Typical...

Tomas is hard at work and intensely focused. Gabriella is, typically, up to no good. I love watching these two together. Gabriella is so creative and full of spunk. Tomas is so smart, sweet and sometimes intensely in his own world!
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Celebrating

We went to dinner to celebrate. All the ladies have something to say about her royal cuteness...
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Gabriella's First Dance Recital

The Historic Paramount Theatre in Middletown, NY (sounds fancy, I know...if it weren't for the numerous condemned houses surrounding it...). The place was packed to the gills. Both the balcony and the orchestra were filled. Gabi's teachers said they had sold over 1100 tickets!!!
Gabriella had to be backstage at 4:30; it takes half an hour to get there; she was still napping at 3:45....oh oh. Between 3:45 and 4:05 I woke up Gabi, put her outfit on, put her hair in a bun, put blue eye shadow on her, woke up Kasey, and got everyone in the car. Whew!!!!
The backstage of the theatre was overflowing with girls in frilly outfits and silly makeup. Each girl had an assigned folding chair. One of the helpers and I put Gabi's bonnet on, I gave her a kiss on her glittery cheek and headed to the audience to watch the performance. I think she was so fascinated by all the activity that she truly could care less that I was leaving her alone with all those "strangers" (she sees strangers and points them out everywhere lately).
The lights went up on Gabriella and her class, followed by an adoring chorus of oohs and aaahs from the audience. The cute little Baby Chicks were stealing the show. Just after it started, we noticed something was off. Gabi wandered up to Miss Jackie shortly after she was supposed to start dancing. Miss Jackie brought her back to her spot. Then Gabi wandered off the stage entirely (each time the entire audience laughed uproariously...Gabi was unwittingly stealing the show). Gabriella came back on stage without a bonnet (Mommy fail for Bobby pinning the bonnet on her head too loosely). More laughs. At the end of their ridiculously adorable performance the parents came to the stage to pick up their Baby Chicks. When Pete lifted Gabriella onto his shoulders the whole theater cheered...
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Snot Mustaches and Snuggle Time

Right on time...Gabi arrived in our room as Pete was getting up for some snuggle time. I cherish those moments just to enjoy her. She is a fantastic snuggler!
It was Kasey's turn soon after. I walked into his room and he looked at me with a thick, and pretty gross snot mustache. That's the only way to describe the massive amounts of mucous that were just hanging out on his upper lip (not to mention the dried stuff on the rest of his face). Now that he's nursed and been aspirated (always fun), he's a happy, snuggly little guy! Gabriella loves her little brother so much and loves to do everything in her power to get him to smile.
As a true indicator that snuggly fun is over, Gabi takes one look at my sports bra and says, "Mommy are those your running boobies?"
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Memorial Day Weekend

Summer is here!!!! After a very mediocre and rainy spring we have been so so ready to get outside. This past week it finally became nice weather. Then yesterday the pool opened. I ran around the corner to WalMart (my favorite place...note the dripping sarcasm) to get swimming diapers for Kasey and they had matching American Flag shirts that say Summer 2011. I got one for all of us (or so I thought). There was one hanging in the men's section, so I was excited. I got home to have Pete tell me its a women's shirt. Oops...I didn't look at the sleeves. Didn't even think about that!! (Besides, it was the only one hanging in the men's section...I was just excited we'd all be able to match.). Now it looks like everyone except Pete will match.

We did end up at the pool yesterday. Everyone had a BLAST! The kids have water blasters and went to town shooting one another...Kasey slept through the first half of swimming fun. Then, when he woke up he was not sure about the chilly water...once he adjusted he was thrilled! Mostly he just lounged in his floaty, but he had fun splashing too! We will definitely miss this pool when we leave in a month. We brought lunch, had a blast, and Pete even got a job lead...who would've thought it would be such a wonderful day?

On a side note, Pete's retirement date of January 1 has officially been approved. This means I will move to the Chicago area with the kids this summer and Pete will join us for his terminal leave around October. It has been a stressful month coming to this decision and waiting for approval but now its great to have a sense of control and start to move forward.
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Sleepy Bliss

I am sad to say that, most nights, Kasey does not sleep through the night. I am usually up once or twice to nurse him and put him back to sleep. Granted, I am lucky that he does not require more from me during those times. Nonetheless, it does involve going to his room, getting him out of bed, nursing him, laying him back down, and then heading back to bed myself.
Some mornings and days, I am just completely exhausted by the cumulative effect of these nightly wakings and taking care of my other two munchkins. Then, on a night like tonight, when I go to check on Kasey before I head to bed, and he slept through the night last night, and he is sleeping so peacefully I can even turn on the light to take a picture, that I am overwhelmed by how blessed I am with such a beautiful, healthy little boy. Sleep will come...in about 20 years.
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Spring Break Aquarium Time

This week has been more than just a little bit stressful! Tomas' spring break has turned into one of turmoil and limbo for our family. We got news that we were going to be getting orders to Twentynine Palms, CA. Alright, so what we thought was one more year in NY was probably not going to be. Unfortunately we were not given a date because the federal government had yet to finally agree on a budget. Basically we started mentally preparing to leave here over the summer.
Then came Wednesday. We got our orders...wait for it...we have to be in CA by May 31?! It gets even better...we have to separate from here by May 1. No, these dates are not for 2012. They are for just a few days away. Sheer panic sets in...this is too short of notice for movers to come pack and move us. We'd have to do it ourselves in a week. Oh yes, and did I mention that the unit they are sending Pete to is already deployed to Afghanistan, so he will be headed there too when we get there?
That leaves us with many questions and so many options that need to be discussed and explored. Pete has put in a request to have the orders modified so we can move later, but we are still waiting to hear more (its not as if there's a time line to deal with or anything, right?!). When we get more information, we will be able to make a decision and move forward.
Needless to say, distraction was necessary. Wednesday, my good friend Heather and I got together and made rice krispie treat eggs for the kids and let them play together. Sharon joined us with her kiddos. The distraction of good company was much needed, and the kids always have a blast with their friends.
More distraction...Friday we took a trip to New York Aquarium with Sharon and Allison and Austin. We clown carred it up: five car seats, two strollers, two diaper bags, and two mommies in the car. It is still not spring...come ON now?! It was quite cold and windy, but luckily the aquarium is largely indoors and the kids could care less about the cold. It was quite a task to navigate the exhibits on this busy Good Friday, so it was teamwork for the mommies. Sharon manned the strollers and I manned the walking kiddos. We learned about jellyfish and their tentacles, and we hunted for Nemo, and stared at the sharks' teeth and the huge turtles swimming about. Of course, since the aquarium is right next to Coney Island and the boardwalk, we had to check out the beach while we were there. Two years ago our visit was a most unusually warm April day and Friday could not have been more opposite. It was downright blustery. Nonetheless, the kids frolicked in the sand and ran on the boardwalk...it was officially spring break!
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