Well my unexpected mini-vacation is over. I decided last Thursday that I was going to take an impromtu vacation. I took from Thursday through today(Monday) off and boy was it needed. My mom came down Friday and she just returned to Cleveland tonight.  She helped me around the house and with the kids.  She even got up with Xavier one night - which was the only night he actually got up when she was here..is it a trend? I dare not wish.

I was able to get a lot of things done here at the house, including laundry…and I’ve made a goal sheet of what I want to accomplish every day or, for my first task, within 2 weeks.  My first “To Do” is organize the 2-3 boxes of pictures we’ve accumulated.  I want to organize them, rehang pictures on the wall and possibly change out the pictures in frames around the house. I’ve given myself 2 weeks to get this done - the longest time line of all my tasks.

I talked to Geno on Sunday(yesterday). He’s under a lot of stress there so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He’s a strong person and I know that it’s nothing he can’t get a handle on.  We love you Geno!

Xavier is amazing. Over the last few days even he’s grown up so much. It’s like he realized he was two and decided it was time for him to talk.  He has developed quite a few phrases but my favorite is whenever he uses “Please” and “Thank you”. He was asking all weekend - “More juice please” and “Thank you mommy”…it is great. I’m trying to get him talking more on camera so I can post it but the minute you put a camera in his face he just smiles until it flashes…so we will see.

Today taking my mom up to the airport in Raleigh we were sitting at a light. This light seemed to take forever!  Finally, my mom goes “hurry up” and Xavier immediately said “hurry up” and wouldn’t you know that light changed…. He loves to mock whatever you say - so watch your tongue!

Derrick came to me today after school and told me that since his class has some of the most talented singers in the chorus he wants to join. I think it’s great. Of course, it adds a little more chaos to our lives but what’s a dull life, right? 

Well, that’s about it for now.  Hope everyone had a great weekend and it’s back to the old grind for me tomorrow…woohoo (sense the sarcasm?)

He’s 2!!

We’ve been busy busy busy! I still haven’t scanned in the pictures from the picture people. I will try to do that tomorrow when I have some down time. I did take a lot of pictures today documenting Xavier’s 2nd birthday.  We had fun. We went to Red Robin where they sang “Happy Birthday” and gave him an ice cream sundae.  Xavier fell asleep while driving home. Once he woke up from his nap (at about 515p) I started dinner(we weren’t all that hungry though) then Xavier opened his presents and we ate MORE ice cream - in the form of a Cold Stone ice cream cake - wasn’t a big fan but I had to take what they had ready.  Anyway, I’ve added quite a few pictures to Flickr so click that little box to the right too see more. I’ve included a few of my favorites below…

Tomorrow he has his 2 y/o md appt. I’m guessing he’s about 35-37 pounds. They never get his height right so I will measure him when he wakes up in the morning.  My mom leaves tomorrow night :-(. It was really nice having her here. The company was great and I’m going to hate seeing her go but she DOES have a life outside of me - hard to believe I know.

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Birthday morning - he looks just like daddy

Birthday Day Lunch - Corndog and a salad (with a side of ranch, of course)

Red Robin sundae

Mister Cool

Derrick enjoying a good laugh

Derrick and Xavier searching…

Xavier enjoying some ice cream cake

Xavier and Grandma on Friday (4/27/07)

Pudding everywhere (4/27/2007)

This won’t be a long post. It’s way past Xavier’s bedtime and I’ve got to get him tucked in for at least half the night :-)  I just wanted to check-in and say hi to everyone.  Derrick had a soccer game today, They tied 2-2 with Derrick making both goals.  The refs called handball on every imporatant play against Derrick’s team. Both times resulted in a goal from the other team. Oh well…they played well.  We went up to Raleigh today to get Xavier’s pictures done. They turned out great and I will post them tomorrow sometime, hopefully.

My mom came up Friday morning and will be here until Monday evening. It’s really great to see her and have her around.

Tomorrow we are celebrating Xavier’s birthday very low-key. We got an ice cream cake and a few presents so that will be the extent.

I’ll post more tomorrow with pictures…

You guessed it, busy busy busy.  Opening ceremonies for the start of Spring sports was this weekend followed by Derrick’s first soccer game.  His team, the Tsunami’s, lost 5-0. Derrick’s team is very talented however this team was tall, fast AND talented. 

Derrick had a friend, Austin, spend the weekend. Derrick and Austin helped me with the front garden.  They worked their butts off and boy does it show.  We went to Home Depot yesterday and enjoyed some hotdogs from the stand afterwards.  I had been suffering from a bad headache most of the afternoon yesterday and this morning it was still lingering so instead of church we made french toast (for the boys) and then headed outside to beautify the garden. Most of the flowers are late spring/mid-summer blooming so once they start blooming I’ll post more pics. Austin went home about 4:30p and then off to the commissary for some groceries. I’m trying out 3 new recipes this week for dinner. I’ll let you know how they go and if they are good enough I’ll post them.

Xavier’s been giving me a hard time sleeping in his crib. I’ve even tried his “big boy” bed but that hasn’t worked either.  When Geno was home we let him cry it out and it took in the beginning 30 minutes and the time went down slowly until he had no problem going to sleep. Thursday he cried for 1.5 hours!  He made himself sick. So lately, if he fights it I let him cry for 30-40 minutes and then I go get him. I’m hoping it’s a phase but the stress of listening him cry himself sick is not something I can deal with right now. Anyone have any suggestions?  I think I’ve tried everything. Infact, today he hasn’t taken a nap. He tried falling asleep on the way home from the grocery (at 630p) but Derrick and I kept waking him up. Luckily, when we got home he perked up a little… Hopefully not letting him take a nap works tonight. We will see…

This week at work will be busy. I’ve got about 4 projects I’m working on and there is a good chance I will be working overtime. Which means I have to go in early since I can’t stay later than 5p.

Well, that’s it for now. Take care!

Derrick’s soccer game (Tsunami-0/Hurricanes-5)

Garden Progress

Some Xavier…

I saw a press release on Wednesday for Deployment Extension of Active Army soldiers both in Iraq now and those heading out. I confirmed with Geno and he is part of that extension. With this extension rather than him coming home at the end of Nov. beginning of Dec. we are looking at end of February beginning of March. Though this quite a disappointment for Geno, Derrick and I (Xavier’s still can’t comprehend) we know that this is something that has to be done no matter how difficult it is. Is it fair? No, but life always isn’t. 

On a MUCH happier note my wonderful husband sent me the most GORGEOUS flowers a woman can ask for!  I’ve included pictures at the end of this post.

The boys are doing well.  Soccer practice restarts tomorrow(weather permitting).  The weather has been crazy - as most of you know. 

This weekend we didn’t do much. We went to Raleigh yesterday so I could get some running shoes. We ended up staying in Raleigh for most of the day. We saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Xavier had a blast. If I got a nickel for every time he said “Whoa” it probably could have piad for the movie. It was a cute movie and I’m betting there will be a sequal.

The Best Buy guys came on Wednesday.  It took them all of 25minutes and they were out of here. I couldn’t believe it! I was hoping for the price they charge they could have at least sweated a little…nope, not the case. The good thing is, it’s set up and I’m taping the 23 or so hours of shows for Geno as I type this now.  When they showed me what they had to do I knew that it was worth the price - I NEVER would have figured it out!

Well, thanks so much for checking in.

Xavier eating strawberries

Happy Easter everyone!

Today was busy, though not overwhelming.  We went to church and it turned out to be a great church. I will probably continue going. The people were friendly, Derrick enjoyed the youth church and I picked up Xavier as he was chasing a little girl into an elders lap…lol

We went to IHOP for lunch which was nice but REALLY crowded!  We then headed home so Xavier could take a nap…after the nap we went to the Cape Fear Botanical Garden. It was really nice there, despite not a lot of flowers blooming. I got some great shots of the boys and some nature (see below and on Flickr).

 After that we headed home. Like I said, nothing big but we had fun regardless. 

Geno is doing well. He called today and he’s enjoying some time away from work in Qatar. It’s like a recreational trip the soldiers take for an extended weekend. He’s been there since Thursday and may be returning back to the compound sometime this week. He’s still planning on coming home for the reunion at the end of July.  

I just realized that we have only spent one Easter with Geno and that was the first one.  He was in Iraq for the 2nd one, in CA training for the 3rd and again in Iraq for this one.  I’m going to have to make him a HUGE basket of Jelly Belly’s, tuna and chicken packets and maybe even some fudge.

Well, I hope everyone had a great Easter and send me some pictures!!!!

The craziness never ends of course but I’ve finally found a few minutes to give a little update. Nothing really new going on this way… Work was work this week. I had Friday off so Xavier went to daycare and Derrick went to the rec center for most of the day. I just went to the gym, went through Xavier’s clothes. I had 3 baskets of clothes!!!  Two baskets of clothing to small and one overflowing basket of 2t clothes…I didn’t think he had that many but boy was I wrong.  I also organized the two boxes of papers I had. Everything of importance went into the fireproof safes. Next mission is the outragous amount of pictures I have floating around. I need to REclean the garage. It seems that a tornado hit it and I didn’t even realize it.  Tomorrow the boys and I are headed to a new church Southview Baptist. I have yet to find a “good” church down here. I don’t know what it is…I guess my church in Ohio, Reynoldsburg Baptist left such an impression on my heart that I can’t find any that compare!  I’ll let you guys know tomorrow how it went.  Then the boys and I are going out to lunch and possibly to the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens.  It’s supposed to be about 60 tomorrow which is just about perfect.  When we get home I might try to solve our DVD recorder issues. Best Buy is supposed to come over Wednesday to “professionally” hook it up. I’m not so thrilled about the price though so I might try to problem solve it myself…

Well, I need to get some rest…long day tomorrow.  I’ve added some new pictures on Flikr so check those out if you have some time…

Until later…nighty night