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

Damage from our UAB

Well, we finally got our 1,000 pounds of UAB (Unaccompanied Baggage AKA Air Freight AKA Hold Baggage) last Friday. A few weeks ago we got our friends' UAB (they moved from Morocco to Salt Lake City) and ours was on the way to their house.
Needless to say we were quite ready to get this stuff! We had it packed on July 21st and it usually takes about a month to arrive.
The mover came to my door and said "Have they told you about this shipment?" I said "Yeah, about how it went to Utah, etc." He said "No, you'd better come look at this!"
Half of our boxes were drenched in a black, oily substance. The mover thinks it may be hydraulic fluid. These movers were only responsible for transporting these items for the last 21 miles so I highly doubt they were responsible. Anyway, his theory was maybe a hose on a forklift broke when it was lifting the pallet that had the boxes on it. I doubt we'll ever know. Last time we had damage from a move we got about 1/6 of the value of our things.
Our entire wardrobe was in these boxes. Thankfully my kitchen items were not in the damaged boxes. So we have only the clothes that we packed in our suitcase. Our sheets, comforters, and towels were also in these boxes. So, we'll slowly replace our clothes and linens and hope for a decent payout from the Army.
Most of the things did not get wet but the smell is HORRIBLE. I've been slowly photographing the items (required for the claim) out on our front lawn and after about 1/2 hour my head starts hurting from the smell.
Surprisingly, I'm not THAT upset about it. I'm annoyed about dealing with the hassle of photographing each item, listing the replacement cost and proof of the cost.
I'm just happy to be in the USA with my kids. These things can be replaced slowly but surely. It was time to reduce the amount of stuff we had anyway. :)
Here are some pictures of the damaged boxes:






By the way, those who Christmas shop for us (Mom, Dad, etc) we'd like clothes for Christmas :)
--Rachel

Another tag!

I am: analytical, rational, objective, logical, extroverted, Type-A, wife, mother, grad student, teacher, daughter, sister . . .
I think: I sometimes take on more than I should. :)
I know: I am right where I need to be right now.
I want: to lose 15 pounds
I have: 3 beautiful children and a wonderful husband
I dislike: those who celebrate ignorance, strangers who think my personal life is their business and the constant questions I get about my girls when we are in public.
I miss: teaching (me too, Jamie!), my friends who don't live close by.
I fear: my husband being in Iraq.
I feel: happy with my life overall.
I hear: NBC nightly news, Andrew eating and the girls talking in their cribs about to go to sleep.
I smell: pizza - Andrew is eating it!
I crave: vinegar once a month . . . probably TMI but it's true!
I cry: more than I'd like. I'm a very emotional person.
I usually: smile
I search: for time to do things that I want to do.
I wonder: what my kids will look like when they are older. How tall Andrew will end up being and what choices they'll make for their future.
I regret: dating some of the toads I dated :)
I wish: I could see certain people more often.
I love: my wonderful family.
I care: about doing my best
I always: rub my feet together right before I fall asleep - I have no idea why!!!
I worry: about too much
I am not: a mean person (at least on purpose)
I remember: my CHiPs big wheel that I got for Christmas one year. :)
I believe: my Heavenly Father loves me.
I sing: a lot.
I don't always: have a perfectly clean house.
I argue: about very little.
I write: in my blog frequently :)
I win: Trivial Pursuit against my husband sometimes :)
I lose: any sport based on athletic ability. I'm sometime amazed I can even walk! :)
I listen: to all types of music except rap.
I don't understand: people who choose to wallow in their self pity
I can usually be found: tired - raising 3 kids by myself gets exhausting sometimes
I need: a FREE nanny to help :)
I forget: if I don't write it down.
I am happy: when my husband, children and I are all together in one place :)

I tag Cathy, Michelle, Amanda

Tag

A. The rules are posted at the beginning.
B. Each person answers questions about their sweethearts.
C. At the end of each post, the person then tags people and posts their names; then goes onto their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know they have been tagged.

All right people, here are the facts and details:

What is your husbands name? Joshua
How long have you been married? 10 years this past May
How long did you date? 4 years
How old is he? Since he's a little younger than me that would make him 28 since I'm forever 29 :)
Who eats more sweets? Definitely me, but I've corrupted him over the years with my sweets. :)
Who said I love you first? I don't really remember. But I would guess he did b/c I wasn't so great about saying those things first. :)
Who is taller? He is by a few inches
Who can sing the best? Me. I love him, but it's me. :)
Who is smarter? I would say him. He would say me. :)
Who does the laundry? Right now I do mine and the kids and he does his. :) Usually I do it but he helps if I get behind.
Who pays the bills? I do. He's gone too much with the Army to do it any other way.
Who mows the lawn? Definitely him. Once when he was deployed the first time (early in our marriage) we lived upstairs but had to mow the front lawn on base. So I got out and tried to start the mower. I would pull the cord and it would rumble and not start. This went on over and over and over. Finally the downstairs neighbor (who was responsible for the backyard) came out and said "If you stop trying to get that mower started, I'll mow the grass for you until your husband comes home!" :)
Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but he's a good cook
Who drives? Both of us but I prefer my driving and he prefers his driving. :)
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Uh, probably him. :)
Who kissed who first? He kissed me, he was quite smooth about it too. :)
Who asked who out first? He did. I was working at a camp near his hometown for the summer and he came to my aunt's house (where I stayed on weekends), picked me up and we went and ate pizza with his sister and then her date joined us for the movie Speed.
Who wears the pants? We both do, but only I wear the skirts. :) Seriously, we work together but as the patriarch of our home, he's got the final say. I don't think it has ever been something that I didn't agree with. :)

I tag Jamie, Camille, and Amy