Memory Monday: Miramar Air Show 2008

This will be our 3rd consecutive year to attend the MCAS Miramar Air Show. We love air shows. This photo is from 2008, and we've got our ear plugs ready for this year's event coming this weekend. The Blue Angels have their show in the afternoon, so we've never stayed long enough to see them (nap times rule around our place) but we've decided to take the plunge and stay for the whole day this year and actually see the Angels fly for the first time as a family. Photos will follow...

Terrific Twos

This little guy, Z 2yrs 2 mo old, has been such a joy recently. As an 18 months old, this dude was a hand full, challenging any request I had of him, with gusto. He was a disgruntled employee of the Garland Family and wanted everyone to know it. He spent a lot of time in "time outs" and squirmed and wriggled through diaper changes. If he was like this at 18 months, I was sure scared for the terrible twos.

Boy has he turned a new leaf. His vocabulary is growing (maybe that had something to do with his frustrations) and he's just a delight to be around, willing to "help" and cheerful as always to do things I ask of him. Diaper changes are a breeze. Turned out the terrible twos are really the terrific twos!

Talk to me again once we start potty training... but I'm trying to think positively! We love you little guy!

Beach House

We took a nice long weekend and went to my Grandpa's beach house. We had a great time kayaking and playing in the bay with friends from home. As usual, here's way to many photos...

I love the devoted Mr. Garland!

Jumper J.

Ultrasound... postponed.

Wanted to let you know that G4's ultrasound that was supposed to happen this week, has been cancelled by the hospital. Our rescheduled appointment is (a long) 1 and a half weeks away.

Argh. Grrr.

Yes, I had scheduled the appointment 2 months in advance and had childcare (thanks Cassie) all set up so the devoted Mr. Garland and I could be there together. They cancelled 2 days before the appt. Not cool.

So, hang tight. Apparently we have to be patient a little longer.

Watermelon Balls and Sand Forts

enjoying the last few days of summer...

Homeschool Electricity Unit with the devoted Mr. Garland

Fun and Games

S with her sweet friend A.

We're big into chess, SET and Uno around our place these days.

We're listening to Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingalls Wilder unabridged book on CD. "Pa" is the man.

Couch pillow stockpiling for gymnastics flips and tumbling. (video clip below)

Transportation Garage. You name the vehicle, we've got at least 5 of 'em.

Girly Bono.

Super Why

Our 4-yr old son J is big-time into "Super Why" right now. Why? (har-har) I have no idea. Never watched it on TV, he found the website recently and has been glommed onto the little super reading hero dude ever since. I stitched up a mask for him the other day and let's just say he really likes it. He even took a nap with it on. J's favorite color used to be blue. It's now green.

I think I'm feeling a cape vibe next. This pattern looked fun and easy. Do I also feel a potential halloween costume coming on? Hmmmm.

We find out next week if G4 is a boy or a girl... so excited!

Cousin time, continued.

With our 3 cousins here, lap and couch space was at a premium during book reading time in the evenings. This book, Violet the Pilot, has to be one of our (my) all-time favorites.

6 cousin sleep-over. All in the same room. Doesn't get any better.

And yes, the kids did get some good sleep that night. Amazing.

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified;

do not be discouraged,

for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

post note: We're doing fine. Many (good faithful friends/family) were concerned when I posted this verse. I just liked it...

Memory Monday: T-shirt with a message

April, 2007: J, me and S.

My dad had this T-shirt made for me when I was pregnant with G3 (now known simply as Z). He never liked having to guess if a gal was pregnant. This answered all the pertinent questions that a pregnant gal gets when she's huge with child. I loved it.

I hope everyone had a fun Labor Day weekend! We laid low, and even spent the day cleaning the house today. We labored on labor day... go figure. But we had a great time doing it together.

G4 at 4 Months: Girl or Boy?

I'm 4 months pregnant with G4 (our nickname for our soon-to-be fourth child, due around February 15, 2010), and things are going well. For the most part, I love being pregnant. It's such a blessing and I never ever want to take it for granted. I passed my first glucose tolerance test on the first try (love drinking that thick orange gu) which is always a highlight.

But sometimes I complain.

Just ask the devoted Mr. Garland.

He gets a raw deal.

Between me and the 3 pillows I use every night to prop up my legs in strategically placed locations, he gets to sleep on maybe one quarter of our king-sized bed.

Which isn't much.

Did I mention that I am a napping machine? I'm so thankful that my girlfriend Wendy picks S up after school and drops her off at home so I can use that valuable time (when my boys also nap) to rest.

And don't even get me started on my varicose veins. They're already bad, and I'm only 4 months along. Hello support stockings. Hello water aerobics classes and lap swimming. I've been quite a few times already and oh the relief.

Girl or boy? So there's lots of talk around our home on whether G4 will be a girl or a boy. Currently, Jeff and S are on the "G4's a girl!" team and J, Z and I are on the "G4's a boy!" team. S (our only girl) wants a girl so bad she can taste it. She's big into "who's winning... girls or boys?" (or who are there more of...) right now so her prevailing comment to me goes something like "if it's a girl, and Daddy's at work, then girls WIN!" We emphasize over and over that no mater if God gives us a girl or a boy, we will be so excited!

We find out the gender in just 3 weeks. If you have a hunch, leave a comment to this post and I'll check back with the results and to see if you were right.

I mentioned a while back that I thought I was done giving birth to little people so I donated every ounce of newborn goodness, bucket car seat and maternity clothes to the local pregnancy resource center. Really, I was done!

Now, I'm having to undo this action by looking at garage sales, Craigslist and borrow clothes from friends, but I'm having fun and some good success! I've held off on the switch from regular clothes to maternity clothes for as long as I possibly could. I know from previous pregnancies that I get so sick of my maternity clothes by the end of the pregnancy so just this week I succumbed and busted into a bin of borrowed clothes (thanks Angie!). I'm most nervous about finding long maternity pants/jeans for the cooler winter months. I've heard that there's cool new pieces that you can add to your existing pants to morph them over into maternity pants without having to make any permanent changes. I'll need to look into that...

I'm at that tricky early phase where I don't look pregnant yet, but I definitely look fat (I've gained about 8 pounds so far, to be exact). I gained 38 pounds with all 3 kids so far, so I'm banking on 38 this go-around too. I'm tall... 6'1"... so I'm a big momma when I'm near term.

Holy cow, are we really going to have 4 kids? This is crazy! (Speaking of crazy have you heard of the Duggar Family? Wow... 19 kids!) Bring it on. The more the merrier I say. But I'm not complaining. Too much. Yet. It's all good... God is so very good.

My girlfriend Kate snapped this shot of me (4 months) at the beach last week.

I'm the queen of the baby bulge :)

Don't forget to comment on if you think G4's a boy or girl...

Grumpy 2-yr old in the Middle

We were at the park after church recently and the grass was so green. Perfect spot to snap a nice photo of the kids, I thought. Everyone except my 2-year old Z was cooperating. Check out that scowl.

Z's attitude:

If I see it, it's mine.

If I want it, it's mine.

If you have it, it's mine.

If I put it down and walked away, it's mine.

If I think about it, it's mine.

Any others?

Lord, bless all the sweet 2 year olds in the world.

Help them realize that the world does not revolve around them.

Fun with the Murray Family

Night Swimming and S'mores at the Bauckmans

Better than Disneyland.

So very excited that my sister, Stacy, and her hubs Matt, moved into their new San Diego home today! Their family (they have some very fun kids aka "the cousins") moved here from Ft. Collins, CO. They're staying with us while their home is set up. We took our 3 cousins to San Diego beaches today (their first time) while Stacy worked hard to unload and unpack their things at their new home. Matt has been out of state training for his new position for almost 6 months now, and we're so excited for their family to be re-united later this month. So glad to have them here.

"This is better than Disneyland!" -T, age 6

(We couldn't agree more...)

S age 9.

E, age 7.

Cousins share rootbeer floats upon their arrival to CA.

Walking our cousins' dog "Buddy" is always a hit. Oh how we abuse him so...

S is old enough to read to the whole crew so the devoted Mr. Garland sat back and enjoyed his time off duty.

Grandmom with Z.