Thanksgiving

Even though I may not tell them, I am thankful for my family every day.  Thanksgiving is a wonderful day because it reminds us that we need to tell those closest to us how much we love and appreciate them.  Gideon entered my life eleven years ago and has made my life so much better and brighter.  Then we were blessed with two beautiful and amazing little girls and a wonderful life was made unimaginably better. 

I am thankful to be a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.  But even more I am thankful for the people who are in my life.  Those people are all over the world and while I may not get to see all of them much or often, I hope all of them know how thankful I am that they have touched my heart.

For years, I have been inviting Marines that Gideon works with to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with us.  It is my way to show my appreciation for all of their hard work and to ensure that no one has to be alone during the holidays.  Most people in the area were fortunate enough to be able to spend time with family or go some where else to celebrate, so we had a small celebration this year. 

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with our friend Ana and her daughter Chloe.  Chloe and Hadley had a great time playing together and it was nice being able to talk with Ana. 

Chloe and Hadley

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time, but we should always try to remember throughout the year to tell those that we love that we are thankful for them.

Hadley is 2.5 Years Old

Dear Hadley,

Today you turned 2.5 years old, and while I know that it is not very important to most people, to me it is a very big deal.  At 2 years old, I could still think of you as my baby, but every day as I watch you grow and develop I realize that I have a full blown toddler on my hands. 

You have lost most of your "baby fat" and are now a tall skinny little girl.  You wear mostly 3T clothing, somehow skipping over most 2T clothes.  I can no longer kid myself that you will be little forever, as you seem to be growing every day.

Music class is still one of your favorite activities, and you are usually one of the leaders and willing to start dancing and give others ideas to try.  Play group is also one of your favorite activities.  While sharing isn't always your favorite thing, you are getting better at it.

You have become a social butterfly, willing to talk to people in the stores, the mom's at play group, and pretty much everyone you see.  Occassionally, you do have your shy days, but you usually announce it to the people around you that you "are feeling shy today." 

We are still working on potty training, and I'm sure you will figure it out soon.  Like most other things in your life, you need to exert control over your surroundings and make your own decisions.  You are a lot like Mommy in that way.  Once you understand exactly what you need to do, I'm sure you will pick up on it quickly. 

The biggest change of course in the last six months is that you are now a big sister.  You are an amazing big sister, always wanting to give her hugs and kisses, show her your toys, and teach her about the world around her. 

I do fear that we may be starting the terrible two's, but we will learn to work through it together.  I'm sure we will come through it loving each other even more.  I am sure there will be moments when we both want to scream and cry, but we'll always love each.

The next six months will bring even more adventures and challenges and before I know it you will be 3 years old.  I can't wait to see what the future will bring.

Malia is 3 Months Old

Dear Malia,

What a wonderful, eventful month this has been.  You are still an incredibly calm, happy baby even though the phase of catnaps has begun.  Even on very little sleep you still love to smile, coo, and play and make everyone's lives around you so much brighter. 

This month we heard your amazing giggle for the first time.  It is becoming a regular sound around the house as Mommy can't help but tickle your round little belly so I can hear you giggle.  And when I say round belly, I mean it.  You are filling out and adding chub to your previously long skinny body.  Don't worry, it is so cute and I love snuggling into those chubby cheeks of yours. 

You also had your first Halloween.  Hadley wanted to be a pirate, so silly Mommy decided you should be her parrot.  Not everyone got it right away, but as soon as I told them everyone thought it was so cute.  I'm excited to see what you two dress up as next year because I will keep your costumes themed for as long as possible, even though I know that will probably be only next year or two if I'm lucky. 

You also stayed with someone other than Mommy or Daddy for the first time so we could go to the Navy Marine Corps Ball.  It was so hard leaving you, but I knew you were in good hands.  It was nice for Mommy and Daddy to have some time to ourselves so we can recharge and remember how much our family means to us.  Not surprisingly, you were very good.  I thought about you and Hadley the whole time and was so happy to be home with you again.

This was a month of firsts for you and there are so many more coming up soon.  I'm looking forward to them all.  Soon I know you will be sitting up and then crawling and before I know it walking.  Wherever you go, I'm ready to follow. 

Halloween

I was really looking forward to Halloween this year as it was the first one that Hadley actually understood the concept of Trick-or-Treating.  I was also looking forward to showing off the girls' themed costumes.  Two year olds definitely have their own opinions and know what they want, so I couldn't just pick costumes for her.  After looking at a lot of different costumes online and going to a costume store, Hadley decided she wanted to be a pirate, aarh.  So of course Malia needed to be her parrot. 

We actually went Trick-or-Treating three times this year.  The first was through the dorms at Norwich on the Wednesday before Halloween.  I know when I was in college I loved participating in this, so I knew Hadley and the students would have a good time. 

Getting ready to go

Family at Norwich

What a big girl

On Halloween the local "mall" was having Trick-or-Treating through the stores.  It was crazy-busy, but Hadley had a good time and got some more candy.  It was also nice because we got to visit with some of our friends and their kids.  I doubt we will do the Malloween next year, but at least we had some fun with it this year.

Us, the Wuestman's, and the Flores's at the mall

Look at this!

Halloween night we hit the neighborhood.  Malia and I only made it to our close friends Nicky and Ken's house because of the weather.  Hadley and Gideon continued on though and gathered a lot of candy and had a great time.  Hadley wanted to run the whole time and kept trying to catch the flashlight beam. 

My pirate and her parrot

The cutest parrot ever

I'm looking forward to next year.  Who knows what kind of creatures we will have then.