Almost Christmas!!!

Wow!! This year has gone by so quickly!! Christmas is my most favorite holiday of the year, the meaning behind it and all the 'magic' about the season. I love having a Christmas tree, spending time with my family and teaching my kids about the REAL meaning of Christmas, Jesus' birth. It is such an awesome time!! To make things even more special this year, Kassy and her preschool class put on a play about Jesus' birth. It was so cute and special. Kassy played Mary and just made me smile the whole time. :D I was very proud to say the least (but who wouldn't be!).

This year we have Nic home with us as well, which is very special to us. We won't have him home next year with us, so we are just enjoying this time together as a family.

Lilly turned 7 on December 15th!!! How time is flying with my babies. Kassy and P will have their birthdays in February and Nic and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary in April! I love my life and am amazed everyday how quickly the time is going by (even when I have a little guy in his 'terrible two/threes!).

Merry Christmas to everyone!!! :D

It's December already!!

Wow! I can't believe that Christmas is just 15 days away and my baby girl (Lilly) is going to be 7 in 5 days! Time goes by way too quickly. It feels like only yesterday that I was watching Nic bring her over to me to hold for the first time. Amazing. Now she is just a smart, wonderful little girl. *sigh*

Nic has been gone for a little over a week now and we still have over a week to go, but we are just so thankful that he will be home for the holidays this year! Lilly (as well as Nic) is disappointed that he won't be here for her birthday this year, but we'll make up for it with the gift. LOL.

As for my Kassy, she is going to be Mary in her schools Christmas play, I will be sure to put up pictures! It should be so fun to watch all the kids, I can't wait! She is growing up so quickly and is becoming such a good little girl! I was so worried about her, but she is definitely becoming such a joy. :)

Preston on the other hand has become quite the handful and is in his 'terrible' three stage. Ugh. Lots of temper tantrums and ugly-ness. (If that is a word!) I can not WAIT for this phase to pass, it has been one month already. He likes to try to negotiate and argue for his way. Horrible, he never wins but he still tries his darndest.

Nic and I are just enjoying the time he gets to be home (which is few and far between lately). We are so thankful that he is safe and sound and that everyone is healthy! As always we are praying for all the military friends and family who have loved ones in harms way and who are far away from their families this holiday season. It is the hardest time for them (as we know a little too well). Please join us in praying for these special people this season. Love to you all!

He's on a BOAT!!!

So finally, we can post Nic has a boat! He is now on the USS Toledo and is very excited to be 'back in action'. We are also very blessed to be staying here in CT and not having to move!! It makes things much easier for us (with Lilly and Kassy's schools, etc). We are all very happy and relieved.

Sickness has been running rampant in our house the past few weeks, nothing big, just annoying really. Fever, cough, and nastiness. We are just blessed that no one has any 'underlying' conditions and we are all relatively healthy and happy.

With the holidays right around the corner, it is such a special time of year. We love every minute of it and are enjoying just being together (when possible) and relaxed. Now I just need to get in gear and get our Christmas cards made and out... just need a good picture to put on it! :D

Must go, have a VERY whiny Kassy.... *HUGS*

Look Book is up for Soft Clothing!!

Here is the link for the Soft Clothing website!! So exciting... it will launch at the end of this month! You can browse the website and also the look book. You will see a familiar face throughout.... ENJOY!!!

http://www.softclothing.net/

Soft Clothing!

Hi everyone!!! For those of you who know, Lilly had an exciting saturday (last weekend) and got to model for a company called Soft!! She had a blast and we are so excited about this company! She keeps talking about the clothing, how she loves them and can't wait for the company to launch. I'm not sure I have seen her this excited over something in a long time. Her and three other kids got to go to NYC, try on the clothes and then model them for the companies Look Book that is coming out in November! We are beyond excited and wanted to share the link with people who may have a child with a sensory disorder or just like to wear nice, soft, comfy clothes!!! (I will also share one of the photos that was taken that day!!) If there are any questions about this awesome company please let me know and pass the word on!!!

Lots of changes....

Looking at my blog, I realized I hadn't blogged in a long time! We have had an interesting past month... between two hospitalizations for me, school starting, orders not cut and my 30th birthday looming the blog hasn't been first on the list of priorities!!

Update on my health: I was hospitalized at the end of August (for four days) and had my gall bladder removed. We were hoping that was the problem, but unfortunately it wasn't. (Not a huge deal, considering I have a very bad family history of bad gallbladders, so it may have needed to come out sometime in the future. My surgeon actually said he was shocked because he couldn't find an artery running to my GB anywhere! So it was amazing it had made it this long...) I went back into the hospital 9 days later (for four more days, yuck!) and had some more tests run. Turns out I have ulcerative colitis, which makes lots of sense. So lots of dietary changes, medication therapy and hopefully we can get this under control! :)

Update on the kiddos: Lilly started first grade this year!! Amazing! She is back at the Regional Multicultural Magnet School and loves it! She has the same teacher she had last year (block classes) and loves her. Kassy is back at Tollgate Christian Preschool (for her second year) and thrives there! She loves it and can't wait to go on monday, wednesday and friday! Preston is home for one more year with me. He will be going to Tollgate next year (as long as we are still here) and can't wait to be 'big' like the girls.

Update on orders: We have no orders as of yet. Nic has been working furiously to try to get us to stay here in Groton. But we only have until November 1st before we take a serious dock in pay unless he gets back to a submarine. So, we will be taking orders no later than October 15th, no matter where it is we end up. Will keep you up to date on all that....

One year older: Well, Nic (my dad and my friend Julie) pulled the wool over my eyes this year! They threw a 30th birthday party for me yesterday at Stash's Cafe. It was super fun and loved having lots of my family and friends all in one place, at one time. :) He also got me a minivan!! I never thought I would be so excited about a minivan, but I am thrilled!! Love it and the ease with the three kiddos. :)

So that is the short version of the past two months. I'm sure I forgot things, but am hoping to keep up with this a little better now that things seem to be relaxing a bit. :)

Catching up...

July just flew by for us here at the house! I kept meaning to blog, but the time was just getting away. We went to Yellowstone National Park! It was by far the coolest place we have ever been! We are hoping to do it again sometime in the future... we only got to spend a few days there, but it was well worth it! We also went to Mt Rushmore, which was absolutely incredible in itself. I was so glad to be able to bring the kids to these spectacular places. I was getting quite frustrated with the fact that my health was keeping us from doing things this summer. But once I got the intestinal infection under control we were able to go on our trip! The gallbladder will be coming soon, I'm suspecting.

Here are a few pictures of our trip out west!



This was us as we were driving. We stopped at a rest stop in front of the Mississippi River. LOL



Us at Mt. Rushmore!




Nic and I in front of the sign for Badlands National Park.


Those are just a few of the pictures. I have many more on my facebook page if you want to take a peek. All in all it was a wonderful time.

With school just around the corner, we are now taking a bit of a break, just trying to get ready to go back. Lilly will be in 1st grade this year, Kassy will be in 3 day preschool and Preston and I will be chilling together! It should be a fun year. Nic will be returning to a submarine, we just aren't exactly sure which one yet. We have an idea, but don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. We have had it change on us too much. Once we have specific orders IN HAND I'll be sure to pass on the news!!! :)