New Shoes...

Yesterday all the kids got something new.

McKenzie has had her eye on some new shoes she saw at the mall. She had a stack of checks she got for her birthday that we had forgotten about, so I deposited them and gave her some cash to get her shoes. So we were off to the mall...

They weren't what I was expecting, but she REALLY wanted them and so I let her use her own money to get them. She was excited to be able to wear her brand new NEON Converse Shoes on her fieldtrip today.

Trevor has hit another growth spurt. He has already grown out of the jeans I bought for him just before Christmas. And his shoes were getting too small too! So here are the shoes he picked out.... He was excited to wear them to school today too!
Now, Addison is quite content with her crocs, so it wasn't shoes that she got. Instead, she got a black eye. My poor baby. She was watching a helicopter hover above the mountainside outside our front window, and I was sitting beside her. She was dancing and all excited and she bumped her head on the wooden trim. I thought she had bumped her forehead, but didn't see a bump anywhere until after her nap a few hours later, I noticed her eyelid was red and swollen. This morning was even worse. Luckily, you can't really tell when her eyes are open. But when she closes her eyes, you can tell she has a little boo-boo.

Curriculum Night

After our afternoon at the hangar, it was off to Puohala Elementary School for Curriculum Night! McKenzie had stayed after school with her friend Tiani to help her teacher set up. They set out science projects and hung posters.

The little ones were too tired for another outing, so McKenzie and I took the opportunity to have a girls night out. She showed me all her classmates science projects, and then later demonstrated her and Tiani's own project of the Floating Egg (Buoyancy). We chatted with her teacher for a while and then headed back home.

It was fun to see all the things she has done in school. Her teacher always speaks very highly of her and was so appreciative of her extra help after school. I really enjoyed hanging out with her for a couple hours, just the two of us.

Welcome Home 1/3!

Yesterday our friends Alan Trammell and Ben Croes returned home after their 7 month tour in Iraq with 1st Battalion 3rd Marines. Both were previously Ugly Angels and were chosen to do a FAC tour and were assigned to 1/3.

Alan is the husband of my friend Sherree, and the daddy to Hudson and Hannah, and Ben is a great friend who has helped Nick SO MUCH on the house... so we loaded up and headed to the hangar to help welcome them home. I brought my camera along, but took pictures for Sherree with her camera so she could focus on the kids and watching for Alan. Meridith was on video camera duty for her as well. We were more than happy to help them capture all the moments of the homecoming!

The group was scheduled to land at Hickam Air Force Base and load the buses to KBay, but last minutes changes diverted them directly to KBay! It was so neat to watch the jet land on the runway and welcome them home as they came down the stairs off the plane. The red carpet was rolled out and the Marine Corps Band was jamming the whole time. Addison was a big fan, as she wiggled and bopped her head along to the music.

Trevor however, was in a different mood. He was very upset that his daddy wasn't going to be coming off the plane. He cried and just wanted to go home. Part of that was due to being tired and needing a nap. He is still recovering from his sickness and was not feeling 100%.

We hung around for a bit. Meridith walked Addison around the hangar full of Marines for a while.....it was a win/win situation there. Addison needed to move around, and Meridith was able to 'mingle' and check out all the single Marines! Luckily for Meridith, Addison was very excited to show any of the Marines her crocs! She would randomly walk up to them and lift her leg and point to her shoes and babble as if to say "Hi! Do you like my shoes?" Then she would just smile and wait for their response.... SO FUNNY!

We have been storing Ben's jeep in our garage, so we gave him a ride to our house so he could get his jeep and drive home. He was very tired and so glad to be back in Hawaii. Addison stared at him the entire time and showed him her crocs all the way home. I had made and frozen some casseroles and lasagna for him to take home so that he could just throw them in the oven and eat, since he didn't have much in his condo I'm sure. I also made him a plate of scotcharoos!

We are so glad they are back home, safe and sound!

Baby Appointment

I had my 18 week appointment this morning! It was a quick one! The doctor just checked the heartbeat, which was in the 140's and then we talked the rest of the time about the Freedom Call the hospital does for deployed military families who deliver babies while their husband is in Iraq.

It's a video conference type setup they roll into the delivery room so that the dad can 'be there' to watch and hear all that goes on during delivery! If Nick isn't back in time for the birth, we hope it works out that we can take advantage of this great program!

Other than that, all is well. I have been able to feel the baby kicking for about 3 weeks now. He or she is a very active little baby!

And no, I haven't peeked in the secret envelope!

Children's Discovery Center Fieldtrip

Last Friday Trevor's pre-school class went on a fieldtrip to the Children's Discovery Center. My friend (Hudson's Mom), Sherree, chaperoned so she shared these pictures with me! Trevor and Hudson were partners, so I got a lot of cute pics of them together! They got to do a lot of really neat things in the center, and they had a great time!

On the Bus

Sliding Down the Slide & Driving the Fire Truck

Studying the Brain

Being served Dinner on the Airplane

Hannah got to have a playdate with Addison while the boys went on their fieldtrip. They got along so well! Here, I caught Hannah trying to give Addi her binky. Addi just sat there with her mouth open and Hannah attempted to put it in....backwards, crooked and upside down. When she would miss, they would both just giggle, and then try again!

18 Week Ultrasound

Just got back from my 18 week ultrasound! The tech was really nice and showed us all kinds of views. Turner #4 was very active and tossing and turning, kicking their legs and waving their little arms constantly. Some measurements took a little longer to get due to the little stinker being so squirmy.

Trevor discussed baby names while we watched. He first thought that we should name this baby Addison too, but then I told him that would be a little confusing. So he said, "Um...well, maybe we could call her Judy!" I told him, "Well, that's Grandma's name!" "Ugh...well, okay then we'll call it Anne!" (No idea where that came from)

Then I asked Trevor, what if the baby is a boy? "Mom, those are all girl's names!!" And I gave up.

Here is a good profile of the baby.
She roughly measured #4 to be about 14cm from head to rump.

Here is baby's abdomen on the left, and face on the right.
(A little alien looking in this one)

Baby measured to be about 19 weeks 3 days, which is a full week bigger than I supposedly am currently. She said that calculated out to be a due date of July 26. My original date was August 5th. But I think the 5th is a little more accurate according to timelines. Only time will tell!

And speaking of 'telling'... I informed her at the start that we had decided NOT to find out the gender of the baby. But when we were finishing up, she looked at me and said.... "So, are you SURE you don't want to know what you are having?" The possibility was nagging at me, but I said, "No, but my husband wanted to find out...he's in Iraq." We joked about how Nick only wanted to know what the gender was if it was a boy..... (Seriously!)

So she said, "I can take a picture of the 'area' and label it and seal it in an envelope. Then you can send it to him if you like! And he can open it if he wants to....

So, here it is...the TOP SECRET envelope!
What will happen to it...that is yet to be determined!

After the appointment, as we were leaving the hospital, Trevor said "But Mommy...she didn't take the baby out!!" I guess when I told him we were going to see what the baby looks like, he thought it was coming out!!!

Dinner with Friends

Thursday night my friend Gina and her kids, and Sherree and her kids came over for dinner. Joe (8) and McKenzie (11) grilled, yes I said grilled, all by themselves, grilled our steaks....which by the way, were fabulous!

After we ate, the kids ran around the yard and burned off some energy.
Joe and McKenzie kicked the balls around, and a lot of times over the fence, which ended in many races to see who could hop the fence and get to the ball the fastest.

Trevor, Hudson & Helen played baseball, or was it golf?

The backyard was a crazy three ring circus!

THEN, TONIGHT..... we had my friend Sherree Trammell and her 2 kids, Hudson and Hannah along with my friend Kristina Attwood and her son Wyatt over for supper. Sherree brought strawberries and chocolate! It was the peak of the night!!!! Loved by all!

All the kids were a chocolate-y mess! Even some of the moms got a little chocolate on our faces! Who doesn't love chocolates and bananas and strawberries.

It is always great fun to get together for dinner with friends. It's a great distraction, a load off of making a full meal, since we all bring something to contribute, and the best part.... the kids run their tanks til empty!