Spring Break 2012

It's been a very laid back spring break for us this year. I suppose that's good because we still have a little one in tow, the weather has been nice but overcast and a little windy every day (even a few sprinkles) and the time change, oh the time change.......it has really taken a toll on me this year and I think it's even affected the kids. But, all in all, we've still managed to have some fun and we've avoided the crowds, for the most part, which is always good.
Here are a few highlights of our staycation in pictures:

lunch @ McDonalds. They were excited to actually get a Happy Meal and stay and play at the playground. Notice the Mickey Mouse ears......Avery was invited to a birthday party and so the girls were there right before we went to lunch. 

Enjoying the nice weather in the back yard.

The girls were game for making these boxes into cars. We have Cars 2 to watch sometime in the near future. They are planning on sitting in their cars while watching.......

Wednesday night 1/2 price game night a Dave & Busters!!!! This place was a mad house.  Derek was able to get off work "early" and so we met him there @ 5, had dinner, then played! In this picture Avery just won 400 tickets on Deal or No Deal......she chose her case, #3, because "that's how old I am."

Since Avery's strategy worked Allie went with the same and picked case #5. She got 200 tickets!

Blake was such a trooper

Derek has known for a while that he was going to get to take Thursday and Friday off since the boss was going to be gone. We knew we wanted to go camping but waited to long to book anything and everywhere we checked was full. Derek thought to check at Randolph Air Force bases private area on Lake Canyon......and we were in LUCK! We got a prime spot right next to the lake.

The beach. It was pretty low, but surprisingly warm. We didn't get in. Planned to the next day but it was way too windy.

best friends

Blake chillin' in the tent

It was very windy. Perfect weather to fly a kite. We've had this kite for 6 years.....1st time flying it!

Starving......ready to eat!! Good thing we had dessert before dinner.

It was such a windy night. I thought our tent was going to blow away! Blake fell asleep right before dinner and basically slept the entire night. Allie was the first to fall asleep of the girls......Avery was scared. This was her first time camping since she was a little one. I let her climb onto the air mattress with Derek and I and she eventually fell asleep......until the wind really picked up. At that point, Allie also woke up and all four of us were squished together on the full size air mattress (Blake was in his pack n play). Needless to say I didn't sleep hardly any. Below you'll find how the kids slept.

Decent amount of sleep. Just sad that we made the decision to leave early.

Very happy boy that slept through the windy night.

.............................I think we know who was up most of the night............

Saying goodbye to the lake

realizing they were standing in a red ant pile.....lots of screaming and stripping of clothes happened right after this.

Other fun not pictured: a trip to a new park that was a lot of fun. And not really fun, but we went to go out on Monday and the car wouldn't start. What a way to start spring break, huh!?!

I think the girls have had a fun week. They are pretty exhausted today, but already asking what we're going to do tonight and tomorrow.

Cuties

I love my kids. Period.

VIDEO of our future hoopster. (notice the shudder at the very end right before my phone rings.)

Random Stuff

A few weeks ago Avery was complaining of her "bottom" hurting. Meaning it hurt to go pee. We always make her go to the bathroom before she goes to bed and on this particular night she was crying like she was in some really bad pain and she just couldn't go even though she was trying (which made the pain worse). She never did go and I just decided I would get her an appointment to see the doctor the next day. Well, the next morning she was up early as usual. She always comes into my room every morning and tells me she has to go potty. I always tell her she doesn't have to tell me and to just go......but she always wakes me up to tell me. This morning was no different. I remember listening to see if she cried and she never did. I ended up getting up shortly after to get Allie ready for school. Once we got back I asked Avery if it still hurt to go potty. She said no and she also told me she kept her diaper dry. I then remembered she hadn't flushed the toilet so I went up to look. All that was in the toilet were 5, fairly large, dark colored "stones". I didn't see any sign of pee. I didn't think it was poo because she always yells for me to come wipe her whenever she poos. It looked somewhat like a corn kernel but darker in color. My curiousity got the best of me and I fished one out with toilet paper. It was VERY hard and when I pushed hard enough it crumbled into smaller "stones". I really think it was kidney stones! I have no idea how she passed such large ones and why she didn't scream in pain that morning if that is really what it was though. We went in to the doctor last Monday for a follow-up on Allie's ears (everything looked good this time) and I mentioned it to the doctor. She had Avery pee in a cup and tested it. Everything came back normal. They sent it in for a culture too and that came back fine. I guess I'll never really know what it was and just hope that it doesn't happen again!

Thanks for the St. Patty's Day goodies Mony & Papa!

Blake Emerson ~ 6 Months

Blake had his 6 month well baby visit today. Our tank is weighing in at 18.5 lbs (75%). He was somewhere between 25-26 inches in length (25%) and his head circumference was 18 inches (25-50%).
As far as milestones, Blake can sit almost unassisted now. He can sit by himself but I'm always right there because he is still a little wobbly at times. He is not rolling over. He did a couple times around 3 months and we have found him rolled over in his crib a time or two but he hasn't done any of that since about 4 months. In fact, shortly after his 4 month well baby visit Blake started to have a "shudder." The best way to describe it would be to say it looks like a shake we would get when we have the chills (so a shake of the head & shoulders). This shake lasts for maybe 1 second at the most and at first I thought it was cute and that he really was just getting the chills or it was a reaction to him going to the bathroom. Then it started happening a little more often and something just seemed a little off. I was noticing he wasn't babbling as much as before. Before he had his 4 month well baby visit Blake would have little conversations with me where we would take turns cooing and babbling back and forth. He hasn't done that since! His only form of babbling is a sort of growling sound. Sometimes it seems like he's wanting to say something and he always ends up coughing. He is a very happy baby though. Always smiling and laughing. Every once in a while he'll have a day where he just doesn't seem all there. Staring off into space you could say. But I can talk to him on those days and he'll respond to me usually with a big smile and then go right back into staring off into space.
I brought these concerns up to his doctor. I actually had called last week about it and she didn't seem too concerned and had me wait until his scheduled appointment today. Today, though, she seemed more concerned. I showed her a video of his shudder and told him about his milestones. She was concerned about the regression in babbling and not rolling over. She also made note of the big birthmark on the back of his head.......but didn't really go into much about it. Anyway, Blake is getting a referral to see a neurologist and most likely will have an EEG done. I'm not looking forward to that especially since Derek will more than likely be out of town when that is to take place. But I know it needs to be done. I hope and pray that everything is okay and he's just delayed a little bit. I don't like to ask for a lot but if you could pray for him too that would be SO appreciated. And maybe even a prayer for me too. I've been really stressed and not getting much sleep. Thanks!

starting to enjoy his exersaucer. That still only lasts for about a max of 10  minutes

He loves watching basketball

This is how we end up every night. The girls go to bed and then Blake eats and passes out. He always has to have his face pressed against the couch too. I sit next to him and watch my shows and then we head upstairs to sleep.

 

I will hopefully figure out how to get videos off of my video camera so I can post his shudder.

Saturday could have been a real Cinderella story here. We started off the day working around the house. Then dropped the girls off at a princess birthday party. They wore their princess dress ups to the party. I really wish I would have taken a picture. Then they had a choice.........go to the Daddy/Daughter dance or go play some soccer/baseball/football across the street. Derek and I were both super surprised when the girls chose the soccer option. We thought for sure they would want to go to the dance. They really did have a lot of fun playing sports though and I think we should take advantage of the field across the street at least once a week for stuff like this!!

I guess I only got pictures of us playing baseball. Now here are some random pictures:

Allie's first love letter......Derek was quick to throw it away after she went to bed.

Checking out the surprises that Daddy brought back from Africa.

A few of Derek's trips

I wish I (or Derek) had been documenting some of his trips along the way. It has been a big part of our life lately. Unfortunately, we can't go into a lot of detail about most of his trips and he's always so busy he hardly has time to take any pictures let alone blog about it. He has been to SO many places throughout the WORLD. He's so lucky and told me recently that he has kind of taken it all for granted because he's been to so many places. It's just not that exciting for him anymore because nothing is new.
Anyway, we were finally able to sit down and go over the few pictures he had and I got permission to post a few of them. So here is a peak into a few of the places Derek has been......

Dubai -- Palm Islands

Dubai -- The World

Himalayas -- Afghanistan

In cold Afghanistan

Dust storm in Afghanistan

Africa - he said everyone was carrying everything like this

This was this lady's house

Africa

Africa

Africa -- w/ General & Chief

Africa

If you look closely this guy has a pile of black "stuff" on his lap. Derek said almost everyone, at least at the markets, were chewing this stuff and getting high from it.

This picture really makes you proud to be an American!

Derek, Gen. Otto, Chief and the other African trip crew

Rodeo Party

The San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo is going on the entire month of February. I didn't even know this until a couple days ago. I would love to go to a rodeo at some point while we're here. This weekend is really our only chance because I don't want to get out with the kids by myself for that.....and I don't think it will happen this weekend anyway because it's going to be a wet weekend. Oh well, it looks like we'll probably have THREE more years here to have that chance. {insert sad face}

The other room parents and I, for Allie's class, have been planning the Rodeo party for about a month now. I wondered why they were having a rodeo party instead of a Valentine's party but I guess I figured that out! I didn't get any pictures at the school because I was busy giving everyone a Sheriff's badge and branding them. I did get a few pics of the kids before and after though.

I had to post this picture because of the cute bracelet Avery put on Blake while I was grabbing him some clothes.