Happy 2nd Birthday Kendall Bug!

Happy 2nd Birthday Bug! We love you!!!

Ellie Claire

Happy Belated Birthday to Ellie Claire who turned 2 yesterday!! Her and Kendall were almost twins :-) Happy Anniversary to Bess and Jones (her mommy & daddy) as well!!

Pictures from Kendall's Party

Happy Birthday Chay Chay!

Busy,busy,busy

What a crazy weekend! Mom & Dad got here early Friday afternoon to help us with party preparations for Kendall. We visited while we were doing things around the house and getting the food ready. Kendall's party was a smashing success (of course I have pictures and I will post them soon!) I had a great time visiting with everyone and it was much more relaxed than last year since I had an extra 3 adults here to help with food, Kendall, clean-up, and visiting. Of course I still feel like I didn't get around to talk with everyone enough but I am always that way when I am hosting an event.
Kendall's actual bday is tomorrow. I think that we are going to go to 2 playgroups tomorrow if we are up to it to celebrate.
Today we of course went to church & then went to another b-day party for Kendall's friend Chayton. It was at the marina on the air station so the kids were having a blast. I think that mom and dad are pretty tired but having a good time. I am sure that they are ready to be back to their normal schedules!
Stay tuned for pictures from this weekend!

Anniversary time

We want to wish a happy 5th anniversary to Josh & Jen! And also Happy Anniversary to Joyce and Scott!

Wise words

This is today's bible verse and I felt compelled to post a blog on it because I feel that it fits a lot of situations and that many could benefit from it. Enjoy!
He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity. - Proverbs 21:23

"Army Wives"

I just got finished watching last Sunday's episode of Army Wives (let me just insert thank goodness for DVR!) I have to say that I know at first there was some controversy over this program when it first came out....at least here in J'ville some of the Marine wives took offense to some of the things that were on the program. Although it is heavily Hollywood dramatized, I find that it has brought me to tears too many times to count because a lot of the underlying issues are the same for every military spouse. I think that this is a worthwhile program for anyone that is a civilian (and of course a military spouse) to get a small grasp of what life is really like on the homefront.
Just this season it has had me thankful that for the first time in 3 years I will have my husband home with me for an entire year and not in a combat situation, (although many of our friends are still having to leave very soon so I feel connected that I understand how they are feeling right now) just how much a group of friends can pull you out of any given circumstance that the military can throw at you, and an underlying lesson of how a little conflict (between friends or husband and wife) can change many lives.
Anyway, I just wanted to sound off on this and let ya'll now if you are bored with summer t.v. and want to check it out........

Kendall's New big girl room

Here is Kendall's room so far. We are still working on it as far as a few decorations/shelves/etc but for the most part it is ready to go. She loves it and to tell you the truth it is my favorite place to hang out with her right now. I sure that my mood will change since we have started Isaac's room as well!

Full of praises.....

It's been a long haul getting to this weekend but we are finally on a bit firmer ground! Let's see....

We already posted the pictures of the new car. It was a long time coming.....mostly to the point that we had looked at so many cars and dealerships we were tired of it all. We are so very thankful that God lead us to this car and ended our search.

The grass is really taking off and we have had rain yesterday and today that was much needed to suppliment our daily watering of it. Ben put out fertilizer on a hunch that our ground is so nutrient deficient that the grass was just dying off. It appears that he was right and we are starting to become happier with where the yard is at.

Kendall is doing soooooooooooo very good about the transition to her big girl room. I was very worried that she would be upset about leaving her old room but that hasn't been the case. I think that I have been more sad about it than anything. I can't believe that we are approaching her 2nd birthday. So much has happened in such a short time!

We got the rest of the bedding/room decor for Isaac's room at the Babies/Toys R Us grand opening. I was pleased as I was worried that we were going to be missing pieces of it. I can't wait to see how the room turns out. I also finally got Ben out to make a decision on material for Isaac's car seat/diaper bag/ and other embroidery items that we are getting done. I am super excited to get the material to my friend Stef so that she can give it to her friend Mandy that is going to do all of it for us.

Other than that we had a good visit with some friends at church last weekend and this weekend. In everyone's busy schedule, it is so hard to find time for all of us to get together and visit!

This week will be full of preparations for Kendall's bday party, mom and dad's visit, and of course our upcoming trip to Missouri.

Our newest family member....

.....to our car family that is!

After some wheeling and dealing on Saturday, we came home with this 2006 Suzuki Forenza. While it is not the sportiest or the most loaded car, it will get about twice the amount of gas mileage that Ben is getting right now with the truck. Since work is approximately 50 miles each way, 5 days a week, this will come in handy! It is very weird seeing it out in the driveway with our 2 other huge beasts! We are so extremely grateful that our search is at an end so now we can concentrate on more fun things like the final touches on Kendall's room and starting to paint Isaac's room. (Shortly to be followed by the crown molding and chair rail in Isaac's room!)

Breaking news!!!!

Kendall slept in her new big girl room and bed last night for the first time!!! She was a champ in a full sized bed without rails! Both Ben and I are so very tickled and sad at the same time that she is transitioning so well. I guess that it is the end of her "baby-hood" era and most definitely onward to toddler-hood. We have her room completed minus a few decorating things and a bit more of organization. We are hoping to work on painting Isaac's room to get that process started as well. (Don't worry Stef we aren't going to wait as long as ya'll did! :-) LOL.)

We are pretty certain that we have our "new" car. We brought it home with us last night from the dealership to peruse it at our own discretion. I will let ya'll know this afternoon if the deal was right!

Woodlands Park Playgroup

Yesterday Kendall and I went to our playgroup which met at Woodlands Park. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures because I was busy yapping! We love this park as it is never crowded and it is shaded so in this weather it is good for the both of us! Today we are going to the grand opening of Toys/Babies R Us here in J'vile so we will see if Kendall behaves enough with any of the characters for pictures :-)

Kendall's Korner

• She has learned how to help with her seat belt buckle but not quite to the point of undoing it herself....thank goodness! Also, knows how to climb up into the burb by herself so that is helping out dear old sweet mom who is the size of a small house right now!
• Dancing continues only we have moved onward to all music instead of just the keyboard. She loves to do it so I see some classes for her in the future!
• Still working on numbers, colors, and letters.....she seems to want to problem solve more than learn these but I am trying not to get frustrated!
• We peed in the potty for the first time and loved it!! (We finally broke down and bought her the potty seat for the big girl commode and she LOVES it.....you would have thought it was the best present in the world!)
• She has a "boyfriend" at the child development center on base where she goes while I am at work. His name is Mason and she gives him a hug plus will tell him bye at leat 10 times before we leave.....it is going to be hard on them at the end of the month as she will move to the toddler rooms instead of the pre-toddler!
• learned that sitting in a pile of dog poop in the backyard is not something that you want to do!!!

We have a lead.....

We went car shopping again yesterday afternoon. (We hit 3 dealerships last weekend and another 3 yesterday.....plus the 3 that Ben went to by himself.) We are taking our time and being careful about our choices since we had so many problems with the suburban when we got it. We found a car that both liked so we are going to look some more today, tomorrow, and hopefully purchase on Saturday! Thanks to everyone on your advice!

Rare treats......

• Kendall letting us sleep until 0645
• Ben being there when we woke up since he is scheduled for the simulators today
• Kendall coming to my dentist appt with me today & being so very good! (And interested in what was going on!)
• A brief rain shower today to suppliment us watering the grass
• Family coming to town soon!!!!
• getting off work on Monday 4 hours early!! (for me at least...)

Pics from our father's day

The playset

Benny did a great job on putting the swing set together almost all by himself!

Kendall resting in our bed waiting to go play on her play set!

Our weekend thus far....

Thank-you for putting my swingset together Daddy! You're the best!

I left with a diaper cake for Shelly and came home with one for Isaac. Thanks Kim!
Shelly's diaper cake.....I am getting better and better at these things :-)

Who knew that car shopping was so exhausting!

Happy Father's day

We just want to say Happy Father's day to Benny, Dadoo, Pa Beach, Pappy Heider, and all of our other friends and family celebrating this awesome day :-)