2013 Recap

Can't believe this year is over!! Heck, this decade is almost half way over and it only just began a few years ago. Time really is flying! :) This past year was another good one for the books. It was filled with lots of highs and some lows but we made a lot of memories and embarked on some great adventures! Again, we were blessed beyond measure this year and couldn't ask for more in the upcoming year. All in all, I'd say it was a win and I truly look forward to all that is in store for us in 2014!! :) So without further a due, here are a few highlights of 2013...

• Peighton turned 6, Henry turned 3 and Scott turned 2. We no longer have any "babies" in the house. It's been a different stage of life and I kind of like it. Our days seem much easier and although the kiddos can be a handful at time, this really is a fun age group!

• We adopted another dog. Gizmo is a chocolate lab with a huge heart and a lot of energy. The kids love her and she puts up with Scott so I foresee her staying in our family for awhile :)

• We put our house up for sale and watched it sit for several months with any bites. It tested my patience but in the end it all worked out and we have fantastic tenants occupying the home. 

• We left Fort Campbell and our Rakkasan family. It was tough and I had lots of mixed emotions. That was our home for four years. We survived our first deployment there as well as both boys were born there. We grew as a family and I grew as a person. I will always have fond memories of that duty station and the wonderful, amazing people we met there. We were truly blessed by our time there!

• We purchased a pop up camper and made the well over week journey out here to Fort Huachuca, Arizona. It was not an easy journey but we not only survived it but thrived :) We had a lot of fun along the way and saw so many parts of the country. It was an awesome adventure that I am so glad we got to experience. 

• We moved to the desert and made a home and a life here. A few months in, we received orders to stay here for 2+ more years. We had mixed feelings about this but so fortunate that we had settled here and made this place our home. God has a plan for us here and I can't wait to see it unfold in this next year. 

• And to close out the year, we traveled to beautiful San Diego, California for a few days. We had a great vacation and loved getting to see such a pretty city. We even saw the Pacific Ocean :) So blessed and fortunate that the army provides these types of experiences for our family to partake in. We are truly blessed by all the places we have been able to travel!

What a great year! So glad to be ringing in the new year with a family of five! May love, laughter and happiness abound in the next year! Happy New Year's indeed :)

Christmas 2013

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

- Luke 2:11

We had a nice, quiet Christmas this year! It was a bit different not having any family with us but were blessed to be able to talk and Face Time with them. Santa Claus was very good to the kiddos and they loved opening and checking out their new toys. I cooked a delicious cinnamon roll casserole for breakfast. We had our Christmas dinner the night before on Christmas Eve so I just made a few snacks/appetizers to add to the mix of leftovers and we enjoyed munching on those for lunch and dinner. The weather was gorgeous outside so the kids had plenty of outdoor time breaking in their new toys! I packed us all up for our impending trip to San Diego. Most of the day was spent just hanging out and taking it easy. I don't even think we changed out of our PJ's till after nap time :) All in all, it was a joyous holiday and we are once again blessed as a family. 

Francis Scott turned 2!

Can't believe two years has gone by this fast!?! Yesterday, two years ago Scott was born. He came four days past his due date and we almost didn't have a Christmas baby. But oh was he worth the wait!! Scott has turned into quite the little scooter! He is adventurous, polite, loving, funny and his smile is contagious :) I love him oh so much! And I am so thankful God chose me to be his mommy. He keeps me on my toes and I love it!

Yesterday we unfortunately didn't do much celebrating. Our house has been hit with the stomach bug :( Scott started it first on Friday afternoon and yesterday it was my turn. Brandon was a saint and took all 3 kids to get their haircut and to lunch so I can rest up some. We let Scott open up his birthday presents yesterday afternoon after his nap. He enjoyed that. P and Brandon got the stomach bug last night so hopefully we are all on the mend and will be feeling back to normal by Christmas.

Here are some stats on how Scott is growing...

Weight and Height: unknown (we go for his 2 YO check up next month)

Diaper Size: 5

Pants Size: 18 months still. He can wear some 24 months but typically they are too big and long.

Shirt Size: 2T or 24 months

Shoe Size: 7

PJ's Size: 2T

Sleeping Habits:  He sleeps about 11 hours at night and still takes 2 hour nap after lunch.

Words: He is learning new words all the time and is starting to put two words together.

Activities: He loves to play outside still. It's probably his favorite activity. He also loves to
read books and do puzzles. He also is starting to like coloring and doing sticker art.

Foods: Overall he is still the best eater. He has his days but for the most part he will eat just about anything I give him.

Christmas Quiz

Woohoo for only one week till Christmas!!! :) I found this cute quiz on a blog that I follow and thought it was too fun not to do!

1. How do you wrap your gifts?
I like for my wrapping paper to match and I also like to have a kid friendly wrapping paper design as well. This year we have a mix of brown butcher paper and vintage Mickey. I used washi tape and stamps to decorate those presents wrapped in butcher paper and just fun labels for the others.
*On a side note, I am just about finished with all my wrapping. I have a few big items left that are in our storage unit that will have to wait till Christmas Eve.

2. How do you eat a candy cane?
I'm not a huge fan of them. Typically any that we have in the house are on the tree and the kids get one as a treat every couple of days are so. But if I do have one, I usually eat it bottom first or break it up.

3. How many trees do you put up?
We have 3 up this year. Our big one in the living room, a smaller one in P's bedroom, and another big one outside.

4. If you could only listen to one Christmas song per year, what would it be?
I am loving the WOW Christmas CD from this year. The boys and I jam to it almost everyday in the car. I love The Christmas Song and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. But I am also a fan of The Christmas Bells and Do You Hear What I Hear.

5. Who is the hardest to buy for?
I'd say the hubs is pretty hard to buy for. It takes some serious brainstorming to come up with something that wows and surprises him. P is also getting trickier to buy for as well.

6. What's your favorite Christmas movie?
We have lots in this house. I love Christmas Vacation and Deck the Halls. And for a non traditional choice I love The Family Stone.

7. What's your favorite tradition?
We as a family try to have a few traditions each year that we participate in, but overall I love listening to Christmas music in the car and driving around through the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. All three kids love it and seeing their reactions and excitement when we find a greatly decorated house is priceless.

8. What time of ornament do you prefer?
Our tree has a hodge podge from matching themed ornaments to family ornaments over the years to ornaments we've been given as gifts to our Disney ornaments. Its fun to see the whole mix of them on the tree.

9. What do you eat for Christmas dinner?
Typically we eat ham with lots of sides. We try to change it up a little from our Thanksgiving menu but usually its the more traditional dinner.

10. If you could invite one person to your Christmas, who would it be?
This year I'd say our family :) Being 2000+ miles from them all will be tough this year. Thankful for modern technology like Face Time!

11. What do you do with the Christmas cards you receive?
I tape them to the inside of our front door. It is something my mom always did growing up and so that tradition just sort of stuck with me.

Countdown to Christmas Continues

Well folks we are now under 15 days until Christmas... SO exciting!! I love all the wonder that comes with this time of year. And it is finally feeling like winter time around here. Of course, it will probably be in the high 60's the week of Christmas, ha! But on the bright side, at least then the kids can enjoy all their outdoor toys that Santa will be bringing them :)

Today I am sharing some our families traditions when it comes to Christmas. Being in the military, every year seems to throw a different wrench in our plans for Christmas. Some years we have spent it in our own home and some years we have spent it at my parents house in SC. Some years Brandon has been there for all the festivities, some years he has flown in just for a few weeks from wherever he was training, and one year we didn't have him at all. But nonetheless we try to adopt some traditions to call our own and try to keep up with them.

One of my favorite traditions is that we do not put any of the presents out until Christmas morning. I feel it helps keep the spirit of Santa Claus alive. I am so happy that all the kiddos believe even P. I know there isn't too many years left that she will continue to believe. There is just something special about no presents under the tree and then suddenly on Christmas morning everything is out. So much fun!!! It never fails in our house with three kiddos that it always looks like Christmas exploded under the tree :) I love it though... I love seeing their faces when they walk into the living room and see Santa has come!

I love giving gifts. It is one of my love languages. I love how a gift can make a person feel. I love seeing the kids' faces when they open up a gift and its what they have been asking for. Brandon and I had so much fun on a date night back in October picking out the kids' Christmas presents. We spent hours there and it was a blast. I love buying the kids stuff and Christmastime is no exception. I enjoy picking out Brandon's presents too! Some years we haven't done presents for each other so I always try to come up with something great the years we do. I like to up the surprise factor and give gifts he wouldn't think of for himself. I even like picking out the wrapping paper each year and sitting down and wrapping all the presents. It's just fun to me :)

We love decorating for Christmas. Brandon's domain is outside and he always goes above & beyond each year. He is like a kid :) That is the fun part of being in the military, every couple of years we have a new house to decorate. All of us love seeing Christmas lights and other houses decorated. We drive around other neighborhoods with Christmas music playing in the car and look at all the decorated houses. The kids love seeing all the different lights and decorations. Its so much fun!

Everyone in our family likes to read and we have a whole collection of Christmas books that I will get out and we will read a few each night. We have the classics but have added some fun ones to the mix like A Soldier's Night Before Christmas, Mickey Saves Santa and Elmo's 12 Days of Christmas. I also enjoy reading The Christmas Story and The Animals' Christmas Eve. It's important for us all to remember that Christmas is also about the birth of Jesus. We also love watching all the Christmas shows and movies. We look forward to ABC's Family Countdown to Christmas. They show all the favorites over and over again :) We love watching the Christmas classics and of course Charlie Brown.

One of favorite new traditions that we have just started in the past few years is Santa's elves leave all of us new PJ's under the tree on Christmas Eve. We usually go driving around the neighborhood and look at lights and then when we come back the elves have visited and left the PJ's behind. It's so fun and it keeps the spirit alive. It also reminds the kiddos that Santa will be coming soon too!

Love celebrating the Christmas season and partaking in so many fun, joyous celebrations!!!

Meun Plan Monday

Monday: Sonoran Hot Dogs

Tuesday: Spaghetti with salad

Wednesday: Eat out/Fast Food

Thursday: Dirty Rice with Sausage & Lima Beans

Friday: Italian Chicken Bake

Saturday: Eat out

Sunday: Breakfast

On the agenda this week:

PWOC/Bible Study

Preschool

Library Visit

Speech Therapy

Tree Lighting at Post Chapel

Sierra Vista Town Christmas Parade

Happy 1st Week of December!! 

Countdown to Christmas

Hello December!!! Thanksgiving has come and gone. The tree is up and the outside is decked out in lights and decorations galore. I love this time of year! It's just filled with so much joy, wonder and happiness. I am looking forward to all that this month holds! We have so many fun activities coming up that are sure to keep us in the Christmas spirit :) And with only 24 days till Christmas, the days are already flying by!

I feel blessed to have Brandon home with us again this year. This will be the third Christmas in a row that he is home to celebrate with us. And in the ARMY, that is just unheard of. My heart goes to all the families that will be missing their loved one this year. Its incredibly hard any other time of the year, but during the holiday season it is down right rough. I am sad that although we will have our little family complete this holiday season we will be spending it without our extended family. We will miss our South Carolina family and dear friends terribly. Thank goodness for Face Time so Mimi & Papa can "watch" the kiddos open their presents :)

I also can't believe that in just a few short weeks by baby boy will be turning 2!! How did this happen?!?! How did two years fly by this fast already?!?! Cannot wait to celebrate the big day and my sweet little Francis Scott :)

Our big family present this year is to take the kids to San Diego! I am so excited for our family to spend a week there. We have lots planned while we are there including a trip to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Balboa Park and of course checking out lots of yummy restaurants and fun, unique shops! It will be a nice break from the desert :) And the best part is that the kids do not know. Its a total surprise. I think we are going to break the news to them on Christmas Eve. So fun!!

I hope to continue a few more of these posts as we continue to countdown to Christmas and share some of my favorite things about this season. I'd like to share our traditions as well. As Henry likes to say, "Is is Christmas time yet?"

Enjoy the season!!!