more updates

Well, we are still just busy people. Aaron is finally wrapping up the phase they have been working on at work. A phase is when they take a helicopter and strip it down to the frame. Then they examine all of the parts and fix and maintenance what needs to be done. then they put it all back together. It takes seeral weeks and they have been working 16 hour days. With a deployment coming up in a few months, I am really hoping he can be home more.

I have been busy too. There are the usual things like taking Bethany to Waco twice a week for therapy. I am also trying to get things squared away with going back to school. I am a serial dieter as some of you know, and I am trying again to just eat healthier and do my workout more often. I will be watching my friend's kids for the month of February. Just from the morning time to early afternoon. She is going to school too.

Bethany is doing well. She has gotten a serious attitude that we are trying to squash. She tells her teachers and therpists and us "no". If we tell her to do something she will say she doesn't want to and tell us to do it ourselves. She has been spending a lot of time on time out. Otherwise she is doing well. She is still the same funny kid. She talks non stop now. She was such a late talker that when I heard other parent's say that they sometimes wish their kids would just be quiet, I didn't understand how they could say that. Now I do! I love hearing Bethany talk and the funny things she says. there are just times I wish I could hae a moment of silence. Liek when I am in the bathroom or shower. But that is not a big problem. Her constant jabbeing makes me laugh.

Shea is almost 2! Her birthday is on the 4th. She has starting throwing fits. Full on fits with screeching and laying on the floor and kicking her legs. It can be amusing unless we are somewhere like the grocery store or doctor's office. then other parents look at us all shocked, as if their kids are perfect. I don't let it get to me too much. Shea is starting to talk more. She has been sick lately, so she mostly just wants to snuggle. I won't complain about snuggling. I want to get all the snuggles I can before she is too big for me to carry her around anymore.

So there are my mostly boring updates. The big exitement coming up is that we are going to get Shea a big girl bed soon. I think she will love it. I am excited to pick out her bedding. It will be fun.

Bethany's new bed

A few weeks ago I noticed a nearby neighbor had put a childs bed out at the curb for trash pick up. I took a closer look and it was mostly in great shape! So we hauled it in. Aaron spent 10 bucks at Home Depot and put a couple of 1 by 4's in the bottom to support the mattress better. He also put in some wood screws to secure the frame and make it sturdy. Then I cleaned the bed with Simple Green. (Aaron is in love with Simple Green. We buy it in the commercial sized concentrated bottles at Sam's, lol) Then I used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to get some crayon off of it. I think it turned out great. See for your self!

Our Anniversary

Today was Aaron's and mine 5th anniversary. We have been together 6 1/2 years, and married 5 years. Such a short time, but at the same time it seems like so much has happened in 5 years! He deployed to Iraq before we were married, then after we got married I was pregnant 3 months later. We had Bethany 3 weeks before our first anniversary, and Aaron deployed to Iraq when she was 6 weeks old. He came home when she was 13 months old, and 5 months later, I was pregnant with Shea. He left 3 days after Shea was born for 5 months in Virginia for school to learn his new MOS, then was off to Korea for a 1 year unaccompanied tour of Korea. Shortly after that we received Bethany's diagnosis of autism, and I was very busy learning, and trying to help her. I also became a lot stronger. It was easy to resent Aaron for not being around when I needed him most, but he was not away being a deadbeat. He was away serving our country where the Army felt they needed him at that time, and supporting our family. Without him in the Army I could not have been a stay at home mom, and we would not have had the good insurance that has proven to be a huge blessing for all of Bethany's needs. We don't make lots of money, but we have security, and that is huge in this economy. And he works very hard to be a good soldier, and to take care of us. I had to get over the self pity, and do my job which was to get over myself and be the mom and wife my family needs. I grew a lot. Aaron came home in July when Shea was 17 months old, and less than a week later the movers came to pack our things, and after a visit with my in laws in Orlando we were off to Texas. We have now been here about 5 months and still getting settled in, but things are falling into place. We are now preparing for Aaron to deploy around May, and just trying to enjoy our time together right now. We had a great date night to celebrate our anniversary. We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The movie was great, and I really loved just having some time to snuggle up to my handsome hubby and enjoy a movie together. We have had some rough times, but I know we are very blessed, because there are people who have had a much worse time than we have. We are still madly in love, and we laugh everyday together. We have 2 beautiful children together as well. What more could I ask for. How about another wonderful 5 years. Better yet, 50 more!

Silly video of Shea

Shea is so silly. I just wanted to share this video clip of her at the dinner table. she is always an enthusiastic eater, so this is typical of her.

The Santa Picture

Here is our picture with Santa! We took the girls to the mall, and were very lucky to find a short line to see him. Bethany was very excited and aksed me several times if I remembered the camera so we could take a picture of him. They won't let us take pictures with our own camera, but I decided not to get into a lengthy explanation with her, so I just assured her that we would get a picture with Santa. When she got to sit with him, she froze though. she was like a deer in the head lights. Shea just climbed into his lap and slouched down and got comfy. They were so cute.

Making Christmas cookies

We had a great time making Christas cookies on Christmas eve. Bethany loved rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters and especially decorating them. Shea was the taste tester, and Aaron and I helped decorate cookies. Before bed, Bethany picked out 3 cookies to leave out for Santa. To make things look realistic, "Santa" left lots of crumbs and a few bits of cookie on the plate. When Bethany got up she went over to the plate and the first thing she said was, "Santa didn't eat all of his cookies!" We laughed and told her he must have gotten full. She accepted that explanation and moved on to her gifts.

A few updates

First of all I am still having trouble uploading pictures from my camera to the computer, so I don't update as much as I would if I could post pictures because I keep thinking, "Oh yah, I will blog about that when I get the pictures up." Then I don't. But here are a few updates.

Aaron is still working a lot. He had the flu over the weekend, and he thought it was food poisoning, but when I woke up this morning with the same thing, we realized it is not food poisoning but something contagious. I really just hope the kids don't get it. I was lucky that Aaron was able to leave work and come home today. He usually can't leave, but he has already made himself a good reputation in the company, so they know he is not a slacker. This is the first time he has had to leave work early.

He took Bethany to her speech therapy appointment, and the therapist and Aaron and I are both very pleased that she has been asking so many "why" questions. Her therapist explained that this is the beginning of cognitive thinking, and will lead to the who, what, where,when, and how questions.

Bethany is lots of fun these days. Bedtime is my favorite time of day with her. Not just because she is going to bed, and I will get my "me" time, but because I really enjoy her routine. We read stories, and then she asks for kisses. Then another one. Then another one, Then last one. Then she tells me she loves me more than chocolate milk, and I tell her I love her more than cookies, and we go back and forth with that a few times.

Shea is fun too. She loves dancing to her favorite show, "Yo Gabba Gabba". Yo Gabba Gabba is a little strange the first few times you watch it, but the kids really get into it. Okay truth be told, Aaron and I get into it to. Aaron likes Biz's beat of the day, lol. Shea is also talking a lot more and asserting her Independence. She enjoys bothering Bethany too. After all that is what siblings are for! The other day I couldn't help laughing because Bethany had laid out a blanket and brought out her pillow to watch her hour of tv for the day, and Shea plopped down right there and was hogging her pillow and snatched away her stuffed animal. Bethany started pushing on her and whining, "Sheaaaaa! No! Get away!" But Shea would not budge. So I got Shea her own pillow and blanket and set her up next to Bethany, but Shea went right back to Bethany's set up and Bethany about had a cow. Maybe it is one of those "you had to be there" stories, but it was pretty amusing to me.

Bethany had her 4Th birthday too! I have pictures to upload for that day, so I will give more details later. We had a nice turn out of people, and the kids played on the playground. Aaron made kool aid for the party. The kool aid was pretty bad. We don't usually drink kool aid, but I knew that wasn't how it was supposed to taste, and everyone else was grimacing as they drank it too. Aaron thought it was pretty funny. I think he used too much sugar, because I made some kool aid the next day, and followed the directions and it came out fine. Bethany enjoyed her birthday and now tells me every morning that it is her birthday.

Well that is all for now!