Remembering Haiti

It has been a little over a year since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. The 82nd airborne 2nd Brigade were there to help (along with Marines and Navy). John's company got there a few days after the earthquake. They were there a little over 2 months. They worked in and around the capitol. Here are some pictures of John and the company working..

Here the guys were establishing a landing zone to load patients and take them to the USS Comfort. The hospitol is behind the capitol building.

 The first three days in Haiti the guys lived in a storage compound. It only had walls no roof. Then the guys moved to this school house and lived the rest of the time there. At this point they were getting pretty skinny only living on two meals a day.

I am a proud military wife and proud of the work that my husband and the rest of the 82nd Airborne did. There is still a lot of work to be done there. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti.

Eliza's Birthday

I have been meaning to write about my little 3 year old! Eliza just turned 3 on December 29th. My little Christmas baby. I was in labor for about 3 days and was soooo sick. I had to go into the hospital for fluids three times. That last time I walked in and was almost 7 centimeters...they had to keep me!!! 6 hours later she was born. The girls were 13 months apart soooo from that day on I was really on the move!

Her 1st birthday...she was sick and not feeling good this day :(

I can hardly remember her this little. It really does go by so fast!

Her 2nd birthday celebrated at Gigi and Poppi's

3rd birthday...combined with Anna's birthday. I am still trying to decide what is best. I don't know how long I can combine their birthdays. The 29th is so close to Christmas that it is hard to celebrate then. I don't know...Anyone have any suggestions?

Eliza is so sweet, so LOUD (she has two volumes..loud and very loud) and very smart (she potty trained in just a few short days)! She loves her older sister and baby sister. She is always on the move. She makes me laugh with some of the wild things she says. She can be a little dramatic about foods and bad smells. This is just a little about our red head. We love you Liza!!

Snow day..

We got some snow!! The girls loved it. We had such a fun time playing out in the snow. I say this every year, but I am going to invest in more winter gear for next winter. It is so much more fun when you wear the right clothes. Eliza below is wearing about 3 pairs of socks on her hands.

I didn't take this little girl out. It was way too cold, but this was a picture of her yesterday and I just love this big smile. She has two faces when she smiles. This huge open mouth smile and then a smile where she squints her eyes and looks chinese. I love both. She is the sweetest baby.

Some favorite pictures of Papa

These are just a few pictures....

He was such a sweet man and he loved all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.. and grand dogs too :)

Christmas...

CHRISTMAS 2010

My little ballerina's

Such sweet sisters

Christmas morning

 Beautiful

Papa and Eliza

Marmee and Abigail

David and Kaitlin (such a cute couple)

Alden and Abigail

Cousins Camryn and Caleb (wish we could see y'all more often!)

This year we had a really wonderful Christmas together as a family. We went to my parents home and then the Monday after Christmas we went to Marmee and Papa's house (grandparents). It was great seeing family that we haven't seen in a really long time. It was an emotional, but special time as we gathered in there living room and Papa told us how much he loved us, meant to him, and was proud of us. He then prayed. It is a time I am so very thankful for even though it was hard. He knew, we knew, that it would be his last Christmas. Papa passed away January 2nd and went to be with the Lord. My Mom described it best when she said that my heart has not caught up with my head. That is how I feel. Intellectually, I know he is with the Lord. He feels no pain, no sorrow and is fully healed. My heart, though, is hurting. I am still so emotional and sad. He was such an amazing grandfather and I am so blessed to have had him in my life for 30 years! I know with time my heart will catch up to my head!



catching up...

This time of year goes by so quickly soooo I am playing catch up on the blog. I can't believe how close we are to Christmas. I am working on pre-school teacher gifts and then I am DONE. Woo Hoo!

In the last month this is what has been going on :

My dear wonderful friend Brittany Godfrey and her two adorable kids Abigayle and Jackson came to visit us before they moved to CO. We have known each other since freshman year of college which seems ages ago. We talk almost every day, but always seem to live so far away. Now she is two hours behind instead of one hour behind. Could we please live in the same time zone. Is that too much to ask????

The girls got a special birthday package from Uncle Sam, Aunt Ashley, Charlie and Owen. They love their dolls as you can see in the pictures!

My cute little Indian...

For thanksgiving we made our journey over to Hickory, NC to visit Nanna and Fowler crew. Here is a picture of the girls with their 2nd cousins, Ava and Ryan. Are they second cousins? John's cousins children. Not sure what exactly that would make it... But anyway, they had a great time playing together in the leaves. Sadly, Eliza lost her pants to dirt stains that were impossible to remove from their fun time in the wet leaves.

We celebrated the girls birthday's the weekend after Thanksgiving. I don't know if we will do a duel birthday every year, but it worked for us this year. Part of the reason this season is so busy is the two birthdays that are thrown into the mix. Anna is a Thanksgiving baby and Eliza is a Christmas baby. I thought pick a day inbetween and celebrate both.

Thanks Chris Deitsch and Rachel for making the trip to see the girls. It was fun visiting with you both!

My friend Kelly and her two boys came over. Kelly is pregnant with her third boy :)

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree how it was so hard to get you... I was bound and determined to get my free Christmas tree for the troops. I waited in a long car line for two hours, with three cranky kids. Anna had to pee sooo bad and thankfully I had a pull-up because their was NO WHERE to stop. Yes, my potty trained girl for well over a year was made to go in a pull-up all for the free tree. Well, here it is...

Lastly, the Allen kiddo's have been really sick. Strep throat, ear infections, and upper respiratory infections. I am keeping up with 5 different medications and breathing treatments for them all. I made a lovely chart :) The good news is is that they are feeling much better and we should all be well for Christmas!

A couple pictures of them sleeping peacefully.

Abigail is 6 months

November 14th she turned 6 months.

What a sweet baby she is. I can't believe how quickly 6 months has just gone by. In another 6 months she will be 1. I don't want to even think about it so moving on....

Abigail weighs 17 lbs 3 oz and was 26 inches long.

When Anna was 6 months her statistics were the same...I couldn't believe it.

Eliza was 17 lbs 13 oz and 27 inches.