A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

This year we decided it made the most sense for us to buy a small fake tree as opposed to the beautiful, big, real tree I wanted. After forking over a fortune for plane tickets to California for the holiday and knowing that we wouldn't even be able to enjoy the tree for those eleven days we are out of town, we settled on this four foot tall, Charlie Brown type tree. After decorations and some love I think it was ten dollars well spent. Also, thank goodness for shatterproof ornaments, Jane likes to try to manhandle the tree.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

This past weekend our family drove to this cute little town called Moss Point for Christmas at the River. There were booths, arts and crafts, hot cocoa and the part that we were interested in, the boat parade and fireworks show. It ended up dropping down to freezing temperatures and we had to leave early, before the fireworks. It was good while it lasted though. If nothing else it was worth the drive, during which I got to see how beautiful some parts of Mississippi can be.

This was the boat we liked the most.

We posed for a picture in the freezing cold.

Jane beforehand, all ready to keep warm.

Random Pictures of My Little Cutie

Daddy dressed Jane up like a weight lifter...

and a tennis pro.

Jane enjoying her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Just out and about with mom.

Playing and having fun at the beach.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Today our family celebrated our first Thanksgiving away from Fresno. The day started out kind of rough for me. Upon realizing that I couldn't watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is a little bit of a tradition, I had a melt down. You might be wondering to yourself a couple of things. First, why couldn't I watch the parade? And second, why would that make me cry?
To answer the first question, we live in a town that is functioning, don't ask me how, on technology from like 15-20 years ago. The majority of the population still has dial-up internet because that is all that is available. But to answer the question, dish network here doesn't cover local channels and some of their signal strengths aren't strong enough where we live to be picked up by an antenna. Thus, I couldn't get the channel showing that darn parade.Totally lame!!!!
Now for that second question. That parade was going to be the only part of Thanksgiving that was going to be the same for me, the only part that was going to be like home. Not being able to watch it just solidified in my mind that I am very far from home and that as much as I want things to be the same, they never again will be. Change is a good thing, but it is also a very hard thing to accept sometimes. If you are reading this and thinking that I am a basket case because that is still not a good reason to cry, you also need to remember that I am just about eight months pregnant.
We spent the majority of the day just relaxing. We watched some football and walked to the park and played for a while before we went to dinner. I was supposed to make our feast and have some lonely airmen over to join us, but before we knew it there were too many people involved and so we decided going out was our best option, especially considering I have never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner before. Our group had dinner at The Cracker Barrel. I had never been there before but it ended being the perfect place for going out to Thanksgiving dinner. The food was good and the company was enjoyable. What more could you ask for? I couldn't see how it would happen at the beginning of the day, but it ended up being a very enjoyable holiday, and I think for the first time I really realized that I have had and that I do have a lot be grateful for.

We found a friend!!!

This little guy greeted Taylor in the laundry room this morning. Needless to say his life ended just shortly after this picture was taken. Since living here in Mississippi we have seen some pretty nasty looking bugs and some pretty big spiders, but this is the first one who has had the guts to come inside and expose himself to my husband. You can get a pretty good idea of his actual size by comparing him to the hinge, about three of those five sections long. I definitely wouldn't consider him to be a small spider by any means.

Especially for Aunt Brooke

Jane carried her "Doe" dog everywhere with her today and just wanted to play with him. I couldn't get him away from her. I think that means she likes him... and I think she misses the real "Doe" dog too.

Look at what I made...

Window valences!!

I actually made two but I only took a picture of one because they are identical. I even made them without a pattern. It was kind of nerve wracking but I think they turned out pretty good. Next project... throw pillows.

Halloween

Jane was a fairy for Halloween this year. She had fun walking around outside like a big girl and carrying her pumpkin bucket. She liked the candy part as well but after two pieces she was bouncing off the walls so that was the end of that.

Parched after the evenings events.

Daddy trying to convince Jane to put the candy in the bucket.

Our new Beach

Yesterday we got to spend some time at the beach. It was fun but it was no Pismo and it definately wasn't the Pacific. The water is kind of muddy and we haven't seen anybody in it yet. It is beautiful in it's own way though.

Of course Jane walked straight into the water fully clothed so she shed some layers.

Just a picture of me.

Our new ocean. And yes, I took this fabulous picture.

Jane found a sea shell and didn't want to throw it.

We're not dead, we're just in Mississippi

We are finally here!!!!! We are happy to call Biloxi, Mississippi our new home. It is quite different from good old Fresno that is for sure. It is quite a bit behind the times and a little small town. I suppose some people would like that, but I count my blessings that we will only be here until April. We are living in a beautiful home in the on-base housing and we are only a few blocks from the beach so there are some positives about living here. It is also absolutely wonderful being reunited with Taylor. Jane can't get enough of her daddy.

Flight 574 at the Obstacle Course
Those glasses were mandatory. (The smiling fairy in the back is Hamilton).

Basic @ Lackland AFB

me after the gas chamber
me at "KP" duty. (kitchen duty...worse than the gas chamber)

San Antonio

Last week Taylor graduated from Basic Training so Jane, myself, and my parents flew to San Antonio, Texas to visit him and see him graduate. He did such a good job, I am so proud of him. He was an honor graduate and got some extra awards. He is now in Biloxi, Mississippi at tech school where he is learning his job. Jane and I will be moving there with him in four weeks. I am so excited. I miss having my husband around.

Camping

I'm a little behind on my updates, but we went camping like 3 weeks ago. My brother Aaron, his wife Erin, and their baby June were in town so we went to Huntington Lake for the weekend. We ended up getting rained on and it was cold, but we did have a lot of fun. It was a good chance for all the kids in my family to get to spend time together.

There were no showers, so Jane was covered in dirt half the time and had crazy hair.

A Little Turtle Surprise

Today, I went in for what was supposed to be just a normal 15 week prenatal visit. I figured it would be the normal weight, urine sample, blood pressure, fetal heartbeat, questions kind of day. It ended up holding lots of surprises. First, I left my urine sample which was really cloudy(sorry if you didn't want to know that). This wasn't so worrisome but I figured it probably wasn't ideal either. Then, I stepped on the scale for my weight. I had no gain at all putting my total weight gain for this pregnancy at a -2 pounds. So, now I was thinking this is not good. Things go normal from there until the doctor tries to listen to the heartbeat. SHE COULDN'T FIND IT!!! I didn't want to totally flip out but I knew things weren't looking so hot. So at this point the doctor decides we need to do an ultrasound. I am not going to lie, I was preparing myself for the worst. Then, up on the screen popped a healthy baby. While the doctor was looking around for the heartbeat she says, "Did you see that? Did you see the little turtle?" I was thinking to myself, "What on earth?" The doctor then clarified that she thought I was having a boy and she had gotten a shot of his little turtle. We found the heart beat which was strong and healthy and I found out that I am actually 16 weeks 4 days pregnant, not just 15, moving my due date to January 30th. I am so grateful everything turned out alright.

Jane Had a Birthday! Shout Hooooooray!

We celebrated Jane's 1st birthday on July 25th, though we had the party the night before. It was so exciting to see my baby at her first birthday celebration. It makes me look so forward to the ones to come. I just can't believe how quickly our first year with her flew by. Taylor wasn't able to be here for Jane's birthday due to him being in Texas for basic training but he did get to call that day which was very special. Here are some pictures from Jane's lady bug birthday.

Cousins Lincoln and Lily. This picture perfectly illustrates just how polar opposite their personalities are.

The super cute lady bug cake my sister Brooke and I made together. Not quite Ace of Cakes, but still cute.

My little bug patiently waiting for her dinner.

Mommy and Jane getting ready for cake time.

Jane soaking up the attention.

She loved her cake!!

All done!!

Finally... My first letter

Taylor has now been away at basic training for two weeks. I never imagined I would be able to make it this long but thankfully I have. Today I recieved my first letter from him. This is the first I have heard from him since he arrived there and let me tell you, it was wonderful. He is doing very good and says that every day is a little easier. The part he was most looking forward to, the physical training has been a bit of a let down I guess. His exact description was "lame PT for weenies". I will leave you with an excerp of a part that I found to be entertaining.

" After PT, we shower all together. I think that is the only time when having 20/400 vision is a good thing."

Unexpectedly Expecting

Yes, that is correct, less than a year ago I had my first baby and now I am pregnant with my second. As you can imagine it was quite a surprise. I cried a lot at first, but I have now come to peace with it and am actually getting excited. I have concluded that Heavenly Father has decided to bless me with a baby at this time to help get me through Taylor being gone, to give me something else to keep my mind on. Taylor will be leaving on Monday for basic training and will be gone for 8 weeks after which he will come home for 2 weeks and then leave again for 6 months. I think any women would be scared at the thought of having a baby and being pregnant without their husband around. That is not going to be the hardest part though because I do have family around. The hardest part is that he will most likely not be at the delivery. The timing of this stinks, but it is a wonderful blessing and who am I to decide when Heavenly Father can and cannot bless me. Our new little blessing is due the beginning of February.

Zoo Time!!

On Tuesday, we took our little family to the zoo. It was Jane's first trip to the zoo and she did great. We were there during nap time but she didn't really mind because she was so fascinated by all of the animals. She was such a trooper.

In line before all of the fun started.

Jane and daddy making funny faces.

Aren't they just the cutest?

You can't really tell in this picture, but the elephants were her favorite.

Taylor is showing us just how much fun Jane is having, can't you tell just by looking at her?

Jane's Easter/Spring Pictures

For being taken by me, I think they turned out pretty cute!

An Air Force Family

This past week Taylor turned in all of the required paperwork to join the U.S. Air Force. On Thursday and Friday he will be in San Jose taking care of the required testing and then it will be official, we will be an Air Force family. When we have told people about Taylor's desire to join the military, most of the responses have been on the negative side but really, it will be a good thing for us. It has taken me some time to get to this point but I am actually excited. Free housing, insurance, an income, travel, paid for education, what more could you want? Yes, there will be some sacrifices made, but it will be well worth it.

My Valentine

Taylor's gift to me was so sweet this year, I absolutely have to brag about it. The gift, a simple teddy bear you may say, but no. This bear is from the Build a Bear Workshop. For a grown male to have come up with the idea and to go somewhere like the Build a Bear Workshop on his own when he could have just bought a bear from Walgreen's truly shows just how much my Taylor loves me. The fact that he was willing to brave the line that is always coming out of that place, not to mention all the little kids that wander around there, speaks volumes. I love my bear so much.

Funniest Video Ever

I saw this video on The Soup and I about died laughing. The title of the video explains it all.

Lincoln Wayne Davis... at last

Born January 22, 2009

@ 9:15 PM

9 lbs 4 oz

19 1/4 in

My brother Jared and his wife Lindsey finally had their baby boy. We were all anxiously awaiting his arrival and were all so exciting when he finally came. Lindsey went in yesterday to be induced because he just wasn't wanting to come on his own. The whole process was pretty speedy. She got in her room at 5 PM and had him a little over four hours later. Not bad. Lincoln is so cute. He is what my mom calls a "brick". He is heavy and compact. I was able to be there when big sister Lily finally got to see her new brother. She had to wear a mask and they had to bring the baby out of the room to meet her. The first thing she did was try to give him his pacifier. It was a sweet gesture.

I am so happy to be an aunt again. I love Lily and I know Lincoln will bring just as much joy to the family. I am happy that he and Jane are close in age. I have a feeling he will get bigger than her very soon and be quick to learn how to beat up on her. Oh the things we have to look forward to.