The Ford Five

MiKe & tHe CoMManDaNt!

2009-11-30T22:15:00.003+09:00

Mike got the opportunity to meet the Commandant of the Marine Corps-General Conway-while he was in Afghanistan. I told him to give a thumbs up-but he didn't do it!! I have no idea why! Ha!

11 MonThS oLD!!

2009-11-30T20:59:00.006+09:00

1 more month and we hit a year. Craziness! My baby is becoming a big boy. He is such a joy to be around. Not a day goes by that I don't look at him and love him more and more.

This month he started taking steps-the most he has taken are about 7 at once-but he has done it multiple times. He doesn't willing go and try and walk-he pretty much doesn't willing try to do anything-why should he?? He has a bunch of people who do EVERYTHING for him. What 11 month old you know don't hold their own bottle??? Ridiculous!! SPOILED!

He says Ma-Ma (yells it actually.constantly.) he crawls like a mad man, he says da da, no no, a bunch of jiburish that he KNOWS we understand! ha! He saw his first Christmas tree this month-he isn't too sure why we have a tree in our house. He has fallen IN LOVE with his wagon and getting pulled in it. He loves to see daddy on Skype (and a side note-it makes me totally SAD that he even has to depend on Skype to see daddy), he is a total boob man. I think some people don't say it-but my baby loves some boobies. He loves to lay on them, I think they comfort him (I say he is definately his daddys son! HAHA!!) He loves to eat, he will try anything, but he is allergic to probably half of what he tries. We still don't know what it is exactly he is allergic to-cause he is too young to test, but he loves to eat-but he will break out in a heartbeat in a horrible rash on his face. I hate it and I really wish we could figure out what it is-but it seems to be a variety of things. Hopefully within the next year we'll be able to figure it out.

He is such a happy baby. Everyday he is able to make me laugh and find joy in the day.

I love my little Bang a Rang-and he loves my singing-which makes me love him more! ha! My mother in law said it is because he hears with the ears of angels-ha-real funny!! He loves my singing no matter how horrible I am!!

aLiX iS 9!!

2009-11-16T16:27:00.007+09:00

WOW! My girl is 9 years old! She is growing to be such a wonderful little lady. She has her moments where she has the biggest attitude you will EVER see-but when she is happy-she is HAPPY!! She is so fun to be around. She always wants to make everyone happy and she doesn't like to hurt peoples feelings. We tell her if someone is mean to you then you need to be mean right back (ya we don't do the whole turn the other cheek crap) but she just won't do it! She doesn't want to hurt their feelings and she doesn't want to get in trouble. We keep telling her that she won't-but she's not buying it!!

She is in 4th grade and has made the honor roll so far this year. She tries really hard even though she struggles. She was in karate but since she broke her arm we took her out. She was very happy about that but we weren't so much! Now we need to find another sport that she can participate in-we are all about staying active!!

She is such a help to me with Bang-and with Aja. I don't know what I would do without her here while Mike is gone. She helps me in so many ways. When I need to get things done she is always (almost) willing to help me with Bang. She keeps him entertained and always looks out for him. She is such a sweet little girl.

We love her so much. It is hard to believe that it has been 9 years. I still remember when she was a little baby and NEVER slept through the night-let alone take naps. Now this is my child (who still wakes up at night) but will sleep until 11 am on the weekends if I let her. She is my little lady who will be a "preteen next year" as she says it! ha!!

We love you Alix!! We are so glad that you are our first born and we love all the joy you bring to our lives!

OuT oF thE MoUthS oF BaBeS!

2009-11-14T16:03:00.002+09:00

Today Aja said out of the blue "Ya know it just isn't easy trusting people these days."

Well Said!! That is one smart cookie we got!

HaLLoWeeN

2009-11-01T00:33:00.003+09:00

It rained. It poured. No candy was gotten. Well, actually they got about 10 pieces of candy each. Poor kids! The girls are bummed-Bang obviously doesn't care. While we were out it started POURING. He slept in the stroller the whole way back in the rain. The girls think it sucks-so do I cause I knew they were excited-and with Daddy leaving this month I was glad they had something to look forward to and now it is a bust!

Oh well, we have Alix's birthday coming up and Christmas and Bang's birthday-plenty of time for fun!

But they sure did look SUPER cute in their costumes!!

Alix was Dorothy, Aja was a cheerleader, and Bang was the Cowardly Lion.

Next year-the Ford Family are ALL going to dress up-now I just have to convince Mike of this! Ha!

BRokEN BoNeS

2009-11-01T00:16:00.003+09:00

This was her temporary cast that she had for a day before they gave her the permanent one!

Well, Alix broke 2 bones in her elbow this week. Monday night right after we got home she went to the park with Aja and a few of their friends. 5 minutes later they were all back in the house and Alix was screaming! She wouldn't let me look at it, she wouldn't let me touch it NOTHING! My great neighbor Priscilla said she would keep Bang and Aja while I took Alix to the emergency room.

Well, 2 days and MANY hours at the hospital-they finally put her cast on. She is miserable-it itches-it restricts her-it causes her a lot of pain. Which in turn makes ME miserable!! Hopefully it will heal quickly and we will be able to get it off soon and not have it on too long!
They say that once daddy leaves everything bad that can happen will happen-well I think the park might be off limits for the next 7 months! HA!

And here is the final cast that is causing her so much drama now-OOHHH THE ITCHING!!!

10 mOnThS oLD

2009-10-31T23:49:00.004+09:00

My baby is 10 months old today! WOW-2 more months and we have a 1 year old! Crazy!! He definately has his own personality and lets you know it. He is ONE.SPOILED.BOY!! It is hard when he is as cute as he is not to spoil him. He is spoiled by EVERYONE!! Even his daycare teachers spoil him ridiculously! That is probably why this month he has begun his fits! Yes-already he is throwing fits. If he has something and you take it away (cause it could be dangerous, or it could be the laptop cord that doesn't need to be chewed on) he will cry and scream and let you know that you have pissed.him.off!!

We were pushing him around the neighborhood one night in one of the neighbors toys-NO we don't buy him pink stuff! ha!

He is weighing 22 lbs this month-I know that because last week he had a doctors appt because he had an ear infection-his 2nd in his life. I don't know what the deal is-Alix has only had 1 her WHOLE life and Aja has never had one (I'm knocking on wood right now!)

This month he got A LOT more teeth in. Now he has 7 teeth. 4 on the top-3 on the bottom

He started saying bye bye and no no. He has already been saying dada and mama. His 1st word ever was dada though!

He still won't sleep through the night which is driving me nuts. He wakes up EVERY night at about 0230 and realizes that he is in his crib by himself and goes NUTS!! So I bring him to my bed and he will sleep. I know bad habit but right now I just want sleep-but I definately have to work on this before Mike gets back!:)

He LOOOOVES to play with his sisters!

He went trick-or-treating tonight. It was raining really hard so we only went to 3 houses-but he was THE CUTEST cowardly lion-EVER!!

He started shaking his booty when music is played this month-which we all find absolutely adorable of course!

I can't really think of anything new that he started this month. He basically is just getting really good at everything that he can already do. He can crawl, walk along furniture, babble, clap, pull himself up to a stand.

He is such a sweet baby! He is definately missing his daddy. When Mike calls on Skype he definately gets excited and loves to watch the computer.

We all love him more than we could ever say-I'll never know why we were so lucky to get him as our baby!!

aNoTHeR NiGhT

2009-10-13T18:52:00.004+09:00

A conversation between Alix and Aja that happened tonight

Aja-Hey Alix lets play charades. What am I being?

(as she was flopping and flipping around)

Alix- (without even looking up from the computer that she was playing on)

ANNOYING!

HAHA-too funny. It didn't slow Aja down though-she was still all over the place trying to get Alix to play charades.

And just cause he is so cute I could eat him up everyday-here is BANG!!

AND it BeGiNS

2009-10-12T20:00:00.003+09:00

(Here we are on the way to the airport!)

Mike left for Afghanistan this last week. He left on the 8th and I am so missing him. We took him to the airport in the morning and I just have been missing him so much since. It doesn't help that this weekend is a 4 day weekend-so I have 4 days here at the house with the kids and Mike isn't here. I gotta get use to that though cause we are going to go through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years before he gets back-so lots of holidays. Not to mention my 30th birthday and our 10 year wedding anniversary-plus so much more.

He should be back sometime in April and all of us absolutely can not wait!

We love you Mike-Stay Safe!!

SoMe ReLiEF

2009-10-02T22:07:00.003+09:00

Bang has eczema VERY.BAD!! Poor baby hasn't been able to get relief since he was born. We have the Eucerin-which he is greased up at least 4 times a day, he has been taking Benadryl every day to try and help with the itching and the poor guy still hasn't been able to get relief. Well, it seems relief is here. When we went to his 9 month check up, I told his doctor that I am very concerned about it because nothing is helping all the stuff we have been trying is not helping.

Well-she changed it up. She put him on Zyrtec during the day and Benadryl at night. Stuck with the Eucerin and gave us a steroid cream-only for his elbows and knees. We can't use the steroid cream on his face because it will discolor his skin-which we definately don't want!!

After 2 days-his arms which have been an absolute nightmare for the past 3 months are CLEAR!! The itching all throughout the day-GONE!!!

I am OVER.THE.MOON!! I think with prayer and this wonderful new medicine regimen she put him on my baby is finally going to be able to get a little rest from the itching!!

9 mOnThS...

2009-10-02T21:54:00.005+09:00

So I totally didn't do an 8 month post which really pisses me off because I was doing so good and getting it done every month so I remembered what month he has begun doing things-but with school starting and everything that has been going on lately it seems that I don't even have time to clean my house-let alone write a blog.

So even though it is a day late here is his 9 month post. But I wonder .... since he was born on the 31st of the month when there is no 31st when does he turn 1 month older?? I think I ' m reading too much into things!

Bang had his 9 month check up on the 30th and here are his stats.

Weight-21 lbs 8 oz 75th percentile

Height-27.5 inches 40th percentile

So he is still holding strong as our short chubby baby! Ha!

What is Bang up to this month??

-He started crawling at 7.5 months and now he is ALL.OVER.THE.PLACE!! There is no stopping him. He gets around-and he is fast!

-He says DaDa, MaMa and BaBa-we aren't sure if he really knows what he is saying though. Because he will call me MaMa or DaDa and vice versa.

-He began pulling himself up on things. He is ALWAYS pulling up-so we really have to watch him-and all of our things! Ha! He can walk along the couch when he is standing also.

-He has 3 teeth now. 2 on the bottom and 1 on the top. He isn't growing teeth like "normal" babies though. Usually babies will get the middle teeth first-he got the 2 middle teeth on the bottom and the canine teeth on top-not the middle ones-so it looks silly! One has already come in and you can see the other one swelling his gums about to pop through.

-He still is NOT sleeping through the night. It is driving me nuts. He was sleeping through the night but then when he got really sick when he was 6 months old-that went out the window and now he no longer does. He will go to bed in his bed, but EVERY morning at about 2:30 he wakes up and will only go to sleep again if I lay down with him so he can lay his head on my chest-so after 2:30 in the morning I am not getting much sleep because I can't even move him off my chest of he'll wake up screaming. We tried the whole crying to sleep thing-Ya-didn't work!!

-He eats more food now and loooves it. This little man loves to eat-and he'll eat anything!!

-Knows how to clap and loves to do it

-Learned how to do the whole baby thing where you hit your hand against your mouth and make an ahh sound and it makes that "neat" sound for babies. Big sister Alix taught him that and he has been doing it for a few weeks -- - and he gets LOUD doing it. It is funny to see. Oh-and at daycare he has been caught hitting other babies mouths to try and get them to do it too. Funny!

-He is still absolutely crazy about his sisters.

-He hates when you leave him in a room. He will go nuts as soon as you walk out and will hurry and crawl behind you!

He is such a fun little guy. He is happy almost all the time and just is fun to be around. He really has brightened up our family and we all are completely smitten with him.

1sT dAy oF sChOoL

2009-08-31T12:57:00.004+09:00

Today was the 1st day of school and luckily I had the day off so I was able to walk them to school. So Alix, Aja, Bang and I got ready and left for school. Besides the fact that it was SOO ridiculously HOT and HUMID at 0700 in the morning-so by the time we made the 5 minute walk we were all sweaty-the morning went great. Mike called them on the cell phone right before we got there to wish them a happy 1st day (even had a little song to go along with it! ha!). We went and saw Alix's teacher from last year that she absolutely loves and the teacher loves her. Her name is Ms Howard-she wanted to see Bang so I had to take him by.

Then we went to Alix's class and waited for her teacher to open the door. Alix was not wanting me to take her picture at all once we got there-she got mad and embarressed so I had to stop! (I guess when you are in 4th grade that isn't cool anymore!)

Then when her teacher opened the door they all filed in and I gave her a kiss and would you believe it SHE WIPED IT OFF!! UGH-how rude! :) I guess she is just too old for mom to be there at the school with her. Don't worry I am so going to let her know how sad that made me when I see her this afternoon.

Then we went to Aja's class. I didn't get any pictures of her in her class because by that time Bang was hot and irritated so I was trying to hold him and deal with getting Aja in her class. She was all about the kisses and having me in her class! So that made me smile! She isn't too big yet! So Bang and I gave her about 20 kisses and we were off.

1st day down-can't wait to hear about their days and how everything is and how much they LOVE (or dislike) their teachers and classes.

1sT dAy oF ScHooL

2009-08-29T20:44:00.002+09:00

Monday is the 1st day of school. Thank goodness! Alix is in 4th grade and Aja is in 2nd grade. It is hard for me to believe that I have a 4th grader and that Aja is a 2nd grader. Seems so crazy to me. I guess it just goes to show that I am getting old (I will turn 30 this year!) We met their teachers yesterday and Aja has Ms Cavanaugh-who seems really nice-but maybe a little looney-we are going to have to watch this one. She thought it would be a good idea to put the tables on the floor and have no chairs and sit "japaneese style" for the whole year. Ya-NO!! When she asked all the parents said No. Who does that?? Just cause we are in Japan does not make our kids Japaneese. Anyway-we'll keep an eye on her!
Alix has Mr. Hollaway. Yes-a man teacher. Nothing is wrong with that-we have just never had a man teacher before-so we'll see how this year goes. He seems really nice and understanding (I had to let the teachers know that their dad will be leaving for Iraq in a few weeks so we will be having some behavior problems at first I'm sure)
I'm ready for the year to start! The girls are nervous but excited. I can't wait and neither can they!!

We ArE MoBiLE

2009-08-29T20:32:00.003+09:00

The days of being able to leave Bang anywhere are OVER!! He is now officially mobile. It is a crawl I guess...he can crawl, but not too fast-so what he does is he ROLLS!! EVERYWHERE. If he wants to get somewhere he just starts rolling. He gets all over the place this way too. And if he rolls into something that stops him-he will start pushing it to try and move it. The other day when I picked him up at daycare there was a toy bin looking thing (kind of big) sitting there crooked-the lady told me that he had rolled into it and couldn't move it so he started pushing it. They are all amazed at how strong he is! He really does take after his daddy in so many ways!

Well today he started more crawling then just rolling. I'm happy that he is crawling-it is so exciting, but then I wish he was still a little baby-cause this is it-he is my last baby so I am loving every minute of him being a baby. I am going to try and get some video of him moving around and put it on here so you can all see his little butt moving around. (If I can figure out the video part!)

7 YeArS OLD

2009-08-28T22:42:00.004+09:00

My baby Aja turned 7 years old last week. Yes I know I am totally late on posting but Mike has been gone for the past week in the field-so I have been a single mother for the past week so I haven't had a lot of time to post on the blog.

Anyway, she turned 7 on Aug 22. I just can't believe my baby is 7. Sometimes she still feels like my baby. She was the baby of the family for 6 years-and up until Feb of last year I thought she would ALWAYS be the baby of the family (but God knew we needed Bang in our lives).

She had a sleepover for her party and had some friends over. They had a good time. They watched movies, jumped on the trampoline, painted nails, and did the normal girlie stuff. It was so fun to see her happy and being able to celebrate being 7 with her friends.

Aja is such a joy in our family. Don't get me wrong-she does have her rotten side. I'm not one of those mothers who just writes about "oh my children are so wonderful and perfect". No-she is a joy though. She is so fun to be around. But she can be a little rotten 7 year old too! :) She loves to talk-and talk-and talk. She loves to tell stories. She is a girlie girl to the bone. She would repaint her nails everyday if I would let her. She totally thinks that when you turn 6 that you should be able to wear make up! HA-Ya right! She has so much love to give. She loves her family so much and makes sure that we know it everyday. She even makes sure that Alix knows how much she loves her. She loves her little brother. There has never been a day of jealousy since he was born. I thought we might have a problem with that-but never has she even hinted of being jealous.

She is a very caring little girl. She always has a laugh and a smile for you. Even at the worst times. Even when she is in trouble and threatened with a spanking she can't stop smiling-she just has too much happiness inside her (that is what she tries to tell us! ha)

Aja is such a wonderful part of our family. She starts 2nd grade on Monday and is very excited. She keeps us on our toes and there is never a dull moment with her around. She teaches us something new almost everyday about parenting and how to parent with love and not anger (if you get my drift! :)) She has such a sweet little spirit though and people love her everywhere that we go.

Happy Birthday Aja! I hope this year is your best year yet!!

NoTHinG CuTeR

2009-08-28T22:31:00.004+09:00

I dare you to find anything cuter than these 2!!

This is our adorable little man Bang and our friends daughter Breanna. They are our friends that are stationed at mainland right now. After going and visiting them and seeing what a cutie pie their daughter is makes me realize that we really should have an arranged marriage between the two! HA! She is only 14 months older than him-who cares-what's the saying-age ain't nothing but a number!! HA!

MaInLAnD JaPaN

2009-08-20T21:34:00.011+09:00

2 weeks ago we went to mainland Japan (Iwakuni to be exact) to visit our very good friends the Whites. We had such a good time. We can't wait to go back again next summer to visit them again-and we can't wait for them to come visit us here in Okinawa.

It was Bang's 1st plane ride and he did great. It was only an hour and 15 minute flight-but he did great.

We haven't seen them since they left California in June of 2008 so it was good to go out and let loose with them again. We got a babysitter (that they know and trust obviously) and we went out and sang karaoke and had some drinks and hung out at the SNCO club there on base. We had a good time. It was nice to be able to hang out with some friends and have a good time-we haven't had that since we have been here-I don't think we make friends easily! :)

Mike and David played darts when we were having some drinks at the SNCO club.

They took us to do a lot of neat stuff while we were there. We ended up staying for 4 days-it was going to be longer but all of the flights out of Okinawa had gotten cancelled due to a typhoon coming-but that's okay-next time we go we will finish doing everything that we didn't get to do this time!

We went to eat at a GREAT place the Chicken Shack and some little japaneese boys started to play with Bang-I had to move him to the corner to get them away (hello swine flu is everywhere over here!!)

Here's how happy he was I moved him to the corner!! (I'm kidding!!) But isn't he the cutest!

The food there was SOO good!!

Love to see the girls have learned how to use chopsticks while we have been here!!

Mike and his BFFL (HAHA)! DORKS!

Outside the restaurant

We went on a ferry ride on another day and went to Miyajima?? and here was a japaneese begger. I had to take a picture

It was SOOO ridiculously hot that day. We started removing clothing while we were there.

Then one day we went to 3 falls. It is a place with a waterfall and cliff diving. We got there and it started POURING down raining. We drove all the way there so we stayed for a little bit. Mike did a cliff dive-but he was so nervous doing it that he didn't wait until I got the camera ready underneath the umbrella. He said he just couldn't-he got the nerve so he just had to jump! HA! Maybe next time I'll get him to do it again and get some pictures.

Aja wasn't feeling too good that day so she sat under the umbrella with me while Alix played with Tylor. Alix LOVED it there.

The trip home was interesting to say the least. We took a C130 back. Which is a military cargo plane. Alix and I had come down with the flu that morning (they tested us for swine but it ended up being just regular influenza). Anyway, it was a cargo plane which you sit like this against the walls. Besides the crew it was just us and 1 other family of 4 on the plane.

Interesting story on the flight-we were getting ready to take off and speeding up fast (you know how it is when a plane takes off) you could feel it just take off the ground when all of a sudden the brakes were slammed on and we all flew forward. I looked at one of the crew members that was sitting by me and he said S%&T under his breath-never a good sign. Then he said to me "we just hit a bird". WTF??? We had to land and they had to check the plane to make sure everything was okay before we could leave again. Thank goodness everything was okay and we ended up leaving again 30 minutes later after they did all the checks! How scary! And sweet Aja said, "well is the bird okay?" UMMMM-no Aja-the bird didn't make it!!

We all had to wear ear plugs for the entire flight because the plane is so loud it can cause ear damage.

This picture really cracks me up. Bang didn't know what to think.

The trip was great. We enjoyed it so much and we can't wait to see them again. When Mike comes home from Iraq we are SOO going back to see them again cause we always have such a great time with them.

SaD NeWs

2009-08-06T16:04:00.002+09:00

We got the word this past week that Mike is going to be going to Iraq AGAIN!! I know it's the military life and blah blah blah-but it just stinks. We were told if we came over here to Okinawa then he wouldn't have to deploy again for the 3 years we were here-then BAMM-all that is gone one day. He leaves for training on Aug 24 until the end of Sept-then the 2nd week of Oct he leaves for Iraq until the end of April. The whole situation stinks. None of us are happy about it but there is nothing we can do about it but deal with it and move on.

So now we are preparing for him to leave and trying to spend time together because this was sprung on us so suddenly. So for the next few months whenever anything big is happening (holidays, birthdays, etc) don't expect my posts to be too exciting cause there will always be the sadness that Mike isn't there.

We have found 2 "positives" out of the whole thing. 1-while he is gone the daycare here on base doesn't make us pay daycare so that will save us $1100/month while he is gone 2-when he gets back we will only have 1 year left here in Japan!

We sure are going to miss him and I am so extremely nervous about taking care of 3 kids COMPLETELY ALONE!!! I have absolutely no one here and no support system-but I know God won't give you anything you can't handle-so I am holding on to that!!

SuNdaY MoRniNgS

2009-08-06T15:27:00.004+09:00

Every Sunday morning we go to brunch as a family. I really enjoy it because we just sit and have a good time and talk and spend time together as a family-which is hard sometimes because of all of our schedules we don't get a lot of time with all of us together!

It is at one of the clubs on one of the bases here in Okinawa and they have EVERYTHING there. They not only serve breakfast but also lunch. They also throw in some asian flavor in with it all-which I do not try because some of it just does not seem tasty. Next week I think I will take pictures of that-just so you can see what I am talking about.

Last week this "boy" (grown man) went with us. He is one of Mike's marines and he is a really good guy. He lives in the barracks so he doesn't get out much so I have Mike invite him over for dinner sometimes. Well, Aja has fallen quite smitten with him. She thinks he is just the cutest guy EVER! ha! She is too embarressed to talk to him, eat around him, sit by him or anything. Every time he comes to our house for dinner she wants to hide and eat and she gets soo shy. Mike and I think it is so funny-cause she is usually so wild and crazy-so to see her act like that is so different. His name is Danny Ramirez-he is actually leaving Okinawa in September so Aja will be so sad. But he is going to become a Marine Security Guard at some Embassy in the world-so he is off to bigger and better things (and we are totally pulling for him and wishing him luck!) Anyway, it was very funny the other day he told her "if I was 6 years old you would so be my girlfriend." (He was responding to her telling her sister how cute he is.) She looked at him and said "ooohh you are disgusting!" HA!! I thought that was so funny. She has the biggest little crush on him, but can't imagine having a boyfriend. Hope it stays that way!! HA!

Boy I sure love these two. Aren't they just getting too big too fast!!

7 MoNtHs.....SeRiouSly???

2009-07-31T15:20:00.007+09:00

Michael Jr is 7 months old today (you like that-I called him Michael-how weird-I have NEVER called him Michael besides when making a dr appt or something like that-crazy). Anyway, he is 7 months old today and I can't believe it. This last month FLEW by. Seems like I just wrote his 6 month post. A lot has happened this month and my little guy is getting so big!

He had to go to the hospital 2 days ago-so I know his height and weight.

He is 19 lbs 3 oz.

He is 26.5 in long.

He is growing. CHUB CHUB!!!

What is Bang up to this month you say??

Well, he got 2 teeth-so now he has his little bottom chompers-and he enjoys biting your hand-and I found out first hand-it hurts!

He can sit up unassisted now. He can sit all day-but when he gets excited he throws his head and everything back and just falls-so you have to make sure not to play with him too much unless you can catch him when he falls backwards. (found that out first hand also-he was not happy!)

He has been sick most of this month. I guess going to daycare will do that to you. Right now he actually has bronchitis-so I had to stay home with him today. I had to come home early every day this week with him-so today I just stayed home. Hopefully he'll turn the corner soon and start getting better-it's so sad to see him so sick!

He actually had his first and hopefully last medical emergency this month. I gave him a teeny bite of the lasagna I was eating and within 2 minutes his face was swollen and red. I threw him in the van to rush to the hospital and he stopped breathing on the way there. I was screaming like a freaking maniac and shaking his car seat-luckily we were pulling into the hospital parking lot when that happened. They got him stabilized and after a VERY LONG night in the ER we found out he has a severe life threatening allergy-they said it is to dairy-but we are not believing that because he has eaten ice cream with Mike since he was 3 months old-so we believe it is something else that was in the lasagna-so for now he gets nothing but baby food! Poor guy

He is totally ready to crawl.forward. But for now he goes backwards. It is quite funny to see. He will get up his hands and knees to crawl forward to get something-but he goes backwards and gets mad because he continues to go farther away from what he wants.

He can roll from his back to his stomach now. So no laying on the beds and couches unattended anymore for him.

He began reaching out for you now. If you are by him and he wants you to pick him up then he will hold up his hands.

He has a fit if you leave him in a room by himself. He cries like he just had the worse thing ever happen to him. Makes it pretty difficult for Mike to get ready in the morning.

He loves any kind of baby food that you give him with the exception of green stuff-so no broccoli and chicken combos, no green beans-nothing. He does this overdramatic gaggy thing to let you know that he can't take it!

I'm sure there is more but I just can't seem to think of them right now-so I will have to just add them on next month-cause that is how we roll around here-go with the flow! ha!

He is just the greatest little guy ever! He puts so much joy into our lives every single day. Even when he was so sick this past month and absolutely miserable-he always had a smile for you and could always cheer you up!

SuMMertImE

2009-07-30T19:53:00.004+09:00

The girls have been going to the SAC (School Age Care) for the summer-(basically expensive daycare!). What I LOVE about the program overseas is that they send college kids over here to do programs with the kids so they get to do TONS of things to see the island and to have tons of fun while us parents are slaving away at work! HA!

Mike being the wonderful daddy that he is surprised Alix with her own digital camera so that she could begin documenting her childhood (plus she really really wanted one and was constantly asking for one). So she has been taking it with her when she goes on some fieldtrips.

Here is a picture of some caves that they went to here in Okinawa.

This is what they look like up close.

I just love seeing that she is so happy while she is there. It is never easy leaving the kids not knowing how they are every moment-but you just have to trust that everything is going okay-and these college kids are SOO wonderful with the kids. Alix actually mentioned to me today how she is going to be crying so much when the summer ends because the counselors are going back to the states!

This picture is just disgusting. It is a big type of snake they have here in Okinawa and it is eating a pig. GROSSE!!

He iS sO GrEEdY

2009-07-20T20:47:00.004+09:00

We can't eat in front of Bang.Ever. If you have anything he will start to grunt.whine.talk.scream. Even if he can't eat it (which is almost everything) he still gets mad if you are eating and he sees it and nothing is offered to him.

Mike had a rib that he had bbq'd and he was trying one out to see if they were okay. Well-Bang.did.not.like.it!

He wanted the rib!

So Mike gave it to him.

He didn't know what to do.

Soon he figured it out.

It was pretty funny to see him try!

He is so greedy-this wonderful boy of mine!

33

2009-07-20T20:40:00.002+09:00

This AWESOME guy turned 33 on July 12! (Yes-I am very late in posting-I have been sick and have had a sick baby for the past 2 weeks-so I haven't felt like doing much!)

He is such a great dad and a great husband. We are so lucky to have him! He works hard everyday for us-and we all absolutely love him!

For his birthday we went out to eat and just hung out. The night before we had a date night and it was nice getting out without the kids (which I think we have only done 3 times in the past year).

SlaCKinG...

2009-06-30T21:40:00.002+09:00

I know I have totally been slacking this month on my posting. But read below I just posted 3 new ones. Then for the month of July I will do better at keeping it updated more often. I know that no one gets to see us since we are so far away and you all are on the edge of your seats daily to read about our events! HAHAHA!!

I LiKe eM BiG-I LiKe eM cHunKy

2009-06-30T21:30:00.005+09:00

He is such a chunk and I guess here is part of the reason. He LOVES to eat. He's been on baby food for months now and LOVES all of it!!

6 MonTHS.....aLReAdY?

2009-06-30T20:00:00.007+09:00

I know I say it every month but I just can not believe that he is 6 months today. It is just so crazy to me that he is half a year old. I feel like I was just pregnant!! I remember when he was soo teeny and I just couldn't believe that we had a son. Now he is a chunky monkey and is learning something new everyday.

He had his 6 month check up today-and he is 6 months old today.

He weighs 18 pounds 10 oz.-80th percentile

He is 25.5 inches-30th percentile

He is still short and fat! HaHa!

He is growing so much-it just makes me sad sometimes to see that he isn't a little baby anymore. He is still a baby-just not a baby baby-does that make sense??

What is Bang up to this month?

*He started going to the real daycare center here on base-he is in a room with 3 other babies and there are 2 daycare teachers in his room at all times-and I absolutely LOVE them-they are so great with him. He loves to be around the other babies and just watch them. They have nicknamed him "Mike Tyson". They say that he is always giving mean looks to everyone that comes around-then they saw daddy and realized he gets it honestly! They also call him Michael-San. I didn't tell them that we call him Bang-I think that he probably should learn his real name!HA!

*He rolls over! FINALLY!! He had done it last month a few times-but never more than once at a time-and Mike had never seen him do it. He would only do it like once a week-so you had to try and catch it. Now he does it all the time. He can only roll from his front to his back for now-which is okay, because once he can roll from his front to back we won't be able to leave him anywhere!

*He gets on his knees and scoots himself backwards. Sometimes he'll be quite a few feet away from where you left him-so you really have to watch where you put him.

*He talks ALL the time. Dang-we thought Aja talked a lot-now we have another one. He won't just talk to anyone though. He is like his daddy-only talks to "certain" people-which happens to just be us in the family-so we hear him ALL the time-even at 3 am-not so fun then!

*He can sit up with assistance. He can sit for about 10 seconds by himself-so I think by the end of this month he will probably be sitting all by himself!

*He ABSOLUTELY loves his sisters. Alix can make him laugh like no one else. She always knows how to make him laugh and he always laughs the hardest when he is with her. I love to see it. He can just sit with Aja on the couch and hang out-he is so content when he is with his sisters.

*He had 1 tooth break through. It hasn't really grown a lot but it is there.

*He had his 1st french fry from McDonalds (the french fries here in Japan at McDonalds are even BETTER than the ones in the states-if that is even possible!) He loved it-he wanted more. Of course all he could do was suck out the middle but he enjoyed it.

*He loves Elmo. Every morning I take the girls to daycare and Bang stays at the house with Mike and Mike gets him ready and takes him to daycare (because Mike goes to work 1.5 hours later than me) so while Mike gets ready Bang will just hang out on the couch and watch Elmo-Mike said that he is glued to the TV.

*He began sleeping in his crib. He sleeps there every night now. I am still so paranoid I wake up like 10 times a night to check on him to make sure he is okay-so I am not getting much sleep-but he is. About 3 am or 4 am I will sometimes bring him into our bed and let him finish the night there just cause it makes it easier for me to get that last hour of sleep! HA! He doesn't seem to mind though-he loves our bed!
*He went on a swing at the park for the 1st time. He enjoys it-Kind of! He doesn't want to go barely at all. He doesn't really want it to move-so as long as you barely move the swing he enjoys it. But we had figured this because if you even lift him in the air-he gets scared-so he doesn't like heights obviously.

I think that is pretty much all that is new with Bang. He is just growing so much. He is the peace in our house. When we have all the crazy drama that comes with girls you can always count on him to be so peaceful and give you a boost of happiness. Sometimes we will be so mad or upset and all you have to do is look at him and he'll give you a great big, dimpled smile and you automatically feel peace and everything else doesn't matter! God knew what he was doing when he gave us Bang!!

Oh-the girls also had their yearly physicals today. They both are growing very well and are healthy. The only thing that the doctor said was that Aja is on the short side. She is only in the 7th percentile for her height. We already knew that she was a short one though. When your almost 7 but people still think you are 4 sometimes-your short! HA!

1sT PooL tRiP oF tHe SuMMeR

2009-06-30T19:20:00.004+09:00

We've been to the beach, we've been to the water parks, but we hadn't been to the pool yet. The pools on base here open up on Memorial Day-so this month (like 2 weeks ago-I'm just slow in posting) we took the kids. It was in the evening so it wasn't ridiculously HOT like it is during the day here and there was no one else really there so it was great! We didn't go to the one that we normally go to-but we thought we would try this one out-it was pretty nice-just not as big as the one we usually go to is.

Oh-and this was Bang's 1st time in a pool. He is so laid back it is hard to tell what he really thought of it. He seemed to enjoy it, but it isn't like he was excited about it or anything-guess goes to show that he is his fathers son!! haha

(This picture makes me laugh cause they do their eyebrows the same all the time!)

The girls loved it of course! I remember about 13 months ago Aja was absolutely terrified of pools. I guess you move to an island in Asia where it is so crazy HOT anyone will begin to LOVE a pool and beg to go to one everyday!!

AjA's KaRatE TeST

2009-06-13T13:34:00.004+09:00

Last Sunday Aja had her karate test for her 3rd stripe on her white belt. Alix is totally ready to get her green belt but we have to wait for Sensei to decide that he feels that she is ready-but hopefully it will be next month. I think once she gets her green belt she will be remotivated about it again. Right now she has lost her motivation-I think it is because summer is here and in full effect (upper 90s everyday with HIGH humidity) so they just want to play-but like I always say "In the long run they will thank us!"

Anyway, Aja did great. She earned her 3rd stripe and Sensei thinks that she is doing great! Too bad daddy wasn't there (he was still in the states). But overall it went real well, and afterward they got Baskin Robbins since it was about 100 degrees and there was NO AC in the dojo and we were there for 2 HOURS!! Ahem....anyway, here are some pictures of the day!!

DaDDy'S HOME

2009-06-13T13:12:00.005+09:00

We are so glad that Mike came home this week. He had a good time while back in the states-such a good time in fact he got to stay an extra day! HA! Not purposely though. One of his flights out of NC was delayed so he didn't make his flight out of San Diego to Tokyo so he had to stay in California an extra night. Darn-I bet he was really upset about that! HA!

While he was in California he got to ride his motorcycle with a group of guys that he has "officially" become a member of. They are called the Brotherhood Marine Corps Riders (I think??) and it is all a bunch of Marines/Former Marines who ride American made motorcycles. They are all a bunch of great guys with really great wives-they have always made us feel so welcome so I was glad that he was able to hang out with them for a couple of days. They went on a really big Memorial Day ride and he said it was real nice.

Here is Mike with his friend Franco-he's such a nice guy!

Here he is riding during the Memorial Day ride!

While he was in NC he drove up to Virginia for the weekend and went to the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico. I've never been there and can't wait to go-anyone that knows me knows that I love everything Marine Corps! He brought Bang a sippy cup back that has the Marine Corps emblem on it-can't wait until he can use it!

So even though he had a good time we totally missed him and we are so glad that he is back! (Plus, he was able to do some shopping and bring us all something back! :)) Gotta love that!!

5 mOnThS aLReAdY??

2009-06-01T17:27:00.005+09:00

I can not believe it. Where is the time going? Bang turned 5 months old yesterday. What is Bang doing this month? Well, he started talking a lot more. He seems to always be saying something and gets loud if you don't seem to be paying attention. Does he roll over-no.not.so.much. He did roll over 2 times the other night from his tummy to his back but it scared him and now he won't even try it again!! He does try to scoot-but I think it may be more from throwing fits when he is on his tummy that makes him scoot! He does try to hold his bottle and he can hold it for a little bit as long as it isn't too full. But he is workin on it.

He isn't in his crib yet-but like I said that is my fault-but I think tonight MIGHT be the night. I say that pretty much everyday-but I think that tonight I will try and put him in the crib and see how it goes.

He is still the happiest/smiliest baby that I have ever seen. He is always smiling. But whenever I pull out the camera the smiles go away-so I can rarely get it on film which.I.hate! I so want pictures of his cute little smile with his 1 little dimple that he has-hopefully soon he will get over his amazement of the camera and give a few smiles!!

This next month I know there is going to be A LOT more milestones and exciting things happening. He is going to have his 1st trip to a swimming pool next week-I will definately take photos and he is going to have a few other 1sts that I will be sure to post about.

RyUkYu MuRu

2009-06-01T17:10:00.006+09:00

Last week Aja's class went on a field trip to Ryukyu Muru. It is a little place here that shows a lot of Old Town Okinawa. I had the day off that day so I lucky enough to go along. Alix hasn't been able to have any field trips this year (not enought volunteers for her class) so I kept her home from school and brought her along also.

They got to feed the Carp in the pond there.

They had a good time. Me-not.so.much. It was ridiculously HOT and DingBang does not do well in the heat so he was a mess the entire time and I was sweaty and it just wasn't that fun! But as long as the girls had a good time that is all that matters. They still don't know that I didn't like it. And I'm not going to tell them-because I was/am just glad that we all got to spend the day together.

I forgot what these Dragon these are called but they are a big thing here in Japan.

These ladies were doing a traditional Okinawan dance-I just thought the lady on the right had a REAL big smile so I thought it was funny. She kinda looks like Jamaican Bacon don't ya think!?! ha!

MeMoRiAL DaY

2009-05-25T17:14:00.004+09:00

Today it is hot outside and the weather is nice-great for a bbq. With Mike gone I thought I may be brave and bbq for the girls myself. Well, Bang is just too fussy these past few days for me to do that. As soon as I put him down he starts to cry-so I have been carrying him around in a carrier on my chest all day practicly.(sp?) I think he is teething-cause it does look like a tooth has popped through on the bottom-but I'll look again tomorrow to get a definate cause I may just be seeing things!

I did take the kids to Torii Beach today-it is an Army base here on Okinawa. They have a water slide and a few little things for the kids to get wet with. They enjoyed it. Aja was too scared to go down the water slide for some reason-but Alix loved it. They had a good time. Even Bang seemed to enjoy it. He LOVES to be outside though. He also liked watching the girls play in the water. I tried to get him to touch it a little bit-but when I had him touch it he got scared. So maybe next time.

Alix went down the slide and loved it!

This is Bang's idea of a good time-trying to eat his toys!!

TuMMy TiMe

2009-05-24T08:27:00.005+09:00

Bang.Hates.It. He hasn't liked it EVER! He'll scream.He'll cry.He'll bury his face in the ground.

Since he is STILL not rolling over I thought that I would try tummy time on a boppy pillow-to see if that would be a little better for him. Not.So.Much.

This is what I get within 30 seconds of laying him on his tummy.

Then it goes from bad.to.worse

The I think we have a breakthrough-

Nope-just a 3 second break to let me know he REALLY hates it

He looks around like he can't believe I'm taking pictures instead of moving him.

Here goes the drama with the head burying

Who would've thought that laying on your tummy would bring such drama??

And tummy time ends with still no rolling over. Sheesh!

CaLi HeRe We He Comes!!!

2009-05-23T15:37:00.002+09:00

Ya-all I have to say is not fair!! Mike is on an airplane right now on his way to California. So not fair! He had to go for work for a few days so he has decided to just turn it into a little vacation and he is going to fly out to North Carolina to see his parents for about 10 days also. So now I sit here with 3 sleeping kids cause we had to get up so early to take him to the airport and thinking about how my husband is going to be gone for 2 weeks-and how I am SO extremely wishing that we were all on our way to California!! But I hope he has a good time and this is a good little break for him because he has been working so hard! (But I still hate that we are stuck on this crappy island!!)

cUtE kIdS

2009-05-15T17:59:00.003+09:00

I know they are my kids but I think that they are the most absolute cutest kids out there. I love that I can take so many pictures every day to remember these days because before I know it they will be all grown (tear). Even though right now Alix and Aja say that they are going to live with us forever (I don't think so) and Aja even says that she is going to move her husband and kids in with us (Mike laughed hard at that one! ha!!)

The other day we had Bang sitting in his Bumbo seat and the girls of course were just lovin him up the entire time. He seemed to be more interested in the TV a lot of the time and seemed to be trying to ignore us.

I SuRe LoVe tHem!!

2009-05-13T18:09:00.003+09:00

Nothing exciting is going on right now. I'm working at my job and really enjoying it-I'm trying to still get the hang of working and coming home and making dinner and cleaning the house and getting the kids ready for bed and for the next day.

I am excited because I am planning a trip to the states that we are going to take over Christmas and New Years. We are going to see both of our families and stop by NYC and see Singh (so if you are reading this Singh let us know when is good for us to come see you!:))

But before we go to the states we are going to mainland Japan to see our good friends The Whites. We totally miss them and are really excited to see them. We were going in July but my boss wouldn't approve anymore leave so we have now postponed the trip for Labor Day-which we are bummed about but it'll be here before we know it!!

Anyway, since I don't have really anything exciting to write about I just wanted to say how much I love my kids!!

My little girl Alix is growing up so fast and will be in 4th grade next year! WOW-I can't believe it she is such a big girl now.

My "baby" Aja is also getting so big. She'll be in 2nd grade next year and is just too sassy for her own good. We are in for it with this one!

And my Bang. Isn't he the cutest, chunkiest thing you've ever seen. He is the sanity in our house. They say babies usually bring chaos in the house. Definately not this little guy. He is such a peaceful little baby. He is always happy and such a joy to have around. I took him to my job for a few minutes yesterday and he just smiled and giggled at all the ladies. He is a little flirt-and loves to show his dimpled little smile!!

Tomorrow I am going to post some very cute pictures that I have of the kids from yesterday. They aren't downloaded yet and the camera is upstairs-but I'll download them tomorrow and post them. Too cute!!

3rD KaRatE TeSt!

2009-05-13T17:58:00.003+09:00

Here we go again. About a week ago the girls had another karate test. Normally they aren't that close together but for the month of March and April they were messed up so they got off schedule.

Aja got tested for her 2nd stripe kata and Alix got tested for her 3rd stripe kata.

They both passed! Yea!!! Next level for Alix is for her green belt-which is exciting. When she gets her green belt she can then begin to learn weapons. Which I think will be real neat for her. I love this oppurtunity that they are getting to learn these things. It teaches them so much. I hope they will never have to use the skills that they are learning-but in case they need to they know them which is good to know. We do have to tell Alix to stop practicing on her sister though. She will give her a random kick in the stomach-we have DEFINATELY let her know that she needs to practice by herself-NOT on her sister!!!

4 mOnTHs oLd!!

2009-05-03T21:06:00.004+09:00

Bangarang is 4 months old now (actually 2 days ago he was). He is getting bigger every day I swear. He had his 4 month check up this week and boy he has grown!!

He weighs 14 lbs 12 oz (50th percentile)

He is 23 1/2 inches long (20th percentile)

So my little guy is still a short, chubby, adorable baby that LOVES to smile! He is probably my smiliest baby yet. Everytime the camera comes out though he gets intrigued by the light and just looks amazed instead of smiling-but trust me he loves to smile. You can always tell if something is wrong, if you talk to him and you smile at him and he doesn't smile back then he is upset about something.

Things that Bang started doing this month-

*Started sleeping through the night without having to be swaddled (he has been sleeping through the night for about a month and a half now but he always had to be swaddled-but now for 3 nights now he hasn't been swaddled and still has slept through the night! YEA!!!)

*Started jumping in his jumperoo toy-absolutely LOVES this thing. He goes to town when he is in it.

*Had his 1st Easter and was absolutely uninterested in all the hoopla

*Went to the beach for the 1st time and put his feet in the sand. He found it very interesting and loved grabbing it

*Follows our voices now. He probably started this a few weeks ago

*Really wants our attentiuon and lets us know it. If we are in the same room as him but talking to eachother-he will definately let us know by yelling at us that he wants our attention.

*He started day care this month also. Very sad because I miss being with him all day-but I know it is for the best for our family because I now have a job with the government that I will be able to retire from one day (and the government isn't an easy employer to get with so we feel extremely blessed) He seems to enjoy going-right now he goes to a babysitter cause we are on the waiting list for the daycare on base-but she is a really nice lady and he seems happy there. I know she is taking care of him.

No he hasn't started rolling over yet, and yes he should be by now. But this little guy is lazy and spoiled. He has no desire to roll over or even attempt it for that matter. When we put him on his tummy for tummy time he either a-screams horribly cause he hates it so much, or b-lays down and goes to sleep. He will not try and roll over at all. I keep trying, but each day I have no success. Mike says he'll do it when he's ready-I'm just afraid with how spoiled he is he'll never be ready! ha!

We love our Bang and he is so fun to have around. The girls absolutely love spoiling him and having him around. He is such a happy baby. But when he is mad he will definately let you know.

Things that I am hoping he will begin this month are-

*Rolling over (I sure hope so-but then I'll probably complain cause he'll be all over the place! ha!)

*Sleeping in his crib (this is more of a goal for me-right now he sleeps in my room in his bassinett-cause I just want him close to me-but I have made progress-the bassinett is no longer right next to my side of the bed, now it is at the foot of our bed-that is DEFINATELY progress for me, so now I hope I can actually put him in his VERY expensive crib that he has!)

*Holding his own bottle (I don't remember exactly when the girls started doing this, but it seems with as fat as his little butt is he should be able to hold it himself-even though I love to feed him, I think he should be able to do it if need be!)

2nd KaRaTe TeSt

2009-04-26T17:17:00.006+09:00

I'm a little behind in posting but the girls took another karate test last Sunday. For Alix she was testing for her second green stripe and Aja was testing for her first. They did really well. We were so proud.

Aja was really nervous the night before and the morning of but she ended up calming down and did a good job. She just gets nervous about being in front of people-and I totally don't blame her for that. I totally know how she feels!!

Alix of course isn't worried about that and did a great job just as she did last time.

Here are the judges who say if they pass their kata or not.

So they both passed and so now Aja is a "1 striper" and Alix is a "2 striper". They are really doing good at it. I hope they end up wanting to do it for a long time. Right now Aja does not like it. She would rather stay at home and play-so we have to make her go-but once she gets there she is fine with it and enjoys herself. Some people don't agree with that-but that is okay. That is what we do because it is good for her and it teaches discipline. One day she will thank us (at least I hope! ha!)

My MeN

2009-04-26T17:06:00.004+09:00

Don't the 2 men in my life look just alike??

LaTe EaSTeR PoST

2009-04-21T18:28:00.003+09:00

Ya I know Easter was over a week ago but I started my job the day after Easter so I am still trying to get the hang of working full time again and having a baby-plus the girls and everything they have going on-and I started the hitting the gym during lunch-so needless to say I'm tired!

Anyway, we went out the gate of base and to the seawall and took some pictures of the kids on Easter. Here are a few of them. Easter was good. We just spent time together as a family. We did an Easter egg hunt with a few girls from the neighborhood (the ONE family that we speak to in our neighborhood.)

This is before we left-isn't he the cutest thing you have EVER seen!!!

ThIs LiTTlE BoY...

2009-04-18T22:36:00.002+09:00

is so spoiled. He is the baby of the house and he definately knows it. He is spoiled by Mike and I and definately by his sisters. They fight for his attention constantly-I'm glad that he knows he is loved! If he even so much whimpers Alix will drop whatever she is doing to run to him to see if he needs anything. Mike and I laugh-because she doesn't even give us the oppurtunity to do anything before she is jumping to it.

Well, now Bang (we sometimes shorten DingBang ha!) knows this and he definately will let us know if we are not paying enough attention to him.

Oh-and did I mention how fat he is getting? Yes he sure is! I have some pictures that I need to post that can show his little chubs but they are still on my camera and I am upstairs in bed-so that will have to be a post tomorrow!

SpRiNG bReAK

2009-04-18T22:26:00.004+09:00

A lot has happened since I did my last post. I have just been real busy that I haven't had time to blog. But I'm gonna work on it this weekend to get all caught up then it will hopefully be easier!

The girls had spring break 2 weeks ago and we didn't do much-I was busy getting everything that I needed to get done done because I started working this last week (that will be a different post). So they had a lot of sleepovers, and jumping on the trampoline and we went out to eat a few days and just hung out around the house a lot! It was nice to have a little vacation with the kids and we didn't have anywhere that we had to be or had to do-which was great!

UgHHHHH

2009-04-01T16:57:00.003+09:00

I absolutely can not stand when people say "It is what it is!" What does that even mean? What is it? If I have a problem with something I do not want to hear "It is what it is!" My husband says this and it makes me absolutely mental!! UGGHHHH!!!

But isn't this the cutest little guy ever??

aLiX yOu kNoW eVeRYthInG

2009-03-31T10:14:00.005+09:00

Last night while I was driving the girls to karate we were listening to Beyonce's new cd "I Am.. Sasha Fierce" and there is a song on there called Diva. The chorus of the song says "A diva is a female version of a hustler of a hustler."

Aja asks "what is a hustler?" and I am thinking to myself "Great how am I going to explain that." then I hear Alix "A hustler is someone who hustles. Like Ms. Griffin (their PE teacher) always says that we need to hustle, that is what a hustler is-so a Diva is just a girl who hustles." I put a little smile on my face and decide that I am definately just going to let it be left at that. Then Aja says "Alix you are so smart. You like know EVERYTHING!!" She sure does!!

AuDiOlOgISt

2009-03-31T09:51:00.003+09:00

(Here he is ignoring us when we are getting in the car. Yes those are socks on his hands-he has taken up a habit of scratching his eyes out!)

I took Dingbang to the Audiologist yesterday because sometimes he just won't look at us when we talk to him or he seems like loud noises or anything doesn't phase him. Mike will growl at him and make crazy noises that use to scare the girls but Dingbang just looks away like "whatever". So I wanted to make sure everything was okay.

When we went in they explained to me how they were going to test his ears and what would happen if something was wrong. So they did the test and they said that his hearing is just fine. Absolutely nothing wrong with him. He doesn't even have dirty ears (something I thought maybe would be blocking sound???). So I asked the doctor "how come then a lot of times when we are talking to him or his daddy makes sounds that you would think would get his attention he just looks away?" The doctor said "He has no trouble hearing-he's just ignoring you." GREAT-3 months old and already knows to ignore us! Oh the fun we are going to have! ha!

dInGbAnG iS 3 mOnTHs oLd ToDaY

2009-03-31T09:47:00.004+09:00

Today our little guy is 3 months old. Where has the time gone? He is getting so big and chubby that I can hardly remember when his little legs were so wrinkled because he didn't have enough fat to fill in his skin!

Right now he loves music and lights. He loves to watch us and laugh. He has been the real talker lately with all of his coos and ahhh's. Last night before we went to bed Mike was holding him and I was sitting next to them. Dingbang and I talked for at least 15 minutes back and forth. Mike said both of us were crazy (probably because no real words were spoken at all! ha!)

He has a bunch of little mommies. His sisters just love to take care of him and are ALWAYS fighting over who gets to hold him or do things for him.

He looks more like his daddy everyday! I can't believe how much he looks just like Mike. Sometimes they will just stare at eachother and it makes me laugh because they are so identical.

He is such a fun little guy and we are so super glad that he is part of our family!

We Love you DingBang!!

I GoT a JoB!!

2009-03-29T17:36:00.002+09:00

I FINALLY got a job! We have been praying and praying and having faith that God would help me get a job-and he did! And it is a good job at that. It is a Government job which is great because I'll be in the Government system now and the way that it works is when we go back to the states no matter what base we are at I take the letter that I receive here from them and I automatically get top priority in placement within the government system. So if everything works out I should have a steady job no matter where we are stationed!
This is a complete blessing and we are so excited. I start on April 13-which is great because that is when the girls go back to school after spring break. Also, it works out great because back when we first got here (back in June) we put Dingbang on the waiting list for the daycare here on base (basically the only place I really feel safe having him go) and I called on Friday when I found out I got the job and they told me he is #2(which is a miracle in itself with how long it takes to get in the daycare here on base). So hopefully if all goes well, he will be in by the 13th.
This is such a blessing for our family. We really wanted to come over here to save money to buy a house and now this is just helping so much more! Plus, I really hate it here so I was really getting down right angry that I am here-so this gave me a little smile in my heart! (I still hate it here though! ha!)

wHaTS tHe BIG deAl???

2009-03-14T10:22:00.005+09:00

This is the car that Mike fantasizes about. I think it is the Challenger?? (I can never remember these things) They brought 1 to the island because the Burger King here on island is giving one away. Oh how Mike wishes that he could win it. But since we rarely eat fast food (because it is so ridiculously unhealthy) then I told him his chances to win it are pretty slim! ha! They had it on display earlier this week and of course we HAD to go see it. I haven't been able to stop hearing about it since.

Here is the inside of it!

2 MoNth cHecK uP

2009-03-13T15:13:00.010+09:00

My baby had his 2 month check up today. Here are the stats...

He weighs 11 lbs 3 oz (20th percentile)

He is 21.5 inches (2 percentile)

His head is 39 cm (15th percentile)

He is very healthy and growing well! The Dr did say that he is a little shorty though! Hopefully he'll grow out of that (literally! ha!)

He also got his first 3 shots today. He was not happy about that at all. He was sleeping before he got them so we had to wake him up so the corpsman didn't just stick him. When he did get stuck he held his breath and turned deep red! Poor baby!! He was so upset!

Here he is a few minutes after the shots while I was making his next appt.

He did really well though...considering.

Aren't these the cutest chub legs!? Here are his little band aids.

Here he is when it was all over and he passed out! We made it threw the first of many!

MusT bE CoMfY!!

2009-03-06T19:18:00.005+09:00

It seems every time DingBang is on his boppy pillow he always manages to get in positions that look like he is just worn the heck out! No matter how we position him he always ends up like this

or this

but isn't this the cutsest little butt ever???

ThiNGs wE aRe TotALLy MiSSinG...

2009-03-06T17:56:00.007+09:00

Okay, I don't think it is a secret that we are totally hating it here. I think I am hating it a little more than the rest of the family, but overall I think it is a general feeling that we all want to be back in the States.

I guess the first thing that I am missing is a full-time JOB!! It is next to impossible to get one here-at least a good one where it makes it worth it to put the baby in day care. I have 2 part time jobs (a bus monitor and a substitute teacher) but neither one of them really have hours to make it even worth it. The American government has some crazy deal with the Japaneese over here where they will give like 90% of the jobs on base to the Japaneese-well that puts us Americans who are over here because our husbands have to be here in a hard spot because we don't get priority-they do. SUCKS!! I am really hoping and praying for a good job to come around soon. Eventually one has to right???

Another thing is Wal-Mart. Oh to be able to go inside a Wal-Mart. I love Wal-Mart-they have everything. And if one doesn't have what you need then you drive another mile or so to the next one and you know they will.

An example of why I am really missing Wal-Mart. The baby has had tummy gas for about 10 days where at times he is really upset and I think it is cause his little tummy has been hurting cause he has gas. Well, all we have here is the PX and the commissary. So I go to the commissary to get him some gas drops-they don't carry them. So we go to the PX-they carry them but are all out. So for 10 days every day either myself or Mike went there every day to see if they had gotten them in yet. FINALLY today they had some-I snatched them up quick. Once I got home I thought I should probably have bought 2 bottles-just in case. See, in the States we wouldn't have that problem, there would be at least 20 stores nearby with gas drops!!

We also miss our little trips to Las Vegas. We went maybe 2 times a year, but knowing that we were close and could go was great. Now it seems so far off to when we will be able to go.

(Here we are in Vegas with our good friends the Whites!)

We also miss going on rides on the Harley. I think Mike definately misses this more than me, but I miss it to. It was always good to be able to get a baby sitter and go on a ride and spend some time together. We don't get that here.

We miss California weather! Here in Okinawa it is either ridiculously HOT and humid or it is raining like crazy. Yesterday the rain was coming down hard and I absolutely had to go out in it with the baby cause I had to take some paperwork in (looking for a job of course!) I have never had to try to get from our house to the vehicle with a newborn baby in the POURING rain and try to keep both of us dry. Well, he stayed dry-me not so much. I was pretty much drenched before I got in the van! Made me realize we need a much bigger umbrella so that both of us can stay dry under it, yesterday I just had it over him because it wouldn't fit us both!

I miss our stuff!! We were only allowed to bring 25% of our things when we came-which basically was nothing. Mike and I don't even have our King size bed. We could only bring our Queen size which is our guest bed. Don't get me wrong-it is comfortable, but it is only big enough for Mike. We need our King!! We couldn't bring our washer and dryer-which I totally miss. The house we live in comes with some that I totally hate. I have a front loading washer and dryer-these aren't-they just aren't the same!!

The list could go on and on but I will stop for now.

Don't get me wrong I know that there is SOO much in my life to be grateful for. But that isn't what this post is about-ha! Tomorrow I will do the things in my life that I am grateful for just to even things out!

DinGbaNG is 2 MonTHs oLd!

2009-03-03T13:23:00.001+09:00

Wow-these past 2 months have gone by so fast. I can't believe that he is already 2 months. But at the same time it seems like he has always been a part of our family.

Look at that forehead and eyes-if that isn't his daddy!!!

I don't have his stats yet cause his dr's appt is on March 13-but I think he has probably doubled his birth weight. He is a little fatty! ha!

He started smiling a couple weeks ago and he has got the cutest little smile. It is hard to get him to smile sometimes cause most of the time I think that he thinks we are all crazy. At least that is how he looks at us.

He must think that I am a weirdo cause of all of the pictures I always take of him!

He still hates baths, he hates people being too close to his face, and he does not like it if he is awake and someone isn't paying attention to him. (Makes it very difficult to get anything done during the day when he wakes up, and it is difficult to fall asleep!)

This is the look that he gives me when I think that he is thinking I'm crazy! He'll go from a smile to this look within seconds if you do anything odd! ha

He loves to sleep during the day, he loves bananas, he loves his sisters, and he loves to be outside.

He is such a happy baby and we absolutely love him! It is hard to imagine how our lives were without him.

I LoVe THeSe 3!!

2009-03-03T09:38:00.001+09:00

AliX PaSSed hEr KaRatE teSt

2009-03-01T16:05:00.000+09:00

The beginning of December both of the girls started taking karate. They go 3 nights a week from 5-6:30. I figured we are here in Okinawa where they have the REAL karate masters (HELLO-Mr. Miyagi). So we signed them up and they are taught by a REAL japaneese Sensei. Well, Alix got to test for her first stripe today. And she did it. Now she has her first stripe. She did awesome at testing and she is really making progress. We are so proud of her.

WhY WHaT BIG eYeS yOu hAvE...

2009-02-27T18:41:00.000+09:00

All of my kids have big eyes. My DingBang is no exception. This picture cracks me up-it is after one of his baths (which he hates..still...)

but they are always big when he is looking at something with interest. My mother-in-law says they come from my father-in-law. Wherever they come from they sure are cute on my kiddos!!

FiRSt BaNaNaS

2009-02-26T18:26:00.000+09:00

We always start our kids on baby food early. We try it out at about 6 weeks and see if their tummys can handle it and if they can then we feed them different things. Well, we tried DingBang on bananas about 10 days ago (I think) and he LOVES them. He knew from the first go what to do. He can swallow like a champ. Since he is still so small it is a 2 person job-Mike holds him I feed. Another plus is that he sleeps SOO much better at night now. He only wakes up 1 time a night. Hopefully that will soon be done with also. By this age Aja was sleeping through the night-he needs to catch up! ha

WhO iS YuNG JoC?

2009-02-21T16:47:00.000+09:00

Only the famous Rap Star that we met today!! Mike met him earlier this week when he had to drive him and his "Swag Team" to dinner. They decided to go bowling so Mike got to meet all of them. Well, he told them that the girls wanted to meet him and he said Sure. So today we got to meet him. He is real nice and down to earth-not what you would think of a rapper. Alix was being Alix and totally a brat at the time and just kept looking at him crazy, but Aja was just way happy-so happy in fact she forgot to ask him for his autograph. Then when she remembered he was already in his van leaving. It isn't everyday that you get to meet someone famous-plus I LOVE his song. I think I might have been a little happier than the girls were to meet him!! haha

WheRe DiD DinGbaNG cOmE FroM??

2009-02-21T16:31:00.000+09:00

No-not THAT story! haha! My sister in law asked where the nickname came from and just so everyone knows so for future reference there is no question about it.

When I got pregnant we were sure that it was going to be another girl. We had girl names picked out and were sure that it was going to be our 3rd girl. Mike is probably the only man alive that wasn't hoping for his BOY finally!! We figured since we already have 2 girls-we know how to do girls so we were wanting to stick with what we know!

Well, when we found out it was a boy was it a shock to us. And there was definately no doubt about it-it was a boy! So then became the task of thinking of boy names-we had never even thought about it before. Weeks went by and we couldn't agree on anything. So one day when I was at Mike's work eating lunch with him we decided to Google "Boys Names". Tons of sites pulled up and we clicked on one. When we started looking through it we saw the name DINGBANG. We laughed and said who would name their kid Dingbang. Well, it is Korean and means Protect the country. So we started to call the baby Dingbang while I was pregnant cause we thought it was kinda funny. But then it stuck and he became our little Dingbang. Well, all this time we still hadn't thought of a REAL name for him. So when he was born it took us over a week to finally just make him a Junior cause we never could decide on a name. But he is still our little Dingbang!!

HoW cUTe cAn a DiNGBanG Be??

2009-02-11T09:23:00.001+09:00

My little Dingbang is the cutest thing ever. Even though he is still not sleeping through the night and absolutely makes me miserable at night I still think that you can't get much cuter than him.

He may hate us when he is older for giving him the nickname DingBang-but for now it is just the cutest and I don't think anyone could ever find a cuter one!

It'S aBouT tiMe!!

2009-02-11T09:07:00.000+09:00

So yesterday after school Alix and Aja wanted to go to their friends house that lives the next neighborhood over (but close enough for them to ride their bikes-plus we live on base!) Anyway, I told them they could go but had to be home by 3:00 (it was 1:40-yes they get out of school that early everyday!!)

About 15 minutes later the phone rings and when I answer it it is Alix telling me that I need to come and pick up Aja. I ask why when she had her bike. Alix says, "We were on the trampoline and now 2 of Aja's teeth have fallen out and now she's bleeding and screaming bad." So I pack up DingBang (the baby for those of you who don't know) and I hurry and drive to get her. By the time I got there she was so happy with her 2 teeth in a bag and excited that she is FINALLY going to get a visit from the tooth fairy!

We never thought these teeth were going to fall out. She is 6 1/2 and these are the first teeth that she has lost. Alix was 5 when she started losing them so I thought all kids lost them at about that time.

Last night she couldn't wait for the tooth fairy to come. She wrote her a note and this is what it said, "Dear Tooth Fairy, Please leave me $200 so that I can buy a new necklace and a new hair straightener that my mommy will let ME use because I want to be the prettiest girl in my class." How sweet is Aja.

The tooth fairy wrote her back and left it with the money. The note said, "Dear Aja, Not already are you the prettiest girl in your class but you are the prettiest girl in 1st grade. You don't need all that stuff. But what you do need to do is to start being good and listening to your mommy and daddy." When Aja brought it to me this morning to show me, she said "I need to let the tooth fairy know that she doesn't know what she is talking about!" UGHH-at least we tried!

Back In Business

2009-02-05T18:08:00.000+09:00

So it has been almost a year since I have posted anything. I've been kinda busy and kinda just lazy and not feeling like posting. I am now officially back blogging and I am going to continue to update it hopefully daily-but if not-then almost daily.

The biggest thing in our life this past year is we had a baby!! His name is Michael Jr. and he was born on December 31, 2008. He was 6 lbs 6 oz and 18.5 inches long. He is absolutely wonderful! It is so different having a baby after 6 years-but I am so glad we did cause he totally completes our family!

As everyone pretty much knows we are also living in Okinawa Japan now until 2011. I absolutely hate it but this is where we have to be right now so we are dealing with it the best we can. The girls do not like it here but they are doing pretty good. The military kids here are A LOT different then they are use to. They just want their old friends back. But all of that is for another post-there is a lot to discuss there!

More updates to come!!

LiTTlE bReAk!

2008-05-29T09:19:00.000+09:00

It has been a LONG time since I have blogged. We have just been crazy busy with getting ready to move around the world and all! :) So much has happened in the past 2 months I am trying to figure out how I am going to post it all. One of the big things that happened at the end of April was my girls' best friends moved to Missouri. It was their first really close friends that they have ever said good bye too.

It was very sad and we all cried. Alix, Aja and myself and all of them did also. We have lived across the street from them since July of 2005 and basically for 3 years our kids were together EVERY day! My kids were either at their house or they were at mine. I kinda felt like I was saying good bye to some of my kids in a weird way-that is just how I looked at them.

So with them gone, my girls have been having to readjust these last few weeks without them and so we have been helping out by taking them places and doing extra fun things. So I have some pictures of Universal Studios, Sea World, the beach and a lot of other things. I need to get it all done because on June 17 we leave for Japan-and I am sure I will have TONS to post about then!

EaSTeR!

2008-03-25T11:38:00.000+09:00

Every year for the past 3 years we have done an Easter egg hunt with one of my friends and her girls. Her kids are best friends with my kids so it works out great. We hide tons of eggs and let them go crazy trying to find them. This year was no different. They had a great time finding the eggs and we had 2 eggs that had 5 dollar bills in them-ironically my girls got them both-they were really stoked about that.

After the hunt we went to our other friends house and had a really nice lunch. While the adults hung out the kids all got on the slip n slide. The day turned out great. We REALLY missed Mike-but only a few more weeks and he will be here to join in all of the festivities!!

CoMMuNiTY EaStER PaRtY!

2008-03-25T11:27:00.000+09:00

On Saturday the military community where we live held the annual Easter Party. Lots of fun was had by all. They did face painting (which my kids are total suckers for), a clown with balloons, jumpers, a BBQ, the Easter Bunny and of course egg hunts. They did about 5 throughout the day-so the kids left with plenty of eggs and candy-not as if they really need more! But we had a good time and it will be our last one since we are moving, so I'm glad the weather worked WONDERFUL in our favor-it was in the 80's-you can not beat that!

ScHooL SPriNG CaRNiVaL

2008-03-25T11:04:00.001+09:00

About a week ago we had the annual spring carnival at their school. It happened to not be the best weather that day so it was kinda chilly which made me want to cut it short. So we only stayed a few hours then we had to go-I was just too cold.

The girls had a lot of fun. They had about 5 jumpers, food, cotton candy, a petting zoo, pony rides (my girls were not interested in getting on the the ponies though :)), little stands to buy different stuff and just a lot of fun.

We are sad that Mike wasn't here to go with us, but that's the military life you get use to it!

SoCCeR!

2008-03-25T10:46:00.001+09:00

Since Mike left a few weeks ago we have been trying to stay busy. We have been doing quite a good job at it also. I think that is my problem today-I am just so tired. Anywho- the girls started soccer a few weeks ago and I don't think that Aja is feelin it too much. She is a lot littler than all the other 5 year olds so she is really intimidated and as she says it "I just don't want the ball to touch me!" So she spends a lot of the time on the field running BEHIND everyone else and the ball. But she did kick it twice at last week's game so we have made some progress! :)

Alix on the other hand loves it and is her Team Captain. They have lost both of their games so far-but they came closer to winning last week. I told her this next week should be their lucky week! She tried goalie last week also and did pretty good. She doesn't deal well with pressure so that position might be too much pressure for her. We'll see how it goes.

MiSSinG Mike!!!

2008-03-08T03:58:00.001+09:00

On Wednesday Mike had to go to North Carolina for 5 weeks for training for the military. We really miss him-I REALLY miss him. It is like I just started getting used to him being back home and around and now he is gone again. It's only 5 weeks so it won't be that bad. But when he gets back we will be moving to Japan a month later! Time sure is flying-WOW!!

wHat HaPPeNs IN vEgAS...

2008-03-08T03:45:00.000+09:00

Well, we are back and boy was it great! We went to Vegas for 4 days and it was nice just getting away the two of us with no agenda and absolutely no plans except to have a GOOD time! Our most favorite place there is the Toby Keith Bar & Grill at the Harrah's Casino so of course we went there I think 2 days while we were there. It is always a GUARANTEED good time when you go there. Since it was also Nascar weekend in Vegas I guess Nascar fans love Toby also-so it was packed-but we had a great time. We met some really nice people and enjoyed ourselves.

The first couple of days were really bad in the gambling area. We were not doing well at all. But the very last night we were there we tried to redeem ourselves and we won about $420.00. It was so fun. Who would've thought that a casino would have a table game WAR-just like when we were kids. It was so much fun.

We really missed the kids so on Mar 1 we came back and it was nice to see them again.

We really enjoyed our little time away though-it has been so long since we have been able to do anything like that and we really took advantage of it!

I've bEEn TaGGeD!!

2008-03-08T03:32:00.000+09:00

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
10 Years Ago: I was living in Japan getting ready to get orders to come back to Californina-dating Mike.
5 Things on my To-Do List today: Take Aja to school, go to school myself, finish laundry, clean my bedroom
Snacks I enjoy: Salt & Vinegar chips, guacomole
Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Build a big house, buy out my husbands military contract, invest, travel with my family
3 of my bad habits: I also answer questions if someone asks my kids a question, I'm not organized, I'm always late
5 places I have lived: West Valley UT, Okinawa Japan, Oceanside, CA, Parris Island, SC, Jacksonville, NC
5 jobs I have had: A Marine, a office manager for a construction company, a corporate property management assistant
5 things people don't know about me: I love to sleep, I hate wearing high heels, I can touch my nose with my tongue, I'm trying to learn Japaneese, I always look for the negative in something (maybe this one should go under my bad habits!:))

GooD dAy

2008-02-27T13:52:00.000+09:00

Today was a good day. Mike has taken leave (which is vacation for the civilian world :)) The temperature was about 75 and it was great! The girls went to school, I finished my homework, and we decided to go on a motorcycle ride. The weather was so good I couldn't have asked for it to be better! We went on a ride to lunch at Red Lobster (which by the way Mike's was great mine was not so great!) Anyway, we then came home and were hanging out with the girls and spending time as a family-then watching the democratic debate! GO BARACK!!!! It was a great day to spend together because tomorrow it is OFF TO VEGAS!!!! YAY!

LeGOLanD

2008-02-24T14:21:00.001+09:00

Well the rain stopped last night and we went to LegoLand today. We didn't tell the girls we were going we wanted to surprise them. So when we all got ready this morning I told them they couldn't play outside cause we had errands to run. Well that didn't go over to well. Alix especially was mad that she would have to spend her Saturday running around with Mom and Dad. When we got to LegoLand (it is only 10 min from our house) and pulled in to the parking they couldn't believe it. They could not believe we had tricked them-but weren't they embarressed about the fuss they had made at the house! HAHA!!

We rode all the rides-and Aja is FINALLY barely tall enough to ride the rides accompanied by an adult-dang she's almost 6 and barely hits 42 inches! :) The first rollercoaster even scared me. Alix cried the whole time that she wanted off-then soon as it ended she said "Lets do that again! I only wanted off cause I have to pee!" SURE IT IS!! HAHA

The girls in front of The Capital in Washington DC-so much detail-all out of Legos

The girls in front of the White House

I think the neatest thing about this place is everything is made out of Legos-it shows how much time and dedication goes in to all of it. The girls had such a good time with all the rides and all of us just getting to spend a day together! It was great-Mike and I had a great time also!

RaiN

2008-02-23T05:12:00.000+09:00

I absolutely hate the rain. This week it has rained almost everyday! Last night was a huge rainstorm and it sounded great while I was sleeping-but when I wake up and it is still raining I hate it. It keeps us stuck in the house all day and I would much rather be outside enjoying California weather!! UGHH!!

PreSIdeNT's WEEK???

2008-02-21T04:36:00.000+09:00

This week the girls don't have any school. Since when do kids get Presidents WEEK?? Well, we got all week to find stuff to do. Since Mike has to work this week we are trying to stay busy. Yesterday we went shopping at Old Navy and got the girls a bunch of clothes-you can't beat a 40% off sale. (well you can with like 50-75% off) :) Anywho-the 3 of us went shopping and then went to Subway for lunch. It is nice to spend time together when we aren't being rushed and everything seems to go smooth. Alix and Aja are really funny also-so hanging out with them is always a good time.

Today is raining so I don't think we are going to venture out anywhere. I do have to go to the Post Office to send Mike's dad a birthday box-but other than that I think we are staying home. Hopefully tomorrow will be nice and we can do something. All I know is we have plans for LegoLand this weekend so it needs to clear up!!

HaRLey

2008-02-21T04:27:00.000+09:00

Last weekend we went on a ride on the motorcycle. We haven't had the time to do this since right after Christmas. It was nice! The weather was great in was like 80 degrees-there weren't too many people on the freeway. It is nice just to be able to spend time with Mike just the two of us. We road to San Diego and went to the Harley store and bought some gear. Mike kept looking around and I told him the longer he looks the more I am buying so I got some shirts, some new sun glasses, and some shirts for the girls. It was a good time. In May we have a ride planned to Malibu with some of Mike's friends in the Marine Corps. Can't wait for that one!

I CouLD'Ve GoT mOrE

2008-02-21T04:11:00.000+09:00

Mike and I haven't had the chance to really go out lately without the girls. I told him I wanted to go to the casino down in San Diego cause I heard their buffet there is outstanding. So we got a sitter and went with a couple of our friends! Mike and I enjoy blackjack-we are pretty good also. I don't think I will listen to Mike anymore when he says it is time to quit. When I sat down I decided to start with $15 (I don't like to gamble with a lot of money-that to me is crazy!) The table was a $5 minimum table. I ended up getting up to $115.00. Mike kept saying "We're good stop." Well, I saw how the cards were and the dealer was doing horribly! I wanted to continue to play but I stopped since Mike thought it was a good idea-plus I was up $100 that's not too bad. We went and ate at the buffet-which was good but not as good as I had heard it was-basically not something worth going back to. Anyways-after we ate and we were getting ready to go we ran in to the guy that was next to me at the blackjack table-he told us that everyone at the table kept winning after we left and they were all up like $500!!! Are you kidding me? UGGHHHH I so should've stayed since I was doing so well. Oh well, at least I got $100!

I'LL SaY HaNNaH

2008-02-09T07:47:00.000+09:00

you say Montana! That is what the movie theater manager was saying to get all of the little girls excited when I took my girls to see the concert movie. As if he really needed to do any of that! :) Forgetful me I forgot my camera-which I was so upset about cause my girls were just too excited. They each got to take a friend so it was me and 4 little girls-we had so much fun. Seeing the look on their faces was worth waiting in the lines and searching everywhere for tickets for last Saturday morning!

Aja made me laugh on our way there. This was our conversation-

Aja- Mom what should I say to Hannah Montana when I meet her?

Me-Your not going to meet her-it is just a movie.

Aja- Yes I will-she is going to be there-on the Disney channel she says "See you there!"

I didn't say anything. I just smiled. The innocence in her was too cute.

ThInGS NOT to SaY to MiLiTArY WiVeS...

2008-02-09T07:30:00.000+09:00

I read this somewhere today and it is so true. I don't think people realize how annoying the little comments they make to military wives when their husbands are deployed are.

1. "Aren't you afraid that he'll be killed?"(This one ranks in at number one on the "duh" list. Of course we're afraid. We're terrified. The thought always lingers at the backs of our minds ---but thanks brilliant, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they're scared of dying.)
2. "I don't know how you manage. I don't think I could do it." (This is intended to be a compliment. Though, its just a little annoying. Here's why: it's not like all of us military wives have been dreaming since childhood of the day our husbands would go to war and we'd get to be anxious single moms who carry cell phones with us to the bathroom and in the shower. We're not made of some mysterious matter that makes us more capable, we just got asked to take on a challenging job. So we rose to the challenge and found the strength to make sacrifices.)
3. "Do you think he'll get to come home for Christmas/anniversary/birthday/birth of a child/wedding/family reunion, etc?" (Don't you watch the news? No! They don't get to come home for any of these things.)
4. "What are you going to do to keep yourself busy while he's gone?" (Short answer: Try to keep my sanity. Maybe there's a military wife out there who gets bored when her husband leaves, but I have yet to meet her. For the rest of us, those with and without children, we find ourselves having to be two people. That keeps us plenty busy. We do get lonely, but we don't get bored, and drinking massive amounts of wine always helps keep me busy.)
5. "How much longer does he have until he can get out?" (This one is annoying to many of us whether our husbands are deployed or not. Many of our husbands aren't counting down the days until they "can" get out. Many of them keep signing back up again and again because they actually love what they do or they VOLUNTEER AGAIN and AGAIN to go back to Iraq b/c there is work that needs to be done.)
6. "This deployment shouldn't be so bad, now that you're used to it." (Sure, we do learn coping skills and its true the more deployments you've gone through, the easier dealing with it becomes. And we figure out ways to make life go smoother while the guys are gone. But it never gets "easy" and the bullets and bombs don't skip over our guys just because they've been there before. The worry never goes away.)
7. "My husband had to go to Europe for business once for three weeks. I totally know what you're going through." (This one is similar to number two. Do not equate your husband's three week trip to London/Omaha/Tokyo/etc. with a 12-15 month or more deployment to a war zone. Aside from the obvious time difference, nobody shot at your husband or tried to blow him up with an I.E.D., your husband could call home pretty much any time he wanted to, he flew comfortably on a commercial plane, slept between crisp white sheets and ate well, paying for everything with an expense account. There is no comparison. We do not feel bonded to you in the slightest because of this comment and, if anything, we probably resent you a bit for it.)
8. "Wow you must miss him?" (This one also gets antoher big "duh". Of course we miss our men. There are some wives who do not and they're now divorced.)
9. "Where is he exactly? Where is that?" (I don't expect non-military folks to be able to find Anbar Province on a map, but they should know by now that it's in Iraq. Likewise, know that Kabul and Kandahar are in Afghanistan. Know that Muqtada al Sadr is the insurgent leader of the Mahdi Army in Iraq and that Sadr City is his home area. Know that Iran is a major threat to our country and that it is located between Afghanistan and Iraq. Our country has been at war in Afghanistan for seven years and at war in Iraq for five years. These basic facts are not secrets, they're on the news every night and in the papers every day ---and on maps everywhere.)
10. "Well, he signed up for it, so it's his own fault whatever happens over there." (Yes, ignorant, he did sign up. Each and every day he protects your right to make stupid comments like that. He didn't sign up and ask to be hit by anything, he signed up to protect his country. Oh, and by the way, he asked me to tell you that "You're welcome." He's still fighting for your freedom.)
11. "Don't you miss sex! I couldn't do it!" (hmmm, no i don't miss sex. i'm a robot. seriously...military spouses learn quickly that our relationships must be founded on something greater than sex. We learn to appreciate the important things, like simply hearing their voices, seeing their faces, being able to have dinner together every night. And the hard truth is, most relationships probably couldn't withstand 12 months of sex deprivation.)
12. "Well in my opinion....." (Stop right there. Yo, I didn't ask for you your personal political opinions. Hey, I love a heated political debate, but not in the grocery store, not in Jamba Juice, not at Nordstrom, not in a bar when I'm out with my girls trying to forget the war, and CERTAINLY NOT AT WORK. We tell co-workers about deployments so when we have to spend lunch hours running our asses off doing errands and taking care of the house, dog, and kids, they have an understanding. We do not tell co-workers and colleagues because we are giving an invitation to ramble about politics or because we so eagerly want to hear how much they hate the President, esp. while we're trying to heat up our lean cuisines in the crappy office microwaves.)last but not least....
13. "OH, that's horrible...I'm so sorry!" (He's doing his job and he's a badass. Don't be sorry. Be appreciative and please take a moment out of your comfortable American lives to realize that our soldiers fight the wars abroad so those wars stay abroad.)

If you want to say anything, say thank you

AnoTHeR FouR YeArS

2008-02-09T07:22:00.000+09:00

Today Mike reenlisted in the Marine Corps for ANOTHER 4 years! He's already got 13.5 years done-so that means he only has 6.5 years until he can retire-won't that be great!! I'm so proud of him. He has done so well and he serves our country without complaints. He does so much for our family and we appreciate him so much!

Even though he has had to leave and serve in Iraq twice and we have missed him so much and we have had to spend 18 months apart-we love the Marine Corps and we love our country! We wouldn't have it any other way!

Love you babe! Congratulations!!

WonDerInG

2008-01-31T12:04:00.000+09:00

is it bad when your 5 year old wakes you up at 2:30 in the morning to tell you that a gummy ring that she somehow snuck into bed at night is stuck on her forehead with a glob of hair stuck in it also, that your first thought is "I wish my camera was upstairs!!"

Moments like that to remember! :) Love you Aja!!

I ReFusE to BeLieVe

2008-01-30T07:10:00.000+09:00

that Cesar Laurean killed Maria Lauterbach. This case has really got me hooked and I have no idea why. Probably because we are a Marine Corps family and the 2 of them are Marines-I don't know. But I believe that either a-his wife did it and he is trying to cover for her or b-she did kill herself and he freaked because he knew they would think he did it. So in his stupid head he thought that putting her in the back yard would somehow be better. Something happened because anyone in their right mind knows that if a women turns up missing and she accused someone of rape (which I do not believe he did either-I believe it was a mutual affair and he ended up ending it with her so she claimed rape-that is another story) that person would be the first they look at-so why would he kill her and put her in his back yard if he is thinking right???

Kindof a rant-but this is something that I am so curious to know all of what happened. I think a lot of what went on you have to be military affiliated to understand. Military families on bases live differently then civilians-so things that I hear the media saying is so "weird" and "why would he do that" aren't weird to me because I see it all the time.

Have a great Tuesday!!

And SO it BeGiNS

2008-01-25T06:03:00.000+09:00

Mike bought an engine to rebuild to put in the '67 Chevelle that he has. It is a 454 (whatever that is). He seems pretty excited and he began the clean up and the disassembling this week. I think it is going to be a couple of months until it is completely done, but he has to have it done and in the car by the time we leave in May. He knows he's on a time crunch and he seems optimistic.

It's going to be costly but seeing how happy he is doing it all himself is worth it. He enjoys doing this kind of stuff and I'm glad that after spending so much time in Iraq not being able to do anything he enjoys he gets to spend his extra time doing this-he deserves it!

HoW oLD ArE THeY???

2008-01-25T05:44:00.000+09:00

So the other night Alix and Aja were laying in their beds going to bed. I heard them talking while I was putting towels away in the linen closet so I decided to listen in. This is what I heard:

Aja- Ya know Edgar likes me

Alix- Do you like him?

Aja- I don't know. I like his eyes and he is interesting.

Alix- What makes him so interesting?

Aja- In school yesterday he said that he likes to put salt on slugs. I don't like slugs so I like that

Alix- That's dumb, stick to the eyes

WHAT??

First-who the heck is Edgar? Second-what does a 5 year old know about anyone being interesting??

Officially Can Flee the Country...

2008-01-25T05:35:00.000+09:00

The girls and I had to get Passports in able to move to Japan in May. So we submitted all of the paperwork and they told us it would take about 3 months to get them back. Well, I was so excited when they called yesterday because they had come in-and in 17 days! You can't beat that! Dorky yes-but I am so excited that I have my first passport. Mike didn't get one because he doesn't have to have one since he is in the military-but the girls and I are now legally able to go! I am so excited-that is one worry that I don't have anymore!!

How WonDerFUl is my FaMilY??

2007-11-11T13:04:00.000+09:00

Each day I wake up and I realize how grateful I am for my family. I have a fantastic husband and 2 wonderful, rowdy little girls. My husband can drive me bananas but make me smile in an instance.

Alix is my emotional roller coaster little girl who will be 7 on the 16th of November. We have the same birthday-21 years apart-maybe that is why we are so much alike?? She can be the sweetest most loving little girl but have a mood swing in a second and make you wonder where she came from! =)

Then there is Aja. She can make you laugh just by a facial expression that she makes. She is always upbeat. Who wakes up early in the morning when they don't have to and still be more chipper than anyone around?? She is always in a good mood unless she is told no-when daddy is around that isn't much!

New Toy-Yes It's a Harley!

2007-11-11T12:46:00.000+09:00

So Mike has been wanting a Harley for forever. At least 2 years now-well now that he came home from Iraq for the 2nd time safely-we got one. We picked it up yesterday. I have to admit-it is really nice. We went on our first ride today-at first I was nervous and had to pee-but then I got use to it and it was really nice-Cold-but nice!

The girls are really excited also. They can't wait to go on their first "ride" with daddy. He is going to ride them around the neighborhood tomorrow. It is nice to see Mike so happy with this after basically living the past 7 months in somewhere that is probably the closest place to hell on earth. We are now a Harley family!!

What could it hurt?

2007-08-19T03:40:00.001+09:00

Okay-well after seeing my High School Blog and seeing people that I went to school with and how they do their blogs-I thought it is a pretty good idea-especially since we don't live near any of our family they can keep up with us and what we are doing each day (or when I am dedicated to post). I still don't know how this whole thing works and I want it to look really cute so I need to figure out how to change everything and to add stuff-so I guess as time goes by hopefully I'll be able to add more and change it up a bit! Wish me luck!!!