God Bless our troops who serve!

This Memorial Day weekend, I am missing my hubby more than ever.  I don't seem to write about him much on this blog, since I am mainly documenting all of our Texas adventures out here for him!  So it seems only fitting that on Memorial Day, I dedicate this post to him and our military journey together.  I am so proud to be and Air Force Wife, and honored to be Charles' partner on this crazy Air Force adventure we are on.

I started this blog about 2 months after Charles' Fini Flight with the Boars, so I never really shared any pictures from that day.  Here's a little slide show of the day- Mallory was in such a good mood!  Hooray!

Seeing these pictures reminded me of the first time Mallory visited her Daddy on the flight line.  She was only one year old... and that headset didn't last very long- only about long enough to get this picture!

Charles, we love you so much, and we look forward to seeing you very soon!

God Bless all the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  We are honored to have been in your company, and will continue to fight to protect the freedoms you gave your very lives for.

JD- a.k.a "Killer"

This is our awesome Jack Russell, J.D.  Now, over the past month, his anxiety level has been such that I have been ready to drop him off at the zoo!  He is constantly underfoot, and shakes like a leaf when I put my shoes on.  But that's not the worst of it... he has started to nose up on the table and actually take food off of our plates if we get up from the table!  Needless to say, he has NOT adjusted well to Charles being gone.  I am hoping this will improve over time.

As for his new nickname, "Killer"- my father has bestowed this honor on J.D. after he has killed not one.... not two.... but THREE snakes in the back yard since arriving here in April.  My father has a large, beautiful garden, and has had snakes ever since moving here in 1998.  He named the largest snake "Fred", and is happy to have snakes, as they control the bug problems he could have if they weren't there.

My parents' dog, Cami, is happy to leave the snakes alone, and just sunbathe in the yard.  But when JD takes a break from climbing the tree or pooping (at least 4 times a day- no lie), he enjoys snake hunting.  So far, my father thinks he has just gotten "Fred Jr.'s", and hopes that the original Fred (who is apparently MUCH bigger) is still alive.

I must say, I feel better being in the yard with JD by my side.  As annoying as he has been, he gets major points for reducing the possibility of me or Mallory running into a snake.  Maybe I won't drop him off at the zoo after all...

Potty Training like a pro!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement over the past days.... weeks... months that this child has been potty training.  Grandma and I finally came to the conclusion that Mallory was turning into Little Miss Lazy, so we made the decision to just put up with the messes and take away the diapers and put her in panties all day long.  Thank goodness I have a mother who is laid back about messes, because I am NOT!!!!!

I am pleased to announce that Mallory has gone a full week in panties during the day and only wears diapers for nap/bedtime.  We have had fewer and fewer accidents each day, and also fewer and fewer tantrums over using the potty.  I think Mallory is finally accepting this as a way of life and that she needs to get over the theatrics and just "go with the flow"- literally.

Mallory often reads on the potty, and asks for "privacy"after we give her a book.  Look what her book of choice was the other day.... like mother like daughter!  (She call's this "Mommy's Book")

We are rewarding with M&M's and/or fruit snacks, and Mallory is finally getting the hang of this.  I hope this post will not jinx us.... keep your fingers crossed!

Children Say the Darndest Things!

Mallory has really been cracking us up over the past month.  Her vocabulary continues to grow daily, and I have been jotting down a list of the funny things she had said recently...

First off, we removed the DVD player from the car when we were moving here (as a punishment originally) and Mallory has not missed it a bit.  I didn't see the down side to this until I was trying to pull out of a parking space as a car was coming very carefully and slowly down the aisle.  Totally not a high pressure situation, but all of a sudden from the back seat I hear "Hey!  It's my turn, dude!!!!"  That is typically what I say when I am merging onto the highway or at a 4-way stop.  I never thought Mallory was listening to me!  Thank goodness she didn't repeat something more colorful!

Another funny thing that happened was at the grocery store.  We have been working on this potty situation for close to a year now, (help me, Jesus) and I was buying some overnights.  Mallory looked up and saw this box of flushable wipes that had princesses on them.

She started begging me for them.  At first I told her "No, you can't use these, they are for big girls who wear big girl panties".  She got upset, so then I said, "Okay, I will get them for you, but you cannot open them until you are wearing big girl panties.  Maybe they will inspire you."  I put them in the cart, out of her reach.  She started screaming because she wanted to hold them, and I said, "No, we are just getting them so I can inspire you." And she said (through her huge crocodile tears) "BUT I DON'T WANT YOU TO INSPIRE ME!!!!"  I started laughing... and guess who else started laughing too?  She is SUCH a drama queen!

And lastly, probably the cutest of all, Mallory was looking at her DVD case of the movie "Up".  She is in this phase where she is like the annoying kid in class who asks questions just to prove she knows the answers to all of them.  I was across the room, so I couldn't see the case close up.  I was also busy putting away her clothes in the closet.  Here is how the conversation went:

"Who's that, Mommy?"
"That's Mr. Fredrickson."
"Oh... who's that, Mommy?"
"That's Russell."
"Oh... who's that, Mommy?"
"That's Doug- the Dog."
"Oh, and that, Mommy... what's that?"
"That's the bird, honey... Kevin"  (I am just guessing that is the next thing she is pointing at)
"no, that's not Kevin..."
"Okay, then- that's the house"
"No, Mommy- that's not the house."
"Okay, then it's the balloons"
"No, that's not the balloons- that's heaven"
"Ok, right- like I said- it's the bird, it's Kevin"
"No, Mommy- it's heaven"
"Right- Kevin- the bird"
"NO MOMMY!  Not Kevin... Heaven!  See?"

Mallory pointed to all the clouds.  I almost cried right there.  She has been going to church school on Sundays, so maybe they talk about it there, but I can't say I have ever pointed to the clouds and said heaven before.  Maybe it's something we know in our hearts from the time we are born.  Awesome, isn't it?

Just like Mommy...

I took Mallory to a playground with a HUGE sandbox last week, and we both needed a bath when we got home.  I mentioned to her I was going to take a shower, and she said she wanted to take one, too so that's what we did.  After her shower, she wanted to put her hair up in a towel just like mommy, and I got a couple of pictures.

How I treasure moments like this!  Love my little girl!

Our Princess heads to the Gym!

I am really eating my words from that post where I exclaimed that Mallory was "not that into dress up". Lately, she wants to wear her princess dresses EVERYWHERE!!!  I have been going to the gym 5 days a week, and Mallory really enjoys the daycare area, so it is an added bonus for me.  The other day, however, she would not even THINK if leaving the house unless she could wear her Snow White dress.

I fought her at first, but then I decided I would just get her out the door, and bring an outfit to change her into once we were there.  I DID have to fight about the princess shoes that are at least 5 sizes too big, but since she got to wear the dress, she eventually gave in.  The pink Chuck Taylors matched her real outfit, I swear.

I was worried I'd look like the pushover mom that spoils her daughter, but the staff all thought Mallory was darling, and told me not to worry about it.  When Mallory walked in, all the little girls just ran up to her and admired her dress.  She was SO proud!  They gently touched the glittery skirt, like they thought she might be a real princess.  I told her she could only go on the playground if she put on her other outfit, and she said okay, and I went to work out.  When I got back 2 hours later, she had changed, but there was a little girl dressed like Cinderella who had arrived- so I guess I'm not such a push-over after all!

I plan to enjoy these princess moments as much as possible!

A trip to the Zoo- with Grandma and Grandpa, too!

We took Mallory to the zoo a couple of weeks ago, and other than encountering about 20 groups of elementary school field trips, we all had a pretty nice time.  But my goodness it was humid!

This is my first attempt at a slideshow, so bear with me!  Most of the pictures are of the butterfly exhibit.

Note: There are captions on each photo. If you move your curser over the photo, it will pause and you can read to caption.

I tried to get a good picture with the grandparents, but Mallory was so hot by the time we were done, that I decided to save it for another day! I know we'll make it to the zoo again soon!