Time to Move On

I quit my job. The job I loved. As of Tuesday May 27th, I am now a full time stay at home mom!

Going to focus on the sunshine and light that surrrounds my sweet daughter for a while. I can't wait to be able to enjoy things like zoo days and picnics, smelling flowers and mud pies.


(as an FYI-I changed the original title post since it wasn't meant for this post, sorry for the confusion)

Sailor Boy/Bubblehead

Last weekend found us in the great state of Illinois, attending the graduation ceremony for U*Haul. He finished the bootcamp portion of his Naval training and was deemed a "grad and go" which meant that we got to spend exactly 6 hours with him before he had to leave to move on to his first school. He was meritoriously promoted while in boot camp so by the time he completes all of his sub school training he will be the same rank as Chester (our Marine) if Chester doesn't kick it into high gear!

I think I stopped breathing for a minute or two when I spotted U*Haul for the first time. He looked like such a man, but still like such a little boy at the same time. I honestly think that Pixie might have actually "thrown some bows" in her effort to get out of the bleachers and into U*Haul's arms. I definately lost it when I saw them embrace as husband and wife for the first time in over 2 months. They were just too cute. U*Haul fell in love with Pixie's baby bump but I was so emotional that I forgot to take photos of him rubbing her belly.

He will be on the East Coast for the next 7 months as he finishes his training. I am hoping that he gets stationed on the West coast when his training is complete. It would certainly give this mothers heart some piece to have both of my sons on the same coast since it appears that Chester will be re-enlisting in the Marine Corps.

Speaking of Chester-he now knows his departure date for Iraq. I'm pretty bummed since he won't be going back to the same place that he was stationed his last tour. It was quite peaceful for him the last time, probably not so much this next trip. But I am confident that he will return safe and sound, after all, all of that metal he is surrounded in while in his tank has to be good for something!

I traveled with Pixie to her last OB appt. the baby's heartbeat was steady and strong at 178 beats per minute. Come on Grow Lil D! I'm thinking that my first grandbaby is going to be a girl. Cute girl name picked out already so we are good to go-just need to wait another 5 1/2 months to meet my newest pea!

Dreamsicle is really trying to exhibit some independence. She has a little stubborn streak that is emerging. She knows when she is starting to push the limits-she even asks us if it is time for her to go to time out when she has done something questionable! I am completing the preschool application right now for next year. I'm hoping she will be accepted into the two mornings a week program just to give her some more structured play time with kids. We are going to begin potty training in earnest in two weeks so wish us luck!

Nana and Grumpa

Yep, that's what you can call us from now on!

I should have known something was up when U*Haul put on the BBQ apron. (sorry, forgot to turn the picture before I loaded it). U*Haul and Pixie offered to make us dinner the night before he left for boot camp. U*Haul can make a mean hamburger so they offered to make burgers on the grill for us as his last supper so to speak.

The grill is located just outside the door of the basement, they wouldn't allow anyone to go down into the basement while they were cooking and yelled up the steps to give us a heads up that dinner would be served in 3 minutes. Pixie's mom was over having dinner with us that night, imagine my surprise when they came walking up the steps, holding a plate of burgers announcing that they were pregnant! I screamed so loud, I scared Dreamsicle. So Dreamsicle will now be an aunt and I'm going to be a Nana. We have all decided that McGyver fits the name "Grumpa" perfectly. :)

21 Years Ago Today

Our precious little boy failed to wake up from sleep. There are times when it feels like it happened just yesterday, today is one of those times.

Rest In Peace Matthew

More Photos

Dreamsicle after being crowned Princess of the day at the Magic Kingdom
With Cinderella
The scene we came back to after a day at the parks
Looking out the window of Mickey's house

More Photos!

More photos for your viewing pleasure

Disney!

We just returned from the land of Mickey. We traveled to the Mouse House to meet up with the families that comprised our adoption travel group in August of 2006. What a blast! The girls are all growing and seem to be adjusting well. We all missed the one family that was not able to attend this get together but things went so well that we have agreed to try to get together as a group every other year and I'm certain they will be able to attend the next event. I'm going to post alot of pictures, they really need no words....

Wedding!

There really are no words to describe the beauty of the day that U*Haul and Pixie got married. The weather was beautiful, the waves softly lapping onto the shore as they exchanged vows was incredible. Of course there was a slight "oops" moment (what event wouldn't have one of those in our family, right?) when Pixie realized that she had forgotten U*Haul's ring in the hotel room. One of her bridesmaids husband sacrificed his ring for the ceremonial portion of "with this ring" until U*Haul could get his real ring on his finger later in the evening.

After the wedding we had a small reception inside a pavillion overlooking the beach where we were able to snap some incredible sunset photos as well.

U*Haul is now in his second week of boot camp and Pixie is holding up as well as can be expected. These two really are a match made in heaven.

In A Feeble Attempt To Keep Up With Tradition

I am posting in January. It seems as if my MO lately is to only post one (two if you're lucky) posts a month. I must make a better effort and updating here more often.

Sooo what's been happening in the Casa de la Dreamicle you ask? Welllllll, mi casa es de old casa (yeah I know, I was never very good at Spanish so you get what you get). We moved back into the big house. McGyver couldn't stand it for one. more. minute. So it's bye-bye to the river house and hello woods. Anyone looking to buy a house on the river? I've got one up for sale if you are.... heh.

I just returned from a trip to Savannah for work. The weather was terrible, the conference was great and as an added bonus I got to have dinner with my more than fabulous Aunt S and Uncle H. I don't get to see them often but I loooove spending time with them. They treated me to a scrumptious dinner in a gorgeous setting. Doesn't get much better than that.

Dreamsicle is having so much fun now that we are back in the big house. I didn't realize how much my girl loves carpet but apparently it rates right up there with her Elmo doll and lovie. She spends a large amount of her time "wolling awound" (rolling around) on the carpet with a huge smile on her face. She really has got to be one of the happiest kids on the face of this earth. No matter how stressful my day has been, when I open that door and she runs around the corner literally jumping up and down because Yeah! Mama is home!, I just want to scoop her up and never let her go. We are having so much fun watching her explode with personality, it sure makes you want to do the right thing all of the time since she mimics everything she sees.

Two more weeks until U*Haul and Pixie get married. My gosh, where did the time go? They are moving back into our house this weekend and Pixie will stay with us until U*Haul has completed boot camp and his schools. I'm looking forward to having them with us for a while.

I uploaded pictures but loaded them in the wrong place so I'll post photos once I move them to a more accessible place.

Merry Christmas-ish

Okay so I know I'm a little late with the Christmas post. But! Merry Christmas! I took this week off to spend with the kids (Chester is home) and we have been crazy busy just having fun. I showed much more restraint this year in the gift dept. Toys R Us did not explode in our living room as it did last year. Dreamsicle did receive an annual membership to the local zoo, childrens museum and a local garden/sculpture park that she adores spending time at. Add to that the books, puzzles, and assorted little gifts she received and that girl still ended up with quite a haul.

I, in my usual manner, ended up pulling an "Oops I did it again" incident. Friends of ours came over on Xmas eve. They gave me two beautiful (think expensive) wine glasses as a gift. I went to grab a bottle of wine to open to pour into these beauties and the wine bottle hit the glasses and sent them flying. Shattered wine glass everywhere. Right in front of the givers. Oh my. I do have class, don't I?

Chester informed us that he will be visiting Iraq again in 2008. I stopped at Macy*s today looking for a heavy duty wrinkle reducer....I'm going to need it.

And! I'm inked! I know-whodathunk that me, at my age, with the personality that I have would actually get tattooed but I did. I have wanted for a very long time to come up with a way to honor Angel Baby. I decided that a tattoo would be the perfect way. Once I shared my thoughts with the family there was no turning back. U*Haul and Pixie begged me to have it done before their wedding and Chester insisted that I get it done while he was home since Angel Baby was his twin. Chester stayed with me the entire time I was getting the tattoo and now I'm sporting a puffy heart with a halo over the top with a banner that has his name on it wrapped in angel wings resting on puffy clouds on my right shoulder. I'm very happy I did it.

We are now gearing up for the wedding so we're firing on all four pistons getting everything in place for the "destination wedding".

Picture will be added soon. McGyver got me a zippy lil' camera to throw in my purse for Christmas but I haven't loaded the software onto the computer to allow me to download the pics yet.

Bah-Humbug-ers

Those of you that know us in real life know that we will give the shirt off of our backs if you simply ask for it. Here is the key point to take out of that sentence. Ask. For. It.~Ask for help. Don't just take.

5 days before Christmas someone broke into U*Haul and Pixie's home and stole from them. Their camera, i-pods, video games, gaming system, video camera-all gone. Those things can be replaced. But the dirty rotten scoundrels also stole family memories when they walked away with things given to the kids by my Dad (now deceased), Chester (from Iraq) and their Grandma M (also deceased). And they stole a young woman's sense of safety and security.

Karma-watch for it-

Dreamsicle

Christmas preparations are in full swing at the McGyver house. Last year Dreamsicle happily sat on Santa's lap and we have photographic proof to prove it. This year, not so much. We happened to run into the Jolly old fellow and his wife while they were doing their shopping. In Walmart. In full Santa suit. They happened to be checking out one aisle over from us at the same time that we were. Santa spotted Dreamsicle and bee-lined over to her. She froze in fear as she sat in the shopping cart. He didn't seem to notice as he tried to banter with her. She would not make eye contact, looked directly at me, finally covered her eyes and began wailing-NOOOOOOOOOOO!! At this point I scooped her out of the shopping cart as she was becoming more upset by the minute. The fat guy in the Santa suit would not leave her alone! I finally had to be rude and ask him to leave her alone. It was so bad that three lil old ladies that were behind me threatened to start beating him with their purses if he didn't get out of their site! Anyway, anytime we bring up the name Santa, it is not met with joy but with fear now. Sigh. Oh the joys of being two. Before this encounter I had taught her to hold her belly and say HO-HO-HO when I asked her what Santa says. Now she covers her eyes and yells NO-NO-NO instead.

Here's hoping you all have a HO-HO-HO holiday with no NO-NO-NO's.

Where did that Kitty-Cat go Mama?

A Couple more from Disney

Dreamsicle insisted on pulling her own luggage from the car to the hotel.

She loved the palm trees!

Pictures!

I finally found the USB cable! Pictures of our trip to Disney

Happy Birthday U*Haul!

Twenty years ago today~after Mcgyver's second helping of mashed potatoes but before dessert was served, we left my Aunt's house for the hospital. During the middle of the "big game" (can you say hello husband and resident OB physician-I'm over here, the one in labor, panting like a dog-please pay attention to me instead of the blasted football game?) U*Haul made his entrance into this world. With a head full of dark beautiful hair and a cry that would wake all of the other babies in the nursery, he made his presence known.

His dark hair has lightened over the years, he rarely cries any more but he certainly has brought joy to our lives.

It is so incredible that my baby boy, my last born son is now a man. When I look at him, I still see a 6 year old boy with a missing front tooth and a crooked smile. And yet a man he is. I am so proud of all that he is and all that he will become. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for him.

I brought pizza and a birthday cake home and everyone came up to the house to celebrate his special day. (Shut up-some people cook birthday dinners, I buy them when they fall during the week) Dreamsicle wouldn't eat, she was too excited about the chocolate thing in the box. W'az dat? was heard at least 15 times while eating pizza with her pointing her little finger at the box. When I brought the cake out and set it on the table with the candles in front of U*Haul she became the slightest bit indignant, exclaiming 'dat cake Dreamsicles! I gave her a small piece ( search my archives to see proof that she does not sleep when she consumes more than a tiny amount of sugar) of cake which she happily launched her whole face in to. It seems our sweet girl thought the most expedient way to eat the cake would be to put her lips into the cake rather than using a fork and bringing the cake to her lips. We all howled at that one. This might be a good time to tell you that it was a chocolate and whipped cream cake so when she picked her head up because we were all laughing she was covered in whipped cream. No pictures though-must get new camera STAT!

Anyway, trust me when I tell you a good time was had by all.

Thanksgiving 2007~Broken, Shattered and Scratched

Let me start out by saying that it was marvelous having the whole family together for Thanksgiving. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than having my boys and daughter in love assemble at the house with Dreamsicle, McGyver and I, allowing me to cook for them. The turkey was moist, pies were devoured and there was nary a spec' of mashed potatoes left in the bottom of the bowl.

Having said that, the day did not turn out as planned...

I must have had a pie spill over in the bottom of the oven (how I have no idea, since the pies were on a baking sheet). I did not notice this until I placed the turkey in the oven and the smoke detectors started screaming. When I looked into the kitchen, there was smoke billowing out of the oven! Since you may recall we moved this summer, we had no idea that the smoke detectors were hard wired into the security system. It took us 15 minutes to finally figure out that removing the batteries from the smoke detectors while opening every window and door in the house was not going to stop the blasted noise. We finally had to unplug the battery for the security system to have some peace.

During Dreamsicle's birthday party, I had asked a friend of mine to be in charge of taking pictures with my camera. Somehow during the course of the festivities, a beverage managed to make its way into every nook and cranny in my camera. It started to work after it was dried out but decided to die an untimely death on Thanksgiving. I have absolutely no pictures of the fam for this holiday.

It is a McGyver family tradition that we put our Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving. While the boys were out in the garage getting the Christmas decorations from the rafters, they managed to drop the rubbermaid container that held all of our ornaments. All but 12 broke. All of the hand made ornaments that the boys had made over the years that I treasured, all of the ornaments that my father purchased each year in honor of Angel Baby, all gone. I actually think I lost my speech center of my brain for a while when that happened.

And then to top it all off~Chester must be used to driving a very big tank that has nothing in its way. Aunt Genious stopped by the evening of Thanksgiving, Chester was pulling out of the driveway in my car (the one I purchased a year ago) and clipped Genious' truck with my car. Both vehicles have scratches the entire length of the autos.

So-it will be a holiday remembered for alot of reasons, gave me an awful lot of time to remember what is important (the camera, ornaments and vehicles are just things-the health of my family is of the most importance to me).

But lets all hope Christmas goes a little better

If I Could Only Find My USB Cable

I would be posting many, many pictures. Pictures of Dreamsicle at the Magic Kingdom when she met Belle. Pictures of her at the resort-especially of her while she was "phwimming".

I would also be posting pictures of Chester's homecoming last night. I laid eyes on him and the river of tears began flowing again. He was no sooner out of the protected part of the concourse at the airport then my arms were around his neck, I was sobbing the big messy tears again and he was lifting me up in his arms in the sweetest hug I have ever felt in my life. The Patriot Guard was there and I guess there was much, much clapping that ensued. Not only from the members of the Patriot Guard and our assembled group of family and friends but everyone else in the terminal at that time. I honestly did not hear one sound other than the words "I love you mama and I'm home" that came from Chester's sweet lips.

We arrived home and U*Haul came in. Despite the late hour (1:00 am by that point) we stayed up a while and talked with Chester. McGyver and I finally gave in and went to bed. This morning my alarm clock rang at 5:30 for me to get up and get ready for work, before I left I crept into Chester's room and he was wide awake. I asked him why and he told me that U*Haul had just left. Oh how my heart if full. Two of my boys stayed up all night reconnecting. The last time that happened involved flashlights and a tent made of sheets over their bunk beds many, many years ago.

Family Code Red

This is a PSA for our extended family.

If any of you suffer from insomnia and would like to meet Chester when he lands at the airport the scheduled arrival time is Sunday night at 11:30 pm. The Patriot Guard will be there to welcome him home as well so it should be quite the night.

Also-get ready for the arrival of Bridal Shower invitations. U*Haul and Pixie have decided that they don't want to wait until after boot camp or schools to get married. Scheduled wedding date is now February 7th on S Padre Island in Texas. Reception to follow back here in the Mitten State the following weekend. Much money is flying out of my hands as we speak! :) But oh so worth it! Finally! the girl who has been a McGyver for so long will be officially my daughter in love.

Where Has The Time Gone?

I can't believe how negligent I've been in keeping up with this blog lately. It certainly isn't because of lack of things happening at Casa de Dreamsicle that's for sure. So much to update-are you ready?

1. Chester is currently winging his way back to the good ole' USA! That's right, he is officially out of Iraq. I had no idea how much stress I actually surpressed over the course of the last 7 months until I received the call telling me that he was out of harms way. Once I heard his voice telling me "Mama, I'm coming home" I immediately started sobbing. Like a baby. Big, messy, cry my eyes out tears of joy that lasted for hours. He decided to stay out in Cali to attend the Marine Corps Ball before coming home so we won't actually see him until just before Thanksgiving but man am I happy.

2. After months of anticipation, U*Haul finally proposed to Pixie! Yep, the two are gittin' hitched! Not quite sure of the date yet, it will be sometime in the warm-ish months of 2008 but they need to figure out U*Haul's training schedule first.

3. That's right-I said U*Haul's training schedule. He leaves in February for boot camp. He joined the Navy. Going to be a submariner (can we all channel the Beattles now and start singing We All Live On A Yellow Submarine?) The funniest thing I heard was when I told Chester about U*Haul's decision to join the Navy and be on a sub. He was outraged-telling me to tell U*Haul to pick a different job. When I asked him why he was so upset, he said "doesn't he realize how close of quarters you live in when you are on a sub?" I had to remind him that Gee-maybe this piece of advice coming from a guy who has to sleep sitting up in his tank while on missions may not be such a great thing. We both laughed at that one.

4. Dreamsicle is growing by leaps and bounds. I had her evaluated by Early On and she has a little of a gross motor delay but cognitively she tests above her age group so Mama is happy, happy, happy! She wanted to be a Princess for Halloween (like that surprised anyone). She was set on being 'rella (as in Cinder-ella). I took her to the Disney Store to pick out her Cinderella costume and when we got there she looked over the Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Costumes but didn't seem too excited. That all changed when she turned around and saw the Gold Bling that was Belle's costume. So she dressed up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast~complete with light up shoes, light up sceptor and crown. She was gorgeous and she had a great time. Pictures to follow as soon as I locate my USB cable.

5. My travel schedule is brutal right now so I've been having Dreamsicle travel with me. Last week we had Aunt Genious accompany us to Chicago for a conference where Dreamsicle made her maiden voyage to the American Girl store. She chose a bitty baby and promptly named her Mamie. So Mamie the baby now goes everywhere with us. I have a conference in Orlando beginning Saturday so Pixie is going with me to care for Dreamsicle while I'm in classes. We have the Belle costume packed and should be posting some great pic's of her at Disney next week.

Well there you go-the update on the McGyver family. Life is good!