January and February, where did you go?

Since I posted a post covering September through December what seems like just a few weeks ago, I find it crazy that January is already gone and February is on it's way out the door! It has been a couple of great months, busy as usual, with both of my children growing like weeds. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

New Years Eve and day was pretty tame this year. Usually our dear friends, the Rendells, are in town and we celebrate together but, this year they stayed in Florida and we stayed here. We went to my mom's house for a little while and then came home to put the kids to bed and watch the ball drop. We barely made it past midnight before we were conked out, cozy in our bed. Not too exciting yet strangely relaxing.

On January 2nd, Texas Tech played Michigan State at the Alamobowl here in town. So, being the true Tech fan and alumnus that I am, we decided to go. We invited some dear friends to go with us who are die hard Aggies and they said they would go and support Tech incognito. Tech won 41-31 and I went home a happy Red Raider!
We celebrated my Dad's birthday a couple days later at Gatlin's favorite restaurant, Peter Piper Pizza. It was a great time and Gatlin thoroughly loves playing games with his "Hojo". Gracyn likes it there too because she can look at all the flashing lights. We are very blessed to live so close to our family and be able to celebrate birthdays together.
Gracyn getting loved on by her Hojo. Happy birthday, Dad!

Next up was the much anticipated National Championship game featuring none other than Kyle's beloved alma mater The University of Texas squaring off against our neighbor (and great friend's) beloved team, Alabama. Boy, could you feel the tension in the air as game time approached. Kyle even drew with sidewalk chalk all over our driveway to support the Longhorns and taunt our neighbors. Graciously, they invited us over (in spite of ourselves) to watch the game and eat wings. Here are Kyle and Gracyn getting into the spirit and anxiously awaiting kick off...As most of you know, Texas' quarterback, Colt McCoy, got hurt on or around the 4th play of the game and did not return to the game. Without him playing, Texas suffered an agonizing defeat to Alabama (much to the joy of our neighbors). To this day, Bobo still taunts Kyle with the score of 37-21. He even put notes in Kyle's jacket pockets for Kyle to find at a later date. Kyle's retaliation?...
He knew that crossbow would come in handy someday!

Also in January, one of Kyle's high school friends came in town for an incentive ride in the T-38. Ceb is the lead guitarist for Blue October and his band did a concert for the military over in Germany. As a thank you, Kyle was able to arrange a ride in his jet for Ceb. That's a pretty big deal considering I've never been up in the jet and will never get to. The ride was a lot of fun for both of them and Ceb is now considered an honorary Black Eagle! He even came back a few weeks later and attended a roll call (yet another thing I've never gotten to do or will ever do). No, I'm not jealous! :)
Doing a pre-flight check around the jet
Getting ready to go..
Back on the ground after a fun ride!

February has been a bit less eventful but I've been able to get some cute pics of the kids. Gatlin had two weeks of "themed weeks", one week being "Bear week" and another being "Cowboy week". Anything you could ever want to know about either one, Gatlin learned at school. He took a teddy bear to school with him two days and came home with the most adorable ears...

The next week, he had to dress like a cowboy...

Cutest cowboy I've ever seen! :)

One of my mom's sisters (Bonnie) and her husband Ralph have been in town since mid January. While they've been down here, Bonnie celebrated her 70th birthday. Unbeknownst to her, her two daughters and their families planned a surprise visit to help her celebrate. We all met at Olive Garden for the big surprise and boy, was she ever surprised!! It was so much fun to see the look on her face and we were all so relieved that we didn't have to keep the secret any longer. We all almost slipped several times!!

On Valentine's Day weekend, we went to Lorena to see Kyle's brother and family and his parents. This was the same weekend when Dallas got six inches of snow. Being the clever mom/Gigi she is, Billie brought down two big coolers full of snow and we all had a snowball fight! The kids even made a small snowman!

We also celebrated both Doc's birthday and the twins' birthdays while we were there. It was great to be together and thank you Brandt and Christi for hosting all of us. What a fun weekend!
Here are all the kids, minus Gracyn, piling on Doc!

Gigi and Gracyn dolled up for Valentine's Day!

February 16th was a big day in our house as Gracyn rolled over for the first time on her own!
Watch..

On Friday, Feb 19th, we got the best news of all... Kyle got hired for an AGR position! What does that mean? Warning: Long explanation to follow...
Ever since Kyle separated from Active Duty, he has had a part time reservist position. He was still flying the T-38 but was not guaranteed to ever have enough hours of flying and working to make up a 40 hour work week. So, in order to keep the bills paid, he has been "troughing" (flying as many hours as he could), in addition to working other jobs around the base. For a year, he was on the Inspector General team that goes around to other bases doing inspections. That required him to be gone about one week a month, sometimes more. When we got pregnant, we both agreed that being on the IG team wasn't ideal. Without a job to fall back on, we put our faith in God and decided to quit the IG team for a year. God was faithful and provided another job for Kyle taking bids from companies to build the new T-38. Since that job wasn't supposed to start until January and the IG job ended in September, we again put our faith in God that he would provide enough hours to keep the bills paid. He did and also orchestrated an AGR position opening up in the squadron that shouldn't have been. Kyle applied about three weeks ago and praise God, he got the job.

What this means is we are now back on Active Duty status, flying the T-38 here, at Randolph, indefinitely. We are on military health care again and will receive an active duty retirement when he retires. It is truly the best case scenario for us. God is so faithful and we praise him daily for his goodness and mercy. It still feels like a dream and I don't think it's fully sunk in for either of us yet!

Just two days ago, San Antonio got a little snow. Not much to write home about but, in this town, it's a big deal! Gatlin got to go outside and catch snowflakes on his tongue while he was at school and I purposely woke Gracyn up so she wouldn't miss the snow. Believe it or not, it's the second time she's seen it in her short little 5 month life! Once in Dallas over Christmas and once here!

Look very closely at the fence and you can see flakes and on the ground, the tiniest amount of accumulation! :) I know, pathetic, right?

To end this post, I thought it would be fun just to post some cute pics we've gotten over the past couple of months. I will try to post them chronologically so you can see how Gracyn has changed. We love our lives and couldn't be more blessed!

Proud gingerbread house builder!


Actually riding the car at Peter Piper Pizza..usually he won't let you put money in it!

Gracyn in her new swing.. all color coordinated, of course! Three and a half months old.


Gatlin in his new flight suit Daddy got him


Getting me some baby love!


Four months old!


I love my Bumbo! Thanks Aunt Holly!!


Trying out Mommy and Daddy's bed!


Five months old!

Dead dog sleeping.. Scout, 11 years old and counting..

Sortie turned 7 years old Jan. 29th

My beautiful babies!

Three month recap

OK, I am finally attempting to get back into this blogging thing. I used to be a little more consistent and since a certain someone arrived, blogging has fallen way, way to the back burner. I am now so overwhelmed with all that has happened over the last three months, I am going to recap and then try to keep up from now on. If you have a newborn, you know that time is precious and free time is so very short so, a huge blog post (or several small ones) has escaped me completely. Enough excuses, here you go...

September 2009
Gracyn was born and our family was immediately complete! We arrived home from the hospital two days after her birth and came home to this..Isn't it sweet? Thanks Moms!
Almost immediately after arriving home, all family cleared out so we could get into some kind of routine. Although I was completely scared out of my mind to be a mother of two, it was comforting to know that Kyle would be home for the next week. He was such a wonderful support; taking Gatlin to and from school, getting up with me in the middle of the night to keep me company, changing diapers, cleaning the house and keeping Gatlin clothed, clean and fed. What a man! Here are some pics of Gracyn's first days..
Gatlin adjusted so well to Gracyn and it is safe to say that he is completely in love with her. He wasn't too keen on holding her but loves to talk to her, pat her head and tell her how sweet, cute, gorgeous she is. He also thanked us daily for giving him his baby sister. We are so happy he is doing so well and try to thank him frequently for loving her and being the "best big brother ever!'

October 2009
Kyle celebrated his 35th birthday on October 4th and, sadly, there was no big party or huge celebration as I would have liked to have done for him. We did have some family pictures done that day by a sweet friend, Alex, who takes some fantastic pictures without being intrusive. I don't know how she does it but she always manages to get the best smiles out of Gatlin! Here are a few of our favorites..
In mid October, we went to Kyle's brother Brandt's house and met up with Kyle's parents to celebrate both of their birthdays. It was Gracyn's first long car trip and she did great, sleeping the whole way. We arrived somewhat late and had steak for dinner followed by birthday pie. Gracyn smiled for the first time, not at me, but at my sister in law Christi! She later smiled at me and then at my mother in law the next morning. Once she figured out how, she now smiles many, many times a day. What a happy baby!
Halloween was a highly anticipated holiday at our house this year. So much so that we had to print out a calendar so that Gatlin could mark off the days until the big day. He really wanted to be Wall-E this year so I ordered his costume in September. Big mistake because then I was dealing with the daily wardrobe changes from normal clothes, to costume, back to normal clothes. A mistake I will not repeat next year (or at least, I won't let him know that it's here if I do order it early!). One of his funniest quotes around this time was when the costume arrived. UPS dropped it off in a flat, rectangular box. When I told Gatlin that his costume was in the box, he very quickly said..
"But Mom, that is a rectangular box. Wall-E is square!" How right he was, so smart!
Here he is, trying on his costume while standing on the toilet so he could see himself!
I decided it would be cute for Gracyn to be Eve, Wall-E's little friend. If you haven't seen the movie, here is what she looks like..
I thought, heck, I could make that for a baby. So, I got a long sleeved white layette and a little white hat and used black fabric paint to draw a black LED screen on the hat. Next, I took little blue sequins and made her face on the hat. Now, I am a perfectionist so, it didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned it but, oh well, like Gracyn cared, right? Here is how she looked in it..
Note how unhappy she is? Also, by the time Halloween rolled around, the layette was almost too small and the hat still too big. Again, oh well.
Gatlin also decided he would pick out Kyle's costume. He really wanted Kyle to be Mario, of the Super Mario Brothers. Not wanting to disappoint, Kyle went out and spent too much on a costume and even grew a real mustache! It was so sweet to see Gatlin's face when Kyle came out all dressed up, priceless! We all trekked out together to trick or treat and all costumes were a hit!
Not to be outdone, the dogs dressed up too (begrudgingly, actually)

November 2009
During this month, Gracyn started sleeping through the night, going from about 11:30pm to 7:30 am! Ahh, what a feeling the first night I slept eight hours! Veteran's Day weekend was big for all of us. Kyle got to be part of a four ship flyover for the UT game and Kyle's mom drove down to San Antonio to watch Gatlin and Gracyn so I could go to the game; my first time away from Gracyn! Kyle flew into Austin the night before the game and had dinner with the 1969 UT championship team. He also got his picture taken with the old coach of the team, Darryl Royal. The next day, I drove up to Austin, sans children, and met up with Kyle's dad, brother, and family while Kyle and the other pilots had breakfast with the team and chatted it up with Mack Brown. Kyle even got a dog tag from Colt McCoy that all the players wear during the games. Meanwhile, we got to the stadium and had great seats and whooped and hollered when Kyle and crew flew overhead.


Once they were done flying, Kyle and the other pilots got a limo ride back to the stadium, stood on the field during the game, met Bevo, and got on the jumbo tron. Needless to say, Kyle was in Longhorn heaven!
Darryl Royal
Major Applewhite
Limo ride
Jumbo Tron! Second from the left.
We also had another set of pictures taken when Alex came back for a second time. Gracyn was not sleepy the first set of pictures so we decided to try to get "sleepy baby" pictures this time but, Gracyn wouldn't have it. She didn't and still doesn't ever want to miss a thing! But, we got some more great shots and are so thankful to Alex for dedicating not one, but two, afternoons to our family!
One of my personal favorites! :)
Thanksgiving snuck up on us this year (for obvious reasons) and it was filled with family and fun. Gatlin did a little Thanksgiving production at his school with songs and a pseudo Thanksgiving dinner. He was adorable in his pilgrim outfit and sang every song with gusto!

Gatlin singing in the production. NO short jokes, please! :)

Thanksgiving was spent with both sides of my family. We went to my mom's house first and ate Thanksgiving dinner then it was off to my dad's house to visit with him, my grandma, and my aunt and uncle. It was really nice to be surrounded by our loved ones and Gracyn did great on her first Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving day outfit!
Mom, unhappy Gatlin, and Gracyn
Gracyn and Great Grandma Ross
The day after Thanksgiving, we made our second road trip with Gracyn up to Farmersville, TX. so Gracyn could meet the rest of the family. Kyle's brother and family came up too and we all went to the Texas Tech/Baylor game at the new Cowboy's stadium while Kyle's parents watched the kids. What an incredible stadium! Gracyn did great considering she is no longer taking a bottle (which upsets me greatly). Fortunately for all of us, she slept for five hours and only woke up about thirty minutes before we got home. What a good girly! We had Gracyn dedicated at Kyle's parents' church that weekend also and she did great. Gatlin was so sweet because we, as a family, stood in front of the church for the dedication and Gatlin wanted to hold my hand the whole time. He was good as gold and so proud of his baby sister!
Gracyn and her Great Grammy
Gracyn and Coach
Gracyn and her cousin Hayley
Cowboys Stadium
Go Red Raiders!
Strauss, one of the two resident longhorns at the farm!

December 2009
December brought, as with everyone else, the season of shopping, parties and pageants. Gatlin's school did yet another little holiday song ensemble. Gatlin did a fabulous job again and I am so happy to be at this age and stage with him. I remember watching children sing in church and thinking "someday, that will be Gatlin!" Well, now it is and I love it!
Gatlin and his "girlfriend" Ayla. Aren't they cute? He's got great taste!

Singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Note three things..
1. Gatlin's standing next to Ayla again
2. None of the kids seem to know the words
3. The boy on the right is totally hilarious!
We also went to a few Christmas parties this year and each one seemed to have the white elephant gift exchange theme. I have to tell you the hottest item as a gift was the infamous Snuggie! There were four being passed around (feverishly stolen) at our squadron party and one at our church party that got stolen to the point it was frozen quicker than any other gift! I have deduced that the Snuggie is the gift everyone wants but no one wants to buy for themselves! We, ourselves went home with one and yes, we use it on a regular basis!
Three of the four of us trying on our Snuggies before we even left the restaurant!

Santa visited the squadron again this year and Gatlin was so excited!! He ran out when the jet was taxiing in and ran up and gave Santa a big hug. This was also Gracyn's first encounter with Santa and she did fantastic!
By the way, Gatlin's shirt says "Dear Santa, I can explain..." Totally appropriate! :)

We traveled up to Dallas for Christmas this year and had a wonderful time despite a very "Griswold type" Christmas. Some of the antics include Gatlin throwing up at the table at Cracker Barrel, Scout eating rat poison, getting a car stuck in a muddy ditch, and Bill falling/rolling down the dam. Those are just to name a few. In spite of it all, we had a fantastic Christmas and hope next year is as good.. but, we could do without the drama, though. Thanks.
The highlights..
Gatlin and Grams making a gingerbread house


Look what Santa left in our stocking! We must have been really good!
Gatlin and Doc next to the bronze statue Gigi gave Doc for Christmas. It's supposed to be Gatlin and Gracyn!
Doc and Gatlin playing with the train


Our annual Christmas pageant. Everyone did a fantastic job including Gracyn as the baby Jesus.
Notice Gatlin is rushing the song? Typical, but so funny!

Sorry for the long winded post but, better late than never, right? The January update is coming shortly (read: June :) ) Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and thanks for tolerating my blogging delinquency.
By the way, this post took me 18 days and 4 hours to finish. No wonder I'm so far behind!!