We are in Beaufort!!!!!!

Remember last December when I posted about my brother in law Bryan enlisting into the Marine Corps??? Well it's been a long three months - a lot longer for Bryan then for us - but we are finally here in Beaufort South Carolina to see him graduate from boot camp!!!! The other exciting thing - yet stressful at the same time - is that I'm due in a week so we are all on pins and needles hoping that I don't go into labor! (Especially on the way there and the way back) So far so good...

Cadence has been talking about her "tousin E-lest" (cousin Celest) for months and was so excited to see her. She is so good with babies as you can see!

This morning we were all up bright and early so we could get to Parris Island to see the motivation run. And by bright and early I mean 5am. We actually got Cadence into a dress for her Uncle Bryan!!!

I love this picture of her and Dzja Dzja - unfortunately Kathy (Ski's stepmom) is in the hotel room VERY VERY sick with either a flu or a food poisoning! She wasn't able to come out for family day today but is hoping to make it for the graduation tomorrow!

Here comes the motivated 1st Battalion running by!

Bryan is the one right behind the road guard. We were all so shocked at how much weight he lost over the last three months!!! He looks GREAT!!!

Worlds cutest neice waiting to see her daddy!!!

1st Battalion Charlie Company marching through the doors!

Bryans platoon waiting anxiously to be dismissed to liberty for the day!

The look on Bryan's face says it all! I had to run to keep up with Noel in order to get a picture of her and Bryan reuniting.

He was so excited to see his baby girl! I can atest to how hard it is to leave your babies for any period of time! When you get to see them again the feeling is undescribable!!!

Pork was very proud of his son! Bryan worked really hard for this!

This was an awesome moment to when the Wisniewski brothers shook hands - from one Marine to another!!

What a cute family picture! Bryan looks like he's 18 years old again!!!!

She was so excited to help her little cousin and push her in the stroller!

He took us to see his barracks - right outside his door is the pit!

Bryan with two of his Drill Instructors

His rack in the squad bay!


The squad Bay!

I wonder how many times he laid in this very rack wishing he could see his little girl!!!

Jacqui and Matt taking it all in!

Here in my little "Young Marine" carrying Uncle Bryan's Seabag.

It was a great day today and we are all so excited and proud of Bryan. Now we are just relaxing at Darlene's house after our long day. Especially me - I was getting worried that I was going to walk myself into labor. So it's time to kick back and put my feet up for the night with a bunch of water!!! I'll post more tomorrow after he graduates - and keep you up to date on any labor and delivery issues I may find myself in!

Pregnancy Update

Just a little pregnancy update - nothing is happening!

Well, as of last Monday nothing was happening. Which is a good thing - at least until this Saturday after we get back from Parris Island SC and then bring it on!!!!! Here are a few of the latest pictures of the belly. I currently exceed the limit of most of my clothes at this point.

Making Mac N Cheese and Hot Dogs - only the finest foods for my family!!!!!!

In Jacqui news - here is her new haircut! She looks so cute and very grown up!!!! Plus, her bangs are finely growing back!!!!

Here's a father / daughter moment if I ever saw one!!!! These two are like two peas in a pod!!!!

I've been promising Matt that I was going to get outside with him and take some pictures of his skateboarding! This is one of his new passions! He needs a new skateboard though because in order for him to go straight, he has to position it to the left and as he rolls it will straighten itself out. I keep telling him his birthday is coming up... Here is Matt - since it's been a while since I've been able to point my camera at him and take some pictures!!!

Oh and look at this...it's so hard to be 3!

Just a little update on what the kids are up to!

Haven't really had a chance to update on the kids lately but they are doing good! Just the other night Jacqui was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society! They had a very nice ceremony at her school where each child being inducted was acknowledged and got a certificate. Then they talked a little bit about what it took to be part of the National Junior Honor Society like scholarship, leadership, service, and citizenship for example. The very next day I got a call from little miss National Honor Society's teacher saying that she wouldn't stop talking or messing around and wasn't doing as she was told in class. So much for citizenship!!!!! Here are some pictures from the ceremony!

Matt is also doing well in school for the first time in a long time. We finally figured out what the problem was - he is dyslexic and now that we know, the help he gets has made a world of difference. His grades are A's and B's!!! That doesn't mean he's anymore organized though. Here he is after he fell asleep doing homework that he had a week and a half to do but didn't bother until the night before! Not sure why I've only taken one picture of Matt in the last month - it seems he's never around when I have the camera out! He and I have a plan to go to the skate park soon so I can get a few shots of him skate boarding - his new favorite hobby!

Cadence also has big news of her own!!! This coming Tuesday, she starts preschool 2 days a week and has suckered me into registering her for a gymnastics class one day a week. (As if I don't have enough on my plate to begin with, especially with a new baby coming!!!!) The below pictures are her first trip to open gymnastics where she fell in love with the place and has cried and cried to go back ever since.

Here is a little video I took of Cadence at the gym! She was so proud of herself! She was nervous but she kept saying "I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!" When did she become so grown up!!!!

And the tables turn on my biggest critic!!!

As fathers and husbands go - Ski is one of the best around. I couldn't ask for a more loving and caring man! He helps out around the house, he does all the yard work and takes out the trash. He cleans my car even though I'm the one that drives it. Being the most frugal man you will ever meet in your life, he still tries to get me whatever I want. He compliments me daily and calls just to say I love you! He treats my older children as if they are his own and there is not a father around that loves his little girl more then he does. (The list could go on and on but really, his ego doesn't need a bigger boost than that - trust me!)

But let the records show - when it comes to being sympathetic towards pregnancy, he leaves a lot to be desired.

Before he married me, he really hadn't had much experience with pregnant women. I mean, he went from living with his dad and Kathy in a town of approx 3000 people, to living with a bunch of Marines in the Barracks. Not too many opportunities to rub elbows with many pregnant women! However, after getting to know him and his personality, I realize that there is nothing that could have prepared my husband for the wonderful 4o weeks of pregnancy. He's more of a "You wanted to be pregnant so you shouldn't complain" type of person. I'm more of, well, the complete opposite! Especially when I can't breath or sleep or roll over or move because you better believe when this man is sick, we all hear him complain about it. Over and over again!! But, don't be too hard on him. Even though he may roll his eyes and make stupid comments sometimes, he still does everything he can to help me so I don't over do it!

That being said, I'm sure you can all imagine the huge smile on my face when he and I went to a baby class today and he got to wear the empathy belly. A 35 lb, lead filled belly that simulates some of the symptoms I go through on a daily basis. The weighted belly, the feeling of being off balance, the compressed breathing. It was a big fat "I told you so" wrapped up in a cute little simulated belly that, unfortunately, still had bigger boobs then I do at 8 months pregnant!

Below are some of the most priceless pictures I've ever taken...

I just wish he could feel what it was like to feel feet in your ribs and painful contractions but hey, I'll take what I can get.

Our First North Carolina Snow day!!!!

Last night we knew that there was going to be at least a two hour delay at the schools because of the weather and a possible school closing. Jacqui and Matt were mad that they still had to go to bed at a reasonable time. I at least let them watch TV in bed and I can tell you they were both asleep within a half hour so I wasn't the MEANEST mom in the world - they were tired!!! Cader and Ski decided they wanted to camp out in the living room because Ski had the day off today!

Below is their camp out. They lit my candle on the table for a campfire and told scary "monster" stories (my favorite book!) and even had out a flashlight because you can't go camping without a flashlight.

About 6:30am we got a call that the schools were officially closed today so I turned off my alarm clock and went right back to sleep! It isn't everyday that I get to sleep in! Unfortunately, my husband had better plans and was up at 8:30am ready to go. I wish I had HALF his energy in the morning!!!

Around noon this is what it looked like around here and everyone started to get excited!

Jacqui couldn't decide if she wanted to go outside but once she saw the entire Cul-De-Sac out there playing she had to get involved.

We even let Cadence skip her MUCH NEEDED nap to go play in the snow. Oh she was so excited!

However, she wasn't too crazy about her hands getting cold and cried to her Daddy who is her hero and he made it all better!

Jacqui and Chelsea pretending to throw a snowball at me!

She knew better then to throw it at me and redirected it at the last minute!

Here is everyone playing and wrestling and having a great time in the snow. It's been so long since we've seen snow and we had to dig DEEP for warm coats and clothes!!!

Matt tried to get Chelsea with a snowball but my poor son always ends up getting over powered!

Now we are all inside in warm clothes, drinking hot chocolate, and making Magic Cookie Bars.

My 28 week and 5 day celebration!

Well I've made it to my own little milestone! I'm 28 weeks and 5 days pregnant. That is the day in my pregnancy when I had Matt and he turned out just fine. So far, there have been no problems with this pregnancy but in the back of my head, both this time and with Cadence, I felt that sigh of relief when we hit that mark! I can't wait to see what a little boy of mine will look like at full term! Matthew, my preemie, looked like a cute little old man who I instantly fell in love with. In the mean time, here is a recent picture of my ever expanding belly. I carry my babies very low and it's so uncomfortable to walk, sleep, sit, ...MOVE. But it's all worth it! It'll especially be worth it when Ski and I go to a Daddy's baby bootcamp class next month and he gets to wear a weighted pregnant belly in order to see what it's like for me to carry around all this extra baggage. Don't you worry - you'll all get to see it also because you know I won't forget my camera that day!

Happy New Year!!!! 2009

Happy New Year!!! It's already 2009!

For New Years Eve we went to our friends Shannon and Anthony's house (this is them below - Anthony looks like he is the drunk one but you'd be surprised how tipsy Shannon is here!!!)

The Beaty's also made it out for the night too - they even called to ASK if they could take Matt to their house where they had a babysitter and he could hang out with their son!!! Who am I to argue with someone who wants to give us a kid free evening and a free babysitter!! Jacqui also went to a friends house so it was just me Ski and Cadence!!!

Jeff and Rachel Beaty - we were so surprised that he wasn't' wearing camouflage overalls and Rachel had gotten him dressed up into a vest!

Becky, Alaina, and Tim - they are PCSing this weekend so it was kind of also a good-bye party in a way too. Tim will be a recruiter for the next three years.

And finally the Ski's (minus a couple kids) He thinks it's hilarious to rest his beer on my huge belly. Notice I was all about matching my clothes last night. That orange goes lovely with that blue doesn't it!!!! I don't care, I was warm and comfortable. That is all that matters when you are almost into your third trimester (which I start Saturday!!!!! I'm going into the final stretch!!)

Abby and Cadence had a great time rocking out and playing dress up!

Cadence wants to be just like her dad with the guitar.

Jeff and Ski eating! It's not a New Years party without tons of food!

Because the Beaty's live like 6 hours (okay 40 minutes) away, they rented a limo so that they wouldn't have to drive. Before they left the guys took a spin in it and then the girls did...

Cadence and Abby went with us and all Cadence kept saying was "This is SOOOO AWESOME!" She thought it was the best ride in the world!!!

Leave it to my husband to not only try to steal the cup from the limo but also to put it in his Kuzi to keep it chilled...

This is completely unrelated to New Years but I thought it was too cute not to share...

Just a little while ago this is how we found the dog. Cadence was trying to change Natties diaper (like a big sister!!!!) and put powder on her...

She thought she was in so much trouble and started crying. Daddy ran to the rescue. You know there would be no yelling if Daddy has anything to do with it.

Seriously though how could you yell at such a sweet heart broken little face like this???