30th Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, Abby flew out to spend my 30th birthday with us. We had so much fun! Friday we drove up to Big Bear Lake in the mountains near San Bernadino. We drove around the whole lake, then ate lunch at a deli. After lunch, we played in the snow, although everyone except Will was too cold to play for more than a few minutes. Will wore his Sponge Bob gardening gloves so his hands wouldn't get cold, and we don't buy the kids gloves and hats since it never gets that cold here in the city. On Saturday, Abby and I went shopping alone (sans kiddos!), had lunch together at Chili's, and got mani/pedis. That evening, Chloe came over and babysat so Jered, Abby and I could go to dinner at Cheesecake Factory and the movies. Afterward, we ended up talking and doing hair with Chloe until 4am; fun girl time. We all went to church on Sunday, then took the kids to see The Lorax at the theater in the afternoon. Monday we spent the morning chilling and playing our instruments together, which we haven't done in at least 10 years. Abby flew home Monday afternoon It was a great birthday weekend and made 30 not seem so bad ;)



Today after school I took the kids to free Tuesday at the Model Railroad Museum and the Science Center. We had a picnic lunch, although it was pretty chilly, and after a few hours at the museums, we drove over to Coronado to have supper with Jered (he's on night shift right now).

Happy Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's Day this year, Jered and I went to a wonderful dinner at church called "Night in Italy." They served a 4 course meal and had skits, singers, even some live opera to go with the Italian theme. Today Will had a party at preschool, for which we made hand puppet valentines. Jered got me roses and a pretty card, and we went to Panera for lunch after Will's school, to avoid the rush tonight. We're also going out on a date Saturday night, probably to Olive Garden and the movies since we have gift cards. We avoid going out on the night of Valentine's, because it's so crazy at the restaurants. Jered is off work today, so that makes it even better!

Videos!

A couple of videos.

First, Emma with her purses and jewelry waiting to leave (she loves to go bye bye!). Requested by Grandpa Mike.


2nd Video: Emma at the back door, talking about the neighbor's dog who was barking (you can't hear him on the video). Also, we realized within the last week that Emma calls me (Mandy) "Daddy," so in hindsight, I think she was telling me ("daddy" aka Mama!) that she wants to go outside. She does that quite often - "Daddy, go go!" Either way, cute! Yes, we are working on getting her to call me Mama. She finally said it a couple times this week. Even Will is trying to help her switch my name from Daddy to Mama, lol.



Last Video: Will riding his Radio Flyer trike that Aunt Abby gave him Christmas '08. He's finally mastered the trike, doing a very nice job steering and pedaling, etc. At the end of the video he pedals into the garage and says, "I'm done, now I need to ride my other bike." He likes to switch back and forth between the Radio Flyer and the Big Wheel. The first goes faster and the second has so many cool buttons!

Back at Home

Although it's been almost 3 weeks, it feels still like we just got back home. This weekend we finally got the lights down and the indoor decorations came down the weekend before, but somehow it still feels like we're getting settled in and recovering from Christmas! Will's school started back on the 5th. He's still loving school and told me the other day, "Can I just go to school all day? Not just part of the day?" Haha, well soon enough. In less than 2 months, I have register Will for kindergarten!

The biggest news we've had this month is great news from Emma's last ENT appointment. It had been 6 months since her last laryngoscope, so the ENT took a look. Guess what? Her vocal cords moved!! It was so amazing and miraculous that we sat watching for a few seconds to make sure we were really seeing that happen. We're also trying to slowly wean down her reflux meds again too. It didn't go very well last June, but we're hoping this time will be better. If things keep going well, we can put in a request to change our EFM status from 5 to 4 so we can be taken off the "Homestead" list, which does not allow us to change duty stations. Emma's doc said there is a great Peds ENT in San Antonio that he trained with, so we're praying about that. I would feel much better moving if we knew who Emma's doc would be.

Such great news though, praise the Lord for His goodness and His mercy so far in Emma's life. She's growing like a weed and so happy and full of personality. In the last couple of weeks she seems to have changed so much, acting more like a kid than a baby. She's talking and singing up a storm and Will has noticed she's more fun to play with. I love seeing them interact and have fun together.

Christmas 2011

Long overdue pictures of Will's Christmas performance at school, our Christmas morning here at home, and our Christmas vacation in Texas.