Thanksgiving 2011

 Nulkaritas, taquitos and queso....a good new mexican fiesta!

 Seating for twelve...good thing our new table extends to 10 feet. Thanks for the pretty centerpiece Mom!

 Daddy's popular after being away for a month

 23.9 lb bird

 Matthew's promotion ceremony to 1LT

 

 

 

 

 Post-thanksgiving day greasiness/sleepiness? Check.

Gabe dancing with Kit Carson

Gabe

Gabe is certainly kickin' my butt in this stage of life...terrible twos are no joke people. I never thought my 3 month old would be the easy one! BUT with the bad comes the good, cute, sweet and hilarious. I still catch glimpes of that sweet baby he used to be. Like yesterday when I went into to Gabe's room to get him up from his nap he says to me "I'm so glad you're here Mommy!" And then he repeated that to me about 4 times. Melt my heart!
Today was a high of 38 but it was sunny and not windy at all so I bundled up the baby and Gabe and headed over to Iron horse park. I made Gabe walk quite a bit before we made it to the actual playground area.We had to get our "cexercize". He picked up a stick was playing in the grassy area which he called the "garden". Once we made it over to the playground there were of course no other kids there. I'm always hoping there will be...Gabe is kinda bummed when there aren't. Well things were looking bleak for the first 10 mins until a mom and two little girls showed up...then another mom and daughter arrived! Gabe was thrilled. The one girl was 5, named Sophia and she LOVED Gabe. Ran right up to him. Their converstaions were freakin' hilarious. First Gabe sees her and yells to me "Wook mommy, dere's a wittle girl" which she proceeds to correct "no, i'm 5, i'm a big girl". Then Gabe points to me (I was standing with the stroller) and says, "that's baby sister, right dere (there)". She goes, "that person in the blue coat is your baby sister? She's big". Gabe says "that's mommy. that's mommy in blue coat". Then i tell him to tell her his name. "Gabe" Then he says, "i'm prodigcal son! I'm prodigal son!" The poor girl didn't know what to think so she just moved on to playing. I've been reading that story to him recently so i guess that's what he thinks he is or something. Later they were on the swings. Sophia kept pointing to the black dog with her mom saying "that's my dog, that's my dog". Gabe of course echos everything so he says back to her "that's my dog, that's my dog". "No, that's my dog, it's not your dog". "that's my dog!" "You shouldn't say that. It's my dog". Then he started saying "that's my swing. that's my swing". Well Sophia thought he was calling her dog a swing so she was none too pleased, "you shouldn't call my dog a swing. she's a dog. that's mean." Eventually i had to intervene because Gabe kept saying "that's my swing" repeatedly and Sophia was getting pretty ticked. But i guess she had fun enough because she threw a fit when it was time to go and said she'd be back every day to play with Gabe. He followed her around the whole playground and copied everything she did. It was pretty cute. I was SO blessed that little girl showed up...it was pretty much a free play date for Gabe. No  I didn't get to befriend the mother...she was on her cell and her body language said "leave me alone"...so i stayed with Evie and supervised the kids.  It was still awesome. Anything that entertains Gabe and burns off some of his energy is win win for both of us.
 

Thumb sucker!

Evie-girl

 Sometimes tummy time is okay.

 Hot tub with a mountain view. The sr. nulk's backyard just got that much more exciting!!

 Bella enjoyed the fountain. Winston chewed up the rubber hose to their new sprinkler system and proceeded to throw up chunks of it for the next 3 nights. Lets just say he's not on my fav dog list right now.

 I may say "no" to everything else but i'm happy to hold baby sister!

 Evie's version of giving kisses.

 Yay Mom! I'm 3 months old today!

 resting her face on her jowels!

Enough pics Mom!

Well we just had a very nice visit in New Mexico! Now were back in Ft. Carson waiting (im)patiently for Michael to come home...we have about a week left but whose counting. Evie is just thriving. She's bringing her hands to her face and will grab burp cloths and suck on them. She's starting to giggle a bit too. We just love her to pieces! Now her brother...he's another story!We love him too..but he is certainly two that's for sure! He is affectionate, active and SASSY! His favorite word/answer/expression is "no". I pretty much tune it out since it's his only response. Although i think he does the same to me since i have to be the "no" police constantly and he doesn't listen. UGH. Anyhow we do have a lot of good times and the things he comes up with are hilarious. Hope you all are having nice a nice November!

Awesome poem

  I stole this from another blog. It's so spot on! Let me hear a big HOOAH (or Booyah) for the army wives out there...and their husbands!  

P.S. And Congress is considering slashing our benefits? Shame on them.

Military Wife Poem

Moving...

Moving...

Moving far from home...

Moving two cars, two kids... all riding with HER of course.

Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house;

... Moving curtains that won't fit;

Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.

Moving away from friends;

Moving toward new friends;

Moving her most important luggage; her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...

Waiting...

Waiting...

Waiting for housing.

Waiting for orders.

Waiting for deployments.

Waiting for phone calls.

Waiting for reunions.

Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.

Waiting for him to come home, for dinner... AGAIN.

They call her 'MILITARY DEPENDENT', but she knows better:

She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book;

Handle the yard work;

Fix a noisy toilet;

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.

She can file the taxes;

Sell a house;

Buy a car;

Or set up a move...

All with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.

She reinvents her career with every PCS.

Locates a house in the desert, the arctic, or the deep south.

And learns to call them all 'home'.

She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...

They leap into:

Decorating,

Leadership,

Volunteering,

Career alternatives,

Churches,

And friendships.

They don't have 15 years to get to know people.

Their roots are short but flexible.

They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:

They connect over coffee,

Rely on the spouse network,

Accept offers of friendship and favors,

Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:

The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands;

his commitment is unique.

He doesn't have a JOB.

He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...

He's on-call for his country 24/7.

But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign

TDY

PCS

OPR

SOS

ACC

BDU

ACU

BAR

CIB

TAD

And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.

She is the long-distance link to keep them informed;

the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:

She wants to wring his neck;

Dye his uniform pink;

Refuse to move to Siberia;

But she pulls herself together.

Give her a few days,

A travel brochure,

A long hot bath,

A pledge to the flag,

A wedding picture,

And she goes.

She packs.

She moves.

She follows.

Why?

What for?

How come?

You may think it is because she has lost her mind.

But actually it is because she has lost her heart...

It was stolen from her by a man,

Who puts duty first,

Who longs to deploy,

Who salutes the flag,

And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband,

She will remain his military wife.

And would have it no other way.

-Author Unknown