Slide show of recent pictures. I put this together for Marc for Father's Day. There are a few videos of the kids on my Facebook page.
So we've been without Marc for 2 months. Only 5 more to go! We're doing fairly well considering. Trying to stay very busy. Gabriel had two weeks of swim lessons and finally warmed up to it on the next to last day! He's FINALLY potty trained and we're all very happy about that :) Adison is doing a lot more walking but still sits down frequently when she feels insecure. She has been saying quite a few words lately and her recent speech evaluation indicated that she is now right on target for her age and doesn't need therapy!! Yipee!
It has been a really long time. Even my mother has stopped asking for updates! Needless to say, we've been busy, so I'll put this on fast forward.
We were home for Thanksgiving this year but went to California for Christmas. We went to Lake Tahoe for several days with Marc's family (minus his brother) during the holidays. We had a great time but didn't get a lot of skiing in with two little ones. Gabriel seemed to enjoy the snow, Adison not so much. We'll try again in a couple of years.
Adison turned 1 on January 7. We had a small family birthday party while my mom was in town. She continues to be a happy, smiley little girl but she's starting to assert her will now. She protests strongly when Gabriel tries to take her toys or she doesn't want to do something! I love how interactive she's gotten these days. During her 12-month check-up I discussed some concerns with her pediatrician. Adison had yet to start crawling or pulling up to a standing position. Several referrals later, we have determined that she has "hypotonia", which is low muscle tone. We don't know the cause yet but it is the reason she has been so late to reach her gross motor and verbal communication milestones. She has been getting physical therapy several days a week and is now crawling everywhere! She cruises on the furniture, walks while holding a hand, and has stood alone for a couple seconds. Her neurologist is hoping to see her walk by 16 months (which is only a month away now)! If not, we'll have some tests done but I think she's well on her way. She gets "speech therapy" twice a month but it really is a waste of time at this point. All of her progress has been on her own. She babbles quite a bit now and loves to say "go" when Gabe wants to race.
Gabriel is about to turn 3! He talks ALL the time and has decided he is a big boy. If I happen to say "baby" around him he declares, "I'm not a baby! I'm a big boy. The best big boy ever!" :) He picks up on everything he hears (that last part came from his daddy). It is so funny to hear our words and phrases coming out of his little mouth. He sounds so grown up sometimes! Despite how grown up he/we think he is we're still working on potty training. Enough said about that :( He is still very into trains and cars. He seems to have gotten his dad's natural athletic ability and we're looking forward to getting him into some sports activities now that he's turning 3.
Marc and I have managed to get out a couple of times to celebrate our birthdays and our 5th anniversary. All of our free time is spent with the kids so it was very nice to spend some time as a couple. We really need to do it more often! I started two online courses in January- College Algebra and Physics. They are both prerequisites for the ultrasound program I am applying to in June. I was VERY concerned about these two subjects in the beginning but I'm almost done now and have solid A's in both classes. Whew! I won't know if I'm accepted to the program until July so I still have a little bit of a wait. We're looking into having a nanny watch the kids while I'm in school, at least while Marc is deployed. He leaves in just a couple weeks to go to Cuba for 7 months. I'm not sure how we're going to manage without him. I'm still in denial, I think. In the meantime, we're trying to enjoy our time as a family. We gave Gabriel an early birthday present (scooter) so Marc could see him ride it in person. We stretched Easter into 3 different egg hunts and a great day with my sister's family for Easter service and celebration. We're headed to a children's festival in Houston this weekend.
So that's the rundown. Sorry if it was a bit long. I had to cover about 5 months! Enjoy the pictures in all the albums.
November 06, 2009
We've had a fairly eventful October. Early in the month we went to Dewberry Farm with my sister and newphew. DF is a working farm that puts together an amazing family event. There were so many activities for the kids, including a petting zoo, hay rides, train rides, pumpkin patch, etc. It was surprisingly cold the day we went and we were a little unprepared but still had a terrific time. There are pictures mixed into all the albums.
Halloween was a multi-event production for us this year. We managed to put the kids in their costumes on four different occasions: Zoo Boo, Marc's work party, our playgroup party, and trick-or-treating! We went to the Houston Zoo with Catie, Ed & Jacob for Zoo Boo. Kids came dressed up and there were carved pumpkins, treat stations, and Halloween related activities going on throughout the zoo. The guys and gals at Marc's unit did an great job putting together a haunted house and kids activities at their office the day before Halloween. Gabriel was very into trick-or-treating this year. He walked eagerly to each house and declared it to be "scary" or "not scary" before going to the door for treats. All four of us did a few houses together and then Marc took Gabe down the rest of the street while I put Adison to bed and handed out candy. Adison didn't mind her costume at all but was pretty tired by the time we set out for treats. Finally, the day after Halloween we attended our playgroup fall party at the park. We cooked out while the kids all played in their costumes. It was a lot of fun to see Gabriel into the whole thing this year. We're looking forward to Adison being up and around next year. Check out the "Halloween 2009" album for more pics.
Now for unhappy news. It is official: Marc will be going to Cuba for 6 months next May. This is in addition to several shorter trips to various places prior to this long deployment. It doesn't look like we will be seeing much of him next year. The kids and I will do a little traveling while he's gone in order to pass the time, but we will miss him more than words can say. If anyone was considering a visit we'd love to have some company!!
October 07, 2009
Hello All!
Marc has been in and out frequently with his various deployments. Fortunately, most of them have been fairly short. We're looking at a long one next year but won't think about that quite yet. For now, we are enjoying our time all together. We took the kids to the fair last weekend with my sister, her family, and a friend. The boys had a great time playing the games, riding the ponies and merry-go-round, and dancing. Check out the very short videos below.
We had a nice, but short, visit from Marc's sister Lisa last week. She was able to stay a couple days and the kids had a lot of fun with her. We will be spending Christmas with her and the rest of Marc's family in California. All of us will head to Tahoe to do some skiing while we are there. It should be a lot of fun- we can't wait to see how the kids react to snow!!
We took the kids to their first baseball game a couple weeks ago. We made it through about 5 innings before Adison called it quits. That was longer than we had expected! I've joined a moms group and have several play dates every week. We went to Jump N Jungle this week (various bounce houses/moonwalks). Once Gabriel warmed up he had a great time jumping and going down the slide. We head to the zoo on Friday. It's still very hot most days so we'll see how it goes. We're really looking forward to fall and some cooler weather.
Adison is 9 months old today. She weighs 19.2 lbs (58th percentile) and is 28.25 in (75th percentile). She is sitting up on her own and rolls all over the place. She's finally doing some "talking". No signs of crawling or standing yet but she'll get there when she's ready I guess. She remains a very happy little girl with a smile for everyone- especially her big brother!
Gabriel weighs about 25 lbs and is almost 35 inches tall. He's counting to 10 and starting to show some interest in the alphabet. He still LOVES cars and trains and can't wait for Daddy to get home so he can roughhouse- such a boy!
I've added some more pictures to the family album and to each of the kids albums. I'll post some more after Halloween.
August 08, 2009
It's been quite a while since my last post. We've been very busy working on the house and nursing each other through various illnesses. We didn't have a lot of time to look around before the kitchen and master bathroom remodels began. It was pretty messy and very inconvenient but we are really pleased with the results. We had some much needed landscape work done as well. We have a lot of final touches to do but that will come in time.
BEFOREDURING
AFTER
BEFORE DURING
AFTER
BEFORE AFTER
My mom and step-dad, Jim, came for a visit last month. While they were here we got together with Catie and her family every day. We packed in quite a few activities during their 6-day visit. We had a great time and really enjoyed having so much of the family together at one time.
Gabe, Jim, Adi, Mom & Jake
Adison is 7 months old now. At her 6-month checkup she weighed 16.5 pounds (47th percentile) and measured 27 inches (97th percentile). She is rolling over and just got her first tooth yesterday. She's not a big talker, but who can get a word in with Gabriel babbling ALL the time! The treatment for her hemangiomas is working really well. The doctor said she is responding better than average and can probably stop taking the medication sooner than planned. We are so thankful! Gabe is counting to 6 but doesn't seem too interested in learning the alphabet yet. He has so much energy and loves to rough-house with Daddy. I have to watch out sometimes because he'll jump on me without warning if I'm on the floor playing with Adison. He is very loving with her and likes to bring her toys to play with, especially if it keeps her from touching his!
Marc left today for a month on the road. He's headed to Maryland, New York and then to Virginia. While he is enjoying his new unit, it looks like he's going to be doing a lot more traveling here. I'm not too thrilled about that possibility and will have to put some serious work into finding childcare fo the times he's gone. Right now I'll have to take the kids with me to any appointments and that won't work when I start taking classes.
I hope you are all well and I'll try to do a better job of posting pictures. Check out the latest in the albums to the right!
