How Did THAT Get in There?

Okay, so here I am sitting at the computer just checking my email and out of nowhere comes Austyn and Taylor. Taylor hands me a Ziploc bag. Not just any old Ziploc bag, but one that Austyn found in my purse! When I looked at the bag, I had an "Oh Shit!" feeling in the pit of my stomach. Excuse my french. The bag was the bag that Taylor put his tooth in at Laura's house. His tooth was still in it. Damn that tooth-fairy for not remembering to hide the tooth the second we got home. I acted like I was shocked and I asked the kids what it was doing in my purse and how it got there. I'm not a very good actress either, so the fact that I may have convinced him is almost shocking, hahaha. Taylor looked really disappointed. Then I asked him if it was his. He said he didn't know. Whew! I said, well, maybe the tooth-fairy dropped it in my purse on accident. Then I told him that it might not even be his! EWWW! lol. The tooth-fairy almost blew her cover but I think we have overcome the chaoticness of the situation. Austyn was snooping in my purse looking for dollars to buy something from Taylor. Who knows what the heck they were doing, but the tooth-fairy needs to be a little more careful next time. Disaster and devastation was avoided this time, but we may not be so lucky in the future! Oops!

Merry Christmas to All, & to All a Good Night!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that everyone had a great day. Our day was good. We woke up at about 5:45, that's AM! Taylor woke up and went straight to the living room to nicely and patiently watch TV while we waited for the little ones to wake up. Mark had him snuggle in bed with us, and that was a little odd. lol. Its been a while since Taylor has gotten into bed with us, and its weird having a kid that is almost as tall as I am in bed with us, lol. Anyhow, I finally got up at 6:30 and had to make homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast since I mistakenly thought we had a tube of them in the fridge. When they were about half way done, Ryleigh woke up and we emptied out our stockings. Then we took a breather, had some cinnamon rolls and got right back to the gifts. The boys got Rockband from Santa, so they were pretty excited about that. Santa brought Mark the drill he has been wanting, and brought me a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. I was very pleased that Santa got me something I've always wanted! Santa also brought Ryleigh an Espresso Cafe tent/playhouse that the kids are absolutely loving. I hung up LED lights (because they don't get hot and are safe and energy efficient) on the inside so they have some light at night. Taylor also got another gift that he asked Santa for and it was the Lego Batman game for his PSP. We all got a lot of gifts and were excited for everything that we got today. We had a Christmas dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, rolls and cranberry sauce. We kept it simple, and of course Dave was at the table. Mark and Dave had a blast playing Rockband while the kids begged to play. I had to remind them that Santa brought the gift for the boys and not the grown boys. lol. They were all having fun.
On another note, we spent the weekend through Tuesday at Laura's house. It was nice to visit with everyone, although Ryleigh wasn't feeling well. We ended up taking her to urgent care and she had an ear infection, so naturally they prescribed her some antibiotics. She perked up towards the end when we went to visit with Santa. She of course refused to sit with him, but oh well. Laura took pictures of the boys with Santa. After Santa we went and ate dinner at the food court in the mall. Laura and Mark paid Taylor $1 each if he would let Laura pull out his other top tooth. A few minutes of pain and wa-la! Aunt Laura was the lucky person to pull out his 4th tooth! He made out pretty well considering the tooth fairy still brought him the usual $5 a tooth! He thought that was a pretty sweet deal. Oh and Santa brought me an early gift of strep! I'm on antibiotics now too, but I am feeling a million times better! Anyhow, so here are all of our pictures from today, the Christmas party we attended last week, which by the way was great. We went to Mark's squadron Christmas party and had a great time. We had a babysitter for the night, and a room at the casino hotel, so we didn't need to worry about driving home that night. We are such old people though, because we were in bed by like 11:30. LOL. We had our pictures taken for free, again by the very same photographers who insisted on taking our pictures for free last year. They are great, and I'm sure the pictures will be great again. Enjoy the slide show of pictures!!!

Go Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We decided to hop on the Elfin' bandwagon and elf our family, except we HAD to be different, and chose the 'Country' version of the Elfed phenom. lol. Mark and I got a kick out of it, and we hope you love Ryleigh's "Look". She's a crack-up, and when you give her 'the look' she gives it back.

It Was Nice to Get Away!

This last weekend was spent with friends and family away from Lemoore. It was so great to get away. A change of scenery is definitely what we all needed! We left on Friday for Palm Springs. It wasn't just an ordinary get away, because the main purpose was softball. Softball is virtually the center of Mark's universe. He eats, lives and breathes softball. We got in late that afternoon and he had a game that night at 6. They lost their first game, but had a game the next morning so we headed back to the hotel. The hotel was pretty nice and the beds were cozy. The kids had a blast just being there. They were excited to be at a hotel and thought it was cool. I guess its the small things that make kids happy. lol. Austyn was excited to see that there was a microwave in our room and insisted that we buy popcorn for it. We did, of course. We were up very early the next morning for a continental breakfast and another game scheduled for 8am. We holed up in the 'clubhouse' to stay warm, but we were still able to watch the entire game. They lost, again, and that was the end of the tournament for them. They played the second game at Big League Dreams which is just a ballpark that is made to look like different stadiums. They played at Fenway for that game. It must be that Red Sox curse that kept them from winning. J/K We spent the rest of that day with Keith and Kalena. We had lunch that was pretty exciting. The food wasn't that great and the service was horrendous, but Taylor kept us all on the edge of our seats. He pulled his top left tooth out while we were waiting for our food! I'll admit that I was a little (okay a lot) squeamish at the idea of yanking a tooth out. I couldn't look, but he did it! He looks so goofy with one tooth missing! We haven't really had this whole experience of losing a tooth before a new one can grow in. His bottom adult teeth were in before the baby ones were even out. He looks like a cartoon character. lol. The tooth fairy even visited us at the hotel, so he was really excited about that. We spent that day just driving around, sort of sight seeing. The kids were knocked out in just a few minutes of driving, so we just opted to drive around while they slept rather than wake them up and get them to the hotel room for a nap. We had a great day, and just ended it with a few drinks with our friends. The next morning we were up and on our way to Adam and Jenn's for Kenzie's Birthday party. It was a lot of fun and I think all of the kids had a blast. Kenzie got lots of stuff, of course! It was great to be able to see everyone and to be there for Kenzie's party. This was the first time we have been able to make it to one of her parties. All of the other years, the date landed on Taylor's last soccer game and end of season party. This year the season ended the week before the party, so that worked out great! We took lots of pictures, and as usual they are posted in slide show format. If you click on view all pictures, it takes you to a bigger slide show, and then if you click on original view it makes it even bigger! So, enjoy all of the pictures, and we can't wait to see everyone again next weekend!

This Time, I'm Sticking to My Guns . . . Except, This Time, I Mean It!

Every year we all make New Year's Resolutions and we say we are going to stick with it no matter what. In the end, we get busy with life and that mental post-it note gets lost in the chaos. Well, this year is different! Seriously, I mean it! My resolutions are 1.) I will get into shape and stay in shape. 2.) I will stay on top of sending out birthday cards to family members. There, those are my resolutions. Every year I say that I will stay on top of the whole card thing, and I never even get the January cards out. So, I am going to stick to my guns and get it right this year. And as far as getting into shape. I'm not overweight, and I don't need to 'lose weight' per say, I just need to get healthy in general. I don't eat breakfast, I sleep too much and I lose my motivation to work out very quickly. My BMI is at something like 23.29, which is good because it means that I am in a healthy weight range. But, it is on the latter half of that happy median. My blood pressure is good as well as my heart rate, so working out won't prove to be dangerous, just physically and mentally challenging. I don't want to do it just for myself. I want to to it to help encourage as well as set a good example for my kids. Roscoe could also stand to lose a few pounds, so maybe I'll get him in on it too. I started part of a new workout regime yesterday, and its pretty mild. I'm not too sore from it, and that means I can run today. I'm a runner. I love to run. Running is sort of my detox. It relieves stress and makes all my worries seem like specks of dirt in comparison to everything else. My personal challenge will be sticking with it. I usually do good for about a week or so and then I lose it. I don't know what happens, but it just falls apart. I don't want washboard abs or some really cut arms like Serena and Venus Williams. Call me crazy, but I just want to look like I care about my body and my health. Not to mention I do want to become a healthier person. So, here's to the New Year, a few weeks in advance, but hell, why not kick-start this resolution now to better keep things moving once the New Year actually sets in! I first thought that I would update the blog with pictures and my process of this whole 'getting into shape' thing, but then I remembered that I don't like being seen in a swimsuit! haha. So, then I thought, just posting measurements on here so people could get an idea of how I'm doing. But then, I realized that I don't really want people knowing how big my waist or thighs are! haha. And then I thought, okay well maybe I could post my weight. That thought crossed the line. lol. Weight is a sensitive subject for lots of people, and it is for me when it comes to the numbers part of it all. Plus weighing isn't exactly the best way to measure a person's progress considering muscle weighs more than fat. So, in the end I have decided that a good old fashioned blog will do just fine! So, please, keep me motivated! =o)

I Wouldn't Do It Again!

Soccer is finally over! Well, for Austyn it is. Taylor has a tournament this week and tonight is their first game. It was a great season, and I had a great team. It was a really big learning experience for me. I've never played soccer on a team before. I mean, sure I played in school in PE class, but it was never anything 'serious.' Needless to say, I didn't recall much. I know the basics, and enough to just get me by. I guess that was great considering that's about all I needed to know to coach 3-4 year old kids. I had 10 kids on the team and they were all so different. I got to know them each and knew how to get them all to play. I was even able to get one little girl, Alyssa, to play when she has always refused to play in the past. She was very shy and rarely spoke, but she got out there and played! She only cried once and that was when someone plowed into her. Austyn really didn't have much interest in playing. It really surprised me. I think he thought it was more about just kicking the ball around and scoring goals. He didn't realize soccer required so much running. Kaitlyn was goofy. She never whined or really complained. She was really slow and she would always say, "Coach, I'm soooooo slooooow!" and then she would giggle and keep running. Ariana was quiet and shy at first, but she opened up really fast. By the end of the season she was a clown and she was the only girl that would and could keep up with the boys. She was a fast little one and she'd steal the ball from the boys and score. Addisyn was a little dramatic. She was always tired and cold and she always needed a break or a drink. She was really sweet too. She was always telling me how pretty I was and how much she liked me. =o) She's a great confidence booster. lol. Ian was the biggest and oldest kid on the team and he made sure everyone knew it! He was fast and a great soccer player. Diego was next in line as far as size went. He was also really fast and a great player, but he wasn't the nicest boy on the block. I had to have a talk with his parents a few times about pushing. It finally stuck in his head by the end of the season and he wasn't pushing anymore. Ruben was a small, shy boy and he didn't talk much. In fact, I don't think he really understood much English. His parents were always speaking in Spanish to him. He was mean. If he didn't get the ball, he'd punch, push, pinch, or do whatever he had to do to let you know he wasn't happy. He was often throwing temper tantrums and left most of the games. Ontarion was a itty bitty thing. He pretended he was shy, but it was all a ploy. He always had to pretend he was a car when he played soccer. And he was always crashing (falling on the ground). He was a character. Lara was the smallest one on the team. She was shy quiet and very sensitive. She got knocked around a few times by the older kids, but she always ended up back on the field giggling and laughing. She rarely even got the ball because she half walked half ran around the field in circles. That was my team. One of the parents asked if I would coach next year and I think I shocked them with my answer. lol. I said, "Nope. I don't think I'll ever do it again!" And its not that it wasn't fun or that the kids were bad. It was a lot of fun, the kids were great and it was very rewarding, but I didn't realize how consuming it was. You have to be CPR and First Aid certified, you have to go through coach's training and have background checks done as well as getting finger printed. You basically have to do everything someone would need to do if they were getting a job working with children on the base. Its also hard to get parents to help! I mentioned at EVERY practice or game that the more volunteers the merrier, but only one Dad ever helped. I'm grateful to have had one willing parent rather than none. But most people don't realize that behind the scenes hours that these volunteer coaches have to put in, and most people don't value the fact that we are all just volunteers. It was a lot of fun, but I think I am most at home on the sidelines with the rest of the parents. I'd rather be that obsessive photo taking parent, or the team mom than the coach! I didn't get to be team mom for Austyn, but I still put together an end of season party for his team. I was team mom for Taylor's team, and I put together a party for them too. I enjoy the team mom, just not the coach's position! I'm glad that I was able to have this experience and I have learned to appreciate the coaches much more than I have in the past.

So Many Things to be Thankful For!

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. We had an extra person at the dining room table. Well, to be exact, we had 2 extra people, but only one of them was special! My mom came to visit. We haven't seen her in FIVE years! I was so excited to see her and for her to meet Austyn and Ryleigh. I thought Ryleigh would be a little apprehensive about meeting her and being around a new person, but I was wrong. Really wrong. Before we even left the airport she was insisting on holding hands with my mom while she walked. That was a sign of great things to come. She spoiled the kids rotten, just like any other Granny would do. Ryleigh was practically attached to her the entire time. I think its because she got anything and pretty much everything she wanted. lol. Taylor goofed around a bit with her, but he did keep to himself a lot. I guess he's just at that age where he is more nonchalant and a little less into what everyone else is into. And then there was Austyn. He kept telling my mom that she was going down to Chinese town. I told him to say, " You are going down! Down to China town!" One time, and he got the phrase stuck in his head, and of course he insisted on saying 'Shinese town" instead of China town. He's hilarious. Anyway, so back to our Thanksgiving. We had a really good dinner. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, 2 kinds of gravy, 2 kinds of green beans, cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, 2 kinds of stuffing, pea salad, rolls and a cherry, pumpkin and pecan pie! It was quite the feast. The kids sat at the kid table and sipped their sparkling apple-cranberry cider. We finished the night with a game of Battle of the Sexes. It was 3 against 2, and WE (the women) still managed to pull it off! =D lol. We had a great Thanksgiving and we had so much to be thankful for. We had my mom visiting, friends over, Mark home and the kids. My mom stayed home with the kids the next day while Mark and I got some Christmas shopping done. It was great to be able to go out and not have to sneak things into carts, lol. We really appreciated that. Saturday morning I attempted to get the kids to make a gingerbread house with me. I was really grumpy and exhausted. I had taken allergy meds the night before and just didn't get enough sleep. So, the grouch ended up putting it all together alone. It sucked, but oh well. We watched lots of movies, and we also picked up a Christmas tree. She even worked in a shopping trip with Mark. Who knows what they bought, but she says I'll love it! I'll take her word for it, while I wait in an anxious anticipation. My mom's visit was short, but we fully enjoyed having her here. The kids and I, and Mark too, are all missing her, a lot! Hopefully it wasn't too crazy for her and she'll come back to visit again soon! =o)

We Tried, but Sayonara

So, Daisy the dog is no longer a member of our family. =o( Sad, but so much better for us. Daisy was a really good dog. She was awesome with the kids and she and Roscoe got along great! Her biggest flaw was and still is one of my biggest pet peeves . . . BARKING. I know, I've said it before, dogs are supposed to bark. I hate it. There is nothing more annoying to me than a barking dog who won't shut up! She would bark if I tried to make her stay outside, and while she was barking, she would happily display her aerobic abilities. She would jump about 3 feet off of the ground and slam up against the door. Yeah, not so good. lol. She would also bark at night when it was bedtime and she would do the same jumping routine. She would listen for about 5 minutes or so before she was back at it again. The barking isn't the sole reason, nor is it the main reason we gave her back to her neglectful owner. Roscoe is such a sensitive dog. He stresses over disturbances in his regular routine. He started shedding hair to the point where it looked like we had shaved a small dog and left its hair lying on the floor. He was constantly panting. And then he started throwing up and then he stopped eating. =o/ Poor, ultra-sensitive Roscoe. He just couldn't deal with the stress of having this neurotic and noisy dog in the house. I called the woman and told her that regretfully, we wouldn't be able to keep her. I felt so bad having to send the dog back to them where she wasn't treated the best. So, the lady suggested that I help find her a home, and that's just what I did. A friend of mine was in love with her and knew all about her yappiness and didn't mind that, at all! So, off Daisy went to their house for a visit to see how she would do in their home. She was doing great, and they wanted to keep her for 24 hours, for sort of a testing period. Well in between the time we went to dinner and the time we got home, the dog had been snatched back by the awful owners. I had given my friend the lady's number to call and work things through with, and the lady was not happy. She said that she needed the dog back immediately because she had a home for her, and she was very angry with our name change. She said, "You just don't change a dog's name!! I named her Neasha! Her name is Neasha, not Daisy!!" WOW. Well excuse me. I didn't realize I needed to sign a legal contract stating that I wouldn't change the dog's name. After-all, people do it everyday. When you give a dog away, its no longer your say in what the dog is called because it no longer belongs to you! Right? So, long story short, the lady was very mean and rude to my friend and said some not so nice things. I guess that's the last time I try and be a good citizen. So, Daisy, Neasha, whatever you want to call her . . . she is no longer with us, and Roscoe is back to his old self again!

Do You Recognize This Kid?

I came home from picking up Austyn from school a little bit ago, and somehow, this kid made his way into my house! Do you recognize him? If you do, please let me know so I can contact his parents!HAHAHA! Just Kidding! Its just Austyn. =o) He got these in a goody bag at school today and he thought they were the silliest thing. Ryleigh laughs at him every time he puts them on.

We Welcomed Our Newest Family Member Last Night

Okay, so it was kind of sudden, but we have added to our family . . . AGAIN! No, I'm not pregnant, and no we aren't adopting a baby. But we did adopt a little girl last night. She's yellowish white and they called her Neasha, (pronounced Neesha) but we will be calling her Daisy. It seemed suitable since Roscoe is often referred to as Rosco P. Coltrane from the Dukes of Hazzard . So, she's Daisy Duke. =o) Her previous family had good intentions and a good heart, but that's all they were. Intentions and nothing more. They were neglectful at times and didn't have the time and didn't want to take the time to care for a dog. So, she came home with us, and I'm pretty sure she (Daisy) thinks she has died and gone to heaven.lol. She's petite and only weighs about 60 pounds. She's a baby compared to our monster Roscoe. She is 15 months old, she has her AKC papers and she isn't fixed. Not to worry, she won't be having any babies anytime in the near future. Roscoe is neutered. Thank goodness! She is so loving and very submissive. She loves attention and she seems very loyal and pretty smart too. We have already started calling her by Daisy only, and she is already responding. She loves Roscoe and I'd be lying if I didn't say the same for Roscoe. He doesn't know what to do with himself. He is actually taking a nap, for the first time since we brought her home. She is napping too. They get along great and I think they have found best friends in each other. Her only problem that she has is that she doesn't like to be alone. Roscoe slept in the laundry room with her last night. I didn't trust letting her roam the house like I would Roscoe. So when I tried to make her sleep alone, she protested with barking. I hate barking!! I know its what dogs do, but I hate it!lol . Roscoe only barks when someone is at the door, or when there is a pesky feline in the backyard. Daisy is already fitting in with the family. The kids love her and she adores them.Ryleigh was a little unsure at first, but let me just say that it has been less than 24 hours and she is already smothering the dog with lots of hugs and kisses! The previous owner did say that if she didn't work out for us that we could always take her back, but I have a pretty good feeling that she'll do just fine. I'll work with her on obedience and refine her manners a little. Here she is!

Staying hydrated.

The tip of her nose is pink because she has lost pigment in that spot from pushing around her bowls outside on the concrete.

Help me, PLEASE! lol

Roscoe insists on shoving his whole nose and face into her mouth. I guess he's checking for cavities.

She's mostly white, with yellow ears and some yellow on her back and face.

He just doesn't know what to do with himself!

Doesn't he look exhausted?

What Are The Odds?

Thursday was Ryleigh's 2nd birthday, and we celebrated with an ice cream cake! It was a yellow cake with cake batter flavored ice cream. I made it myself. Just Kidding!! We ordered it from Coldstone Creamery!Last night was Halloween, and we did what the typical American Family does. We dressed up. We all dressed up this year. Mark and I went as Barney and Betty Rubble. It kind of fits, Rummel, Rubble. lol. Taylor and Austyn were the Super Mario Brothers. Taylor was Luigi, because he of course is the taller of the two while Austyn was Mario since he is the shorter one. Ryleigh went as Princess Peach Toadstool from the Super Mario Bros. game. I totally thought that all of our costumes were unique and didn't think that anyone else would go as those characters.
Boy, I was wrong!
While we were out trick-or-treating, we spotted our best friends, Fred and Wilma across the street. The craziest part of all is that following close behind them was a grown-up version of Mario and Luigi!! Who would have ever imagined? I mean of all the years I have been dressing the kids up (7 to be exact), we have never seen such unique costumes, not to mention that they are total 'throwback' to the good old days. We saw the opportunity for a photo op, and we took it! I'm not one to pass up a good photo!
Mark and I, and this couple whom we have no idea who they are!Again, complete strangers with Taylor and Austyn!Hailey, Taylor, Austyn and James getting ready for some trick or treating!Taylor and Austyn!Taylor and Austyn as Mario and LuigiI love this picture because Austyn looks like he's trying to be 'extra' Italian with his hand out, saying, "Itsa Mea. . . Marrrrio!" LOL
Ryleigh as Princess Peach Toadstool.Taylor as LuigiAustyn as Mario. He kept fidgeting with his mustache!Mark's Pumpkin, it lost its brainsSo gross looking. lolMy nice, silly pumpkin!Ryleigh's cat pumpkinAustyn's 'mad face' pumpkin

Hope you guys enjoyed all of the pictures!

2 Bad Weeks turned into 2 Wonderful Years!

2 years ago, Mark and I experienced possibly the worst two weeks in our lives, to present day. It was October 26, 2006 and I was on my way to a check-up. Everything was going as planned and nothing was out of the ordinary. My check-up was the same as usual with the exception of taking a trip upstairs for monitoring and a dose of steroids. After being there for about 2 hours my day turned sour. I found out that I would not be going home that day, or any time soon for that matter. Mark was gone on a det on the ship, Austyn was at Laura's house and Taylor was at school. I frantically started calling people, and had to send a Red Cross Message to Mark. By the time I started making phone calls, I had already been on a heavy dosage of magnesium to stop labor. Anyone who's ever been put on it knows that it's no walk in the park. The drug is awful in every sense of the word. Laura said I sounded like I was drunk. I felt like I was drunk. I was nauseated, but I still had most of my muscle functions. The Red Cross person kept repeating his questions because he obviously had a hard time understanding me. I had a friend get Taylor from school, and before long, I was on an ambulance headed for Fresno. That is the first time I have ever been in an ambulance, and if you have never been in one, let me be the one to tell you that it really isn't all that exciting! lol. The ride was unbearable. You feel every pebble on the road, and when you are already in pain, it doesn't make it any better. The stretcher is not comfortable either. Lay on a piece of plywood for 1 hour, feel every bump in the road and feel every little twitch of the wheel and tell me how you feel! haha. Anyway, we finally made it to the hospital where I would be spending the next week. I was angry, upset and scared to death that I was there. None of my other pregnancies were to this extreme. My blood pressure was elevated, (I'm sure from the stress of the situation). My heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of my chest and I felt sick. Before the end of the day, I had lost all muscle control. I couldn't even open the wrapper on a straw. That's how weak I was. I had visitors, but didn't realize it. I vomited a million times. I couldn't sit up, and I couldn't get up to use the bathroom. I pretty much slept the whole time, and every time a nurse would come in I would ask when I would get to go home and when they would take me off of the magnesium. I was on that dreadful drug for 2 1/2 days. I wasn't allowed to have more than an ounce of drink at a time, and I couldn't exceed a certain amount. They were angry because I wasn't eating. I was angry because the food was disgusting and even if I did eat, it would come right back up moments later. I was angry that they wouldn't let me drink anything. When they finally decided to take me off of the magnesium, I went into labor less than 12 hours later. I had to make a frantic call at 4am to Mark. He rushed the boys to a friend's house and he made the trip to Fresno. He got there around 7AM and Ryleigh was born around 7:31AM. I was relieved that Mark was able to make it there in time. I wasn't scared when she was born. This wasn't the first time one of my babies was born early. I didn't get scared until I found out how much she weighed and saw her for the first time. She was a tiny little thing. She was 17 inches long and she weighed in at a whopping 4lbs 3 oz. Her face was starting to bruise when they showed her to me. I didn't get to hold her or even touch her. They showed me this tightly wrapped bundle with a pinkish purple face staring out at me and they said here's your baby. With that, they whisked her away. I spent the day recovering, and when I finally did go in to see her, I was not at all prepared. She was in the NICU. I've been in a NICU before, but not one like this. There were 8 rows of tiny babies in there. When Taylor was in the NICU, there were only 2 other babies there. Anyhow, I walked in and scrubbed my hands, and they showed us to her crib space. There she was, laying there. This itty bitty little girl. She was only wearing a diaper and oodles of wires connected here and there. She was in an incubator. I cried when I saw her. Her entire face was black and blue. She looked like someone had beat her up. I was never expecting that. The nurses told us how she was doing and asked if we had any questions. I just wanted to hold her. Her skin was so soft, and I could literally hold her in one hand. Mark and I would swap off visiting her because we didn't want to take the boys into the NICU. We didn't think it was appropriate or safe. On Halloween, I had my tubal ligation surgery. That recovery wasn't any fun at all, and let me just say that I would never wish a c-section upon any woman! My incision was only 1 inch long, so I can't imagine an incision from a c-section. Ryleigh did great and was making really good progress until about the 3rd day. She caught a stomach virus that was going around. Mark felt guilty because Taylor had it, and then he had it, so he thought she must have gotten it from him. I never blamed him. That was a very scary time because she was suddenly very very sick. They had even more tubes on her and had her on caffeine to keep her awake enough to not drift into sleep apnea. That was so scary. So, for 2 whole weeks, Mark and I took turns driving to Fresno to visit with our girl, until the day they said she would finally get to come home. I was so excited and nervous. I've never had a baby this small or fragile, much less of this gender. Since the day we brought her home, it has been wonderful and it has definitely been a blessing. We have learned so much from Ryleigh. She is so different from the boys in every way I can think of. She's extremely shy and introverted. She loves to play with all kinds of girly things, but she also likes to get down and rough house with the boys. She is such a great girl, and I feel so lucky to be her mom! Fast Forward to today and you don't see a premature baby in her, with the exception of her size. She is 32 inches tall (almost 3 feet!), she's about 25 pounds and she wears a size 2T! She's pretty normal these days. She sleeps all night, she feeds herself. Her biggest and most exciting milestone is that she is POTTY TRAINED! She is well ahead other babies her age. She started potty training soon after her first birthday. She doesn't talk much, but she gets her point across. She learns words that she wants to learn. For example, she learned how to say "Cupcakes" the very first time I said it to her. lol. She loves and adores animals of all shapes, sizes and species. She especially loves her dog dog and kitties! I often catch her hand feeding Roscoe his food rather than letting him eat it on his own. Or I find her sneaking him cookies from his treat jar. She's still very shy, but she has come a very long way. She's very deliberate about who she will say hi to or smile at. Yesterday we were at Wal-Mart and there was a little old lady in an electric shopping cart thing, and Ryleigh was so fascinated by her. She kept saying hi and waving to her with a great big smile. It put a smile on the lady's face, and that made my heart melt. She's such a lover. She gives hugs and kisses all the time, and if you are hurt she will give you a kiss and rub your back just to make sure you are okay. She loves music and she really enjoys dancing. Sometimes she will 'sing' along too. She still has her hemangioma, but it is doing good. It has lost a lot of color which is an excellent sign that her body is starting to absorb it. So, you see, those 2 short weeks of hell have turned into 2 of the most wonderful years of our lives. I hope you enjoy this slide show of Ryleigh's life thus far!

The Weekend Haps

The weekend was a long, busy, fun filled weekend for all . . . or at least I hope it was. =o) Friday we had a Fall Festival at Taylor's school. I love that we have to call it a Fall Festival to be politically correct even though they encouraged everyone to come in Halloween costumes. Anyhow, that was fun, and it was a lot bigger than last year's event. That night, Bonnie (Mark's mom) flew in for the weekend to celebrate Ryleigh's birthday.
Saturday morning we all kind of relaxed and enjoyed the calm. Then Mark and Taylor's team, the Dynamites had a game at 11AM. Their team colors are red, black and white. His team did awesome! They are a little more relaxed and calm on the field than I thought they would have been. They did score a goal, however they did lose the game by 5 points. BUT, its all about having fun!! First games are always a learning experience with a new team. You always learn what exactly it is that you need to work on. They did great, and everyone had a great time.
Then at 12:15, Austyn and I had a game. Our team is the Stingers because we are yellow and black. Our team did great. We scored a few goals in the right goal, and Austyn scored one in the opposite team's goal. Oops! And as I said before, all first games are a learning experience. I learned that we need to work on stopping when we hear a whistle. The kids would keep on going and going and going. We also need to work on no pushing!!! We did have a few hand balls, but that wasn't really an issue. At practice today we are going to play red light, green light. When I blow the whistle 2 times that means its a red light, and when I blow it once it is a green light. Hopefully the kids will catch on and the next game will go smoother in that aspect.
After the games, we headed home for some much needed lunch and naps before Ryleigh's big event. While the kids napped, we decorated with cobwebs, garland and cheesecloth. It looked cute. Not over done, or scary, but just enough for the kids at that age.
The party went great! We had a couple of people flake out, but it wasn't something we didn't expect. We had a farmer, a survivor, a Princess riding a Unicorn, a Cowboy and his horse, Superman, 2 scary boys, Mr. Incredible, Jack-Jack, a witch and Barney Rubble at the party. Ryleigh refused to wear her new tutu, and she was a little bit of a grump. She covered her eyes the entire time we sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. It was kind of cute. She refused to blow out her candles, or eat any real food. Don't worry, she devoured her cupcake! We played Pin the nose on the pumpkin, which even the older kids enjoyed, and then we opened gifts. She really wasn't into it at all. I think it was overwhelming for Miss Shyness. She did start to get excited towards the end when she saw a baby doll and a pony! She loves all of her gifts and she plays with all of them. Today she played dress-up with earrings and a necklace while Austyn was at school. I'll try to get thank-yous in the mail before the end of the week. Enjoy the slideshows of pictures. The first is from the Dynamite game, the second from the Stinger game and the third from the party!


Just as a side-note, I have another blog that I just started today. The link for it is http://VMHFAM.blogspot.com
It stands for Visit My Head For a Moment. I am starting this to write about my views and opinions about things going on around us in society and the world. I'm sure it will ruffle a few feathers at times, but hey, that's what opinions do! So, anyway, if you want to check that out every so often, please do so!!!

6 More Years!

Another guaranteed 6 years of being a Navy wife is in my future. Mark reenlisted for his 2nd time around yesterday afternoon. He has been in for 10 years now, and will be in for 16 by the time his next reenlistment comes around. I of course went to show my support and excitement for him. I was all ready with the camera and everything, and all was good . . . until it was time for the ceremony to actually begin. People started piling into the Ready Room and Mark had to hand Ryleigh over to me. That was not a good move, because the demanding little angel just had to have her daddy at that very moment! She started crying and screaming and throwing a very well timed 2 year old temper-tantrum. I had to leave the room with her and we stood in the hallway during the ceremony. I did catch the last 30 seconds of it, and managed to make it in to have a letter of appreciation presented to me. In order to receive my letter, I had to hand her over to Mark, and yet again, the sweet, innocent, angelic daughter of mine was not satisfied. She did get over it relatively quickly this time, and she was able to sit very quietly, and happily during the end of it all. During all of this time, I enlisted the help of a very opportunistic child who has a knack for getting pictures of the surroundings. Taylor was in charge of taking pictures. The pictures he took weren't exactly of what I asked him to take pictures of. He was snapping photos of everyone in the room, things on the wall, a fake bomb on the ground, the table. You name it, he got it. He did manage to get a couple of pictures of Mark, so I'll give him credit for that.lol . The room was filled with mostly officers and chiefs with about a handful of enlisted people. Not to worry, there was an adult in the room actually taking pictures, so once I get those, I'll post those. =o) It was nice to see that so many people cared to be there for his ceremony. A friend, and co-worker bought an ice cream cake for the occasion. I heard it was fantastic. I wouldn't know, because the dang thing had chocolate in it!! Mark did ask her not get chocolate, but she did anyway. Not because she didn't care or anything like that. She didn't realize that chocolate makes me sick, and she thought, huh, a little fudge in the ice cream . . . what sane woman wouldn't love that! Right? Wrong! I am sane, but no chocolate for me. =o) She did apologize. The kids loved it and everyone else thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice, and I was happy that I was able to be there to support Mark . . . even if it was from the hallway!


Enjoy the slide show and commentary. =o) Click "View all images" to see larger pictures.

And these are just for fun. If you ever wondered what the boys would look like as blondes, your curiosity is cured!!