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Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Hi everyone! Well let’s see it has been exactly two months since I last wrote… I know, I suck. I have just been so busy its crazy. So, right after I last wrote, I went to NY for the weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday with my cousin Kenny (turned 30 on March 29th) and more family and friends. The party and trip were fun. It just went by way too fast.
After I got back here, it was time to start another session of school and start the process of moving into our new house. We started off trying to get the construction done while still living at Pop’s house. So, we were back and forth a lot. I got a lot of painting done and Jason gutted the kitchen. Every trip we brought more boxes. Everything is taking much longer than we thought. It was taken even longer trying to do it while living at Pop’s since we couldn’t do anything while the kids were in bed. So, we decided to just go ahead and officially ‘move in’ and then finish everything off. Well, I think that was about 3 weeks ago. We are still trying to get everything settled. We got beautiful kitchen cabinets put in. We opted to stain them ourselves. So, we have been working on that. The kitchen tile is ripped up and waiting for new tile. The countertops are ordered and hopefully will be put in soon, but they can’t do that until we get the cabinets all treated. We still have to do the backsplash tile and paint the kitchen. I am ready to have a kitchen!! I got the office, playroom, living room, and our bedroom painted. We have most of the boxes gone through but still have a little more to do.
Max turned 3 on the 17th!!! We had an awesome birthday party here for him. We had a huge bouncy house in the backyard. We grilled out hot dogs and bratwarst. Mimi made the cake and brought potato salad. I made a pasta salad and my friend Lisa brought a vegetable plate. I was pretty stressed getting ready for the party since as of the night before the house was still full of boxes and you could barely walk in here and we had no kitchen. Aunt Casey came over Friday night and helped us get a lot done. Mimi made super hero capes for all the kids. It all came together and everyone had lots of fun. Max had a blast and didn’t want his party to end. Of course, he made out like a bandit. A few of his friends from school came, some of our new neighbors, family, and other friends. Max got a batman costume, a spiderman costume, a sandbox, a bubble making grill, lots of cool clothes, and plenty of other toys. So, he was happy. I was just wondering where we were going to put everything ☺
Last week the boys had their last day of school. It was sad. They had such a wonderful time there over the school year. They will miss their teachers and all their friends. I will miss them all too. Hopefully, we will stay in touch with some of them. Next year they will go to a school that is closer to our new house. I am sure it will be just as nice (let’s hope ☺ )
For memorial weekend, we really didn’t do much. I went out on Friday night with Aunt Casey and a couple of friends of hers. We had a great time and stayed out until last call of course (which is at 2:00 but they turn the lights on in the bars at like 1:30 and start trying to get everyone out). Most of the rest of the weekend, Jason and I spent staining the cabinets, taking care of the boys, and me doing homework. We took a couple of breaks o go to the community pools. There are 6 different pools in our development. 3 of them are just basic pools, the other 3 are different. One has a big slide and one has a lazy river. On Monday, we went over to Pop’s for a little while to eat some barbeque and let the kids play in his pool. He has a big blow up slide Jason and Uncle Dave set up. All the kids had a great time sliding into the pool. We packed up more stuff from there that we found to bring back here. It seems never-ending.
I plan on redoing this site soon and of course getting some new pictures up here. I haven’t updated the boys’ pages in forever. I am always so far behind on everything and have a thousand things to do. If I do relax, I end up feeling guilty the whole time and paying for it later. Some day things will settle down…hopefully…
Today is mine and Jason’s 8th wedding anniversary! I am excited that we are going to out on a date. Mimi is going to watch the boys. Jason and I are going to go the restaurant where he proposed to me. It is a really nice Italian restaurant in Fort Worth that is very romantic. I am going to where the dress I wore the night we were engaged. Yes, it still fits – its just a tad tighter – haha.
Other than that, we will just be continuing to try to get the house the way we want it. We do want to take a break for 4th of July weekend and try to rent a cabin on a lake or something and take the boat out since we have only used it once since we moved here.
Oh yea, I almost forget to mention that – MAX IS POTTY TRAINED!! He has been for about 2/3 weeks now. He is doing great with it. He barely ever has accidents anymore. We have been putting a pull up on him at night, although the other night he wouldn’t let us put one on him and he made it the whole night staying dry. He is still having some issues with the pooping but we are getting there. How weird it is to not have diapers to change after almost 5 years…. So, now the question is – are we done or are we going to have one more baby like we planned. The jury is still out on that one ☺
March 27, 2008
Okay. So, it’s been almost 4 months! Crazy! Well, the time has really just flown by. My sister Courtney visited the beginning of January. We had an awesome visit. While she was here, we had another friend in town – Andy – from Tampa. So, we all got to hang out and have a good time. Right after Courtney left, Andy’s wife Jo came into town. So, it was fun getting to hang out with her. Andy and Jo are now in Germany. So, it could be a long while before we see them again. The end of February, our friends Amber and Alex and their little boy Bryce came for a visit. It was a lot of fun to see them. Bryce and Jaxon are the same age. All three boys got along great!
The boys are growing like weeds. They still enjoy their school on Tuesdays and Thursdsays from 9-2.
The biggest news is we bought a house!! We are so excited. We just closed on it yesterday. Also, Jason got a full time job offer at the company he is been working contract for. So, that is also very awesome! He will switch over to full time on April 7th. Whew hoo!
I have been very busy with my school work. I am taking 3 classes at a time. It is a lot plus the closer I get to the end the more work these classes seem to be. I have been off this week but I will start back up again on Monday. I do one more 11 week semester (2 5.5 weeks sessions of 3 classes each) . Then I get a 3 week summer break in june/july. Then do another 11 week semester and I am done! So, I should graduate in September if everything goes as planned. I have also been busy doing some web site work.
Jason turned 33 years old on February 27. We had a nice celebration because our friends Amber and Alex were in town. I turned 30 years old on March 21st (yes I know I am old!). We went out and had a great time.
I am headed up to NY tomorrow morning for a short visit. I will be back on Sunday. It should be a fun trip.
Other than that…. I just figured I would get this updated since it has been so long. I am about to start another long 11 weeks. It will be especially hectic because we will be busy moving into our new house! We have some things we want to do before we move in but hopefully by this time next month we will be in there and settled!
I hope everyone is doing well!
January 4, 2008
Well, I guess it’s been quite a while. The holidays just flew by! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a big lunch here at Pop’s house. The usual Friday night crew, which consists of us, Pop & Nana, Uncle Chris, Uncle Dave, Chase and Chance (Dave’s kids & Jaxon and Max’s heroes), and Uncle Jacob and Aunt Casey. Pop’s dad – Pap – also came. We had tons of food and it was all very yummy. Then we headed over to Jason’s Aunt Dian’s (Mimi’s sister) to have Thanksgiving with Mimi’s side of the family. It was great to see every one because we had not gotten a chance to see most of them since we moved out here. Debbie (Mimi) has a lot of sisters and they all have kids who also have kids. So, there were a lot of people there. It was a cold day that day and it actually ended up snowing for about 20 minutes. We all went outside to look at it. There were really big flakes. It was pretty, but then it stopped. Nothing stayed on the ground. Unfortunately, I have no pictures from Thanksgiving. The weekend after Thanksgiving we went to a Christmas party for one of my clients while our friends watched the boys. Afterwards, we met up with Chris for a beer at a local bar. We were not there too long but just long enough for someone to steal my camera out of my purse. Yea, I am still bitter about it. The worst thing was there were a lot of really good pictures on there I hadn’t downloaded from my camera yet. Oh well…. So, I got a new one. It is the same camera but the newer version which is nicer of course! We got the Christmas tree and all the decorations up soon after Thanksgiving.
December just completely flew by. We were ‘Christmasing’ all month long it seems. The boys were watching Christmas movies and were reading them Christmas books and listening to Christmas music. The boys (especially Jaxon) were so into it this year. Of course, Jaxon had many questions to ask about everything. We tried the whole ‘the elves are watching you’ thing to get him to behave but I don’t think he ever really believe that. He kept going on and on with questions about where they were and why he can’t see them. Jaxon also wanted to know why there was no snow. So, I had to explain to him that it doesn’t snow in Texas that much. He was sure it was going to snow for Christmas though. The boys and I did lots of baking. They both had Christmas parties at school and brought in cookies. They only went to school the first two weeks of December and then were off until Jan 4th. They made so many cute Christmas tree ornaments and little crafts. I was so busy trying to finish up my classes and get my shopping done, xmas presents wrapped, boxes shipped out, and xmas newsletters in the mail. Everything came together though, as it always does. We took the boys down town Fort Worth a couple of times. Once we went during the day to see Santa. Jaxon was so busy talking to Santa and telling him what he and Max wanted. He was very upset that I was disturbing him trying to get pictures. Max just sat in his lap and stared at him in awe. They both had lists to give him. They were so cute. Then we took them to get hot chocolate and to the big book store down there. Then we went again at night so they could see it all decorated for Christmas. Then we took them to theater down town to see the Alvin and the Chipmunk movie. It was really cute! Jason and I got to go out a couple of times that month. Once we had a friend that came in to town and another time for Jason’s Christmas party for work. It is nice to get out without the kids once in a while.
We had a Christmas Eve party here at Pop’s house. There was a ton of food and lots of gift opening. Two of Pop’s brothers came and their kids and their kids along with the usual crew. So, there were a lot of people here. We had five 2 year olds and a ton of other kids. It was a lot of fun though. Jaxon and Max had a blast of course. They just love when other kids come over. The boys left out cookies and milk for Santa of course. After they went to bed, we got to play elves. Uncle Chris stayed and played elf, too. We really didn’t have too much to do because we had wrapped ahead of time and there was only one thing that needed to be set up. So, the elves just had some drinks for themselves ☺
The boys must have been worn out from the Christmas Eve party because they didn’t wake up as early we thought they would. Max had ended up in bed with us that night because he woke up crying in the night and his belly was hurting him I think from all the junk he ate. Mimi snuck in the house about 6 am. She wanted to make sure she got here early to see them running in to check out what Santa left them. It was probably about 6:30 when I heard Jaxon waking up. I heard him say, “It’s Christmas. Santa was here.” Then he got out of bed and headed straight for the office where the tree is. I jumped out of bed and was throwing on my robe and yelling for him to wait for me and I was trying to get my camera. He was like ‘okay’ but really he was like yeah whatever. He just kept going until he got in there. Of course, Max was right behind him. It was so funny. Everything was set up on their little red chairs with their names on them. So, they would know whose toys were whose. They made out like bandits of course. They played with all the presents from Santa (which were not wrapped) for a while before they dived into all their other presents. Jaxon’s big present from Santa was his Star Wars clone trooper space ship. He also got a new Transformers book bag for school, more Star Wars guys, a transformer, some cars, trucks, and airplanes, and a bunch more little stuff. Max’s big present was his red rocket ship, which he really liked. He also got a singing duck, a Spiderman book bag, more Star Wars guys, a transformer, and some cards, trucks, and airplanes. They got a ton of really awesome things that they love from everyone. They are spoiled rotten but I am really trying to make them be appreciative of what they receive.
Jason’s big present this year was a guitar and a month of private lessons. He is excited about that. I am excited for him to learn to play. It will give us something else to do. My big present was a pair of beautiful gold dangly earring that I absolutely love. We also both got many other really nice things from everyone that we love. I also really enjoyed the many Christmas cards, newsletters, and pictures we got this holiday season. That is one of my favorite parts of the holidays is hearing from every one and actually being excited checking the mail. So, thank you so much for every one that thought of us this season.
We did a big breakfast here which Mimi ended up cooking most of. We just hung out most of the day. Uncle Chris came over and we watched A Christmas Story. I don’t think I had ever watched it the whole way through. It was really cute. The boys liked it, too. We all got to take long naps. Then we headed over to Mimi’s house to have Christmas dinner. She made awesome food and had really nice presents for all of us. The boys basically got to do Christmas all over again. So, we really had a wonderful Christmas. Best of all, Jason was off work for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after. So, that was really nice.
For New Year’s Eve we went over to our friends’ Chris and Lisa’s house. They are the ones that have the little boys, Ben and David, who are almost the same age as Jaxon and Max. We let the boys run around and have fun while we played cards and had adult fun. All of the boys were still up at midnight. They had party hats, poppers, blowers, and non-alcoholic champagne. We should have given them the real stuff. Then maybe they would have gone to bed – ha. They were good though. They just all ran around and played and then they counted down to midnight with us. Of course, our boys were up before 7 being the crazy little children that they are. I think the latest they have ever slept in their lives was 8 and that was only once or twice. Drives me crazy!!!
For New Year’s Day we went out to eat with Pop and the crew to have black-eyed peas. For those of you who don’t know, you are supposed to eat black eyed peas on New Year’s Day to bring you good luck for the rest of the year. Then that evening we had dinner at Aunt Casey’s for more black eyed peas (we should be REALLY lucky this year) and cabbage. Cabbage is supposed to bring you wealth in the New Year. Yes, we are all wishing for luck and wealth this coming year!
Other than that, we have just been keeping busy raising these boys which is more than a full time job for both of us. Jason is still enjoying his job with Handmark. He is looking forward to them offering him a full time position in March so that he will no longer be hourly. It’s been nice having him home for the holidays but sucked knowing he wasn’t getting paid. Oh well, we would rather have him home than have the money any day. Luckily, we are in a position where we can do that right now. However, we have been looking pretty hard at houses! That is exciting but scary. We are looking for a house for the long term. So, we are being very picky which in turn is making the houses we like very pricey. Once we are strapped into a mortgage, it won’t be fun and games anymore. We are ready to be settled though. I am sick of having most of our stuff in boxes. I am ready to have a house we can make into our home and raise the boys in. We are taking our time, though. We really need to just be patient and get past March to see what Jason’s salary will be and make sure that they do offer him a full time position. Jason did talk to them and they said they are interested in hiring him though and he has a pretty good idea what the salary will be. So, that is keeping us from being worried about it not happening. Still, the longer we wait the more we can save. On the other hand, the longer we wait the closer we are getting to the summer which is when everyone buys houses and the prices go up. So, we’ll see….
The boys started back up to school this Thursday. Jaxon was very excited to go back and get to see his friends. Max was saying he did not want to go. I thought he would cry but he didn’t. He was so excited to show his teachers his new back pack that he forgot he was supposed to be upset. The only thing they were disappointed about was that it was too cold outside to play on the playground after school like we usually do. Hopefully, it warms up here soon. The fall was soooo beautiful here. Now, the trees have lost their leaves and it is just cold. There is no snow but just cold. Yuck! I don’t think it will last long though.
My classes start up again on Monday. That is why I figured I better take some time to update this site. I will be taking 3 classes and then another 3 before my next break in March. So, things are going to start getting hectic again. I have been off for the past three weeks. I think we all have been enjoying me not being so stressed out and sleep deprived. It has been a nice break. I am also taking a drawing class at the local college here starting on the 15th. I am excited about it. It is a beginners drawing class. I need to be able to do basic illustration for my career and there is no way I am going to learn it taking a class on the computer. Plus, I think it will be good for me to be able to get out of the house and be with other adults for a little while. It is only once a week for 2.5 hours. So, hopefully it will not make too big of a difference in my crazy schedule or add to my sleep deprivation.
I am excited for my sister Courtney to get here this coming week. She will be here the 10-13. We are going to have a blast!!!
I have a ton of pictures to put on here. I should be doing that tonight or tomorrow. Now it’s back to putting Christmas away. Jason took the boys to go help Mimi pick up a table and build some shelves or something like that. I am supposed to be getting all this Christmas stuff up while he is gone. I did do a lot but then I took a break to update this real quick ☺ It is kind of sad the holiday season is over. It is a relief in many ways, but sad because it was so magical for the kids which made it magical for us, too. Now we have a whole year before Santa comes again. Just think, next year I will be graduating from college around this time – whew hoo. It’s a long time away but if 2008 goes by as fast as 2007 did it’s not that far at all.
I wish you all nothing but health and happiness in the New Year!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Well, I decided to skip the Thanksgiving theme and go straight to Christmas. It is almost here anyway. I can’t believe the holidays are here already. Time is just flying as always. Everything here has just been really busy. I had classes end on Nov 4th and then started up 4 more on Nov 5th. I have been really burnt out and have a hard time getting myself to focus on my school work. I just need to make it through until December 15th. Then I am off until Jan 7. It will be a nice break, from school anyway.
Other than that… We had the kids’ open house at school. That was fun besides that on the way there I backed into Jason’s truck pulling out of the drive way. Yup, bam backed right into it. It was dark and I just wasn’t even thinking about Jason’s truck being behind me. Yea, he wanted to kill me. Two $500 deductibles later… So, that was a big downer. Oh well, these things happen I guess.
Friday nights have been kind of quiet lately. Jason’s brother Jacob just opened up a smoke shop here in Fort Worth. So, he and his wife have been busy with that and not able to come over. Chris went on a date last week. I haven’t really been cooking much. One week we had pizza. Then we had burgers last week. It has been nice to have a break.
Last weekend we went out to our friends Joe and Heather’s in Granbury. It is about an hour from here. We spent the night out there. Joe is really into astronomy and has a really nice telescope. They were having a ‘star party’ there. So, we go to be outside at night looking at stars. It was neat. The boys had a great time playing with Lauren and Joey.
The boys had Thanksgiving feasts at school last week. They are off school all this week. Yesterday afternoon Debbie came and got the boys and kept them overnight until this morning. That was a really nice break. While she had them, she took them to get their pictures done at Sear’s – as you can see from the slide show. Jason and I had the house all to ourselves because Ron and Christi went away for the weekend. So, it was nice. We also went out with our friends Chris and Lisa. It was Chris’s birthday and they were actually able to get a babysitter, too. So, we finally got to go out together again sans kids. The last time we went out was in September for Lisa’s birthday.
I can’t believe Thanksgiving is this week. We are having dinner here at Jason’s dad. So, I will cook for everyone. Then we are going over to Jason’s Aunt Dian’s to see all of Jason’s mom side of the family.
Well, I hope everyone has an awesome Turkey Day. Enjoy the pics.
October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!!! I hope everyone had a great one. We have been ‘halloweening’ all month it seems. We have had lots of fun with all our Halloween activities. This past weekend we had a pumpkin carving party on Friday night. We made lots of Halloween treats. The boys and I had fun decorating cookies and making a bunch of food. Everyone was supposed to dress up. A lot of us did, but some people were party poopers! The kids had fun doing Halloween crafts, carving pumpkins, and just playing. On Saturday we went to Boo at the Zoo, which is a fun thing the zoo does here. It was fun. They had booths set up for the kids to trick or treat, a big pumpkin patch with amazingly carved pumpkins, a little concert area, and bunch games and activities for the kids. Then on Sunday we went to the church the boys go to school at and did ‘trunk or treat.’ Every one sets up their cars in the parking lot of the church and decorates their trunks. Then the kids go around and trick or treat. That was a lot of fun, too. Tuesday the boys had Halloween parties at school. Then today was actually Halloween! We had a fun day. I let them eat candy and cookies pretty much all day. We went to a play ground for most of the day. Then in the evening we got the front door area set up all scary. We all dressed up in our pirate costumes and went trick or treating around the neighborhood. The boys had blast of course.
Other than that, just same old same old has been going on. We are just really busy and never at a loss for something to do. Jason works from 9-5 everyday. I take care of the boys all day. I do my school work and web design work when I can which is usually late at night or when the kids are in school. The boys are still really enjoying their school Tuesday and Thursday from 9-2. Usually when I pick them up from school, I end up staying there and let them play with their friends on the playground there for a couple of hours. So, I have gotten to know a couple of the other moms in their classes. The weather has been incredible. So, we have been going to the playgrounds a lot. Monday nights we have dinner at Mimi’s (Jason’s mom) with Uncle Jacob and Aunt Casey. Friday nights we have dinner here at Ron’s with Pop, Nana (Christi), Uncle Chris, Uncle Dave, Chase & Chance (Dave kids), Uncle Jacob, and Aunt Casey.
Last week was a crazy week for me with the boys. They always keep me busy and know how to drive me nuts but that week was particularly crazy. I had activities planned for everyday to get ready for our Halloween party we were having on Friday, but everyday they were just nuts and I couldn’t get anything done. On Wednesday they had a ‘writing on the wall’ spree. Max ran around the house with a red and black magic marker and wrote on a bunch of the walls. Jaxon wrote his name on his bed in pen and Max’s name on Max’s bed. So, they were in trouble all day for that. Then on Thursday, we had gone to the playground and ran to Walmart to pick up some stuff we needed. On the way home Jaxon fell asleep. I was able to transfer him to the couch. I laid Max down on the other couch with his blankie and drink to watch tv in hopes he would fall asleep, too. I put away all the groceries and stuff I had bought at Walmart. Then I got on the computer for a minute. Next thing I know I heard Jaxon screaming. I didn’t think a lot of it because Max always likes to jump on top on Jaxon when he is sleeping and wake him up. So, I go in there… There is Max with the brand new scissors I had just bought at Walmart (because the scissors we had here were not sharp enough for me – which were up on the counter still in their package) – cutting Jaxon on the cheek!!!!! Demon child! Poor Jaxon is screaming and bleeding. Of course, I spanked Max really hard on the butt then slapped him on the hand and put him in his room and closed the door. I didn’t know what to do with him. I took care of Jaxon. Max was freaking out and shaking because he knew he had done something really bad. It was crazy. I didn’t know if Jaxon’s cut was bad enough that he needed stitches so I packed the boys up in the car and brought them to Pop’s clinic to see what he thought. The cut really wasn’t that bad thank god. It could have been so much worse. I still cannot believe that Max did that! Then on Thursday I picked them up from school and we came back here. I had everything all ready to make cookies and other treats we needed to make for the party on Friday. Well, we had barely started making the first batch of dough. The boys were taking turns on the stool putting in ingredients. Well, Jaxon was being all ansy when it was Max’s turn on the stool. He couldn’t stand it and tried crawling up behind me. He slipped and fell and hit his face on the metal stool. He cut his lip open pretty bad. Ron was here and he thought that I should take him in because it might need a stitch. Of course, it was about 5:05 when this happened. I tried to call the doctor office but they had already closed at 5. So, I brought him into an urgent care center. After spending over 2 hours there, they saw him and decided it didn’t need any stitches. They gave him a freeze pop and sent us home. Then on Friday, we got up in the morning and started cooking right away because now I had a thousand things I wanted to make for the party and only that day to do it. The boys had fun making cookies. Although at one point, I ran in the other room real quick and came back to find Max sitting on top of the table and had dumped out over a half a bag of flour all over himself and the kitchen. Crazy boy! Luckily Debbie ended up coming over that afternoon and taking Jaxon for me for a while so I could finish up my cooking and get things ready for the party. It is amazing what a different child Max is when Jaxon isn’t around for him to impress and aggravate. I did take a little time to sit and just play with Max by himself. That made him happy and he was great for the rest of the day and let me get my stuff done I needed to. So, that was my crazy week last week.
This week has been going much much better other than Max throwing up all day on Monday. I still don’t know why. I guess it was just a fluke thing because he would be fine before and after he threw up. He was fine all day Tuesday and today. Not sure what that was all about.
Jaxon’s new thing is that he wakes up every morning about 6 or 6:30 and poops. So, we wake up to him asking us to wipe his butt. Oh what a way to wake up! I think he has been doing that every morning for a few weeks now. It is crazy. His body is like clockwork I guess!
Jason is enjoying his job still. The people are laid back and he has gotten to do some work from home.
The boys usually give us a hard time at dinner and at bed time every night, which makes us insane. We have tried many different methods to try to fix this but nothing seems to work. Hopefully, they will grow out of it someday.
Well, I got to get to doing my school. I will post all our Halloween pics soon.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Well, it’s a rainy day here and the kids are actually napping. So, I thought I would take some time to update my site. I hope you enjoy seeing some new pics FINALLY! This month is flying by just like all the rest. As you can see, we are getting ready for Halloween. The boys are going to be pirates. The costumes are the ones MiMi made them for Max’s 2nd birthday party back in May. The boys love wearing them and we are exciting to get some more use out of them.
Jason has been working for two weeks now. He is enjoying it so far. He is basically just programming all day and still getting caught up on the technologies he is working with. The boys and I certainly miss having him around all day, but somebody has to make some money around here. The boys and I have been keeping busy with lots of games of hide and seek and trips to the playgrounds around here. The weather is finally cooling down some. So, it is really nice to be outside. The boys are still enjoying their school on Tues and Thurs from 9-2. The time goes by very quickly for me. I spend the whole time doing school work and/or working on web site stuff for my clients.
We are still having Friday night dinners here at Ron’s house. It is always lots of fun. We also usually go to Debbie’s for dinner on Mondays. The weeks and weekends just fly by. The weekend before last we had a birthday party on both Saturday and Sunday. Then this past weekend, we went on Saturday to a little Halloween park too far from here. That is where all the cute pictures came from! It was a good time. Yesterday we went to church and then didn’t do much the rest of the day.
Other than that, I am just really busy with school work and constantly behind on web sites I have promised people I will do. Someday I will get caught up. I am taking American Literature this session. I have to do a lot of reading for that class. So, that has been taking up a lot of my time. My other class I am taking – Interactive Authoring III – is also very time consuming because of the project I am trying to create. I pretty much gave up on the job hunting thing for right now. I can’t get anything done as it is. I can only imagine how stressed I would be if I was working, too.
Well, that is the quick update! I hope to get the rest of this site finished up soon!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
~~ this is copy and pasted from the e-mail I sent out on 9-30-07
Hi Everyone!
Things have been hectic. I have not been able to find the time to keep my web site up like I use to but hopefully I will get to updating it soon. In the mean time I am sending this quick e-mail with some of the latest pictures and let you know what is going on (for those of you who haven't heard or we haven't gotten a chance to talk to).
We packed up and headed out of Florida on Sep 1. We drove to Montgomery, AL to visit with friends. We stayed there until Tuesday the 4th. After a VERY VERY long drive from AL to TX we made here to Fort Worth. All and all the drive went well. It is just long. We are staying at Jason's dad's house right now. We are all settled in. We plan on staying here at least until after Christmas, which is giving us plenty of time to figure out what area we want to buy a house in around here. Especially since we would like to not have to move for a long time once we get in it. We have done enough moving over the past 10 years to last us at least another 10. The boys are enjoying having family around to love them. So, I guess we have been here almost a month now. The time has really flown by. It is crazy that it has already been that long.
Jason got a job! He starts tomorrow. He interviewed and got the job this past Thursday. He will be developing software for phones, pdas, and other hand held devices along with working on the advanced coding of their e-commerce web site. It is a 9-5 job and the dress code is very casual. So, he is happy. We are sad our time of being together all day with the boys is coming to end but of course we are very excited to have some steady money coming in again. Jason stopped working for the air force the middle of June. So, we have been pretty spoiled doing whatever we wanted to past 3.5 months! Ahhhh... Back to reality! Jason is looking for Master degree programs that are offered online by the state schools here. He hopefully will get into a program starting in January. He can take classes for free at any of the state school here because of a law Texas has for military that went into the military from here and then come back here to live.
I am STILL going to school online working on my B.S. Web and Interactive Media Design. I got my school to allow me to take 6 classes in the 11 week period vs the 4 classes I have been taking which they consider a full load. So, this will speed things up considerably but I still will not graduate until Dec 2008. So, over a little over a year to go. It will go by fast but since I have been taking college classes since I was 19 with only a few month breaks here and there, and now I am going to turn 30 next year it just really seems like forever. I enjoy my classes. They are just time consuming. I am still doing my free lance web design. However, I am not really making any money doing it. So, I am working on changing that. Jason, my brother-in-law Dave, and I all going to go in together to create a Web Design business. Dave has been doing graphic design for over 10 years. Jason has the advanced programming knowledge which he will get more of working his next job. I am the web designer. The name of our company is TriNet Interactive. We plan on being very organized and starting our business up for real in January. It will be a while before it really gets going since Jason and Dave work full time jobs and I only have child care for four hours twice a week and am still going to school. However, the goal is eventually to build the business enough so we can just do that. I am still a consultant for Beauty Control but I really haven't been doing much with that. I still love the products but I do not have the time to do spa parties right now or deal with shipping out orders to people. But if anyone needs any awesome spa quality products, feel free to make an order off my web site: http://www.beautipage.com/alipreissinger/ -- I get 40% of the profit and the items ship directly to you. I am also trying to get a part time web design job working for a company around here. I would like to get some real world experience to put towards my business. I have some child care options if I could get something after 12:30 every day. Maybe the perfect thing will come along.
The boys are doing great. They love living at Pop's house and in Texas in general. Jaxon's says, 'there's lots of really cool stuff here and I have my Mimi, Pop, Nana, Uncle Jacob, Aunt Casey, Uncle Dave, Chase, Chance, Uncle Chris.....' We got the boys into a preschool as soon as we got here since the school year was starting. It is at a Methodist church right up the road from us. It is a really nice school. They go Tuesday and Thursday from 9 - 2 and they are already adjusted and love it. So, that is great! We have been trying to also go to church there on Sundays. We did the first two weeks but then the last two weeks we have been slackers again. The boys have really been enjoying Pop's pool. We go swimming almost every day. Both the boys can swim with out their swimmies on now but they will only swim underwater. So, they can only swim as long as they can hold their breaths. Jaxon wears a snorkle and mask the whole time. So, he can just swim all around the pool like that. Max just holds his breath. So, once he can't breath any more he starts to drown. We beg them to try swimming with their heads out of the water but they won't even try. The weather here is still hot but it will start cooling down soon. The boys are sharing a room here at Pop's. We brought their beds and things with us. So, their room is all set up so things don't seem so temporary. We were worried how they would adjust to sharing a room but it is going fine. They actually really like it. It does take longer to get them to bed at night because they can gang up on us and they always go to bed and get up at exactly the same time now. Other than that it is great. They do not take naps anymore except on rare occasions. So, we have been trying to put them to bed earlier at 7pm. That works out well most of the time if we can get our act in gear to be home and dinner done and all that by 7 which is sometimes hard. We usually have dinner at Mimis once during the week. Then on Friday nights every one comes over to Ron's house to have dinner. Jason and I have been cooking for every one. This Friday though Jason and Jacob did most of the cooking. It's always a good time on Friday nights. Mimi (Debbie -- Jason's mom) usually comes over a few times during the week or weekend and plays with the boys (sometimes while Jason and I sleep :)). The boys are just loving having family around so much.
Some of our good friends that we knew from when we lived in New Mexico live out there -- Lisa and Chris Kurek -- they have two little boys David and Ben that are very close in age to Jaxon and Max. We are so happy they are here and we have gotten to spend quite a bit of time with them. Also, some other friends of ours are out here -- Shelby and Josh Padgett who we also know from New Mexico. They have a one year old little boy and she is pregnant with another one. Shelby also stays home with her baby. So, we like to get together and do fun kiddie stuff during the week days. Jason's long times friends Joe and Heather Nech also still live in this area. They have a boy and girl who are a little older than Jaxon and Max but they still all love playing together. They live about an hour away. So, it is sometimes hard to get it together to make it out there but they are planning on moving closer soon and we are happy about that. So, we have a lot of friends to hang out with along with family. We never seem to be at a loss for stuff to do.
The furry babies have adjusted fine. Pop has a dog named Sam and he has quickly fit in as part of our heard. Mojave is happy because he can go outside and wander around when he wants. Cheyenne and Sam love each other. Sahara doesn't like anyone but that is normal. Sam is scared to death of Sahara and will cry and bow down when she hisses at him, which is especially funny since Sahara has no claws. Sam is a lot like Yuma which makes us miss him a lot sometimes, but if Yuma was here we would have major issues right now because Yuma and Sam never got along. So, I guess maybe everything does happen for a reason.
I can't think of anything else going on. That is pretty much the jist of it. Things are bound to start getting really hectic for us on Tuesday when Jason starts working full time. It will probably take us a little while to adjust but we will get in a routine as quick as we can. Even with both us home all day we couldn't seem to get much done because the boys don't understand why if we are here we don't want to just spend every second playing with them and catering their every whim, which of course we would love to do if there weren't a thousand other things we need to do. So, now it will be just me again and they will have to get used that. They do not find me nearly as fun as Daddy :(
I hope this note finds every one well and happy. Enjoy the pictures. Please send me a note back so I know how you are doing if I haven't heard from you in a while. Making phone calls doesn't work out very well for me :)
Friday, August 31, 2007
Well, its been another whirlwind few weeks. We have been busy, busy, busy as always. We did our best over the past few weeks to enjoy our house on the water as much as we could. At one point, we realized we had spent 5 days in a row going out on the boat. We actually ventured out to the Gulf a couple of times instead of staying just in the bay like we always do. It was so nice to be out there in the crystal blue water. We went to this other island called Edgemont Key. It is really nice. There are old army forts to explore where they kept prisoners during the Spanish-American war. There is a light house. I am glad we ventured out there finally. So, we have been busy doing fun stuff along with everything else!
My classes start back up on the 16th. It has been hard getting back in the swing of having school work due every day after two months off but it is nice feeling like I am working towards my degree again. Meme was here from the 17 20. We had Jaxons 4th birthday party while she was here. It was a galactic event that is for sure! It was a lot of fun. Meme made beautiful jedi robes for every one. Jason made light sabers for all the kids. Jason and I dress up to. Jason was Jedi Jason and I was Padme. I baked the cake and cupcakes. Meme decorated them. I also cooked lots of Star Wars themed treats. I got a few Star Wars cookbooks and party books. I assume I will get a lot of use out of them over the years! There is some really neat stuff in there. The kids did an obstacle course, scavenger hunt (to find their light sabers), Jason conducted jedi training, and a mean guy (Darth Maul) showed up to fight all the kids. Jaxon made out like a bandit as always. Spoiled rotten, that is for sure!
We had a party for Jaxons birthday with his class at school on Tuesday the 21st. That party was Transformer themed (the new love around here). We brought in cupcakes, cookies, party hats, and stickers. It was fun. Then Friday the 24th, Jaxon had his 4 year check up appointment. He is so big now. They gave him a little paper gown to wear when he was undressed. They checked his eye sight and hearing (both were fine). He had to pee in a cup. He was really worried about getting shots the whole time. He did end up having to get 3 shots and his finger pricked to get blood. I felt so bad. If I thought it was hard having them get shots before when they dont really know what is going on, it is a thousand times worse when they know exactly what is coming. Jaxon just kept asking, why do I have to get shots, I dont like shots, they hurt, I am being a good boy. Of course, as soon as it was over and he got his lollipop, he was fine.
Other than that, we have been tying up loose ends around here, trying to finish projects we have going on, and getting everything ready for the move. Sunday the 26th was the whirlwind get everything done before the movers come day. That evening we had to rush Max to the urgent care also. He fell getting out of the tub. Jason was actually making him get out of the tub because he kept standing up and being all crazy in there. Well, Jason was grabbing the towel to get him out Max slipped on the very back part of the tub where the traction isnt. He hit the back of his head very hard on the lip of the tub. He didnt pass out this time but the bump got huge instantly and looked awful. We werent going to bring him to urgent care because we have already brought him there twice over the past couple months for head injuries and all they did was look at their eyes and say they were fine. However, Max was acting all funny like he was dizzy and he kept just putting his head on the ground. So, we rushed him up to the urgent care. Of course, as soon as we got him in there he started acting fine. Well, as soon as they saw that this is the third time we brought him in for a head injury in the past 4 months, flags went up. They asked us all kinds of questions. They checked his whole body for bruises and gave us this hand out on child safety. The important thing is that Max was fine and we felt better that we had brought him in. Crazy boy!
The packers showed up Monday morning and were there all day Mon & Tues. We sent the boys to school both those days Thank God. Tuesday was the boys last day to attend their school. Both of their classes did something nice for them. Maxs class made him a book with pictures and all the kids hand prints from his class. Jaxons class made him a big poster with every ones hand prints and got him a Lightening McQueen lunch box for a present. Everyone at the day care was sad to see them go.
Then Wednesday the movers came to put everything on the truck. The boys were there for that for the morning. Jaxon decided that it is Optimus Prime (the Transformer who is big truck) that is moving all our stuff to Pops house. The whole thing of having all our stuff packed in boxes and put on a truck has been stressful for the boys. Jaxon understands at least what is going on and he isnt too worried because he is so happy we are moving to Texas where he can be with his Pop and Meme all the time. Max doesnt know what is going on and it is freaking him out. When they were taking his big red chair with his name on it, he ran over there and was laying top of it saying dont take my chair. So, the boys and I moved over to our friend Christines house. The boys friend Aaron lives here. So, the boys are having fun staying here. Christine has been a great help. We have been able to leave the boys with her for a while the past couple of nights so Jason and I could go back over to the house and finish things up. Yesterday, Jason was at the house all day. We had a maid come to clean the place. Then we had carpet cleaners come in to clean the carpets. Then the rental management people came by so we could give them the key and sign everything. Also yesterday, the boy and I were able to make to our last play group here. So, sad. They were a great bunch of ladies and kids that we will miss a lot. It was at my friends development pool. The kids had a blast splashing around in the kiddie pool the whole time. Max tried to have a good time but the poor boy has been sick with a horrible cough and yesterday he actually ended up having a high fever most of the day. When Christine got home from work, I ran over to help Jason finish up. We got the house all handed over.
We tried to sell the boat but no one ended up buying it. We got a few calls but nothing panned out. Oh well. So, we are basically using it as a trailer. We have the boys beds, along with all kinds of other stuff, packed in there. Having the boat on the drive is going to be a pain but at least we will have it to play with when we get out there. There are lots of lakes in the For t Worth area. So, we should still get a lot of use out of it.
We had planned to be on the road early this morning. However, since we have been going non-stop for the past 5 days and Jason and the boys have all been really sick, we decided to just take a day to rest before hitting the road. I am so glad we did. Jason got to sleep in really late today, which he was badly in need of. Then this afternoon we all got to take a nap. Both he and the boys seem a lot better. We are headed out of here early in the morning. We will drive to Montgomery, AL to visit with our friends Elizabeth and Steve. We will stay there until early Tuesday morning. Then we will drive all the way to Fort Worth. It will be good to have a break in between the drive.
I have many many pictures to put on here but I just havent had the chance to get to it. Someday I will get to it
Were on the road again.
I almost forgot to mention that I got Jaxon and Max signed up for a preschool in Fort Worth!!! I am so excited. They got the last two spots. It is at a Methodist church only 4 miles from Jasons dads. They will go from 9 2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They have a really great program. The 4 year old class has certified teachers. Maxs class has 10 kids and 2 teachers. Jaxons class has 16 kids with 2 teachers. The school actually starts next week, but they will not start until the following week. We will go up there on Thursday the 6th to get them all signed up and show them their new school. Then they will start the following week on Tuesday the 11th. From reading the web site and talking with the director, it sounds a lot like the little preschool Jaxon went to here last year that he loved so much. Yea!!!!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Heres a few new pics for you. I am changing up this site a bit. So, bear with me. Mainly I am just changing the underlying code so it is done the correct way versus the thrown together way I have been doing it
We havent been up to much. Just going out on the boat a lot, taking advantage of living on the water while we still can. We went out on the water the past 3 days. So, today we just took a break and have been hanging around the house.
I have been very busy with my web design work. My classes start back on my Thursday. It will be hard to get back into the grind of having assignments due every day after two months off, but it will be good to know I am working towards my degree again instead of just dragging it out even longer.
We are getting ready for Jaxons big birthday party on Saturday the 18th and Memes arrival on Friday the 17th..
Jason and I are going to try to stay up late tonight to catch that meteor shower. I am not sure how well we will be able to see it from our back yard but we are going to try.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Well, its been almost two weeks since Yumas passing. It is still hard to get used to and seems unreal, but life goes on..
We have been busy as always. We have been going out in the boat whenever we can. We have listed the boat for sale. We made a web site for it: http://www.alisplanetwebdesign.com/starcraft . We listed in the newspaper and on a bunch of online classifieds. We really dont want to sell it but we also do not want to deal with moving across the country with it.
We have decided we are definitely going to Texas (fort worth area). Nothing in North Carolina seemed to pan out. The company that our friend Michelle works at, where Jason was hoping to get a job, extended their hiring freeze. We have been waiting to get passed the August 1st point to see what was going to happen with that. Jason applied to many, many other jobs out there in NC. He also was talking with a job recruiter and Michelle had friends of hers who were pushing his resume around. We just never heard anything. I am sure if we were to just move out there, something would have panned out. However, that is a big chance to take without even having a prospective interview yet and having to find a place to live in the mean time. So, its off to Fort Worth we go where we have family to help us out at least. I am really excited to just have plan. Another thing we are really excited about is that because of the Hazelwood Act in Texas, Jason will be able to go to college for free there at any of the Texas State universities. He will be able to work on first his Masters and then his doctorate degree all for FREE. That is something we would be very stupid to pass up.
We will head to Fort Worth around the 31st of August. Unfortunately, we will be traveling over Labor Day weekend. Hopefully, we will not have traffic problems. I am ready to just get the move over with. Once we get out there, we will start looking more for jobs. Jason has applied to some jobs out there but he is going to wait until we are actually there to do anything else. He wont be able to start taking classes until the spring. So, that will give him plenty of time to find a program he wants to do, take his GMAT, and get all the needed paper work filled out. In the mean time, we have both been working my web design business pretty hard core. With Jasons help, I can really get this thing off the ground and if push came to shove we have done the figures and we could probably live off just it. We would rather one of us gets a steady job for a little while though so we dont feel so pressured and stressed first starting off as civilians again. We are going to stay with Jasons dad for a little while until we can get on our feet. So, that is the big plan. I know everything is going to work out wonderfully.
Other than that.. The boys have been going to sleep better. I play guard sitting outside their door every night until they both fall asleep. That seems to work really well for all of us. The boys feel more secure going to sleep and I have been using that time to read. Max still wakes up in the night sometimes but we are so used to that by now it doesnt really matter. I dont think he has ever gone more than a few weeks of sleeping all night. He usually just wants a drink and goes back to sleep. The boys were over their sicknesses but Maxs nose has been running again since this morning. Hopefully, this will be a mild cold. The boys had a playmate most of the weekend. Our friends little boy stayed with us while she had to play war games on the base. Jaxon and Aaron had fun last night sleeping in sleeping bags watching Star Wars in the living room. We went to a birthday party for one of the boys friends on Saturday morning. It was at the beach park where we had Maxs party. Of course, the boys had a blast at that.
We are busy planning Jaxons big 4th birthday party. It will be Star Wars theme of course, I mean what else is there?! We are going to have it here at the house because it is just entirely too hot to do anything outside. We have lots of activities planned. Jason is making every one light sabers and he is going to conduct Jedi training. We have some outer space crafts for the kids to do. Best of all, MeMe is coming out to help with the celebration. She is working on some Jedi robes
We gave up on potty training Max. We did it pretty hard core for a week or so but then Yumas passing did a number on us and we werent as focused on as we were before. Besides that we dont think Max is physically ready for it. With Jaxon, we waited until after he was 2.5 to even start. Max just thinks he is ready because he wants to be a big boy so bad. He doesnt want to wear diapers. He wants to wear underwear like Jaxon. He knows what to do. He will go on the potty every time we put him on there, but he will also go in his underwear or on the floor two minutes later. And for the most part it doesnt bother him at all to run around in wet underwear. So, we are putting that on the back burner. We really wanted to wait until we got this move over and get all settled anyway. Max was mad at first when we put diapers back on him, but now he seems like he forgot all about it.
Cheyenne has been depressed, but she seems to be getting better. We have been taking her everywhere with us that we can and trying to give her extra attention. This is a hard time of year for her here anyway. She is terrified of storms and there are thunderstorms here every day in the summer. So, she practically lives in our closet with the shoes. She will be happy when we get to Texas and she can play with her buddy Sam (Jasons dads dog).
I havent taken many pictures lately. The battery on camera has been dead. I need to charge it but I keep forgetting about it.
My classes start up again on the 16th. I have so much I want to get done before then. It sucks I am going to be trying to do my classes right in the middle of our move. I took the wrong session off. Oh well, Ive done it before.
Keep our troops overseas in your thoughts and prayers. Many of our friends are over there right now. It is so tough on them and their families.
Well, I am off to bed. Check back soon for updates.
Wednesday, July 25
The most awful thing happened yesterday evening. Yuma passed away. It was very sudden and unexpected. He had been getting sick the night before and during the day yesterday. We really didnt think much of it. We should have been more concerned but we were preoccupied and assumed it had something to do with switching his food back and forth. We finally got him into the vet at 4:30 yesterday afternoon. He was very dehydrated at that point. The vet was able to get him on an IV and got his blood work going. She didnt seem overly concerned either. She got him all set up before she went home for a little while. He seemed like he was doing better. When she came back to the clinic to check on him at 7:00 p.m., Yuma was already gone. We are very, very sad about the whole thing. Especially since we didnt take care of him the best we could have his last day alive, but we know he would forgive us as he always forgave us everything.
They ran tests to see what was wrong with him. He had a bacterial infection that normally they would have been able to fix with antibiotics. However, we think Yumas body just couldnt handle it because of the problems he had with his kidneys from years ago when he ate a whole vet size bottle of pain killers bottle and all. The vet also thought his heart may have been weak from his previous surgeries on his knees. There is really no telling. We will always wonder if we had paid more attention to what was going with him and gotten him into the vet earlier if he would have been okay, but there is nothing we can do now.
We were able to go this morning and say goodbye to his body. Jason and I went separately because we didnt want to freak out the kids with that. Max doesnt understand at all and probably will just wonder where he went for a while and then forget him. We tried to explain to Jaxon that Yuma isnt coming back home but he doesnt really get it. I am sure it will be an ongoing process as he asks for him for a while and finally understands he is not coming back.
We are having him cremated and will get his ashes. We will find a place to spread his ashes eventually when we get settled. We both knew we would be upset if anything were to happen to him but it Is a lot worse than we could have imagined. Yuma was there every second. He slept with us. He always used my feet as a pillow. He was always waiting by the door to jump on us when we got home. Nothing is the same with out him. He was such a major pain is the ass most of the time. I have thought before that it would be a relief when his time was ended, just because our life would be so much easier. However, it is not a relief at all and I would give anything to have him back driving us crazy right now.
We know he had a good life. He did and saw more than many people get to do in a life time. We hope that he is doggy heaven getting run around like a puppy forever.
Please think about Yuma and let him know how loved he was by every one that ever had the privilege to meet him.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The fun never stops around here! Max is potty training and still adjusting to his big boy bed. Also, both boys have been sick the past few days with high fevers, runny noses, coughs, and vomited. No sleep to be had here and lots of laundry and pampering of the boys has been going on.
The boys have been much better today. They are just still really whiny. Jaxon is throwing a tantrum right now because he doesnt want to go to bed. Since Max has been giving us a really hard time going to bed, Jaxon has taken this opportunity to join in. He wouldnt want Max to get more attention than him at bed time!! Since we have been back from NY, the bedtime process has taken both of us and lasted at least 2 hours a night. Plus Max gets up multiple times in the night. The past few nights with the kids being sick, they have both been up in the night with fevers, vomiting, coughing, etc.
Last night we tried a variation Super Nanny bedtime technique to break them both of the lay with me until I fall asleep habit. She says you should slowly move farther and farther away from their bed each night and then eventually out of the room. I skipped all that and just sat outside their doors (which luckily are right next to each other) and kept patrolling them back to bed. It still took forever but they did eventually fall asleep without us having to lay there in there with them. Also, I was able to give myself a mani and a pedi while I was sitting out there. Tonight I am going to read one of my web design books I have been trying to get through. Its better than Jason and I each with one of them laying there thinking of all the other things we could be doing while the boys kick us and roll around doing anything they can to keep from falling asleep. Well see how it goes tonight!
Other than that, nothing has been going on. We have barely left the house all weekend. I actually havent left at all. Jason went to the store a couple of time. This morning Jason rode the bike down to the beach with the boys in the trailer. They had a good time except Jason was upset because I guess the knats were really bad while he was riding the bike and he felt like they were rain he was driving through. It really grossed him out and he had to get his clothes off and take a shower as soon as he got in the door. The boys luckily had a mosquito net cover on their trailer.
We havent put the boat back in the water yet. Jason wants to clean off the barnacles and other things that have grown on the bottom of the boat before he puts it back in the water. He hasnt had a chance to spend the hours doing that yet. It has been kind of stormy every day anyway. Plus with the boys being sick, we wouldnt have been able to out this weekend. Although, this afternoon seemed like it would have been nice to go if the boat was already in. Hopefully, we will be able to get it in tomorrow so we can get some more use out it before we leave here.
Still no word on a job for Jason. Neither of us had any idea how long it would take to apply for jobs. He has to revise his resume for each job and then write a cover letter. Then he has me proof read it each time to make sure that he didnt overlook something. It is such a process. Plus a lot of the jobs have a separate application he has to fill out for the company online. I am driving him nuts because I keep finding more for him to apply to. He has applied to so many jobs, but he hasnt really had a response back from anything. Please think positively for us that we will hear something soon. We have a couple of back up plans in case he doesnt get one by the time the movers are coming. It would just be nice to know what was going on so we could really relax and enjoy this time. We are really trying our best to enjoy it anyway. It is just hard with so many things to think about.
Well, I am off to began the bedtime ritual. I cant avoid it anymore it is actually way past their bed time already.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Well, our 4th of July and our trip to NY both went well. 4th of July we had a lot of fun with friends on the boat and going out to the island. We stayed on the island after it got dark and had a fire. We set off an arsenal of fire works! We had to make trips to and from the island because there were too many people to fit on our boat in one trip. We were organized and it went well, though. We had a day to recover and get packed before we headed to NY.
We flew out of here on the 6th. The boys were very excited to ride on the plane. Max freaked out a little watching us leave the ground but it was only for a few minutes. They both thought it was really cool for about the first 20 minutes. After that, they were just ready to land. They really werent too bad on the flight but it was just long trying to keep them amused and not driving each other crazy. Jason sat with them for half the flight then we switched and I sat with them for the other half. They did not sleep at all, which we were surprised since they hadnt napped all day and the flight from 11:50 2:45. It was nice having a straight flight. Uncle Marty (my brother) picked us up at the airport. Then we drove to Granny and Grampas (my parents). We got ourselves all settled in. A couple of my Aunts and Uncles stopped by to visit that evening. We were tired and the boys were too. We tried to get them to go to bed at their normal times but that didnt go so well. My mom had a pack and play for Max and Jaxon had a bed to sleep in, both had a Spider Man sheets. However, Max wanted nothing to do with the pack and play. He screamed forever. Finally we gave in and put him at the other end of twin bed Jaxon was in. Jason had to lay down with them before they finally all fell asleep. So, that ended up being the sleeping arrangement while we were there Max and Jaxon sharing a bed. It was interesting!
Saturday during the day, we walked around town a little, visited with my grandparents and stopped by one of my friends house who I havent seen in years. The boys got to play with her kids and they had lots of fun water activities for them to do. After that, we headed back to my Grannys. My mom watched them that evening so Jason and I could go out in Saratoga for the night. We ended up going out to dinner by ourselves (at the Outback yummy) and shopping at Kohls before we met up with my sister Courtney and her boyfriend. Then we headed to my friend Jessicas house to meet up with her and her boyfriend. By the time we actually got out in Saratoga, it was midnight. Which I do not care what anyone says is late to start a night out! We had a good time but by 2:30, Jason and I were the only ones left and we were majorly wishing we had just went to the movies after dinner and called it a night. We had been drinking by that point. So, we couldnt drive. We ended up going to back to Jessicas and crashing on her floor. I guess the boys did okay for Granny. However, they were up very late. I think Max was up until past 11 and Jaxon until 2.
Sunday, I had a baby shower to go to for my friend Gina. It was a lot of fun. I am glad I was able to be there for it. Jason and the boys hung out at Grannys and went to get ice cream with Aunt Saraetta and Uncle Marty. The rest of the week just flew by I guess. It was hot. The boys enjoyed swimming at my Auntie Ms. We were up there during the afternoon on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we visited with my friend Jen at her house for a while. The boys really enjoyed it there playing with her kids. Wednesday evening we had a dinner at Aunt Cournteys. We ended up staying late and spending the night there. On Thursday, we had lobster dinner at the Weathervane in Saratoga with Aunt Mary Jo and Uncle Bill. After that, we stopped by to visit my Aunt Jill at her house because we hadnt seen her yet. Friday we helped get ready for the graduation party on Saturday. Saturday was the big graduation party for my sister Saraetta and my cousin Dan. It turned out really well. There were a lot of people there. It went on really late. Jaxon didnt go to bed until about 2:00 a.m. Both and he and Max had a blast at the party. Max was a handful though as always. There was no relaxing until he went to bed about 9. Jaxon enjoyed playing with the other kids and dancing with everyone.
Sunday we just hung around and recovered. There was a 1st birthday party going on for one of our cousins. So, Jason and Jaxon went to that while I stayed with Max while he napped. Poor thing was so exhausted he went to asleep on Auntie Ms hard wood floor using a sweater for a pillow. We helped clean up from the grad party and then headed back to Grannys. Monday it was already time to get packed up and say our goodbyes. It always goes by so fast.
The plane ride back went pretty well. We were smarter this time and split the boys up. I sat with Jaxon. We had a magazine that had games and stuff to do in it. So, we did that for a while. Then he said he was tired and laid down on my lap and slept most of the flight. So, I got to take a nap for a while too. It was heavenly. Poor Jason was stuck with Max who was a awake the entire flight until right as we were landing! Max was amused most of the time by the little video player Jason had for him but he was fussing some.
We were happy to get back here and have the trip over with. It is just so exhausting to travel with little ones. Max wanted nothing to do with his crib last night. He just kept pointing to his big boy bed that has been set up since we moved here. So, he is slept in his car bed. He did pretty good but I had to stay in there with him until he fell asleep. Then he woke up at 5:30 and I went in there and gave him a drink and sat by his bed for a while and he went back to sleep. They both slept until 8 this morning that is very late for them!
So, now it is back to the usual whatever that is for us! The boys did go to school today. Jason took them and they both cried. I think tomorrow they will be happy to just stay home all day and do nothing. They want to play with all their toys that they missed while they were gone. We havent picked up the doggies from the kennel yet. We will do that when we go and pick up the boys in a little while. Jason and I needed to rest today.
I have a ton of things to do since I got very far behind by not do much work while we were in NY.
I still have a month before my school starts back up and a little longer than that before the movers come. So, I should have plenty of time to get all the things accomplished I want to before then.
Stay tune for pictures. I didnt take as many as I probably should have but I did take quite a few.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Its official as of yesterday, Jason is completely separated from the active duty Air Force. We are excited but it is a little stressful right now until we get settled. We have gotten an extension on our lease for one more month. So, now we will be here until the end of August. We think another month here will do us a world of good as far as us not feeling rushed into any decisions. I know, that is what we said last month but time just goes so fast and we cant seem to keep up.
Jason has been off work for over 3 weeks now and we have yet to be bored or not have a thousand things to do. We had a flea problem with the furry babies. So, that was a lot of fun bombing the house, spraying the yard, dipping the animals, bombing again, etc. etc. I think we have finally won the battle (knocking on wood). Other than that Jason and I have spent most of our time working on our computers, looking for jobs, revising resumes, writing cover letters, or going to appointments. We have taken some advantage of the time to ourselves though. It has just has not been as productive and/or relaxing as we pictured. It is hard to relax when our future is so up in the air but we really are trying to take the most advantage of this time as we can. We got our wish. We are now in complete control of our future versus the military controlling it. However, finding a way to make money to live on will still always control everything. It also doesnt help with our families living half way across the country from each other. We are still full force trying to make the North Carolina move work. We are just really weary to move up there without Jason having a job. We do not want to get ourselves into another temporary living situation. I know it is all going to work out though when we are least expecting it to.
The boys have still been going to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays all day. Jaxon gave us a hard time going both days last week. I think he has figured out that Jason isnt going to work anymore and thinks he is missing out on all the fun stuff Mommy and Daddy are doing without him while he is at school. His teacher said he is fine the minute we leave and when we come to pick him up he says he had a great day. So, I think he just likes making us feel guilty all day. Hopefully, we will not have to go through that with him tomorrow.
Jaxon is so funny lately. He has become very concerned with asserting his independence. He has an opinion about everything and of course wants everything his way. We wanted to go to the movie theater the past few nights but Jaxon doesnt want to see anything that is playing. He wants to see Shrek III (which we have already seen) and nothing else. So, we are like fine than we just wont go. He just goes on and on about why he doesnt want to watch the other two kids movies that are playing. He also has been wanting to wear his red winter jacket around lately even though it is 95+ degrees here with ungodly humidity. He will wear it anyway and say he is not hot. He also wears one black winter glove which he says is his robot hand. For any one that remembers the time I spent the fall with him up north the year before last and he gave me such a hard time being dressed for the cold weather, it is pretty ironic that now he wants to wear his winter clothes in this heat! Jaxon is so smart also. He knows his alphabet and how to count to 30 when he wants to. He can spell and write his first and middle name. He knows his last name starts with a P but he just says, its a long one. He knows how to spell Maxs name. He knows that my name is Ali and Jasons name is Jason. He knows how to tell stories and wants to learn how to read. He knows that we live on the planet Earth. He can find Florida, Texas, New York, and North Carolina on the map of the United States and will point out where we live in Florida. He loves to look at books about outer space. He says he wants to go to Mars but we cant because we dont have a shuttle. The things that he says sometimes just amaze Jason and I. It is so fun to watch him learn about the world. Jaxon cant wait for his birthday because he is going to get a Jango Fett costume. Really, he just cant wait for his birthday period because he thinks all kind of great things are going to happen when he turns 4. I dont know where he comes up with some things. I think he is going to be disappointed when he turns 4 and nothing magical happens. Since we are now going to be here for his birthday, it will be nice so he will have friends to come to his party. It is going to be a Star Wars party of course. Jaxon has been into helping me make his web page. He made a picture for it and wrote his name if you take a look there. He has big plans for it. So, keep checking back! Jaxon loves swimming with either his swimmies or his life jacket on. He is still not too keen on letting his head go under but he will hold his breath and do it sometimes.
Max is also getting too big for his britches. He talks up a storm in complete sentences. He tries to sing his alphabet but he gets to about ABC and then just jumbles the rest. He can count to 5. He knows the name of most of the star wars guys. He will sit and play with them all by himself making them talk to each other. He loves to play with his tool shop my mom got him for his birthday. He loves puzzles and books. We have been introducing the potty idea. He definitely knows what is going on. He can make himself pee on command pretty much every time we put him on the toilet. However, if we put him in underwear he also pees in those 10 minutes later after he just peed in the potty. So, we are thinking he is not ready for the full force training yet. Its funny if he tries to go and he cant he says pee pee not working. Its so cute. Max is overcoming his fear of the water finally. Up until recently, whenever we went to the beach, the extent of Max getting in the water was sitting at the waters edge or sitting in a hole we dug filled with water. He would let us carry him from the boat to the beach and back. That was it. Anytime we went to a pool, he would just sit on the stairs. If we brought him in, he would just cling to us the whole time. This has all been a drastic change from last year when he was only a year old swimming around in swimmies and jumping off the edge of the pool. He wasnt scared at all. So, it has been interesting that he developed such a fear. Really, it has been fine with us since it is good for him to have a healthy fear of the water and has allowed us to relax knowing he is not going to just run in the water when we are at the beach. He is getting over it though. Last weekend it was so hot when we were out at the island that we all spend most of the time in water versus being on the beach. We were hanging out on the raft and jumping off the front of the boat. Max enjoys sitting in the raft in the water. Usually he will not get off of it. I think seeing us all in the water for so long and being hot prompted him to want to be in the water more. Once I got him to see that his swimmies allowed him to float, he was all about it. He would say I float. Then we went to a friends house to swim the other day and he was really much more into swimming around with his swimmies. I am glad he is enjoying the water again finally.
Both boys got new sneakers the other day. Their feet grow so fast it is ridiculous. Jaxon is in a size 10 now and Max is in a size 7. We do not have any size 7 sneakers from Jaxon. I dont know if he just skipped over that size or what. It is amazing how excited they get about getting new sneakers though. They still both enjoying dressing up like superheros and star wars guys. Playing with their star wars guys is always the ultimate fun thing to do. And of course pretending we are taking space ships to outer space.
We have still been taking advantage of the boat and being on the water. Although, we didnt end up going out at all this Saturday or Sunday. Saturday, the day just went by without us realizing it. Then Sunday it was stormy all day. We have big plans to go out on the 4th though. We have a lot of people going with us. We are going to have to make trips to the island. Our friend bought a ton of fireworks we are going to set off. It should be fun.
Well, once again, I have written a novel. Check back for more new pics.
Please keep our troops and their families in your thoughts and prayers as you celebrate 4th of July. Remember the sacrifices they make so we can even celebrate this holiday. So many of our friends are overseas right now. This is such a hard time for military families. Please do not forget them.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Well, time is flying as usual. I cant believe it has been a week and a half since Jasons last day of work. Weve been staying busy and having fun. On the 9th, we ran a lot of errands than went to a party at a friends house in the evening. We had fun. The boys had a blast, too. There were lots of other kids to play with. Jaxon enjoyed swimming in the pool for hours. Max didnt want to get in and that was good for us because Jason and I didnt feel like getting in either. Jaxon does really good swimming with his swimmies and there were plenty of people in the pool to look out for him. On Sunday, we went out in the boat with some friends. We went to the island as usual. It was a good time although extremely hot on the beach. We came in earlier than usual because one of our friends that was with us had to be to work. So, after that we got in from that we headed over to Matt and Emilys to check out their new pool they just got put in. It is really nice and the kids loved it of course. Jaxon was in there swimming right away. He was so excited to get to swim with Clayton. Max and Ashlyn just sat on the steps with their swimmies on. Both of them are a little scared of the water.
It seemed like Monday through Friday Jason and I were on the computers almost non stop besides taking turns taking care of and playing with the boys. Jason was finding jobs to apply for, revising his resume, writing cover letters, and submitting job applications like crazy. He applied for quite a few. I was finishing up my last week of school and working on web design work. I got my final project done at the very last minute as usual. I literally submitted one of them 3 minutes before it was due -- which was 3:00 am Saturday morning. Whew it is a relief to be off of school for a little while (2 months!!). I hate taking time off because it only means more I will have to do at the end, but it really is extremely time consuming and stressful knowing I constantly have something due. Now, I can focus on getting my web design business organized and hopefully by the time we are moved and settled I can start running it like a real business instead feeling like it is just a hobby that consumes all my time.
The boys did go to school on Tuesday and Thursday. Jason and I used that time to just be on our computers all day and get stuff done without feeling guilty because we were ignoring the boys the whole time. On Thursdays the boys got to do special clubs at school. For an extra dollar a piece their school had various activities the kids could participate in. So, we signed them both up for a gardening class and Jaxon up for a little dance class (it was 3+ or we would have signed Max up too). I guess they really enjoyed the gardening especially because they actually got to see each other during the day. Usually they do not see each other at all because they are in separate class rooms. Every body said they were really cute doing the gardening together and were really excited to get to see each other for a little while. Jaxon was cute at the dance class but I guess he was the only boy! He still liked it but he said he doesnt want to do it next week. So, we are going to try out the physical fitness club next week for him. I will be sad when they have to move schools. I am so comfortable leaving them at their school and it makes me so happy when I go to pick them up and every one I see in there just goes on and on about what they boys did during the day and how cute they are. It makes me feel good with them only being there a couple of days that they dont get lost in the crowd. The boys love going, too.
Wednesday we had play group. We went to a really cool childrens museum in Tampa. Unfortunately, only a couple of people could make it and they didnt end up staying too long. The boys and I had a blast there, though. We stayed for a long time just playing. It was really neat. They had all these little buildings set up like a real city but everything was miniature and kid size. All the buildings had stuff to play in them. They had little costumes the kids could where like to be firemen, or mcdonalds workers, postmen, etc. They also had little bikes, cars, and scooters outside for the kids to ride around on. They had a working stop light that Jaxon got a real kick out playing in his little car and waiting at the stop light. There was also a little pretend diner. Jaxon had so much fun pretending he was the waiter, waiting on Max and I.
Friday evening, Jason, the boys, and I took the boat out by ourselves for a little while. Jason had bought a tube for the boat that day. So, we had to go try it out. It is a two person tube that has really deep seats in it. So, it is really nice for the kids and just for laying out in. Jason pulled the boys and I in the tube around for a while. Then we anchored out in the bay and just swam around and got in and out of the tube. It was a nice peaceful break from the house.
Saturday we went out in the boat all day. A bunch of our friends came over in the morning and we headed out. We went out to the island. It was nice. We got a shaded spot this time, which was great because the weekend before it was just unbearably hot even with our umbrellas we couldnt manage to keep good shade. The tide was really high though. So, we kept having to move higher and our stuff got quite wet a few times. The tube got a lot of use. Every one took turns just floating around in it and the kids loved sitting in it. Then we drove around in the boat for a while dragging people in the tube -- of course, trying to throw people off. I was a scaredy pants and didnt want to go fast on the tube. I used to love it, but now I just get scared. Jason did it a couple of times though.
Sunday morning we headed out to Disney World! It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to our hotel. We got all checked and then took the bus over to MGM Studios. As soon as we got there, we could hear the Star Wars music playing and see all the Star Wars signs everywhere. So, of course the boys were very excited. Before we even went into the park, there was a place for the boys to put on Jedi robes and pose with light sabers. We spent the whole day at MGM until it closed at 9. It was a long day but a lot of fun. The boys did not sleep at all but they were really great all day. They were so excited and so into everything. Jaxon was really into the character signings. We got him a little autograph book when we first got there. We had reservations for a character lunch that day with the people from Playhouse Disney (JoJo, Goliath, and the Little Einstein characters). Max was really into getting up to dance with the characters. Jaxon was a little shy about it at first but then he got up there, too. There was a big Star Wars parade. 3 of the actual actors from Star Wars were there (the guy who played Bobo Fett, Captain Typho, and Chewbacca) the kids were not really into that of course because they were not dressed up. Jason really liked getting to see them though. Jaxon got all kinds of signatures from Star Wars characters. He wanted to wait in line for every single one. Max posed for every picture with Jaxon and was also very into it. Darth Vader tried to scare him and he wouldnt get scared. He was trying to stare him down. It was pretty funny! Especially since the next day at Animal Kingdom, Max was scared to death of Goofy (he is the only character Max was scared of we are still trying to figure it out!!). We got to watch the Jedi Training Academy. They picked kids from audience to do Jedi training and then had a whole scene where Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and Storm Troopers come into try to get the new padawans to go to the dark side. Jaxon was disappointed he didnt get picked, but he still really loved watching the whole thing. We were right up front. Jaxon got to go on the Star Wars ride. We put his hat way up high on his head and had him stand up on his toes so he could get in. He was so excited he and Daddy go to on a trip to outerspace. He thinks he really went. They both had lots of fun running around the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie set play ground. I just couldnt get over how big the boys were all day, especially Max. We brought the double stroller, which worked out great. They both would just jump in and out when we got to places. We didnt even have to strap them in most of the time. They held our hands and walked when we dropped the strollers off place. They got a little anxious in the lines but really they were amazingly well behaved. They just loved every minute. We saw lots of shows. We did a few rides. As usual, we didnt see a lot of the park. As many times as we have gone, we still havent seen everything. Every on the bus back to the hotel was surprised that Jaxon and Max were still going strong. By the time we got up to our room it was after 11:00 p.m. It still took us a while to get them to sleep. It was probably 12:30 am before they both fell asleep. We didnt bring a pack and play for Max. Our room had 2 queen size beds and a couch that turned into a twin bed. So, we put Max and Jaxon each on their own bed and we had our own bed. It took a while to get Max to stay in the bed but eventually he fell asleep.
That is probably the first time Max has spent the night sleeping not caged in. He is a little old to still be in a crib I guess but we are going to wait until we move to try to make that transition. We tried when we first got here for a week and a half and it didnt go well at all. We finally gave up and just set the crib up. He has been doing fine in that but I guess it is about time to move him to the little car bed.
Of course, they were both up bright and early. Max woke up the first time at 5:30. I gave him a cup of water and he went back to sleep until 6:00. Then I gave him another cup of water and he slept until 7:00, when he woke up and started puking. We were like, great. I think it was just from drinking so much water while he was lying down and on an empty stomach. Who knows with him, he is such an easy puker. Jaxon slept until about 8:00 which was late for him at least. We had breakfast at our hotel and then took the bus to Animal Kingdom. It was about 11:00 by the time we got there. Max fell asleep on the bus over and transferred into the stroller still asleep. He was just completely wiped out from the day before. Jaxon also was pretty tired. We walked around for a little bit to try to let Max sleep some before we started bringing him into things. We woke him up to see Festival of the Lion King show. He loved that. Our side of the audience got to be the lion. So, we got to make growling sounds through out the show which the boys thought was awesome. The show is really neat with acrobats, really cool costumes, and life size mechanized animals. Then we went to see the Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends show which was very cute. We went and got signatures from Goofy (who Max was scared to death of) and Donald Duck. At some point, Max threw up again all over himself. We did not have a change of clothes for him so we rinsed his clothes off in the bathroom and put them back on him soaking wet which he was really mad about for about 10 minutes but then realized how much cooler he was since it was extremely hot out. The boys were no where near as well behaved that day as they were the day before. They were tired and cranky and not into being there at all. We got a bag of popcorn which they fought over the entire time. They were hitting each other in the stroller, screaming, and yelling. Yup, just one day at Disney probably would have been enough. We were able to get them happy for periods of time but Jason and I of course were tired and cranky, too. We walked through trails and saw lots of animals. The boys enjoyed finding all the different kinds of birds they could find. They also really liked looking at the gorillas. We went on a safari ride. After that, Max fell asleep again. We watched a big parade that was really cool. Jaxon loved it. Max slept through the whole thing. Right after that, Jaxon fell asleep. While both the boys were asleep, Jason and I went and got ourselves each a beer. Ahhh. Of course, Max woke up as soon as we got them. He was a little happier though. We got him some French fries and that amused him for a while. We went to the dinosaur area. I took Max to run around the dinosaur play ground. Jaxon woke up soon afterward. They enjoyed running around in there. Then we went to the Its Tough to be Bug 3d movie. Jaxon did not want to go because he remembed being scared by it when I took him there before Max was born. I cant believe he remembered it! We took him anyway though thinking he was older and would not be scared plus Jason really wanted to see it. It is a really cool show. Jaxon did get scared though. He still gets mad at us when we bring it up and ask him if that was his favorite show. Max got scared too. It is just one little part of it that is scary when the mean bug comes out and the lights go out. The rest of it they liked. Before we knew it, it was time to catch the 7:00 bus if we were going to get out of there before closing at 8. Since there was a big thunderstorm rolling in, we decided it was time to go. We really did not make it through as much of the park as we would have liked to that day. We actually could have stayed for the magic hours until 11:00 that night but we were all done with being in the parks.
After we got back to the hotel, my friend Melissa who lives out in Orlando and her boyfriend came to our hotel to have dinner with us. By that time, the boys were in rare form. They were a night mare at dinner. They wouldnt stay in there seats. Jaxon was sitting under the table. Max was screaming, throwing everything on the ground, and trying to push his high chair over. Luckily, it was a sports bar we were eating in and very family friendly but still it was very hard to have a conversation at all. They were just done. All Jaxon wanted was the ice cream we had promised him half way through the day but never found a place to get. So, after dinner we went to the ice cream shop in the hotel. Jaxon was happy to share his ice cream with Max and they were actually quiet and happy for about 10 minutes while they were eating it. By the time we saw Melissa and Derek off it was about 10. So, we headed back to the room to give the boys baths and put them to bed. They went to bed fairly easy and it was so nice to go to sleep. Max was up bright and early at 6:30. I tried giving him water but it didnt work for long. Jason was a god send and got up with them and took them to the pool around 8:00. I got to sleep until 10:00. It was heavenly. Then we got packed up and checked out at 11:00. We had lunch at the hotel and did some of the games there that Jaxon had wanted to do. Then we headed back home. We picked the doggies up from the kennel on the way. They were happy to see us. The boys slept the whole drive home. So, that was our Disney trip! Even though it wasnt relaxing (nothing is ever relaxing with two little boys who have 20 times the energy we do), it was fun. It was nice to get away and just focus on the boys and having fun for a couple of days.
Now we are back. I have to play catch up with all my client that sent me work while I was gone. Tomorrow we have playgroup. We are having it here at the house. Our play group is dwindling down. It seems like every one has left or is leaving (including the boys and I). Tomorrow will be my friend Jen and her son Harrys last play group. We are going to have it here so maybe the kids will just run around and play and us girls can talk some. Thursday and Friday the boys will go to school. They get to go on Friday to make up for the day they missed on Tuesday. Jason and I do not have anything fun planned. I need to really be productive on those days, but we may take a break and do something kid free to take advantage of the time to ourselves.
Before we know it, it will be time to heading to NY. We got our tickets to go from the 6th 16th of July.
I will put more pictures up soon. Of course, I took a ton at Disney. I hope every one is doing well!
Friday, June 08, 2007
Today was Jasons last day of work as an active duty Air Force member! They had a going away luncheon for him and his friend today. The boys and I went out there. Monday he had his last flight. They call it a fini flight. The boys and I went out for that. When he got off they plane, they sprayed him down with a hose, sprayed cans of shaving cream in his flight suit, and sprayed champagne all over him. I still dont really get the point of the whole thing, but I guess it is something they always do. The boys got a kick out of it. Jaxon got to help spray Jason with the hose. He thought that was lots of fun. I cant believe we are no longer a military family. It is exciting, scary, and sad all at the same time.
Now on to civilian life. Whatever that may bring. We are staying here until the end of July. Jason is still working on the job front. We are still trying our hardest to get to the Raliegh, NC area. Every one pray, keep your fingers crossed, wish, envision, or whatever it is you do that he finds the perfect job (or at least an interim job) starting there in August. We are confident he will though. We are just going to have to be patient and not stress about it (much easier said than done!).
Other than that, the boys are still enjoying their school. We didnt do play group this week but next week we plan on going to the Childrens Museum in Tampa. That should be fun.
Max had his 2 year doctor appointment on the 30th. It went well besides he was freaking out from the time we went back to the examining room because he knew he was going to get a shot. He screamed and freaked out when the nurse tried to weigh him or touch him at all. He is 26.4 lbs and 33.5 inches. The doctor said he is growing fine. He did get one shot. They also pricked his finger to draw some blood to see if he is still anemic. I havent heard anything back from that test. So, I am assuming his iron levels are fine now. I will call next week to make sure.
June 1st was the first day of Hurricane Season here. It rained all day. On Saturday morning, the water was up in our back yard. The dock was entirely under water. It was crazy. We were really surprised that the storm had that much effect because it didnt seem like much, especially since it hadnt rained here in months. So, that is kind of scary. Lets hope there are no major storms here before we leave!
That Saturday, the 2nd, we went to a surprise co-ed baby shower on Saturday for our friends. That was fun. Then on Sunday we went out in the boat with some friends. We had a great time.
Tuesday, the 4th was also an interesting night here. Right after dinner, the boys were playing around taking all the cushions off the couch and jumping on them like they always do. Well, they were doing it our back room where there is tile floor. Max went over a pillow the wrong way and hit his head really hard on the tile floor. I heard it hit. So, I ran over there. He wasnt crying. He was just laying there. I picked him up and he was just staring at me. I was talking to him saying, Max, Max, are you okay? Well, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp. That scared the crap out of me. I started screaming for Jason. I shook Max (probably not the best thing to do) and was screaming his name. He finally opened his eyes (I think he was only out for about 30 seconds but it seemed like forever). He still really wasnt responding. So, we all jumped in the car and headed to the urgent care center. I just held him on my lap. By the time we got to urgent care, he was acting fine. He was running around the office like a little maniac. So, then we felt silly bringing him in but I am still glad we did. Otherwise, we would have been worried all night. Max again was freaking out the whole time after we went back to the examining room thinking he was going to get a shot. He didnt want anyone to touch him. The doctor looked at his eyes and said he was fine. The doctor was like, havent I seen him before for a head injury? Luckily, the doctor has twin 3 year olds. So, he completed understands!
Later that night, probably about 10:00 p.m. another crazy thing happened. I was sitting at the computer working on some stuff. I started seeing these little bugs flying on my computer screen. I kept killing them. I figured they just got in when we opened the door to let the dogs out. We get a lot of really weird bugs here. Well, after I realized there were a lot of these bugs that I had killed, I started looking around. There were a ton of them all over the wall and light. I went to get Jason and he said he has seen some in the other room too. Well, then we started looking around and these bugs were every where and they kept multiplying. I mean everywhere like something out of a movie. It was gross. I have no idea what kind of bugs they were. They looked almost like fruit flies but a little bigger. We started killing them with fly swatters but it was no use. The more we killed the more there were. We ran around the house making sure everything was closed. We couldnt find anything open. So, for about 2 hours we killed these bugs, one of us with a fly swatter and one with the vacuum cleaner just basically waging war with these damn bugs. They were every where. We ended up turning out all the lights but lone and finally got it under control. They we turned off all the lights. I still had to do some work on the computer. So, my monitors were the only things on in the house. I still had to keep killing the stupid bugs until I went to bed. I had nightmares all night about the bugs being on me while I was sleeping. Luckily they were gone for the most part the next day. Jason got a couple bug spray foggers on his way home from work and sprayed all around the house, windows, and yard. We havent had any problems since. That was just insane!
We arent doing much of anything tonight I guess. Tomorrow we may go out in the boat early. We have a party to go to at 5. Sunday we will probably go out in the boat with some friends.
My school wraps up a week from tomorrow. I am excited to have one less thing to worry about. I will be able to focus on my web design business and getting things organized around here for our upcoming move. We are in countdown mode. Trying not to buy any groceries and use up everything we have in the house. Originally we were going to take off the end of June, but I am glad we pushed it back to the end of July. Now we will not have to stress and we can take our time.
We are working on getting plane tickets to go to NY in July. Probably from the 9 18.
I have lots of new pics to get up. I will work on getting those up too. Dont forget to check out the other pages on here. I have been working slowly on getting everything working
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
We had a great Memorial Day weekend. Jason was off Friday Monday. Friday we just ran some errands and did some shopping. Saturday we went out on the boat with our friends. We went out to the island and hung out for a while. It was fun. Then Sunday, we babysat Ashlyn and Clayton for a while. We went over to the playground and then to Sonic for milk shakes. That evening we went out to eat to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary. Our friends watched the boys. We had a nice, romantic dinner at the Melting Pot. The Melting Pot is a really cool fondue restaurant. We had never had fondue before. So, it was neat. It was REALLY yummy. Monday we just hung around here. Today the boys had school. Tomorrow we have play group. We are going to Pump it Up. Pump it Up is a place here that is indoors and full of all different kind of bouncy houses and bouncy slides and such. The kids LOVE it. It is a work out for me!
I hope every one is doing well. Check out all the new pics I posted. Remember you can stop the slide show by pressing the play stop button. Then you can scroll through the pics as fast or as slow as you want using the previous and next buttons. They are sorted in order by the date they were taken, not by when I put them on here. So, you may have to go past some you already seen to see them all. I still have lots more to put up here! I have been putting stuff on all the other pages, too. So, check them out. I added a guest book. So, please let me know you stopped by! That will motivate me to keep updating!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Its been another busy 3 weeks since I last updated. Max turned 2 on the 17th!! Meme (Jasons mom) came into town that day (and stayed until the 21st). So, she and I showed up a Maxs school with cupcakes. Jason came too. That was Jaxons first day going to Maxs school. So, he got to be there too. Max had fun celebrating his birthday with his friends at school and his teachers. Then on Saturday the 19th we had a Pirate Party for him at the beach. All his other friends got to be there. We all dressed up like pirates and had lots of fun activities for the kids. Debbie showed me how to make an awesome pirate cake for the party. Jason organized treasure hunts for the kids and parents. He buried boxes of treasure and both the kids and parents had lots of fun with that. Debbie made the boys pirate costumes that are absolutely adorable. We had a blow up pirate for the kids to get their pictures with. It was really a cute party! Max made out like a mad man with presents. His big present from us was a little tricycle. It has a big handle I can push him around with, too. So, we can keep up with Jaxon on his bike! I think Max had an incredible 2nd birthday!
Jaxon has had an exciting few weeks, too. He finished up t-ball on the 8th. They had a big picnic and party with bouncy houses for that. He got a little trophy with his name on it. Jaxon was sad it was over. Jaxon graduated preschool on the 15th. He had a party at school during the day. Myself and the other moms were there. We had them fly kites and play with bubble wands. They got beach balls and all the kids signed their names on them. Jaxon learned a lot in his time at that preschool. He can write his name almost perfectly. He knows all his letters and he can count to 20 (when he wants to). It was sad to see the boys leave each other. They were all very close. It was a class of 8 boys. That evening they had a little graduation ceremony. Jaxon got a certificate. They also had a really cute slide show of pictures they had taken of the classes throughout the year. On the 17th, Jaxon moved over to Maxs school. He has transitioned very well. It is a much larger class, but they have two teachers there. He seems to be liking it just fine. Since we are paying for the full day (they do not have a half day rate), the boys are now staying there from 9 4 every Tuesday and Thursday. Today has been the second day I left them that long. It seems to be going really well so far. Every other week they rent a bouncy house for the kids. So, today was bouncy house today. They both had a blast.
I have been busy myself. I finished up one session of school and started another one. For Mothers Day, my present was a trip to NY with out my kids to go see all my mothers. I went on a trip to NY from the 10th 14th. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I couldnt stand it and told my Aunt Jane a week or so before I left and she couldnt stand it and told my AuntieM, and she told my Aunt Jill So, very few were surprised! I ended up having to tell my mom over the phone because she was about to leave the house as I was driving there. I did get to surprise some people though. It was a nice to trip to get away and spend some time with my family and friends without having to worry about what the boys were doing every second.
Jason and the boys had a blast back home while I was gone. Jaxon got to go to work with Daddy one of the days. My friend watched Max for him. Jaxon were his little flight suit like Daddy and thought he was the cats meow. Jason brought him out to see a plane and he got to shred papers for Daddy and make some money. Also, that Saturday, the Star Wars characters made an appearance at Toys R Us. Jason took them to that and of course all 3 of them were in their glory. The boys were happy to see me when I got home though. I do not think I ever saw Max smile so big as he did when I got in the car at the airport. He just started jabbing away telling me everything that he had done while I was gone. They have been much nicer to me since I got back, too!
Jason has been busy wrapping up his time in the Air Force. He has a ton of out-processing to do. Just getting things signed off basically every building on base. He has also been trying to take care of some stuff for getting disability since he has a slipped disk and punctured nerve in his back ever since they put him in a box in survival training. His last day of work will be June 8th. So, it is creeping up soon. Jason applied for a job in North Carolina. (We have not heard word yet.) He is probably going to apply for some other jobs if we do not hear anything soon.
We are not planning on heading out of here until after 4th of July weekend. So, it will be around the 3rd or so. We need to be in NY by July 14th for my sister and cousins graduation from high school party. I guess all of our planning with be last minute since we still do not know where we are going for sure. Jason cant set up the movers to come until we have an address to ship to. They will store our stuff for us somewhere but we are trying to avoid that if we can because it goes a total different route if we put it in storage and it will take us much longer to get our stuff back when we want it. I am getting a little stressed but not too bad. I know everything will work out and it is different knowing that we have choices to make rather than worrying about what is going to be decided for us.
The three weeks Jason is going to be off, I plan on getting A LOT done for my web design business. I will be in school until the 16th, but after that I can just focus on getting the MANY projects I have started and not finished done. I am taking a session off of school. I will be off school until August. I am not accepting anymore clients and I am going to try my hardest to finish up what I am working on for every one. So, when it comes time to move, I can focus just on that. We are still sending the boys to school while Jason is off. We are excited to use that time to do some things here we have not gotten to do. We are going to go to Busch Gardens one day and just ride all the rides. We have been so many times and never got to ride any of the adult rides! We are going to hit the Salvador Dali museum. Also, we are going to go out in the boat by ourselves. We are also going to try to get organized before the move, have another garage sale, and try to get rid of anything here we do not need so we have less to unpack next time. Hopefully, we will get some time to do just do nothing too. I know the 3 weeks will go by really fast (as they all do.)
Well, look back for updates and new pics.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Hi every one that takes the time to read this thing! 3 weeks have gone by quick as a flash. We have just been up to the usual. The boys are still enjoying school. Jaxons school is going to end in a couple of weeks. May 15th is the last day of his school year. He is going to start going to Maxs school after that until we leave here. Max will be moving rooms soon since he is turning 2. I am weary about it because he is so content where he is, but they have more structured stuff they do in the 2 year old room that he will probably enjoy. They do a lot more arts and crafts which he is really into (and maybe they can get him to do something other than write on himself, the walls, and tables). Maxs birthday is on the 17th! We are excited. I cant believe he is 2 years old already!! His Meme is coming out for the weekend of his birthday from the 17th 21st. We are going to bring cupcakes in to his school and have a little party there with his school friends. We are also going to have a Pirate Party for him at the beach on the 19th (which I need to get my butt in gear sending out invites for).
Our friends Elizabeth and Steve were out here twice in April on their way back and forth to the keys for wedding. We had a great time hanging out with them. We went out in the boat one day and just hung out the rest of the time. Elizabeth and I always have the best time together. After not getting to see her for a year and half, it was awesome getting to see her 4 times over the past couple of months.
I have been busy, busy as usual with my school work and web design stuff. My classes for this session are coming to an end in a week and then I will start two more the next day. I decided I am taking the first session of the summer off. So, I will have a break from school from 16th all the way until August 16h. 2 whole months! I hate taking time off of school because it only adds more time on to the end, but if I am ever going to get ahead with my web design business and not lose my mind I have to. Besides that we will be in the middle of moving during that time and this way I will not be stressing about my assignments that are due. I cant seem to catch up or get ahead with my web design stuff. I got in way over my head starting this business with out being organized in the first place, but I am just trying not to stress about it and do as I can. I keep saying I am not taking any more clients but then I hate turning people away especially when I think it wont take me that long to do what they want (of course it always turns into taking a lot longer and being more work than I thought). Eventually, I think it will all come together. I just need to get myself on a normal schedule. Thinking I can stay up until 3 a.m. every night and then still get up at 6:30 a.m. with the kids and go all day is not working out very well. All that ends up happening is me being tired all day and then doing the bare minimum of what I have to do between 9 p.m. and 3 when the kids are in bed. The boys going to school helps but I find I do not get much done during that time. By the time I drop them off and get some where that I can do something, it seems like I am just getting into it and it is time to pick them up. It will be better once Jaxon switches over to Maxs school though. Since we are paying for all day there, the boys will be staying from 9 3:30 (instead of 9 1). I am hoping the extra few hours will be significant. AnywayOther than my constant struggle to put my life on schedule.
Jason has been doing good. He was gone all last week on a trip. He only went to Pensacola. Then this week he has been home since Tuesday. He has been on some kind of stand by thing, but no one called. So, it was nice. He has to go in tomorrow but then he will have the weekend off. Jason submitted his resume for a job out in Raleigh, NC. He is waiting to have a phone screening with them. Our friend Michelle has been on the look out for something to come up with the company she works for. This job seems like a really great opportunity for Jason. He got to talk to some one that is doing it now and he is really excited about it. The pay, benefits, and extra perks are just really nice. He will have a lot of flexibility and be able to work from home some. Jason is also considering signing up with the reserves for a few years. I know. I thought we were done with the military stuff too, but its hard transitioning out completely and this may help it go smoother. Plus, then he will still get to fly. He is going to find out more about it. There is a KC-135 (Jasons plane) reserve unit only a few hours from Raleigh. So, he could drive up there for his one weekend a month and 2 weeks a year and we will just hope that is all he has to do.
We have been going out on the boat quite a bit. It is a lot of fun. We want to try out some different places we have heard about going rather than just the island we usually hang out at. There is a river that we can get to from the bay that is supposed to be really cool. We also want to brave taking the boat a little ways out in the Gulf so we can go to and island out there that is supposed to be awesome. The time is winding down on living in our water house. So, we need to do all the things we want to do soon.
May 27th is mine and Jasons 7th wedding anniversary! I cant believe i