Out with the old

and in with the brand new iphone! Almost 2 years ago we decided that we were done paying tons of money each month on a cell phone plan. On average our cell phone bill went from almost $1,500 a year on cell phones to about $240 a year. I was a stay-at-home mom and we had terrible cell service in our neighborhood. Mike used his personal cell very little (he had his work cell phone that he used often). It worked for us but I'm so glad it is over! I encouraged Mike to get a new phone when we moved here a few months ago and I knew that I would get a cell phone for my new job.




I never anticipated that I would get a brand, spankin' new iphone! It was well worth the wait! I'm in love!



My new phone comes with a new number. If you need my new number leave a comment on the blog with your email address and I'll email it to you (I won't publish the comments so your personal info won't be shared).

Christmas Highlights

Our Christmas was full of friends, family, traditions, and the joy that comes from giving and receiving the perfect gift. We began the celebration in New Orleans and then headed to Texas to spend Christmas at LexStone Ranch and then we headed back home to enjoy a little family downtime before the craziness of the new year begins.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We're overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family! Olivia has a ton new books and toys (she's happily amusing herself with them as I type). Peter asked Santa for an airplane and was thrilled to receive one on Christmas morning. The kids also picked out toys for each other and it is so heartwarming to hear Peter say he's playing with his cars that Olivia picked out and that he's going to give Olivia the toy drum that he got her for Christmas.

It rained almost the entire time we were in Texas but Peter did manage to convince Grandpa to take him for a quick tractor ride. The highlight for me was getting to spend some time with family and I think Mike was most excited about getting a brand new bicycle!

Merry Christmas 2011

 

This year we decided to save paper (and time and money and sanity) and post our annual Christmas update on the blog instead of sending it with our Christmas Cards (which I FINALLY mailed earlier this week). So if this is your first visit here be sure and leave a comment to let us know that you stopped by.


2011 brought a lot of changes to our family! We moved from North Carolina to New Orleans which meant new jobs and schools all around. Olivia is attending a very special school for kids with special needs in New Orleans called the Chartwell Center, Peter is in a 3 year old preschool program at the Army Corps of Engineers, Mike is an Assistant Professor of Military Science at Tulane University, I am the Assistant Director of Alumni Relations at Loyola University. We are missing the wonderful neighborhood and beautiful home we left behind in North Carolina but moving closer to friends and family made it worth it!

We went on a few fun family trips in 2011--Charlotte, North Carolina; Asheville, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Washington, D.C.; 2 fantastic long weekends in the Outer Banks; and countless trips to Wilmington, North Carolina.

Peter turned 3 last month and it's clear that he's leaving toddlerhood behind! We said goodbye to his crib and diapers and said hello to organized sports when Peter started playing soccer. Peter enjoys school and his playmates, he loves buzz lightyear and playing with his vehicles--cars, trains, airplanes, helecopters, trucks, etc.

Olivia turned 5 in July. She has a smile that can light up a room and her giggle is infectious. She loves her new school and we are blessed to have found such a great Nanny. It was Nanny D. that discovered Olivia's new all time favorite food....a tuna sandwich from Subway. Olivia has been pretty healthy this year, there were a few ear infections and sinus infections but for the first time in 3 years I don't think we had any overnight hospital says!

Mike finished up his time as a battery/company commander. It was bittersweet for him to say goodbye to his soldiers and leave Ft. Bragg. He received several awards and it was nice to hear all the wonderful things that Mike's co-workers and supervisors had to say about his time at Ft. Bragg. I think that Mike has adjusted pretty easily to his new role as an ROTC instructor. He'll start grad school next month.

I've put some of my volunteer work aside and went back to work in Higher Education. I'm loving my job at Loyola. It is a great fit and hit the ground running! I have traveled quite a bit over the last 6 weeks and I'm looking forward to catching up on some quality time with Mike and the kids over the Christmas holidays!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

and....Done!

No I'm not bragging about how I'm done with my christmas shopping, to tell the truth I've BARELY started.

In the last 5 weeks I've boarded a plane 10 times, worked 8 Alumni Events and traveled over 6000 miles. I. am. so. done! I'm so excited that I will be sleeping in my own bed (at least for the next week or so until we head to Texas for Christmas at LexStone Ranch)

Soccer Star

Mike signed Peter up to play soccer on Saturday mornings. It isn't really a league, it is more like lessons for 3 year olds. The parents are involved (except in Peter's case when he told Mike he wanted to do it by himself), they teach the fundamentals. The goal (pun intended) is to teach the kids the basics and get them to a point where they can have a scrimmage at the end of the season. Do we have a future soccer star on our hands....who knows but it will be a fun journey!

Peter's First Goal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9pRIkcRO48&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Learning to keep his hands off the ball
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRKRxjZZ8QY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

My Favorite Reindeer

Santa is a Rockstar

Last weekend we went to the Singing with Santa event at Loyola. The annual event is sponsored by the Loyola University Alumni Association so I was working the event. Mike brought the kids and they had a blast. Of all the events I've helped plan since I started working at Loyola I think that Singing with Santa is my favorite! It's completely free and open to all Loyola alumni, faculty and staff. There were adorable christmas cookies as well as undecorated cookies for kids to decorate. Mrs. Clause came and did an awesome puppet show. Santa came, he played the piano and the kids sang songs and then kids got to climb into his sleigh for pictures.

When Santa walked in the room Olivia lit up! She thought he was a rockstar! I wish I'd gotten better pictures, honestly I had no idea she would be so into Santa or I would have made sure I was in a better position to get some pictures.





Olivia was thrilled to sit next to Santa, she giggled the entire time. She was laughing so hard that her eyes were closed.



So we got a do-over...

The Carolina Sapphire

After some serious debate we finally decided on the Carolina Sapphire.











And in the interest of full disclosure. Mike went to pay for the tree while I got the kids loaded back up in the car. This particular tree lot had a very complex tagging system. We were told to stay away from any trees already marked with SOLD tags. Of course we did pay close attention to the tags but when Mike went to pay they cashier insisted that the tree we cut down has already been paid for. Apparently each tree had a serial number and the serial number of our tree had already been purchased. I know we never saw a SOLD tag. The staff checked for SOLD tags before they loaded it onto the tractor and a separate group of guys checked for tags again as they unloaded the tree. We felt awful that we cut down someone's tree! Mike had to head out to cut down a second tree solo because the kids had both fallen asleep in their car seats.

I'm also happy to report that another pro for living in a tiny house is that you can easily smell the Christmas tree from every room in our house.

Oh Christmas Tree

This past weekend we headed out to find our Christmas Tree. Mike found a great Christmas Tree Farm not far from here (Shady Pond Tree Farm). They had a large variety of different types of trees to choose from. Olivia thought we should make our decision based on how the trees tasted, I thought we should pick based on smell, Mike just wanted to cut one down, and Peter was excited about the entire experience and was campaigning for us to have more than one tree.



We narrowed it down to 3 choices:

A Green Giant

A Carolina Sapphire


and

A Virginia Pine



any guesses on which one we chose? Check back tomorrow...

My Little Alarm Clock

Regardless of what time Olivia goes to bed she wakes up at exactly 6 am every. single. morning. Recently she has become content to sit snuggled in her bed with a few of her favorite books and toys. I love when I catch her really engaging with a toy instead of hitting it, banging it, or chewing on it. I think I'm starting to see her do this more often. I'm not sure if it's because I've adjusted my expectations and am now finding more appropriate toys for Olivia (toys geared for 6-18 month range) or if we're starting to see some improvement in her attention span. I don't want to jinx it but I am more inclined to think that its the later....

Do you miss your Army life?

The Thanksgiving weekend gave us time to see some good friends. Some were friends of Mike's from high school and some were friends of ours from Fr. Bragg. Since we were in a group of "mixed company" the subject of army life seemed to come up. Several times they asked if I missed my old "army life". In short the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT! Not for one single second! I surprised myself when I realized how strongly I felt about not missing my army life. I don't miss shopping at the commissary, I don't miss the terrible service we received when trying to access health care on post, I don't miss being forced to socialize with wives of other officers simply because it's what's expected, I don't miss having to patiently listen to the constant wining from the wives of younger soldiers about why their husbands aren't home (this is a total stereotype but it's also very true), I don't miss getting random phone calls and emails from women whom I've never met that insist that they should be receiving child support and demand that I assist them, I don't miss the constant stress that permeates every aspect of army life, I don't miss the constant judgement, the pressure to always be at your best, ready to support your soldier at all costs, I don't miss the phone calls at all hours of the night, the "go bag" in the hallway closet.

Lest you think that I'm completely bitter and cynical....I have made some wonderful friends in my army life. I treasure their friendship! I am not used to people looking twice at Mike when he's wearing his uniform because they are so unaccustomed to seeing someone in camouflage. I am lucky though because we moved back to New Orleans and I had friends and family and sorority sisters and colleagues all here to welcome me back. In a lot of ways its been like moving home. I do think that 9 years of active duty military life takes its toll on a family and I know I speak for all of us when I say we're enjoying the refreshing change of pace.

In the end the grass is always greener and I'm sure I will be ready to jump back into all things army in a few years. In the mean time we're enjoying the break!

Makeover

I didn't get a makeover but the blog did! Courtsey of the family photo session we had with MckMamma this past spring. . I posted a few of my favorites last spring and I just found the CD from our photoshoot again and couldn't help myself....

Oh and for those of who who liked the Thanksgiving picture I created it using a free program called My ScrapNook. Super easy to use! I loved it so much I had a little fun playing with it again tonight.

My friend and her journey

I met Tricia when we were living in Colorado. She's a former teacher and a briliant writer. We continued a virtual friendship as we moved and Olivia started speech therapy. It was a path that her older son had also gone down and it was comforting to know that someone else understood what it was like to help their child find their voice.

Our lives have changed drastically since we meet in 2006 at a book party. Tricia has a blog that I read faithfully, Teaching Tuck and Ty. I will never forget the day I checked her blog last December after updating our blog. I am very protective of my virtual friend, especially given her journey since last December. Her story was recently featured in 5280, Denver's Magazine about all things going on in and around the mile high city. Please read with care, and compasion, as Tricia says, "the words are her very heart"....Wife, Interrupted.

Gobble Gobble

Mike is thankful that he's not deployed and he's able to be with his family this year, that he has a job and is able to provide for his family.

Olivia was thankful for all the yummy food and the extra tickle time that we had while Peter was napping.

I am thankful that I have a job that I love and the wonderful nanny that we've found here.

Peter is thankful for Buzz Lightyear, trucks, and cupcakes (although we're all a little unsure about where this is comming from since he hasn't had a cupcake lately but he insists that he's very thankful for them).

Birthday Boy

Peter's third birthday was November 11th but to be honest I wasn't ready for him to be 3 yet. I'd known that his birthday was comming of course but I just hadn't quite prepared myself. I hate that certain days can seem to drag on forever but then entire months go by in the blink of an eye.

On Peter's actual birthday I had to work late at a board reception and then I left early the next morning to fly to Houston for work. Mike took the kids and his parents to Chuck E. Cheese as a birthday treat. Peter loves anything that involves pizza and games so he had a blast. Peter also had his first round of birthday cake.



I decided to take Tuesday off and spend the entire day with Peter. We had a blast. I am so glad that I was able to spend some quality time with him. We ran a few errands, I took Peter to get his haircut. We went to see a movie (Peter's very first in a real theater). We saw Happy Feet 2. Peter loved the movie experience but I'm not sure that Happy Feet would have been his ideal choice. We did enjoy it though. I wasn't expecting that we'd be able to stay for the entire movie but Peter suprised me and we were able to stay for the duration of the movie. I think we had such a great day because I went into the day without any expectations, nothing on the agenda other than spending time together. I'm not sure if Peter will remember his 3rd birthday but I know I'll always treasure the day.

I brought the camera but I didn't take a single picture. We did have a small family party. I couldn't resist sharing the video of Peter blowing out his candles. I know that the grandparents will get a kick out of it despite our TERRIBLE singing!

Fast Fall-ward

You know it's bad when you sit down to update the blog and you have to pull out your calendar to remember what you did during the past month. I obviously haven't had time to update in forever. I'm also so obsessive-compulsive that I couldn't just start from where we are now, I have to cover everything that I've missed. I love being able to look back at the blog and remember different periods in our lives. I find it hard to believe that I started this little blog back in 2008 (couldn't resist, to see my first ever blog entry click here) as a way to share pictures of Olivia with family and friends. I know there are companies you can use to get books made from your blog and I'm thinking of doing that. If you've heard a good review for a particular company please share.

I really do feel like someone pushed the fast-forward button midway through October. So here's our Fast Fall-ward update...

Halloween Recap

We had Little Red Ridding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Peter loved his Wolf costume and you could tell that Olivia was quite impressed with her fancy dress. The Halloween celebration for the kids began at school. Olivia was Minnie Mouse at school. Olivia's class did all kinds of fun fall activities and I love that Olivia's teacher has a shutterfly site for her class that she updates often. I almost feel like I'm part of Olivia's class too!

We went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with Mike's brother and his family and our nieces. We are thrilled that we're able to see family so much more often and so glad that we were able to be a part of our Goddaughter, Sophie's first Halloween!

















Work-Work-Work

I am loving my job. I know that the kids are thriving in their schools. I know that we have a fantastic nanny. I know that Mike is enjoying his new job. With everyone else settled that leaves me to enjoy working outside the home. I literally jumped right in! It's nice that the job is a perfect fit based on my experience and education. It is so refreshing to be professionally challenged. But I am working a lot of hours lately. In fact this is the first day I've had that is completely free of work activities in the last 19 days. Most of the various alumni chapters that I work with have Holiday functions so December will bring quick trips to Miami, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Shreveport. As the new employee I got the short end of the stick so I miss out on heading to LA and Puerto Rico....maybe next year. This job wouldn't be possible for me if Mike didn't have a job that allowed him to have a more flexible schedule. It also helps that the events are all mid-week so for the most part I'm leaving on a Tuesday evening and flying back on a Thursday morning so I still have weekends for quality family time. Did I mention that I love my job.

Mike is enjoying his job as well. Since he started working mid-way through the semester he's been spending time getting to know the students and fellow staff members. Mike will start teaching military science and military history to all the Sophomore ROTC students in the New Orleans area in January. The ROTC program was reorganized a few years ago so ROTC students at all the colleges and universities in the New Orleans area so he will teach classes at Loyola University New Orleans, Tulane University, Dillard University, Xavier University, and the University of New Orleans. He was also accepted into a Master's program at Tulane so he'll be going back to school come January. Three cheers for professional fulfillment and the perks of working for a university!

Settling In
We are settling in and we are officially unpacked. I know that I've mentioned that this house is quite a bit smaller we could definitely benefit from some improved organization but we're slowly getting there. We did invest in a large gate with several extensions so that we could create a big playroom. I love that we have a safe place for Olivia to play that is still open to the rest of the house.

We also set up the swing set. The fun the kids have in the backyard makes the small living quarters worth it!







Solo Parenting
Since I've gone back to work Mike has accumulated some serious solo parenting time. When I was a stay-at-home mom it was a rare occasion for Mike to put the kids down to bed at night by himself and it was a regular occurrence for me to have quite a bit of solo parenting time. That has changed drastically and we're getting pretty equal amounts of solo parenting time. To be clear Mike is a fantastic Dad and loves being with the kids, he just didn't get as much time with them previously because of his hectic work schedule. Mike took the kids to a birthday party all by himself when I was working at an event earlier in the month. The first picture shows how drastically things have changed. I love Olivia's little outfit, knee socks, hair barrettes and all. My favorite thing about it is that Mike picked it out all by himself. The birthday party was at the Children's Museum and the kids had a blast!









Mike also got some serious solo parenting time when I headed to Houston for work last weekend. It was nice to be able to squeeze in some visits with friends and family during my work trip. I did miss the kids so I was excited to have some solo parenting time this past week while Mike had to travel to Ft. Knox for work. It was a long week though full of work meetings and parent-teacher conferences, and early-dismissal days. I couldn't have done it with out help from Nanny D.

School Changes
Olivia really is thriving in her new school. We had her first IEP meeting here last week. Initially they were working from her North Carolina IEP while they got a chance to get to know Olivia a little better. Olivia had been at The Chartwell Center for about a month so we met to create her new IEP. People have always told me how happy Olivia is and how much they enjoy being around her but for the first time I was given specific examples of how Olivia is actively participating and contributing to the education of her peers in the classroom. Olivia makes great eye-contact and that is a challenge for some of her peers school. The teacher has noticed that kids that don't normally make eye contact will make and sustain eye contact with Olivia. She's contributing positively to her class and it's such a new experience for me to have a teacher tell me how much they enjoy having Olivia in the class because she's such a good peer model! We are also noticing that Olivia is interacting much more with her peers and Peter.






Peter actually started at a new childcare center on Halloween Day. Peter adjusted easily to Newcomb but before he even started we got an email saying that they were increasing tuition. Even with Mike's faculty discount we were paying nearly $1000 a month. We were not 100% satisfied with the program. We made a change and Peter started at the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) Child Care Facility. The ACE child care center is a YMCA program and it has been fantastic. It is exactly the same distance from my office and it's just across the street from Mike's office. I admit that I did not want to make the change but I'm so glad Mike convinced me! I had a parent-teacher conference with Peter's teacher this past week and she told me that Peter fit right in with the other kids in his class from the very first day. It did take him a little bit longer to become comfortable with his teachers. The teachers heard Peter talking away to his classmates but he wouldn't answer questions or talk to the teachers very much. Over the last week or so Peter seemed to decide that everything was okay and he talks to teachers and classmates alike.

Medical Stuff

Peter got a case of pink eye but fortunately we were able to keep everyone else in the family from getting it....except me! I cannot tell you how yucky it is to have pink eye as an adult! It was even more annoying because I got pink eye a full 7 days after Peter first had symptoms. His cleared up almost instantly (he had 1 dose of eye drops) but mine seemed to stick around for 3-4 days.
Early in the month Olivia had a coughing episodes at school where she had a hard time catching her breath. Olivia's teacher texted me, I called the doctor and got an appointment (in less than a hour), Mike picked Olivia up from school, I met them both at the doctor. It turns out that Olivia had an ear infection. She started the antibiotic that afternoon (love that the doctor could just email the pharmacy of our choice and were able to pick up the medication on our way home from the doctor). We are definitely getting used to the convenience of civilian medicine! Olivia needed a few extra days of rest and is back to running at full speed.

Thanksgiving
We were invited to join both Olivia and Peter's classes for Thanksgiving lunch this past week. Unfortunately Mike was still at Ft. Knox so he missed the fun but I had a busy day heading from one feast to another. Here I am with my little turkey. I swear she said gobble gobble the other day.



Peter was thrilled that I joined him for lunch at school but he was a little upset to see me leave. Seriously adorable! My little pilgrim!



So that's it now you're all caught up. I promise not to get this far behind ever again!