crafting...

nora doing some coloring...

christopher and me...

this girl scares me. ALL THE TIME! nora will leave her in random places and it freaks me out! like this... the kids were at school and i came downstairs after showering and jumped through the roof!

yet another rainbow. that turned into a double rainbow. saw another one this morning...

sweet boy, watching tv before i got out of bed. i love him!

had my 24 week check up today! glad to know that christopher is doing well! i have an ultrasound again in four weeks to check on my placenta. and have made a deal with david and my dad. no more running, but i can continue to work out (especially since the midwives say i can keep working out!). so... no running. but i am enjoying being able to work out. and have been contracting still... so apparently that is what i do this pregnancy!

nora had gluten accidentally at school today! love that it's not my fault, but am so sad watching this girl who doesn't feel good. and is so lethargic! sweet thing.

family fun...

eating yogurt up at the bar with mom! sweet kids.

snuggling with her daddy. watching football.

sweet baby e wanted to help david shuck corn! and david wanted to shuck corn where he could watch football!

that peacock behind the bench. ate the kids sandwiches. FROM THEIR HANDS. SEVERAL TIMES! it was crazy!!!

after we moved... so the peacock couldn't get us!

all four. the best pic i could get!

eating mochi. it's a rice wrapped ball of ice cream. nora LOVED it!!!

sweet baby james...

watching tv. zoning out! (i think it was nap time!!)

a weekend...

i met this guy when he was just WEEKS old. he's so big. and just celebrated his first birthday. love my baby e!!

and this kid... steals my heart every time!

nora loves playing with baby e. (who's not really a baby anymore!!)

i would be LOST without her. cannot even express how thankful i am for her friendship here! so glad she likes me!

shhhh... don't say anything. he's in the water of his own free will!!

again.. shh!!

left over from our beach day last week... posted as promised!!!

daddy took the kids to chuck e cheese the other day... the had so much fun!!

driving... of course!!

a fun and busy weekend. jamey had a birthday party to go to. and there was football to watch. and we played. and the b fam came over for dinner. and i just got to snuggle on the couch with the hubs! that's about all i got!

old pics... and new stories!

moving toys around!

getting ready for school with daddy home!!! (back when he came to the ultrasound and got to see kids' school first!) they LOVED having him!!

playing at the park!

drawing... always drawing right now!

in the pool. of his own free will!

the princess...

just love them. so much! nora is DYING to help with the baby. she wants to feed him and put him to bed. (she thought it was hilarious when i told her i would be breastfeeding for awhile first....)

jamey routinely will even pat my belly and talk to the baby. it's so sweet!! i love it. they pray constantly for christopher to grow healthy and strong. it's so sweet!!!

what i wore wednesday... (hair edition!!)

sans makeup. but, got my hair chopped! i think almost 5-6 inches. it was a LOT!!!

what jamey wore to school this week. it was "purple" day (they wear the color they learn about), and he didn't have anything purple... or larry boy for that matter!

today... an old shirt i made, and my jeans that i CHOPPED this morning. i was TIRED of always being hot. i wanted shorts, and couldn't find ones i liked...

didn't wear... but the fabrics i am using to do the nursery!!!

what jamey wore this week... unfortunately he was moving too fast!!! but, future ambitions???

why is it that when i tell my kids to clean up, they suddenly "don't feel good"? seriously? i might have to make good on my threat to throw away some toys. but, while they "cleaned", i got curtains hung up in the playroom. so excited about it!!! (especially since it's the first room you see when you walk in my house...) all that's left to do in there is a chair, so an adult can sit in there if desired!!

a good laugh for y'all...

"dinner"

the most incredible man in the whole world. i am so in love.... (someone recently commented that we still act like newlyweds. i took that as a great compliment!!)

playing. she made a nice friend there. and again today at the same beach... too bad nora's so shy!!!

don't tell anyone, but today, jamey ACTUALLY got in the water. all by himself. up to his knees, but got more wet as waves rolled in. i was SO PROUD! so much for all my bribing!!!

chillin out, maxin, relaxin all cool...

that's the airport behind the kids. where the planes taxi...

yes,that's daddy out in the water. can you see the rain cloud? we happened to be right in between two rain clouds. one passed in front, the other behind us. we got spit on for about 2 minutes. it was beautiful. it also meant WONDERFUL winds!

clean hands. she kept making "dinner" and cleaning her hands first! oh, blackberries were for dinner (read: rocks)

my little man.

checking out his sissy's work. today, the kids were playing off and on with this other mom and kids next to us. jamey walked over at one point, making a beeline for the sandcastles the mom was so wonderfully building. (there were like 4 in a row!!!) i saw him lift his foot and yelled so loudly at him! the mom smiled and said, "i wouldn't have cried!" (i know, but her girls might have... and jamey listened. he threw himself down on the beach to pout that i wouldn't let him ruin some other kids' sandcastles, but he didn't wreck them!)

also... so today we were at the beach with the b family. (not as in second choice. just b family... our favorite hawaii family!!!) we were setting up the stuff, and i got ready to plop (because that's what i feel like i do anymore... PLOP. like a beached whale. even though i still have 3.5 months to go. and STILL weigh less than when i MOVED to rhode island a year ago!) into my chair. it's one of those super low beach chairs.

so, i plop, and it doesn't feel right. i can feel it kind of collapsing on me. then, somehow, i end up on my back, feet up in the air. DEFINITELY feeling like a beached whale now. and the nice old man (probably retired) laying on his towel next to us must have thought i was crazy! i hear d ask if i am okay... and l reassure him that i am fine. and then, as she holds e, offers me her hand up. because there was really no other way for me to get up. great first attempt at the beach by myself!!! (meaning, two kids and no hubby!!!)

hope you got your laugh in for the day. i was tearing up again laughing so hard as i wrote this. and realized i hadn't told david yet, as he is staring at me, wondering why his pregnant wife is laughing so hard!!!

a sunday...

we got some dragon fruit this weekend. i took the first pic... nora took the second. the kids weren't a fan. and i couldn't even try it. i wanted to!!! but, i thought we should try something new. and, it was SO PINK!!!

today, daddy was on duty. we took him dinner. it was so fun... the kids first time ever on his ship! it was cool! however, they are redoing the wardroom (dining room), so we had a "picnic" in his stateroom (bedroom). it was so fun to hear nora ask all these questions about it. she had so many good questions. the first was, "is it like pop-pop's ho-towel?". "is there a dining room?" "where does daddy sleep?" "is there a bathroom?" and when i take her to the bathroom... "this is the GUEST bathroom???".

she was interested in daddy's "whistles". (missiles) and how the pirates run away from daddy's big ship. james was super excited to watch "toy story".

we also went to see "the lion king" at the movie theater. the kids were so excited all day! (i bribed them with good behavior and cleaning the play room. we just moved the train table to jamey's room, so there is more room to play...) and, so excited to go to daddy's ship. nora wanted to make sure we got there in time for the previews. and they both narrated really well! it was cute and fun. and jamey was still not super interested, but did better than the last few times we went!

loving on daddy...

loving my sailor. he's such a great man!

when we left, nora told me she was going to stay with daddy. it was so cute! i didn't let her, however! i am so thankful for that man!

on saturday we went to the beach (pics to come...), and then took a drive around the air force base. so much of it was SO OLD... with bunkers and houses from world war 2. scenes that i vaguely remember from "pearl harbor". i want to cry and am so proud at the same time. it's amazing. even today, driving to pearl harbor, it just makes me so... proud. of what my husband does. of who he is. of our military! and i am so thankful that my kids get to experience this.

i reminded them of that as we drove around pearl harbor, that so many people don't ever get to even come to hawaii, let alone LIVE here! then, i was watching a makeover show for a military family. it amazes me how moved some of these crew members are by the lifestyle... one we take as so second nature. married, deployed soon after, husband missed birth of babies, etc. and yet, it's so real for most of my friends... not that it's not HARD and EXCRUCIATING whenever that happens. but, it's the life. reality.