The End Of The Year...

So this will be my last blog of the year :-) It has been a long crazy year, but when I stop to think about it I wonder where the time has gone! We have been in Las Vegas for almost a year now (we finally arrived on January 8th I think). With 2 moves (3 if you count the move from Abilene to Austin for about 3 weeks), a TDY, a 4th deployment, a new puppy, the celebrating of a 1st birthday and a 4th birthday, and FINALLY closing on a house :-) There are a lot more things that happened throughout the year as well, but those are just some of the highlights. This is the farthest I have ever lived away from Florida. The farthest I have been away from family, and I am happy that I am surviving. I have a second family in my friends that I have made thru our air force connections. Being in the military really does provide you with "another family" as we do support and count on each other just like a family does.

I am always amazed at how quickly my kids are growing up. It feels like Abby just joined our family not too long ago. How is she going to be 2 in February and how is Thomas supposed to be starting Kindergarten next year? My husband proposed to me 5 years ago on Christmas. 2011 will mark our 5 year anniversary. Our lives has changed so much since we said "I Do". With the addition of Kids and Dogs ( our 4 legged kids or fur babies) we have grown our family from just the two of us. Sometime in the future we hope to grow it a little more but there are a few goals to reach first.
Where were you a year ago on new year's eve? I remember I was in Las Vegas doing house hunting with my dad. We had seen a few more houses that day and then I put an offer on a house that evening. Boy was it stressful. Dad and I rushed back to our hotel in order to park the car and have a quick run to make it to our show in time. For people that don't know, the las vegas strip closes at about 6 pm new years eve and remains closed until about 2am i think. People pack the streets to watch the fireworks from a large group of hotels and just have a good time. Well dad and I had to RUN in order to make it to the blue man group show (which was amazing!) Unfortunately by that time I had a killer migraine too. But we made the best of it I guess. After the show we grabbed a bite from the buffet and then went back to our room. Dad and I passed right out. I woke up right at midnight with the fireworks going off. We were staying at the mirage and treasure island was one of the hotels setting fireworks off from their roof. Because they are right next to each other, I had a pretty good show. Maybe next year i'll be down on the street snuggled in my husbands arms as we ring in 2012.

So here's to all the good and bad that has happened this year. To the ones we've lost and the ones that have been welcomed into the world. To the joining of 2 people in marriage or the divorce of 2 people for what ever reason. To life never stopping and always learning to adapt.

To all my family and friends who read this....

Happy New Year! Stay safe and may you always be surrounded by love in this new year.

Are The Holidays Over Yet?

So these last 10 days have been crazy. On the 14th I ended up cutting my left thumb open on a coffee cup that had been soaking in the sink. It decided it didn't want a handle any longer. So at about 4:30 Tuesday evening Tonya drove me to the hospital and stayed with me while I was there. I was hoping they could just glue my thumb back together since it wasn't that deep, unfortunately no such luck :-( The worst part was definitely when they had to clean my thumb and numb it. Tonya told me I changed several colors. I still remember how bad it hurt when I cut my right thumb open in 8th grade. So 4 stitches later we booked it out of there in enough time to pick my kids up at their school and make it back to my house where my sitter had been waiting. Tuesday was also the night of our Christmas Spouse Coffee (social). Tonya and I had both been looking forward to it for over a month and there was no way we were going to miss it. So as Tonya rushed home to change and head to the social I ran around my house getting ready and trying to get the kids settled. Thank heavens our sitter is amazing and totally understanding and helpful! I really love Kara!! So as I'm rushing out the door I can't find my phone. Thank heavens Tonya and I were talking about where it was while we were at the hospital and I have a pretty good memory when it comes to directions and addresses and numbers. So I finally end up making it to the social an hour late, but everyone totally understands. But I still made it in time for the fun! And thank heavens my phone was on the floor in Tonya's car just where I thought it was.
So I have been trying to do the best I can. I am taking the stitches out first thing Friday morning!!! It has been raining since Friday, and has been continuous since Sunday. So we have had some crazy flooding around here. I even kept the kids home today because it was raining sooo bad. It's supposed to clear up by tomorrow. I'm hoping so.
So update on the house: not much new. I finally got the ornaments on the tree and will be putting all the empty boxes into the garage tomorrow. The rest of the house has not budged. I will have a long list of things to do tomorrow and friday. I am having friends over on Saturday for Christmas dinner and this house is no way near ready to have company over.
Well I think i'm gonna cut this post short. It's just been one of those days. I'm sure you all can relate to what i mean.
I hope this finds everyone well.

Until next time my friends...

Just Trying To Survive...

So it has been almost 2 months since my last post. Sorry!! The hubbs left on 1 November and it hasen't really been the same around here. The one constant is that the kids are still in school. I have been busy working on getting the house unpacked and readjusting to being a "single" parent again. And this time it has not been easy. Because both of the kids are old enough now to realize that daddy is gone for an extended period of time, they have both voiced their dislike of the separation. The last time Richard was gone Abby was almost 4 months old and Thomas was just turning 3. Thomas understood as much as he could that daddy was gone but didn't really act out. Abby of course didn't really have a clue. This time it has been especially hard for both of them. Thomas is constantly having little breakdowns where he cries and expresses how much he misses his daddy. Abby says one full sentence. And that is " I want my daddy!". I hear it all the time. She is either throwing temper tantrums and crying or cranky or she only wants me to hold her and cuddle with her. It's a 50/50 split and it's starting to ware on me. This also makes it hard to get anything done when the kids are home. We are able to skype with daddy and play some online games with him which helps, but of course it is no replacement.
I've been busy getting the house unpacked since I'm not working any more right now. My flu shot gig is up for the season, and I haven't been able to find other work yet. The garage was the first thing to get done. It is all organized and things are finally stored away in the cabinets in the garage. Once we get rid of the grill and the broken patio table we'll be able to park the cars in the garage again!! YEA! The front room has been unpacked as well. I still need to pick up another bookshelf to finish unpacking most of the books we have. The area rug is down in the front room, and I plan on adding some seating and a coffee table or something in there. That is a project for my mom and I to do when my parents come out next month, hopefully. I was able to get the Christmas tree up. I already got the lights on it, now it's just time to get the ornaments on. The next project on my list is to get the guest room/office finally organized and put together. Hopefully I will have that done this next week and then it will be on to finishing up the master bedroom. One thing that has been holding me back has been my legs. I have had awful pain in my shins since September. First I was told it was tendinitis. Now it turns out to be plantar fasciitis. I'll be seeing sports medicine on thursday at base to see if i'll ever be able to run and work out without pain again. It is just so frustrating beyond words.
I have been in a very bad "funk" since the end of November. I am just not in the holiday spirit this year. In all honesty I wish I could just go to sleep and wake up at some point in January. But I'm gonna pull it together and be as "merry" as I can for my kids. We started a tradition this year of having a little "guest" in our house until Christmas eve. His name is Zander the Elf :-) If you have little kids, I would definitely recommend Elf On The Shelf. It really is great.
Pictures of kiddos will come later. I think I need to get to bed. In my next post I'll also put a link to my 365 project that I have been doing. But I have to update it first.
I hope this finds everyone well.

Until Next Time My Friends...

What's The Date Again?....

So I can't believe how fast these months are flying by. Catch up time:
So these last two months a bunch of my friends have been popping out their gorgeous little babies left and right. I am sooo excited for each and every one of them. Some are expanding their families while others are just starting theirs. At the same time it has given me baby fever, worse than ever before. But I am torn. Part of me wants to have another baby or start trying for another baby while another part of me (i think the sane part of me) wants to go back to school to finish my RN and work for a while before adding another little one to the mix. For now I am trying to focus on getting my health issues under control and loving on my two kiddos.

My sister-in-law got married last week so we made the trek out to Austin for the week for the big event and to spend some time with family. The house is still not near to being completely unpacked. I have been working a lot and the hubs is now on a different shift so he's only home part of the day. We make little dents in it weekly, but I am excited for the day when I am not looking at stacks of boxes in the house.

Abby at the wedding Thomas trying on his tux

As this month starts to wind down (where the heck did it go?!?!?!?) our family is preparing for yet another deployment. The hubs will be gone until Marchish which means he will be missing quite a lot. I know the kiddos will have a tough time with this deployment, especially him not being home for the holidays. But these are the things you deal with when your married to someone in the military. So even though I hate it, he knows I support him in everything he does.
So while he is gone I have started on some projects around the house to make time pass quicker. One of my major goals will to be getting the house completely unpacked, the garage all organized and use able again. Once I get everything unpacked I am treating myself to a weekend in California shopping at Ikea!! Let me know if you wanna come along.

Tonight was another milestone in our house. Abby is currently sleeping in her big girl bed!!! Kyle transitioned her crib to the toddler bed today after the kids went to school. He got all the boxes out of her room and I put the last few things in her closet so that her room was completely safe and she couldn't get into anything. After I picked the kiddos up from school we went to Target to pick out a pillow and toddler bedding for her bed. She chose some really cute Tinkerbell bedding and kept getting in and out of her bed while I was making it. She was very excited about her big girl bed, so much so she didn't want to come down for dinner! So after her bath and rocking for a few minutes I asked her if she was ready for night night. She jumped off my lap and walked to her room and she got in bed. I tucked her in like I always do and then walked out of the room, closed the door and put the baby gate up outside. Hahaha, i should have known better. While I was reading Thomas his bed time story all I heard was her screaming for mommy at the door. So after I put Thomas down I went back in her room, climbed over the gate, put Abby back in bed and sat beside her while I pat her back. After about 5 minutes and her rubbing her eyes and settling down I left. She got up and cried for another 10 minutes. Now it is quiet. I'll check in on her when I go to bed, but I think tonight was a success. Hopefully it will get a little easier each night.

I will try and post a bunch of pics once I get everything downloaded to the computer. Hopefully my next post wont be 2 months away. Time for me to call it a night.

I hope this finds everyone well.

Till next time my friends....

Time For An Update!!

So a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. We ended up getting the keys to our new house 2 days after we signed and I promptly moved deliveries and estimates for work back to original days. Our first delivery was of our appliances, and I was like a little kid on Christmas. We had been waiting since May to finally get them and enjoy them. NO MORE SQUEAKY DRYER!! We then had the couches delivered. We weren't told that one of the end pieces on back order, so we just got that on Tuesday (August 3!). We celebrated Thomas' 4th birthday on the 19th and went to Disneyland to celebrate later in the week. It was such a great break from the heat! While we were gone the painters took over the house and did such a fabulous job. I couldn't be happier. Since the hubby had almost an entire week off, I figured what a better time for us to move! So we moved and are still getting settled into the house, unpacking slowly, but we have made a dent.

We have also currently had a new addition to our family. We have a new puppy in the house and once she finally settled down and started warming up to us it has been mostly joy. We are still working on the potty training. I think once the yard gets completed it will go a lot more smoothly. The name of the new puppy is Penny. She is a Pearl Piebald Rat Terrier. She was the runt of her littler and is a lot smaller than even the breeder expected. They are known as "tiny tots" because once she matures she will be 5 lbs or under. Now before I get harped on about buying a dog rather than adopt one, i'll give you the reason for that choice. After doing a lot of research on dog breeds that are good with other pets and children I came across the rat terrier breed. While doing more research on the breed I learned that they are very hearty dogs, love to please their owners and are easy to train. The only main issue I found with the breed is that they carry a genetic disease call PLL ( Primary Lens Luxation). This can cause the dog severe eye pain, blindness and even possible loss of the eye. A genetic test came out last year and breeders are testing all of their breeding dogs. If the parents both test clear, then their litters will be "clear" by parentage. Both of Penny's parents tested clear so I will not have to worry about this devastating disease. If we were to adopt a rat terrier we ran the risk of the dog possibly having this disease. So that is why we went thru a breeder.

Ok, so we are finally getting the yard started tomorrow. Then I will be calling out a pest company. I saw 2 black widow spiders in the backyard while letting the dogs out and promptly sprayed them with the pest killer I had near by. I hate spiders!!

On other news, they hubby has had to go to Virginia for a TDY (temporary duty assignment) until the end of august. Hopefully by the time he gets home I will have most if not all of the house unpacked and find a place for everything. As well as have the backyard done and enjoying it. It is going to be a busy next few weeks with him gone. Between doctors appointments, working out (2 months till Carolyn's wedding!), getting Thomas fitted for his tux (he's the ring bearer) and finding Abby a stunning dress to match her personality, we will be plenty busy. I am also signing the kids up for pre-school and daycare next week. I got hired on with an immunization clinic for the flu season, giving shots at flu clinics from september thru novemberish.
But I need to get to sleep, the landscapers will be here bright and early and I already have 2 snoring dogs on the bed. Time for me to sleep so I'll have enough energy for the long month ahead.

I hope this finds everyone well. I miss everyone!

Until Next Time...

Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick...

Lately I feel like there is a clock constantly ticking away the time. So Today is Tuesday the 13 of July. We have finally signed the papers for the house, Yesterday. We were supposed to sign on Friday, but someone did not follow thru with their job and actually ended up not being in the office on Friday, knowing that what they said would be at the title company by Thursday afternoon was not going to be at the title company Thursday really pissed me off. So Monday ended up being signing day. Unfortunately out here the same day you sign is not the same day you get keys. So surprise surprise, we left the title company with no keys to our new home :-( I am hoping we have the keys by Friday. All the things that I had scheduled for delivery for today and tomorrow I have had to cancel and reschedule for Monday. So Monday will be a big ball of chaos! AND....
MONDAY THOMAS WILL BE 4!!! When the heck did that happen? My little man (LM as we lovingly call him) will be 4 years old. He will be starting pre-school once we get settled in the new house. Then it is only one more year till he starts school! WHERE IS THE PAUSE BUTTON???? Time is flying by so quickly!
The next few weeks I will have to remember to BREATH!

So tonight I went to my first spouse social out here. They call it "coffee's" that are held on a monthly basis. I got to meet a lot of women and some that have just recently moved out here like us. I know/hope that I am able to form bonds with them the same way I bonded with my Abilene spouses! There are a lot of things in the works and I can't wait to experience it all with these women.

Well, the hubby is at work, the kids are in bed and the dog has gone on his final walk of the night. I think it is almost time for me to hit the bed myself. I am really hoping that we get a call tomorrow saying we can come get the keys!! That would totally make my day! I can't wait to be moved in so that we can start having company. I am really missing all my family and friends being this far west. I've heard there are some pretty good deals flying to Vegas! I miss everyone!! I hope everyone is doing well.

Until Next Time My Friends...

Are The Days Getting Longer?...

Now that we are in the final days before closing on the house it seems like the days are getting longer and longer. They are changing the work schedule at Kyle's job and are now working a 6day on 2 day off schedule. The only good part is that on their 6th work day if they do not have any appointments or things that need to be done it is like another day off. So with the potential of him being off 3 days in a row is nice. But he also switches to the night shift next week which I think is one of the worst rotations. Can't wait for the month to be over with (yes, I know it is just beginning!). So as we get ready to close on the house our plans have changed yet again. We are no longer going to put down hardwood floors downstairs. It just isn't in the budget or the time frame we are trying to accomplish before moving. We are now planning on doing some of the painting ourselves. So all that leaves is the landscaping. I am excited to get that project started and over with so we can start enjoying the backyard. Well, when I started this blog both kiddos were sleeping, now they are both up, so I will have to finish this posting at another time :-)
Until Later My Friends....

And the count down begins....

Sooo, I can't believe we are already coming up on the end of June! Where has all of this time gone to? We have 16 days until we close on our house and become home owners again. I have been soooo excited I just want to jump out of my skin!! There has been a lot going on in my life these past 6 months that seem like just a blink of an eye. We sold our beloved house in Abilene, we moved to Las Vegas and have been surviving in this apartment. A lot of strong women that I hold very dear to my heart are pregnant and have been popping out babies or will be giving birth within the next few months. It must be the year of babies!!! And NO, I am not one of the women who are pregnant. As much as I have had baby fever lately, I am content with my two munchkins for the time being.

I have finally made up my mind to go back to school and finish my RN. I have struggled with this decision because I know it is not going to be easy. With both kids, a husband with such a crazy schedule and a possible deployment looming in our life I know it will be a struggle. I have made this decision because I can't just sit around while he is gone and wait for him to come home. I will go insane! So I am starting to get all of my transcripts together and I plan on meeting with a counselor sometime in the next few weeks to see if there are any classes that I need to update before being accepted into the program. If all goes well I hope to start in January 2011 and Graduate in December 2011 then take and PASS my National Boards in January or February to become a Registered Nurse. It has always been a dream of mine that got interrupted when I got married and started having kiddos. So I'm going to force myself to get back on track and fulfill one of my major dreams. I've already married the man of my dreams, and we have created two wonderfully, amazing children. Well, now the baby factory will be shut down for the next two years. I want a year to finish my degree and a year of working before we have anymore kids. I figure the Abby Monster will be 3 or 4 when she becomes a big sister. Hopefully by then one if not both of my sisters will be hitched by then and hopefully have a baby or two. Who knows. So, sorry for the rant, I just had to get that out.
So, back to the house. We close in 16 days, July 9. Then the restoration of the property will begin. Wood floors will replace the carpet and tile that is downstairs and the carpet will remain upstairs. We don't know who went in and cleaned the house after we found out someone was squatting in it, but it looks great and we appreciated the surprise greatly! We are taking everything out from the back yard and a leaning tree that was planted too close to the foundation and roof line from the front yard and starting from scratch. I am hoping that we can just reseed the yard instead of laying down sod. We will have kid and pet friendly plants and shrubs in the yard so that I won't have to worry about the kids getting poked by the dangerous plants back there now, or worry about the several leaning trees falling or pulling down the concrete wall in the backyard. I will cherish the sound of Charlie and the kids running around in the backyard and the smell of BBQ on the grill. Can you tell I'm anxious?!?!?!? Adding to the new yard and wood floors we will be painting just about the entire inside of the house. Right now the entire house is one plain beige color which I can't stand. We never painted our last house, except for the bed rooms, and I will NOT put up with that again. Color will grace the walls through-out this beautiful house. And no, we will not be painting all of this ourselves, I am looking into hiring a painter and letting his crew do all the work.
This past weekend my sister-in-law came into town with a small group of her friends for her bachelorette party. I never had one so I was going to live vicariously thru her. I can now say, I AM TOO OLD TO BE DOING ALL OF THAT!! Saturday Night is when all of the festivities were and it took me 3 days to recover from it! Our first stop of the night was Dicks Last Resort. Rude waiters, obscene sayings on large paper hats and ok food kicked off our evening. Then we headed back to the hotel to get the real party started. Chippendale's was the first stop of the night. 4th row from the front and dead center with great music, dance routines and who can forget the amazing hard bodies of the men of Chippendale? After we cooled off from our hot flashes we took a quick cab ride over to the Palms to hit up Moon, Ghost Bar, Playboy Club and Rain VIP Style! We made it back to Aria around 4:30 in the morning. I haven't done that in ages and my body definately felt it for the next few days. I hope all the ladies had a great time and are looking forward to Pete and Carolyn's wedding in October in Austin.
Well, I think this blog has gone on long enough. I hope all my friends who read this are doing well know that once everything is settled in the house...PLEASE COME OUT AND VISIT!!! WE WILL HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE EVERYONE!

Until Next Time My Friends...

Memorial Day...

First off, let me say thank you to the men and women of this great nation that have paid the ultimate price and made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can continue to live in a free world. I hope everyone who has enjoyed a bar-b-que, a day off from work and extra time with their loved ones has taken a moment to remember the meaning behind memorial day.

Now onto some news....we have finally started to get things together for the house. All the utilities are turned on this week and we start the process of inspection and appraisal. I am hoping that we can close before the 4th of July and enjoy a cook out in our new house. Unfortunately we went over there a few weeks ago to show my mother-in-law the house when she was in town, and we found out that someone had been squatting at the house. So now we plan on ripping up the carpets and hopefully putting hardwood floors downstairs and upstairs will be carpet again. The whole place was just disgusting and I felt like someone just violated where our family was going to live. It's just a feeling that i can't really describe. So once we close on the house the locks are getting changed that first day. We signed our last lease on the apartment today for only 2 months. I am planning on us being out of here by August 22. This way we have time to take up the carpets, paint and put the new floors down. I am hoping to get it all done within 3 weeks. I am starting to get more and more excited.
Don't really have much more to talk about right now. So I hope this finds everyone well!

Until Next Time...

The Excitement Is Killing Me!!!

I think I am starting a trend of blogging only like once or twice a month. I'll try to keep people more current, I promise. (although I don't know how many people read this thing anyways). So to catch everyone up to speed. We finally heard back from the bank and the sellers on the house that we put an offer on back on March 12. We finally have a house!!! And if you ask me, I think it is the best one that we looked at/put an offer on. I'll post pictures once all the paperwork is signed and we start to get everything underway :-) Now I'm getting even more excited and anxious to get out of this apartment! And tonight was even more exciting. We found and bought our fridge, washer and dryer tonight. I can't wait to get them into the house and start enjoying them!!
I have finally finished taking my course on IV certification. I am now certified to draw blood and start IV lines and do IV therapy on patients. Sooo excited!! Its just another step in my career. Hopefully the next major step will be to go back to school and finish my RN!!
In the soccer world my team finally won their first game last week. It only took us 7 weeks, and with only 3 games left I think it came in the nick of time. Hopefully we can win the last few games and call it a great season. We have all had a great time and gotten out and expanded our lungs this season. I've met a bunch of great people and can't wait for next season.
The headaches have not gotten any better. I actually think that with the physical therapy they have gotten worse! I have a follow up with my neurologist in 2 weeks so we shall see what he says. I think the thyroid medication has finally kicked in. I haven't felt as tired as I used to. I feel like I have gained back some energy. Now if only there was something to do about these darn headaches!
I don't think there's much else to fill people in on. Hope everyone is doing well!

Until Next Time My Friends...

Finally Some Answers...

So a lot of my close friends and family know that I was diagnosed with chronic migraines over a year ago. I started seeing a neurologist shortly after I had Abbigail so that we could start to figure out a way to manage my headaches and for me to actually be pain/headache free day to day. I didn't really like my neurologist because all he ever did was put me on medications and I felt like he really didn't listen to my concerns. He never even did a CT scan. Now that we have moved I have finally started seeing a new neurologist and I absolutely love him! He listens to my concerns, explains the course of treatment that we are going to try and has actually given me an answer or at least an idea of what is causing my headaches. I had a CT scan done as soon as I saw my new PCM here and he thought it was unusual that I never had one. My neurologist thinks my headaches are caused from the muscles in the back of my neck and shoulders being extremely tight. So I am starting physical therapy this week and have been on some muscle relaxers at night to try to help that out. He also put me on some meds for when I start to get my severe headaches, and it actually does the job and gives me some relief.
Another issue has come to light in the last week. I had some blood work done back in February and I finally was able to get my results. Turns out I have low thyroid levels. I don't know how long they have been low, but it does explain a lot of symptoms I have been having lately. So now I am also on medication for that which should help me feel better hopefully soon. Hopefully my next doctors appt will be some good news!

On a happier note, I finally got a temporary license from the state so that I can start working. I already have a job, just have to get them a few more pieces of info and then I can start working :-) But first I gotta find a daycare for the kiddos. Just another thing to add to my to do list! The next 4 days will be the last night shift for the hubby for the next 2 months...Thank Goodness!! This next week is gonna be a busy one. I am finally getting my IV certification done which should be interesting. 2 days of class study and practice and then a 10 hour clinical at a hospital in order to get my certification. I am also starting my physical therapy and will hopefully get some results on some new blood work. We are still waiting to hear back on our house. It is the same one we put an offer on over a month ago. I hate how long it is taking the back to get back to us, but I am trying to be patient because I REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE THIS HOUSE! Hopefully we will hear some good news in the next week or so.

Our Easter was pretty uneventful. Put together some baskets for the kids, baked some bunny and egg little cakes to decorate. Unfortunately I was the only one who decorated them and they ended up hitting the garbage this weekend. Oh well! We didn't do an easter egg hunt, maybe next year. Here are some pics to enjoy :-)

Thomas and Abby enjoying their baskets. Abby is constantly just walking around the apartment carrying her basket. It is too cute!



Abby checking out her "little people" giant eggs! She loves them! (And I Love Her Outfit!)


We also ended up taking the kids to the fair last weekend. Boy did we get fried!! But at least the weather wasen't too bad and the kiddos behaved for the most part. I was only able to snap a few pictures towards the end of the trip and unfortunately this was the only was that was decent...Oh well, we have the memories and the kids had a good time. That's all that matters right?




I hope this blog finds everyone well. I guess I'm going to try and get some sleep...gym again in the morning with the hubby!!

Until Next Time My Friends....

As The World Turns....

I know it has been a little while since I last posted. I've been in kinda a funk and a daze. And today seems no different, my eyes are open but my brain continues to hit the snooze button. On March 12 my family lost the matriarch of this family. My Grandmother passed away just about 9 weeks after her youngest son, my uncle Greg, passed away. My grandmother always did things her way. She decided where she wanted to spend her time and energy. She devoted her life to taking care of her oldest son, Tommy, to the church and to her family. She was a trained opera soprano, a Navy wife, the woman in the pew at church with the booming amazing voice and a woman who was always wearing heels, ALWAYS! After Tommy passed away in 1991 she devoted her life to taking care of Greg who was a Type 1 Diabetic. My Grandmother created a holiday just for her Grandkids, called Granddaughters Day (although we frequently included my cousin Nick :) ) and she always made some kind of special treat, her cupcakes were always AMAZING! We would decorate the light that hung over the dining room table with streamers and balloons and would dress up in dresses and dance around to music for hours on end. As I got older she wasn't always around because she was occupied with Greg or with church events, but she was always on my mind, especially during special events that she was not present at. She was not at my high school graduation, my wedding or graduation from Nursing School. She did not meet my son until he was about 18 months and unfortunately she never got to hold her great-granddaughter. She only saw her in pictures and once on web cam. In the last few years she dealt with her own failing health. My Grandfather was always there to take care of her. After Greg passed away it seemed like she lost the will to live and her health seemed to rapidly decline. My grandmother always did things on her terms and her way. On March 12 she went home to be with the Lord and see her two beloved sons again. She is buried next to Greg who is buried next to Tommy. She has left behind a sister, a husband of 61 years, 3 sons, a daughter, 11 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. I never thought it would be as difficult as it was to say goodbye to her, but I know she is looking down and watching over all of us.
RIP Grandma...You Will Be Missed!


Abby Looking For The Duck In Great-Poppops Hand



There's That Duck Noise Again!

Abby And Great-Grandpa Meeting For The First Time...Match Made In Heaven!
I stayed in Florida for a week after the funeral to spend some time with my family and see some old friends. It had been almost a year since I had gone back to Florida. Last time we were there we visited with a lot of my husbands family, so this time around I needed to see a lot of my own family and friends. I saw my best friend Toes and finally got to meet her boyfriend. She went to Downtown Disney with the kids but got rained out shortly after we arrived :-( I still think we all had a good time though! My mom and dad relished in the time they got to spend with their grandkids. Mom and I were able to go out for Mani/Pedis while dad watched the kids (even though I put them down for naps before we left). That was so relaxing and I enjoyed spending time with my mom. We also took the kids to Lion Country Safari. I don't think I'll ever get tired of that place. Especially when they keep adding things to the park. The kids enjoyed the water park and slept all the way home!

Abby Walking Around The Water Park With Some Attitude While Thomas Has Control Of The Water Cannon...LOL!!



Thomas On The Carousel And Abby Staring At The Flamingos. She ♥ed Them!

In With The Larakeets. Mom And Thomas Holding The Nector Waiting For A Few To Come Over. Abby Was Able To Pet One Finally!

I was also able to visit with one of my oldest friends and her mom. It was SOOOOO Good to see Katie and her mom, MAMA MIMI. It has been about 5 years since I have seen them. They finally got to meet the kiddos. We all had lunch at a pizza place in Coral Springs that is popular with the sports community and afterwards we went back to Mimi's house for a movie and toys!! Katie is expecting her first baby in August (SOO EXCITED!!) so I was helping her out with some tips and even made her change a diaper, LOL, that was so much fun! I hope we don't let 5 years go by again without a visit old friend!

Getting back to Vegas was no easy task. Unfortunately we missed our first flight on Monday by a few minutes and were stuck in Orlando until the next morning. So I made the most of the situation we had once we were settled into a hotel room for the night. I was able to go on a nice long walk with the kiddos in search of supplies for the following morning and dinner. Thank goodness our hotel was around a lot of restaurants and things. After finding milk, pop tarts and a small pack of diapers for Abby we were off to find some grub for dinner. I wasn't about to go for fast food again, the stomach couldn't handle it. We came across a cracker barrel about 1 1/2 blocks from the hotel. Yum, Thomas ate really well, Abby enjoyed some chicken and dumplings as well as carrots and applesauce and green beans and their amazing biscuits. We had a nice, windy walk back to the hotel were it was bath and early bed time for a 4am wake up in order to catch the shuttle back to the airport. We got back to Las Vegas yesterday around 11am Vegas time, which is a 3 hour difference from what our bodies had accustomed to in Florida. I have to say it is good to be back to the apartment and see my hubby and Charlie dog. Florida will always have a special place in my life.

Until Next Time My Friends...

Maybe I Don't Want A House....

Well we found out yesterday that the house we had an offer in on we didn't get. This is why I am HATING dealing with the bank owned properties. Unfortunately the market out here is mostly bank owned or short sale properties. So today we saw two other house that are short sale. Unfortunately there is nothing Short about the sales of these houses. It can take almost 4-5 months to close on these houses, sometimes longer :-( Maybe we aren't ment to own a house out here. I am totally DONE looking at houses. The two that we looked at today were both ok. The one that we might potentially put on off in on only had like one big great room, no separate formal dining room or anything that I could make into a play area for the kids. Our last house was the same way and I want to have to deal with the kids toys all over the place again. I guess we are still on the hunt. If we don't find something by the end of this month, maybe next month, I'm going to seriously look into renting. I just can't take this anymore!!
On another note, I might be hauling me and my kiddos out to Florida in the next week or two. Unfortunately my grandma is not doing well. We knew this was coming, but it still does not make it any easier. I just have to remember to think of the good times I had with her while I was growing up. I've seen pictures of her lately and that is not the way I want to remember her. Even though she has not been part of my adult life and she has continually let me down since high school, she is still my grandma and always will be.
Well, time to get the kiddos down for bed and spend some quality time with the hubby. Thanks to him I was able to go out last night for a girls night out with some of the ladies from his office. That was definitely the best time I have had so far being out here, and I definitely needed it. We went to a tapas restaurant call Firefly down off the strip, then went to Vanity inside the Hard Rock Hotel. I can't wait for more GNO's to come!!!
I hope this find everyone well!!
Until Next Time My Friends....

It's Been A While...

So it has been a while since I last blogged...sorry, we've been busy...Continuing on with our house hunt, we saw a really great house on the 20th of February and decided to put in an offer. We were told that it could take 2-15 days to hear back a response on our offer, so we are still waiting :-( I really loved this house and know that it would be great for our family; I'm keeping my fingers and toes and eyes and everything crossed!!
Valentines Day was kinda eventful around here because Abby started walking! And it wasen't long in the day till she figured out she could walk right up to the table, and grab what ever was in her reach. In this case, it was a cookie with red frosting that she immediately started eating. Too bad her brother was right there and started yelling "Abby has a cookie!Abby has a cookie!" When we tried to take it away she promptly started crying, I just didn't want to get red frosting everywhere. So off to her high chair she went to enjoy her stolen goodie....Abby and her stolen cookieThe plate of cookies with one missing that her brother also took some bites out of!

We didn't do anything for our anniversary this year, kinda just like another day of the month. Kyle ended up coming home from work late and I haden't really been in the best of moods. Oh well.
We got a box from Grandma Mary in Florida in the middle of the month. Thomas had a great time opening up the box with all the different colors of tissue paper that were packed inside. The kids got some great clothes from Grandma Mary and we can't wait to see her again! Hopefully soon....LOVE YOU MOM!!

Abby's birthday didn't really start off that great. She had a doctors appointment and that turned into spending over 2 hours at the MTF. First she was upset my the exam and being poked and prodded by a new doctor. Then she had to have blood drawn and then 5 shots. My poor baby slept for 3 1/2 hours and was out before we even got home (the MTF is just down the street from the apartment). After she woke up she was a much happier campier.

On the way home from the doctors office


After her nap, happy girl!


Walking around with her new sippy cup

The birthday girl and her dinner, real spaghetti and meat sauce with mushrooms and whole milk with a flaky biscuit....yum!!

Abby's birthday cupcake cake


This was the end result....straight to the tub for this princess!!
Abby's stats for her one year checkup were 22.8 lbs and 2ft 7.5 inches long....she is a tall little girl!

I was finally able to go and get my CT Scan done today. Go figure that as soon as I lay down on the table and they position me, the machine goes out. They ended up having to reboot their system and then it took forever for it to come back online. They were about to reschedule my scan when it finally came back up. THANK GOODNESS!!! Kyle was able to leave work early for me today so that I could get it done. Love You Hunny!!!
I got an e-mail on Monday inviting me to join a co-ed team for the adult league that I signed up for. I am soooo excited. Our first game is on March 14. I'll keep ya updated!
That's about all I can think of for now. Hope everyone is doing well.

Until Next Time....

IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY!!!!

It's Finally Friday.....for me this means the hubby will be home for the next 3 days (cause he has monday off for President's Day). I will have help with the kids and I won't be by myself for about 12-13 hours each day. Valentines Day is this weekend and our Anniversary is this week, Abbigail's birthday is next week (scary she's already 1!!!!) and in a way it is upsetting to me. We were supposed to close on our house next week. Unfortunately because the sellers were greedy and we could not come to an agreement on the new price of the house I decided to walk away from it. I had had enough of their BS and seemed like their never ending counter offers. So now we are back at square one looking for another house for our family. We saw one the other day that seemed perfect, it came with all the appliances, 4 rooms, 3 bathrooms, a loft, on a quiet street, but it didn't feel like a home to me. It used to be a corporate owned home and that is exactly how if felt. I just couldn't picture our family living there. I know there has to be a house out there that is right for us.
So aside from the house hunt I was finally able to get in and see my PCM to get referrals to start seeing a new neurologist and dermatologist out here. My PCM is a smart man. When he asked me what my last CT scan looked like I told him my last neurologist never ordered one. He kinda gave me a dumbfounded look and ordered one on the spot along with a bunch of blood work to see if we can get down to what is causing my migraines. Especially since my medication has stopped working.
So some update on the kiddos.....Abby will be 1 on the 25th....my how time flies!! She currently has 4 teeth with a 5th that has just broken thru within the last 2 days. She has become dangerous!! Now that she has teeth she knows how to use them! She got tired of Thomas moving her around the other day and she ended up biting his leg...left a nice set of dental impressions and a pretty nice bruise behind as well. I guess he didn't learn his lesson because the following day he was taking her toys and she started going after him with her mouth wide open. It was pretty funny. But I do NOT condone biting in my house. She comes after me or her daddy we bite back :-) hopefully she will learn and stop. We finally got Abby wearing shoes, size 5. Big Foot!!

We also ended up getting Abby a big girl car seat. She was getting too big for her infant seat and I could tell really hated sitting in it for long periods of time. She is definitely much happier now that she has leg room and is enjoying having a cup holder for her bottle and toys just like her big brother!

Now that the weather is supposed to warm up this weekend and hopefully from here on out I plan on getting out more with the kiddos and finding things to do. Thomas likes to drive down Las Vegas Blvd and look at the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel and at the Sphinx and pyramid from the Luxor. Maybe one day when it is a little warmer out and not too crowded I'll take the kiddos and go walk the strip and go watch the water show and other little entertainment things they do down there. Anywho, if anyone has any ideas for this to do in vegas just let me know!!! Hope everyone has a great Valentines Day!!!
Until Next Time...

Giving It A Shot....

Ok, so here's my first blog...gotta find some kind of outlet for me since I haven't made any friends here yet and I'm in our apartment pretty much all day with the kiddos. We've been in Vegas for almost a month now. My first impression of the place besides being completely blown away by the 360 degree mountain views was not all the glitz and lights, but how dirty it is!!! And when I say dirty I don't mean like strippers and prostitutes dirty. There are some places that are nicer than others, and I am glad that we will be moving from our temporary apartment soon because it is in the part of town that is dirty. Being here almost a month we have had pretty much either cold weather or it's been raining. I'm not one who likes being cold so I'm not really liking the weather. Plus I thought moving might help my headaches, LOL, they have made them worse and my medication has pretty much had no effect on them. Can't wait to meet my new neurologist in a few weeks. I hope I can last. I don't know how other military wives feel after a move because this is my first move, but I feel like I'm in limbo! Like I don't really have anywhere to call home just yet. Abilene was finally feeling like home and now that we've moved Vegas just dosen't feel like it yet. I guess it will just take a lot of time.
Actually got out today and drove around with the kiddos, mostly to pay the bills. There is something about dropping off bills rather than mailing them that I enjoy doing. I also got intouch with spouse from the group that my husband works with. Looking forward to meeting and getting to know the women who call themselves "The Lady Samauris". They don't have an officers spouses club out here and I have not been able to find a MOPS group to join so it's been kind of hard for me to meet other women and makes friends as of yet. "Baby steps" I keep telling myself. I'm putting my job search on hold yet again :-( My family comes first and I'll find a job when the time is right. Or I'll just go back to school and finish my RN if I can't find a job that works with our family schedule. But I refuse to let my education go to waste, I've worked to hard for it.
Well I guess this will be the end of my first post, my hubby just came out half asleep seeing if I was coming to bed. I intend to use this blog to keep friends and family updated on things going on in Vegas and what ever else I find interesting. If anyone has any suggestions of things to do in Vegas (besides casinos!) please let me know! Maybe it will end up being one of our outings.
Hope everyone reading this is well.
Until Next Time My Friends.....