Arizona Fun and Surprises!

Well, here it goes all the many wonderful, fun times had in Arizona. It was a great 9 days, so this may get a little long. It was a nice time to rest and enjoy being with each other. Kyle's parents are always wonderful host and you just can't beat his mom's cooking and his dad's waffle's! We came home rested and a few pounds heavier and missing the warm weather.
6 Things discovered on our trip to Arizona-
1. Gavin and Avalyn LOVE to fly- the more turbulence the better. WEE!
Cambria was not so thrilled about the tiny plane (only 2 seats on each side) that was around 80+ degrees the entire way there. She was so fussy and miserable, Kyle and I couldn't wait to get on the ground. The trip back went much better, the plane was larger, cooler and Cambria slept most the way!
On the plus side US Airways allows Active duty military up to 3 bags checked on for free, saving us quite a bit since we were able to only check on 3 huge bags there and back!
2. Gavin , Avalyn, and Cambria's cousin Trevor.

Kyle's sister's little boy is 13 months old and this was our first time to meet him. He is such a busy ball of energy. He is only 6 weeks older than Cambria and it is amazing to see how much bigger and advanced he is. He is a good 5-6" taller and 6 pounds taller. Trevor is running around everywhere and into everything. Kyle and I were very content with where Cambria is after watching Trevor's parents run after him, we are happy to take our time and will be there soon enough with our little girl.

Kyle's sister Stacia and Trevor

Trying to keep Trevor still!

Learning to swing with Daddy!

Finally a picture of all 4!
3. Cambria turns 11 months old and is finally sitting up all the time and even pulling herself up to a standing position. She has no clue what to do after standing for a while and ends up crying till someone help her down. She is improving daily and enjoying her new found freedoms! We even let her sit up by herself in the bath, she still isn't sure about it but it is convenient to let her sit in the bath.

4. Christmas morning is always wonderful with children! Giving is so much fun and there is nothing like spoiling your kids with everything they asked for once a year. It's a good thing they didn't ask for much! The talking baby was a huge hit and Avalyn is still taking very good care of her precious little baby Lila. It was well worth the $58 (Yikes, I can't believe we spent that much- only at Christmas), she does cry but she is easy to stop, she laughs and says Mama! Gavin loves his baseball glove, Star Wars book, and even the Bumblebee Transformer we will have to replace. We went to around 10 stores to find a Bumblee Transformer, till we found a animated type that is horrible- it falls apart. We have already promised a new one, now we just have to find one (it's a good thing it's only $8). It was so much fun to see the kids so happy and they enjoyed giving each other gifts. We had a wonderful meal Kyle's mother made and enjoyed the company of family. Merry Christmas!

Ready to Open some presents!



5. Cambria's First Christmas! She had a good day and enjoyed playing with all her bright toys. She wasn't feeling her best and did take several long naps. Cambria appreciates her toys and studies each of them very closely. She also enjoyed trying to chew through the candy cane.




6. THE BEST GIFT OF ALL!!!
This was my gift to Kyle:

Yes that's right #4 is on the way! I found out a few days after we got to Arizona and decided to wait 6 days before surprising Kyle on Christmas morning. I just couldn't help myself, but waiting was not easy. I did tell Avalyn and Cambria, but they didn't say a word. Needless to say, he was shocked, speechless, and very happy. I hadn't had any symptoms, just extremely tired- but for a mother of 3 that isn't anything out of the ordinary. I am 6 weeks along and due in Aug. We are happy to be completing our family and look forward to seeing what this little one is (Gavin is still begging for a brother). I am sad Kyle will miss nearly 5 months of the pregnancy, but will be back in plenty of time in June. I have been feeling horrible for the past week, Praise the Lord Kyle was home most of the day and I was able get lot's of sleep. I am hoping much of the yuckiness and extreme fatigue, I have had lately, will be gone when Kyle leaves in the middle of Feb. There will be lot's more to come as we become a family of 6!

P.S. I've been putting this blog off for a while, in hopes of reaching ALL my close friends by phone, like I usually do, but everybody must be really busy. I will keep on trying- I hope nobody is hurt to be finding out this way- I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

So Much!

I don't know where to start, so here are a few photos from Gavin's Christmas program. It was on Wed. the 17th. After the program we left for our Christmas vacation in Arizona. There are plenty more pictures from the trip and I will do my best to get them up asap. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, ours was definitely one to remember (in a good way). So much fun!

The program was very cute. Gavin was a shepherd. He spent most of the time jumping up and down with excitement and very little time actually doing much of the program. We are still so proud and will surely laugh again someday at the video.

Gavin and his friend Carter

Gavin and Best Friend Elijah

Best Buddies!

Our sick baby crawled!

Our poor little Cambria is still so sick. Yesterday was like a roller coaster, as soon as the Tylenol or Motrin would rub off her temp. would go way up. It got as high as high as 104.5 and we just kept giving her a warm bath and keeping her on Tylenol and Motrin. Once the medicine would kick in, she was very playful and more like herself. It was so excited last night to see her crawl for the 1st time! She only crawled for a few seconds and I was unable to get it on the camera, but we were so proud! I will do my best to catch her doing it again. Her fever was still at a 104 when she woke up in the middle night and she is not happy with the antibiotics. She puked them up last night and also through up the Tylenol I gave her. Hopeful the next 24 hours goes a lot better, since we leave tomorrow at 6:10 pm. Thanks for all your prayers!

Kid's Christmas party!

Saturday was the Squadron Christmas party for the kids. It is always a fun time for the kids. Santa is always there and "he" brings the kids gifts (that of course we bought, which is nice they get something small that we know they would like). Avalyn has talked to 3 Santa's know and just loves it, she still asks to go see Santa. He was in the room and she ran up to hug him and tell him she wanted a talking baby and about her long finger nails. It was cute she just kept talking to him about nothing and he just kept nodding. When it came time to pass out gifts and take pictures with Santa, Avalyn sat quietly and waited her turn. Her present ended up falling to the bottom of the box and she just waited so patiently, even after Gavin and Cambria had received their gift. She was very happy to sit on his lap and receive her gift. Cambria was very content, to the amazement of everyone else, to just sit on his lap and pet his beard. Gavin was also excited, but was ready to see what he received. It was a fun morning with games, crafts, and lot's of food!

Doing the cupcake walk- she walked away after a few minute because she wanted a donut not a cupcake. Don't worry she didn't eat much of the donut in the picture, but she did have a couple other smaller ones.

Gavin and Santa

Opening his Darth Vator bobble head

Cambria was very curious about meeting Santa again

Cambria and her new toy from Santa- a little animal band train!

Avalyn waiting patiently to see Santa!

Finally Avalyn's turn- she LOVES Santa!

Opening her gift from Santa- a blue fairy!

Thank you Santa!

Poor Baby

Last night I sat down to post about the squadron Christmas party for the kids and then print out our Christmas letter, but of course things didn't go as planned. Cambria has been running a fever since Fri. afternoon, moving from 101 to 102, it was controllable with Tylenol. Sun. morning she seemed fine and woke up happy so we went to church. She didn't make it in the nursery long, she started running a low temp. again and refused to play like she usually does. I was glad they paged me during Sunday school. We kept her with us and she slept through church. Besides the fever and not acting like herself, nothing else was wrong (not even a runny nose). Her fever was a 103 most of yesterday and we kept giving her med. and baths to try to keep it down. We gave her some Motrin around 6 and put her down for bed, Kyle checked on her an hour later and her fever was over 104. You can guess where I spent the next 3 hours, the ER. Most of the time spent just waiting in the room. After having her nose sucked out for test, chest x-rays, and urine taken directly out of her bladder, I was just hoping they would come up with something. Of course she started feeling better just an hour into the trip- that is usually the case for us and ER trips. Finally they got all of the test done and their was an infection in her urine. This was a relief to find something and not feel like I just spent 3 hours there for nothing. It also explained this horrible diaper rash she has had for 2 weeks now (not helped by anything, even the cream recommended by her ped.)- Thanks Holly the cream you suggested is exactly what they said to use. After just 3 uses of the cream, the rash is so much better. It was not a fun night, but I guess that's how things go. She woke up with a 104 this morning, so we are hoping the med. they prescribed help and we have a happy and well baby before we leave for Arizona on Wed. Thanks for your prayers and I am relieved we didn't get any kids sick at church.

SANTA!!!

We had a wonderful family night out last night. I decided this year to take the kids downtown to the Durham museum to see Santa. I was talked into a year pass this summer when we went there with our play group and I figured we might as well use it again (I got it for $25). They have Nebraska's largest indoor Christmas tree and it is amazing (and completely real). It is absolutely beautiful, the decorations are amazing. The kids were definitely impressed by the huge tree.

Waiting to see Santa!!!

The Santa was great, along with Mrs. Clause (who Gavin thought was Mary- I don't know where he got that one, but it was pretty funny). His belly was so big (and as real as the tree and his beard) that Mrs. Clause had to help put the second kid on his lap (I don't know, maybe that's why she was there). The kids did great, even Cambria, no crying- just happy to tell Santa what they want and take a picture.

Gavin, of course, has changed his mind (thanks to Avalyn's recommendation a couple days ago) from wanting a baseball glove to wanting the transformer Bumblebee, like his best friend Elijah. At least it is not an expensive toy, now I just have to find one and we will still be giving him a baseball glove just in case he changes his mind. Avalyn has wanted the same thing, a talking baby- and I am so excited about seeing her on Christmas day. It was not a cheap doll, but I am sure baby Lila will be well worth it (that's the name she came with, not by my doing- that was the name for Cambria for a while and possibly our next child). I love Christmas with kids so little, it is such a magical time for them!

There was no professional photographer, which was good and bad. It was nice not to feel guilty about not buying the pictures of your kids, but with my camera and the lighting I could have used a professional. My camera was not happy about it being so dark. Cambria is still so hard to take pictures of in a group setting and it is a little frustrating for me. She doesn't look in the right direction- even when your are shaking bells or calling her name. She was very curious about things and loved the building, I guess that's why we couldn't get her to look in our direction. At least she wasn't crying, just looking up in every picture.

It was a wonderful night and so much fun to be together. After Santa we took the kids out to eat at Spaghetti Works. They love eating out so much and are so well behaved when we do (probably because it doesn't happen very often).

Gavin doing the puzzle Santa gave him. He finished it by himself!

Avalyn's favorite- PASTA!! She finished it all and worked hard to stay clean.

Playing with Daddy! She has really started to get attached to Daddy!

We finished the night with driving around looking at Christmas lights. Definitely not getting out of the car, it was around 15 when we left the restaurant. We will just have to wait to walk outside and look at Christmas decorations when we get to Arizona! What a perfect night with the Family!