Jocelyn's 16 month update!

Sixteen months already?!?!

~waves her hands at items she wants.
~favorite buddy(besides her mommy & daddy of course): her big sister.
~hates the taste of juice but still LOVES her water!
~walking all over the place now.
~loves to giggle and smile!
~has 8 teeth to show off.
~loves playing with water---bath time is her ultimate favorite time!
~loves to read books--yes, this including my cookbooks :)
~babbles a lot!
~has the sweetest little personality--we love her so much!
~very curious and keeps mommy plenty busy. :)
~enjoys music---even dances when music is on.
~gets into the cupboards---playing with tupperware & pots and pans.
~schedule: 1-2 naps a day (2-3 hours total), eating every 3 or so hours during the day and sleeping 11-12 hours a night.
~finally venturing different finger foods. some recent: yogurt & mac n cheese.
~loves seeing & hearing birds.
~enjoys watching flags flying in the wind.
~waves hello and bye bye.
~most of the way over stranger anxiety--maybe mommy & daddy can finally go on a date! lol
~has fun torturing...uh, i mean, playing with George our cat.
~can crawl both up and down the stairs.
~comfort items: still her favorite stripped blanket. can't go to bed or nap time without it! (it's a good thing I bought a copy huh? lol)

Travel Swap: Deadline is Jan. 21st

I came across something REALLY fun to get involved in and wanted to take a moment to invite you along. A.......



The host for this Travel Swap is Kelly and you have until January 21st to sign up--so hurry on over and check out what you need to do if you're interested in getting some FUN mail and getting the chance to know someone new! Click on her name above ("Kelly") or go to her website at: http://according-to-kelly.blogspot.com Please pass this on to family/friends/neighbors whether you sign up yourself or not---email it, blog it, etc. Only one more week left to sign up for the Travel Swap! :) This should be a lot of fun!!!

Walking Like A Pro & First Word

So...there goes the neighborhood!! Jocelyn is walking completely independent now! We've been actually waiting for this moment for some time but we've been assured that she's still on schedule (average independent walking is between 12 & 18 months) so we're not worried she decided to take her time with this milestone. We knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. She has been following us around the house skating with her socks as she walks through the kitchen giggling here and there and then turns and goes on to the next room. All without falling! We're so proud of her!

Jocelyn is concintrating so hard on walking across the room without falling down. Way to go sweetie!!

There is actually a funny story behind this photo. John was out in the living room folding a load of clean laundry when she snuck a pair of his underwear and strolled around the house with it. This right here is proof that she continues to amuse us daily!

And if that news wasn't enough, she also just said her first word (other than Mama and Dada of course)! This morning I was putting her up in her high chair for lunch and George (the cat) was on the floor in front of it in the way so I said "Go George." A few seconds later I hear something being said from Jocelyn that made me turn my head. She said "GO!" And then she proceeded to say it over and over again with a grin on her face because she KNEW she was making sense. I was grinning right along with her. I have to say that it almost sounded like 2 parrots talking to one another during her lunch time. I'd say "go" and then she'd say "go." It was too cute!! :)

Jocelyn and Mommy hanging out on the couch with George while she takes a break from all that walking.

Another Day at the Park

This day was a high record here for us in Fredericksburg Virginia: 73 degrees in January! So it was a weird, but a nice change in weather and we very much enjoyed it! And the girls did too! As soon as Aubrey hit the concreate getting off the school bus, we were on our way to our favorite playground down the street. They had a good 30-45 minutes to swing and slide and just have a good ol time. They are so cute together too. Big sis is always looking out for her little sis--as it should be! What a great day we had.

John got PROMOTED!

Friday January 4, 2008

Goodbye Sergent and HELLO Staff Sergeant! Jocelyn and I went to his promotion ceremony today (Aubrey was at school) and helped pin on his new rank. First of all, I had NO idea which way the rank pin was supposed to go and his Chief Warrant Officer was pinning the other side, so I soon found out that I accidently put it upside down. LOL But all is well...it was fixed the proper way and we got a good laugh out of it. Here are some pictures I had taken of his special occasion. We're so proud of him! :) "Good job, Honey!!"

Christmas 2007

As many of you know and experience first hand yourselves, December is usually a very busy (but good) month. I apologize that this has taken me this long to write. It's been in the works for some time now but things have finally begun to slow down and getting back to 'normal' and alas, with more time, here is the long awaited post!

To start off, our family took a trip back HOME to spend the holidays with our extended family for 2 whole weeks (16 December-29 December) and we had a blast! It went by rather quickly which we were sad about but it was really nice to be with family again. First of all (and not such a great memory), Jocelyn got very sick right before we were scheduled to leave for home. We honestly didn’t know if we’d be able to come back as a family for the holidays because she was so sick and unable to keep anything down. She had a stomach virus again (happened last Sept.) and we admitted her into the pediatric unit at the hospital and they kept her overnight (13 December) to pump her with fluids due to dehydration. So, the next day she was released at about 10pm. That would make it shy of 10 hours prior to our scheduled flight out. With not only doctors orders given that she needed a day or two of rest before flying, we were exhausted and had no packing done as we had intended so it worked out best all around that we waited. She thankfully got better and our vacation was back on schedule.

We flew out Sunday afternoon with no problems except the 2 screaming children next to us we had to listen to on our last leg of 5 hours. No, it was not screaming that I could sympathize with: it was not due to ear pressure, a child tired or a little baby that doesn't know any better. It was because their mom yelled at them the entire time while she indulged in her People magazine. To be honest, John and I at one point didn't know who we wanted to strangle more: the kids or the mom. We were again reminded how blessed and lucky we are to have well behaved children. We eagerly ran off the plane around 10pm to be greeted by FAMILY! :) Home sweet home!

John and I soon realized that we had a full two weeks ahead of us and the things on our "wish list" of stuff we had hoped to do while in town were quickly set to the side. So while we weren't able to see our friends or go to Powell's Books downtown---we DID get to spend time with our family and that's all we could have truly wanted or asked for. Family is the most important and will always be #1!

So here's a run down of the things we did while visiting the NW for 2 weeks:

• Finally got to see our family! Oh! How much they were missed!
• Celebrated Edie's birthday at The Spaghetti Factory. We really had a fun time!
• Guys went out to attend the Blazer game and girls helped the kids make fun gingerbread houses.
• Aubrey was baptized and confirmed a member of the church. It was a very special day for her and our family.
• Visited with family on both John & I's side.
• Got new pjs Christmas Eve and watched A Christmas Story.
• Spent Christmas Eve Eve at my Mom & Dans, Christmas Eve at John's Dad & Hazel's with his side of the family, and Christmas Day-morning: Mom & Dan's & -afternoon/evening: Dad & Edie's.
• Walked around the newly remodeled Clackamas Town Center mall.
• Went out to breakfast with John's Mom & Step Dad.
• Walked down Peacock Lane with my Mom, Dan, Erin, Nick, Michael, Michelle, and our family. It's been a family tradition for as long as I can remember and even though we all freeze our butts off for 20 minutes or so, it was well worth it! Afterwards, we went out and got some hot chocolate at Starbucks and hung out for awhile.
• John went with Nick, Nick's buddy, and Michael up to Mt. Hood Ski Bowl for the day and went snowboarding. Michael and Nick hadn't been up in a few years and were apparently a little rusty but not much compared to John. This was his first attempt! According to Nick and Michael, John didn't do so bad--better than most people trying it out for the first time--so I'm gathering that he wasn't on the ground as much. He came back aching and was sore for the remainder of the week...swearing up and down that his shoulder really did hit his belly button while snowboarding. Hmm...don't know about that one! I'm glad they had fun though.
• John, the girls, my Dad, and I went to zoo lights to ride on the train and see all the lights displayed throughout the whole Oregon Zoo. Cold and rainy, but VERY fun! Stopped and had a treat afterwards. And oh do I miss that place already! I was actually spoiled and went to this destination twice -once with my sister not long after arriving in town and this time after the zoo.
• Toured the inside of the Pittock Mansion for the first time with Aubrey, my Mom, Michael & Michelle (John was unfortunately back at the house with a migraine). What a pretty historical building. And the view from the house was breathtaking!
• Enjoyed the dozen trips to Fred Meyer and Safeway during our trip. These stores are unlike the grocery stores I've seen on the East Coast---they have way better produce. Not that I'm comparing, right? :) It's not bad on the East Coast...just an adjustment to new and different things.
• We went to lunch with my Mom (it was her work lunch break) & Dan to Red Robin.
• We went to church with my Dad and Edie. Their ward choir had a Christmas program that was amazing! It was called a Cantata with music, singing and stories read.

Leaving to go back to Virginia was hard but also a relief so we could go and relax from our fun-filled vacation. We miss our family a lot! We had a great time with them and we look forward to seeing them again just as soon as possible!!! :)

"LOVE YOU ALL!"

Love, Leslie

Here are some pictures I took on our trip: