A little bug has arrived...

Well, I have finished one paper- the short one of course. I haven't made much progress on the 12-pager because Abby picked up some kind of stomach bug on Monday. She felt a little better today, but she hasn't been sleeping very well, and that is usually when I do most of my work. Then, Quintin woke up this morning feeling sick. I guess I'd better stop typing here and get to work before the little bug makes its way to me. Hopefully everyone will feel better before Christmas.

That time of year....

Well, I have successfully completed my first semester of teaching. The only thing I have left to do is finish grading almost 100 final exams. It is taking me about 15 minutes to grade each one.....if the midshipmen hasn't gotten too many wrong. I am going to try to have them done by tomorrow afternoon, so I can enter their grades and not have to worry about it next week when I am on leave. Lucky for me I will be busy writing two papers for grad school. One shouldn't be too bad, but I just found out the other day that the 12 page paper that I have to write for my second class is 12 pages- single spaced!!! Who asks for single spaced papers anyway?! So, needless to say much of my spare time over the next few days, and sleep time for that matter, will be devoted to paper writing. Of course we will take time out to celebrate Quintin's 28th birthday this Sunday. Not sure what we are going to do yet, but I am sure we'll have fun.

Playstation 3

This past Thursday Quintin and I were able to do a little Christmas shopping for Abby while she was still at school. We went to Toys R Us first, and Quintin thought he would go over to the game section just to see if they had a Playstation 3. You'll never believe what the guy said?!? He had one left from a shipment they had received the day before. Quintin couldn't believe it. Needless to say, Christmas came a little early for him....or maybe it's his birthday present since that is this month too.

Annapolis Parade of Lights

Last night we went down to the water to watch the Annapolis Parade of Lights, which is where all of the boats parade around decorated with Christmas lights. It was really cold...about 30 degrees...but we didn't let that stop us. We got all bundled up, and luckily it wasn't too windy so we were able to stay out a good while. Abby's favorite was the one with Santa and his reindeer. She also like the "Blue Angel."

Just Cruisin'

Abigail finally likes to drive her Jeep! She has had it for a while....Quintin couldn't wait to get one for her and she used to just sit in it and "chill." A couple of weekends ago we asked her if she wanted to take it out riding and she did. We had a great time cruising around in the huge grassy area that is right behind our house. It was tons of fun to drive up the hill, and then speed down!

No Boot!

Something wonderful has happened to Quintin recently...he finally got out of the boot that he wore for nearly 9 months. He won't be able to run for another 6 to 12 month's but at least he's wearing two pairs of shoes now! Yeah!!

Little Gymnast

Abby was starting to lose interest in her dance class, so we decided to try something new....gymnastics. Her first class was all about climbing, and she had a great time. It was a 45 minute class, and unlike her dance class which lost her attention after about 30 minutes or so, she stayed interested the whole time. She liked it so much she started crying when it was time to go because she wanted to "stay and play." So, it looks like we will be going to gymnastics for now.

Up-and-over

Abigail has learned to perfect her "up-and-over" technique just in time for the cold weather. We hope you enjoy this display of acrobatic talent. :)

Scooby-Doo....is that you?

We took Abigail to Port Discovery, which is the Children's Museum in Baltimore. They had a pre-Halloween part and she was none other than her favorite character....Scooby-Doo.

Breakfast with the Ducks

This morning before heading off to breakfast, we decided to swing by and feed the ducks. We had a loaf of bread that was a little too stale for sandwiches, but the ducks didn't seem to mind it. After a few minutes a seagull spotted us and called the rest of his friends over....gotta love those seagulls. Abby had a great time. She was saying, "Here you go, buddy!" as she was throwing the bread.

Keeping the environmentalists at bay!

We've found a way to keep the environmentalists off of our backs for driving a huge SUV. We've rented out our wheel-wells to any squirrel that needs a much needed break from the cold winds of fall!

Our Little Artist

Abby has always liked drawing, but lately she has started drawing people. This picture is of our family. From left to right it is Daddy, Mommy, and Abby. Too cute!

Dance Class

Abby started dance class a couple of weeks ago and really loves it. It isn't a ballet or tap class, but rather a cute mix of kid songs like the Hokey-Pokey and the Bean-bag Rock. We were lucky to find a class that meets on Saturday mornings. Once she turns three she can move into the ballet and tap class, if she still wants to dance. I think she will because she really loves music.

Trip to Sesame Place

This weekend we took a trip to Sesame Place, which is just outside of Philadelphia. Abby had a great time. After she ate her lunch, she had an Elmo cupcake...yum, yum!

There were plenty of fun rides and she also got to meet Elmo up close.




She had her face painted like a cute little pirate and passed out on the way home. What a great weekend!!

One class down....

Well, I officially finished my first graduate class, Homeland Defense, on Friday. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I just looked online and found out that I made an "A", so I am really happy about that. I start my next class this Thursday, so at least I get a weekend off without having to study anything! :) I do have to go over the lessons that I will be teaching next week, but other than that I can relax. Yeah!!

What a manly cast

Quintin had his cast put on this past Monday and boy is it a great looking one. He only had three choices: pink, purple, or this great looking rainbow one. Thank goodness he only has to keep this one until Wednesday when ge gets his staples taken out. Hopefully by then they will have better color choices.

Out of Surgery

Quintin had surgery to repair his achilles today, and he is doing fine. Because it has been over five months since he hurt it initially, he had a lot of scar tissue and the tendon wasn't healing the way it should. So the doctor went in and cut out the bad part- the doctor said that his achilles was kind of like a jelly filled doughnut where the tendon had gotten infected and mushy. (Sorry about the gross description but that is the way he explained it to me) Then he pulled the good parts together and sewed them really tight. Luckily he didn't have to completely sever his tendon and re-attach it...If this doesn't work, then that will be our only option left. He can't put any weight down on his foot for about three months, so as you can imagine getting up to our house on the third floor should be fun. Monday morning he has to go get his cast put on, then in about three weeks he should get his trusty walking boot back! Abby will have fun drawing on his cast...I will post some pictures of him later this weekend...gotta run for now.

Annoying Hyenah Lady

We took Abby to see the movie Barnyard: The Original Party Animals yesterday and it was really cute. It was probably one of the best animated movies we have seen in a while. The only problem was the lady that was sitting behind us- she had a really loud annoying laugh. It sounding like she was yelling, "Hah, hah, hah". But that wasn't the worst part. She laughed at absolutely EVERYTHING. When I say everything, I don't mean everything that was funny in the movie...no, I mean everything- literally. Apparently the Coke commercial that was part of the previews was hilarious. So was the little robot who flys around and finally plugs in the cable for the THX surround sound. And that was all before the movie started. Quintin and I thought about moving, but then we would lose our good seats, and it really couldn't be that bad, could it? Then the movie started and we wished we had moved. She even would repeat funny lines from the movie, and then add on her signature laugh. If you have seen the previews for the movie and the part where the little boy tips over the cow and then says, "That's what I call cow-tipping. Hah, Hah, Hah!" Then you know exactly how she sounded. It was funny because as we were leaving the family that was sitting in front of us asked us how we liked having that hyenah over our shoulder for the whole movie. At least they didn't think it was me!

I'll go hold the train!

We took another little trip into the District today, but this time we decided to take the Metro (rail system). It was Abby's first time on a "train", so she had a great time. We went to a couple of museums and then headed home. As we were going down the escalator to where the train arrives, we saw that one was already there. I ran a little ahead to make sure it was the line we wanted and then I hopped on. Quintin was pushing Abby in the stroller, so he was a little behind me. Right after I stepped on the train I saw that the doors were closing, without any announcement or anything. Quintin and Abigail weren't on yet, so of course I did what every normal person would do- I stuck my arm out to hold the doors. Doors like this usually have sensors in them so they will open if anything is blocking them, right? Wrong....not these doors. Basically the train doors closed on my left arm- right between my elbow and shoulder. My immediate reaction was to push the doors open- but nope, you can't do that either. I was lucky because right before I got on the train, two Metro employees got on, so one of them jumped up and called on his radio for them to open the doors. They opened about a second later. I told him I was just trying to hold the door for my husband who was right behind me and he sai, "You can't do that Ma'am- you might break the door." Thanks for the concern for my well being. I just had two doors crunch down on my arm and he was worried about the doors. Once we all got on and sat down I looked at my arm, then I noticed that it was starting to hurt a little and there were indention marks from the doors. I don't know what I would have done if those employees weren't on there. I guess I would have had to ride to the next stop with my arm in the door- holding it up of course so hopefully it wouldn't get chopped off as we went speeding through the underground tunnel we were in!!! Luckily, God was watching out for me. I can laugh now thinking how silly I was for sticking my arm out, but I didn't think that the doors were going to lock down like a great white shark! So, my advice is if you ever find yourself hopping on a train at the last minute and your whole party doesn't make it on- just meet them at the next stop! :) Oh, my arm is okay. It was already bruised by the time we got back to the car. Looks like someone hit my arm with a pipe or something, but I'll live! This picture is from our ride into the District.

Trip to DC

We took a short trip to DC this past Saturday. On our way to the Aquarium we walked by the White House. It was early so there weren't that many people out yet. The nice part about typically touristy places is that there are always people who offer to take family pictures for you.
The Aquarium was pretty nice. They had some really neat fish that we had never seen before. It was kind of small, so we decided to go to the Natural History Museum. That was the best part of our whole trip. The place was huge! Abby really liked the 3D African Safari IMAX we saw. It was cute because she kept reaching out in front of her trying to grab things, and then she would lift up the glasses to see what was really going on! I think her favorite part of the museum was the Mammal section because they had the animals as they would look if they were alive. The other parts of the museum had mostly fossils and casts, but she still enjoyed looking at everything.

Friday Quintin had lunch in DC with a friend that he had in California who now lives in the area. They ate at this pub, which is the oldest pub in DC (we walked by it again on Saturday). They met the First Tailor, Georges de Paris, who has custom made suits for Presidents for more than 40 years. Quintin has a hard time understanding people with any kind of heavy accent, and he said this man had a very thick French accent, so he didn't get everything he said. The pub also has a spot reserved for the First Lady- apparently she comes in all the time.

Skater Girl

Abby saw her Dad's rollerblades as we were unpacking and decided that she wanted some skates too. We had to practice in the hallway before we went outside. Of course she has all the protective gear on! She had a great time, but I think she liked it more inside because she could roll easier on the wood floor versus the concrete.

Big Girl Bed

Since our little one was born she never wanted to sleep in any bed by herself. Not the bassinet we bought for her, or the co-sleeper, or her crib. It was only Mommy and Daddy's bed for her. We didn't really force the issue because we liked having her so close and the way the floorplan was in the previous places we have lived, she was way across the house. That didn't make us feel too safe. There are so many things that can happen..... So, for the last two years she has slept with us, in a queen sized bed. One night a couple of weeks ago, Quintin woke up to find her completely sideways between us- of course he had the luxury of having her feet towards him! He straightened her out once, twice, three times. Finally, the last time he awoke he found a special surprise- little toes in his ear!! It was then that we knew that she had to sleep in her own bed. We started talking it up about how great it was going to be to have a "big girl bed" and she got really excited. We found a cute bed at Ikea and she decided she wanted to have a Scooby Doo bed- no big surprise for us. I had to order the comforter set online, but when it arrived she was so excited. Needless to say, she has been sleeping in her big girl bed ever since- no complaints!

My new job

Soon after we arrived in Annapolis, we took a walk around the yard to find the building I am going to be teaching in. It is called Luce Hall The only bad part is that my office is on the third floor- same floor as our house! At least I will get a work out climbing all of those stairs. Abby had a fun time flying around like Superman. She really likes chasing all of the squirrels and we even saw a couple of rabbits, but they didn't hang around as long as the squirrels did. Can't say we saw too many squirrels in South Texas.

Trip to the Maryland Zoo

We took a trip to the zoo in Baltimore last week. We were a little disapointed with it, but we have heard great things about the National zoo, so that will hopefully make up for it. Abby really liked the big bus that you could climb in and drive. We also went on a camel ride. Abby kept telling him to "giddy-up!" The last pic is of a precious baby bird we found!

Return to Civilization

We arrived in Annapolis on Sunday and it is truly gorgeous up here. I know we are going to have a great time. It is so nice to be living in a normal city again. Here it is the best of both worlds because Annapolis has a very "small-town feel" to it, and then you drive 5 minutes up the highway and you can find anything you could ever want. We watched the fireworks last night from "the Yard" (that is what they call the campus of the Naval Academy) and Abby had a blast. She was still talking about them today. The only hard part has been that we don't have internet in the room we are staying in, so we won't be able to write much. Our house should be ready on Monday, and they called Q today to tell him our stuff has arrived in the area, so now we are just hanging out until we can get moved in.

Not as easy as it looks...

As part of our move, we thought we would tow the Magnum behind the Excursion on a car carrier. Sounds easy, right? That way we could all ride in one car, have 2 drivers and little one could have someone to entertain her. So we hooked up the trailer and hit the road. Once we got onto the highway and picked up speed the trailer started fish-tailing. There was a lot of wind because a storm was moving in, so I think that contributed to the problem. There was no way that we could drive 1600 miles at 45 mph- that was as fast as we could go and keep the trailer under control.So after about 10 miles we had to turn around and take it back.
The trip so far has been great and Abigail is a true "Road Queen". We have driven over 1300 miles and only have another 300ish to go today. Yeah!!

Long-awaited Road Trip

Well, this morning we are leaving to drive to Annapolis. The pack-up of our house was pretty uneventful. Abby was so cute because I took her to the pool that morning and when we got home they had already packed up all of her toys. She looked at all of the boxes in her empty room and said, "Oh no! My toys!" I told her that it was okay- they were all going to go to our new house and then it was okay. Unfortunately for us the rain has moved into our area, so I hope we don't get hit too bad when we are driving out of here. Texas thunderstorms can be the worst. We will try to update along our journey, but not sure if we will have access. Talk to everyone soon!!

Baby Muscles!

Last Friday we went to dinner with two of our friends that Abby adores. She likes to show people all the cool stuff that she knows like her ABC'S and how she can count to ten, but most of all she loves to show her muscles.

Little Green Monster

The other day the Ice Cream man drove by our house and we decided that we would all get an ice cream. Janice had some kind of fruitsicle, Abby had an orange creamsicle and I had a ninja turtle ice cream. Needless to say, I was the only one that didn't get to eat ice cream because some little girl decided she wanted mine too!

Don't feed the cats!

We were out driving around in Portland, a town in between our city and Corpus Christi, when we came across this trailer park. It was funny because this is the first time that we have ever seen a sign like this.

Fail-safe Contraceptive!

We have been going back and forth with the idea of having another baby now that Abby is two. We are leaning more towards waiting for my next shore duty (she will be seven) because I am going to have so much going on with work and school. Quintin keeps reminding me of how tired I was when I was pregnant, but the other day I saw this really cute pregnant lady and had an immediate case of "belly envy!" Didn't know that I could really envy another woman's stomach for being something other than really flat, but it happened. Luckily, if we decide to wait a while for another baby we have some extra protection on our side!

Time to hit the books

I am officially a grad student as of yesterday. I am pretty excited about it. It has been five years since I graduated, so hopefully it won't be too hard to start again. Lucky for me I have had to study for a lot of different qualifications associated with my job, so that part shouldn't be too hard. I am only worried about a couple of things. One is that I have to re-orient my writing style to that of a college student. The military has a unique style, much shorter and choppier than usual, which was hard for me to get used to at first. The other thing is the program I am in is through the Naval War College, so I am worried that I will be surrounded by much senior officers who have way more experience than I do. Guess I will have to wow 'em with my sense of humor! :) No, maybe not the best idea- better just study hard. The funny part is that the first class that I enrolled in cost more than one whole semester at SDSU! Good thing Uncle Sam is picking up the tab. They did tell me that if I fail the class I have to pay it back, so I'd better not fail. My class starts July 3rd, so I have a little time to goof off before it's time to get down to business.

Year of Pottery and Willow.....or Leather for a Modern Twist

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary! Can't believe we have been married for so long. Time has really flown by. I googled traditional anniversary gifts and this year they are pottery and willow....so I guess we should have gotten each other plants in a nice pot. How romantic. Who comes up with those things anyway? I think after nine years you should rate something a little higher than baked dirt and some plant that will probably be dead in a few weeks. The modern gift of leather is a little better, but still. Anyway, we had a wonderful day (without any potted plants or leather items). Next year looks promising- tin and aluminum- wow! I prefer the modern idea of diamond jewelry. I just won't let Quintin decide which one I get :)

Fun at the Dentist

Abigail went to the dentist today for her second check-up. She sat in the chair all by herself and did a great job opening her mouth. She really liked the cool sunglasses they had her wear.

The dentist said that everything looks great and we should be seeing some more teeth come in pretty soon.

Chocolate Lover!

Yes, even Abby loves a little chocolate every now and then. Not sure how she got it all over her face, but that isn't important....what is important is that it tasted really good, and she didn't share any with her Mommy!

Superstar in the Making

A couple of weeks ago Abigail and I went to Barnes and Noble bookstore to purchase some books. It just so happened that the local news station was there and they decided to film Abigail. Abby made the 6 o'clock news for that night so I tivo-ed it so that Janice could see it when she got home. She is the one standing in front of the dolphin and then I point her out for you when they are all sitting in a circle for story-time.

Little Miss Manners

Nothing is cuter than hearing Abigail say, "No thank you, Mommy." She really has taken to all the polite words we all try to teach our kids, and uses them without being prompted. She used please first, and then bless you. She likes to pretend to sneeze so you can bless her. The funniest was yesterday when we were sitting out in the backyard and Quintin, being a man, "passed gas" and didn't say anything. Abby heard him, turned up her little nose and said, "Excuse you, Daddy!" We all died laughing. Nothing like having your two-year old remind you to use your manners.

Happy Memorial Day

We just hope that everyone is having a safe and fun holiday. We almost had a near death experience when we walked into Foley's (just bought out by Macy's) and found that they had their entire houseware department 60 to 75% off. Needless to say, we stocked up. The hardest part was having to carry all of the stuff on only one good leg.

Letter Game. I got "M".

The object of the game is to come up with 10 words that start with your letter and explain why. If you want to play and don't have a letter I'll be happy to give you one just leave me a message. Anna gave me my letter.

Mother: Being a mother is the most important job I have. I love every minute of it. I thank my own Mother, even though she passed away when I was a child, for teaching me to never take anything for granted and cherish every moment you have with your children. They truly are a gift from God.

Man of my dreams: I am so lucky to have found him early in my life (we are high school sweethearts), and I wouldn't trade him for anything. He is also the best Dad in the world. He gets bonus points for being a stay-at-home Daddy for Abigail. What a lucky little girl!

Magnum: We have a 2005 Dodge Magnum and it is the coolest car we have ever owned. It is nice to have a car that both you and your husband like.

Manning the rails: I love seeing a ship pass by with all of the sailors standing topside. This is usually done when you leave and return from deployment. It is a very emotional time- you are heartbroken when you have to leave your family and you keep your eyes on them for as long as you can, but when you come home there is nothing like finding their face in the crowd.

Movies: Any genre, any location.... love to watch 'em.

Music: My favorite kind is R&B, hip-hop, and pop. We listen to music all the time at home. Abby is the best dancer in our family :) My favorite song right now is Over My Head(Cable Car) by The Fray.

Marathon relays: Ran one last weekend and had a blast. The real thing is too much for me, but this was just enough to feel the energy of competing in a race. It is also cool because you know that you aren't going to win and you won't finish last, so there isn't any pressure. You can just enjoy the run....unless it is 90 degrees, then you enjoy the people that squirt you with waterhoses as you pass by!

Mornings: I am not a night-owl by any means. Mornings are definately for me. I love breakfast food, especially french toast- yummy. I also like the smell of morning breath- not mine or Quintin's, but Abigail's. She isn't old enough yet to have bad breath, so it smells really sweet.

Maryland: That is where we are moving to this summer and are really excited. We will have four seasons! Imagine the concept. We are also looking forward to all of the great roadtrips. Definately going to take advantage of the location.

Malls: Need I say more?

Sweet Ride!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh I just found my dream car. We were driving back from the park and we saw this sweet car. I begged Janice to let me ask the guy how much he wanted for the car but she said no more toys for me. I did ask the guy if he liked his car and he said yeah the chicks dig it. What a loser.

Beep, Beep!

We took Abby to the Go Kart tracks on Sunday and we had a great time. Abigail's favorite thing was driving the go-karts. We did experience playing the worst miniature golf course ever. There were no special wind mills, hills, bridges, not even a zig zag course.

Go, Mommy, Go!

Janice ran in a marathon relay (Beach to Bay) this past Saturday and ran 4.4 miles in less than a 9 minute-mile average. Not too bad considering it was about 90 degrees outside. Janice was really smokin' the other runners. Abigail and I didn't get to see Janice cross the finish line because parking was insane. :( We did get to cheer her on while she was running when we drove by.