so cute!

Clowning Around

2011-04-26T21:18:00.000-04:00

at the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus!!!
Took the boys to their first circus! It was a blast!
I have not been in many years and Mike is not sure if he has ever been.
Sullivan loved it all. Mason loved the lights.

Over Half Way to ONE

2011-04-26T21:13:00.000-04:00

My little man is 7 months now. I can not believe it! How time flies. It has been a crazy month! We have been to ER twice. All is fine. The first time we went for a swollen testicle. I was not too worried but a friend shared her experience and we decided we better be safe and go. So, we did. Turns out he has something called a hydrocele. That means that when the testicle drops from the abdomen the "hole" it came through does not close up and fluid leaks into the scrotum. It should heal by age one and if not he may have minor surgery. I am not too worried right now. Hoping for it to heal though. Obviously. The second time he has conjunctivitis and double ear infections. Bless his heart. He is all well now though. When we went to the doctor for his follow up appointment she said he looks great! He is a pretty good baby. Better at somethings than Sullivan was as a baby and much tougher at other things. Just all together different. Still amazes me I can have 2 children from the same parents, same belly and one has such blue eyes and the other such dark eyes. Still not sure what color they are. He is eating like a champ. Nursing like a champ. Loves to jump and especially loves to be held. He has been to the movies and the circus and was a good boy at both. He is babbling now....saying dadadadada and mama sometimes but not associating them with us. He loves hearing his G.G. on the phone. He adores his big brother and gets a kick out of the school bus bringing the kids home. We all adore him. Can not imagine life without this little guy. I am a terrible mother. I have not taken his 7 months picture yet. But I will....tomorrow. And I will add it right here. Promise.

My Smart Boys

2011-04-16T21:57:00.000-04:00

I have the cutest, smartest boys! Just sayin'

Batter Up...

2011-04-16T17:29:00.000-04:00

Yep, my friends, t-ball has started and this season is going to be even better than last. We have Coach Grayson again which we are super happy about! A few of the same kids on the team as well as a bunch of new ones. There are 9 teams this year instead of 4 and we are playing 2 games a week. This kiddo is so excited! We've got our chairs packed and are ready!!! Goooooo RANGERS!!!

RIP Superman the Fish

2011-04-16T16:43:00.001-04:00

Superman, the catfish, got ICH, a common fish disease caused by stress. And Clark, the Dalmatian fish got mean. He would not leave Lois alone. Typical male. So, back to Petsmart he went. We now have Lois, the Mickey Mouse tail fish and Swimmie the frog.
When I found Superman, Sullivan's favorite fish, dead I just knew he would be upset. He did know he was sick, matter of fact, he is the one that said it looked like he was covered in sand. That is what ICH looks like. He immediately said, "I guess we need to take him back to Petsmart!" And he is a smart boy! That fish was still under 14 day warranty and we got our $8.99 back! Yeah us!!! Why did OUR fish get ICH?? We think it was the stress caused by temperature fluctuations and high ammonia. We do not overfeed, we are not over crowded but still have high ammonia. OK really, I thought fish were supposed to be cheap and easy??? We have bought more crap for these creatures that just float around. I do not like the smell of the tank AT ALL and dead fish make me gag. Really. These freaking fish are NOT easy. OK, they are getting better and the joy on my little man's face is the best! He loves feeding them and watching them at night. The tank is his new nightlight. And he feels like we saved Lois from the ICH. So, he thinks he is a superhero and what he doesn't know is he is my little superhero! So, if he wants fish...OK. It could be worse right??

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Rish, Cat Fish

2011-03-09T10:42:00.000-05:00

Actually at my house it is dalmatian fish, mickey mouse fish, cat fish, frog. Yep, Sullivan got "pets". He is so happy about this. We had been talking about it for a while but I just did not want to deal with all the mess of a tank etc... Well, one day he said out of the blue, "Mama, I want a pet snake!" I immediately replied, "Have you lost your ever lovin; mind?" And he said, "Well then how about a fish?" On Saturday while Mom was here we went yard saling. Fun Fun! And low and behold someone was getting rid of their 6 gal tank with ALL the stuff to go with it for $10. So, of course being the G.G. that she is she bought it for him. We went straight to Pet Smart to look at fish and see what we needed to do. After cleaning the tank, filling it with water and letting it sit with some chemical we took a water sample to Pet Smart. With tears in his eyes we left Pet smart with NO fish. Our water had too much ammonia. Boo. So we put some other stuff in the tank and waited until Tuesday. On Tuesday they gave us the Go! Of course he wanted all the BIG fish and lots of fish. We finally narrowed it down to a dalmatian fish(Clark), a mickey mouse tail fish(Lois) a cat fish(Superman) and a frog(Shamrock). Man I love this kid. He named them all and watches them swim while going to sleep. If he is a really good boy, in about a month we will get a snail and a sucker fish. :) So, meet our new family members...

Please excuse the bad pictures...these guys were hard to photograph and this was my point and shoot.

Happy Half a Year to our Little Mason

2011-03-09T10:25:00.001-05:00

We can not believe that 6 months have already passed. Seems yesterday you were still in my belly. You are growing and changing so very fast. It is so fun to see you learn new things. You have the best laugh! You were not a happy camper about your 6 month portraits but I got them, and plan to get more! Happy half way my sweet baby! You are so loved!

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!!!

2011-03-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

On Feb 26th we celebrated Mike's birthday (24th is his actual birthday) with a t-3 poker night! T-3 you ask? In only 3 years we will celebrate his 40th in Vegas! Counting down! So, a little Texas hold'em was only appropriate. Actually he has been wanting to have a poker night at our house since we moved in and what a perfect way to celebrate! We fixed some goodies, Mom came up and helped us and we had a blast! Of course we did, good food, drinks, awesome friends, a little hold'em and all without kids! So, Happy Birthday to my amazing husband! I love you so much and get so much joy out of celebrating you on your day! I hope on your special day you felt loved by many, because you are. Looking forward to T-2. ;) So, whose coming to Vegas with us???

Oh and by the way...the game came down to Rich and Mike. Rich was ahead. It was going to be a LATE night so they went 2 hands for the game and Rich won! However, he split the pot with Mike for his birthday! What good friends we have! Al of them....

Spa-garita Night at My House

2011-03-08T17:06:00.001-05:00

What a FUN night!!! I had some ladies over for some much needed pampering, margaritas and yummy snacks! Other than giving a dear friend a little migraine (oxymoron there? Saying little makes me feel better.) We had a blast! We scrubbed our feet, our face, our hands and our lips. Everyone has to say something nice about me. :) Swoon... We ate yummy junk food, got a little rowdy and bought some goodies! Thank you Christine for pampering us with your BeautiControl and all you lovely ladies for hanging out! And thank you to my sweet hubby for taking the kids out and about so us ladies could play! I highly recommend a Spa-garita night at your house too!

Growing too fast...

2011-02-14T21:13:00.001-05:00

He has grown out of his PUJ. I love that thing and highly recommend it if you are having a baby! Then we started using a normal baby tub. I happened to plop him in the bath with Sullivan and he loved it. He started splashing his hands and grinning. So, we got him his own little seat for the tub. And now my little baby is taking baths with his big brother. Time flies. He loves it but he wants to sit up. Guess we will be buying something else soon...

Mason is a typical photographers kid. As soon as he sees the camera, he gets all serious!

Extreme Home Makeover

2011-02-14T21:07:00.001-05:00

Ty and his crew were here building a new house for a family in Virginia Beach. I really wanted to help do something but with a sick kid and a baby it was kind of hard. Plus it was COLD! On Saturday (Feb 5th) I ended up going with my friend Barbara and a few of her other girlfriends to help move in the furniture! Barbara and Dan's body shop was a sponsor and her wonderful hubby Dan painted some furniture for the house. I would tell you what but it is top secret! ;) Even though it was raining, chilly and chaos it was still a neat experience. We did get to move some furniture and step in the house. I did not see anyone famous but they were there. One of the girls with us saw Ty pop his head out. I love this show. I cry every time I watch it. The one thing I did figure out is that these houses can not be truly finished when the week is up. This one wasn't I can tell you that but I feel sure the show will make it look finished. I mean it was finished but not complete. They were still painting the inside, finishing the fence, moving in furniture and lots of stuff 5 hours before reveal. Either way, I am sure this family was so so grateful for their new home. I am not sure of their story but when I find out when it will be on TV, I will let you know. I doubt we are on TV but you never know... Thank you Barbara for inviting me to be VIP with you! It was a great time! Another wonderful memory made...

Hey Barbara, send me you picture please!!!

It snowed - AGAIN!

2011-02-14T17:36:00.000-05:00

On February 10th, it snowed!!! It was so pretty and now we are officially ready for SPRING!!! Bring on the warmer weather!

5 months

2011-02-07T10:18:00.002-05:00

On Feb 4th my little Mason was 5 months young! WOW, how time flies. Just seems like yesterday we were bringing him home. Before I know it he will be 4 1/2 and such a big kid. I am not ready for that. I wish time could just stand still....for a long while. He is turning into such a sweet baby. He loves his mama and his mama loves him. And he looks just like his Daddy! We started feeding him solids 10 days ago. He eats like a champ. Loves it all. He has had butternut squash, sweet peas, avocado and pears all mixed with a little organic brown rice. My plan is to make my own but so far, I have only made fresh avocado. I need a plan. Must refer to my friend Meghan's e-mail about how she does it. Anyway, he is rolling almost all the way over. Gets caught up on his arm and can't seem to get it out. He will get is soon. We are practicing sitting up. He can sit for about 3 seconds and then he topples over! It is so cute. He found his toes last week and loves to squeal and play with them. He pulls my hair now and loves to find my nose and eyes. He is still nursing, ALOT! One day I will get a 5 hour run of sleep. One day. He thinks Sullivan is the greatest thing and laughs so hard at him, especially when he acts silly. Sullivan adores him and will just kiss him on the head for no reason. Warms my heart...over and over and over... Now I know how my mama feels. Oh and he has 2 teeth now too! Just little tiny tops but there are in never the less. Here is my little Mason at 5 months and growing!

1:365

2011-01-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

I love his eyes. His lashes, his brows... Sometimes I feel like I can see eternity when I look into them. They show me how he feels. They light up when he is happy. They cry when he is mad, sad, hurting, needs a clean diaper, is tired, is hungry, etc... The way he stares at things as he is learning his environment. I love Mason's eyes.

4 Month Well Baby Check Up

2011-01-25T14:56:00.000-05:00

Today Mason had his 4 month well baby check up. Doc said he looks great and to keep doing what we are doing. Mason was such a good boy while we were there. He weighed in at a whopping 15 pounds and 14.0 ounces which puts him in the 57percentile for weight. He was 27 inches long and the 94th percentile for length and his noggin was 44 cm around which is the 84th percentile. He is cutting 2 teeth and they are making him very cranky. He is growing so very fast. I only wish time could just slow down. I feel like I say that in every post. So, we have healthy boys! I thank God everyday for these blessings. I can not imagine life with out them.
Next check up is at 6 months.

My 365 Day Challenge

2011-01-25T14:46:00.000-05:00

Today I am jumping on the bandwagon and starting my very own 365 day challenge! What does this mean you ask?? I will pull out my camera every day for 365 days and challenge myself. My theme will be LOVE. I will be challenged to photograph something that means LOVE to me as well as step out of my comfort zone and try some new things. I will post here. Or should I start a new blog?? Follow me, comment on my pictures of love and feel free to join me with a challenge! Just in time for Valentines Day!
365 DAYS OF LOVE

He's Eating...

2011-01-24T09:58:00.000-05:00

So, I am not really ready for this. But, we think the little guy was. He stared at our food, would grab for things and put them in his mouth and was a little fussy. Thought maybe some heavier food would help. And it did. Plus, he is sleeping longer at night with out eating. That is a huge plus for me. I was still nursing him every 2-3 hours and last night we went 6 hours. I would have been very well rested if Sullivan had not snuck in our bed and practiced karate in his sleep. Anyway, Sullivan got to feed him first. It was so sweet! Right now we are just feeding him very watery organic brown rice in the evening time. Going to take it slow and let his little digestive system get used to it. But, he loves it! Can ya tell???

Turning 25!!!

2011-01-22T12:13:00.000-05:00

Yep, on January 19th I turned 25!! (maybe back in 2000) It was a wonderful day! I received many phone calls, e-mails, facebook messages and even a few gifts! When Mike got home, he and Sullivan had me a dozen red roses, cards, a birthday cake and they bought me a new bike. What a surprise!!! Sullivan has a hard time keeping secrets but he kept this one some how. I really felt so loved!
Friday night they took me out to eat sushi and it was de-lish! I was so proud of Sullivan. He ate 2 rolls, some miso soup, Japanese salad, had a Japanese sprite and ate everything with chop sticks! He is such a trooper! We had a good time and Sullivan wants to keep celebrating my birthday! This morning he woke up saying we were having birthday pancakes! Such a sweet guy!

My new toy!!!

2011-01-22T11:52:00.000-05:00

For Christmas I got money as a gift from my parents! Money to buy photography stuff! So...I ordered a backdrop stand and 3 rolls of seamless paper! And, it came in 2 days! Whoop! Can you tell from all the exclamation points that I am super duper excited! Of course I had to set it up the first day and even though I was losing light I still had to practice. I have some learning to do and some lights to buy but, here is my first attempt! It makes me happy!

Meet Shredder....a very nice DRAGON.

2011-01-22T10:32:00.000-05:00

This is Shredder, our friend Dominick's pet dragon. He is a bearded dragon and as you get to know him is actually quite cute. Anyway, for Dominick's birthday, which is the same as mine I might add, they went on a ski trip and he got to snowboard for the first time. He needed someone to keep this little guy so we volunteered! They actually brought him to our house so that it would be easier and it was actually quite fun! Sullivan fed him crickets every morning and evening and occasionally gave him apple pieces and dried worms for snacks. Right out of him hand. He was not scared of him at all. And let me tell you, a cricket, the fastest cricket out there, does not have a chance in this cage! This guy could catch a cricket and eat it in seconds! Sullivan loved it! Shredder was a wonderful house guest and is welcomed back anytime! Not a bad pet for your pre-teens, I might add. ;)

We went to win a kinect....

2011-01-22T10:22:00.001-05:00

OK, not really but it would have been nice! Or an iPad, or an iPod touch... We are not picky!
On January 15th Mike and I went to his work Christmas party! It was postponed from December due to snow. Ann and Rich kept our kidlets, yep Mason's very first time with a "sitter" other than G.G. or Pop. I was a little worried but not for his safety or anything like that. You see, Mason is a temperamental little guy and I was a little worried that he would start screaming and not quit until I got home but...he did OK. He did pitch a good fit on them and but he finally went to sleep and did fine. Took a bottle and everything. Yeah for bottles!!! Sullivan NEVER took one no matter how hard we tried so this is big for us. Anyway, the party was a lovely event and we had a nice time! (Even though we did not win a single thing. I am telling you I got jipped out of all the luck! Zeke got it all...) It was nice to put some faces with names and to hang out with Mike as a couple. Thanks bunches to Rich and Ann, it sure meant a lot to us!!!

Both of our boys are now 4

2011-01-16T22:53:00.000-05:00

Mason turned 4 months on January 4th. He has changed so very much. He is cooing, squealing, smiling and laughing more and more everyday. Meeting milestones and growing like a week. He loves to watch us all but especially Sullivan. If I had to guess I estimate his weight to be about 14 pounds but will find out at his peds appointment on the 25th. He is wearing 3-6 months clothes but is more comfortable in 6-9 month. Yup! We grow football players!!! And his feet are HUGE!!! He has the sweetest skin and although not as cuddly as Sully as a baby is still very cuddly. Loves to nurse but will take a bottle!!! PRAISE GOD! He has rolled over a few times but does not do it often. Not a fan of tummy time. He will get it. I can not believe how time is flying.... We love our boys!!! Adore them actually!!! And love how much they love each other. Then when you throw Anna in the mix it is love overload! The bonds between these kids are amazing! Here is our 4 month old! We are extremely blessed!

He WILL NOT smile for the camera!!! Typical photographer's kid! Kills me too because he has such a cute smile!

Happy Anniversary, Congratulations and Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-13T10:46:00.000-05:00

Yep all in ONE night!!! My Aunt and Uncle celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by re-newing their wedding vows on New Years Eve. It was a very sweet event! Almost the whole family was there which has not happened since Scott and Jessica's wedding in October of 2006 or maybe 2007?? Can't remember... Anyway, It was so wonderful to see everyone and be there for this special event! We had a blast! I stepped out on a limb and photographed the happy occasion which was quite a challenge and learning experience! (I do not do indoor, low light photography because I don't know how!) I hope that we do not wait so long to all be together again. If I can make the trip with a 4 month old that HATES his car seat then we can all make it! Trust me. It was worth the 500 stops and all the screaming! OK, he wasn't THAT bad but...we did stop A LOT! Well. Worth. It. I love my family and am so excited to be welcoming another little one in May! :) Baby Cate is due to arrive on Cinco de Mayo and I am not sure who is more excited Scott and Jessica or Grandma(Aunt Cathy)! More reasons to get together! Happy New Year to you all and may we all remember to love each other more this new year! Who knows what a new year brings but may it be good, may it be great. As Jillian Michael says, "Nothing comes for free..." and this includes relationships, success and love. We must chose to work at it all and the reward for our work is exactly that, relationships, success and love. I am excited about what 2011 brings...I only wish it would all slow down just a bit so we could relax and enjoy this ride we call life...

Our Sweet Bella Girl

2011-01-11T20:51:00.000-05:00

Well, we took her to the specialist and he said chemo would help her but he would still not give her a year. So we put her on prednisone and prepared for the worst. We just told Sullivan she was really sick. When we took her home to S.C. for Christmas she was fine. She was still blind but otherwise fine. Quickly she started getting more and more fatigue and then right after Christmas she had a nose bleed for no reason. The next morning her jaw was swollen very large and her eyes were really red and bulging more. It got worse and then we knew we had to do what was best for her. It was so hard but we did not want her to suffer. So, our Bella girl is in Heaven hopefully getting the ball thrown to her lots! She is out of pain and is no longer sick.
We are all doing fine. Sullivan seems to understand totally and has not shed a tear. He has asked me questions that make me realize he misses her but he is fine. He asked me if Santa Clause could bring her back. Broke my heart but was OK with my answer. I was so worried about how he would take it. So, Rest in Peace our sweet Bella girl! We will always love you and miss you!

Christmas Happened

2011-01-11T17:45:00.001-05:00

It did, it happened. And it was wonderful. We prepped and shopped and our house was filled with Christmas Spirit and junk food!

G.G. came up to babysit so that Mike and I could go to his Christmas Party at work and it snowed! It snowed lots! She and Sully made snow cream and snow drop cookies! I so remember making these with my Mom when I was a child. Happy Memories...

The Christmas party was rescheduled due to bad weather so...the boys and I rode to S.C. with G.G.! Mike had to work. We had our annual Bateman/Lynam Christmas party that is always a great time. We saw family we have not seen in a very long time and you will never guess who showed up??? Give up?? Santa! It was great! As a child this is one of the Christmas traditions that I remember the most expect as a child it was on Christmas Eve. I remember riding home from the party in my Mom's Buick that she named The Great White Land Shark (which was a very fitting name I might add) and Zeke and I would look out the back window watching for Rudolph's nose. We were so excited! It was a wonderful party. Thank you Ashley and Jamie for being gracious host's and to Santa for making these kids night!

Mom and I shopped all week the next week trying to finish up last minute shopping and of course we had fun and our feet hurt. Mason was flat sick of shopping but he was a trooper. While we shopped Sullivan was off gallivanting with Pop, Elliott or Uncle Zeke. He went to the airport, hunt club, and the boys were just boys! He had a ball. Mike came home on the night of the 23rd and spent some time hunting, again hunting being the operative word because he still has not killed a deer. It's killing him. If only he could hunt more...

Then it was here....the 2 days we worry about, thinking about all year long and plan for as if it only happened once. Christmas Eve. The Eve before Christmas was our Christmas dinner at G.G. and Pop's. We steamed oysters, ate oysters, froze our booties off, and opened presents! It was fun as usual but this year Mom had rearranged the living room and it being so open made it more fun! So many wonderful gifts were given and received. The kids loved it!!! As did we adults. Laurel wanted to just open everything and the boys wanted to play with every toy they opened. We made a big ole mess and then it was over... We actually started tracking Santa at www.NORAD.com and knew he would be here soon so the kids had to get to bed. They were so excited. Could not get in jammies fast enough. It was so much fun to see them so excited. So off to bed...for the kids anyway. And G.G. as this was the start of her being sick. Boo.

Christmas morning we woke up and of course Santa had come. He brought Sullivan, Mason and Anna all a bunch of stuff! After we played with Sullivan and Mason with their new toys Mike took off to get Anna. We could not wait to see her. I tidied up and started the ham and got ready for Christmas dinner. We still had not done Christmas gifts between my little family because we wanted to wait on Anna. Mom stayed in bed most of the day and just felt terrible. Not the time to be sick. I know she hated it. Anna and Mike arrived that afternoon and we finished up cooking while the kids played. They were so happy to see each other. That night we had ham, pineapple casserole, green bean casserole, pecan pie, and much more and it would have only been better if Mom had cooked it! Always better when Mama makes it. ;) After dinner we had our little Christmas and just enjoyed our time together. So, as fast as it came, it went. I love Christmas, everything about it. Shopping, family time, the meals, the presents and the spirit of it all. We did not go to church this year but through all the busyness, I never forgot the reason for the season.

Off to see the jolly ole guy...

2011-01-11T17:44:00.000-05:00

We loved seeing Santa at Bass Pro Shop last year we decided to go back this year and it was just as awesome! Driving race cars, monster trucks, getting in boats, seeing fish, playing video games, shooting guns, doing crafts, and seeing Santa. The Best!!! It was like a big kid and little kids toy land! We were there for 3 1/2 hours....sigh... Worth every minute seeing my boys so happy!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

2010-12-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

This week we put up our Christmas Tree and decorations. We decided not to buy a tree but to use our little tree from Sig since we will not be here most of the season. Last year we bought a real tree and I loved it but it is just impracticable! It would just die while we are gone and make a mess so...little tree is up and Sullivan did a fabulous job decorating it! I love it! It makes me smile to see all the ornaments on the front and even some ornaments hanging from other ornaments. ;) Love my boy! Mason slept through the whole event but he loves staring at the tree. Now, it just needs one more thing...PRESENTS!!!!

WHAT HAPPENED????

2010-12-06T21:04:00.002-05:00

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BLOG? WHERE DID ALL THE PRETTY GO? WHY SO BLAND? HUM....
I NEED A CLASS IN BLOGGING!
TOODLES...

Bella Bella full of Grace

2010-12-05T20:27:00.000-05:00

OK, so I never really officially named her or sent in her papers but that is what I always said her name was. Since the day I dreamed about her. Grace is something she never had. Actually she is quite ditsy, so when my cousins who were dog/house sitting called to ask if she was blind I immediately laughed and replied, "No, just ditsy!" When we got home she was in fact, blind. Monday I took her to the vet and $300 later had sad news. Our sweet Bella girl has lymphoma with Uviutis and Hyphnea in her eyes. Her site may come back but without cancer treatment she has about 2 months. With prednisone she will be more comfortable and it may extend her life a little but not much and with chemo she could have 2-6 years. Decisions, decisions. We were torn up. Sad. What on earth were we to do. If this was our child there would be NO questions and she is family. But, we do not have the money for chemo. I mean dogs don't have health insurance. So we made an appointment with the internal medicine vet to get the scoop. In the meantime she has had a reaction - we think - to one of the meds, thrown up a lot, run into a lot of stuff, wagged her tail a lot, got a lot of people food and love and slept a lot. We have a bad feeling. Mike and I have seen her this week look awful, and change fast. We think it may be too far gone to fix but, we will see. Will we do chemo? We don't know. It really is a hard decision to make. The thought of no having Bella in our life makes us sad. She has been with us since our first year in Italy and has been a good dog. A funny dog for sure. She is a little piggy but she is picky about her food. She will eat all people food in one gulp but her dog food, she has to have water over it. No, I don't put water on it she does. She puts her nose in the water bowl and splashes water into her food bowl until it is how she likes it. It is so funny to watch. And bless her heart she is terrified of the broom. We have no idea why but if the broom is by the back door, she will not go near it. Funny girl! She will be missed for sure. The hardest part for me is going to be telling Sullivan. He loves these dogs and is going to be devastated. He knows she is sick but he does not know she is dying. I dread this whole process but like they say, "it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all". She has made our lives richer and our hearts fuller. Until her day to go play in doggy heaven she will extra scratches, extra treats and extra love.

Birds the Word

2010-12-03T17:03:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving. A time of year where we really reflect on what we are thankful for buy eating tons, spending time with family and sleeping lots. Or something like that. Doesnt that just sum up the thigns we are thankful for? Family, friends, the jobs that pay for our delicious food, the cars we have to travel in, our safety, the and our health. Thanksgiving is perfect!
This year we went to Noni's house to celebrate thanksgiving! She cooked a beautiful bird and we had probably the most relaxing thanksgiving ever. For real...took naps, stayed up late playing cards, planned to eat at 2 or 3 and ate at 5 because we all slept late, and stayed in jammies lots! It was wonderful, other than the fact that I got sick. However about 9 pm on Thursday I started feeling better, according to my perfect husband, wonderful mother in law and fabulous brother in law, just when dishes were done. Thanks guys. Chuckle chuckle. Since Noni does not have sleeping room for all of us someone sleeps in the camper. Typically that is JP and his girls but this year we got to sleep in the camper. The kids totally got a kick out of it! It was perfect! Nice and cozy and quite comfy! We had Anna all weekend which was wonderful. She played so well with all the smaller kids! She is amazing! And then she was such a good sport playing Phase 10 with the adults. She did not shed a tear this year... ;) Love you Anna Banana! More than you know! We will get your daddy next time! Mason got to spend time with his Noni if she could fight him away from Anna. She is a natural. I can't wait for her to take the babysitters course this summer. Sully loved playing with the girls. He was so happy and wore himself out! Friday morning Mike and I got up and went shopping! OK, we didn't get up super early but it was tough to be up at 6 am. We spent the morning shopping and had a nice time! Ran into his sister Diane which was a nice surprise! We wish we were able to spend time with both of his sisters. But...maybe one day. Everyone had their own thing going on. That is the part of growing up that stinks. Well, it stinks in a wonderful way. Families grow and then we each have our own and it in a way splits that original family...know what I mean? Once upon a time I would have never considered spending Thanksgiving with out my parents and my brother but now, we all have larger family's and more people to love and love us and unfortunately there are only 24 hours in a day! I think we should change that! I would love to be able to do it all but then I guess it would not have been so wonderful. It was so nice to just hang at Noni's house and relax and let the kids play! We did get to see Tina and met her new husband who is a great guy! So happy for them! And we did go watch that terrible football game with my Ashers and Brian! That was fun, well sorta! It was awesome to see them and hang out but that game T-totally STUNK! Disgusting. Ash made an awesome spread of stuff to eat and told us it was our tailgate since we don't get to tailgate! Love her. And we exchanged some gifts and called it a night.
(Took camera, charged it at her house but forgot to take any pix Boo!) The next day we hit the road. The drive home was rough...but well worth is. We did get a treat for lunch. Alla met us in Charlotte for some Sully and Mason love. Perfect lunch if you ask me. After a long drive home we crashed and I know we were all very thankful for a wonderful thanksgiving and we know we have so much to be thankful for.

kicking off Christmas

2010-12-03T14:15:00.000-05:00

Before Christmas is totally not my style but..oh was it festive! On Nov 20th we ventured to downtown Norfolk for the Grand Illumination and Christmas Parade! We left a photo shoot and got there as quick as we could as we heard it would be a zoo! We got ROCK STAR parking and a decent spot to stand! STAND being the important word here! My wonderfully sweet, smart, perfect hubby forgot our chairs! I was in boots. We were there over 1 hour before parade started and we were towards the middle. So we stood for 2 hours before the parade even started. Sure made the parade seem long. I still love him and will keep him! It was worth it though! It was a terrific parade! Sullivan loved it and Mason slept through most of it. Mason's First Parade! Many more to come... It was s good time and a great way to kick off the holiday season, even though it wasn't even thanksgiving yet!