Well, we are packed up and ready to go. Scott and Abby have loaded up the cars and we are heading out very shortly. Abby has been trying to learn what is funny and what isn't.  She will do something and then ask "That's funny right?"  Last night, Abby was telling us words we shouldn't say. She just kept repeating "you shouldn't say damn it" Scott and I couldn't stop laughing. Of course, Abby wanted to know what was funny and Scott said "You are funny Abby" to which Abby replied "I'm not funny, Mommy is". Gotta love that kid. She has such a great memory for that word~wish she would forget I ever said it!
Anyway, Mckenzie is getting a little feisty so this will be short. I think she is teething  :( Looking forward to getting our stuff tomorrow and getting settled in.

Happy Birthday to Me! What a wonderful day. Scott and the girls spoiled me with a Coach purse and a GPS!  Scott gave me one box to open and Abby kept asking Scott where the other present was. Scott kept telling her to be quiet. Apparently it was supposed to be a surprise that I was getting more than one thing since the GPS was wrapped up inside the purse. They are so thoughtful and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! They made my 33rd birthday very special. Scott's thoughtfulness didn't end with the gifts. He treated me to Burger King for lunch and take-out Chinese for dinner! Ok, not so wonderful, but we were busy getting Mckenzie's room painted at our house and taking care of a few other things around there, so we didn't have the time or energy to go out for a nice dinner. Maybe tomorrow.  I do see Bonefish in the near future. It just may be a few days before we get there. Tonight is our last night in the TLF! We plan on staying at our new place tomorrow night so we can be there first thing Monday morning when our household goods are delivered. Only two more nights of sleeping in someone else's bed!!!!! And no more waiting on housekeeping to show up (or not, as they skipped our room AGAIN today!) just to get the crumbs vacuumed or new towels. Don't get me wrong, I like having someone clean for me, I would just like to be able to vacuum for myself. I can't stand crumbs on the floor!!!

So what did I do with my last day as a 32 year old? Not much. Mckenzie got the day going by bringing me my phone while I was in the shower. She is so sweet! Thankfully, it didn't get too wet and thus far, it still works! The girls and I were going to go for a walk to the post office today, but when we got outside,  I realized a cold snap had settled in. Therefore, we drove to the post office and since we were already in the car, we headed out to Chick-fil-A. Seems silly to drive 45 minutes for fast food lunch, but Abby has so much fun playing with the other little kids there, it is worth it to me. Scott had his little outdoor survival class today and came home dressed up in war paint. He looked so cute :). After dinner, we drove to our new house and picked up the keys. I really want the house painted, but I don't want to do the work. I think we are going to check into how expensive it is to have someone paint. I don't mind doing the girls' rooms, but the living is two stories how. You will not see either of us doing that! Maybe we will do some painting tomorrow or Sunday.

Our last Thursday in a TLF! Yea! I am so excited. Just another normal day around here.  Scott left for work and five minutes later, Mckenzie was wide awake and ready to go for the day. Abby actually slept in today, but she was up late last night shopping. She of course reminded me when she did wake up, that she couldn't tell me what they bought. I was secretly hoping she would spill the beans! We all went to Best Buy tonight to set up our cable for our new place. I am so glad they will be able to hook us up on Monday, as neither Scott nor myself wants to be without internet for very long! Stopped by a great burger place called Five Guys on the way back to base. We had seen it on the food channel, so it was really cool to be able to check it out ourselves. Juicy burgers and homemade fries. Very tasty and I am sure it will become one of our fav places to go.

What a busy day~doctor's office and the commissary all in one day! (Ok, I realize that isn't a busy day, but lately for us, it is.) Took Abby in for her four year well check up and all was good. She didn't do the greatest on the eye exam, I am not sure if she was being bashful or not, but she wouldn't tell the nurse what she was seeing. So, Scott and I decided we should get her vision tested in 6 months or so, just to see if she was having difficulty seeing, or if it was just not understanding the directions clearly. Took Mckenzie in as well. She has a lump between her eye and nose and we wanted to get it checked out. Most likely a cyst. We just have to wait to see what the ENT tells us. I hope we can get in soon. I am not used to the whole referral, waiting thing that the military providers make you do. We only used civilian doctors in Florida and never had to wait for the insurance to tell us where to go. As you all know, I am not the most patient person, so we will see how cranky this waiting thing makes me:)
When Mckenzie was napping today, Abby decided that the floor needed mopping. She looked at me and said "This floor is sooooooooo dirty. I need to wipe it" So away she went, mopping my floor with paper towels for at least 30 minutes. And boy do those five little squares she washed over and over again look good!
I was tickling Mckenzie tonight and she looked me straight in the eyes with the most serious face and said "NO NO NO". Then she giggled and I knew she was looking for more!
Abby and Scott are out buying me a birthday gift. I called Scott's cell so I could talk to Abby, maybe fish a little for info... Abby got on the phone and I asked her where she had been and she said "I can't tell you, it's a prize!" That little bugger wouldn't tell me anything. Guess I will just have to wait!

1/26/10

I was going so crazy without having internet access again today. (I made Scott call the front desk-again-to see when it might possibly be working. They said they didn't know. Gotta love all that helpful info) The day was pretty mundane. I think we are all a little tired of being in transition. I can't waitto get into our house so I can start to feel productive again. 4 months of "vacation" is long enough for me. Monday can't come quickly enough!
The girls were playing in Scott's and my shoes again today. I don't know what it is with these kids and their love for big people shoes! It sure is cute tho to watch them attempt to walk around in them. Poor Mckenzie has such a hard time picking up her feet when she has Scott's tennis shoes on. Abby has gotten better over the years and can walk pretty quickly in them now.
We took the girls out for dinner tonight. Ok, they could care less about going out, but Scott and I wanted to get out of the hotel. (The girls and I went to Target earlier in the day, but it wasn't much of a trip. We drove 45 minutes to get a thumb drive and that is all we bought. I never, ever leave Target with only what I went there for. Something must be very wrong with me!) Anyway, Olive Garden was tasty as usual. The girls behaved nicely which makes for a nice dinner out. Mckenzie gobbled up her black olives as fast as I could cut them and was looking for more. Man that kids sure loves her olives~thanks Auntie Sue! Abby looked so grown up eating her salad and drinking her sprite! They are growing up too fast!

Infomercial! (1/25/10)

OK, I guess our lives have gotten a little boring being here in New Jersey, without any friends and not in our house yet. So, we have resorted to infomercials. Not just the typical infomercial on tv. No, that isn't good enough for our family. We saw a live infomercial right at our BX (like a wal-mart, except it is military only). I know you are jealous! We went to the store for a thumb drive and ended up buying knives after listening to some guy ramble on about how great these knives were. Now, I just need more pop cans to cut through to see if they really are any good :)
While we were at the store, we bought the girls each a Dora purse (I couldn't pass them up. They were so cute and only $2) When we got home, Abby showed Mckenzie how to use her purse. It was so cute. Abby put her purse on her shoulder, and said "Mckenzie, this is how you do it. This is how you hold your purse". Both girls filled up their purses with random toys and carried them around. Adorable!

Oh, the other funny thing the girls did was turn on the radio in our bedroom and start dancing. Abby said "We're dancing to hotel music momma!" Gotta love the silly ideas she gets.

What a game. The Vikings are playing against the Saints in the NFC Championship. The Vikings are doing better than I thought, so that makes it all the more difficult to watch. I doubt they will win, but they keep giving me hope. I thought for sure the Saints were going to trample all over the Vikes, but they have been holding their own so far. The girls both got into cheering for the Vikes. It was so cute to watch them. Abby would even come out from her room when Scott and I started cheering! Mckenzie didn't get scared today when we were being noisy, even joined in cheering. She was sitting on my lap, grunting at the screen and raising her little arm in an attempt to cheer. Didn't matter who was playing, she was just cheering! Mckenzie is getting so big. She has learned to climb on her new little chair and onto the couch. She isn't so good at getting down and has taken a tumble or two. I have decided that giving shredded cheese to Mckenzie might not be the best way to fill her up. I think there was more cheese on the floor than I even gave her. Abby was too cute at dinner. She was putting her fingers in her ears, looking at us, and then saying "can you hear me?" Hilarious! We tried to explain that yes, we could still hear her, but it was harder for her to hear us. She didn't get it. She kept thinking we had a hard time hearing her because she was plugging her ears! Abby is getting so good at coloring, I just had to show off her frog picture.

Our girls do something to amuse me every day. Today, Mckenzie was busy pouring her milk from her sippy cup into an empty cup on the table. She gets such a big smile on her face when she realizes she has actually transferred the milk and an even bigger smile after she takes a drink from the new cup. Mckenzie has this bad habit though, of gargling milk and juice. So after she took a drink today, she gargled her milk, spilling some in the process. She got the cutest look on her face and shook her head while saying "noooooooo". It was cute. Maybe one of those moments you have to be there to appreciate, but I know I will always remember how cute she was :-)
Abby was so excited to go to a movie today. Scott took her to see The Princess and the Frog for the second time. Scott said when they got to the movie, there was a long line to pay. Abby told him "Come on dad, hurry. We're gonna miss the movie, we're late!"
I know kids aren't supposed to play with their food, but Abby had so much fun playing with her peas tonight. She separated them into piles and was making them talk. Like they were people. She kept asking where their friends were. We kept telling her they were in her tummy. Didn't seem to help her eat any faster.
Abby and Mckenzie were playing in the pack-n-play today (I don't know why Abby wanted to play in there, but once Abby got in, Mckenzie wanted in as well.) And I don't know why they had so much fun in there, but it was loaded down with toys. I felt bad for Mckenzie though, because Abby kept getting in and out while Mckenzie was stuck inside.

First Target trip :)

Today was a big day, at least for me. The girls and I headed off base by ourselves for the first time. I only needed a fingernail clipper for the kids (which I am sure I could have gotten at the BX on base) but I determined we needed to go to Target to get it. Now mind you, it takes nearly 45 minutes to get there, so it was quite the journey just for a fingernail clipper, so I had to buy a few other things to make the trip worth it :-) (BTW, when Scott got home, he found the "lost" fingernail clipper within 10 seconds that I had searched all over for)  I managed to get there and back with a stop at Chick-fil-A without getting lost or into an accident with these Jersey drivers!!! Yea for me and thank God for GPS!!! I got the cutest chair for Mckenzie's new room. She looked so cute sitting in it~it is a little big yet for her, but Abby was happy to help her in. Abby got a new bean bag for her room and happily played on that. Although, she wanted Mckenzie to share her new chair that is definitely made for two! Abby kept trying to climb on top on Mckenzie and poor M was getting so upset!

We had spaghetti for dinner and as usual, Mckenzie made a big mess.  When I pulled her away from the table, she saw the mess she had left on the floor and her eyes got really big and she said "UH OOOHHH". Adorable.

Another day of a fabulous four year old tantrum! This time it was over gummy bears. We had just gotten up from the dinner table where Abby had told us she was full, and she was asking for her gummies. We told her she could have them, but she needed to wait a little bit until we had finished doing the dishes. Well, that sure didn't set right with her, and so began the looooonnnnng, drawn out tantrum. Fortunately, once she got over it, Abby was back to her loveable, silly, little self. Running around and begging to be tickled. She loves to be tickled. Both girls love to be tickled. I love to listen to their giggles and laughs. Scott likes to tease Abby and say to her he has a secret to tell her. She snuggles in real close and then he tickles away. Her laughs are so wonderful. He always get Mckenzie too. She is really ticklish under her arms and Scott can make her laugh the loudest. I hope I never forget the sound of their laughs. Those and their smiles. Priceless :)

A little liberty for all

Today we had a little history lesson in Philadelphia. We took the kids to see the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall. Scott and I had a great time looking at everything, but I think the kids liked running around and playing in the piles of snow the best. It was so cute to watch them kick a pile of snow and then look up at us and laugh. Mckenzie fell asleep in the car and when she woke up Abby asked so sweetly "How was your nap Kenzie? Was it good?" She used the most gentle and sweet voice. It was just precious. I love moments like that between the girls. Or when they have so much fun together all you hear is laughter coming from their room! Tonight I helped Abby build a bigger fort than yesterday's and it was so cute to watch the two of them play in there. The girls have a ladybug and a sea turtle that light up and Abby brought both into the fort and had the lights off in the room. She was so proud of her idea to use them as light.

Oh, we had our first real Philly cheesesteak sandwiches today. I asked for my without onions, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. So, I set a great example for the kids by picking the onions out and spitting my food out when a sneaky little onion made its way into my mouth! I am hoping the girls will pick up on Scott's love of veges and ignore my distaste for them :) All in all, it wasn't a bad sandwich, but I think both of us were hoping for something more. I think we have plenty of time to find the best cheesesteak.

Early Morning Wake-up!

Our morning started off pretty early (when I say early, I mean for here. In P'cola we used to get up and 5:15/5:30 so 6:20 today would have been sleeping in. Anyway...) with Abby coming into our room saying "I can't see Mckenzie". We told her it was just dark and to go back to bed. Of course that didn't work, so I took Abby to their room, lifted her up so she could see Mckenzie and put her back into bed. Abby still insisted she couldn't see Mckenzie and proceeded to cry LOUDLY and wake up Mckenzie. Yea. Now we were all up! Fortunately, Scott got up and let me go back to bed since I have a little sinus thing going on now.
Abby was into building a house for her and Mckenzie today. She piled up some pillows and head behind them. She tried to take a nap (note, the child never takes naps anymore, she just wanted to stay in her "house" while Mckenzie took her nap) but unfortunately, her house wasn't very big and she ended up hitting her head. Ow!

Mckenzie wanted to wear Abby's red shoes today. I think she would have walked in them all night if she could have.  I love the smile on her face when she stood up in them and how hard she had to concentrate to walk in them.

Bedtime:-)

I love bedtime! I don't think kids love it as much though because tonight when we told the kids it was time to clean up so they could go to bed, they both protested. Not for long, but Abby said "NOOOO" and Mckenzie said " NOOOOO!!" with even more emphasis. I think No is Mckenzie's newest favorite word, along with mine like we talked about yesterday. She gets this cute little smile on her face after she says it. Most times I don't think she really even understands the meaning of it. We told her it was bath time and she shouted "no" all the while she was rushing to the bathroom to get into the tub. The kid loves baths so why she would tell us no is beyond me!

Abby has been throwing these wonderful tantrums lately. Tonight it was over the color of her dinner plate. Mckenzie got the prized pink plate while Abby was given the horrible red plate. I don't know what we were thinking by giving her such an ugly plate. She saw her plate and the whining started. "But I don't want the red plate, I want the pink plate" "Well Abby, you can have the pink plate tomorrow for breakfast" I wisely suggested hoping to get this over with. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I then suggusted she go to her room until she could behave nicely. So she ran to her room and shut her door loudly. Not quite a slam, but I think we are well on our way. She eventually got over her tantrum. Now it is just up to me to remember to give her the pink plate for breakfast!

As I sit here reflecting on the day, wondering what to write about, I am listening to muffled, little voices talking to one another when they are supposed to be going to sleep :) They sound so sweet and gentle when just 10 minutes ago, they were running around, screaming and growling. Mckenzie makes some great animal noises these days. Her dog bark sounds like a grunt and when she makes it, her whole body thrusts forward. All her other animal voices pretty much sound the same ~they all sound like growls! Her vocabulary has just exploded recently. She said her first sentence the other day, "my dada" and today she said mine for the first time in protest when Scott tried to take something from her. She is also into copying everything we do. Abby jumps, Mckenzie tries to jump. Mckenzie tells us no, Mckenzie grunts and shakes her head at us. You get the picture. I am not sure if i can handle it if she starts copying Abby's dressing style. Her sense of style is ever changing and today she came up with quite the outfit again. Abby may look a little silly some days, like the day she insisted she wear her butterfly wings out shopping, but I absolutely love she knows what she wants and her independence to do it.

I think the funniest thing today happened at lunch. Abby was sitting at the table, eating her pasta and she heard a loud plane outside. She looked at Scott and exclaimed "Ooooohhhh my goodness daddy. Is that a C-17?" The dramatic way she said it made us both laugh. Another thing that makes us laugh is the way Abby has started carrying Mckenzie all over the house. Mckenzie can be sitting on the floor, minding her own business and Abby will suddenly determine Mckenzie would rather be in some other room in the house. Abby will proceed to carry her there and Mckenzie just puts up with it, finding something new to entertain herself with wherever she was dropped off at!

Sunday, January 17,2010

What a cold, wet, dreary day outside, but inside it was the total opposite. Abby and Mckenzie are so full of life. I love how they play together now. They are starting to share toys. Abby still wants to have at least one more of whatever they are playing with, but she is getting better. Now instead of just taking what she wants from Mckenzie, she offers Mckenzie some alternate toy before taking off with whatever it was she wanted. We ran to Target and in the car on the way home, Abby was holding Mckenzie's hand and giving it kisses. Mckenzie was just laughing. I love her little laugh. It is so sweet and innocent :)

On a side note, the Vikings totally kicked the Cowboys butts! It was fun to watch Abby watch the game. She would look back and forth between Scott and the TV. I think she was trying to figure out when to cheer. When the Vikings scored, she would scream and jump and give out bumps! Mckenzie was a little frightened by how noisy we all were. You think she'd be used to that by now.

Abby's fourth birthday!

Well, four years ago at 6:27 pm Scott and I were blessed with our first daughter. Abby was an amazing gift then and still today. Every day she teaches us something or shows us a different way to look at things. Her innocence and yearning for knowledge is so enjoyable. I cannot imagine my life without our two little blessings that bring such joy and love to every day. They also make me very tired, but I think that is a small cost for a priceless reward!



We just vegged around our TLF room today. Abby and I baked her birthday cake together. I love how much she loved helping me. You could just see how proud she was to bake her cake! When it was done, it wasn't the prettiest cake I had ever seen, but it was the cake we made together! Kind of ironic how much she wanted to make the cake, but only ate a couple of bites, preferring to eat her chocolate chip ice cream instead! Abby had a great time opening her gifts. I just love her little squeals when she opened something she really wanted. We went outside to play on the little playground out here ( sure would have been nice to have that during our long stay in Altus). The girls had a blast running around, chasing each other and Scott. Scott was spinning Abby around and around. Abby must have had enough because when Scott put her down, she fell to the ground and said "I can't take it anymore". She cracks me up. Oh, it also makes me laugh when she scolds us and puts her hands on her hips. It is so cute to see the mannerisms she has picked up from me. It was a busy day and I was so glad to get the girls down for bed. Now, lets just hope they stay there all night :)

January 15, 2010

Ok, this is the last day that Abby is three years old. Today we went to the aquarium in Camdem, NJ to celebrate her birthday! It was a great day. We didn't tell Abby where we were going, but when we got to the aquarium, we heard this loud high-pitched scream of excitement coming from the backseat! She was so happy to be there! Mckenzie, I think was just happy to be out of the car. She doesn't seem to be much of a traveler these days. always needing something while you drive whether it is her shoes off, and of course then her socks (which she says "sock off, sock off" but it comes out as one word instead of two.) Very cute, but maybe you have to be there. Anyway, we had a great time looking at all the varieties of fish and watching the penguins eat. i don't know what it is, but I love to take photos of jelly fish and there was a great looking octopus too! A trip to Chick-fil-A for lunch (Abby's favorite) and Abby's birthday celebration was over for the day. Can't wait until tomorrow to see Abby's face when she opens her presents!