28 JUNE 2005

The summer is flying by with trips to the beach, play groups, lunch dates, dinner dates, birthday parties, and various other events. I am for it, of course. The quicker the summer goes by, the sooner Mike will be home. Yay! The weather was nice enough for beach trips once or twice a week, but it’s making us take a break this week. So far it has rained everyday since Saturday. I don’t mind it that much since the grass was looking neglected.

Speaking of the rain, it makes strange creatures appear. Tonight while on the computer I heard a weird, humming noise. The sound would last for about five seconds and kept repeating every 30 seconds or so. I panicked at first because I thought it was coming the computer which can’t be good. Upon putting my ear to computer, I realized that it was coming from the other direction. I finally discovered that the sound was emitting from outside the window. Once outside, the sound was much louder. I called my neighbor next door to see if she recognized the sound. She didn’t. She came over to help me investigate. We never could figure out what it was, but we shook a stick at it anyway. We had a good laugh. The sound stopped soon after. It’s sometimes scary living alone.

We had an interesting time at the beach on our most recent visit. An alligator somehow ventured onto the shore about 100 yards away from us. The beach patrol made everyone stay out of the water until they could capture it to take back to its “home”, where ever that may be. The girls and I left before any excitement began, but one of our friends that stayed later videotaped the “wrestling match”. I hope I will eventually get a chance to view it. I’m not worried about getting attacked by an alligator or shark since we never go into the water past my shins.

Annie is as silly as ever. She enjoys climbing into the exersaucer and baby swing often. She gets mad at me though when I don’t rush to get her out when she’s good and ready. I keep telling her if she can get in by herself, then she can out by herself. Annie is so close to going potty in the potty. She now takes her own diaper off immediately after she’s piddled in it. Yesterday after she took her diaper off, she went and sat on her potty and said, “pee, pee”. I just haven’t been to get her to actually go potty in the potty yet. We’ll keep working on it. Remember that bug phobia that I talked about Annie having? Well, she still has it. Now she comes running to me screaming to tell me when she has spotted a bug. Unfortunately, it’s often around here in the summer (even inside–ish!). She won’t leave me alone until I’ve gotten rid of it. She’s so cute about it. Then last night while at a friend’s house Annie got all freaked out from the security sensor up in the corner of the ceiling. Everytime the red light came on, she would run around squealing and want someone to pick her up. Everyone got such a kick out of her. One woman was laughing so hard that she was crying.

Disappointing news to report: Mimi is an avid thumbsucker. Many times I will catch her sucking away, and it’s always her left thumb. I guess she takes after her mommy. Mimi still rolls over frequently. Sometimes while on her belly, she looks she’s attempting to crawl. She’s also discovered that she likes to bounce up and down. Today while at playgroup, Mimi was in an exersaucer that was really bouncy. She loved it. Then tonight while I was holding her upright, she kept trying to bounce using my legs as her trampoline. Mimi is also finding her voice. She can get quite loud at times when she’s experimenting with different sounds. I’ve been working on getting caught up with scrapbooking. While looking through pictures of Annie at around 4 months, I noticed that Mimi and Annie really do look alike. That’s okay since Annie’s such a beauty! I’ve added more pictures to the girls’ June album, by the way. You’ll notice some pictures that aren’t of the girls. They are from a festival that we went to in town a couple of weeks ago.

Next week will be hard for me since Mike’s family is traveling to Durango, Colorado for a family reunion. His mom and most of his siblings will be in attendance. Originally, we had planned on also attending, but Mike’s deployment to Iraq threw a wrench into the works. The girls and I were still invited to join, but I just don’t see how I could travel all the way there by myself with two babies. I hope everyone is having fun (without us, sniff sniff).

My parents are coming for a visit on July 12th. My dad is staying for a week, and my mom is planning to stay a bit longer. We don’t know how long yet. She will probably be ready to go home with my dad after a week of dealing with us. I’m just kidding. My mom loves to spend times with the girls and sometimes me. Annie is much easier to deal with now than the last time we saw her. I look forward to seeing my parents and doing fun stuff here in happening Jacksonville. I also hope that my new bedroom furniture will arrive in time for them to see it. Just in case anyone is curious, it’s this bed, nightstand, and dresser/mirror. I can’t wait to get it!

Nothing new is happening with Mike. We get to talk and email most days. The phone conversations usually have background music of Arabic tunes. Apparently, there is intereference with a local radio station there. I told Mike that I’m going to get him a t-shirt that says “I Heart Arabic Music” since he “listens” to it so much. Mike has gotten to experience some cool stuff while over there. As mentioned before, he did get to meet Oliver North. Mike has weathered a few dust storms. He also got the opportunity to go on patrol with the Marines out in town. I hope he’s gotten his fill of that because it really worries me to think of him exposed like that. Mike has also been keeping himself busy with growing a makeshift garden in a sandbag outside. He constructed an irrigation system using plastic bottles filled with water collected from condensation released from the air conditioning units. Mike reads a lot, too. Oh, and I’m also VERY happy to report that Mike got rid of his mustache. I’ve posted new pictures on Mike’s Iraq page. Look for more videos soon!!

17 JUNE 2005

Just for fun, I uploaded some video clips of the girls. You can view them here. There is also a link on the girls’ page under all the pictures. It’s disappointing to me that people just have to take my word for it when the girls do anything new. Now you can see for yourself. Enjoy!

14 JUNE 2005

Summer has definitely kicked in around here. There have been numerous sweltering, hot days (including today) here in the past few weeks. One thing I’ve realized is not to rely on weather.com for the current and future weather. It was supposed to rain for weeks according to their forecast, but it didn’t rain nearly as much. We were finally able to go to the beach, twice even.

I’ve gotten packing for the beach down to a science. Certain items just stay in the car, and then I refresh the towels, bathing suits, and food each time. My plan is to make a trip to the beach at least once a week. Annie won’t mind. She absolutely loves the water and sand. Annie was nervous about the water at first. She would get close and then run screaming from it when the water came rushing up the beach. She eventually got used it and insisted that I keep taking her into the water. Mimi did great on both trips. She wanted to be held for a while in the beginning but fell asleep after I fed her. That made it less stressful for me to only have to keep track of Annie. I got a little burnt on my back, so we are going to take a few days to recover before returning.

Mimi is now rolling over from her back to tummy. Her first time was actually at the beach. She is a little bit ahead of Annie. Annie was almost 5 months old before she rolled over. Her feet have been discovered, too. Mimi is also now sleeping about 11-12 hours each night. I have been so blesssed to get 2 children that are wonderful sleepers. Last week I took Mimi to the doctor for her 4 month check-up. She weighed in at 15 pounds, 2 ounces and was 23 3/4 inches long. Annie was 13 pounds, 2 ounces and 24 1/2 inches long at her 4 month check-up (just in case anyone is keeping track). The girls are obviously much different than each other. I have added more pictures to the girls’ “June 2005” album. Please feel free to have a look.

Annie is becoming quite the little “helper” around the house. She is always willing to “help” with the dishes. And she loves to throw stuff away (stuff that may not be garbage). Many times after changing a diaper I won’t be able to find the dirty diaper. I soon discover that Annie has already thrown it away. Annie also mimics me throughout the day. Whether it’s copying what I do while getting ready or nursing her dolls, she is definitely watching everything I do. Mike said that I should be relieved that I’m not a smoker. We are still working on potty training. There have been a few accident0s and no successes yet. I’m trying not to get frustrated with her because she’s not even 2 yet.

Well, Mike got some exciting news this week. He has been accepted in the Endodontics residency program in Bethesda, MD. He will start in July 2006. That means another move for us next summer. It’s a 2-year program, and then Mike will owe 3 more years to pay the Navy back. So Mike will be in the Navy until 2012. I was reluctant at first for Mike to specialize through the Navy, but after much contemplation we decided it’s a sweet deal for us. There are pros and cons either way we do it.

Things are the same for Mike in Iraq. He’s pretty bored but is keeping in great shape and reading a lot. We get to talk or email almost everyday. I try to not take the routine phone calls for granted because then I’m so sad when Mike isn’t able to call. I still haven’t received the latest pictures from him. I will post some as soon as get them. He’s past the halfway point for his time there (not that I’m counting). It could be as early as the beginning of September for his return. I keep telling Mike I’m not going to believe any dates that I hear for his return until he’s standing in our house. I’d hate to get my hopes up and then it be much later than predicted.

2 JUNE 2005

Hurricane season officially started yesterday! The rain never ends here. It’s been pouring all week with no signs of letting up until next Saturday (June 11th). The only good coming of the rain is that our lawn is getting well watered. I hired a lawn service to mow the lawn and do a little seeding and weeding. The guy threw down some seed and fertilizer on Sunday and instructed me to water at least once a day for 2 weeks. I dreaded the chore, but the heavens took care of it for me. I was then sadly informed by a Jacksonville native that summers are pretty rainy here. I will be very disappointed if my 2-day-a-week swimming goal is not met. My new beach cart needs to get broken in, too!

Regardless of the rain, we did go to a fun BBQ on Memorial Day. The rain kept up until about an hour after our arrival to the event. Mimi was well bundled in her carseat, and Annie had a little hoodie on to keep her dry. Annie had such a great time. Several older girls were there that wanted to babysit without my asking. Everytime I spied Annie, she was in some 7-year-old’s arms. There was even an instance where I saw that those girls had put a bike helmet on Annie and were pushing her around on a child’s bike. She loved the attention. Once Mimi decided she wanted to be held, there were several women that insisted on holding her. So, needless to say, I enjoyed myself at the BBQ. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera to document the occasion.

Annie is now able to have a little ponytail in her hair. Her hair is growing out strangley. She has bangs in the front that remain short (even though I’ve never cut them), the hair in the back remains short, but the hair on top is the longest (about 6 inches). This pattern of growth makes it very difficult to style. I finally took the top hair and put it into a ponytail. Annie actually allowed it to stay in for a full 1/2 hour. Another accomplishment that I’m excited about is that I’ve gotten Annie to eat broccoli. She was actually the one who decided to try it. I’ve given it to her 3 times now, and she liked it on two occasions. Her food tastes are slowly expanding. We’re now starting on potty-training but without any success yet. I still feel it’s a little early for her, so I’m taking my time on the matter.

It’s so nice for Mimi to be able to enjoy herself without having to be held by me all the time. Mimi will also find entertainment in her big sister. I’ve caught her several times laughing out loud at Annie’s antics. Mimi is starting to notice her surroundings as well. I noticed her grabbing for things such as toys. I managed to snap her in action while grabbing the toy connected to her swing while she was in it the other day. Mimi is also quite the sleeper. She now regularly sleeps from 8:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. In Fact, this morning it wasn’t Mimi that woke me up but Annie at 8:20 a.m. I went in to check on Mimi after getting Annie out of bed, and she was just lying there looking around not making a peep. She is such a sweetheart! Check out the June album for the girls.

Mike is doing well in Iraq. He’s back at his “home” base which means he’s able to keep in closer contact with me. He got to meet Oliver North and even get a picture with him. He’s still keeping busy watching movies, reading books, and exercising a lot. Mike has requested more beef jerkey from me, but anyone else is more than welcome to send him some. He is very satisfied with the attention he gets from the mailman. His coworkers are very jealous of the amount of mail he receives. Thanks to everyone who has sent him stuff. He has sent a new disk of pictures that I should get within the next week or so. I will, of course, post new pictures and videos when I get it. Other than that, no news to report.