Catch-up on the February Happenings

I bet you all thought I gave up blogging for Lent! Actually I've been really busy recently and this just seemed the natural thing to push to the bottom of the list. Mike was out of town for a couple of different TDYs and since he's gotten back we've been in deployment prep mode. As I think I've mentioned before, as soon as Mike leaves for his deployment the kids and I will be moving in with the 'rents in Texas! We are actually really excited about returning to the best state ever and all the fun we have in store while we're there! Hopefully the master packer, my Dad, can fit everything in our van that we'll need with room to spare for all the shopping I plan to do too! Here's a recap of our ups and downs since the beginning of February:

UP:

• Jackson is getting closer and closer (fingers crossed) to sleeping without a pull-up! About 1-2 times a week he is waking up with a wet pull-up, but the rest of the week he's completely dry! So proud of my big boy. Seriously hard to believe he'll be 3 in a little over a month!
• Kennedy, as I mentioned in my last post, is talking more and more everyday. She responds to questions appropriately and I think she says a new word daily! She also has the cutest voice too. She is a monkey for sure though and I haven't figured out how to keep her off the furniture. She's also gotten tall enough to reach the kitchen counters, so anything close to the edge is no longer safe including knives - thankfully Mom still has some quick reflexes!
• My fabulous husband bought me an ipad for an early birthday present! I love it and would love any suggestions you have for cool apps especially for the kiddos! A special thank you to Pat, I'm pretty sure that your new ipad convinced Mike we needed one too!
• Speaking of Pat, we finally made it down to Salt Lake City to visit his new place! We had a great time except for the lack of sleep due to crying children! He's got a great set up there and we'll definitely be back!
• Yesterday was only day one, but I'm really excited to start a new Bible study with some fellow spouses. We're reading Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. I'm hoping the book has some good insights on dealing with stubborn first born children uhh humm - Jackson!

Down:

• The day Mike left for his most recent TDY Jackson woke up with the stomach bug. Thankfully he was the only one that got sick. That's just the worst though when your child throws up or has severe diarrhea and you can't do anything, but comfort him. 
• It was confirmed officially that Mike will be deploying the full amount. There had been talk that he would come home half way through and we would move, but as usual, the AF has their own agenda. I wish I had never know about the half way scenario, but it is what it is and we just have to accept it and make the most of it. There are definite benefits monetarily, but hands down I'd much rather have more time with my hubby!
• One of my Dad's old co-workers passed away recently. He was younger than my parents and had two daughters. He was a big part of our lives with 4-H growing up and was such a great guy. Again, life is so precious and can be taken in an instant. It just fuels my desire to live each day as if it were your last despite my incessant need to plan plan plan for tomorrow!

Photo Catch Up:

Insert sound effects: pew, pew, pew!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look at these delicious strawberries - perfect for dipping!

Story time at Uncle P's!

Jack Nicholson, I mean Pat Hefferly in the morning!

Gearing up for some sledding!

All bundled in her brother's old snow suit!

I need to get this girl some dress up stuff. She is using Mr. Potato Head's glasses as a necklace and trying to wear his hat too!

Favorite Thing:

While packing for our trip to Salt Lake City the idea occurred to me to look for a sound machine app rather than hauling the kids' sound machines with us. They are light sleepers though so ambient noise is a necessity! I found this app called sleep machine. It is so neat. I upgraded to the paid app to get all the sounds. Their are 91 different sounds and you can use up to three different sounds together and mix them yourself. You can also mix your itunes music or audio books with the sounds too so you could listen to a book while hearing a crackling fire in the back ground - pretty awesome. It also has a timer for the sounds, an alarm, and a nice illuminated digital clock for traveling that is big enough for this blind girl to see at night! I highly recommend it if you too are a light sleeper or even if you aren't it's pretty cool!