I feel like I should play "Shake Your Goove Thing" with this post :)

The girls' hair is getting more and more difficult to manage. I think it's going to look really great when it gets longer but for now It's a pain. If I pull a curl above their ear straight it will go to their shoulders. I'm seeing how they are forming ringlets so I'm getting excited about it.

Meanwhile I struggle with dealing with curly hair. I had curly permed hair in high school and remember that styling it while it is damp is easier. So everyday I spray in the leave in conditioner and try to get a brush through. I do eventually get the brush through.

I've noticed that when the hair is dry if I brush it it gets too fluffy. So today I was wondering HOW fluffy the hair would get if I brushed it all. I got my answer:

(First Leila then Leah)

I am feeling better! :)

That shot from the doctor REALLY helped! :) Josh leaves Saturday so there is a LOT to do before then so it may be after Saturday until I post again.
On a good note, I FINALLY got my computer problem with Paint Shop fixed so I can get back into designing blogs again. YAY!

I hate being sick :(

I feel so useless in the bed while Josh is running around trying to keep up with the kids. I was up all night Friday night and went to the doctor on Saturday and got some antibiotics. I still wasn't feeling better by today so I decided to go back. I got a shot and some more meds and I am feeling a little better. I think I will be better soon. I just really hate not being able to do anything!
We had our first biting incident between the girls. Leila got mad at Leah, grabbed her arm with both hands and chomped down. It didn't break the skin but the way Leah carried on you would have thought she was going to need stitches! :)
I don't know if I have mentioned this but Andrew started piano lessons this month. He is doing quite well and seems to be enjoying it more than I thought he would. I'll put a video on of him playing sometime.

One of Josh's Christmas gifts

I forgot to share this right after Christmas but this is one of the things I got for Josh for Christmas. I wanted him to have this to take with him while he's gone.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IbsmrJq2YUc

If you can't see the quotes, they are in order as follows:
I love you, not only for what you are,But for what I am when I am with you.

Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice

The greatest gift I ever hadCame from God; I call him Dad

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!

Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

Fathers are angels sent from heaven.

Good fathers make good sons

Train up a child in the way which he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.

I love my father as the stars - he's a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart.

My Guitar Heroes

When Josh came home from his training in DC in late December he brought Andrew Guitar Hero World Tour which basically comes with a guitar, drum set and microphone. Andrew added another guitar along with another Guitar Hero game with some Christmas money. It's not uncommon to have 2 teenagers, the girl across the street, Andrew, Josh and I taking turns playing. I don't get to play very often because it seems there is always laundry, dishes, etc to be done, but every once in a while I ignore it and jump in!

The other day Josh, Andrew and my 15 year old nephew were playing Sweet Home Alabama and the girls went nuts and started dancing!!!

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that yet.

In other news, we got some family p0rtraits done this past week. They turned out pretty good considering we are trying to get a lively 7 year old and two 16 month olds to sit still. :) We got to see the pictures yesterday and they turned out well.

A week before the pictures Leila woke up and her eye was almost swollen shut! Apparently a mosquito bit her upper cheek and she swelled up! I took her to the doctor and he said that he does not believe that she is actually allergic (since she had a bite on her arm with no reaction) but rather the area around the eye is just very sensitive. We worked really hard trying to get the swelling down and to get the red dot gone by the time the potraits were taken. Fortunately the swelling went down but the bite remained but the photographer said he could take the blemish out. :) I love modern technology. :) I did get a picture of her eye all swollen with her crazy bed hair.

Both of my computers are in the shop. My old one I am letting Andrew use. I replaced it about 6 months ago for various reasons but the main one was there wasn't enough memory for my favorite programs like Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photoshop. My replacement computer worked great until around late November when the "m" and the "n" suddenly stopped working! Not the best letters to lose! I had to use the on screen keyboard to help and started typing out the lengthy things I needed for school on the old computer, e-mailed it to myself in an attachment, opened it in my new computer and cut and pasted it into my design program for school. Quite tedious! So after school and the crazy Christmas holidays I finally sent them in.

So for now, I'm sharing a computer with Josh. He shares quite well, but I don't have many pictures and all of my fun toys on here. Also, his bookmarks on Internet Explorer are things like pages about hollowpoint bullets, army gear and Star Wars. :) Bleh! :)

8 Tag

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH
This is going to be hard! I've been overseas so much I've gotten behind on TV!
The Office
Law and Order SVU
Scrubs (Just discovered this show and I'm in the 1st season)
30 Rock (almost through the first season)
Friends (yeah it's old but I have all 10 seasons on DVD)
Veronica Mars (just finished watching the series)
Seinfeld (have all the DVDS on this one too)
Army Wives (only seen the 1st season)


8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
Bella Luna (in New Orleans)
Olive Garden
Chick Fil A (if I'm in a hurry)
Subway
A good Japanese Tepanyaki restaurant
A good steakhouse
TGI Fridays (had one in Japan and one in Morocco)


8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY


Went to Target
Helped Andrew with his homework
Cleaned house
Talked to my mom
Visited with my sister
Finished the Veronica Mars Series on my iPod
Made a yummy dinner
Got new crib sets for the girls



8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
Josh coming home in May 2010
Tax refund with 3 children this year!!!
Watching my children grow up
Finishing this adoption!!!
Dessert :)
Getting back into the classroom (one day)
Getting my PhD
Josh's retirement in 9 years

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
New coffee table
New end tables
My own house
Gym membership with time with a personal trainer
Clothes to magically appear in my closet (Since I lost my wardrobe in the move, I need more clothes but I really DON'T want to have to shop for them!)
Go to South America (been to every continent except South America and Antarctica)
Be Debt free
World Peace :)

8 People I am tagging

Jamie
Cathy
Melissa
Katie
Camille
Cindy
Wendy
Amy

I should have learned by now to NOT ask "What's next?"

I has almost been a year since we found out about our girls. As I look at the past year's "adventures" I should have learned by now to NOT ask "What's next?"
The only thing left to do once we finally got into the US was to re-adopt the girls in the US which makes them US citizens as well. The lawyer told us he felt he could make it go fast and that he could probably work it so Josh could be present for the hearing. I sent the paperwork in September and in November he sent me some paperwork back that needed to be signed and notarized by each of us. With Josh in DC with no address that posed a problem. So I did my part and overnighted it to friends in DC who gave it to Josh. He then got his part notarized and overnighted it back to the lawyer. I called around Thanksgiving and he said that he had sent the paperwork to the judge and now we were just waiting for a court date.
So we waited and waited and waited. While we were on our cruise we got a phone call on our machine from the lawyer's secretary wanting to know if any dates would be bad because she was about to send the paperwork to the judge. Hm, I thought that had been done 6 weeks ago . . .
When I called her back she said they already had a date - March 19th. *SIGH* Josh will be gone by then. It's not a problem for the finalization but it kinda stinks that he doesn't get to be there for the last step.
Last week our lawyer's office burned down. My mother told me today. I found a slide show on our local newspaper's site. I performed in a play at the theater (Imogene) they talk about. It suffered damage, but can be recovered. Unfortunately, it's a total loss for our attorney's office as well as a few other historical buildings on that block.
I called our attorney's voice mail today and told them that I have copies of EVERYTHING including what they have done so hopefully we can still proceed with our courtdate. There is a chance we may have lost some of our original Moroccan documents in that fire unless the judge has them. I don't think we will need them after this court date but it would be nice if we could get them back.
Here is a slideshow about the fire you can see the damage:
http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990110007

I feel badly that all those offices and historical landmarks were destroyed. I just want to be done with this adoption!!! I guess that's kind of selfish of me.
Rachel

Visit with Rachel's family

After our cruise, we spent a few days with my family. We went by the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. This has become somewhat of a tradition for us and we have a special place where we take Andrew's picture each time.


My sister and her 3 children (ages 9,7 and6)







The following picture is of Andrew on the most recent visit (age 7). The next one is of Andrew at age 4.5 and the one after that was when he was 8 months old.

Disney Cruise

Here is a slide show of our cruise. We had a blast and found it to be quite relaxing. The biggest challenge was dinner since the girls are typically in bed by 6pm each night but we managed!

Josh's family

We spent this Christmas with Josh's family. We typically take turns where we'll visit my family for Thanksgiving and his for Christmas one year and then his family for Thanksgiving and my family for Christmas the next year.
As we were driving around his hometown, which is along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, Josh commented that he forgot how flat it was back in his hometown. I snapped a picture:


Josh's mom caught a picture of us in our church clothes. No idea where Andrew was! :)


This was the first time in over 10 years that all the siblings have been together in one place. Here is Josh with his two younger brothers and two younger sisters:


Here are the siblings with their spouses and children:


Josh's brother has a daughter that is almost exactly a year older than our girls and another daughter that is almost exactly a year younger than our girls. We snapped a picture of them at breakfast one morning:


And last, but not least, our Christmas pajamas. I usually went with men's bottoms to match my guys but this year I got to match my girls!!! :) :) :)



Andrew used some Christmas money to buy a build a bear. He named it after Josh's brother who, in Andrew's eyes, is the coolest guy ever and he plays the guitar! :) Josh's brother is an outstanding guy and I'm pleased that Andrew looks up to him:

We are finally back home!

I will have LOTS of posts to do this month to tell all about the past few weeks.
Josh and the girls went to his family's house around Dec. 16th. Andrew got out of school on the 19th and we headed to see my best friend in New Orleans. We had planned to see Celebration in the Oaks in City Park, but she started feeling badly with her pregnancy (she is due in March) so we opted to stay close to her home and took our boys to the movies to see Bolt. It was ok, not bad but nothing to rave about either.
The next morning I headed over to meet Josh and by the end of the day my best friend was in the hospital!!! Turns out, she had a kidney stone but they can't remove it until after the baby is born. For now she has a stint to relieve the pain. She swears it is worse than childbirth. I prefer to take her word on that!!!
Right before I left on our trip, my published blog book arrived! It was exciting to see it in an actual book. I did Dec 2007 (when I started the blog) through Nov 2008 so it covers a full year. I plan to publish it every year so I have a hard copy of my journaling for my children and grandchildren to see. It ended up being 315 pages! I left it with my mother to look at while we were on our cruise and my 9 year old nephew ended up reading it!!! He got so into reading the story of our past year. It was really cute!!!

As you can see in the picture, I used our old logo for the cover. I highly recommend that my fellow bloggers get their books done. I used blurb.com and the only issue I had was the glitch they are working out with blogger.com to allow them to "slurp" the blog into a book. I found a somewhat tedious way around it so if you start your book before the glitch is resolve, contact me and I'll help.
I'll post about our visit with Josh's family, my family, our cruise, etc soon!
It was a fun vacation but we are glad to be home. :)