Meet Mallory's New Cousin!

This Post is more than a few days late.... as I keep mentioning, I am just trying to catch up with all that has happened this past month!!

On May 1st, Charles' sister, Chrissy and her husband, Jeff welcomed their first child- 

Roy Adventure Ichnowski

At just 4 pounds, Roy was eager to see the world, and arrived 5 weeks early- the same experience we had with Mallory.  He is doing well and being cared for in a NICU in San Francisco.  Chrissy and Jeff are also doing well, and getting ready for their world to be turned upside down by the biggest "adventure" of their lives!

Prayers and Hugs to your sweet little family- we can't wait to hold Roy ourselves and tell him how lucky he is to have such loving and dedicated parents.  Congratulations, again!

The best $3.00 I ever spent....

In my last post, I pointed out there was another "little lady" in a few of the photos alongside Mallory.  If you didn't figure out who I was talking about, allow me to introduce you to Cinderella- on her wedding day.  She is BFF's with Ariel and Snow White, and they have been going EVERYWHERE (and I mean everywhere) with us lately!  Mallory never leaves the house with just one- all three must travel together, and thanks to her cousin, Isabella, we have the perfect travel purse for all of them!

Now, I also spoke in a previous post about how animated Mallory has been getting lately- making full stories with her ducks in the bathtub going up in the elevator to the Peabody Hotel, or lining up all her little people to go to school or in a parade.  Well, today in the back seat there was quite a commotion!  These three little princesses got into a heated fight, and Mallory explained to me that Cinderella was pinching and Ariel broke Snow White's necklace.  After she got that far in the story, I could see she got a little emotional, because she didn't know how to get a happy ending.  I suggested she put them in "time-out" in separate places to calm down, and then have them all apologize to each other.

So, Snow White was on her left leg, Ariel was on her right leg, and she held Cinderella (of course).  After a bit, she started making kissing noises and said they all made up and now they were going to the ball together!

This may seem like such a silly thing to put on a blog, but I am just eating up the breadth of her little imagination these days!  She is SO emotional, and really translates her past experiences with movies or TV shows or even what we have done together into role plays with her toys.  I am not psychologist, but I think this may be a sign of good things to come with her dealing with her emotions and really telling us what she is feeling.

By the way- I got these little princesses at the Dollar Tree for $1.00 each!!!!  She got them for Christmas, and has really grown attached to them since being in Texas.  If any of you have seen others lately, let me know- I'd love to add to her collection... especially at that price!

Our Art-Loving Little Girl!

Mallory has been out of her "school" since February, and she misses it so much!  She really misses the interaction with the other kids, and I won't lie, I miss the BREAK!  Moving here to be with Grandma and Grandpa has bees such a great decision, because Mallory and I both get the support and love we need when we get on each other's nerves!  I mean, really?  Who wants to be stuck with the same boring Mommy all day long!?

A saving grace for us here has been our local library.  They have a craft time every Tuesday night and a Story time/ Craft every Saturday morning.  Mallory has yet to miss one event, and we are slowly creating quite a collection!  Everything is FREE, which makes it all the more fun!

This is the first craft Mallory made at the library- it is a Butterfly Kite with yellow crepe paper streamers and a blue string.  Mallory has been OBSESSED with Mary Poppins lately (among other things), and ran around and around the back yard with this kite singing "Let's Go Fly  kite...." at the top of her lungs for at least 20 minutes when she got home!!  If any of us tried to sing along, she would stop and yell "STOP!  I SINGING!!!"  She likes to a lot of things by herself these days!

Thank goodness for Grandmas!  Mommy just cringes at the thought of a painting project... the mess, the spills, the stains, oh my!  But leave it to Grandma to take all these things in stride, and wouldn't you know that Mallory LOVES to paint!  And she is actually very careful with everything.  I am always glad to have someone who can push me to just let Mallory let loose once in a while... it is good for both of us!

This is by far my favorite craft they have made at the library so far!  It is a little Pinata made out of a lunch sack!  My mother helped Mallory with the scissors to cut all the fringe, and they glued it around the bag in layers.  Then, they stuffed the bag with Candy and toys (again... all FREE!) and put on a face.  They stapled it shut, added a pipe-cleaner hangar and voila!  A little mini pinata!  It is too cute for words!  What a great craft for a party!

BTW- the above picture is Mallory's "excited" face... below is a more natural smile!

Mallory got a card from Charles and was SO super excited!  We gave it to her just before dinner, and she kept picking it up and hugging it throughout the meal!  It was so darn cute!

Besides Mallory, there is another little lady in all 3 of the above pictures... can you see her?  Mallory won't leave home without her, and insisted she be in the posed pinata pictures.  She also joins Mallory at just about every meal we have at home.  Blog to follow....

Fun with our friends!

So often in the military, we meet make friends with our neighbors, only to have to turn around and say goodbye a few years later.  A few remain life-long friends, who you can only pray will be your neighbors again one day.  More times than not, this never happens, and you simply try and make the effort to see them when you can.

When my parents moved to San Antonio over 12 years ago, I knew not a soul here in Texas.  But my military journey has changed all that.  Now when I come to visit my parents, I have several friends who I look forward to seeing as much as I can.... all thanks to the Air Force adventure we are all living, or have lived!  Some are still active duty, and stationed here.... some are in the reserves and working for the airlines... and some are just loving the civilian lifestyle!  It is such a gift to me to have these people be my "neighbors" once again!

Such is the case with my sweet friend Stacy and her husband Mike and their two kiddos, Jillian and Ian. They are such a darling family, and I look forward to spending LOTS of time with them this year!

BTW.... ALL of you can thank Mike for helping me figure out the kinks in the Mac transition- he answered all of my questions and then some- thank you again for taking time way from your family to help me!

Last week, Stacy, my mother and I took the kids to the zoo.  It was so fun to see these toddlers take everything in!  It was hard to get all the moments on film!  We'll have to go again one day soon!

We walked into the Hippo exhibit at JUST the right time!  The zookeeper had just let the Hippos out of their holding area, and out they pranced for all of us to see!  One got right in the water and swam right past this glass.  We tried to get all three kids to turn around and look at the camera, but it was hard to get their eyes off of the hippo!

Next were the elephants... Mommy did not do a very good job of getting the whole elephant statue in the picture- I'll try and do better next time!

Mallory loved looking at the Prairie Dogs- they had a viewing window just her size!

I just LOVE this picture!  Don't you wonder what those two girls are gabbing about?  Ian's just waiting for the train.....

All aboard!  All the  kiddos love the train!  We always save it for the end of the day!

Many more zoo blogs to follow, I am sure!

A Little Out of Step...

The title is again, back to my theme of "Dancing Through Life"... my blogging is a little off-kilter, since so much happened in such a short amount of time- I have hundreds of photos and stories to share, they won't be in any particular order!  Thank goodness for just getting them in writing!

These photos were taken the day before Easter here in San Antonio.  My friends suggested this Bluebonnet field, and we did our best to get our "children" to sit still.  Believe it or not, even with her camera aversion as of late, MALLORY was actually the more cooperative one!  Can you believe it?  We had hoped to get a family photo, but just getting these was difficult enough, much less dealing with a tripod and such.

Checking out the scenery...

This is the best 'cheese" we could get out of her.  She was totally consumed with the idea that her white shoes had dirt on them.  (....wonder who she gets that from?...Oops...)

Our sweet little children!  Mallory (3) and JD (8 1/2)

Charles really enjoys photography, and I must say I think he is very good at it!

Mallory had just barely looked up when Charles snapped this picture of her precious face!  She is growing right before our eyes!

"Awwww... the bluebonnets are so cute!"  Mallory's words, not mine!

I'd like to thank my sweet friend, Stacy for the adorable sundress- just right for a bluebonnet photo!  I am so glad it still fits Mallory this year!  Hopefully she doesn't grow out of it TOO fast!

San Antonio had MASSIVE wildflowers this year because of all the rain.  Every highway was just covered with the gorgeous colors of blue, yellow and red.  Most Texans get their family picture in the bluebonnets at least once.  I hope the wildflowers are just as beautiful next year!  Maybe we'll have better luck with the subjects!

"It's OK, Potato.... You're safe"

Those are the words I heard just before sitting down to type this entry.  Mallory has been SO vocal lately, and her grammar is improving more and more everyday.  Right now, she is sitting on the potty and playing with her Mrs. Potato head.  (We have graduated from Books to toys to games to entertain her on the potty.  It is driving me crazy, but at least she looks forward to sitting on it every time, now)

Mallory pulled down her PJ's herself, took off her Overnite herself, and has been playing with Mrs Potato head for the past 10 minutes or so.  She dropped her, and some pieces fell out.... that is when I heard her pick her up and say "Don't worry.... It's OK Potato... you're safe"as she began to put her back together again.

Mallory copies me a lot with the things I say to her.  I often tell her "We're safe, don't worry", especially in the car.  It is always cute to hear her say these same words to comfort a doll,  or even a potato!

Mallory has just amazed all of us over the last few days with her use of present and past tense in her language and how she is using it correctly.  Last night, for example, she said, AND I QUOTE: "Excuse me, I need some dressing to dip my carrots in, please."  My jaw dropped open!  Usually we get "I need dip please"  or "please dip for carrots."

Another thing she said this week was "Oh no!  I dropped it, and I need it now!"  (She was talking about her Ariel figurine she dropped on the back porch while playing.)  She also said "I talked to Daddy.  Did you talk to him?  I want to talk to him again tomorrow".  She pronounces everything so well, and is so easy to understand (most of the time).  We still have a few translations now and then.

For example, last night before bed, Mallory was asking me "un up on tie tie".  I had NO idea what she was saying.  I kept asking her to repeat herself, then asked her to show me.  She got frustrated, and then thought hard, and finally said "Once up on tie tie".  Finally- I got it... "Once upon a time?"  I asked.  She was smiling from ear to ear, and repeated it back just as I had said it.  She wanted me to tell her a princess story before she went to sleep.

It really is true how children learn SO FAST and absorb everything at this age.  Mallory surprises us everyday.... and we can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Mommy's Home! And Daddy's in Korea...

When I returned home from San Francisco, Mallory, Grandma and Grandpa met me at the Airport.  Mallory had bought Flowers, and decorated a balloon for me that said "I Love You, Mom".  Mallory was SO excited, and I was too!

We have been explaining to Mallory how "Daddy is in Korea, so far away" and that he won't be home for a while.  For the first week or so, Mallory seemed to accept our explanation, and happily talked to Daddy every time he called.  But after a couple more days, every time he called, she asked him "You come home today?"  That was so hard to hear for ALL of us.  We knew it was definitely time to whip out the web cam!

Mallory L-O-V-E-S talking to Daddy on the Web-Cam!  She especially likes to see herself in the bottom corner!  They make faces at each other and laugh and laugh.  She usually asks him to "fix her Veggietales CD"  or tells him "High School Musical broken- you fix it?"  She usually talks to him in the morning, as soon as she wakes up.  It's night time for him there.

My mother will talk about me when I was Mallory's age, and so many of the stories I can remember myself, so I know she is really understanding and will have memories of this remote tour.  We are all working hard to make sure she has LOTS of fabulous ones!