17APR09

A few months ago Alexis woke up one morning and said, "mommy, I want to go to the Circus!" I have no idea how she even heard about the circus but since then every once in a while she will ask me again. So, a little circus came to Baumholder and I HAD to take her (especially since we pass by it for church or to get to the autobahn!) She thought it was fantastic. Except for the fire guy. Her and Anya got freaked out (we were in the front row) and kept saying it was too hot and it was burning them!! Silly girls. All in all she loved it even though it was TINY. I can't wait to take her to a REAL circus when we get to the states!!

Waiting for the circus to start!

Ryan really enjoyed the animals!

Lex and Ryan petting the bunnies.

Lex on the camel. He was seriously trying to lick her. This is how they started out.

Then he moved over here and Alexis thought it was fabulous!

13APR09

HAPPY EASTER!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We started out our day with visits from the Easter Bunny, of course. Alexis was so excited and Ryan, well she had just woken up... She quickly realized the reason Lex was so happy when she was given some of Lexie's chocolate though. After that we headed out to church in our new Easter dresses. We had a great meeting with some great musical numbers. The primary sang a song and I was proud of all of them but I was so proud of Lex being only a sunbeam and trying to sing every word she could remember. After church we headed out for an easter egg hunt and some pictures. That proved to be quite a challenge trying to get all 6 kids ages 3 and under to even stay in the picture much less smile... After that we headed over to Britteny's for a wonderful Easter dinner. Definately a wonderful Easter.

This past week we also made a visit to the Easter Bunny which was definately a success with no one crying and Alexis actually going up to him. Coloring eggs was fun for Lexie. Almost as much fun as eating them.

07APR09

Spring is HERE! I thought it was here a few weeks ago but then it decided to snow one more time. Now, I believe, it's here to stay!! It has been BEAUTIFUL!! We have been to the park as often as possible. The last couple days we've even brought a lunch and then just played. I don't think I realized how much the weather can affect my mood till I had kids!! I'm so glad it's Spring!!

03APR09

I just had to tell my wonderful husband HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I love you baby and I'm so grateful for you in our lives. You are a fantastic husband and a wonderful, sweet father to our girls. I hope you have a great birthday even though you're in Iraq. Oh and now, you too, are old!! :)

On a side note to a birthday wish, I will brag about you... We found out about 2 weeks ago that Travis made the E-7 list. That means that sometime in the next year or so Travis will be promoted to SFC (Sergeant First Class or E-7.) I can not begin to tell you how proud I am of him. He has done so well in the Army and made rank at an incredible speed. I smile everytime I think about it. I would be proud of him no matter what but, what an accomplishment.

One more bit of info... A few people have asked me if we know where we are going and I realized I don't know that I have posted it on here yet. In November we will be reporting to Ft. Benning, GA. We will be heading to AZ sometime in September for leave and then to Georgia. Travis will be a Ranger Instructor which means 3 years of NO DEPLOYMENTS!!!! We're very excited and hope we get lots of visitors! :)

02APR09

Just some stuff about the girls...

Alexis is getting to that age where the questions just don't stop coming. She is curious about everything and really trying to figure out the world. A couple of weeks ago we were talking about daddy coming home and I told her he would be home in the summer. She has learned about seasons from a Dora show where they take the snowman from the summer over to the winter, the flower from the fall over to spring etc. So when I told her daddy would be home in the summer she asked me what season it was. I told her it was spring and she got very excited and said summer was next. I told her that was right. She said, "mom, can't we just WALK to summer??" Oh how I wish we could just skip seasons sometimes!! :)

She's also asked me about daddies job. About going to Iraq and working etc. So I told her as much as I could explain. She said, "mommy, when I grow up I want to be a boy!" I kept trying to explain that we were born girls and daddy and papa and baby Eric were born boys and we don't get to switch. She had a very hard time understanding that so finally I just went with well Heavenly Father made us girls. That seemed to end it... for now.

Ryan has become quite the climber. She may not be walking yet but she gets where she wants to and she can get ON what she wants to too. Her fave is Lexie's rocking chair that Trav built for her. She will climb up and stand up and rock it back and forth. Fast then slow. All the way till I walk over and then she will quickly sit down!!

So a couple weeks ago I was doing dishes in the kitchen. Lex was playing the computer, Ryan was playing in the living room, and I hear a noise. I thought that's odd that sounds like my salt and pepper shaker. I walk in to find Ryan ON the kitchen table. She had managed to crawl all the way up and was just up there playing. I think she used a little stool of Alexis's but it must have been just the right way b/c I haven't caught her since. I wish I got a picture but I was in shock and just hurried to get her down!!

I love these girls so much! They make me smile EVERY day! They help the time with out Travis go by so quickly. I am a very blessed mama.

01APR09

Well I have been a little out of the loop the last few days. On Saturday I went to a baptism for one of the kids in the Branch. I took Lex but left Ryan with my friends Erica. Well she called me right after the baptism and said Ryan threw up... I said okay should I come home or still try to go shopping? She said no you should still go I think she's okay. Before we finished talking she says umm Ryan is throwing up again maybe you should come home... That night Ryan threw up 10 times in about 3 hours. Poor girl. She slept pretty well but the next morning she woke up early and came in my bed. When Lex woke up she came in and said she didn't feel good. I was teasing her b/c I thought she was just saying it b/c of Ryan. Then said she threw up. I said where?? In my throw up bowl. I told her ot go get it. Turns out she had gotten up SOMETIME in the night gotten her throw up bowl (just a white bowl we've used in the past) and thrown up. Then she went back to bed and never got me up. Talk about independent!! She was sick most of the morning on Sunday and Ryan was still out of it and took FOUR naps. Well I was just waiting for it to hit me. (All of my friends AND their kids were throwing up by this point.) Sure enough around 3 I started throwing up. Lucky for all of us it was only like a 10 hour bug. Except for Ryan.

Monday Lex and I were still a little out of it just tired but not sick. Ryan on the other hand slept 14 hours that night plus 2 THREE hour naps!!! She kept getting a fever. Plus she threw up again on Monday. So finally yesturday I made her an appt. Turns out she had a double ear infection and a throat infection (the doc thinks that's probably just from throwing up.) So they gave her a shot and she has to start on amoxicillion today. She threw up again today twice so I'm still not sure what's going on but she has been acting a lot better today... Poor baby girl. Here are some pics. She NEVER falls asleep outside of her crib much less after only being up for an hour. Alexis was so sweet trying to make sure Ryan was comfortable but Ryan mostly just laid there or wanted me to hold her. I love that she's been so cuddly but I wish it wasn't b/c she is feeling so aweful...

16MAR09

Everytime we come to visit we go to the Phoenix Zoo with my sister-in-law Tori and her girls. She has a year membership so she really knows the ropes PLUS she totally gets us in for free! Thanks Tori we had a blast!! Love you guys!

Lex and Tay watching the monkeys.

Sweet girls.

Ryan and the elephant in the background.

When we went to the wildlife zoo Alexis would NOT touch the sting rays. So I didn't think it would happen here either. Well she decided it was great. She even fed them! Ryan just thought it was great that she could splash the water and even tried to get in with them a few times!

We had a great time at the zoo!!