Surprise, surprise.......

Well, it looks like we will be moving again! Our ultimate goal has been to get as close to home as we can. The closest Army base to home is about a 3 1/2 or 4 hour drive. Travis has been offered a job at Fort Leavenworth, KS. The picture above is of the old military prison on base. It is still standing, but they have built new facilities. Fort Leavenworth is only about 4 1/2 hours from home, so we have decided this will be our last big move. Travis starts work on May 11th, but we will be leaving Louisiana by the 1st of May. We had already scheduled to take vacation time at the end of April/beginning of May, so it works out really well. We are all very excited to be able to see the grandparents more often as well as our friends at home. Kaity keeps talking about moving to the place where it snows, lol. For the last three winters, we have lived in places that just don't have real winters, so it will be fun to see the kids build their first snow man and get to go sledding and throw snow balls......and all the other fun snow activities!

Picture update

Okay, so it has been quite a while since the last time I posted pictures, so here we go. I put them on here backwards and don't have the time to change it, so you'll just have to deal with it. Sorry! Hope you enjoy!

This is a picture of our dog, Boomer. Travis' dad got him for the girls for Christmas. He really is a good dog and is learning to obey very well.

Abby thought it would be fun to hide behind the fence and I just had to take the photo opp.

Travis is "attacking" Kaity and Boomer is going nuts trying to protect her from the "mean daddy", lol.

Here is Abby playing on her slide while Travis and Kaity play with Boomer in the background.

Abby was having a hard time going to sleep, so she came out to have daddy read one more story.

Abby loves to go over and look at the cows in our back yard. If we go out front, sometimes we will catch her trying to slip through the fence to out to the pasture for an attempt at petting them. She never gets too close before they run away, poor girl, lol.

Decorating the Christmas tree.

Abby scarfing a whole turkey leg at Thanksgiving. Amazingly, she actually finished most of it!!

Halloween with Cinderella and Snow White (Kaity and Abby).

Kaity built this all by herself and was so proud of it. She begged me to take of picture of it.

Appearantly, this is what happens when mommy has a job and leaves the girls at home with daddy.

Concentrating very hard on coloring in the lines.

Abby posing in mommy's shoes.

Kaity and daddy cheesin'.

Smiles

So, I decided it was time to quit my job and stay home with the girls again. I have been home from work for a little more than a month and I'm loving it. We were able to take a trip up to Oklahoma to visit our families. I have finally been able to get the rest I have been needing during this pregnancy. The weather has finally decided to be nice, so the girls and I have been going outside every day for some play time. I take a big pillow to sit on and try to read a book while the girls run around picking flowers and digging in the dirt. Soon, we should be able to start fishing again, and I can't wait.

On Wednesday, we had an appointment with my doctor which included an ultrasound. We were so excited to find out that we will be having a boy this time!! The baby looks healthy and he has five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot. Right now, he weighs just under 1 pound, but it won't be long before it feels like I have a monster growing in my belly and I'm urging him to hurry and come out. lol

Kaitlyn has made a discovery. Things that are good for her make her grow. So now, every time she drinks a glass of water or eats yogurt or whatever, she says, "Mommy look! I'm growing. I'm going to grow so big, it will break your house!!" The things kids come up with.....

Happy New Year!

We've made it through the Holiday Season. Travis' dad came down for Thanksgiving and stayed for about a week and a half to help take care of the girls, since our babysitter was out of town. We all enjoyed having him here and the girls were very sad to see him go.

My family came down here to Louisiana for Christmas. We had quite the house-full! Eight adults and four children (3 & under) all squished into our three bedroom house. It was surprisingly more comfortable than I imagined it would be! We all had a great time together playing games and keeping the kids entertained. Travis' dad got a border collie puppy for the girls for Christmas and my parents brought him down with them. We all love Boomer. He is a really good dog.

Travis and I just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary!! It's amazing how quickly the time has flown but feels like I've never without him. He truly is my best friend and I love him more than ever.

Now, we have some news. We found out recently that we are expecting!!! Our due date is August 7th. While we would love to have a boy this time around, we really just hope and pray for a healthy baby. We are so excited, Kaitlyn and Abby are always talking to us about the baby in mommy's tummy and really enjoyed going to our first ultrasound with us. I will try to do better this year and keep everyone updated on the progress of this pregnancy.

Update

So, the last few weeks have been pretty crazy around here. We spent a couple weeks working really hard to get into our new place and of course, just after we get in, Hurricane Gustav comes barrelling right at us! Having never been in a hurricane before, I was pretty nervous. But in the end, we didn't get hit as hard as we were afraid. We got a lot of rain and wind and lost power for a little while, but that was it! Now, just two weeks later, Ike has passed us and hopefully things will get back to normal.

Last night when I got home from work, Travis suggested that we go down to the pond by our house and go fishing. Just after we got down there, it started pouring! We were all soaked by the time we were finished. But, we did come home with 4 catfish!! Kaity even caught one and hers would have been the biggest if I hadn't caught mine just before leaving. We all had such a good time that we will probably be going fishing a few times a week from now on.

The girls are doing great! Kaitlyn is growing as fast as the weeds in my flower garden and so is her personality. She is very clear on the things she likes and dislikes. She is frequently caught singing; the alphabet, I'm a little tea pot, ring around the rosies, and the newest addition ~ A dream is a wish your heart makes (from Cinderella). She's working very hard on articulating and becoming better at telling us what's on her mind.

Abigail is my little cuddle bug. She is always wanting to sit on my lap or have me hold her or lay down on the couch with me. Lately, she won't go to bed without a book. Not just having us read one to her. She actually wants to HUG a book while she's going to sleep! I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound (or look) very comfortable to me! But that's what she's wanting, and when we let her have her book, she goes right to sleep. lol Right now, her favorite things are "noke" (that's how she says milk) and The Little Mermaid. I can't believe she will actually be 2 in just a few weeks!

Light bulb!!

So, yesterday morning, I was getting ready for work and I noticed Kaity staring at me. So we start talking and she says, "Mommy, you have brown eyes!" Then, "Daddy has green eyes! Abby has brown eyes!" And I stepped in and said, "No, Abby has green eyes." K-"Oh! They are pretty!" So I ask her what color her eyes are and she tells me they are brown. Instantly, I see the light bulb turn on! With the biggest eyes I've ever seeen on this girl, she says, "Mommy! You have brown eyes, and I have brown eyes! Daddy has green eyes, and Abby has green eyes!" I was so tickled that she had made that connection!

Change, change, change....

So, life has been pretty hectic lately. I started a new job about two-and-a-half weeks ago. I'm a teller at a bank. I've really enjoyed it! We are leaving the girls with a girl in the ward. She has a little girl that will be turning 1 next week. The girls really love going over there and are always talking about "Miss Shelly" and "Baby Lilli". I am so glad we have found someone we can trust and that the girls actually look forward to seeing!

We are in the process of moving into our new rental. We've decided not to buy just yet. Travis is hoping to get some certifications done quickly so that we can move closer to our goal of making it back to Oklahoma. We definitely don't want to go through the stress of paying rent and a mortgage again, or two mortgages, so we're waiting to decide how long we'll be here before we make any permanent plans. So, the house we are moving into is quite a bit bigger than the apartment we are in and has a nice sized yard for the girls to play in. It's also out in the country a bit, so we don't have as many neighbors. I'll take some pictures as soon as I can get the flower beds cleaned up some.