Woo hoo!

This will be quick because we're heading out on vacation this morning, but I wanted to share some very exciting news!

As of today, we're officially halfway through this deployment. Yay! It's a great feeling knowing that the shorter end is ahead!

It's Party Time!

We celebrated Caitlin's second birthday this afternoon with a family party. Caitlin insisted on an Elmo cake, so that's what she got! We feel so blessed that so many family members were able to come (although we REALLY missed Daddy). Three great-grandparents, five grandparents, four great aunts and uncles, and five aunts and uncles were in attendance!

Video for Daddy

Last year, Caitlin was completely traumatized by her birthday cake experience. She put out the candle with her finger - and started sobbing immediately afterwards. Poor girl!

This year, the cake was a success. Here she is with her personally-selected Elmo cake (thanks for the mold, Steph!).

Movin' and Groovin'

Ryan went to day camp last week and had a blast. The camp was sponsored by Kids at the Creek, the preschool he will attend in the fall at our church. He went every morning for a week. The camp's theme was music and movement so he spent time singing and dancing - and doing other fun camp things like arts and crafts. The week culminated with a concert. It was so cute. He had so much fun that I enrolled him in another week at the end of July.

Ryan playing the cymbals after his performance:


Ryan and Caitlin partaking in some goodies after the concert (check out his cool handprint t-shirt!):

Ryan's world premiere music video:

More birthday fun!

We met a bunch of friends at the new Splash Park at Willis Tucker Park this afternoon, just a few miles from our house. The kids liked the idea of it, but once they got wet, they both freaked out! It was only in the low 70s, so I think they might like it more if it were warmer outside.



There was also a great playground. Here is Ryan and his buddy, Taylor, playing on the equipment. We'll definitely be frequent visitors at the park. It kept the kids entertained for hours!

Happy Birthday Caitlin!

Our little girl is two - my how she has changed in just two short years! Here's a picture of her shortly after birth:

And here's our girl two years later:

We are so blessed to have Caitlin in our lives - and Mike and I are thrilled that God chose us to be her parents! She's spunky, a little sassy, but sweet and cuddly too! She LOVES anything to do with babies and of course, whatever Ryan is playing with.

Ryan and Caitlin spent a good hour playing outside with one of her birthday presents: a water table. It will be more fun once it's warmer outside, but they didn't seem to mind the cloudy skies and cooler temperatures.

We'll be celebrating her birthday on Sunday with a family party. I'm going to attempt to make an Elmo cake - that's all she has asked for the past few weeks. I'll be sure to post pictures!

And finally, here's a very entertaining video of Caitlin singing happy birthday to herself (with a little help from Ryan)!

On this day two years ago...

Time flies - and it only speeds up once you have kids. This picture was taken on the morning of Mike's graduation from the MBA program at Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. I can't believe this picture was taken two years ago - it feels like we just left California, like Mike just graduated from school, and like Caitlin was just born. Where does the time go?

This picture always makes me laugh because I can't believe my belly was ever that big. I know it's happened twice, but when I'm not pregnant, it's so bizarre thinking I ever looked that way!

By the way, I went into labor two days after this picture was taken...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Mike!

Due to Mike's military commitments, this is the second Father's Day in a row when we've had to be apart. Bummer! We know that our life won't always be like this, so we're making the best of it and looking forward to Daddy's return!

I wanted to briefly share how special Mike is to me and to our family. The kids adore him - he is always willing to drop everything he is doing to read a book, throw a ball, wrestle, or build a fort. He is a very involved dad and has wonderful, unique relationships with each of the kids. I so appreciate all that he does and love to see him with the kids.

Can't wait to have you home, Mike. We love you and miss you!!

Almost halfway there...

We've reached the three-month mark of this looonnnngggg deployment. Daddy "sent" more gifts to the kids. Here's a few pictures. Ryan got his own set of golf clubs and Caitlin got more accessories for her growing family of babies! What little mommy doesn't need a diaper bag and set of bottles?!!

Too funny...

I know all my mommy friends will appreciate this:

Abbey: 1, Raccoons: 0

I'm officially at war with the raccoons that live near our house. They have been pesky since we moved in a year ago, but nothing we couldn't deal with...until now. Their recent behavior has taken things to a whole new level!

We're relandscaping the backyard and laid new sod last weekend - beautiful, lush, moss-free sod. The rain this week has been great for the yard and it was really looking good, until yesterday morning. I opened my bedroom curtains at 6:30am and looked out in the backyard and was horrified at what I saw. The sod was rolled up in about 25 different places. My friend, Jenn, had this happen to her when she put in a new yard in California, so I immediately knew who the culprits were. (Apparently raccoons pull up the grass looking for worms and grubs.)

I ran outside, replaced the sod, and came inside to figure out what I was going to do about this problem.

After doing some research on the Internet, I decided to try staking down deer netting around the perimeter of the yard so they couldn't access the edges. I spent a good two hours yesterday laying the nets and staking them into the ground. I also bought a large flood light to put on the deck, aimed at the yard. Thankfully, we have a greenbelt behind our house so I wasn't disturbing any of our neighbors. I went to bed and hoped that my efforts would pay off and the pesky little critters would leave our grass alone.

This morning, I was hesitant to look out the window. I was worried that I made them angry and was expecting a ripped up yard, but I was pleasantly surprised. Everything looked fine and the grass wasn't touched.

We'll see if they leave it alone for good. I may have to change my tactics - my dad suggested waiting up all night in my room with a bow and arrow so I could silently assault the enemy without disturbing my neighbors. I think I might have PETA knocking on my door if anyone finds out!

Once the grass is established, there won't be an issue, but until then, I'm at war!

The Musical McGees

Presenting the Amazing Counting Caitlin!

When Mike left almost three months ago, Caitlin had a very limited vocabulary (about 15-20 words). Since that point, her vocabulary has exploded - new words every day! Here's a short video of her counting at breakfast this morning. She always leaves out some numbers, but it doesn't matter because she sounds so cute doing it!!

Ready for anything

Quote of the Day

Today's quote comes from Ryan - and I can sooo relate to what he's saying:

"Mom, my bottom is getting bigger because I'm eating lots of food."

What a revelation! The funny (or ironic) thing about that statement is this: Ryan constantly sports a "plumber's crack" because he has no meat on his bones and his pants slide down - even with a belt!

Our buddies

This week, two of my dear friends from Pacific Grove, CA were in town to visit - it was so great to see them. Karey and Jenn were some of my first mommy friends. They played an intergral part in my first two years as a mom - and they will always be very special to me! I'm so glad we got to hang out with them, but the time spent with them also made me realize how much I miss them!

When we moved to Monterey, Ryan was only eight weeks old. I found Stroller Strides shortly after we got there and Karey and Jenn were the first women I met. We had a ton in common and became fast friends. Coincidentally, our kids were born within a week of each other, so we had LOTS of playdates throughout the two years we were there. We formed a dinner group where we got together and had themed monthly dinners. We trained for a half marathon (everyone completed it except me because I got pregnant with Caitlin two weeks beforehand!). Our husbands all completed the very difficult Big Sur Marathon. I could go on and on about all of the great memories we have!!

Karey and her family (another Navy family) were in town from Norfolk, VA visiting family in Bremerton, so Jenn and her son, Spencer, flew up to visit all of us. Jenn and Spencer stayed with us last night and then we all packed up and headed to Bremerton this morning.

I think the greatest part of our visit was seeing the kids interact with each other. My Ryan, Jenn's Spencer, and Karey's Sevrin were just two years old when we moved away. It was so fun seeing them play together and have conversations - they were barely talking last time we were all together! Here's a few pictures of their visit...

Caitlin, Spencer, and Ryan playing at our house last night.

Caitlin and Sevrin playing catch in Bremerton.

Ryan, Sevrin, and Spencer getting ready for lunch.

And for comparison's sake...this picture was taken a couple of months before we moved away from Monterey. Ryan, Sevrin, and Spencer celebrated the 2nd birthdays at the local children's museum. They have changed so much in the last 18 months!!

Little sport

It's really hard to get a good picture of Ryan these days. He won't slow down long enough for a posed picture - and if I do get a posed picture, usually a goofy smile comes with it! Here are a few shots of our guy, doing the things he loves to do!


Playing at the Bennett Elementary playground near Grandma and Grandpa's house - it's where I went to school.

Playing pool with Uncle Joe. My grandpa (one of Ryan and Caitlin's great-grandparents) has a pool table in the rec center of his condo complex. Whenever I tell Ryan we're going to visit Grandpa Ray, he asks if he can play pool.

Playing soccer with his buddy, Jon. Ryan loves to kick the soccer ball and is looking forward to playing soccer this fall through our YMCA.

Decorative pot or...

Last week, I had a string of several challenging days with the kids. It felt like Ryan was in one continuous time-out because as soon as he got out, he did something else that warranted another one.

One afternoon, he was sitting in his time-out spot on the landing of our stairs and he came running into the family room to tell me that there was pee-pee on the stairs. Here's a replay of the event...

Ryan: Mommy, there's pee-pee on the stairs.

Me: Oh, you wet your pants? Ryan! That's okay, accidents happen. Let's go change your pants.

Ryan comes running into the family room and I noticed that he did not wet his pants.

Ryan: No mommy, I didn't wet my pants. The pee-pee was in the pot.

Me: What?!

Ryan: The pee-pee was in the pot and I knocked it over.

Me: What?! How did the pee-pee get in the pot?

Ryan: I went pee-pee in there yesterday.

Me: What?! Why did you do that?

I go and see the pee-pee stain cascading down the stairs. I lean down to smell it, and it is indeed urine.

Ryan: I don't know.

Ryan runs off to play with his cars. I stand there, not sure whether to laugh or cry and proceed to clean up the pee-pee.

So, yes, while I wasn't watching, Ryan relieved himself in the pot on the landing. This little incident makes me wonder what else he has used as toilet. As the days go by and I get farther away from the incident, the funnier I think it is!

Our future veterinarian

I'm sure it's just a phase, but Caitlin is absolutely obsessed with animals! From bunnies to bugs, she can't get enough!

Last Sunday evening, we were over at some friends' house for dinner and they had a bunny name Butterscotch. Caitlin loved "Scotch," as she called him. There was a major meltdown when she had to leave the bunny cage.

She also loves "buggies." Whenever the kids are outside, they are scouring the ground for bugs. It makes for slow going when we're trying to get somewhere in the morning because it takes them a good 10 minutes to get into the car!

Weekend sun

We took full advantage of the sunny and hot weekend, spending as much time outside as possible. We had a great time - the only downside is that I'm completely worn out- just in time for Monday morning!

Being in the middle of a backyard re-landscaping project, we have no grass. So, yesterday when the temperature topped 94 degrees, I packed up the kids and headed down to my parents' house to run through the sprinkler. Ryan had a blast, but Caitlin wasn't so sure.