Finally!

Finally this last underway is over! Chris is home for a while now. I went and got him this evening and now he is on leave too! Yay for leave. We are headed out tomorrow to do some visiting with family so it will be awhile until I update.

grumpy babies

Gahhh.... I hate it when my kids are so grumpy. Lilly atleast has an excuse. She is getting her top 2 teeth at the same time. Kenneth, on the other hand, has no excuse at all other than he takes after his daddy. :) It just makes the day so much more difficult than it has to be when I have on crying baby in the back seat and one crying toddler right beside her screaming and kicking the front seat as I drive. Hopefully Adrianna will have pity on me when she gets home and not be grouchy. My fingers are crossed.

Fun in the sun!

Sunday we had a really nice time at the beach with some friends. I really enjoy getting out and letting the kids play at the beach. They really like it too. My babies are going to be so tan by the end of the summer. I put sunscreen on them all but they are all getting very dark. Kenneth has more color than I do already. He looks like he belongs at the beach on a surf board with his blonde hair and tan skin. So adorable.

Today we have had a really good uneventful day. Those are always nice because they are hard to come by sometimes. We had a husbands away get together tonight. It was 3 other ladies and myself with no husbands. Its interesting having that many ladies together with no men around. I really enjoy my time with other women, but I can't wait to have Chris home. Misty brought cupcakes for dessert so we gave Lilly one to "practice" for her birthday on. It was very cute. In 2 weeks my baby girl will be 1! OMG!

Also this afternoon I went and got a haircut. I got quite a bit cut off. I really like it though. I will try to get some pics soon.

Just another Saturday

Lilly fell down on our patio the other day and got a nasty scrape on her forehead and nose. She really didn't seem to care too much. She only cried for a minute, but it hurt me. I was right in front of her when she fell and just missed her.
This is Kenneth and a friend Jacob today playing in their sprinkler. It was such a hot day out that the icy cold water sure seemed to feel good.

Later after playtime and dinner we went to Coldstone with Misty. Lilly really enjoyed my mint ice cream, but she had her eye on something else. She wanted one of those cakes in the freezer. Momma's girl for sure. :)

Locks of Love

Adrianna has been bugging me for awhile to go and get her hair cut. Well we finally went in to have it done today. She showed the lady how short she wanted it and when the lady measured it she said that if we were to go just a little bit shorter it would be long enough for Locks of Love. I explained to Adrianna what Locks of Love was, and she was very excited to participate. I am so very proud of her for making such a big decision. It was her decision only. I told her that it was her hair and that if she wanted to do that she could. Well she was beautiful before, and even more so after. And a huge plus: She loves her new haircut!

Rambling

I can't wait for Chris to get home. These kids are giving me fits here lately. I just want him home for me to talk to and help me figure this stuff out. Soon... that's what I keep saying.

I have lost Chris' set of keys. I don't know how, where or when, but I know that I can't find them anywhere. It's really strange because I know where I usually put them. Anytime he has been gone they have been in the same place but now they aren't. He is going to be so upset. We still have my set, but now we will have to share. I called dealerships to see how much it would cost to have new ones made...yeah we won't be doing that anytime soon. They told me it would be almost $300 for the Volvo and almost $200 for the Expedition. I mean that is freaking insane. Why would it cost that much for a new key and remote? I could see spending that kind of money for it if it maybe had a GPS inside it, but it doesn't. And if it did then I wouldn't need to buy new ones would I? I am going to invent that. Just wait, I'll be famous. :)

I finally got emails from Chris. It had been a really long time since I had last heard from him. So I am super excited that "they" (whoever does this) got the system working again. Its hard enough that I can't see him or talk to him on the phone. Please don't take away the only communication I have! The emails we share are very generic. I don't think he has gotten any of my emails, and if he does he doesn't often mention questions I may have asked. And his are pretty short and sweet. And never fails that in there somewhere is "very busy honey". The Navy is working my man to the bone it seems. :) I guess that is his job though. Soon...

Lilly's birthday party is coming up in a few weeks. It is insane to me that my baby is almost 1 already! Where did the time go? I also hate it that so little of our families have been able to see her. There are quite a few that have never met her. We hope to rectify that situation soon. Adrianna gets out of school in just a few days. After that she will be 3rd grade bound. Yikes 3rd grade already? Kenneth is starting preschool this next year too. So come August sometime I will only have one child during the day on certain days. What will I do with myself? I don't think I will be able to function with just one. Haha oh wait Misty will soon have another one so I can help her with hers. :) Not saying she will need help though.

I want to hire a cleaning lady. I just can't find enough hours in the day to keep my house clean. I will pick it up several times a day only to have it trashed mere minutes later. So pretty much my only option is to do it after everyone is in bed. But nope that doesn't work either, because I am so stinkin tired from going all day long. So my house will stay as it always is hovering somewhere between chaos and cleanliness. Controlled chaos, that's what it is. So maybe for next Mother's Day I can talk Chris into getting me a cleaning person a few times a month.

Okay, so enough blah blah blah from me. Here is Lilly riding a friend's power wheels. She seems to really like it. It is one of the smaller ones that is actually made for kids her size. She can actually push the button all on her own to go. So cute! I think I am going to try to talk Chris into getting her something like this for her birthday. I also really want to get her the pink and purple Cozy Coupe. She loves to climb in and out of those cars.

heart breaking...

It is so hard for me when my 3 year old wants his daddy so much that he sees him everywhere. On the way back from taking Adrianna to school he saw a man in uniform and was screaming that daddy is home. He was so very upset when I told him that it wasn't daddy, and that daddy was still on the submarine. He launched himself into a major sob fest. He just kept telling me he wanted daddy home. I always tell him "soon". He wasn't just accepting that answer today. He kept begging "please please". It just breaks my heart to know my baby is hurting. Its so hard. I wish he could understand that it's not me keeping daddy away. I want him to know that his daddy misses him so very much and wants to be here too. We have a movie about a day in the life of a submariner. He watches it almost every day. He still thinks that he is watching daddy's boat. He looks for him on the movie. Will it ever be easier when daddy is away?

The crazies...

We totally have the crazies today. All of the kids are just being crazy wild little monsters. Hitting, fighting, running, screaming, and all around madness has been going on all day long. Adrianna sprained her ankle. (yes, another injury) and now Kenneth thinks its his personal mission to mess with that ankle about ever 5 minutes or so. Adrianna is such a drama queen. The Dr. said that it was sprained but she should be able to get around on it okay. They put a wrap on it at the clinic and now she thinks she is the stuff. She just thinks she is so cool with it on. She also wants to be waited on alot. I have my hands full with everything else going on. I don't possible have the time to give her a piggy back ride from her room to the kitchen so she can get a snack. (yes she asked) Kenneth has taken a huge step backwards in his potty training lately. The last 5 days he has had 7 accidents. Its crazy that this is happening now. He hasn't had any accidents in the 2 weeks before that, and now all of sudden all he wants to do is go in his pants! So frustrating! I hate when I have days like this.


Lilly on the other hand has been pretty good all day today. She is getting 2 new teeth so she gets grumpy sometimes but not too bad. She is just getting so big. I got her party decorations today. I am so excited to have her party. It is a cupcake theme and the stuff is so cute. Lilly has learned some new words here lately too. Here's what we have so far:

• ma ma


• da da


• bye bye


• no no (this one is the newest and it is so cute when she shakes her head while saying it)

Just my Lilly being her silly little self.

I found this pretty little guy out on our patio. YUCK!!! I hear that they aren't poisonous but i don't care. I want nothing to do with these things.

Happy Mother's Day!

I got to sleep in for Mother's Day. I got until 7am! Woo Hoo! Ack... these kids need to sleep in sometimes. Don't they know that mommy makes the rules today? Apparently they missed that memo. But here they are all bright eyed and bushy tailed to give me my gift and cards. I can't stay mad when I have this in my bed this morning.Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading!

Lilly's got a boyfriend!

Kenneth has this huge Elmo he got for his 1st birthday from his uncle Shane. We just recently got it out again as he had gotten to old for it, but now Lilly is the age for it. Lilly just loves it. If I hold it up she will come running full speed to get to this thing. Its bigger than she is but she will drag it all around. She will eventually trip over it and fall on Elmo. Then she just snuggles up on him. So cute. I just thought I would share her first boyfriend pic. Daddy will be so happy to hear about boyfriends already.

What to do when its 92 degrees out...

Well go out and eat breakfast with friends then head to the aquatic center of course. That is exactly what we did today too. The aquatic center is such a neat place. There is a huge playground right in the middle of a 2 foot deep pool. Its awesome. The older kids loved it and Lilly had a blast as well. Since its so shallow she was able to walk around and splash in the water. Kenneth isn't very comfortable with the water so he was kind of scared but he will get better. I bought a season pass. It was kind of crazy the price they charge for the season pass so we will be going a lot, and the kids will enjoy themselves even if it kills them. :) We are going to get our money out of this place dang it! :) I don't believe that it will take very much arm twisting to get them there. They had a lot of fun. And when Chris gets home he can come with us and help me out with the kids. On the other side of the park they have a huge water slide. Adrianna really wanted to go down it, but its just one of those things I can't do without his help.
I am always so careful to make sure the kids have sunscreen on because I don't want them to burn. But I always forget to get myself. Our last trip to the beach my back got roasted. I learned from then so I did put sunscreen on my back but today my thighs got so burned. I guess since I was just sitting with my legs right out in front of me in the water I got it pretty bad. Oh well. I will get a tan eventually, even if its not good for my skin.

Adrianna is getting water from the HUGE bucket dumping on her.
Just chillin'.
Kenneth is convinced that this IS swimming.
She didn't want to go home yet.

Making lollipops

Everyone getting ready to make lollipops. Notice Adrianna singing into the sticks.
"No, I'm not eating the chocolate Mom."

So silly Jack.

Eating the fruits of their labor.

So Misty and Jack came over and we grilled some chicken. Yummy stuff! Then we made chocolate lollipops. It was kind of a pain in the butt. The chocolate kept getting hard and we had to keep heating it up. But the kids really enjoyed it.

After dinner and lollipops we just went and hung out outside. Elicia walked down and the kids played on the trampoline and squirted each other with the hose. We had alot of fun. But now its time for bed. These kids wear me out.

Lots of random stuff...

Today my nephew was born! Yay for baby boys, his name is Cannon Shane O'Neal. Congrats to my baby brother and Tabitha.

OMG! I just bought my plane tickets for Chicago. I think I just might have a panic attack. I can't believe I actually did it. Chris is going to be so busy with the boat and all, but I feel bad for going away without him. I guess its only 10 days. If I wait on him to do a trip we might make it by the time all the kids graduate from high school. :) He agreed that it would be good for us to go, but I feel bad that he can't come too.

We got to go to the pool today. It was so exciting to finally get Kenneth back into the water. He hasn't been in a real pool since we left Memphis about 2 years ago. Its sad the poor kid has only been in a baby pool in our back yard for the past 2 years. I guess he gets to go to the beach. That can't be too bad. He had such a good time today at the pool. It got up to 90 today, so we were ready to swim. Adrianna had gymnastics today, so we went during that time. Next time I will try it with both of the bigger 2, and then work my way up to all 3 at some other point. Tonight when Kenneth and Lilly were taking their bath Kenneth was so fascinated with her belly. Here's the video of him talking about it. Sorry it goes a little longer than I wanted it to, but I can't figure out how to edit it. :)

Here is little Lilly with her favorite kitty. Well its her only kitty, but who cares? She loves her.

Also I just had to share a cute story about Kenneth. He has been potty training for awhile now. He is completely potty trained but still needs a little help occasionally. Well when he goes pee he wants to stand like a big boy he says. But when he is standing, he hasn't wanted to touch "it" . Well today he decided he was going to grab it and shoot it like a fire hose he says. It was so funny, I almost died. So there he is shooting his "fire hose" and out of no where he says just like the one grampa bob has. Haha. For any of you who don't know Grandpa Bob is Chris' dad and he is a fireman. But now I wonder. Does he think that is how the fires are put out? Or is he just pretending? That boy is so funny he keeps me guessing about what he is going to come up with next. There is always something.

3.5 hours later...

Oh my goodness. Never a dull day in the Smith household. This time it was Lilly getting hurt. She fell off of a friends toddler bed onto the floor. No big deal huh? Yeah not so much. She started crying so I go and get her to comfort her and make her feel better. When I pick her up, her entire body goes limp and her eyes roll back in her head. It lasted for maybe 10 seconds. I freaked out! "Oh god!" is all that I could say. I didn't know what exactly had just happened. I called the nurse call center for the base and the nurse tells me she may have had a seizure and that I need to call 911 or go immediately to the ER. What?! So I go straight to the ER and over 3 hours and a CT scan later, we are released. Her CT was clear, and the doctor said that when she fell it must have really scared her and she passed out. My baby girl fainted! Oh my... I am so happy that she is okay. I was so worried. But now since Chris has been gone 2 of the 3 children got hurt, but not seriously. I think I will lock Kenneth in his room until Chris comes home so he will stay safe.

Boring...

Today was a very boring day. I didn't do hardly anything outside of the house. I guess I've kind of let the house go a bit, so today I worked on getting it all back in order. I've going stir crazy though now, and I want to get out. Arghh. Its too late to go anywhere. Oh well that just means tomorrow I probably won't be home at all. :) The kids just hung out and "helped" me clean up. They are ever so helpful. Adrianna has been a total grouch today. I'm not sure exactly what happened to put her in such a bad mood, but she came home like that. Everything that was said she had a smart remark for. She also kept telling me No about things I asked her to do. We were out and I asked her to do something. She told me No and so I grabbed her arm and "helped" her inside. I didn't have her hard or anything, but the whole way inside she was screaming "you're going to kill me." I swear my neighbors thought she was getting beaten. I took her in and came right back out so no one would think I was in there beating her. :) Anyway. I hope tomorrow is better.

Kenneth loves to sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Lilly loves it when he does. She has started putting her hands up like she is trying to do it. Then at the end she always claps. She is just too cute. Sorry the video is so dark. I didn't realize how bad it was until I had it here.

Just too cute to not share.

Lilly was driving, so I just thought I needed to share.

Beach babies!

We went to a really nice beach just North of here a bit. It was on Jekyll Island. We had so much fun today. Adrianna had a sleep over last night and didn't want to leave this morning to come with so it was just me and the 2 little ones. We followed Misty in her fancy new car all the way there. :) It was a wonderful day out. Super hot, but very nice beach weather. The kids played in the water and did just a little bit of sand castle building. Lilly loved the water. I think she would have been content to just sit there all day and let the waves hit her. After the beach we went to a yummy seafood restaurant right on the beach. We ate outside and it was wonderful. Then on another part of the island they had a cute little historic town with a sweets shop. I bought some yummy fudge and some pralines. We walked around a little bit and took some photos there. I so enjoy getting out of the house and doing things. Its nice to have someone else to go and hang out with when Chris is away. Thanks to all my wonderful friends. :) I think I would go crazy if I had to stay home all the time.

On another note. Since all of the kids are kind of grouchy from not enough sleep, they were all really a total handful tonight. I guess Lilly wasn't too bad but the bigger 2 were just mean. I don't know how to handle them when they are like that. Adrianna with her crying screaming fits about picking up her school papers, and Kenneth just being destructive. Is it just an age that little boys come to? Where they just want to bang, break, mangle and all around destroy anything in there immediate vicinity. I say "Kenneth No" so much I swear Lilly is going to think that is his name. I thought there terrible 2s was the thing to worry about. What about the terrible 3s and 8s?

Sorry, I know I went a little photo crazy, but there were so many good ones.

All we do is play!

All we do is play all day, everyday. Okay so maybe not all day. But alot of the day. Yesterday we went and played at Best Buy were I finally bought my new camera. Woo Hoo! Now I don't have to worry if the shutter is open all the way or if the battery is going to die in 5 min. or even I can the thing to turn on. I love my new camera. It's not the exact one that I wanted though. I had picked this camera but in purple. The store doesn't stock the colors and I didn't want to wait to have it shipped to me. Oh well.
And then yesterday evening we went and played over at Misty's. We had pizza and played with all of her super cool toys. :)
Today we went to the park and played and had lunch with some friends. Then for dinner we had Elicia over and I grilled some burgers. They turned out pretty yummy I think. The kids played out back on the trampoline almost the whole time.

So as you see I have the hardest life ever. I so enjoy that Chris's job allows me to stay home and play with my kids all day. I couldn't ask for anything better.

Isn't she just so pretty?

Kenneth, Lilly, and Austin are throwing mulch. That sounds like alot of fun huh?



















This is Adrianna's way of playing at the park. She likes to just lay around in the dirt, under the slide, instead of playing.

Tumbling and lots of random thoughts

Every Thursday we go to the local Rec Center and take a Mommy and Me tumbling class. We have been going for a while now and Kenneth just loves it. Now that Lilly is walking, she as well enjoys it. The kids just get to run around and act like crazy kids. There are lots of mats and a trampoline, a ball pit and rings to swing from. We all have a good time.

Adrianna had gymnastics today too. It was her very first practice. She really seemed to enjoy herself. She learned how to do a cart wheel, which is major progress for her first time. I've been trying to teach her how to do a cart wheel for a long time now. I guess since I don't know how to actually do one myself I may not have been the best teacher huh? Anyway, they all got to go flipping and flopping and running and screaming today. Yay!

The What-Ifs--- Has anyone heard of these? They are a major dysfunction in our house. Adrianna has them bad and I really think that they are contagious, and I believe Kenneth is getting them. Everyday we go through about a million scenarios of what ifs. What if you lost your keys down the drain and I had locked all the doors? What if Kenneth tried to drive the car into the front door? What if someone took Coach's clothes and hair and tried to be him? What if...blah blah blah. you get the picture eh? It drives me just about crazy. (not that I'm that far off) I've just started to come up with even crazier what ifs as a response to hers. I won't even answer her anymore I just pop out one of mine and you can tell she is thinking about it. This is what I came up with today in response to her crazy tirade of what ifs. "What if an alien abducted you and ate all your hair off, then put grass in place? And in the grass you got ants and the birds were flying down eating the ants all day long?" Its weird I know, but its all I could think of spur of the moment. She seemed totally stumped by that one. I got her to hush with the what ifs for about a minute.

I've had this list of my gripes in my head for awhile, so I thought I might just share with all of you. Here goes:

A few of my least favorite things:

• 35 MPH speed limits on open roads. Its just silly. No one actually does it. Except me now. Since I'm the only one in Kingsland to get a stupid $165 ticket!
• washer and dryer in the garage. Seriously who thought this was a good idea? It gets so dang hot here and I have to go out in the sweltering garage to change over the laundry. I'm getting pretty fast at it nowadays though.
• GNATS! I hate them. That's all I can say. I swear they are going to carry off one of my children soon.

A few of my favorite things:

• Beautiful 80 degree days where there are no clouds in the sky. The perfect day to go outside and hang out with wonderful friends.
• My baby girls 1 tooth grin. There is another about half way but that one little tooth just melts my heart.
• a glass of wine and a good movie. Maybe a piece of chocolate or 2. I plan to indulge in this one very soon. :)
• the goodbye hugs from my husband. They seem to just go on forever, but then they still end too soon. Bittersweet.
• I Love You. In any form. Just fantastic!
• The count down until I next get to see Chris.

Gone again...

Once again my honey has had to leave me for the other woman. She has been taking him away way too much these past 3 months. I am so ready for him to be home with us for more than a week. That's the most we've gotten so far.

We went and saw the boat leave today. I try to take Kenneth out to see it leave every time. It seems to help him understand that when we see the boat going away that that means Daddy is as well going away for awhile. He seems to be getting it. He tells me the same things I've been telling him about how he is going away but he will come home soon, and that he misses us alot. He reminded me of that today. So sweet.