My kids love Zydeco music!

The other day as I was driving near New Orleans I was flipping through the radio stations looking for something to listen to while driving. I passed some Zydeco and Andrew yells out "Go back! I want to listen to that!" So we did.
Last night Josh's family (his parents, all siblings and all the grandchildren) gathered for dinner at a local Cajun restaurant. Josh had some Alligator, but Andrew would NOT even consider trying some. I don't blame him!!! They had a live band and a dance floor and the kids enjoyed the music. Leah loves to dance and really enjoyed the Zydeco music. Here is a video of Leah dancing to the Zydeco music. The little boy in the background does not belong to our family (Andrew is the only grandSON in the family) but he reminds me of Andrew at that age.:)
Enjoy!


I just realized that I uploaded the wrong one but the previous one got her little butt bounce. :) Here is the correct one!!!

Playing catch-up: Leila's doctor visit, Josh is home and I graduated!

First, sorry for taking so long to post about these things. I feel like I've been in a haze the past week. It's been quite busy!!!
Leila saw the doctor on Friday and basically he said the hole in the heart is "insignificant" but the bicuspid valve was his concern. He said it could be an issue in 5, 15 or 50 years but eventually it WILL be an issue. He feels that since it is not affecting her now that she should not be subjected to a surgery to repair it and I agree. The older she gets, the more she'll be able to handle the surgery and the longer we wait, the more likely a new way to repair her valve will be invented which may mean no surgery. Who knows? Think how much medicine has changed in just the past 20 years! So for now we will go once a year for an EKG and ultrasound to see how small the opening is (it's supposed to open to a full circle but hers opens like a fish mouth) and how much leakage is occuring (right now, it's minor). For now, she's the same Leila who keeps up with Leah just fine and you wouldn't know there was anything wrong just watching how active and lively she is!!!

Saturday Josh came home and he gets to be with us for a whole 7 weeks! Hooray!!! Four months of separation down, 16 more months to go after this visit. We will get through it! :) I am just amazed at how much easier it is to load the girls in the car, run errands, give baths, make meals, etc with the extra adult around. :) I really feel pampered! Tomorrow he will take the girls with him to visit his family. Meanwhile Andrew and I will stay here while he finishes school and then go see my best friend and meet up with Josh and the girls on Saturday. I can't imagine what I will do with the free time for the rest of the week while Andrew is at school!!! I'm thinking about treating myself to a pedicure so my feet will be pretty later on this month for our cruise. I may also take a nap! :)

Sunday I finished my last course for my Master's degree. I graduated with a 3.75 GPA. I gave myself permission to get the B's since I was playing single mom for the last two classes. The perfectionist in me REALLY had to force myself to accept those B's!!! Yes, I'm nuts. :) How did I do it with Josh gone? I hired a sitter 1-2 times a week and ate at the deli with free Wifi and had dessert at Books A Million with free WiFi (if you have the discount card) while typing away. It feels good to be finished. I don't plan to go to work right away but I am eyeing an online high school as a POSSIBILITY for next school year, but very likely in the future. I really want the freedom of when Josh comes home for his two week mid-tour leave (likely to happen in December 2009) to be able to drop everything to spend time doing something as a family. I don't want to be tied down to a job to stop that from happening. I do plan to pick up my blog designing again after the new year and I have a lot of things to put on ebay. Anyone who knows me knows I can't have NOTHING to do!!! :)

I am spending this week playing catch up and getting ready for traveling. I FINALLY got pictures hung up on the wall and the Master bedroom and Andrew's bedroom organized exactly how I want them. Since Josh is taking the van with him I've spent the day getting Christmas presents in boxes and all the supplies for the girls packed so when I take our little Nissan to meet him I'll be able to fit everything else inside. We still have a ton of boxes to unpack but we have January.

I finally finished the claim for the damage to the boxes covered in hydraulic fluid. The grand total? $5,700 and change!!! I'm not holding my breath for the full amount. We'll see.

I'm also trying to get last minute details for our cruise arranged. One night is a pirate night and I'm making cute shirts for the family. Josh, Andrew and I have our hats and eye patches as well. Josh wanted me to point out that we will NOT be sailing around the Horn of Africa so the only pirate we are likely to see is Jack Sparrow! :) We leave on my birthday so I am quite excited about enjoying a birthday that is way too close to Christmas for enjoyment. :)

Speaking of birthdays, today I went to the eye doctor and kept giving my age on different forms, etc. Finally while I was alone in the exam room waiting for my eyes to dialate I was pondering about my upcoming birthday. I started doing the math and realized that I had been giving the wrong age!!! I am a year older than I thought! How sad is that? :)

I can't forget a video of K! :)

Here is a video of K from her handbell concert last night.
She is to the left of the tallest girl:

My neices

Saturday night I had the opportunity to attend the school choir concert for my neices, A and K. A is a senior and has wanted the solo to O Holy Night since she was a 7th grader. Well, she got it and call me biased, but I think she did the best job! :) K is in the 7th grade but I don't know if she has dreams of a solo her senior year. We shall see. Enjoy the video of A's solo:

The video isn't clear with the faces so here are a few pictures of my neices. K is on the left, and A is on the right:

WOW! Snow!

Sorry! No pictures! On Tuesday it was 70 degrees but we woke up to snow. I figured there would be no school and told Andrew this was likely. Then I looked forward to sleeping in like Andrew usually lets me do on Saturdays. At 6:45am he turns on my bedroom light and shouts "It's snowing! It's snowing! It's snowing!" He was so loud he woke the girls up too! *SIGH*
So we got up and the girls and I stayed inside while Andrew ran in and out all day playing. We got 2-4 inches. It was gone by the afternoon.

Meanwhile I put the girls down for morning nap and caught a few zzz's as well. I found the following pictures on my camera that Andrew snapped of himself while he played in the living room. :)

Silly boy!!!

Josh comes home Saturday and I graduate Sunday! :)

I never thought I'd say THAT!

Here is what I heard myself say today that I never thought I would say:

"Stop fighting over the baby Jesus!"

I have a Little People Nativity set and Andrew and Leila were fighting over the pieces. :)
Never a dull moment around here!

My first episode of Jon and Kate plus 8

I've heard about this show but I've never seen it. I'm in the process of reading their book and frankly, it exhausts me. :) For those who aren't familiar with the show, basically Jon and Kate had twins and 3 years later instead of having 1 more, they had 6!!!. They have a tv show on TLC that's been on for a few seasons.
So tonight Andrew is with his aunt and cousins, the girls are in bed and my head hurts way too much to do much. I realized that a Jon and Kate marathon was starting so I decided to see how it is for these people.
Here are some thoughts:
1) I do NOT like the way Jon and Kate talk to each other. I wanted to yell at the tv "This is your spouse, people! Not your dog!" I will admit that I can snap at Josh; especially about once a month, but 1) he doesn't snap back and 2) I quickly apologize. Also, I don't think I've ever said anything as harsh as what these two say in day to day conversation.
2) I like clean. Before the girls, I was a HUGE germ-a-phobe!!! Here is a tip for those who don't have multiples: If you have multiples, LET IT GO!!! Kate was freaking out about the kids walking barefoot on the hotel room floor. She got mad b/c the kids kept trying to get off the bed without their shoes. Hey, I agree the hotel floor is gross, but we are talking about just surviving with multiples. LET IT GO!!!
3) Messes happen; calm down!!! So they are at Disneyworld and one of the sextupelets spilled some ice cream on her top. Kate starts freaking out and yelling at Jon about how the child is now "ruined" because they don't have extra clothes! Uh, I don't recall ever going through an entire day with Andrew without something on his shirt. Get a napkin, wipe her off and calm down. You're at Disneyworld for goodness sake! So Kate decides to take the ice cream away from all of the kids and feed them herself. Well, that doesn't work out too well when you have 8 mouths and one spoon. Needless to say, the kids had a meltdown (no pun intended).
4) I am having a hard time feeling too sorry for hwo overworked Kate is. They are at Disneyworld and you can see Disney cast members in the background helping pass out food to the children, etc. They had a roped off area to sit for the parade. I wonder if they actually stood in a line. Call me when you have just 3 of them alone while your husband is gone, while finishing grad school and while unpacking. Then you may get some sympathy from me. :) Earlier in the episode she spent the morning at the salon and was complaining to Jon how exhausted she was. He pointed out that she was alone at the salon and she got mad. :) Give me a morning alone and I promise I won't complain! :)
5) They addressed how they bicker with each other and fight but that it's because of all they have been through. OK, I'm going to pull MY "all that we've been through" card. Sorry, but that's NOT an excuse for how you treat each other. Josh and I have been through a LOT. These past few months have been gravy compared to some of what we have endured. I'm not looking for sympathy by saying this. What I am trying to say is that Josh and I have grown closer to each other through those trials. We have come out of those trials appreciating each other more and being grateful for the time we get with each other and for the simple day to day stuff. The washer breaks - not a crisis. Our first 1,000 pounds from Morocco is destroyed - oh well. We have each other and 3 amazing blessings. We have food, clothing, shelter and love. Sometimes the food ends up in or on the clothing - oh well. :) Our basic needs are taken care of. That is truly all that matters.
And for the record, I HIGHLY doubt I'd ever agree to have cameras in my home filming me 24/7. . I get that the producers will show the most dramatic stuff, etc.

Maybe I was harsh here. I guess I shouldn't write at the end of a long day when I have a headache. :)

Enjoy! :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The girls do NOT like Santa or taking Christmas pictures

They were two separate incidents, but I think the picture says it all! :)

A few Thanksgiving recipes

Here are 3 of my MUST HAVES at Thanksgiving.

1) Cranberry Relish:
4 cups of fresh cranberries
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 cups of crushed pineapple DRAINED
1/4 cup of sugar

*taste test to see if another Tablespoon needs to be added the day of. 

Blend cranberries in a blender. Add other ingredients and blend. Chill and serve.

My notes: I recommend adding the lemon juice and sugar to the blended cranberries and then STIR in the pineapple so you have more texture.


2) Bobbi's Dressing:
Ingredients:
1/2 batch of crumbled cornbread (My fav. is Martha White Cornmeal mix - use recipie on back)Blue bag of Pepperidge Farm Bread crumbs (The actual name is "Herb Stuffing" - Here's a pic of it:
2 bunches of green onion
1/4 choppend yellow onion
3-4 stalks celery
1/4 cup butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 beaten eggs
salt and pepper
turkey drippings OR 2 cans chicken broth

In an iron skillet, melt butter. Chop and add veggies and saute. Pour into mixing bowl with stuffing mix and cornbread. Add chicken soup, salt, pepper, eggs. Stir. Add turkey drippings (or chicken broth). Mix. Add warm water if not moist and runny. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle black pepper on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45min-1hour.

Here is a picture of the dressing after it's been mixed:

Here is a picture of the dressing before it goes in the oven. I sprinkle a little pepper on top.

Who is Bobbi? Bobbi was my dad's mother. The oldest grandchild started calling her Bobbi and the name stuck. :) She died in 1997. This picture was taken in 1994 when I was in between my sophomore and junior year of college:

3) Sweet Potato Casserole:

Casserole Ingredients:
5-6 cups cooked sweet potatoes (mashed) - 3 cans of Bruce's yams drained and mashed work well.
1 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup margarine
2 beaten eggs
1 teas. vanilla
1/3 cup milk

Topping:
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or other nuts if you prefer)

Combine casserole ingredients and beat with a mixer. Put into a baking casserole dish (you'll see little slivers of butter throughout and that's ok)Combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle on top of casserole (it will look kind of dry but that's ok)Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Enjoy! :)

Rough day

Today was simply a hard day.
First, my keyboard on my laptop that is less than 6 months old will not allow me to type the letters m or n. I have no idea why. So I have to use the on-screen keyboard to type an m or n. I can't send it in to get fixed until I finish school in 23 days because I need it for school. *SIGH*
Second, I went to Wal-mart today to get ready for Thanksgiving. Silly me thought it would be worse to go tomorrow. Apparently everyone had the same idea. That would not have been so bad except I had to hear the comments about the girls and me trying to shop. To shop, I have to push the stroller with one hand and pull the cart with the other hand. It is VERY hard to manipulate the double stroller and the cart. It's even worse when it's crowded in a store. I am just going to be unbelievably blunt here. If you see a mom of twins with her hands full, it is NOT necessary to comment. Just keep your thoughts to yourself. Here is some of what I heard:
"Wow! You have your hands full!"
"OH! Double Trouble!" I hate that so I respond "Double Blessings!"
"You look like you need some help!" Then they walk away!!!
"Oh, that looks so hard!"
"You need someone to come with you to help you shop!"
Then there are the truly curious. I know the girls are facinating, but I REALLY don't have time to stop and chat with every person. It REALLY annoys me when someone stands in front of the stroller so I can't move while they admire. Again, it's sweet, but I am not exaggerating when I say at LEAST 20 people stopped me to talk today. I purchased about 9 bags of groceries. It took me over 2 hours.
Then it was time to leave but the line to check out was 20 minutes long. NOT fun!!!
I think the ultimate was in the parking lot. If you are clueless, it takes me a VERY long time to load and unload the car with the girls. Throw in groceries and it's at least a good 10 minutes. This lady decided she wanted my parking space. I'd be sympathetic but there was a space that was 2 spaces from mine, but it was further from the store. However, apparently my space was special so she waited. Today it was quite cold and windy so I started the van and heater first. Then I rolled the stroller to one side of the van and put one girl in. Then I rolled to the other side of the van and put the other girl in. Then I had to take down the stroller. All the while the lady is creeping closer and closer. Yeah, that will make me move faster. In the words of Doctor Phil "How's that workin' out for ya?" Then I had to unload the groceries. Then I had to put my cart somewhere. All the while traffic is backing up behind this woman because she didn't even have the courtesy to move her car to the side while she waited for my spot that was 2 spaces closer to the store. I finally get in the car and could barely pull out because she creeped up so much it was a tight fit!
The girls fell asleep on the way home because it was way past naptime. I realized that if they were going to get a decent nap then I couldn't get Andrew from school. I texted my sister and asked her to bring Andrew home. He has to go to after school care because her grade gets out later, but it was worth it for the girls to get a good nap.
During the nap I realize I forgot a few items and Leila seems to be getting a cold so I wanted to get some vapor steam for her room.
So the girls woke up and I was back for what was supposed to be a quick trip to get a few things from Sam's. Two hours later I was done and Leila managed to throw up all over herself and the stroller in the parking lot.
I am going to take a hot bath soon and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is another day. :)

Andrew's Gotcha Day

Today is Andrew's Gotcha Day. Seven years ago today we saw and held Andrew for the first time. He was 10 days old.

We had been called the day before and told that we could pick him up the next evening. So, we didn't have much warning about him, but we were ready. I just felt this need a few months before to get ready. I guess it was the adoptive mother's version of nesting. :)

I won't go into the entire story as this is the internet but Andrew could tell you the entire story without leaving anything out like how Dad got a little lost, how we had been so nervous the whole day that we couldn't eat so we stopped at McDonald's on the way home and have a picture of Andrew in a snuggly being worn by Josh and Josh jokingly offering Andrew a french fry. We also stopped at Wal-mart when we got back to our town because I didn't realize that size 1 diapers were NOT the smallest so I needed newborn size and I had a whole roll of film from just that evening that needed to be developed! :) Here is our first family picture.

I'm not great at expressing myself with words, but I am so thankful that Andrew's birthmother chose us to be his parents. I'm thankful that both of his birthparents made the selfless choice to allow him to be adopted. We had the opportunity to meet with Andrew's birthmother on the night we picked him up. There isn't a Mother's Day that goes by that I don't think of her and hope she has peace in her heart for her decision. She gave us the greatest gift and I will always be grateful to her.

Andrew is a unique little boy that leaves me wondering how in the world will I be able to raise him successfully! :) He blows my mind with the way he thinks about issues and the way he solves problems. He loves the ladies and is quite charming. I often wonder what he'll be like in 15 years. I REALLY hope he doesn't break too many hearts and focuses on his studies in college first and foremost! :)

Andrew is a wonderful big brother and his sisters adore him. I think I'll be able to say that 15 years from now. I hope he'll help his dad keep the boys away from his sisters. :) I predict Andrew will be quite tall so he can stare the boys down while Dad cleans his weapons. :)

This was quite an emotional post for me. The amount of gratitude I feel for the opportunity I've been given to be Andrew's mother is overwhelming.

Happy Gotcha Day, dear Andrew. I love you very much!!!
Love,
Mom

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past 7 years:

First Easter

The infamous "cheesey grin"

Hawaii

Easter Party on Base in Japan

Tokyo Disneyland

Halloween

Girls from Preschool

Gulf Shores

Utah (on the way to move to CA)

Monterey Bay, California

At a friend's ranch in California

Disneyland in California (I think we have a picture of him with EVERY princess!!!)

At school in Morocco

My little Jedi :)

Almost done with my Christmas shopping!!!

I only have to get Josh two more presents and I AM DONE!!!
Two years ago we started the tradition (suggested to me by a friend) of only receiving 3 presents. The wise men brought 3 presents so that should be enough.
So, Andrew gets 3, Leah gets 3, Leila gets 3, I get 3 and Josh gets 3. This really helps keep the spending under control as well as the chaos on Christmas day.
We are visiting Josh's family this year and he has 2 parents, 4 siblings, 1 sister in law and 4 neices. I got them all taken care of as well. That was tough since I haven't seen half of them in years!!!
I'm really excited about one present I got for Josh. I you want to see it, you'll have to e-mail me and I'll send a picture to you. You can also wait until Christmas. I'll try to remember to post it here. Some of you may have already seen it because I sent it to a few people out of excitement. :)

My bossy girls

We have a DVD cabinet that holds most of our DVDs. There are two doors to the cabinet and the girls quickly discovered how easy it was to open the cabinet and what fun it was to take the DVDs out. It seemed that the more that could hit the floor the happier they would be! :)
Needless to say, I didn't want to add "Pick up the DVDs" to my long list of things to do several times a day, so I started by saying "NO!" and pulling their hand off of the DVDs. At first they would slowly put their hands back on the DVDs to see what I would do. Of course, I would say "NO!" again. When they realized that I wasn't going to let them do this, they began to cry and cry and cry. It was like "How could you deprive your sweet little angels from the fun of pulling hundreds of DVDs onto the floor? What kind of mother are you? Don't you love us?"
Silly me thought that they would eventually give up but as the days passed the girls would constantly try to get the DVDs. If I was distracted, they would succeed. Otherwise, you heard me say "NO!" a LOT.
When Josh was visiting he asked me why I didn't put a child lock on the cabinet. Frankly, it's because the child lock is hard to operate for me so I didn't really WANT to do that. However, I gave in and put the lock on last week. The girls were devistated to discover that the cabinet was locked and soon seemed to forget about the cabinet's existence.
Yesterday Andrew wanted to watch a DVD but I couldn't get to the cabinet right away so he decided he would try to open the cabinet himself. Leila toddles over to Andrew and starts yelling "BO!!!" "BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" (She says "Bo!" instead of "No!") It was so funny. Then Leah toddles over and starts wagging her finger while Leila continued to fuss at Andrew by saying "Bo!" Fortunately, Andrew found it funny as well and eventually I got over to the cabinet to get the lock off for him.

I have to buy a new washer

I really shouldn't complain. We've bought the washer used right after we got married. It was kind of a funny story. I saw an add in the paper and called the guy (I still remember his name) and he explained that he had several washers and dryers. We went to his house and he took us through his house into his backyard. When we went through the living room, he had an altar set up with some trinkets (maybe statues? - I don't mean disrespect by using the wrong words) set up around the altar. He took us to backyard with a LOT of washer and dryers. So we picked a matching set that he had the receipt for and explained that it had been in storage for a few years. We were so dirt poor, we didn't care.
So he and some member of his congregation came and delivered our washer and dryer (we lived on the 2nd floor) and that was almost 11 years ago. When we moved to Japan we put our washer, dryer and other large items in storage that the Army paid for since washers, dryers and furniture was provided in base housing. We received the items back in California and they were badly damaged. Basically the movers didn't pack and stack our appliances correctly so our dryer was damaged beyond repair, our deep freeze was as well and our washer was missing knobs but it still worked! We got a very low amount of money for the damage so we bought a dryer and had to pay over $500 to have the damaged items hauled away because some contained chemicals so they had to be disposed of properly, etc.
When we went to Morocco we stored our items again and they survived. I kind of wanted a new washer to match my dryer but really couldn't justify spending the money on a new washer since the old one worked.
I noticed over the weekend that it wasn't transitioning to the different steps (rinse, spin, etc) without me manually turning the knob. Then yesterday afternoon I put a load in and later that night I went to put them in the dryer only to discover that the water was STILL running to rinse the clothes for the spin cycle. Fortunately, the water was draining out of the washer but unfortunately I wasted gallons of water on that load of laundry!!!
So, I get a new washer. I hate the timing of needing the new washer since Josh's plane tickets to come home for Thanksgiving were OUTRAGEOUS and Christmas is just around the corner. Oh well. Life goes on. :)
--Rachel

We have a diagnosis!

OK, I got off the phone less than an hour ago so for those who have been anxious to hear, here goes!

Leila has a mild Aortic Insufficiency (AI) due to a Bicuspid Aortic Valve and Atrial Septal Defect (ASD).

Here is a picture of a nomal valve (with 3 sections) above a Biscupid valve:

You can read about Biscuspid Aortic Valves here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007325.htm#Treatment

Here is a picture of what ASD looks like:

You can read more about ASD here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/18119.htm

The pediatric cardiologist comes to our hospital once a month so we'll see him on December 12th to discuss what we do. I'm still not too worried; just concerned.
I'm also thankful for AWESOME medical insurance!!!
I'll keep you all posted as I know more after December 12th!
--Rachel

New Toy, Misc. Pictures

Today is Leila's EKG. I figure she is going to be expected to sit a while so I decided to get her a new toy and not show it to her until we got to the hospital so she would hopefully devote her energy into the new toy. Last night as I was putting batteries in the toy I realized that the toy was full of magnets and may not be good for her to have around the equipment at the hospital. So, I put the toy on the fridge for them to discover this morning.
Leah found it first and came over to me and smiled and looked at the toy and did this sort of squat and looked at me again. I told her "Go ahead!" and went over to show her how to switch the animal pieces, etc. Then Leila quickly joined in and I started shooting pictures.
Leah shows her happiness with her new toy:


Leah and Leila playing together with their new toy:


They are playing so nicely together:


Uh, Leila, don't take it off of the fridge . . .


Leila, where are you going? Leah is getting upset!


What I didn't capture on camera was the fight that occured and me trying to break it up. Ah, the joy of twins! :)

Here are a few pictures from the Zoo Boo that we went to that I forgot to post. I liked Leila's smile b/c it's hard to get her to smile for the camera.


Andrew went as a Jedi for Zoo Boo:

You are being watched if you are visiting our blog

Recently we have had some friends who have experienced harassment from their blogs. One is a couple waiting to adopt and some anti-adoption groups sent harassing e-mails and comments because they feel that a child is better off dead than adopted. That's the beauty of our wonderful country, we have the opportunity to express our opinions. In this group's defense, they are mostly comprised of those who were adopted into bad situations. I truly hate that they were not treated the way that they deserved. However, efforts have been made with laws and policies to protect children from ending up into families who will mistreat them. I'm sure it isn't perfect, but I do believe that now the majority of children adopted are in good, loving homes. In case you've been living under a rock or something, we are pro-adoption. :)

Another is a military family and their harassment has come from anti-military or maybe anti-war people. Again, under that rock? We are a military family. I will not turn my family blog into a political and world issues discussion so I will not state my stance on the war but I will say this: My husband took an oath to serve his country and to follow orders of his leader and that is what he'll do.

That all being said, I feel it is best to add some protective measures to my blog. I REALLY don't want to close my blog off unless you have received a personal e-mail invitation from us. I have no problem with those who are curious about adoption or whatever to read our blog and learn more from our experiences.

So I have decided to place a monitor on my blog that tells me the location (down to your city) of every person who comes to our blog. It also records your IP address which is a unique code to your computer. Did you know your IP address is on every e-mail you send? One more way to identify who comes here. I do not plan to do anything with this information unless I need to based on any type of harassment. I have absolutely no problem contacting the FBI and giving them your information if you choose not to play nice on here.

So, play nice!!! If you don't agree with adoption or the military or anything else that is a part of our lives, there are hundreds of thousands of other blogs you can go read. More than likely the majority of them have more exciting lives anyway!!! There is no need to threaten or harass those who have different opinions than you. Sorry to sound so defensive, etc. but I REALLY don't want to shut down my blog or make it where only those who are personally invited by me can read it.

I promise a much lighter post next time. :) I think the girl have a surprise for me in their diaper now. Oh joy!
--Rachel

Leila has an appointment

Her EKG is Thursday afternoon. I've been told that it will be a few days before we get the results. Keep her in your prayers!
--Rachel

Crazy day!

The movers brought all 238 boxes of our stuff from Morocco. So far it looks like it survived the trip! I managed to get the kitchen almost completely unpacked. My room is full of boxes so I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight! :) There are a LOT of boxes in the carport because my house here is sooooooooooooo much smaller than some of my more recent houses. A friend took the girls this morning while everything was dropped off and she was worried about someone stealing my things out of the carport. These are things like our Christmas trees, sporting equipment, etc. If they want it, they can have it! :) I'll get it all put away soon enough. :)
I plan to have a garage sale in December to unload a LOT of things.
There has been a recall in my computer. Sony sent me a notice about it. Apparently something was put in wrong and it can cause certain models to overheat. So, over a month ago I scheduled the first available appointment (today from 8 to noon). The guy called and said he would come this afternoon. *SIGH* So much for 8 to noon! He arrived and smelled HORRIBLE! Part of it was cheap cigarettes but part of it was some other foul odor. The guy smelled so badly that my house still smelled after he left! I aired out the house and Sony contacted me about filling out a satisfaction survey. I feel badly that his boss will have to tell him that he's the smelly guy but oh well! :)

No word yet about Leila. I'll post here as soon as I know. I'm not worried, just concerned.
--Rachel

Today the girls had their 12 month check up (they're 14 months but it's been crazy with the move) :)
The Doctor spent quite a while listening to Leila's heart and I thought something was up.
He said he heartbeat sounded irregular and he was concerned. They'll do an echo soon (they'll call me to set up an appointment) and send it off to a pediatric cardiologist. He asked if she seemed to get tired easier than her sister, but I said that I had not noticed that.
Please keep her in your prayers!
--Rachel

Halloween Party

We had a Halloween Party last night at church. With the girls walking, it was next to impossible to get them to be still long enough for a good picture. Here are a few:
The only one of all 3 of them. The girls were Tinkerbell and Andrew was an Incredible.

The girls liked the fun jump. :)

Leah found a boyfriend. :)

--Rachel

Leila is walking, too!!!

Enjoy!

--Rachel

Our day of Halloween stuff

The neighbor's cat is ready for Halloween :)

Andrew, his neighbor friend and I made a graveyard cake.


Andrew, his neighbor friend, my nephew and I each carved a pumpkin.

--Rachel

Hail, Farr and Brimstone

Today after I picked up Andrew from school he was telling me about a conversation he was having with his classmate on the playground. He ended it with "and if you don't believe in God you go to hail!" I knew living in the South would bring my southern accent out and I thought the girls might develop an accent. I had no idea Andrew's neutral accent would get a twang. :)

Here is a picture of Andrew playing twister with a friend from the neighborhood.


--Rachel

The school fall festival where they pulled out all the stops!

Andrew's school had an "Under the Big Top" themed fall festival complete with an elephant ride! Personally I thought it was a little over the top, but they didn't ask me. :)

--Rachel

Picture of me

My Mother in law made the comment that I am always behind the camera so there are very few pictures of me on here. Frankly I feel weird taking a picture of just me, but here is just one. I'm really thinking about chopping my hair off to chin or shoulder length. I just have to find some time to get to the salon to do it.

I'm not really liking school right now. So much work and so little time. I hired a sitter for tonight so I could escape the laundry that needed folding, the children that need everything, the floor that needs moping and the projects that need finishing. I got a lot done but there is still a lot more to be done. I graduate in about 8 weeks so I'm trying to just keep my eye on the goal.
--Rachel

What does Josh do in the Army? (part 2)

Hi there,

Joshua here. I'm up at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for the Army's Command and General Staff College course. That's a course that all Army majors have to attend, so I'm here. While I do miss Rachel and the kids, this is a pretty good course. My classmates (other Army majors) are a pretty good group and we always have some interesting discussions.

A while back I made a length post about what I do in the Army, back when I was at the U.S. Embassy in Morocco. So, this is a follow-up explaining what I'll be doing once I leave here and head to Iraq.

I will be deploying as part of an MTT (Military Transition Team). MTT teams are small (10-11 people) teams that work directly with an Iraqi military or police unit. Our job is to help support them in their operations.

For example, if the Iraqi battalion needs some equipment, such as rifles, boots, body armor, etc. we coordinate to get it for them. If they are conducting oprations and need fire support (artillery or air support) we request and coordinate it for them. We also conduct and supervise training. The whole point is to make them more effective at doing their job, securing their country, and fighting the bad guys.

In some ways this will be similar to some of the work I did in Morocco.
There, I helped coordinate training for the Moroccan Army. Several of the US soldiers I worked with said that they found working with Iraqi soldiers to be easier than working with Moroccans. If that's true, I should be okay, because I had a pretty good time working with the Moroccans. We'll see.

Here's a picture of me with some Moroccan soldiers at a training exercise near Marrakech.

I'll follow up again with my next post about why we're in Iraq, and why we need to stay until the mission is finished.

If anyone has any military-specific questions I'd really love to discuss them.

Take care,
Joshua

Leah walking

Cathy reminded me that I haven't posted a video of Leah walking. Truthfully, I hadn't really caught a good one of her yet. Here is one from today though!


--Rachel

Josh's funny neice!!!

Josh's sister-in-law keeps a family blog too and his 2 year old neice is quite funny with her antics. Yesterday's post was quite funny! Here is the post:

I left Allison's spaghetti on the table after lunch yesterday because she had barely touched it. Right after lunch I went into the living room to feed Sara. While I was taking care of Sara I could hear Allison playing in the kitchen. I wasn't really worried because she often plays with my plastic mixing bowls and pretends to cook (harmless enough) and I wasn't worried about the messy spaghetti on the table because she hadn't given that stuff the time of day just a few minutes prior. After I'd been in the living room for a few minutes I heard Allison saying things like, "You want some more spaghetti, baby?" and "Is that good food, baby?" When I told her that the baby couldn't eat the spaghetti, she turned back to the baby and said with a slightly frantic tone, "Spit it out, baby! Spit it out!"

You can see pictures of the baby at http://appleandcompany.blogspot.com/2008/10/her-intentions-were-good.html
What a funny kid! :)
--Rachel

Josh comes to visit :)

Josh flew in this past Thursday night to visit for the weekend. He returned to DC yesterday. It was nice to have him home.
Friday we dropped Andrew off at school and ran errands around town with the girls. It's so much easier having the extra hands to help! Josh brought Andrew a build your own lightsaber kit and they had fun. I'm not sure who had more fun. :)
Saturday we went to Andrew's soccer games and Andrew scored some goals.
That afternoon Josh stayed at the house with the kids while the girls napped and I got to run a few errands alone. It was sooooooooooooo nice to try on clothes all by myself! :)
That evening we went on a date and went to dinner and a movie. After the movie we went to the bookstore and like trying on clothes, it was nice to browse a bookstore without children! :) I found quite a few books that I wanted. :)
Sunday we went to church and relaxed.
Josh commented that he thought I was slightly exaggerating about all of the comments I get when I'm out with the girls. He realized that I wasn't exaggerating!!! :)
Leah walked a lot for her Dad and Leila talked a LOT!!! She doesn't say much that we understand but that doesn't really stop her from sharing her thoughts! Andrew simply enjoyed having someone to talk about Star Wars and to have "guy time." I enjoyed our time alone on Saturday night. It was the first time we had been alone in MONTHS. The adoption craziness really took a lot out of us. It was nice to be together under calm circumstances. :)
Monday it was time for Josh to fly home. :( Below is a picture taken before we loaded up in the car to take him to the airport. The cat is our neighbor's cat, Isabelle. Isabelle has learned the girls' meal schedule and comes over to clean the floor. She's an incredibly sweet and patient cat.
We were all so glad to have him home. He gets to come back for Veteran's Day weekend so we are looking forward to that.

--Rachel

Halloween Dresses :)

Aren't they cute? :)

--Rachel

Cousins visit over the weekend

My sister and her 3 children came to visit us this weekend. It was the first time they saw the girls. We had fun going to the zoo and hanging out around the house. Her children are 9, 7.5 and 5.5. Andrew is in the middle at 6.5 so needless to say they had fun! Here are a few pictures:
My sister's 3 and my 3 at the zoo. I have no idea why but Andrew and his cousins thought it would be funny to throw (what they thought were) gang signs. *SIGH* My sister ended that with a scary, but true story about when she lived in Chicago and a child did that. Let's just say the child will probably never try it again! Leila is in black and Leah is in orange. I like the way Leila is looking at my sister. :)
They are so close to walking!!! Leah is in the orange and Leila is in the black.
Just hanging around
Another one from the zoo.

There they go again with their signs! Little stinkers!!!

The visit seemed too short and we hated to see them go. Hopefully we'll see them again very soon!

--Rachel