Durtschi Adventures

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to have Dan home for Thanksgiving again this year.

We ate lots of yummy food and just hung around the house for the day, enjoying each other's company.

We have to get as much Daddy time in as we can since he will mostly be gone for the next two weeks.

I did make everyone wear "fallish" colored clothes so that our pics would turn out somewhat decent.

{and because they will be easier to scrapbook if we all coordinate! }

We are taking our Christmas Card Photos tomorrow, so this was good practice!

Love this one of my beautiful girl!

Will turned 5 months old this month and has been a busy little bee...literally! :)

The lighting for these photos was horrible and I have had every intention of taking them over...hopefully before next Halloween!

He has learned all kinds of new tricks in the last month. His new favorite one is to rollover, but then he gets stuck and can't roll back. This is especially fun for mom when he hollers for help two or three times a night!

He is a strong little guy and loves to lift and move this little toy thing. It is so funny to watch him!

He has discovered how fun it is to splash in the tub, so we had to move his tub into the big tub for the first time last week. Liz was so excited to finally be able to take a bath with him! She has been waiting for that since we found out we were having a baby.

He can also hold his bottle occasionally...usually when he thinks he is starving to death!

Now that it has cooled off here, the kids and I take a walk around the block at night. It helps the evening go by faster for mom, and the kids love to get out. This was the first time Will got to ride in the stroller without the car seat. He LOVED it and didn't make a peep the entire time!

Crazy girl Liz jump roped around the block twice with us and then couldn't figure out why her legs were so sore the next day!

Will just adores his Big Sis. He gets soooo excited when she comes home from school. His eyes just light up when he sees her.

He loves to sit with her on the couch.

Hang out with her in her room.

...and the ultimate sign of his adoration, is his willingness to play tea party with her!

Firsts

2011-09-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Will is just growing and changing so fast.

We have had lots of "firsts" the last couple weeks!

We attempted to give him cereal for the first time last weekend. He really thought we were torturing him! I tried again tonight and it wasn't as dramatic, but he still wasn't thrilled about it. I'm crossing my fingers it will help him sleep a little longer tonight. I would give anything for just one night of good sleep!

He can hold toys now. He loves to pull his binky out of his mouth. He hasn't figured out how to get it back in yet, but he is working on it! Liz was horrified that I laid Will on a pink blanket. I assured her it was okay and wouldn't cause any lasting damage!

He giggled and learned to blow bubbles and make noises this week. It is so adorable! He will lay on the floor and make as much noise as he can trying to get daddy to come down and play with him

I never spend a fortune on a single pair of shoes because they grow out of them so fast, but we just had to get Will his first pair of Chucks to match daddy. They were totally worth it!

I have to keep the cover on the carseat when I go out because Will just gets mauled to death by well-meaning strangers where ever we go. The cheeks are the first thing they go for! We need to get the flu-shot asap!

Grandma Durtschi sent us a package full of adorable hats for Will. She made him a blueberry hat because she thought it would look awesome with his blue eyes. I think she was right. We love it!

The hats came just in time. It is by no means cold out, but it looks cold so we are breaking out the fall gear. Liz lives in her blue jeans and boots. Now if it would just stop raining so the humidity would go away!

Good Morning!

2011-09-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Will wanted to pop in and say

GOOD MORNING!

I've been busy and using all my free nap time to finish up Will's Nursery...there is lots of sewing, sewing and more sewing! After that is done, I should hopefully be able to get back to posting more!

7 Days

2011-09-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

For 7 whole days it has just been me and these 2 munchkins.

It hasn't been as bad as I though it would, but I'm so ready for daddy to come home tomorrow!

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-08-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

I usually make my cookies using the directions on the back of the Nestle Chocolate Chips bag and they are delicious. The women on a facebook page that I'm part of were raving about a recipe from All Recipes, so I decided to give it a try. OMGosh, these are the BEST cookies ever! It has been over a day and they are still soft like they just came out of the oven.

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

(found HERE)

1 cup butter, softened (i used Crisco Butter flavor)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour an dbaking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

I cooked mine for about 9 minutes and it made about 3 dozen cookies.

Let me know what you think if you try them!

Will has been smiling up a storm lately. He is so cute! I'm excited I finally captures a few of them on camera to share!

We can't get enough of his chubby cheeks!

This kid is definitely a chunkster and is bigger then half the babies at church...who are older than him!

And I found a few minutes to scrapbook! I wish I could do it more often. I sure miss it!

I still have Liz's First Day of School pics to go through, and I took some super cute ones of the little man today. Hopefully I will be able to get those posted in the next couple of days!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Future All-Star

2011-08-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

These ones are for grandpa.

{and grandma since she bought the adorable outfit!}

It is no secret that baseball is pretty huge in my family.

Imagine my shock when I couldn't talk Liz into playing T-Ball/Softball for the life of me.

Doesn't she realize it is practically a Jacobs Family requirement!?

This little guy doesn't have a choice!

I know I'm going a little overboard with the pictures. I hope I'm not boring you to death. I waited so long for this little guy that I want to catch every moment! I promise to take a break this weekend....maybe...at least until Monday! Dan has a day weekend and we are talking about going to the NC Zoo.

Two Little Cuties

2011-08-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Now that Back-To-School pictures are taken, we are officially ready for school...almost!

Liz was excited to have her friend along for the fun.

Both girls looked adorable and we had about 5 people ask us if they were sisters when we ran to the store super quick to pick up a couple photo props {aka apples and chalkboards}.

I'm so happy Liz found a friend that is so sweet and nice.

I think the girls thought i was crazy when i had them do this. They thought it was hilarious that the apples kept falling on the ground.

Love this picture! It was our last shot of the day and one of my most favorites.

Little Will was along for the ride, too. I was hoping to get some pics of him and Liz but he slept through the whole thing and had no interest in taking pictures when we got home. The little stinker still won't smile for the camera!

Oh, to be 8 and carefree again.

A+

2011-08-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

I think today's Back-To-School photo shoot was a success.

More adorable-ness to come!

{if Will lets me work}

2 Months

2011-08-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

The little man is 2 months old already.

Why is it that when you are pregnant the time just creeps by, but as soon as you have them time flies.

This little guy is a chunkster. I can barely lug him around in the car seat now.

He smiled for the first time last week, but he is very stingy with them. I've tried for two days to catch one on camera to share, and he won't cooperate!

He still likes to wake mommy up several times a night, and every once in a while {like last night} he thinks it is great fun to keep her up all night!

His 0-3 clothes are already getting snug. It is a great excuse to go shopping for more!

His attention span is growing a teeny tiny bit. I can set him down for about 10 minutes, twice a day before he starts to cry. Needless to say, the house looks like a tornado hit it.

He is pretty cute though. I think he is a keeper!

I have to reshoot these pictures because the lighting was so bad, but this one made me smile and I had to share. The look on his face is priceless. I'm sure he is wondering what his crazy mama is dressing him in and why his sister is trying to maul him to death. He's a trooper through all our photo shoots!

Liz has been passing the time by dressing up and putting on little dancing/singing shows for me. Her favorite costume of the moment is Cat Girl. For some odd reason she drew on her face with crayon. When I asked her why, she said because it washed off easier.

Tomorrow I'm taking back to school pics of Liz and her bestie. Hope everyone cooperates and I get some good shots!

Focus...

2011-08-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

Due to a little "off-road adventure" I took two weekends ago, we had to say goodbye to my dear Nissan Rogue. It was my first brand new car and I loved it. I don't even have any good pictures of it, which makes me sad. Our insurance company declared the damage was too great and they deemed it a total loss. We got enough money back to payoff the Rogue and have a sizable down payment on a new car....totally awesome news, but you can only imagine how high our premiums will be for the next three years. Lets just say you do NOT want to get in an accident in North Carolina. They have some of the strictest/most expensive insurance laws in the states. Hopefully we can PCS in 18 months and our new state will be kinder to us!

We spent our Saturday shopping for new cars. We had a list of 4 cars we wanted to look at....shouldn't take long, right? OMGosh, car salesmen are annoying! I'm still getting calls from some of them and it is Wednesday. We finally settled on a new Ford Focus. It has tons of upgrades, for a lower price than the new Rogue I was going to get. It is a tad smaller, but I'm getting used to it. I feel like I'm cheating on my Rogue, but I LOVE this car! I feel so cute driving around in it! :)

Dan loves it, too and is planning on giving me driving lessons in the truck this weekend so he can drive the car to work. It gets some awesome gas milage so we will save a ton of money, but I'm not too sure about driving the truck! At least I will be very well protected if I decided to go on another "adventure".

The car is the same silver color as Dan's truck, so we have matching cars. Cute, huh!?!

And a picture of the kiddos because it just doesn't seem right to blog without including a picture of them. Liz was entertaining the little man while I was getting ready this morning. I love that she loves him so much!

A New 'Do

2011-08-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

I like to get Liz's hair cut a couple weeks before school so that we can beat the rush and not have to wait forever in line. We decided that today would be a good day to cut her locks. She loves her new 'do and was flipping and shaking it all day.

I haven't been taking enough pictures of her lately. She is growing up right before my eyes.

I don't think these two could look anymore different if they tried.

Look at that pouty lip.

Sunday Best

2011-08-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you Aunt Kate for my super cute outfit! I was the handsomest boy at church on Sunday!

Baby Yawns Are The Sweetest.

I wish he did more of this and less of the crying!

I'm Sooooo Happy He Loves His Binky!

I think he will be a finger-sucker too when his coordination gets a little better!

I thought he looked so cute all swaddled up.

It usually doesn't last long. He has perfected the art of breaking free!

Here are a few of the pictures I posted on the craft blog I do with all my sisters.

To see the rest you click on Whimsy-Lane button to the left.

Grandma Durtschi made the cute hat and diaper cover when she came to visit!

Liz only has a couple weeks of summer vacay left. I don't know what we are going to do without her here! She is such a huge help and Will thinks she is the bestest big sister ever!

Our Day

2011-07-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

Our days revolve around this little guy.

{We don't have an official smile yet, but he is working on it!}

He wants to be held ALL the time. I've tried letting him cry it out, but it doesn't work. Luckily his big sister loves to hold him and give mommy a break. She is constantly hugging and kissing on him!

Our favorite part of the day is when daddy comes home. We have been lucky and he has been getting home at a decent time lately. I'm more than ready to hand him over and let him have a little daddy time!

He is starting get some extra rolls and he fit into the very first outfit I bought him when we found out we were having a boy.

Liz and I found these super cute flip flops at Ross last week. Even Daddy thought they were adorable!

The other day I was giving him a bath and he hung his chubby little leg over the side, just chillin'.

I'm exhausted by the end of the day, but I would trade it for anything. I love these two kiddos!

It's a Miracle!!

2011-07-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

I thought I would never see the event of today transpire. Little Miss Liz actually took her earring studs out! It has been almost a year to the day that we got them pierced. We looked forward to the 6 week mark because that meant we could put in new earrings, but that day came and went. She was terrified and insisted that it would hurt. I finally talked her into putting ice on her ears to numb them and then she wouldn't feel a thing. They came right out and she has been busy trying on all the new earrings that everyone had sent her in hopes that it would tempt her to take out the studs. She loves the dangling ones best and has been picking out coordinating outfits and earrings all day... even pajamas!

I also got will to sleep for over an hour without me holding him! Usually he wakes up within minutes if I put him down. Dan has been gone for two days and I needed a break! I put him in his boppy and wrapped the arms around him so it felt like someone was holding him and then tucked a super comfy blanket around. It was pure and quiet bliss for 60 minutes!

Will and Liz were wearing Polo Shirts and Jean Shorts so I just had to get a couple pictures. I'm hoping one day I will get that perfect shot. It is definitely harder than it sounds. Liz always looks like she is man-handling him and Will is either screaming or has one eye closed....and they are NEVER looking in the same direction! So frustrating!

....and a just because he is so cute picture!

I have a little area set up in the nursery where I can just plop him down and take pictures whenever he is looking extra cute...which is always!

Red, White and Cute

2011-07-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

This will be a super quick post 'cause I can hear the little man stirring behind me.

I had every intention of updating my blog a couple times a week, but sometime during the last 7.5 years I forgot how much work a baby can be! Dan went back to work this week and it has just been insane. Thank goodness I have his big sister here to help. She has been amazing and I don't know what I'm going to do when she goes back to school!

I took the kids down the street to the park yesterday to try and get some pictures to update my photo wall.

Will slept through the entire thing and Liz did awesome until the NC heat/humidity finally got to her and she insisted she was dying. We made it home, got her some water, jacked the AC and I'm happy to report she is still alive and kicking today! :)

Love this one because it is a real smile! When did she get so grown up!?

The little man turned 1 month old on Saturday.

Dan and Liz nick named him Cheeto last night because of his red hair. It brought back not so pleasant memories of me being called Slice (after orange slice) on the school bus. I might have to squash that nickname!

I don't even want to know what people thought as I was stuffing my baby into this basket!

After Liz recooped a bit, she agreed to get one more pic with will on the deck and I love it! Liz looks a little awkward, but at least she is smiling and will isn't screaming!

Almost Birthday Twins

2011-07-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

Will's official due date was on Thursday the 29th, which would have made us birthday twins!

That would have been so fun, but I am glad that he will have his own special day and he doesn't have to share with mommy.

He had his 2 week checkup on Thursday and his Jaundice Levels finally dropped! WooHoo! They are still high, but they will slowly start to drop over the next few weeks. The Dr. said since they have pretty much determined it is Breast Milk Jaundice we don't need to poke him anymore. Yay! He was also impressed by his weight gain. He surpassed his birth weight of 7lbs 14oz and weighted in at 8lbs 2 ozs. He likes his food!

My birthday day was extra special this year because I got to spend it with Dan (it seems like he is usually gone on my birthday) and my two sweet kiddos.....

They surprised me with an IPad 2 for my birthday! I was speechless when I opened the package. Liz has been giving me lessons on how to download apps and stuff! :)

I also got to spend my birthday with my parents who flew in for Will's births. It has been so awesome having them here and I love them so much! It has been a year and a half since I have seen my dad.

We celebrated with the traditional Strawberry Shortcake. Yum! Dan's birthday is on Sunday and we are making a Deep Dark Chocolate Cake. Double Yum!

Liz left with my parents yesterday for a two day trip to Mrytle Beach...lucky her! I can't wait to see the pictures when they get back.

Dan's two week also started yesterday, so it has been nice spending some extra time with my two favorite guys!

Tomorrow Will will be 2 weeks old and we are going to do a photoshoot with Will, Liz and the grandparents. I can't wait!

Firsts

2011-06-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

I LOVE having my own little newborn to take pictures of!

Yesterday Will wore his FIRST "real" outfit...aka: something other than jammies!

He was so adorable! When we took him in to get his jaundice checked for the 6th time, the nurses were lined up at the door to check out our little cutie pie!

He is still pretty yellow, but he is starting to look a little better! They determined it is Breast Milk Jaundice and it may take a few weeks to completely get rid of it. They let us take him off the bili-blanket (we called it the little man cooker) and that totally made my day!

His cord finally fell off, so we got to give him his FIRST bath. He hates being naked, so needless to say he screamed bloody murder the entire time. It was even worse tonight!

Liz took over grandma's Ipod Touch and seriously played it non-stop for 2 days straight. We remembered that we had Dan's old Iphone, so he totally hooked Liz up with her very FIRST Ipod Touch. She has a weather app on there and we get hourly updates. It is so cute! She was excited because she figured out how to listen to music and play her games at the same time. She is such a smartie-pants.

Liz took this one of me and my little man. I was so excited it was in focus and didn't make me look like I had 4 chins! Great job Liz!

One Week New

2011-06-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day! I wonder what has gotten into me!

Will is one week new today, so I had to take a few pics!

Our Sweet William

2011-06-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

William Jay

June 18th, 2011 @3:41pm

7lbs 14oz & 20" long

Our sweet little man arrived a week ago today!

We just love him already and feel so blessed that he is part of our family.

This last week has been exhausting. Will has jaundice and just can't seem to shake it. We have to go to the doctor daily to get his levels tested, keep him on a bili-blanket all day at home except when eating and bathing, and feed him every two hours. Despite doing all this, his levels are stuck and just won't drop. We have to go to the hospital tomorrow to have his levels tested and their tests are much more detailed than the ones he has been getting, so hopefully they will be able to pinpoint what the problem is. Please keep him in your prayers that he will be able to kick this thing soon!

So, the birth day details!

If you don't want to read about it, just scroll down to look at the cute pictures!

I started having contractions that were 3-5 minutes apart friday night about 9. Around midnight we decided to head to the hospital. Lizzie came so fast that I didn't want to take any chances and wait to long. We get to the hospital and check in and I was still only dilated to a 3/4, which was what I was at my last Dr. visit on Tuesday. The nurse made me walk around the halls for about 45 minutes and then checked me again. She said I was about a 5 and she admitted me. They poked me in the arms and hands about 5 times before they finally got the IV set. Ouch! From 3 in the morning until about 7 I laid in my room and no one checked on me! My contractions basically stopped. I was so frustrated they didn't see that on their monitors and come make me get up and walk around. Argg. The Dr. finally came to check on me about 9:00 and said that I was dilated to 3/4. What!? I asked him to break my water because I did NOT want to go home and them come back and have the IV redone....it was traumatic the first time! He said they can't do it before 39 weeks. I told my Dr. said on Tuesday that he would break my water the next day if I wanted to, but I had decided to just wait it out and see what happens. The on-call Dr. said he would get in touch with my Dr. and discuss it. I had to get up and walk around for another half hour or so. The on-call Dr. finally came back about 1:00 to check me. I had dilated to over a 5 and without even telling me he broke my water since I was making progress. It was kinda weird that he just did it without telling me what was going on. A half hour later I had the WORST contraction ever. Going from nothing to an off the charts contraction=crazy pain! I went from a 5 to fully dilated in 2 hours. My labor with Lizzie hurt, but it was NOTHING compared to my labor with Will. I had hard contractions for 2 hours straight, including back labor. Even if I had wanted an epidural there would have been no time. They gave me IV pain meds, but I'm not sure home much they helped. I'm so thankful my total labor was only 2.5 hours long from start to finish. I don't know how women go through what I did for hours on end. I only had to push for about 5 minutes and our little man popped out screaming! He was about a pound bigger than I thought he was going to be and the biggest shocker of all was that he has Strawberry-Blonde hair! I totally wasn't expecting that! It is pretty much an every-other generation trait in my family.

So, those are all the gory details! Here are some cute pics from the last week. Sorry it took me so long to get them posted. It took a few days before I was able to sit at the computer! :0)

Enjoy!

Last Day of 1st Grade

2011-06-10T05:51:00.000-07:00

Today I dropped my baby girl off for her last day of first grade (and 10 minutes early, too!). I can't believe that by 1:00 this afternoon I will officially have a 2nd grader.
Where does the time go???

What a difference a year makes....

Here's to 2.5 months of sleeping in past 7:00 {if Will lets us}!

The Final Countdown

2011-06-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

This week has been the last week of school and it has been jam packed full of fun! Liz has had game day, field day, water day, class party day and today was the award ceremony. She won the Writing Award again. I thought I had gotten out of having to sit in a hot steamy gym for an hour, but her teacher called this morning to let me know she was getting an award. Luckily Liz's class was done within the first 20 minutes and I was outta there! I usually stay for the entire thing, but I was hot and bright red. Everyone was asking if I was okay on my way out! I also got her final report card and she did outstanding in all subjects, was above grade level in math and reading/writing, and gets to move on to second grade. I wish I could be that smart without even studying!

The final count down has started for meeting our sweet lil' guy, too. At my Dr. Appointment on Tuesday, he said that we would probably be having him within the next 48 to 72 hours. I think the only reason I haven't had him yet is sheer determination that I will not go into labor until 1) The last day of school gets out tomorrow afternoon and 2) My mom gets here Saturday evening! I'm hoping my luck holds out and I'm trying to take it easy. It is so hard sitting on the couch thinking about everything that I could be doing! I did finally pack my hospital bag... denial can only get you so far before reality hits. I'll be honest and say I'm totally freaked out! With your first baby, you really don't know what to expect, but the second you do and labor is not something I'm looking forward to!

9 MONTHS

2011-06-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we are going to meet our little Will THIS month....and if the way I'm feeling today is any indication, it will be sooner rather than later!

Things I'm Loving:

♥ That I'm carrying Will all out front like a little basketball. Liz was all spread out and made me look way bigger and wider than I actually was!

♥ Still NO stretch marks. WooHoo!

♥ He is still really active and I'm loving every second of it. He gets the Hick-Ups ALL the time!

♥ I finished sewing my diaper bag and my car seat tent....and they turned out fabulous!

♥ Liz is the sweetest little helper... she is going to be an amazing big sister!

♥ That I don't have to go through an entire summer of NC heat and humidity pregnant!

♥ Chocolate.... can't get enough of it!

♥ My mom will be here in less than 2 weeks!

Things That Make Me Sad:

♥ My hugely swollen ankles and feet. None of my dress shoes fit on Sunday for church. :(

♥ My very limited wardrobe selection.

♥ Getting up every hour to use the bathroom and insomnia

♥ My Nursery isn't even started. Dan has a three day weekend and he will be building furniture if I have to lock him in the room!

♥ Not being able to shop for more than half an hour.

♥ The heat/humidity that has finally hit us.

♥ The baby weight... why does chocolate have to be so good!

In Lizzie News:

We are growing out her bangs! She has been asking for awhile, so we are going to give it a try. I forgot how long it takes to grow them! I'm hoping by the end of summer they will be able to be able to be styled into her haircut.

Next week is her last week of School! I can't believe how fast this year has flown by and I'm so thankful that she had such a great teacher. I'm already worried about who she will get next year (does the worrying ever end!). I'm hoping her teacher will watch out for her and make sure she gets someone good.

She is loving the outdoors. It is amazing how she can play for hours out in the heat and humidity. I only last about 5 minutes and I'm done! We have had some new neighbor kids move in, so hopefully she will have lots of playmates this summer.

In Dan News:

He has been crazy busy the last month. He went from Company Live Fires (where he had to stay out in the field for a week) straight into All American Week. It was the first time in years that the entire 82nd Airborne Division was home from deployment to participate. I didn't get to experience anything in person, but I had fun looking at all the pictures. Hopefully next year I can take the kids to a few things.

The week started off with a Division Run:

There were different events and games all week for the paratroopers to participate in. Dan made it on the race team for his Battalion and came in 9th out of about 300 paratroopers in their 8 mile race!

They had a Division Review that was impressive....22,000 paratroopers!

On the last day, Dan's Battalion was selected to put on a "show" for everyone. They jumped out of Airplanes and had all kinds of fun things for the kids to do. Dan was in charge of coordinating all the first aid and medical stations. Needless to say, he was rather stressed out, but there weren't any major problems.

The next week they had to do Prop Blast, which is basically hazing for all the officers. He was at work, outside, from like 4 in the morning until 8 at night. He said it was crazy and tiresome, especially in the heat.

This week is the Change of Command for his Battalion. I wanted to go, but didn't think it was a good idea for me to be sitting out in 103 degree weather for a couple hours. Dan was in charge of the reception, and I'm waiting to hear how it went! We had to say good by to the Commanders Wife (our Battalion FRG Leader) and our last Coffee (Officer Wives Girl Night Out) and there were lots of tears. So many of the people we got here with our leaving and it sad.... especially since we are stuck here for at least another year. I want to be back on the west coast again! Change is always so hard.

That's about it for now. Send good baby vibes that this little guy will at least wait until my mom gets here to make his big arrival!

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have a ton of stuff to do, but I totally scrapbooked the day away!

{Blessed To Be Your Mom Kit by Jady Day Studio at Scrapmatters. Layout inspired by Kay Miller}

I think Liz was more excited about Mother's Day this year than Easter! She woke me up bright and EARLY to give me the picture frame and card she had made at school for me. Then she made sure that Dan made me breakfast and brought it up to me with lots of hugs and kisses. She had Dan take pictures of the whole event, but I will spare you from the fabulous action shots of me just waking up! :) The day before she made sure that Dan got me flowers for Mother's Day/Our Anniversary. She is such a little "event planner" and thinks of all the little details. I spent the rest of the Day napping and being waited on hand and foot. Life doesn't get much better than that!

She is such a special and sweet little girl and I'm so lucky to be her mom!

12 Years

2011-05-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

Twelve years ago today I hopped on plane (my first flight ever) with my mom and flew down to Witchita Falls Texas to marry my high school sweetheart. He was stationed there for his Air Force Technical Training and had been gone for 6 months. He received orders that he would be reporting to Germany in July and in order for me to go with him and not be delayed up to 6 months, we had to get married and get me on his orders. It put a little damper in my wedding plans, but it was so amazing to see him for the first time in so long. My mom made me a cute little white dress, we had a simple ceremony at the courthouse and then went out for Chinese to celebrate! I was able to stay for two amazing weeks before I had to go home and wait for a month and a half for him to come get me. We were able to have a Reception/Sending Off party before we left for our 3 year honeymoon to Germany where I was able to wear my real wedding dress and get all the pictures I wanted. It definitely wasn't a girl's dream wedding, but sometimes life throws us curves and we have to make the best of it.

I can honestly say that I have never been happier. I love Dan and the life we have created. I love our little girl and can't wait to add our little man to the family. We have lived in 2 countries, 3 different states, survived 9 years of college (the military doesn't make it as easy to go to school while you are enlisted as they make it sound) and countless months of deployment and military training. I'm excited to see where the next 12 years take us. I know they will be amazing with my best friend by my side!

I wanted to post some of our wedding pictures, but I think my album is packed up in the garage somewhere and it was before the age of digital cameras, so I don't have any on my computer. I did make this layout last night to celebrate, though!

Dan has been in the field since last Saturday and I didn't think he would be home until later tonight, but he ended up getting home around 11:00 this morning. I'm so happy we get to spend our special day together!

I know I posted pics last week, but I told my sister I would post some this week! I have officially reached the uncomfortable stage. I keep joking with her that I'm going to go swipe one of those WalMart motorized carts to get around. I hope my hips can hold out for another 6-8 weeks!

Nine Weeks...

2011-04-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

We are in single digits, people! Just NINE weeks until my due date...only six or seven if Will comes early like we think he will. I have soooo much to do. Thank goodness I have reinforcements coming in! My mom booked her flight today for a week earlier than planned. She must have seen the look of panic in my eyes! My dad and mother-in-law also booked their flights. It seems like we just announced our pregnancy and here we are in the final stretch with flights scheduled, bi-monthly Dr. Appointments and the inability to reach my feet. Eeekk!

Will has been moving like crazy this week. I seriously don't think he ever sleeps. My back and hips are really starting to hurt. I'm thinking it is time to make the recliner my bed for these last few weeks because I've barely been able to get out of bed in the morning. I love my recliner because it shoots me out of the seat like the one in Sweet Home Alabama~ lol! :)

I've been watching The Royal Wedding and documentaries all day and have started referring to our little Will as Wills. I wonder if the nickname will stick. When I told Dan, he just looked at me.

In BIG news, I scrapbooked today!!! I haven't created a page since the beginning of September. It did take me all day to do, but it felt so good be creative again. I forgot how much I LOVE it. I had a million other things to do today, but I'm justifying it by saying Will's Baby Book is on my To-Do list! Dan works this weekend and then is in the field all next week, so I'm thinking I will get some serious scrapping done!

{Baby Boy Kit by Kristin Cronin-Barrow at Sweet Shoppe Designs}

Have a great weekend!

Meet Ramona

2011-04-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

Liz had a Reading Festival at her school last night that she had been begging to go to. I wasn't thrilled at the prospect...I'm exhausted by this point in the day. It turned out to be so fun and I'm glad that I got to go and do something special with my sweet girl. It won't be long before it won't just be the two of us.

The kids could dress up as one of their favorite storybook characters and it was a toss up between Junie B. Jones, Ramona and Nancy Drew. Ramona won out and Liz looked just like her! We had the red sweater to complete the ensemble, but the humidity and heat has finally hit us here in NC. It took a lot of convincing just to get her to wear the jeans. I did add the yellow bow to her hair because I just can't NOT put something in her hair. Liz informed me it made her look more like Matilda than Ramona, but I think it was the finishing touch her outfit needed!

The night started out with free pizza and dessert, followed by all kinds of crafts and games. Each classroom highlighted a different book and had projects to go with it. We went to her classroom first where we read the Hungry Hungry Caterpillar and got her face painted.

We got to go fishing in one room and create our own animals in another.

Liz created a Chebra!

In this classroom they highlighted The Giving Tree and we made ants on a log

and planted a flower.

We only had an hour to to visit classrooms and Liz was bummed we didn't get a chance to hit them all. We finished the night by picking out a book at the bookfair and getting a picture with Princess Jazamin.

She loved her butterfly that her teacher painted so much she washed around it in the shower so she could wear it to school today. It almost made it through the night intact!

{I just realized I spelled Ramona wrong. Oops!}

Military Ball 2011

2011-04-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

Last night Dan and I got to attend the Military Ball for his Brigade. It is the first one I've been able to go to since we got here and it was huge... like 20 times as big as the ROTC Balls we went to. It was pretty cool! It took us like an hour and a half to get there because they scheduled it at 5:30 which is rush hour traffic leaving post, plus road construction, plus all the Tornado Damage from last weekend. But, we got there and still had plenty of time to mingle and chat with everyone. It was fun to finally meet Dan's troops and their wives. I've talked to them on the phone several times, but it was nice to be able to put a face with a name. We want to plan a company picnic, so hopefully we can make that happen before Will decides to make his appearance!

We stayed right up until the dancing and then had to head out so we could pick Liz up from the babysitter ....and Dan's shoes were falling apart and he didn't think they would make it through a dance! He was leaving a little trail of shoe behind as the sole disintegrated. I giggled every time I saw it, but it was totally stressing him out! I told him it was probably time to get a new pair since he got them during Air Force Basic Training 12 years ago. He has just been putting it off because they usually were their fancy jump boots with their uniform and not their low-quarter shoes.

Anyway...here are a couple pictures Liz took of us before we left ~ our knocked-up prom pictures as Dan was calling them. :0) I wish I would have just set up the tripod. Liz was so excited to go to the babysitters that she wouldn't settle down and concentrate on holding the camera straight. Hopefully our professional photo from the ball turns out decent. The lighting was perfect all day and then right when we had to take pictures, it was glaring. And since Dan's shoes were falling apart {giggle}, we had to stay on the deck so they would get wet from the rain earlier in the day.

Monkey Girl and Her Award

2011-04-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

I try not too brag to much about Liz, but this girl is pretty amazing. She has won an award at every Quarterly Award Ceremony since we have moved here (remember last time she got Top Mathematician). Last month she was one of 9 kids in the entire school to get a Tiger Award...the recipients are voted on by the their classmates and those with the most votes win. They are the students that others feel truly exhibit the school's motto and standards. She got a school T-shirt and her name appeared in the monthly school newsletter.

For this quarter's award ceremony, she received the Writing Award. She has wanted this award since Kindergarten and she was beyond excited to receive it. When her teacher called her name she raced to the front. She has been working extra hard on her stories and it is always fun to see what she comes up with.

We just got her quarter grades and she has mastered all subject for first grade. She is reading at a 4th/5th grade level! We finally got a library card during spring break and she is loving it!

The cool thing about this, is that she does it all on her own. I have always been very laid back about her practicing school work in her "down time". I stress the importance of good grades and trying our best, but I don't make her practice for hours on end every night. I'm so crazy lucky to have such a special and smart little girl, who LOVES school and wants to be her best.

Dan actually made it to this ceremony, and just in the nick of time. Liz was so happy to have him there. He misses out on so much, so I'm glad he got to be at this. I know it meant a lot to Liz to have him there.

Will and I giving the super star a hug! Check out my new hair! It is a little shorter than I was expecting, but I love it! Don't check out my double chin and puffy face ~Uggg~just look at my cute hair! :0) Sitting in a steaming hot gym for over an hour was not fun!

Liz's new goal for the last couple weeks is to completely cross the monkey bars. She practices every day at school and when we go to the park in the afternoons.

She actually made it all the way across the first time, but I was too busy taking pictures to record it. This was the 2nd best attempt. Her hands got to sweaty to go any farther...I always hated that!

My fabric for Will's nursery got here today. Sooooo Exccccited! It felt like Christmas! Plus, we finally got our tax returns back and I've been dropping hints to Dan all day that we need to go to Raleigh and get some baby stuff. I think I've been patient long enough!

29 Weeks and Counting!

2011-04-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go?! This week we are 29 weeks and officially into our 3rd trimester. Time needs to slow down. I have too much to do! About two weeks ago the doctor finally gave me some iron, so I have so much more energy. I feel like I slept from January thru the first of April. I just wish he would have listened to me and given it to me earlier when I complained about being so tired. Unfortunately, I now I have insomnia and lay away all night thinking about everything I need to get done before Will gets here. Anyway, I'm feeling great and experiencing everything you expect to when you are 7 months pregnant.....achy back, heartburn, sleepless nights. I love every minute of it, though, and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to experience pregnancy again! And, I love my growing belly!

The BIG news of the week is that I finally settled on fabric/colors/theme for the nursery! I'm freaking out that I only have about 9 or 10 weeks to get this room done. I still have to pack up the office so that we have room to buy and build all the nursery furniture. It is a good thing my mom is coming early. She will keep me on track since I get VERY easily distracted! I got all my fabric ordered and it should be here tomorrow. I'm so excited to see it! When I saw pictures below at Scissors and Spatulas it was instant love! It was exactly what I had been looking for...Vintage/Shabby with a boyish twist. Since we rent, I have to stay with my off-white walls and tan carpet, so my nursery will be a bit more "Restoration Hardware" like, but I love several of the elements in the room below and hope to incorporate them into Will's nursery.

After I took my weekly photo (which was interesting because Liz kept posing me), Liz said it was her turn to take some photos. She had found the hats my sister had made me and was doing all kinds of crazy "model" poses. She was pretty cute!

And totally random, I came downstairs and saw this the other night. I don't know why, but I thought it was so funny. Liz is turning into such a daddy's girl!

Lucky Ladybug

2011-03-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

I had grand plans of making Liz a super cute outfit for St. Patrick's Day. I'm starting to panic that she is seven and I only have one or two more years left before she stops letting me dress her up all "holiday-ish". I planned ahead and actually found the perfect fabric....but that is as far as I got. I finally started on her skirt at 9:00 the night before and ended up staying up until 2:00 in the morning finishing everything. Six months ago that would have been the norm for me, but more often than not I fall asleep on the couch by 8:00 these days.

She was so excited the next morning and just LOVED the skirt. We went to put it on and it barely fit (the darn pattern I bought on Etsy must have run small)! I almost burst into tears. We tugged and pulled and she said it was perfect. Thank goodness I have enough material left over to make another one....although with all the ruffles and gathering I had to do, I might be making a different style next time!

After school we went to the park to take some pictures. The lighting was horrible, but my model was willing so we took pictures for about twenty minutes.

Here is a close up of the skirt with all those freaking ruffles. It sounded like a good idea when I started! Next time I think I'm just going to go by some Ric Rak if I want to add an extra detail of color!

At around 1:00 in the morning I remembered that I promised her a bow for her hair. All the little girls at school just loved the little lady bug hiding in the middle and wanted me to make them one, too.

After we got done with pictures, she got to play until daddy called to say he was on the way home.

Earlier that evening Liz and I had started on treats for her to take to school. We got half way done and ran out of licorice. Dan was super sweet and went to two different stores to find me more....at 9:00 at night and after a 12 hour work day. I finished the rest of these up while the ribbons were "baking" in the oven. The kids loved them and Lizzie felt special. That made it all worth it!

We are 26 pregnant this week. That means we only have 14 more weeks (maybe less if he follows in his big sister's footsteps) until Will makes he appearance!

I had to strategically place my hair to cover my double chin! Why oh why is that the first place I always gain weight!?

A Busy Day....

2011-03-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

I think spring has finally arrived here in NC! The sunshine and warmer weather has definitely given me more energy, that's for sure. It's also given these two spring fever. The other day they dug out their gloves and balls and spent an hour in the back yard attempting to play catch!

Dan was trying to teach Liz the finer points of baseball, but she was easily distracted by all the pine cones surrounding the 3 that he was using to mark the bases. She gets distracted easily by shiny objects, just like her mother!

Toward the end she got pretty good at scooping up the ground balls and throwing them quickly back. I was pretty impressed!

So, on to our busy day yesterday!

Liz got to wear her pajamas and some crazy sock to school in celebration of Dr. Seuss's Birthday. She was so excited. And to top it off, it was a half day of school, so she got out at 11:45.

Since we had so much extra free time today, we decided to go get her hair cut. She has been asking me for about a month to get it cut, so I figured today was a great day to do it. We had just enough time before her Well-Child Checkup at the Doctor. She loves her new hairstyle and even sat still and let me curl it without complaining!

I had to include this one because she looks so much like her Grandma Durtschi in it! I think it is the way she is smiling.

And since we were taking pictures, we decided to take our Valentine Pictures, even though they are 2 weeks late. She spent the entire week of Valentine's sick, and we had to get some in her cute shirt with the lip sucker...plus I didn't know how much longer I would be able to keep her from eating it!

Then it was time for me to take my weekly belly shot. Can't believe we are at 23 weeks already. I have felt so great this week and have had more energy than I have had for 5 months.

While I was taking my self-portraits, Liz wondered upstairs and wanted in on the action. She loves this little guy already, and I can already imagine us arguing over who gets to hold him. She is going to be the biggest baby hog!

After pictures, she helped me start on a project for the baby. As soon as we finish it up I will post some pictures!

Smooches!

Half Way There

2011-02-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this last week....so really we are Half Way There + A Week! I'm so excited to meet this little guy, but I'm also really enjoying my pregnancy and am not ready for it to end. I'm sure I will have to remind myself of this by the time 36 weeks rolls around and I can hardly move!

I'm feeling great, although my back has started bothering me more lately....but I will take a sore back a couple days a week over every single day of my pregnancy like with Liz.

♥

I'm finally big enough to start wearing Maternity clothes and am so excited! It seems like it took forever for me to start showing and not just look chubby! Dan has three days off this weekend, so I think a shopping trip is in order! I need some cute shirts. I'm kicking myself for getting rid of all my maternity clothes before I moved. Argg!

♥

The baby is moving more and more and loves to do summersaults. I love laying awake at night feeling all his little kicks and flips.

♥

I'm trying to plan the nursery, but can't decide on what fabric/colors I want to use. I want to do vintage/shabby, so I'm really leaning towards soft blue and tan. I'm so indecisive that it drives me nuts!

♥

Liz has been so sick all week, so I finally took her to the doctor. We went to the store to fill her prescription and she just insisted on getting Will a present. She picked out this cute little elephant because it plays music and she just knows that he will love it. She is so excited to be a big sister and hugs and kisses my belly all day.

He is sitting on top of the little blanket Grandma Robin got Will as soon as we found out we were having a boy. I just {heart} soft baby things!♥

Smarty Pants

2011-01-28T13:57:00.000-08:00

Liz had her Quarterly Awards Ceremony at school yesterday. The teacher told us she was getting an award, but not which one. When the time came for Liz's class to announce the award winners, we were anxious to see which one she had won. She usually gets the Principal's Award or the Excellence Award for good behavior, so we were surprised when they called the names for those awards and it wasn't Liz. We were were even more surprised and excited when they got to the last award (the highest honor) and they called her name! She won the award for Top Mathematician in her first grade class!!

She loves to read and is excelling in that subject (she's already at a third grade level), but I had no idea she had such in interest in math, or that she did so well with it. We were so proud of her. I got a little teary eyed, but I cry at everything so it was no big surprise!

{I don't know what happened to her hair, but it was fixed when she left in the morning!}

To celebrate Grandma Robin and I took her out for ice cream! It's not everyday you find out you have a genius at math in the family! :)

And you know what made me even more proud of her?

There was a little boy that sat next to her who didn't get an award this quarter or last quarter and he was sad. My sweet little girl gave him the prize she won for her award so that he wouldn't be so sad.

Snips & Snails or Sugar & Spice?

2011-01-26T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today was the BIG day where we found out whether Liz would be having a brother or a sister! Dan was able to get off work early, so as soon as he got home we ran over to pick Liz up from school and headed to our appointment. It was extra special because Grandma Robin was able to come with us.We were so excited when our turn came and they called us back to the ultra sound room, and even more excited when we finally found out that we were having a......

When the tech first told us, Liz sat there for a second and then said, "But I want a little sister! I'm still calling him Sophie!" We've been talking to her all night about how fun it will be to have a baby brother and I think she is starting to warm up to the idea a little bit.

The baby is growing pefectly and is right where he should be at 18 weeks. We are so excited to meet our little guy! Oh, and we have decided we want to call him William Jay. It will be fun to have a Queen Elizabeth and a Prince William!

Winter Wonderland

2011-01-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

All the snow we have gotten the last couple days has reminded me of the pictures I wanted to post from our Christmas Snow a couple weeks ago. We woke up the day after Christmas to a winter wonderland. It had started snowing early in the morning and didn't stop all day. Gorgeous! It reminded me of home. Of course it had completely melted within two days, but we enjoyed it while we had it. Dan and Lizzie went outside to play for a couple hours and made a snowman. Thank goodness all Liz's snow stuff still fit from two years ago... the boots were only a year old and a little snug, but I told her to suck it up or stay inside! I know, I'm a mean mom, but I wasn't letting her outside to play in 7 inches of snow in All-Stars.

Building a snowman...

rollin', rollin', rollin'...

This is hard work...

But totally worth it! Frosty, Liz and Dan...

Our Little Snow Bunny...

My new favorite picture of Dan (that's almost a real smile!)...

Liz and Daddy...

She has been glued to his hip since Dan got back from Louisiana in November. She was loving all the time he had off during Christmas and then his Block Leave. She was sad when he had to go back to work today.

For Gramps...

Liz insisted on taking these for Gramps and thinks he should put them on the shop Facebook page! Quality Outdoor Furniture really is All-Weather! We use it Rain, Shine or Snow!

As for today, we are on

Snow Day Three!

I has been nice being able sleep in and stay at home. Post was closed until today, so Dan didn't have to go in to work either, and today was a 4 hour work call delay, so he didn't have to go in until 1:00 (although he had to leave 2 hours early to get there since the road between our house and post is one of the worst). I'm not looking forward to all the Saturday Snow-Make up Days. In NC the kids can't attend school after June 10th, so we have to make up our days when we can....which means lots of Saturday's and the odd Monday's that they may have off between now and June. At least Dan and I will have a few hours to ourselves to go and have some kid free fun.

On our agenda today....

Clean this girl's room!

It's embarrassing. I don't think I have stepped foot in there since the beginning of October. I was so sick for 2.5 months that it was all I could do to get off the couch....and then when I finally felt a little better, it was Christmas....and then Dan had Block Leave for two weeks. But, today is the day! Wish me luck that I don't get lost in there!

Next on the Agenda...create a chore chart so that it never gets this bad again!

Priceless

2011-01-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Annual Family Photo

New Coordinating Outfits....$100

Lunch So Everyone Was Happy....$35

New Toy So The Princess Would Smile....$25

Knowing there are really FOUR of us in this picture....Priceless

♥

Our Newest Sweet Addition is due too arrive

June, 29th

(Mommy's Birthday!)

The princess got to go to my 12 week ultrasound a couple weeks ago and right before we were done, the tech caught the baby's cute,tiny, itty-bitty hand waving goodbye to us. We thought it was the most ADORABLE thing ever! Liz is still talking about it!

We find out in TWENTY DAYS if we are having a

Macentyre Jay or a Sophie Anne-Marie
The suspense is killing me!

Goodbye Gold...Hello Silver!

2010-12-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

It seems like just a couple months ago that I was pinning Dan's 2LT bar on his uniform at his commissioning ceremony. A couple weeks ago he officially put away the gold bar and pinned on the silver 1LT bar. There was some miscommunication in the paperwork so we didn't get to participate in the promotion ceremony, but he did let me take a few pictures in his dress uniform when he had to wear it a few days later. He's one handsome paratrooper and I'm so proud of him!

Next stop....Captain!

Miss Southern Belle

2010-10-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just a little sneak peak of the cutest Southern Belle ever! She had so much fun and didn't want to stop taking pictures, which is a total first for those who know her well! Lots more cute ones to show but I couldn't wait to share just a few for now!

In other news....

I love living in a small town, but sometimes it is totally frustrating! There were rumors going around that Trick-or-Treating was going to happen on Saturday since Halloween fell on a Sunday. Well our town and the neighboring town decided they were NOT going to set a time for Trick-or-Treating so it basically turned into a free-for-all with people planning on going both days. Miss Southern Belle ended up not feeling well at all tonight and made the decision easy for us. Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow and she can go collect a bucket of candy to share with mommy!

Also, daddy didn't make it home tonight. We have a couple more days to go before we get to give him a big hug! We are more than a little sad he won't be here to go trick-or-treating with us. It would definitely be more fun than rooming with 500 soldiers in a tiny little tent for 4 days while they each wait for their turn to fly home.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

2010-10-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

I've had the chance to meet several fellow Military Spouses through blog-land lately and it has been nice to share experiences and vent to someone that knows exactly how you feel....and to know that you are not alone in your feelings. I've been wanting to join the MilSpouse Link Party since I found it a couple months ago, but because of time constraints I haven't been able to until today. I'm hoping that it will help me blog more and I'm looking forward to meeting and connecting with other military wives.

1. What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
When Dan was in the Air Force and we were stationed in California, I was working at a movie theater. I was about 7 months pregnant with Lizzie. I was working in concession and had just filled an elderly gentleman's order of popcorn and soda. Before he walked away, he gave me a $20 bill and told me to go buy my baby something special. At the time, $20 was a lot of money for us, and the generosity of this stranger has stuck with me for the last 7 years. Every time I walk into a theater I think about it and it brings a smile to my face!
2. If you are having a hard time going to sleep, what do you do to help yourself?
If I can't sleep, it is usually because I have a list a mile long running through my head of everything that I need to get done. I keep a notebook and pen by my bed and jot down everything that I need to do so I'm not feeling like I'm forgetting something. It works wonders for me!
3. Name something that makes you wish you were a kid again.
Every time we have the opportunity to go camping in a little town I grew up in Montana, it makes me wish I could turn back time. It makes me miss the fun and the friendships that I had with my brother and sisters. We had a great childhood with fabulous parents and going home always brings back those wonderful memories. I hate that as we have gotten older, things have gotten strained and I always feel like I'm walking on eggshells around many of the members of my family. I miss the unconditional love you have as a child.
4. What is something you never believed until you experienced it?
I never believed I would live anywhere but in the same city and state I grew up in, let alone in another country. Our first duty station was in Germany. I loved it and hope that we are able to make our way back there one day!
5. What can’t you say “no” to?
Volunteering! You want me to be FRG Key Caller? Sure, even though I HATE calling people. Oh, now you want me to also be Treasure, too? No problem. I know that our FRG Leader is leaving within a month or two and they are going to ask me to do it. I'm trying to be strong... it is okay to say NO! I'm busier now as a "stay-at-home" mom than I ever was when I was working. The plus side is that I've meet some great ladies that keep me busy while my hubby is gone 75% of the time!

Liz has a 4 day weekend, so we have lots of time to fill. Dan was suppose to be coming home Saturday, but it is now Friday at noon and we still don't know if it will be Saturday or Tuesday. It has been a long month and we miss him!

My Candy Corn Cutie

2010-10-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

Liz and I went to a Fall Festival for Dan's Battalion this weekend. There were all kinds of games and activities for the kids and they were suppose to wear their costumes for a parade at the end. Liz is going to be a Southern Belle for Halloween and I didn't want her costume to get ruined before I could take the pictures of her in it that I want. So, I made this cute little Candy Corn outfit for her. She was so adorable in it and quite a hit at the festival! After the festival, we went to the park and took some pictures. Here are just a few of my favorites. She looks so much like her daddy! When ever we go into Dan's work, everyone knows exactly who her daddy is before we even say anything!

You check out my post at Whimsy-Lane for more pictures and links to the tutorials I used to create everything!

We just have one more week until Dan comes home! The first two weeks seemed to go by fast, but this last week and half is just dragging! We can't wait for him to get here and are crossing our fingers it is before Halloween so he can go Trick-or-Treating with us!

2011 Shabby Princess Calendars

2010-10-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

The calendars I helped design, were released today! Yay! You can see more details on the craft blog I share with all my sisters {Whimsy Lane} or directly at The Shabby Shoppe. So excited!

Time To Celebrate!

2010-10-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I finished!

I really finished this years Calendars for The Shabby Shoppe! I have spend the last month in a half in front of my computer 24/7, creating 6 different calendars, in 6 different sizes for a total of 75 PAGES. I can't wait for them to be released so I can show them off. I think this year's are my most favorite ever!

I'm so excited to have some free time and I have a huge list of To-Do's that I've been putting off.

At the top of the list:

Clean My House! {I think there are things growing in my bathroom}
Finish the book I started 2 months ago and have been dying to read
Put out my fall Decorations
Update my blog with some cute pics of the Princess
Call my mom, 'cause I miss her!

But today, to celebrate....I'm getting a big Diet Pepsi, some peanut M&M's and a Chick Flick. The only thing that would make it better is if Dan were here to celebrate with me.

Thanks Chella for all the texts. You kept me sane!

I'm Back!

Baseball And A Haircut

2010-08-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago it was actually cool enough in the evening to go to the park and play a little catch. I though Liz looked so cute in all her ruffles and flowers! I love how she looks "sporty" in a very "girly" way! :)

Even though it was cooler, it was still HOT, so we made sure to bring lots of water....which I inadvertently put in an ant hill and was constantly reminded of it for the rest of the night.

We left Liz's glove at Grandma's accidently, so Dan got Liz a glove to use until we can get it back. She looked so cute waiting for her first ball to catch. I was a proud mama! I just knew she was gonna be a natural and know just what to do.

....but I have my work cut out for me before next spring when T-Ball starts. She is one of those kids that likes to do everything perfectly the first time and gets frustrated when she can't and just wants to give up. I have to keep reminding her that practice makes perfect....and that you have to keep your on the ball at ALL times!

I also got a new PINK glove and I love it...I mean it's PINK! I had forgotten how much I loved softball/baseball. I was worried I would be a bit rusty, but it all came back to me and I even threw a couple pitches that were strikes! I've thought about playing on a team again, but the only position I feel really comfortable at is Pitcher, and with my "old age" I've become a bit afraid of line drives being hit back at me. It would be so fun to play on a coed team with Dan though, so we will see!

We stayed at the park for about and hour and were drenched with sweat...well Dan was, I was just glistening. By the time it cooled off the mosquitoes came out to play and we decided to pack it in, especially since the ants were enjoying our water! It was so fun to get out and I'm looking forward to the cooler weather in September!

Back To School Haircut!

Lizzie-bug got her hair cut the other day. I wanted to beat the back-to-school rush this weekend. I just take her to Great Clips, but there is a girl there that just does an awesome job on her hair. I even looks cute when I don't curl it. I love that she actually knows how to layer a little girls hair.

Her two front teeth are just about ready to make their appearance. We can see them getting ready to poke through. I'm going to miss her cute, toothless grin. She said she is excited to get them because it is hard to eat and she really wants to have an apple!

She was also excited to see how big the flower she gave me for Mother's Day got. I seriously can't believe I have kept my flowers alive and beautiful in 100 degree/100% humidity all summer. Go Me!

And, just because I like to end with a "Random Cuteness" picture....

I picked this picture for 2 reasons.

ONE

It has been so fun watching how Liz has changed over the summer. She is all about the accessories and being a big girl. She looks so "grown up" here, but if you enlarge the picture, she is wearing a Littlest Petshop shirt. Too Cute!

TWO

My mom called the other day to tell me to keep my doors shut because it is so hot outside that snakes in North Carolina are coming in from the forest and getting into people houses to stay cool. WHAT??!!! Totally freaked me out and I'm scared to even open my door now. This is the view from my backyard. Our townhouses are smack dab in the middle of the forest. September, please get here soon with your cooler weather so the snakes can go back home!

Liz's Surprise

2010-08-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Liz has an announcement......

{Warning: grandma requested lots of pictures!}

We have been talking about this all summer and she decided that Today was the day to get her little ears pierced! I had a dentist appointment in the morning {where I found out I need a root canal in my front tooth~eek} and then we stopped by Claire's. We wanted to do both ears at the same time and the lady said there wouldn't be two people there until 4:30. From 10:00 in the morning until 4:30 she asked me EVERY 10 minutes if it was time to go. I thought I was going to go insane!

So, we finally leave at 4:30 and get there....and the second lady went on lunch! Seriously! They said it would be about 30 minutes until she was back. I filled out the paper work and then we wandered around the store looking at stuff. Liz was having fun trying things on and modeling.

We were getting tired of standing, so we took a seat in the chair to wait. We filled the time by taking some cute pictures of the princess and her hole-less ears! :)

Finally, like an HOUR later, the second lady shows back up. As soon as Liz saw the second lady she got scared and decided she didn't want to do it anymore because it would hurt. After hearing about it all day, making two trips to the store and waiting for an hour...I told her there was no backing out now!

{getting her ears prepped and marked}

{very last picture of her hole-less ears}

{finally piercing her ears~ so bummed this picture didn't turn out}

{Pierced Ears!!}

I felt like a mean mama for making her do it when she decided she didn't want to anymore, but later tonight before bed she gave me a huge hug and told me how happy she was and that she LOVED them!

On the Agenda tomorrow:

Haircut

I'm thinking I want to go chin length on her this time. I will have to look online and find some ideas.

Kindred Spirits

2010-07-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

It seriously feels like a year a since Dan left and not just 5 days... and we still have like 5 days to go. So, what did Liz and I do to fill the time today? First we slept in.... like really late. I'm too embarrassed to even tell you how late we slept in, but our excuse is that we stayed up really late the night before! Then I introduced her to Anne of Green Gables! My mom got the dvd set for me for my birthday since I had sold my VHS tapes at my yard sale before we moved. We started watching them last night and then finished up today. Liz just loved them as much as I do. I think I lost her a little during the second part, but she stuck with it because she wanted to see Gil and Anne get together. She was so disappointed they didn't show the wedding. Last night I let her watch part of it in bed and she came down just sobbing. She hardly ever cries, especially that hard, and when I asked her what was wrong she managed to squeak out that the Grandpa (Matthew) died. I had totally forgotten about that part and I felt so bad I left her alone up there to watch it! Poor little girl. Here she is all excited to start our movie:

The rest of these are just random pictures from the last two weeks. I need to get better at downloading pictures of my camera! Here are the pictures from the night of the Fireworks show:

Family Shot~We need to start getting more of these!

Liz trying to catch herself on fire with her sparkler

Me and my sweetie~Man I miss that guy!

Dan likes to take Liz on a date to the movies before he has to leave anywhere for an extended amount of time. Liz was so excited and had her outfit, complete with jewelry, all picked out the night before. They went to Despicable Me in 3D and both really liked it.

We had a friend come over to play yesterday. Liz said she was getting bored playing by herself. She was so sad when her friend had to leave.

Finally someone to do play dough with!

It's not a play date with out playing dress-up! They looked so cute!

Liz and I shop a lot! It is nice because when we go into town, all our stores are right next to each other...except for Target! We usually stop at Toys R Us first and then we make the rounds to my stores. It has been fun having a little shopping buddy!

We always stop and get a drink on the way (me Diet Pepsi and Liz a Slurpee) because it is such a long drive. I thought she looked cute here because she was all blue!

Happy we finally made it into town all by ourselves and didn't get lost! I think this was my first solo trip without Dan, and since I get lost in my own neighborhood I was a little nervous about getting there.

We had to stop in for the semi-annual sale at Bath and Body Works. I think Liz was more excited than me. She is obsessed with the little hand sanitizers!

Soffee Clothing is manufactured in Fayetteville and they have a outlet store, so we stopped to get Dan some "Ranger Panties" and us some comfy clothes/pajamas. Liz loves these little ballet slipper shorts. Not sure what she got all over her shirt!

This is the new look she gives me whenever I try and take a picture. I think she thinks she looks all sassy and like a model when she does it!

I think that is about it! I'm look forward to church tomorrow and some adult conversation! Dan has only been able to call twice since he has been gone, and only for a few minutes.

Just because I want to end with a cute picture.....

My Kindred Spirit

Miss America

2010-07-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July was pretty low key. We didn't realize that our little town was doing their Independence Day Celebration on July 3rd until we drove past the park and hundreds of people on the way home. Upon further search on the internet, we found out that almost ALL of the towns around us were doing their firework shows on Saturday instead of Sunday. We are lucky enough that we live just down the road a bit from the celebration, so we parked in the empty lot across from our town houses and watched the fireworks show. It was so cool because the trees framed the sky and it was like watching a big outdoor movie. It was nice and quiet where we were so we let Liz try her hand at some sparklers. I'm afraid she takes after her mom when it comes to fire. She almost caught herself and me on fire! It was a little scary!

The next day we were going to go out to the post for their celebration, but decided to avoid the crowds and the long drive and just stayed home and watched movies. I did get Liz all dressed up for a photo shoot, though! It is so nice when she is in the mood to take pictures. I think she was mostly showing off for Daddy, though!

This girl loves her dad! It is hard when he is gone, which unfortunately is a lot. He left on Monday and won't be back until the end of the month sometime. It has been so quiet without him... especially because we had him all to ourselves for 10 whole days while he was on leave last week! We can't wait for him to come home.

Tomorrow I have a quick dentist appointment to look at tooth that has been hurting me. The dentist is gone all next week so they squeezed me in on the last day. I'm happy because it hurts and I'm tired of being in pain, but I'm TOTALLY freaking out! My teeth are ultra sensitive and going to the dentist (especially one I haven't been to before) scares me so bad. I know they are just going to look at the tooth, but I've been having little mini panic attacks all day about it. I'm praying I don't walk into the office and burst into tears. I will have Liz with me since I couldn't get a babysitter and Dan is gone, so I will have to be brave and act like the dentist is fun. She has her appointment on September 1st and I don't want her to be scared about it. Wish me luck! Eeek!

My Green Thumb

2010-07-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

I thought I had better document this, since it is a first for me. I have managed to keep my little flower garden alive and going strong for TWO MONTHS!!! There were a few days where it was touch and go, but once I watered them they came back to life. It is so hot here that I have to water them first thing in the morning or they are wilted by noon. I'm crossing my fingers that I can keep them alive through the super hot months of July and August.

The neighbor girls were planting theirs right into the ground, but once I started mine I knew I wouldn't be able to keep them alive if I did that. We have about 1" of dirt and then it is pure sand and clay...not the best growing conditions. So, i bought some cheap planters at Big Lots and went that route. The picture on the left is my Mother's Day present from Liz. It usually has 2 or 3 blooms on it.

I also made this little address pot for the front step. You can read more about it HERE.

My cute girl posing by the new flower pot!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

2010-06-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

Sending lots of Birthday Hugs and Kisses your way!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Melting

2010-06-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

We are melting here, people...and it hasn't even hit the hottest part of summer yet! We start out the day looking so cute, with our hair fixed and super cute and clean summer clothes. By noon we look like this:

Soaking wet hair that is sticking up all over the place, damp clothes and popsicle mustaches. Popsicles are a must in our house. We have no less then 4 different kinds in our freezer at the moment. I'm the "Popsicle Mom" in the complex so I make sure to buy the Otter Pops in bulk for all the neighbor kids.

I spend most of my days inside the air conditioned house or car, but Liz usually goes out and plays with her friends for an hour or two. I don't know how she does it! I would pass out from heat stroke!

Last Day of School

2010-06-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying the first two weeks of Summer Vacation.... staying up, sleeping in and lots of shopping! The last day of school was a tough one, though! It started out great. Liz was so excited to wear her new "Last Day of School Outfit" and even let me curl her hair AND take pictures...all this at 7:00 in the morning. Check out those HUGE bows! I wanted something pretty for her hair and that was the only ribbon I had that was the right color.

She got to school and she said ALL the boys were just in love with her. They loved the bows...and check out those tatoos I couldn't get off! They kept telling her how pretty she was today and that they loved her. One little boy sang a song to her and one tried to kiss her. She said she ran away! She was super excited because Nathan told her that he loved her...she has had a big crush on him since we got here.

Meanwhile, I'm at home crying. I think it was harder for me having Kindergarten end than when she started it. I was going to park and walk up and get her after school, but decided against it because I knew I would burst into tears. I had done that when we said goodbye to Mrs. Stevenson before we moved and didn't want a replay of that scene! I'm such a cry baby. It was finally my turn in line to get Liz and all the kids are just sobbing and holding on to their teacher. It was so sad! Liz got in the car with huge tears running down her face and it took me a good 30 minutes to calm her down when we got home. We were just a big crying mess in the middle of the living room floor! We let ourselves be sad for the rest of the day, and when we woke up the next morning we were all better and ready for vacation to start....especially the sleeping in part! WooHoo!

So, things I'm NOT going to miss:

1. Packing lunches every night. I'm totally thinking we will do school lunch a couple times a week next year. I hate packing lunches!

2. Getting Liz to school by 7:40 in the morning. It horrified Liz that I wore my Pajamas. I told her it was fine because I wouldn't be getting out of the car. At least I brushed my hair!

3. Waiting in line for 10-15 minutes to pick her up after school. I did get some good reading time in, and towards the end I was able to time so I would just have to wait 5 minutes. The school is just across the highway and down the street from us, so it is nice. I tried walking a couple times to get her, but it is just too dang hot!

Dan has been out in the field training all week and won't be home until Friday. It is sure quiet with out him here. I'm having a friend over for dinner and a chick flick tonight and I'm thinking about venturing into Fayetteville tomorrow to make a visit to Target and Hobby Lobby. Hopefully I can bribe Liz into doing it. Toys R Us in right next door to Hobby Lobby!

Field Day

2010-06-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Lizzie had her Kindergarten Field Day yesterday. I showed up about half way through and missed all the inside activities (which was okay with me because the gym was soooo HOT!). They had three water activities that they got to do together as a class outside. It was so cute to watch Liz! They did one activity where the class had to hand a wet sponge down the line and the last person (Liz) had to squeeze it into a bucket. Which ever class filled theirs up first won. Well, Liz got more on the table than the bucket. At least she tried!

Every time I watch this clip I giggle. If there was any question about this girl being mine before, there isn't now! She was totally working her arm and even got a few hair flips in while she was "racing". I was holding my breath the whole time hoping she wouldn't fall...she has been so accident prone lately!

Happy Birthday Heidi!

2010-06-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our favorite little Care Bear! We hope you have lots of fun at your party tomorrow and get lots of fun presents to play with. We love you!

Here is a little video Lizzie made just for you!

Family Man Wallet

2010-06-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

I know that not everyone checks out Whimsy~Lane (where I post most of my scrapbook/craft projects), so I wanted to post this on my personal blog, too. I love how it turned out and want to show it off! You can see more pictures and read about it HERE.

The next week is a busy one with last week of school activities and FRG meetings. Today Liz is having a field day. I'm going to head over to the school and watch her for a bit! I hope she doesn't get hurt too badly....that girl is accident prone!

So Thankful

2010-05-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

I wish that we could have spent this weekend with our family and friends, enjoying each other's company in the backyard and roasting marshmellows on the fire pit. But, being across the country made that impossible. Dan and Lizzie had a four day weekend and we enjoyed just spending time at the house and being with each other....scrapbooking, playing video games (lots of video games), watching movies and staying up late. Dan works so hard that we don't get many opportunities to do that anymore.

It also gave me time to think about what Memorial Day is really about. I even looked it up on the internet, because I will be honest and say that I didn't exactly know what the "true" meaning of the holiday was. I thought it was meant to honor all of our loved ones that have passed on, but in reality it is meant to honor the military men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. I am thankful for their sacrifice and for the service of current active duty military members and their families. I am thankful for my husband and his willingness to serve our country and to keep us safe. I worry about him constantly, but I'm am so very proud of him. With out his service and that of his fellow soldiers, we may not be able to have four day weekends where we can stay up late and play video games all night!

That is my deep thought for the year! :) See, I do think about things besides scrapbooking! I took the above photo about a month ago at the Southern Pines Spring Festival and have been saving it for just the right post. I LOVE it! I cropped that one in to focus on the flag, but I love this full version just as much. It is totally getting framed and put up on the wall!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Ours was extra special because we got to welcome a new little niece into the family. Madeline Scout was born early Sunday morning and we can't wait to meet her!

Lunch Date

2010-05-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

I had a lunch date with a hot soldier today. This one to be exact:

I don't get to see Dan a lot during the week because of his long hours, so I decided we would have a lunch date at least once a week....hopefully more! I wish post wasn't 30 minutes away so we could do it everyday. Anyway, today was our first lunch date and he had some canceled meetings so we got to have an extended lunch-Yay! We went off post to Red Robin and even had time for a little trip to Barnes and Noble before he had to head back to work. It was a nice change of pace and totally worth the hour driving time! I'm super excited, too, because he has a 4 day weekend starting friday!!

Spring Concert

2010-05-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

The Little Missy had her Spring Kindergarten Concert a couple weeks ago. We almost didn't go because she said she was too nervous and there were several dance moves that she thought were just too embarrassing to do in front of an audience. In the end, she said she wanted to do it and we rushed there just in the nick of time. She was pretty cute up there and did all the dancing but the "embarrassing" moves. She can be so stubborn sometimes. It was pretty funny, because she almost got taken out by the girl next to her a few times! Here is one of the shorter clips for your viewing pleasure!

I Couldn't Help Myself...

2010-05-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

...I just had to have these! I needed to order check with my name on them and was browsing for new checks when I found these! They were so cute and just the change I was looking for! I usually get the checks with the vintage children or the kissing kids and Dan freaks out....not sure what he is going to do when he sees these. Can you just imagine him paying for something at work with one of these checks! LOL! :0)

I'm really not that mean! We do still have some plain checks that he can use in the rare occassions that he needs them!

She has friends....

2010-05-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

....in the townhouse complex! I'm so excited because she has been really sad lately about not having anyone to play with....and whiney! We were out watering our "garden" (aka - 3 pots of planted flowers) the other day and two girls walked by and asked what her name was and if she could play with them. She was sooo excited! Up until then, we had thought that only the people right next to us had kids, and they are both boys that are about 3. One of the girls is 7 and one of them is 9. There is another girl that also plays with them and she is 11. I love that there is an older girl with them when they are outside. It makes me less nervous. Anyway, just had to share our awesome news. I was worried about how I was going to entertain her all summer long by myself!

Oh, and the picture above is of her and her besties back home. I just feel weird posting with out a picture!

She's a Star....

2010-05-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

....at least at School...on the playground...at recess. Today, Lizzie ~ my quiet little Lizzie ~ organized a concert at school during recess. She recruited 4 or 5 backup dancers who just had to follow her lead because she didn't want to waste all her time training them. If they tried to sing with her, they got a look from her that silenced them instantly. This was her concert and she was the lead singer. She sang a couple of Taylor Swift Songs and the entire Kindergarten class was there to cheer her on. She even pulled her "boyfriend" out of the audience to be the prince during "Love Story". She did let her friend close the show with a Lady Gaga song. She says she is ready to go on tour and maybe make an appearance on American Idol.

Speaking of American Idol....Go Lee! He rocked it tonight! I love how genuinely nice he is!

It's been a year!

2010-05-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

In two more days it will have been a year since Dan was commissioned in to the army AND graduated from Gonzaga. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I had to find pictures to go with a scrapbook page I was making for work and came across his commissioning pictures. I brought back a flood of memories. I am so incredibly, madly, crazily in love with this man...and it is a good thing because in 1 day we celebrate our ELEVENTH anniversary! I just found our wedding pictures when I was cleaning out the garage, maybe I will scan a few in just for fun.

Totally random, but I finally made an appointement to get my hair cut. I can not wait. It is driving me NUTS! I'm a little nervous being in a new LITTLE town and just having to randomly pick a salon, so wish me luck that I don't end up with a mullet. I drove around town and found the nicest looking one. I couldn't get in until next week, so that gives me a few days to find some pictures of what I want!

A Letter From Liz

2010-05-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

I love my mom. She takes care of me. She is nice. She is silly but I love her. She might get on the computer a lot but that is fine with me. She gets me special treats. I always say thank you. Sometimes on Fridays she lets me sleep in her room. Mom and me are like sisters and twins. I love mom. She is the best ever because she is my mom. I never got my apple pulled. That makes mom proud. Actually very proud.

I get cute little love notes everyday, but this is the first letter. What did I do to deserve such a sweetie?

Whimsy-Lane Crafts

2010-04-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

Do you notice the cute little image to the left?! My sisters, sister-in-laws and I have all joined together create a blog full all the things we love to do most...photography, scrapbooking, sewing, home decor. This is something that I have wanted to do for along time and I'm glad all the girls were willing to do it with me. Kate just posted about her first Digital Family Album and I just posted about my new Shabby Princess Scrapbook Projects. Come check us out!

Whimsy-Lane Crafts

I know it has been awhile since I posted pictures. I will try and get them off the cameras tonight. I now that grandparents are dying to see our Lizzie-Bug!

My Lucky Charm

2010-03-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Liz looked so CUTE today! There was no way this girl was gonna get pinched! I was hoping for a fabulous photo shoot after school because she was so CUTE, but it was a no-go and we definitely didn't get one at 7:30 in the morning. She be-grudgingly let me take a few after I told her I wouldn't play school with her until she let me take a few pictures. So, here is my little LUCKY CHARM!
(We remembered to wear the socks daddy!)

It sounds like they had a fun day at school. Why they were outside for recess a Leprachaun snuck in and left green treats for them. They just knew that is who left them, because Mrs. Flowers was outside and Mrs. Warthen was in the office!

Every time we go to the store I have to bribe her with a little gift, otherwise it is non-stop whining and complaining. Argg! They had St. Patrick's Day stuff 60% off at Michaels (my one and only awesome store in this crazy small town) so we picked them up and they were good for an hours worth of fun on St. Patrick's Day Eve.

After school, Liz comes home and we play more school. She has centers all ready for us and she pretends to be Mrs. Stevenson (her old teacher who be both adore and miss) and she has, for some reason, named me Shelby Marx from icarly. Did you know Shelby Marx is going to have her own show on Nick Jr. We saw the commercial and we are very excited! Anyway, besides playing school she reads a ton. It is so cool that she can read whole books almost by herself! I can't wait until she starts reading Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High. I think I may read them with her! This is her reading to me today before "recess". I swear I didn't stage the green book. She picked it out all on her own!

Today wasn't all fun and games, though. After Liz went to bed I packed up her Dora Toys. I admit I got a little misty eyed. She hasn't hardly touched them in 2 years, but packing it up really means that she is growing up (and way to fast)! I remember getting the house for her on her 3rd Birthday. It is in a box for now, but I plan on moving it into a rubbermaid bin so that I can easily pull it out if I have little kids over. I may have been able to pack it up, but I'm still not ready to get rid of it!

And last, but not least, this is Liz when I told her Daddy was coming home in 2 or 3 days! Everyone keep your fingers crossed that the weather stays nice in Georgia so that they can get all their required jumps done and come home on time!

Random Life

2010-03-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

I was going to hop on and upload some cute pics of Liz I took tonight and found a whole bunch of cute pics on my camera that I forgot I took! So, this is full random images from our last month and a half in fantastic NC. Enjoy!
SHOPPING

We live in a super small town with limited shopping. We have a few stores but they are scaled down versions of a normal sized store. Oh, how I miss having Target down the road. To find decent shopping we have to drive about 45 minutes to an hour, which means a lot of car time. Liz is such a trooper and does great with the traveling...not so much with the actual shopping...but awesome with the travel time. There is lots of this:

VALENTINE PARTY

Liz had fun at her School Valentine (or Valentimes as she calls it) party. She insisted on wearing a dress because it was a party. She got lots of fun treats from her friends and she handed out little bags of Conversation Hearts with Puppy and Kitty Valentine Cards. I feel like I'm slacking because I didn't make anything fancy for her treats, but she was super happy. She had her heart set on the candy hearts.

GRANDMA ROBIN'S PACKAGE

Liz got her Valentine Package from Grandma Robin. It was full of crafts that we had to do right away. She was so excited and loved everything. We made rings for all her girl friends and had fun deciding what stencils we should use on our fashion girl. She even shared her chocolates with me while we were doing it!

GRANDMA DURTSCHI'S BLANKET

Liz got her package from Grandma Durtschi a few days later with the much anticipated blanket. She loves it and it has been added to the list of "must have" that she needs to sleep with. She loves how soft and sparkly it is.

Liz's Art Work

Liz must have grabbed my camera when I wasn't looking because I had about 20 pictures of her artwork on there. They were too cute not to share a few of them. She is getting so good at writing and is constantly writing me little love notes and stories.

Dr. Seuss Week

Last week was Dr. Seuss week at school and they had all kinds of fun activities planned. Everyday the kids had to wear something that coordinated with one of the Dr. Seuss books. Can you guess what book goes with what picture!?! Liz LOVED it!

Green Day & Wild Socks Day

Pajama Day - Icarly of course!

Red, Black & White Day - They took pictures with Cat In The Hat and

Celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday with a cake!

Random Cute-ness

Bouncy Curls

On Friday, Liz and I decided we wanted to do a photo shoot the next day at the park. We have a gorgeous park with a playground and pond with bridges and gazebos just down the road from us. To make it even more fun, we decided to put her hair is sponge curlers overnight. Look at how straight those rows are!

The next day was sunny out, but still a bit windy. She wasn't excited when we got there because she was cold and she wanted to play on the playground. She coordinated her outfit to match the playground toys, while I picked it because I made it for her for Christmas and she hadn't wore it yet. Here is a little sneak peak. I will be posting the rest of the pictures in the next couple days on a new blog I'm working on!

As we were taking pictures a grandma and grandpa walked by and thought Liz was so cute and offered to take our picture.

After that I gave in and we went to play on the toys. I told her she could take the dress part of her outfit off, but she wanted to leave it on. The climbing wall picture is for you, Dan! Doesn't she look cute scaling the wall in her cute little dress!

Taylor Swift

And last but not least, this is what I found when I went to check on Liz. She had changed into a sundress, swiped some of my shiny black heels, found her Icarly microphone, made some props and was rocking out to Taylor Swift "You Belong With Me." If you haven't seen the video (which I have about 50 times in the last 3 days because I made the mistake of showing it to her on YouTube) Taylor writes notes to this guy and holds them up for him to read. Liz's sign says "I love u so much. Love Talr Swift". I about died! As a side note, I know her bangs look aweful. We chopped them tonight!

We love you Daddy!

A Star Student & My Handsome Soldier

2010-02-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

I was so TIRED all day today. I just couldn't get motivated to do anything. By thursday, both Liz and I get pretty worn out and tired. We only have the option of Full Day Kindergarten here and it starts at 7:45 in the morning....for Kindergarten! She doesn't get out until 2:45. That makes for a long day, especially when you are used to sleeping in a little in the morning and just going to school for a couple hours in the afternoon. She seems to have adjusted well, though. I don't think she likes her teacher as much as she adored Mrs. Stevenson, but she doesn't seem to mind her. I was worried that she would be behind in school because of the long days, but she is right where she is suppose to be. She just has added things like P.E, Music, Lunch and recess that she didn't have before. She was really nervous to start, but ALL the kids were welcoming and wanted to be her best friend. You gotta love how accepting little kids are!

While Liz is at school, I've been trying to get the house unpacked. I sorta lost my motivation so it has been a slow process. It is so much more fun to play on the computer and watch the Lifetime Movie Channel (my new favorite!)all day. I did get a picture hung on the wall today and curtains up in the living room and bedroom, though. I've gotta finish getting unpacked so I can start working on Shabby Princess stuff!

Dan has been working long hours. He has to leave at 5 in the morning and doesn't get home until 7ish at night. He leaves next thursday for jump school and will be gone for 3 weeks in Georgia. It has been so nice being together again and I don't want him to leave! At least it is only for 3 weeks this time. Right after Liz and I got here Dan had to go to Military Ball. I was so dissapointed that I didn't get to go, but since we don't know anyone I had to stay home with Liz. Dan managed to have a pretty good time and he look so handsome in his new dress uniform, and he let me take some pictures! I can't wait for the next Ball!

I have to go make Liz' lunch and then I think I'm heading off to bed early so that I can hopefully have some energy to get stuff tomorrow!

Our Great Adventure

2010-02-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

Liz was the cutest thing ever on our move across the country! As we boarded the plane in Spokane the flight attendant just fell in love with her and whisked her away to visit the cockpit, with the promise she would bring her back. As I was getting settled, I heard her cute little voice come over the intercom and say "Hi Mommy." And then as the pilot was giving his opening speach, he said that 6 year old Lizzie was taking the day off from school and came up to teach them how to fly the plane. I think she felt like a movie star.

Everything was going smooth, and we even arrived in St.Paul/Minn 10 minutes early. That is where our good luck ended, though. I checked the departure screen to see where our connecting gate was, only to find that our flight to Atlanta was cancelled. What! If it was just me I probably would have freaked out and started crying, but I had Liz with me so I had to be brave! We went to see the attendant at the gate, who happened to be new and training. After standing there for 30 minutes he tells me that they can get us on the 5:30 flight. We had 5 hours to kill, so we went to McDonalds and then settled in to wait for our flight. I was able to finish my book I started 2 months ago, and Liz was entertained with her DVD player and Icarly movies (thanks grandma!) She looked so cute with her little flower headphones that Aunt Chella made her.

So, we finally get on the plane, where liz promtly falls asleep the entire flight. We were lucky enough to have tv's on the plane, so I caught up with Desparate House Wives of Orange County. It was either that our a gazillion shows on HGTV about buying your first house, which I'm sick of watching. I wish they would bring back all the decorating shows! We make it to Atlanta, navigate the tram to to get to our right gate (that was scary!) and wait an hour for our flight to Fayetteville. We finally get loaded and then sit on the runway, and sit and sit and sit. Finally after 30 minutes they announce that the left engine isn't working. They are going to try and fix and then we will be on our way. The mechanics finally get there and after 30 minutes announce we have to get off the plane and board another one, but we need to wait inside at the gate until it get there. The new plane arrives in about 15minutes, we load back up only to find out that we need gas and they don't want to refuel us. The pilot, who looks like he is about 18, sweet talks them and after 45 mintures we are finally off! It was a short flight, but scary because it was just a little shuttle plane where you feel every single bumpy and shake. At 12:30am local time we finally land. It was such a crazy and stressful trip, but so worth it when we saw Dan for the first time! I didn't think we were ever going to make it!

And if you made it this far, here are the pics of my cute little traveling partner. She was so amazingly good! She didn't whine or complain once. She was awesome and I was so proud of her!

My New Totally Awesome Car!

2010-01-30T17:02:00.000-08:00

Dan Liz and I went out shopping for a new car yesterday, thinking it would take us all weekend. I was looking for a newer used Honda Civic or a Nissan Sentra and ended up coming home with this after a few hours...
2010 NISSAN ROGUE

It was the best car-buying experience we have ever had. The sales people were so laid back and low-key and we got a really good deal on it plus keeping our payments right we were wanting to.
I've never had a new car and I LOVE it! I can't wait for a snow to melt so I can go test it out! I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!!

Happy 6th Birthday Lizzie!

2010-01-20T00:44:00.000-08:00

I love this little girl so much. Sometimes I look at her and wonder how I got so lucky. I can't imagine my life without her sweet presence. The last 6 years have been amazing and have been so fun as we watch her grow into the beautiful young lady she is becoming. We love you Liz!
All About Liz:
1. Loves to do crafts all day, everyday
2. Loves to take care of her cousins
3. Cheesburgers instead of Chicken Nuggets!She is finally trying new things
4. Lost 5 teeth in the last year
5. Started Kindergarten
6. Is an ICarly Fanatic, but still loves her Max & Ruby and Bearenstain Bears
7. Is the leader of her "Friends Group" at school
8. Is starting to read a little

Christmas Card & News Letter

2009-12-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

Now that I finally got my Christmas Cards sent out and everyone should have received them, I can post it! I actually had them done and printed in early December, but didn't get around to sending them until the week of Christmas. I printed them through Costco this year, and they only offer one size...and it is huge! That means I got to add more pictures. I totally love how it turned out.I even did a newsletter this year. Instead of writing a letter, I did a Top Ten List. I think how I created my ads at work influenced how I did the letter. When creating ads you have to keep it short and to the point. Anyway, it was fun and I'm glad we did enough exciting things during the year to warrant a newsletter! It think if you click on the letter it will make it big enough to read.I also did my mom's card again this year. I can't decided if I like hers more or mine!

Santa Claus and Christmas Pictures

2009-12-11T02:02:00.000-08:00

Today we got up early and went with Grandma, Chella and Heidi to see Santa Claus! We always try to go before school vacation starts, because once the kids are out of school you have to stand in line FOREVER until it is your turn. We always try and get there as soon as the mall opens, because if no one else is there they let you take as many pictures as you want! The girls looked adorable in there new Christmas Dresses. Grandma stayed up late for a week to get dresses done for all the girls and Chella made the felt flowers and hair clips. I love being part of such a crafty family! Liz wore her dress to school today and everyone told her how beautiful she looked.Since I had Liz all dressed up we went over to grandma's and took her picture for Grandma's Christmas Card. I think she had fun. She let me take as many as I wanted as long as she got to pick the pose.

This year when I set up for pictures and made sure that there was enough room for Liz to stand about 4 or 5 feet away from the backdrop and it totally helped with keeping the dark shadows away. Combine that with a little Photoshop Magic and you end up with some pretty cute Christmas pictures.
I really wanted to get some cute ones of Liz and Heidi together, but Heidi wanted nothing to do with it. This was my one and only decent shot. I bribed her with a tic tac and she at least held still long enough for me to get a picture of the two of them looking at me.
Thanks for the dress mom. Liz and I both love it!

16 More Days...

2009-12-03T02:32:00.000-08:00

until my sweetie comes home!!!!!

Custom Tote Bags

2009-11-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

I found the PERFECT gift for Liz's teacher this year and thought I would post it incase anyone wants to "borrow" it! Artscow is having an awesome sale on their heavy canvas totes right now. They are 19"x14"x4" and a single sided tote is $8.99 and a double sided tote is $10.99 plus FREE shipping. What teacher doesn't need another bag, especially one that is personalized! I love that it is cheap enough that I can still fill it with little goodies. Here is the photo I designed for Liz's teacher. ( I used the Kit "Grade School" by Kristin Aagard at Shabby Pickle)
The coupon code is "TOTEBAGS" and it expires on November 20th. They are based out of Hong Kong and my experience with them in the past is that they take about 3 weeks to get to you. I saved my file, so if anyone (family or friends) wants to use my design I can switch it out with your teacher name and child's photo and email you the jpeg file.

One present down, 500 hundred more to go! :)

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T00:16:00.001-07:00

FABULOUS FALL PHOTOS

2009-10-25T02:07:00.000-07:00

Sometime during the last couple of weeks I have re-discovered my love for photography! Liz and I had planned to go on a photo shoot on Friday, but we got rained out so went to today. She was soooo excited. We did her nails and curled her hair, made her a special hat to wear and she even got a total makeover with mom's "special makeup". She did fabulous and was having so much fun that I was the one that finally had to say it was time to go. She loved picking her poses and trying different looks. This was the first time ever that it has just been me and her. It seems like I always invite people along when I do a major shoot. We are already planning our next outing...wearing her Halloween Costume! It is late and haven't had time to go through all the photos yet, but I just had to share a few before I head to bed.

My absolute FAVORITE from the day:

And a sneak peak of the photos that are coming: As a side note, Dan has made it safe and sound to Ft. Sam-Houston in Texas. Only 7 more weeks to go!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELLA!

2009-10-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

I'm glad you are here to celebrate your birthday. Love ya!

Heidi and Liz...

2009-10-22T01:34:00.000-07:00

I was going through the photos I took of my sister's family tonight and couldn't stop laughing when I came to this series of photos of Liz and Heidi. They love each other so much and when they are apart all they want to do is see each other, but with in minutes it always turns into Heidi doing whatever she can to get a rise out of Liz, and Liz tattling to anyone who will listen (and cowering in a corner). Chel and I have learned to just let them have it out because they always resolve it themselves in the end.....and because it is pretty darn funny to watch! You would think Liz would get tired of being beat up by a two year old. Anyway, this is what happened when Liz was trying to be a super model...

(click to enlarge and read)

And it just keeps repeating itself over and over... Seriously, they do love each other and they are always the first to give each other a hug when one of them is upset and crying. I was able to get some fabulous photos of Liz while we were out. She was totally into and it was so much fun! We are going out again on Friday to take some more pictures. I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity as long as she lets me!And these photos were all her. There was no coaching involved. I have NO idea where she has learned to pose they way she does. Chel and I were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes with some of them! She is definitely a super model in the making!

Our Very Own American Soldier

2009-10-17T01:02:00.001-07:00

In case I don't say it enough, I love my husband and I'm so proud of him! I love that he loves me enough to take photos and send them home. I know it isn't his most favorite thing to do, so it makes them that more special to me. He is going to have a rocking Military Scrapbook. Thanks you, sweetie! I LOVE YOU!!!

So, these photos are from this last week of training. He only has one more week left in Oklahoma and then get to head to Texas for his last couple of months, where he will get to learn how to do his specific job. Right now he is going through infantry training that all new 1Lt's have to learn.

Day 16- More Story Time

2009-10-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

I know I whimping out here on the crafts! I was tired again tonight! Liz and I worked in the garage for about 3 hours after school and I was just pooped by the time we came in and ate dinner. We are getting up early and going out to work in it some more tomorrow. We can walk in there now, so that is good! I've been putting it off and I need to get it done before it gets to cold! I do have a fun craft planned for tomorrow, so I'm crossing my finger I'm not too tired to do it after cleaning the garage all morning and taking family pictures for my Sister-in-Law in the afternoon.

Day 15 - Story Time

2009-10-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

We went over to my mom's after liz got of school to start packing up my scrapbook supplies and getting them ready for our big move. We ended up staying for a yummy dinner and got home late and tired, so we had a Halloween Story Time. Liz just got this Scooby Book from her book order the other day and we hadn't had time to read it yet. Did you notice the bandaid on the side of Liz's head? She got beat up by her 2 year old cousin! Not exactly sure how it happened but it involved being beat over the head and grabbed and poked in the eyes. The scratch wasn't bad enough to warrant a bandaid, but she uses any excuse she can to wear a Scooby!

Day 14 - Toilet Paper Tube People

2009-10-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

Liz loves to alter toilet paper tubes, so tonight we made some little trick or treaters. Liz made a bat while I opted for a little devil. I wanted Liz to hold them both for me so I could take a picture, but she insisted I hold mine so she could take a picture. She is getting really into photography lately and practicing her "Pretty Smile that Mommy Likes."

Day 13 - Pumpkins, Apples and Cupcakes

2009-10-16T23:43:00.001-07:00

What a busy day! We crammed all kinds of fun Fall activities into a few hours of fun! The day started out super cold and we bundled Liz up for the first time in all her winter gear. I couldn't believe it when I dropped her off at school and there were kids on the playground in just long sleeve shirts! It was FREEZING!! I was glad that Liz's coat from last year still fits her perfectly. After school we went to grandma's to pick pumpkins with Heidi. Grandma has been growing pumpkins since Liz was a baby so that we can have cute fall photo shoots in our backyard. I think that this year was our best crop yet, even with the funky weather!After pumpkins we headed over to the neighbors and picked apples. Yummy!

And to top the night off, we had Chella and Heidi over to make cupcakes! Heidi didn't think frosting cupcakes the good old fashioned way was fast enough, so she just grabbed hers and smooshed them face down in the bowl of frosting. It was so CUTE!

And the finished product (purple is my new favorite Halloween color. I think it is so whimsical looking!)

Day 12- Movie Night

2009-10-16T23:37:00.001-07:00

Tonight didn't start out as movie night, but I was soooo tired! We sat down to watch Monster House on the cartoon network and I seriously fell asleep within 5 minutes and slept for 1-1/2 hours...and since I was fast asleep I don't have a picture of Liz watching the movie. Liz didn't seem to mind since she loves to snuggle and watch movies with me. Needless to say, I couldn't fall asleep at bedtime and was up half the night! I was planning on doing a movie night with Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin, but I might wait until it gets closer to Halloween. I'm sure they will show it on TV.

Day 11- Halloween Books

2009-10-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

We broke into the scrapbook stencils again for tonights crafts. We made our own halloween books. Liz's was so cute and was like 8 pages long and all about looking for a missing pumpkin. Mine was a little more simple...1 haunted house, 2 pumpkins, 3ghosts. I forgot how much I liked my stencils. It was a nice, low-key craft.

Day10 - Finger Puppets

2009-10-16T23:24:00.000-07:00

We started out Saturday by driving out to Cheney to say goodbye to my sister and her two kiddos. They are moving to the Tri-Cities area, and although it isn't super far, it was still sad to say good-bye. I had to reassure Liz all day that we would be able to drive to Wyatt's new home and see him. She just loves to play with him. This was the best shot we got of the kids. They were uncooperative, to say the least! Heidi was sick, Madison just wanted to take a nap in the closet and Wyatt wanted to jump on his mattress.For our craft, we got these foam finger puppets at Micheals. They were half off and I thought they looked so cute. I figured there would be like 10 puppets in the box, but there were 40!! We only put together about 1/3 of them since it was kind of a pain to hotglue the back together. We will have to have another finger puppet night to use of the rest!

Day 9 - Haunted Mansion

2009-10-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today was nice and relaxing. Liz didn't have school we layed around in our jammies until about 2:00 and then went over to Grandma's to visit. On our way home, we stopped by JoAnn's and all their Halloween Crafts were 50% Off. You can't beat that. Liz picked out a haunted mansion and we turned this:
In to this Fabulously Haunted House:

Day 8 - Puppets

2009-10-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

We broke in to my old-school scrapbook templates last night and created these adorable puppets! They were so fun and probably my favorite project so far. Liz has been making up little skits to go with them for the last day.

Day 7 - Bats and Ghosts

2009-10-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

We did a fun craft today! We traced our hands and feet to make bats and ghosts. Then we "glammed" them up with some glitter! Liz's might take a week or so to dry since she went a little crazy with the glitter, but once they do we will hang them up on her wall!
Yesterday Liz was so excited about her new clothes that she got up early and tried them all and was completely dressed by the time I rolled out of bed! She looked so darn cute we took a few photos after school.

A Kiss For Daddy

Day 6 - Window Clings

2009-10-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

Liz's Sunday School teachers invited us over for pizza and movie so we didn't have time to do much of a craft today. I got some window clings for Liz to decorate her window with, and she decided that was not enough and created her own project.
She traced the window clings to make her own decorations. They turned out pretty cute! She is getting really good at drawing.

Shopping Spree

2009-10-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

With the colder weather we have had to put away the shorts and tank tops and pull out the pants and long sleeve shirts for Liz to wear...and they are all too small! They were too big in May, so I was a little shocked. Heidi will be getting a bunch of almost brand new clothes! Since she looked like she was all ready for a flood at school today, a shopping spree was in order. I've been dreading it because Liz is not a shopper, but we had so much FUN! For the first time, I had her try on clothes in the dressing room and she just loved it. There wasn't a single bit of whining and it was so nice.

She did so good that on the way out we bought a couple books to complete our "If You Give" book collection. Liz LOVES these books and Kohls is selling them and donating 100% of the proceeds to Childrens Education Initiatives.

Day 5 - Salt Dough Ghost

2009-10-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight we made a cute little Salt Dough ghost family! They were super easy and quick to make. Liz had fun and wants to use cookie cutters and paint them next time.

Liz even found them a cute little house to live in!

These Are The Moments....

2009-10-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

Don't you love it when something turns out way better than you expected? I could sit and stare at this layout of my two most favorite people in the world forever! I LOVE it and think I'm going to print and frame it! LOL!! My brother-in-law, Ben, took these amazing pictures when Dan was commissioned in May so I can't take total credit for it's awesomeness! Liz was so proud of her daddy and we spent hours getting ready on the big day. She said she wanted to look like a beautiful princess for daddy. I'm pretty sure daddy thought she did.

(click on photo to enlarge)

I'm so happy that we are nearing the end of our 6.5 months apart....only 2.5 more months until Dan comes home for Christmas! The Army is going to steal him right away again for Airborne School, but at least we will get him back for a couple of weeks before he has to go and Airborne School is only 3 weeks long. I've been able to stay strong for Liz, but it gets hard sometimes, especially at night when it gets extra lonely. I'm so thankful for family and friends that try and keep me busy! As much as I miss Dan, I know that it is 100 times worse for him so I try not to complain to much. He is so amazing and strong. I'm so proud of him. I was missing him a little extra the other night and decided a little scrapping therapy was in order. I was listening to "Come Home Soon" by Shedaisy, so that inspired my layout. Why is it that we always listen to sad songs when we are sad... it just makes it worse! I did feel better when I was done with my layout, though. I think being able to look at my Super HOT Soldier for a couple hours while I worked on my page helped just a little! :)

Day 4 - Halloween Storytime

2009-10-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how doing very little during the day can make you so exhausted at night! Liz and I were going to make Salt Dough Ghosts tonight, but I whimped out and opted for an activity that required very little energy- storytime - although, those Berenstein Bear books are not short! Liz picked Ghost Walk about Papa Bear planning the School Ghost Walk Fundraiser. It was pretty cute!

Day 3 - Balloon Bats

2009-10-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today we got to go to a birthday party for a family friend. It was fun to get out and visit. Liz was so excited that the "Birthday Boy" (that is what she keeps calling him) loved her Scooby Doo Movie present so much. Liz just LOVES Scooby Doo!
When we got home we relaxed a bit and then did our nightly craft. Tonight it was Balloon Bats (instructions here). They turned out bigger than I thought, so I still have to figure out how to hang them from the ceiling. I don't think they would like it if I hung it from the ceiling sprinklers!