Memorial Day

The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children.
-Rev. William Havard (Chaplain to the Armed Forces during WWI)
This afternoon we were able to observe Memorial Day by taking the girls to the Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetary. It was an honor to be able to stand among the graves of the men and women who have served our country.

Juneau and Nova both know the Pledge of Allegiance, and almost always immediately put their little hands over their hearts and say The Pledge whenever they see a flag. The cemetary was full of flags, and we looked over to find them saying The Pledge several times this afternoon as we strolled through the cemetary.

The afternoon sun was beautiful

Cris and I were both quite moved by the opportunity to pay respect to the servicemembers. This particular grave marked that of a soldier just one year younger than Cris at the time of his death less than a year ago.

We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. - Francis A. Walker

4 down, 10 to go

well, i've completed 4 days of my Captain's Career Course. Overall, it's a pretty good course. I'm not sure if i went into any detail about it, but basically it is critical part of getting promoted from Major to LTC. I didn't really have to take the course just yet, as i won't even be promoted to Major until next summer, BUT, the coures is usually 9 weeks, and they are doing a trial of a 2 week version of the course. The 2 week course was really being promoted by a lot of the supervisors (which makes sense as that means i will only be away from the hospital for 2 weeks instead of 3 months), and i was "Strongly Encouraged" to attend :) So, here i am. There are actually a lot of really useful things i'm learning here. And even things that aren't necessarily pertinent to me are still pretty interesting.

The hardest thing about the course is really just the logistics of all of us living in a hotel room for 2 weeks. The room is certainly meant for 1 person, not 4, and so we have had to find ways to make it work. The girls sleep in the tiny little kitchenette area, but there is really no division between that area and the rest of the room, so we have to be very quiet after we put them to bed, and again in the mornings so we don't wake them. It is DEFINATELY worth the extra effort to have them here with me. I would be truly miserable if i was stuck here by myself without them, so i don't mind working around the little issues, but it has certainly made for an interesting week.

The girls are adapting well, as usual. Well, except for the fact that Juneau has de-potty trained herself AGAIN (she was fully potty trained in March, then depotty trained herself while we were in Hawaii, then re-potty trained about a month ago, and now has de-potty trained again). for instance, she didn't have a SINGLE accident during the entire 2.5 day road trip from colorado to texas. then we arrive in texas and it's like she completey erased anything having to do with pottys from her mind. oh well, i guess there could be worse things :)

oh, funny little Juneau story. The other day we were eating ice cream, and she took a huge bite and then said, "i better watch out, or i might get Head Burn". we were like "head burn?", when we suddently realized she must mean "Brain Freeze!" ha! so now we have been calling it Head Burn and it cracks us up!

Finally, i will leave you with this lovely picture of my right heel...

There is supposed to be a shuttle that picks us up at the hotel and takes us to the conference center, but in typical Army fashion, sometimes it just doesn't show up :) The first day i didn't really mind the 2 mile walk in my boots/uniform, but by the end of the 1st day my heel was getting a little blister. I had to take my PT test on the second day (which i rocked, by the way!), which didn't help the old blister problem out too much. On the 3rd day the shuttle again didn't show up at the right time, and so i trekked the 2 miles back to the hotel. by then there wasn't a whole lot i could do about the fact that all the skin had completely peeled off my heel. Fortunately i am married to an awesome athletic trainer, which has been great for the treatment of the blister, however, not so great when i am looking for sympathy :) He reminded me yesterday that in the same way i get frustrated with women who are miserable from being pregnant at 39 weeks, and there is nothing i can do to fix their misery, my little blister situation is kind of the same thing for him. There is not a whole lot he can do to fix my misery, and eventually it will just resolve itself :) oh well, i guess i will just post the picture here in hopes of getting some sympathy from my blog buddies!

Teamwork!!

Our girls are growing up...and learning new ways to get themselves into trouble. This week they are delighting in playing and teasing for at least an hour everyday here in the hotel when I try to make them take a nap. I generally barely get them to sleep before Emilie is done with class and ready for us to head back out and pick her up.


But, they've also become quite the team...we have been frequenting the McDonald's playlands around Texas this week and while the tiered stair-step climbs up to the tunnels and slide are manageable for Juneau's 36 inch frame, Nova's towering 33 inches is JUUUUUST a bit shy of being able to hunch her tiny little self up to the next level.

After giving Juneau a little pep-talk about it being her job as the big-sister to look out for Nova, they came up with this...

Juneau gives a helpful assist...

While Nova finishes pulling herself up...

...Juneau jumps up to the next level.

Repeat as necessary...

Nova thinks the system works GREAT!!!

This has also caused Nova to become absolutely OBSESSED with "I'm the LITTLE sister!!"

It has been pretty crazy hot this week so far in San Antonio but the girls and I have been braving the humidity and enjoying the warm weather that Colorado has been soooo lacking to this point.

And finally...over the last 9 months we have been accused of being overly indulgent "yuppie" parents several times when people would notice on the blog that Juneau was wearing a pair of Air Jordan's and give us some heat about it. (Let me assure you, these were a once-in-a-lifetime find at a thrift store). Unfortunately we won't be helping quiet those rumblings with our latest find. Juneau was growing out of her Air Jordan's and Nova has been anxious for awhile to get her hands on them (I'm proud to say they both will enthusiastically say they have "Michael Jordan" on their shoes when asked).

In another stroke of luck, we stumbled into Kids Foot Locker last night and what did we find on rock bottom clearance but a pair of last year's Lebron James Nike shoe in a size 8...SCORE!!

Cousins Alex and Lyndsey are reportedly very jealous of Juneau's new kicks!!

Texas

Well, we have left the cold and dry for the hot and humid! I am attending a 2 week training course in San Antonio - the Captain's Career Course - and we decided rather than Cris and the girls staying behind in Colorado, we would all make the trip to San Antonio. It seemed like a pretty good idea until we got a call today that it was so windy at our house today, the fence in the backyard blew apart, and the dogs were in our neighbors yard....luckily it seems that everything is back under control, thanks to some pretty awesome neighbors.

Rather than our usual driving marathons, we decided to split the trip to texas up into 2 days, and it worked out very nicely. Here the girls are enjoying a lovely Texas sunset at a rest stop. Nova at about 12 hours into the road trip...enjoying the ride!
our first night's stop

part of what i was sooooo looking forward to about this trip to texas was seeing my dear friend, Tesa. Tesa and I met in my first year of medical school, and quickly discovered we were kindreds. We spent a lot of time studying at the local coffee shop, hiking, rock climbing, and trying to maintain our sanity while making it through medical schoo.

She is a beautiful, kind, and an overall unique and amazing person, and after not seeing each other for 5 years, it was amazing to get to spend some time together. She was, of course, on call this weekend, because that is just the life of an OB/GYN :) But we still got to spend some time together, as i tagged along with her to her little hospital whens she got called out to deliver a baby. UNFORTUNATELY i somehow did not get a single picture of Tesa on this trip, so i stole one of my favorites off her facebook!

Tesa has loved my girls since the second she heard of their existence. She has been Juneau's biggest fan since day one. She followed us through our lost referral, and then stalked the blog while cris was in Vietnam getting Juneau. She still watches our adoption video to this day. I love that she loves our girls from afar, and that she keeps up in the happenings of their little lives through the blog. It was like she already knew them when we arrived, and so they hit it off just perfectly, even though it was their first official meeting :)

Nova thorougly enjoyed bathtime in Tesa's tub!

lookin' cute after bath

We loved Tesa's hip little house!!! It is all about the windows and the natural light, and i couldn't stop taking pictures!! Unfortunately i took all of these pictures on Monday, while Tesa was at work, so she is not in a single one of them!

try to ignore the fact that the girls have choking hazards in their mouths....they were having so much fun with these balls i had to get a picture of them!

ok, ok, enough with the choking hazards.

they absolutely loved all the space in Tesa's house...especially this long hallway! the ran around like little crazy people after having been in the car for 2 days straight!

This morning we woke up and drove to San Antonio. Sea World offers 1 day free admission to active duty members and their families, and so we got to hang out all day with Shamu!

The girls both LOVED the shows!

but they had the very best time of the day when we found the little waterpark area

It took Nova a while to warm up to the concept (notice she is still dry!!) but eventually she decided it was actually fun!

Just as we were getting ready to leave we came across this obstacle course. we thought it would be to challenging for the girls...but, they were up for the challenge!Cris reallydidn't have to help them too much at all, and they were up the ropes, and across the mesh bridge without even thinking about it!

I though they might be scared once they actually got into these mesh tunnels, but they loved it!

finally we arrived back to our hotel room, and spent some quality time jumping on the beds! tomorrow should be a pretty light day. i just have to check in, get my paperwork together, and then get settled into the lodging on post. i'm hoping my days won't be too crazy busy. fortunately, there seems to be a lot for cris and the girls to do to keep themselves busy around san antonio while i am doing my training.

funny girls

just wanted to write down a couple of quick stories about the girls. they have been so hilarious lately! the other day cris put them in their crib for nap, and told them it was time to be quiet and go to sleep. he went downstairs and he could hear them up there jabbering away. finally, after a while, he went upstairs to tell them he could hear them talking, and it was time to go to sleep. Juneau looked at him so seriously and said "I was just telling sis to stay on her side and be quiet." sure, juneau, sure :)

we love it that they are interacting so much. it is so fun to see them really becoming friends. Cris was laughing yesterday about their "go to moves" when they get in trouble. Juneau's biggest problem right now is bopping Nova on the head with toys...not hard, just to get a reaction. Her "go to move" when she gets caught is to just throw down the toy and say "i don't want it". Nova's "go to move" for ANYTHING she gets in trouble for is to start saying "i'm tired. i'm tired". it's actually really cute.

Finally, the funniest thing they are doing lately is if we tell one of them to straighten up their attitude the other one will inevitably announce "I have a good attitude". or if one of them is found to have a wet diaper the other one will say "My diaper's not wet". or if one is crying in the crib the other one will say "i'm not crying in my crib". it's sooooo funny!!!

we love these little hilarious girls!

We have tulips...does that mean it's spring?!

I am a little hesitant to say it out loud, but i think that there is a chance that Spring has arrived in Colorado. Today we enjoyed 70 degree weather (well, at least for part of the day!) We had the opportunity to meet up with a couple of my good friends from medical school, Dee, and her husband Justin. My medical school experience was a little unique in that it was a "combined program". Basically, a group of about 35 of us started out right out of high school to earn our B.S. degrees, and then all continued together into medical school. It was awesome because it basically meant that from 18 years old until we graduated med school we were with the same group of friends, which was Awesome! Dee, Justin and I all started at the same time, and now they are practicing up in Denver. It was great to get together, hang out, and catch up a little. They took our crazy crew all in stride (we had both girls and all 3 dogs with us!) and we hung out at Garden of the Gods for awhile before hitting our favorite "Smashburger" for dinner. We spent a little time playing outside today, enjoying the nice weather. The girls loved just running around in the front lawn and playing in the sunshine.

I got these little Nike Dryfit shirts for them, and today when i pulled them out Nova got really excited and said "Like Alex and Lyndsey!!!!". I guess these shirts reminded her of something her cousins might wear! Nova especially has been talking nonstop about alex and lyndsey today. When we got in the car i think she somehow thought we were going to see them, and kept saying she wanted to play with them. The other day we say some kids out playing baseball, and she kept saying "That's like MY Brent!" They have this thing about whenever they see something similar to a toy they have at home they will say "that's like MY doll" or "that's like MY stroller", so it was so funny when she said "that's like MY Brent!". they must really have the ohio family on their mind because later Juneau said "Mom, i really miss Aunt Coral....Do you miss Aunt Coral?" I think they are going to LOVE spending some time living at Aunt Coral's in the fall, and that will make it soooo much easier for me during my first few months in Afghanistan because i know they are just going to love being with their cousins.

YEAHHHHH for SPRINGTIME!!!

both girls have really been into jumping off rocks and various things. Here nova is about to jump off a small rock in the front yard.

And last item of the day, but DEFINATELY not least.....Happy FIFTH Anniversary to my amazing Husband!!!! Five years ago we were ridiculously happy, enjoying a beautiful beachside ceremony, and starting a brand new life in Hawaii!!! Things have changed sooooo much in the last 5 years, and we couldn't be happier! God has blessed our marriage,and given us the 2 most amazing gifts we could imagine.

The last 5 years have been filled with adventures and travels and babies and surprises, and it has been amazing. We are looking forward to many more exciting years, and hope to have a marriage as l0ng lasting and wonderful as Don and Nova, Chet and Polly, Denny and Karen, and Tom and Judy!!!! Thanks to our amazing grandparents and parents who not only have supported us and our family, but have shown us how to love!!!

a little boring around here...

not too much going on around our house this week. We did have some snow flurries yesterday, which is just crazy! it's been quite cold/windy outside, which has kept us pretty much indoors this week. i am looking forward to the weather getting a little nicer so we can enjoy being outside a little bit more.

We are gearing up for a 2 week trip to San Antonio for a military training program i have to attend. Cris and the girls are going to tag along. I don't think i would be able to stand being separated from them for 2 weeks, knowing i am leaving in the fall.

so, i guess that's about all for the mini-update. :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

I love Mother's Day!!!! I have always loved mother's day because i loved finding/making little presents for my mom. Now i love it even more because I get to spend the whole day feeling blessed beyond belief that i get to be mom to these amazing girls. It is also the perfect time to think about all the influential aunties, grandmas, sisters, and friends who have impacted my life. I love that i am surrounded by women in my life who will be outstanding role models to Jbug and Nova.

I have to backtrack a few days in pictues because i got a little behind while my mom was here this week. Let me just say......A-MAZING Week! I felt a little bad that i had to work alll week while my mom was here, but it ended up being so awesome for the girls to get to have Grandma all to themselves. It was a week of total Grandma-Time, and they LOOOOVVEEED it! I'm not sure how they will go back to "normal life" after this week. Here you can see my mom taking them on one of their nightly walks to the park.
playing on the slide wtih Gram

JBug and the beautiful Colorado Sky

this kid loves a curly slide!

One of the highlight of my mom's trip was getting to "mush" the dogs.

She also made special dessert "creations" in fancy glasses that the girls lived for

On Saturday we got to celebrate Nova's birthday again....This time with FRIENDS!!!! We had initally planned to take Nova up to Casa Bonita for a delicious/ridiculous/hilarious 2nd birthday. We had done so much running around all week we were thrilled when the Pho For Five crew volunteered to just come to our house for the birthday party. Jackson, Shane and Finley are pretty much our girls favorite people in the whole world. If we even mention "Friends" the girls start into non-stop chatter about their 3 little buddies.

Jackson looks like a Baby Gap model even when biting into a giant chocolate chip cupcake!!!

little Fin :)

Nova was of course thrilled that she got to blow out her candles AGAIN!!

Cousin Melody sent a present all the way from Hawaii! Perfect timing, as it landed on our doorstep a couple of hours before her birthday party! Both girls are pretty obsessed wtih ABC's, and this little talking puzzle has been a real hit!

ahhhh.....the cheezy grin

This morning we headed over to the Craftwood Inn for Mother's Day Brunch. I was excited to take my mom to this restaurant so she could experience "Colorado Cuisine". The buffet specialized in local game, including Wild Boar, Lamb, Venison, and Elk. We had a great time tasting some of the unique food.

The location was beautiful....in old Manitou Springs with views of Pike's Peak

GramGram and the girls

Sistersgiggly girl

Juneau enjoying her brunch

NJ had a pretty good time too!

Me with the girls....sooooo happy to be celebrating my THIRD Mother's Day!!

Flashback to my SECOND Mother's Day!

And My FIRST Mother's Day!!! Nova only a few days old, and waiting anxiously for our bug to come home!! Thanks for the amazing visit Gram! We love you soooooo much, and we had an awesome week.