We had Lillian's one year appointment on Monday and her stats are:
19 pounds 7 ounces
29.5 inches long
18 inch head circumfrence
She is:
completely off the bottle
always sleeping through the night
eating only table foods
only using her plug when she sleeps
in size three diapers
This last week she has had four, yes, FOUR, new teeth pop in. She now has four teeth in the middle on both top and bottom.
She got five shots and two blood draws at her appointment.
They are looking into her thyroid, and a couple other things, just to make sure that this ginormous weight gain (5.5 pounds and 30% points in two months!!) is just her catching up to her friends, rather than something wrong. They will call if the labs return abnormal, but I'm not expecting a call.
She does have to go back at 15 months instead of 18 months, to check on the weight and to check for walking and talking, which they normally do at 12 months, but since she's a preemie, they do it later.
Overall, we're thrilled, and over the next month we're going to work on drinking from a cup with no lid, switch her carseat to facing forward and work on sleeping without the plug.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
25 Random Things About Me
Rules: once you are tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 25 people to tag. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, its because I want to know more about you!
1. I have had/still have amnesia.
2. I like old fashioned names like Matilda, Amelia, and Lucille.
3. I don't like many boys names. (Including Richard. Sorry honey. I attribute it to a scary old man I once new.)
4. I had a c-section. And it sucked.
5. I'm scared of escalators. (Ditto Jennie.)
6. I love starch and cheese. Mac and Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Cheese Fries, Potato Skins, Mozzarella Sticks, Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, Cheese Bread.....
7. I generally crave salty more than sweet.
8. I got pregnant twice on birth control.
9. I'm obsessed with pink and orange.
10. My kindergarten teacher was the best ever, she came to my high school graduation.
11. My daughter turns one today.
12. I used to own stilts. That's the most athletic I've been in my life. Until the Wii Fit that is. Now I kick butt on tightrope walking.
13. I used to pretend I was sick every Wed. night for Junior High Youth Group..so I didnt have to play games....but I wasnt the only one! (Ditto Jennie)
14. I let my brother drive before he had his license. He drove us into a snow bank and inches from a telephone pole.
15. I don't know if my parents know that last fact.
16. I am dreading next year's deployment.
17. I think I could have married a guy from college, if we had ever dated. But I'm more happy than ever, now.
18. I'm going to Disney World for my honeymoon in May. It will be 2.5 years since we got married and we are taking our daughter and going with two friends and their daughter. I couldn't be more excited.
19. I am dying to re-arrange my furniture.
20. I hope our next (and last-and not for awhile) kid is a girl.
21. I love skittles, and almost always have some with me. But only orange, red and purple. I pick out the yellow and green as soon as I get them and give them to R.
22. I do our finances. And I hate it. But they get done and done correctly that way.
23. I currently have a double sided poster board sized list of to-do's for the entire family for Saturday morning's party.
24. I gained 83 pounds during 8 months of pregnancy (due to pre-eclempsia, 55+ in the last month) and I have lost 62 of that in one year of motherhood.
25. I have never had a surprise birthday party.
1. I have had/still have amnesia.
2. I like old fashioned names like Matilda, Amelia, and Lucille.
3. I don't like many boys names. (Including Richard. Sorry honey. I attribute it to a scary old man I once new.)
4. I had a c-section. And it sucked.
5. I'm scared of escalators. (Ditto Jennie.)
6. I love starch and cheese. Mac and Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Cheese Fries, Potato Skins, Mozzarella Sticks, Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, Cheese Bread.....
7. I generally crave salty more than sweet.
8. I got pregnant twice on birth control.
9. I'm obsessed with pink and orange.
10. My kindergarten teacher was the best ever, she came to my high school graduation.
11. My daughter turns one today.
12. I used to own stilts. That's the most athletic I've been in my life. Until the Wii Fit that is. Now I kick butt on tightrope walking.
13. I used to pretend I was sick every Wed. night for Junior High Youth Group..so I didnt have to play games....but I wasnt the only one! (Ditto Jennie)
14. I let my brother drive before he had his license. He drove us into a snow bank and inches from a telephone pole.
15. I don't know if my parents know that last fact.
16. I am dreading next year's deployment.
17. I think I could have married a guy from college, if we had ever dated. But I'm more happy than ever, now.
18. I'm going to Disney World for my honeymoon in May. It will be 2.5 years since we got married and we are taking our daughter and going with two friends and their daughter. I couldn't be more excited.
19. I am dying to re-arrange my furniture.
20. I hope our next (and last-and not for awhile) kid is a girl.
21. I love skittles, and almost always have some with me. But only orange, red and purple. I pick out the yellow and green as soon as I get them and give them to R.
22. I do our finances. And I hate it. But they get done and done correctly that way.
23. I currently have a double sided poster board sized list of to-do's for the entire family for Saturday morning's party.
24. I gained 83 pounds during 8 months of pregnancy (due to pre-eclempsia, 55+ in the last month) and I have lost 62 of that in one year of motherhood.
25. I have never had a surprise birthday party.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Fabulous Giveaway
Whitney, one of my best friends, owns Whitney Caroline Designs and sells gorgeous stuff. She is also giving away a fabulous Scout Bag on her blog. I have one of these bags and LOVE it. I also gave some away as Christmas gifts. They are water resistant and huge! You should scoot on over, check her out, and enter for the giveaway. Go, now, run....
Milestones
This week has been a week of milestones for Lillian. She has:
-learned to flush the toilet (JOY)
-learned to climb in the sink (?!?! I don't know either)
-had her first dose of birth control (we're starting early)
-had her fifth tooth break through (and possibly another one yet this week)
-learned (again-she did it a couple times a few months ago and then never again) to wave hi and bye bye. She is trying really hard to say bye bye when she waves too
-been able to stand on her own for a few seconds. This is not due to her inability to stand, its her impatience to do anything that involves being still.
-graduated to size three diapers (not out of need to move up in size, but that we were out of twos and had lots of threes)
-transitioned completely to whole milk rather than formula
-learned to drink out of a straw
-learned to hold a whole sandwich (or anything) and take "bites"
-had peanut butter for the first (and second and third) time
-a fantastic event tomorrow, her first birthday!
WHEW.. Yes, that was all this week. With that and the major OCD party planning going on over here, we've been a nuthouse this week.
-learned to flush the toilet (JOY)
-learned to climb in the sink (?!?! I don't know either)
-had her first dose of birth control (we're starting early)
-had her fifth tooth break through (and possibly another one yet this week)
-learned (again-she did it a couple times a few months ago and then never again) to wave hi and bye bye. She is trying really hard to say bye bye when she waves too
-been able to stand on her own for a few seconds. This is not due to her inability to stand, its her impatience to do anything that involves being still.
-graduated to size three diapers (not out of need to move up in size, but that we were out of twos and had lots of threes)
-transitioned completely to whole milk rather than formula
-learned to drink out of a straw
-learned to hold a whole sandwich (or anything) and take "bites"
-had peanut butter for the first (and second and third) time
-a fantastic event tomorrow, her first birthday!
WHEW.. Yes, that was all this week. With that and the major OCD party planning going on over here, we've been a nuthouse this week.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Classified Ad
One daughter for sale to highest bidder. Comes complete with 4.5 teeth, 3 bruises on her head, many pairs of shoes that no longer fit, climbing skills beyond her years and one dose of birth control.
Email all offers to StaceyBrill@gmail.com. Only serious inquiries please.
(Author's Note: This post was written with humor, in jest and meant to be a joke about my mischievous daughter's most recent achievements.)
Email all offers to StaceyBrill@gmail.com. Only serious inquiries please.
(Author's Note: This post was written with humor, in jest and meant to be a joke about my mischievous daughter's most recent achievements.)
Fruit Basket
We received a great fruit basket of fake fruit for Lillian to play with from Toys R Us. However it came with no gift message and no purchaser address. Its a mystery gift. That hasn't stopped her though. She and Kylie have been eating them, rolling them and chucking them at each others' heads all day long. She loves them! Mostly, her favorite is filling up the basket, then taking it by the handle and waving it all over the room and sending fruit flying.
We would love to know who these are from in order to give proper thanks.
We would love to know who these are from in order to give proper thanks.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Navy=Change in plans
Once again, our plans have changed, thanks to the Navy.
They just changed Navy policy to state that no one is allowed to extend. Therefore, Richard will be required to re-enlist (unless someone has a marvelously better offer for us, preferably in Iowa or Michigan) in July 2009. He can choose to re-enlist for three, four, five or six years.
He is still up for rotation in January 2010. This is when he will switch from shore duty (no deployments) to sea duty (as many deployments as they want). He will be on sea duty for three years before rotating back to shore duty for three years. With the switch from shore duty to sea duty, it will also bring a possible re-location.
This is why we had hoped to extend from July to January and then re-enlist. Then, we would have had a little leverage in asking for locations we want...he could say he is going to get out if he doesn't get the orders he likes. However, now he will be enlisted for at least 2.5 more years when he is up for orders. This means they don't care a lick what he prefers, they know he can't do a thing about it.
We also found out that he will be getting NO re-enlistment bonus. This is always touted as a "bonus" and not to be "expected" but it seems very cruel when you have friends getting from $60,000 to $100,000 bonuses and you get nothing. He is bummed but okay. I'm flat out ticked off.
He also found out that they have started to have a test for anyone wanting to re-enlist. If you do not pass the test to their standard, you do not get the option to re-enlist. He says he is not worried at all about this, as his record is stellar (not that you'd know that by his bonus :-) but it is yet another hoop he has to jump through.
The new uniforms did indeed come out and are available at the stores starting January 15, 2009. However, they cannot wear them to work yet. There is no date for when they can wear them to work. We are going to try to make sure he passes this "re-enlistment test" before we spend $500 on new uniforms.
I love the Navy, I love the Navy, I love the Navy....
We did get a pay increase and are anticipating another one in July (although not counting on this, anymore).
We do have free healthcare, although it requires an insane amount of time ensuring you get the care you need and that you do not get improperly billed for anything.
On another positive note, we lost a third of our stock accounts this year. We lost double what we put in. Whooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They just changed Navy policy to state that no one is allowed to extend. Therefore, Richard will be required to re-enlist (unless someone has a marvelously better offer for us, preferably in Iowa or Michigan) in July 2009. He can choose to re-enlist for three, four, five or six years.
He is still up for rotation in January 2010. This is when he will switch from shore duty (no deployments) to sea duty (as many deployments as they want). He will be on sea duty for three years before rotating back to shore duty for three years. With the switch from shore duty to sea duty, it will also bring a possible re-location.
This is why we had hoped to extend from July to January and then re-enlist. Then, we would have had a little leverage in asking for locations we want...he could say he is going to get out if he doesn't get the orders he likes. However, now he will be enlisted for at least 2.5 more years when he is up for orders. This means they don't care a lick what he prefers, they know he can't do a thing about it.
We also found out that he will be getting NO re-enlistment bonus. This is always touted as a "bonus" and not to be "expected" but it seems very cruel when you have friends getting from $60,000 to $100,000 bonuses and you get nothing. He is bummed but okay. I'm flat out ticked off.
He also found out that they have started to have a test for anyone wanting to re-enlist. If you do not pass the test to their standard, you do not get the option to re-enlist. He says he is not worried at all about this, as his record is stellar (not that you'd know that by his bonus :-) but it is yet another hoop he has to jump through.
The new uniforms did indeed come out and are available at the stores starting January 15, 2009. However, they cannot wear them to work yet. There is no date for when they can wear them to work. We are going to try to make sure he passes this "re-enlistment test" before we spend $500 on new uniforms.
I love the Navy, I love the Navy, I love the Navy....
We did get a pay increase and are anticipating another one in July (although not counting on this, anymore).
We do have free healthcare, although it requires an insane amount of time ensuring you get the care you need and that you do not get improperly billed for anything.
On another positive note, we lost a third of our stock accounts this year. We lost double what we put in. Whooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Click on the photo and it will open larger in a new window.Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Lillian, the youngest teenager
My daughter, who has not yet had her first birthday, has effectively become a teenager. She has evidenced this by:
her desire to be tall and skinny,
being awake at all hours of the night,
refusing to eat,
refusing to take naps,
telling her parents "No" or "na" in her dictionary,
refusing to listen,
throwing tantrums,
and definite PMS and mood swings.
In short, I miss my baby and am not at all looking forward to 14 years from now.
her desire to be tall and skinny,
being awake at all hours of the night,
refusing to eat,
refusing to take naps,
telling her parents "No" or "na" in her dictionary,
refusing to listen,
throwing tantrums,
and definite PMS and mood swings.
In short, I miss my baby and am not at all looking forward to 14 years from now.
Three Bedroom
We are NEXT ON THE LIST for a three bedroom. We have been waiting more than 9 months for this opportunity and are now just waiting for someone to move the heck outta dodge. We have toured the three bedrooms and are very excited because:
They have a HUGE pantry. Our pantry now consists of our washer and dryer and one 10" shelf above them. Our pantry then will consist of washer, dryer, 10" shelf above them, on the LEFT. Then we have the whole right side which is a wall full of 10" shelves, floor to ceiling. AND it leaves room straight ahead for a shelving unit of our own. I'm excited about all the stockpiling opportunities this will bring.
Lillian will finally have her own room and we will begin the process of moving her to a bed rather than a crib.
We will have a separate guest room (told you you should come visit). And therefore, a whole nother closet!!!!!!!!!!!! That means R's uniforms, our games, and other random storage things can move out of Lillian's closet and into that one. Then all of L's crap might fit inside her closet! Whee, whee, whee!
We are going to be able to put our filing cabinets, bookshelves, and craft drawers in the guest room and therefore move them out of the living room and dining room.
We will have two full bathrooms!
We will have a bathroom in our bedroom that you don't have to dance with the door in order to pee!
We will have a bathroom down the hall by Lillian's room and the guest room. This means, Lil's toys will not ever again puncture my foot during an early morning, rushed shower attempt.
Lillian's room and the Guest Room are quite far down a hallway from our room and the Living area of the house. This means that when she is sleeping, I can go in my bathroom, use it, AND (get ready, its exciting...) FLUSH IT. Right now, our toilet is right by her crib and although she will sleep through the vaccuum, tv, phones, etc she WILL NOT sleep through a toilet flush for some reason.
One of the best things of all....We will have a playroom! Yes, it will be at the expense of a dining room, but who really needs a dining room anyways? We would only use it when we have lots of friends over (since family is not close) and when that happens we are more than excited to lock the kids in, um, uh, I mean, let the kids play in, the playroom and eat on plates on couches and chairs, peacefully. Our table, which is old and rickety but FANTASTIC has tons of leaves which means we can put it in the dining room and extend it out for 10 people if we want to, but for the most part, it can fold up and be a peaceful sitting area for two chairs and a highchair in the kitchen.
We will have more room in our living room because all of the other things that do not generally belong in a living room will actually have a home in other places in the house!
On a sad note...we will lose the infamous "closet from hell". Although that might very well be a good thing. I think all the above things will make up for that.
Some things to pray about for our move:
a. That the availability comes soon but also at a good time to move (ie. NOT the third week of May). We would love for my dad (and everyone else) to be able to come down and help. And our church group is low on guys this spring due to many deployments, so a date that works for most of the guys who are still here would be uber helpful.
b. That we get a good location. The bad thing about the three bedrooms is that they are on the first floor of the building and in the way our buildings are set up, this means, the entrance is in the back of the building. We would like to be in the middle of the complex, rather than on the outer edges, having our door face nothing ness (a little scary for me when R deploys next January). And parking is an issue in some spots more than others. Not a big deal generally but once R leaves, it would be helpful not to have to walk 5 miles from the car to the door with two toddlers and groceries in the rain.
c. That we are able to pay the additional rent and utility fees without taking away from our monthy savings and house fund deposits.
They have a HUGE pantry. Our pantry now consists of our washer and dryer and one 10" shelf above them. Our pantry then will consist of washer, dryer, 10" shelf above them, on the LEFT. Then we have the whole right side which is a wall full of 10" shelves, floor to ceiling. AND it leaves room straight ahead for a shelving unit of our own. I'm excited about all the stockpiling opportunities this will bring.
Lillian will finally have her own room and we will begin the process of moving her to a bed rather than a crib.
We will have a separate guest room (told you you should come visit). And therefore, a whole nother closet!!!!!!!!!!!! That means R's uniforms, our games, and other random storage things can move out of Lillian's closet and into that one. Then all of L's crap might fit inside her closet! Whee, whee, whee!
We are going to be able to put our filing cabinets, bookshelves, and craft drawers in the guest room and therefore move them out of the living room and dining room.
We will have two full bathrooms!
We will have a bathroom in our bedroom that you don't have to dance with the door in order to pee!
We will have a bathroom down the hall by Lillian's room and the guest room. This means, Lil's toys will not ever again puncture my foot during an early morning, rushed shower attempt.
Lillian's room and the Guest Room are quite far down a hallway from our room and the Living area of the house. This means that when she is sleeping, I can go in my bathroom, use it, AND (get ready, its exciting...) FLUSH IT. Right now, our toilet is right by her crib and although she will sleep through the vaccuum, tv, phones, etc she WILL NOT sleep through a toilet flush for some reason.
One of the best things of all....We will have a playroom! Yes, it will be at the expense of a dining room, but who really needs a dining room anyways? We would only use it when we have lots of friends over (since family is not close) and when that happens we are more than excited to lock the kids in, um, uh, I mean, let the kids play in, the playroom and eat on plates on couches and chairs, peacefully. Our table, which is old and rickety but FANTASTIC has tons of leaves which means we can put it in the dining room and extend it out for 10 people if we want to, but for the most part, it can fold up and be a peaceful sitting area for two chairs and a highchair in the kitchen.
We will have more room in our living room because all of the other things that do not generally belong in a living room will actually have a home in other places in the house!
On a sad note...we will lose the infamous "closet from hell". Although that might very well be a good thing. I think all the above things will make up for that.
Some things to pray about for our move:
a. That the availability comes soon but also at a good time to move (ie. NOT the third week of May). We would love for my dad (and everyone else) to be able to come down and help. And our church group is low on guys this spring due to many deployments, so a date that works for most of the guys who are still here would be uber helpful.
b. That we get a good location. The bad thing about the three bedrooms is that they are on the first floor of the building and in the way our buildings are set up, this means, the entrance is in the back of the building. We would like to be in the middle of the complex, rather than on the outer edges, having our door face nothing ness (a little scary for me when R deploys next January). And parking is an issue in some spots more than others. Not a big deal generally but once R leaves, it would be helpful not to have to walk 5 miles from the car to the door with two toddlers and groceries in the rain.
c. That we are able to pay the additional rent and utility fees without taking away from our monthy savings and house fund deposits.
2009
I (mistakenly) thought after we got home from our vacation to Michigan, things were going to be pretty dull around here for awhile. Turns out that's the farthest thing from the truth!
We had a rockin New Year's Eve party at Eric and Teresa's (although I was sick and out of it for the most part, there were some great memories made)
Tomorrow, Thursday, January 15th brings a PAYRAISE!!! Much needed and greatly appreciated. It also brings something Richard is very excited about....the release of NEW UNIFORMS!!!!!!! This is a much anticipated move by the Navy to reduce the number of uniforms one is required to have (currently an insane number). I'm not up on the details but I think it brings cami's that they can wear to work. Not positive though, I just know Richard is so excited he wants to go right to the NEX that day and get his new uniforms. Good thing we saved our uniform allowance from last year and have money set aside.
We have Lillian's first birthday next Friday, the 23rd. It DOES NOT seem possible that she's been here for a year already, but it also seems like she's been a part of our family forever. We all work so well together, I couldn't have asked for a better daughter (well except for this week, but more about that later).
We have Lillian's One Year pictures and her birthday party next Saturday, the 24th and I am busily (and slowly, thanks mono) preparing for that. As OCD as I am, you know everything has to be color coded and theme oriented and blah blah blah. Our photographer is going to do her one year portraits before the party and stay and photograph the party, I'm so excited.
Also next weekend, Richard's parents and grandparents and nephew are coming for a visit. We are so excited! We love having company. It's just too bad they'll only be here for a little over two days.
February first is our ledgendary Super Bowl party at the home of the fabulous Owen family. This was Lillian's first introduction to the madness of our group last year.
February 14th brings a triple 2nd birthday party. With a theme of Dora, Elmo and Cars. Whew! I'm tired already.
February 28th brings Spectacular Miss Kylie's First Birthday Party. A party for a princess.
March 4-8 we are having a "Girl's Weekend" at Whitney's family lakehouse in Georgia. I CANNOT wait for this. Not only to hang with some of the best women I know, but to get away for a few days and best of all, to have NO KIDS around. The men of our group, mighty as they are, are all taking leave to stay home and babysit the children. Go men!
The middle of March brings my 27th birthday and a much anticipated surprise from my wonderful husband. It involves Lillian, Ashley and a trip, that much I know. I can't wait for my annual "spring break with Ashley".
The end of March will be Miss Makailyn's birthday, the last of the "baby girls" who are no longer the "baby girls" of the group, as they got booted in November by Laynee, Eden and Ruby. (We have two women in our group pregnant now and every other one is fasting and not drinking the water until the third unlucky subject is chosen.)
April (or sooner hopefully) will bring us a (hopefully) large tax refund. It will be our first tax refund having three members in our family.
April 21 brings Richard's 27th birthday.
And most anticipated of all.....
The third week of May will see us in Florida at The Happiest Place on Earth, Walt Disney World!! And spending the time there with Brandon, Lindsey and Kylie, just makes it so it couldn't get any better than that. This is our first VACATION that is not a trip to go see family. Not that we don't love seeing family, but we love to travel and see new places and have been wanting to, but leave time doesn't always allow both. We are excited to start our family travels at DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!
And we will be back on Saturday before Labor Day so we will have Sunday and Monday to relax before getting back into the routine of things.
This summer, we are hoping to be able to see the Coffman family as they are trying to make a trip to Virginia Beach. I love those kids so much and can't wait to see the entire family.
July brings a life altering decision, to re-enlist or not to re-enlist. Well actually, it looks like July is going to bring an "extension" until January 2010 when we will then make the decision to re-enlist or not re-enlist. Not that we are having thoughts about the second option but it is still always an option. July will bring another pay raise though, as Richard will have completed 8 years of service!!
Hopefully somewhere in there, we will insert a move into a three bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That might actually top Mickey as Most Anticipated Event of early 2009. And even better, my Dad is going to try to come down (depending on date and work and all that stuff) and help us move.
As you can see, we are very busy and are actually taking quite a bit of leave the first half of this year. This probably means that we will not be getting up to Michigan during the year at all this year. So people, that means that when you're planning your vacations for this year, you should schedule in a trip to Glorious Virginia Beach. We would love to see you, and pretty soon, you should be able to stay with us without having to stay in the same room as Mis Lil.
We had a rockin New Year's Eve party at Eric and Teresa's (although I was sick and out of it for the most part, there were some great memories made)
Tomorrow, Thursday, January 15th brings a PAYRAISE!!! Much needed and greatly appreciated. It also brings something Richard is very excited about....the release of NEW UNIFORMS!!!!!!! This is a much anticipated move by the Navy to reduce the number of uniforms one is required to have (currently an insane number). I'm not up on the details but I think it brings cami's that they can wear to work. Not positive though, I just know Richard is so excited he wants to go right to the NEX that day and get his new uniforms. Good thing we saved our uniform allowance from last year and have money set aside.
We have Lillian's first birthday next Friday, the 23rd. It DOES NOT seem possible that she's been here for a year already, but it also seems like she's been a part of our family forever. We all work so well together, I couldn't have asked for a better daughter (well except for this week, but more about that later).
We have Lillian's One Year pictures and her birthday party next Saturday, the 24th and I am busily (and slowly, thanks mono) preparing for that. As OCD as I am, you know everything has to be color coded and theme oriented and blah blah blah. Our photographer is going to do her one year portraits before the party and stay and photograph the party, I'm so excited.
Also next weekend, Richard's parents and grandparents and nephew are coming for a visit. We are so excited! We love having company. It's just too bad they'll only be here for a little over two days.
February first is our ledgendary Super Bowl party at the home of the fabulous Owen family. This was Lillian's first introduction to the madness of our group last year.
February 14th brings a triple 2nd birthday party. With a theme of Dora, Elmo and Cars. Whew! I'm tired already.
February 28th brings Spectacular Miss Kylie's First Birthday Party. A party for a princess.
March 4-8 we are having a "Girl's Weekend" at Whitney's family lakehouse in Georgia. I CANNOT wait for this. Not only to hang with some of the best women I know, but to get away for a few days and best of all, to have NO KIDS around. The men of our group, mighty as they are, are all taking leave to stay home and babysit the children. Go men!
The middle of March brings my 27th birthday and a much anticipated surprise from my wonderful husband. It involves Lillian, Ashley and a trip, that much I know. I can't wait for my annual "spring break with Ashley".
The end of March will be Miss Makailyn's birthday, the last of the "baby girls" who are no longer the "baby girls" of the group, as they got booted in November by Laynee, Eden and Ruby. (We have two women in our group pregnant now and every other one is fasting and not drinking the water until the third unlucky subject is chosen.)
April (or sooner hopefully) will bring us a (hopefully) large tax refund. It will be our first tax refund having three members in our family.
April 21 brings Richard's 27th birthday.
And most anticipated of all.....
The third week of May will see us in Florida at The Happiest Place on Earth, Walt Disney World!! And spending the time there with Brandon, Lindsey and Kylie, just makes it so it couldn't get any better than that. This is our first VACATION that is not a trip to go see family. Not that we don't love seeing family, but we love to travel and see new places and have been wanting to, but leave time doesn't always allow both. We are excited to start our family travels at DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!
And we will be back on Saturday before Labor Day so we will have Sunday and Monday to relax before getting back into the routine of things.
This summer, we are hoping to be able to see the Coffman family as they are trying to make a trip to Virginia Beach. I love those kids so much and can't wait to see the entire family.
July brings a life altering decision, to re-enlist or not to re-enlist. Well actually, it looks like July is going to bring an "extension" until January 2010 when we will then make the decision to re-enlist or not re-enlist. Not that we are having thoughts about the second option but it is still always an option. July will bring another pay raise though, as Richard will have completed 8 years of service!!
Hopefully somewhere in there, we will insert a move into a three bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That might actually top Mickey as Most Anticipated Event of early 2009. And even better, my Dad is going to try to come down (depending on date and work and all that stuff) and help us move.
As you can see, we are very busy and are actually taking quite a bit of leave the first half of this year. This probably means that we will not be getting up to Michigan during the year at all this year. So people, that means that when you're planning your vacations for this year, you should schedule in a trip to Glorious Virginia Beach. We would love to see you, and pretty soon, you should be able to stay with us without having to stay in the same room as Mis Lil.
Disney World!
Did I mention we're going to Disney World? Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!
For SEVEN DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Septuple wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!
For SEVEN DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Septuple wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!
The never-ending sickness
It turns out that the reason I just couldn't get better and kept getting more ailments was that behind it all, I was having a grand case of Mono. Now that they have that figured out they gave me steriod shots and steroid pills as well as sleeping pills (I have lots of trouble falling asleep anytime before 2am) and "wake up" pills (to make me more awake at 6am) as well as antibiotics for the rest of that stuff.
I found out a week or so ago and am actually feeling pretty good now, all the sickness is gone, I have most of my hearing back, although not all of it, and all thats left is utter exhaustion.
He said it was okay to still do moderate exercise and that while typically the directions for mono are bed rest he realized that wasn't possible with two little ones so just to take it easy, not do things I don't have to do and try to get a nap in each day. He said the sleeping pills to get my body sleeping at the right times of day (night) will help too.
I found out a week or so ago and am actually feeling pretty good now, all the sickness is gone, I have most of my hearing back, although not all of it, and all thats left is utter exhaustion.
He said it was okay to still do moderate exercise and that while typically the directions for mono are bed rest he realized that wasn't possible with two little ones so just to take it easy, not do things I don't have to do and try to get a nap in each day. He said the sleeping pills to get my body sleeping at the right times of day (night) will help too.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Happiest Place on Earth!!
We are officially going to Disney World the third week of May, this year. I am BEYOND excited. Disney is offering a superbly fantastic military ticket package that we are taking advantage of, and we found availability at the Military Resort on Disney property. Total, for seven days of hotel, and two five day park hopper passes, it will cost us under $800. You CANNOT pass that up. We will still have to get there, but we're going to drive, so that will save money over flying and we might carpool with friends.
Oh, didn't I mention that yet? Brandon and Lindsey and Miss Kylie are joining us on this excellent adventure. Whee!!!!!!!!
We are busy, busy, busy researching restaurants that are cheap but good, fantastic but expensive, shows and shops we cannot miss and the most kid friendly things to do. Any of you that have been there recently, feel free to leave your input on things we cannot miss or should skip.
Oh, didn't I mention that yet? Brandon and Lindsey and Miss Kylie are joining us on this excellent adventure. Whee!!!!!!!!
We are busy, busy, busy researching restaurants that are cheap but good, fantastic but expensive, shows and shops we cannot miss and the most kid friendly things to do. Any of you that have been there recently, feel free to leave your input on things we cannot miss or should skip.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Pictures
Fifty bazillion (or at least 400) new pictures are up on the website (no joke), but these are my favorite... And it appears the demon photo software issues have popped up again. Ignore the sideways, focus on the delight at the gift of a cell phone. And the family picture isn't so much for the family, but for my HOT husband, whom I have cropped out about four times but the rest of the family refuses to leave the picture apparently.