A Very Badly Overdue Update!

Okay, I know this has been neglected for a while, so bear with me on how long this one will be! So much has happened since the last posting! To start our whirlwind past couple of months was Lauren's baptism over Labor Day weekend. See how far behind this is?!?! We made a mad dash up to Oshkosh for a few days. We took the girls to play at Little Oshkosh park which they absolutely love! Lauren's baptism went very well, and she didn't complain at all through having the cold water poured over her precious little head! Ali Parks is her Godmother, and I am so grateful that Ali accepted that role for Lauren. Even though we live far away from her, I hope that my girls will have the relationship with her that she did with me when she was a little girl! Caitlyn took a picture of Ali to school to show everyone her Ali. Too sweet!!! Misty and I went and got some ink done, but I don't have any pics of that for some reason. I added a butterfly on my back with the other 2, and of course Lauren's name too. Misty got her "something blue" permanently attached to her in the shape of a very pretty blue heart with some scrolling on her ankle...that works, right?!?!

After the baptism, it was back to Fort Knox for us to start preparing for our move! For anyone that has not taken part in a military move, it's a crazy procedure! We had to sort everything and pre-pack for two trips...one back up to Oshkosh for Dan and Misty's wedding, and the second for what we would all need for at least a week until our household goods arrive in Kansas. Once all the pre-packing was done, we had to get everything else ready. The people that pack do just that. They will pack anything to include full trash cans and dirty dishes! It's their job to pack, not sort. Our entire house was packed up in 4 hours! That is absolutely insane! We ended up having 94 boxes and 98 separate items that could not be boxed. The next day the movers came out and moved everything out in a little over 4 hours! Thank goodness for air mattresses and our card table! I had forgotten how bad our quarters echoed!

As soon as the movers left, we packed up all our stuff for the wedding and were on our way back up to Oshkosh. We even remembered to bring all of our dress clothes and gift! Not that I could have taken any pictures from the service since I was in it, but I ended up forgetting my camera at home, so we don't have any pictures! Caitlyn was so cute as the flower girl. She did a wonderful job sprinkling the flower petals for Misty to walk on. And Misty was absolutely gorgeous! Best of all...my brother is happy. Misty is truly lucky to have a guy that will bend over backwards for her in a moments notice. Congrats to both of you!!! I wish you the best luck in the world! We had to leave bright and early on Sunday morning to get back to the base so we could clear our quarters and get ready to leave Fort Knox for the last time. We got in late Sunday night and were too exhausted to do too much, so we all crashed. Monday morning, Bear had to go and do some final outprocessing, which left me at home with the girls to clean our quarters before the inspectors came out to get the keys and lock up our quarters. Thank goodness he came home quickly because we had to wash every single wall, baseboard, appliance, sink, toilet, bathtub, sweep and mop all the floors, and clean up the front and back yards. It took us an exhausting 4 hours, and we got done just 5 minutes before the lady showed up. The floors were still wet from mopping, but we did it! We didn't get charged anything extra, and were able to turn our keys in the first time! That night some of our neighbors we had met over the summer decided to have a little farewell dinner for us. It was so wonderful to have a get together to reflect over the time we had known them and to get in our last few hugs goodbye. All our girls had grown close to the other kids, and it was very difficult for them to have to leave each other. That is one of the down sides to the military life. That night we stayed in the lodging on post. The next morning, Bear had to get into uniform for the last time and go sign out from his unit. We loaded up in the car and truck and left Fort Knox for the last time. It was kind of sad. Kentucky had been our home for the past 5 years! But, we were on to a new adventure! We made it to our house in Kansas on Wednesday. We had told Caitlyn that she could wait to start at her new school until Monday, but she wanted to start the very next day, so we made sure to stop in at the school and let them know we were here. She gets to ride the bus to school and back home, which is very exciting for her right now. Allison has been enjoying herself out here as well. There is all kinds of dirt out here for her to play in! She loves to go outside, barefoot of course, and check on all the animals. I think she had been trying to feed Sugar some grass in this picture.

My mom and dad came down shortly after we got here to help us get settled and do some work on the house. During one of our trips to town to get some more supplies, everyone was getting hungry, so we decided to get something to eat. Dad actually agreed to go to Taco John's and ate lunch there. I knew that no one would believe me, so I had to take a picture of it as proof!

Bear's official last day in the Army was 23 October 2008. Congrats on a job well done in the Army...we are glad that you will be home with us now Bear!!! He now works as a civilian LPN for the Army at Fort Leavenworth in a clinic. And like every guy does when they are on leave or gets out, they have to grow some facial hair and not get a hair cut for a while. I don't have any pics of him and his scruffiness, but he finally broke down and we cut his hair and he trimmed his beard to just a goatee.

Sadly, Caitlyn's dog Roscoe died. The goofy critter went over to the neighbors house and ate a bunch of gravel where bacon grease had been dumped, and was unable to eat, drink, or pass anything because his bowels got impacted. RIP Roscoe!!! Caitlyn misses you dearly...she loved you very much.

And then it was time for Halloween. Caitlyn was planning on being Sleeping Beauty until my mom sent a box of my old costumes to the house. Then she changed her mind and was going to wear my old devil costume. It's really cute...a red skirt with the pointy tail on it, a red shirt, and a red hood with the horns on it. She was so excited to go trick or treating, but ended up getting incredibly sick and didn't even want to get her costume on. She spent her halloween throwing up and feeling horrible! I felt so bad for her, but Allison was trying very hard to comfort her. Allison couldn't make up her mind about what she was going to be. It changed 20 times a day for a while. Finally she decided to be a panda bear (another one of my old costumes). She was the cutest panda ever! I don't know what she did with her ears though. She's still cute anyways. When we took the girls to Great Papaw's, he let them pick out their own candy, and as much of it as they wanted. I bet Allison got half of her bucket from him! Lauren was a pumpkin and didn't really care about what was going on. She just liked people coming over and smiling at her.

Lauren had her 6 month check up which went very well. We were nervous about having to find a new doctor after having the same ones on the base for so long and not knowing who was going to be a good one to go to. But we picked a good doctor! Lauren weighs 19 pounds! She is doing wonderful though, and I'm sure will lose her baby fat when she gets more mobile. She still doesn't roll over, but scoots all over the place whether on her back or her belly. She gets all up on one side or the other, but just won't roll all the way over. She has started using a walker, which she absolutely loves! She scoots herself backwards all over the place, and her sisters take turns pushing her everywhere.

We have also started her on veggies/fruits and cereal. She is doing wonderful and learning to use the spoon better. She now realizes what the hi-chair is for and gets excited when she gets put in it. So far, she doesn't like squash at all (check out the face below), and has a hard time with pears...probably from the texture.

Overall, we are all doing pretty well getting adjusted to our new life here in Kansas. Here is one last picture of my girls being goofy and trying to help Lauren stand with them. Don't worry, no babies were hurt in the taking of this picture!

Now that we are mostly caught up, maybe I won't get so far behind again! It only takes about 15 minutes to upload one picture on dial up internet...oh boy! I think this is enough for now. Back again some other day!