Christmas Eve

No snow and ice here!

There isn't much I love about Naples. But 60 degree temperatures with bright sunshine in the middle of December is one thing I do love. Especially when nearly everyone I know is shoveling snow and ice right now and enduring below freezing temps. Hannah played outside today on her "bike" and I actually (sort of) got her to cooperate when I took her picture. This is getting harder and harder to do. All she wants is to hold the camera, not pose in front of it.

Scared of Santa...and others....

Hannah was just a little scared of Santa...by little I mean she screamed, clung to Matt for dear life, and would not even look at him let alone sit on his lap...and that's quite normal. Most babies are scared of a fat man with a white beard and bright red clothes (even some moms are a little frightened by the creepy Santas, right Portia?) But being the good mommy that I am, I took the picture anyway. It's always a great conversation piece for when they are older. I have both Alex & Tara's screaming Santa pictures, so I had to have one of Hannah also.




So Santa fear I get, but explain this one:

Today I was standing in the long line at the bank and Hannah was sitting in the little toy section they have in the bank lobby. She could see me perfectly and she was quite content sitting there playing while I waited. The place was crowded with lots of people coming and going. Then this little old lady walked in and sat down in a chair next to where Hannah was playing, but the lady didn't look at Hannah or talk to her. Hannah took one look at her and screamed the same scream she gave when she got near Santa. She ran to me crying and clung to me for dear life. She was terrified of this little old lady. Ok, so the lady wasn't the most attractive person I've seen, but she wasn't sporting a white beard or anything. And she didn't try to talk to her or hold her, but Hannah was scared nonetheless. I ended up just leaving because to me it was obvious that she was scared of the lady and I didn't want to offend her. So what's this all about? We have to work on this fear of old people. How will I ever be able to take her to Wal-Mart in the states???

Not much pomp and circumstance

Matt has completed his bachelor's of science degree in Human Resource Management!!!! Matt is living proof of how difficult it is to complete a degree while working full time and having a family, but he persevered forever and finished. Unfortunately, he won't be attending any formal ceremonies where I can snap some pictures of him in the ridiculous square board hat with a tassel hanging down.

For those of you who don't know this, I met Matt at a small junior college we both attended when we were 18 years old. Matt stayed there for a year before he decided to join the army. And now looking back, sure there are things he would have done differently if he could, but we are both happy that things turned out the way they did. The army has been a great career for Matt and our family. With retirement from the army just around the corner, it is an accomplishment to have the degree completed so he can shift his focus to the next stage of life. Congratulations, Matt. It was a long time coming, but you did it!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary on Sunday. We splurged and went to McDonald's for lunch. Crazy, I know. We really know how to live it up. We went to a huge mall that is not far from our house, but so did the other 4 million people that live in Naples. I'm not kidding, I have never seen so many shoppers in one place (and you all know I have done my fair share of shopping in my lifetime). Add Hannah and Tara to the picture and it doesn't make for a very romantic dining experience. So we all agreed on McDonald's to avoid the mass crowds and simplify the day. And I have to admit it was tasty. We rarely eat at the Golden Arches, so it was actually an out of the ordinary meal for us. Besides, we are saving up for our annual ski trip to Garmsich, Germany in January. We love Italian food, but we are all really looking forward to some good 'ole fried schnitzel and potatoes, bratwurst and beer.

Thankful at Thanksgiving...

We had a good Thanksgiving holiday...we stayed home this year, except for one day in Rome. This is the first Thanksgiving since living in Europe that we didn't travel. We cooked all the traditional food and ate until we couldn't eat anymore. We discovered that Hannah loves turkey!! And all the fixins'...she ate potatoes, stuffing, green beans...she loved it all. Alex is usually my pickiest eater, but this year he seemed to like more of the food than in previous Thanksgiving feasts.

On Saturday we met some friends in Rome for the day. One of our stops was Trevi Fountain. This is supposedly one of the romantic spots in Rome and the place to meet your bachelor or bachelorette. Romantics toss a coin over their shoulder, into the fountain, thinking it will give them a wish and assure their return to Rome. Usually Alex will try anything to make his wishes come true, but when he heard about the returning to Rome portion he refused to take part. He said he hopes he NEVER has to go to Rome again!!! In typical 13 year old boy behavior, he instead took a coin and threw it at the head of the statue in the fountain. Remember, Alex HATES, HATES, HATES to go sightseeing and thinks he has seen the world twice over. I wonder if he will always feel this way? So we have pictures of me and Tara tossing our coins over our shoulder. I hope to always be able to return to Rome!




We also stopped at the Spanish Steps...another hangout for romantics. Instead of romance, our kids (along with our friends 3 boys) decided to race up and back down the steps and nearly took out a few tourist along the way. It was funny to see them running down the steps full speed, huffing and puffing. After the race, I made them go back and pose for a picture with Hannah.

So all in all it was a great holiday for us. And best of all, we had our Hannah with us. And it's our last Thanksgiving in Naples. YIPPEE!!! Now there are two things for which we are very thankful!

Pasta anyone?

Portia...this one's for you!

Portia, on her blog has tagged me to write 7 weird or random facts about myself. When I read this I immediately panicked because quite frankly the pressure to think of 7 random facts about myself was difficult. I realize I must be the most ordinary person on the planet (maybe that should be my first random fact). Or maybe I'm so incredibly random and weird that I don't even know it. So after a few days of brainstorming (in between life with 3 kids) this is what I came up with:

1) My bedroom is always a disaster zone. It always has been and probably always will be. I never put away clothes and my bedroom is my catch all for everything that does not have a ‘place.’ My bedroom door will forever remain closed when I have company.

2) Which leads me to my next fact…my next house will be purchased based upon the size of the closets. I hate, hate, hate not having big closets and places to put my junk. It might be my dream house, but no walk-in closets, no deal.

3) I’m not admitting my age, but I can remember when my mom got our first microwave, our first VHS player, and even more shocking…I can remember owning and playing 8-track tapes!! As for the presidential election....I remember when Jimmy Carter was elected. Geez, I’m getting old.

4) As far as I’m concerned, chocolate is a food group. No seriously, I will wilt away and die without chocolate.

5) I do not have an athletic bone in my body. I am not a sports fan. But I do love watching Alex play sports. I love cheering him on from the sidelines. I love it when he wins and feel his disappointment when he loses. I’m his #1 fan (well, Matt might be his #1 fan, but I run a close number 2).

6) I lived in the same house until I was 16 years old and then we moved to another house 5 miles away. I went to the same high school that both my mom & dad attended. I graduated with 47 people in my high school class. Nearly all of them I knew since kindergarten. Needless to say, I grew up in small town America (in Oklahoma).

7) I love cowboys. My wonderful husband (who I love with all my heart) is NOT a cowboy. Go figure.

Ok, so part of the rules state that I am suppose to 'tag' 7 of my friends. Honestly, I don't think I have 7 friends that will participate. I'm also suppose to link their blog to my blog and I have no idea how to do that. But at least tonight I can sleep without trying to think of anymore random or weird facts about myself. I can move on. Task completed.

Trick or Treat...Hannah's first & Alex's last????

I have always loved Halloween. I remember my Grandad taking me and my cousin trick or treating. I remember my Granny making some of my Halloween costumes. I remember the house across the street had lots of dogs and two really, really old people that lived in it. They gave us a dime instead of candy and we thought that was so strange and creepy, but we went back every year. And I remember the candy. Lots and lots of candy. Usually only a few really good pieces of candy, but that made the whole night worthwhile. For me it was, and still is, all about the candy!! I wonder what my kids will remember about Halloween?

I bought Hannah a really cute little ladybug costume. I thought the ladybug costume was a cute idea given the symbolic meaning of ladybugs and Chinese adoptions. She obviously is not aware of the meaning of ladybugs and she certainly did not find anything cute about the outfit as she would have absolutely no part of it!! She did not like the feel of the costume (she has texture issues, but that's a different post) and she was absolutely NOT going to wear the costume without fits of rage. I even laid it out on the floor so she could just play with it...she would walk clear across the room to avoid it! It was so funny to watch how determined she was to not go near that strange feeling outfit!!! But fortunately, I had a back up...I had bought a little pumpkin sweatsuit this summer when I was in Oklahoma. So instead she wore it and was warm and comfy and didn't suffer any long term damage from my attempts at getting her to wear the ladybug costume. She had not been able to wear the pumpkin sweatsuit before Halloween night because it has been so incredibly warm here in Naples. We didn't take her trick or treating, but instead she stayed outside with me and and Matt while we passed out candy (we have to stand outside our building to pass out the candy and you cannot begin to imagine how many kids there are on this base). I thought she would be scared of everything, but she wasn't at all. Even the big scary costumes didn't scare her. She got to eat her fair share of candy while we were outside and she enjoyed that as much as us dragging her from house to house, holding her bag for her, and saying trick or treat for her. Next year she will have a better understanding of the tradition and I'm sure she will charge full speed ahead for her portion of the candy!


Alex was a hippie this year. In addition to the annual trick or treating, he also went to a haunted house here on base. Afterwards he came home and said, "I think I'm either getting too old or the haunted house was just crap this year, because nothing scared me." I laughed and agreed that he might just be getting too old. After all, he is bigger than most of the dads passing out the candy! He loves getting the candy, but after this year he may just have to go to the store and buy his own. I remember Alex's first year of trick or treating. He was Winnie the Pooh. Then the following year he was Barney. Now here he is getting too old for trick or treating or attempts to make him scream in terror. Geez, the time goes quickly.

Tara and her two best friends dressed up in the Chinese dresses I bought in China. Tara would go around telling people she was going to be a Chinese person for Halloween. Fortunately, everyone knows our family and knows the appropriateness of her wanting to be a Chinese person...she thinks she is too old to be a Chinese princess so instead she was just a Chinese person. I told her maybe someday Hannah could dress up as a Caucasian person. Not sure how that will go over??? Anyway, they did look pretty with all three of them dressed the same. Tara must still have a few Halloween years in her...she was still too scared to even go in the haunted house (even with her dad)!

So the last few days have been candy-filled. Hannah officially loves candy. She loves M&M's, suckers, well, pretty much anything the kids give her. They have quickly learned they can't eat candy in front of her or they have to share!

No alarm clock needed

Obviously, Hannah didn't get the memo about the time change last night in Europe. She was up bright and early at 6 a.m., which because of the time change was really 5 a.m. That makes for one LONG morning. We have all had very long talks with her today about sleeping a little later. She just looks at us all like we are crazy. And quite frankly, if she continues waking up at 5 a.m. I will officially go crazy!!

Europe has ruined my children...

My kids HATE to travel. After nearly six years in Europe, they have absolutely no interest in seeing castles, churches, monuments, museums, or towers. They are finished with touring and want nothing more than movie theaters, American shopping malls, swimming pools and maybe an occasional amusement park. But when family comes to visit, a little traveling is necessary. My mom and Dennis were here last week and we decided to take a trip to Tuscany. I had to prepare Alex & Tara WEEKS IN ADVANCE of our travel plans. We were only gone 4 days and 3 nights, but Alex simply could not understand why we would waste a perfectly good three day weekend to go to Tuscany!! (it was Columbus Day weekend so they were out of school) Plus we were going back to Pisa, a place they had already been....imagine the horror!!! Alex secretly begged my mom to tell me that SHE didn't really want to tour on the last day, but that instead SHE was ready to come back to Naples. He just knew that if GeeGee didn't want to stay that I would leave early. He said, "Come on GeeGee, take one for your grandkids." GeeGee has a soft spot for her grandkids, but I won out and we finished our touring. We went to Florence, Pisa, Volterra, Pienza and Montepulciano (small towns in Tuscany). It was a weekend full of sightseeing, Italian shopping, pasta and wine. Our kids worst nightmare, but somehow they survived.



The Leaning Tower of Pisa



Just like her big brother and sister, Hannah wasn't excited about seeing a tower that leans.




I don't know who is grumpier...Hannah or her dad.




Alex wanted to take the picture rather than be in it.

Long gone the lazy days of summer....

Yes, the lazy days of summer are long gone, even though the weather still feels like summer here in Naples. We are full force into fall activities and the craziness of busy schedules: Alex has football practice twice a week and he has had 2 football games (1-1). He also attends a Christian youth organization called Club Beyond. He has lots of homework and we are anxious to see if his straight A's continue in 7th grade. Tara does cheerleading twice a week and gymnastics once a week. She has cheered at a high school football game and a community event in the past few weeks. Matt is taking his FINAL TWO CLASSES to complete his Bachelor's degree. He works 60+ hours a week and taking these 2 classes is going to be a heavy load, so he is counting down the days until Dec. 14 when he is finished. I am staying busy with my Bible study group (PWOC). I am on the Board for the organization, so I have lots of added responsibilities besides just keeping up with my Bible study. PWOC has been my lifeline while here in Naples. Hannah just spends her days charming us all and making us laugh. Her personality is so sweet and she is really becoming quite the social butterfly...when it suits her. She certainly has a way of getting her wants and needs across. She is starting to say a few words...baby, bye bye, and our favorite of all...STOP. How appropriate that one of her first words would be 'stop'...you can tell she has 2 older siblings that love to pester and annoy her.

I'm posting some pictures of our cute little pumpkin.

3 months later....

Hannah is such a sweet baby and has adjusted into our family amazingly well. She is adored by her big brother and sister (and her mom and dad) and has accepted her role as the baby of the family. She spends half of her time either upside down or being twirled, tickled or otherwise engaged in some sort of move to get her to laugh. She is well known by all the kids in the neighborhood and everywhere we go she hears "Hi, Hannah!!!" followed by someone wanting to hold her. She certainly isn't lacking for any attention!

Hannah LOVES:
*the park and going down the slide...she climbs, runs and plays...

*shoes and going bye bye

*Sesame Street....yeah!!

*french fries and apple juice (go figure)

*her thumb!!!

She squeals and runs to her daddy when he walks in the door at the end of his work day, but she is incredibly attached to her mommy. She goes to the church nursery one day a week while I go to a Bible study and she cries when I leave her, but she soon stops. She immediately runs to me when I go to get her and is very happy to see me. The nursery workers all rave that she is such a sweet baby.

She is doing all the things an 18 month old baby should be doing, except maybe talking, which we know will come in time. She definitely understands everything we say to her. We stopped giving her a bottle and she has a mouth full of teeth so she can eat just about anything. She sleeps through the night, but still doesn't take long naps (boo hoo!). Some days she still takes 2 naps, but I'm working on getting her to just one long (hopefully) nap.

She hasn't gained much weight, but we think that is because she started walking immediately after we got her, so she is a baby on the move! She "donated" 5 viles of her blood to be tested for any medical concerns (that was NOT a fun day!) and has since received an absolute clean bill of health from the doctor. We are having to catch up on all her immunizations, so she will be getting lots of shots in the coming months, but she should be caught up by the time she is two years old.

People often say to us that Hannah is a lucky little girl. We believe we are, in fact, the lucky ones. We feel like we have won the parent lottery. She is a loving, happy little girl. She is full of life and laughter. There is no sadness, no grief, no signs of a painful beginning to life. She trusts us and has bonded with us completely and totally. We know that she is a true gift from God. There is not a day goes by that we don't thank God for her. We are so incredibly blessed to have her and to be her parents.

Too tired to care

Apparently, Hannah wasn't enjoying our lunch conversation.

I'm guilty

I admit it, I'm one of those bad, bad mommies that uses TV as a babysitter. But before you call in the child psychologists to repair the damage or put me on the Dr. Phil show, let me explain...

I am not a big TV watcher. My TV is rarely, if ever, on during the day. I have nothing against TV, I just don't watch it much. I can't stand the noise, so unless I'm actually sitting watching something, the TV is off. But I admit I have been actively promoting Sesame Street to Hannah. Not because I have strong feelings towards the show and it's "educational content", but because it is on at a convenient time. It comes on at 8 a.m. which is just a few minutes after Alex and Tara leave for school and usually the perfect time for me to either take a shower or get a few things done around the house. So for the past several weeks when Sesame Street comes on I get all excited and make a big deal of it and dance and sing along with the show. Well, for 2 weeks Hannah has had absolutely no part of it. She looks at the TV, looks at me, and off she goes to find her next potential disaster point. She couldn't care less about Big Bird, the Grouch, or Elmo. But I guess the power of marketing and persuasion finally got the best of her. Today, she actually sat through the entire show!!!! Do you realize that is 60 total minutes of uninterrupted ME time! It was amazing. So amazing that I had to keep walking in the living room every 30 seconds wondering what she was doing. I was sure she was not really watching TV. But for 60 whole minutes she sat there, sucking her thumb, holding her blanket and behaved like American children all over the country. She was glued to the TV. But it was Sesame Street, so don't stone me, ok? And I promptly turned it off at 9:00 and played with her. So have I traumatized her for life? Will she have to go on Oprah someday and talk about her horrible childhood of watching Sesame Street while her mom showered and put on make up? Somehow, I think she will survive.

Scars from the battlefield...i.e. the skatepark

Alex has become quite the skateboarding enthusiast. I'm not overly thrilled with the sport as I know we are likely to spend some time in the E.R. because of some attempt to nail the quarter pike (or something along those lines). Thankfully, Alex's first battlefield scar didn't result in any broken bones, but he did get literally knocked unconscious and had a bump the size of a golf ball on his eye. Now it has turned a rather nice shade of blue, black and purple. Once he regained consciousness and realized he was going to live, he could hardly wait to go back outside (minus the skateboard) to show off his battle scars. Over a week later the bruise remains, all in time for school pictures tomorrow.

Oh, and for the record, Alex wanted me to take these pictures. After all, they serve as great proof for any doubting skaters as to the extent of his injury.

Maybe she is our future Einstein....

Can't you just see the smartness oozing from her?







She really is a smart little girl. Just today, she picked up her dirty diaper and threw it in the trash. See, she knows exactly where it goes. But then again, she attempts to throw everything in the trash!

Why buy toys?

When she prefers to empty out my kitchen utensils at least a bazillion times a day!

Give me a T...give me an A...give me a R...give me another A....

What's that spell?? TARA!!

Tara made the advanced team for cheerleading!

Pump, Pump, Pump it up.

YEAH!! More cheers!!

Maybe she will grow up and be a princess......

or maybe NOT!!!





Mom, can we just stop with the pictures...I'm really getting annoyed.

Hurricane Hannah makes landfall...

In Naples, Italy




I guess a girl needs on shoes to brave the hurricane that hit her room!

Hannah LOVES shoes

I bet I change her shoes at least 10 times a day, per her request...which is something along the lines of her walking up to me holding out a pair of shoes going uuhh, uuhh, uuhh, uuhh, uuhh....then when I sit down to change her shoes she gets sooooo excited!!

You also see that she holds a shoe when she sucks her thumb. Some babies are comforted by blanket or a stuffed animal. Just give Hannah a pair of shoes and her thumb!!!

In one of the pictures Hannah has a scowl on her face and appears to be looking down at something....I had put a band aid on her thumb to see if she would give her poor thumb a break from all the sucking...well, it didn't work. She worked at that band aid until she was able to suck the band aid right off her thumb (and no, she didn't swallow the band aid). Oh well, I thought it might be worth a try. Her poor little thumb is so huge and swollen from her sucking on it with her mouthful of teeth.