To my....

Son,

I wish you could understand just how much I love you! How much it means to me to hear you say "mommy guess what?"....and then follow it with "I love you"!

I can remember when you were first placed in my arms....how i looked at you with such awe. I don't think i could even do justice to describing how scared, happy, anxious, and excited i was all at once.

You looked up at me...blinking to see. Your dad was SOO proud. He stood there with his chest puffed out, and ran out to the waiting room to tell everyone.

That's when he broke down...

they were tears of PURE joy!

You continued to brighten our lives as you grow....from the first "uh-oh", to the first day of school....to last nights antics to get me to read you a THIRD story before bed. :)

My favorite thing about you though...is your pure sense of happiness, and the ability to make others laugh. You get a kick out of watching peoples reactions to the things you do! For example...whenever we get into the elevator you always have a friendly "hi" for everyone...and then proceed to show them your new shoes..or tell them about where we are going. Everyone in the building knows you and seems to look forward to their encounters with you.

Whenever you are not with me, I am asked "where is sammy?"

I love the way you can be gentle with your sister...always wanting to help. The way you play with your toys and have conversations back and forth. How you can giggle at something you think of, and amuse yourself. How you love to be read to every night before bed (has to be by mommy)...and are insistent on that vitamin and glass of water. (Daddy is the only one that can get it for you)

You are my biggest help. You love to help dust, put dishes away, pick up toys, cook, clean up your room, I could go on and on and on! I know as you get older that will change. So I will enjoy it now as much as I can.

Sammy, you are a wonderful son. More than I could have ever imagined or even hoped for. I look forward to waking up to see what you will bring into that day!

Thank you.

Thank you for being the light of my life! Thank you for teaching me something new everyday! Thank you for showing me the world through your eyes!

I love you my sweet, funny, loving boy! Can't wait to celebrate your 4th birthday next week!





Daughter.....

My little sunshine. You are such a happy baby, and you make evryone around you happy as well. You seem to draw people to you no matter where we go.

You adore your big brother and would do anything to be near him and do whatever it is he doing. You have a special smile and giggle that you reserve only for him. He knows it, and he loves to hear it. You seem to be growing so fast! Already you are toddling around. Daddy was so proud to see you go last night. You get braver everyday. i think you just want to keep up with your brother! ;)

I love the way you delight in hearing all the different animal sounds, and giggle with each one! How you stop whatever it is you are doing when you hear mommies phone ringing "who let the dogs out" and you know its daddys ring. I love how you can sing yourself to sleep in the car or when Popo is holding you. There is nothing sweeter to my ears. I love how you grab my face with both hands and give me big wet kisses that leave behind at least a pound of drool on my face. i dont mind. :) I cherish it.

dearest daughter I look forward to holding you close each time it is bedtime for you. how you nuzzle me while nursing always grabbing on to my necklace or pendant and hanging on. Making sure i go nowhere! My favorite part with you though...is when you first wake up.....you immedietly sit up like 'what did i miss?'..and start blowing raspberries and waving hi....if I dont happen to be up at that time you will crawl over and smack my face..flopping backward onto me..until I cant help but gigggle and tickle you back! You are truly priceless. I can't wait to watch you grow. You are the the greatest little girl ever! I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Weekend fun!!!

We had a great weekend!! The weather was great...nice and sunny, but boy did the trade winds blow!!

Saturday we decided to go to the pool downstairs..Sammy is now swimming like a fish (which is amazing considering he used to be petrified of the water)

You may be able to tell by Brads face in the second video...on the second flip...that it wasnt supposed to happen! LOL...The good news is....he didnt even seem to notice! :)

Sammy under water



Here is the flipping one! :)





And then we have Poor Mckayla...who wanted to swim SOOOOO bad! Normally we would let her...she LOVES the water...but she is getting over that nasty hand foot mouth thing....so here she is...:)



Then on Sunday...we decided to do a BBQ at the beach....so we loaded up the grill, playpen, toys, bike, food, and everything else but the kitchen sink...and headed off. *sigh*

WHAT A DAY!!

We played football, baseball, and had a blast!! Got a few pictures of Sammy learning how to hit a ball with his bat...and one of him trying to catch the football! This little man has no fear! :)



(not sure why this one wouldnt upload through blogger.....it's a pic...not a video! LOL





Here I am walking the beach! So pretty out!!







And then when we got home it was BATH TIME! The one of both the kids in the tub was blurred :(...but here is my little princess! :)



Here's to MANY more weekends JUST LIKE THAT! :)

Aloha!

Video's we took last night!

Wanted to capture that little voice of his! He is growing So fast!

Unless you want a laugh...PLEASE ignore the hokey pokey one! :) *blushes*


Sammy singing Baa baa black sheep! *sigh* I love his voice! heheheheh




Mommy and Sammy doing the Hokey Pokey!





All is well here.....weather is beautiful....McKayla is better!......and I got some MUCH needed rest last night!

P.S Happy Birthday Rhonda!!! :):):)

Aloha!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOODEE!!!

Good Luck....and hope you are having a WONDERFUL time in VEGAS!!!

Pull a slot for me! :)

*lucky dust...lucky dust...lucky dust*

Happy, happy, happy birthday and to many more!

I love you!

Mckayla is WALKING!!!

OMgoodness!!! She actually started taking 1 or 2 steps about a week ago....but now she is taking actual STEPS!


wait a minute....



stop the presses....



doesn't that mean she is getting bigger??






Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! *sigh*

Oh well! I am so proud of her!

*can't you tell?*

So now I have a TODDLER!!

eek!

Hand, foot and WHAT?!?!?

Good Morning World.....and Hello another interesting day!

Well, my daughter has decided she wants to see how far mommy can stretch herself. I think she is going to be one of those "motivational" speaker/people......ha .. ha. Like at boot camp....that push you to your limits.

*rolls her eyes*

You see, she caught hand, foot and mouth disease.

It was going around at Sammy's school a couple of weeks ago......

Sammy never caught it.

McKayla did.

How?!?

One of life's great mysteries! LOL

Anyway...my poor little darling had her mom scared out of her mind. You see.....I have never had the "pleasure" of reading a thermometer that said anything higher that 101.8.

Well this past week and weekend......

I thought she was dying.

I took her temp on Thurs of last week (she had been running a cold since mon) and it registered at 104.6.

104.6?!?!?!?

I don't think I MYSELF have ever had a temp that high.......let alone my baby girl!

So I tried not to panic and called Kaiser. They could see her immedietly. So I took her in and Dr Meyers looked her over.

Yup.....high temp...

Yup.....chest congestion

Yup...dirty ears (small and hairy he called them....not my little GIRLS!! must be after her fathers side LOL)

Yup....sores in the back of her throat.

Yup...energy levels is GONE.

Yup....she is a cling-on (meaning I can't even pee without her on my lap)

and...

Nope...there was nothing that could be done.

He said it was a virus...either flu...or something else. It was going around the island. However...if she wasn't better by Sat....bring her back in.....It could be a bladder infection as well. And they would run a catheter (sp?) and do bloodwork.

Saturday comes.

Temp: 104.3

Call to kaiser. they say "bring her in" We go.

See a different dr. He reviews everything. looks in her throat. Asks me questions about her appetite, energy, and sleep.

All of which are non-exsistant at this point. (sleep the most)

He says "It's hand, foot and mouth.....but what is weird is normally kids dont get it until they are 1"

Good news: No blood work...and no catheter.

My daughter.....

*shakes her head*

So here we are.....Monday.

tired.

worn.

sapped.

getting by.

But she is doing MUCH better!!!

Temp is gone. (Thank God!!)

I had to piggy back meds....4ml of motrin....2 hours later, tylenol....2 hours later motrin...etc.....

It seems to be working.

My daughter is slowly becoming her old self again!



Other than that......Brad is well....Sammy is well....

The Steeler's are on tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is getting better! :)

CONGRATULATIONS TO KATIE ANN.......

YAY!! My cousin Katie e-mailed me to call her...I knew it had to be something important....we always keep in touch through email and a call now and then...for important things....


Well.....


I would say this was IMPORTANT!


She is GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!

AND..........

Her brother Daniel is ALSO engaged! (within weeks! :) )

Sooooooo..................

We have a wedding in July.... (7-7-07 to be exact) for Danny's...

and....

Sept 22 07 for Katie's!!!!!

HUGE CONGRATS TO 2 OF THE GREATEST COUSINS!!!

P.S Thanks Katie for asking and allowing me to be a part to your wedding! I would be truly HONORED!

5 years later....

Wow....I can't believe it's been 5 years since the attacks on the trade centers, and on America.

I know it is a day that I will NEVER forget.

I was living in Virginia...working near D.C.

Started out with me at work at Pullen Moving Co. I was a move coordinator for government contracts overseas.

I was sitting there, surfing the internet...planning my wedding that was 3 months away.

I had my radio playing 97.1 .....I heard about the 1 st attack and thought..."what is going on? How could that pilot NOT see the tower?"

My phone rings...it is my friend Leigh...we chat a bit. I go to MSNBC.com and watch the breaking news.

My mom calls. We talk about how weird it is.....another plane hits.

My mom says not to worry. We are safe. we talk some more. I say "mom....be careful...please.."

Her response (and Ill never forget it) " Oh kristi....I am in the pentagon...I don't think there is a safer place you CAN be"

"I know mom...but you never know...."

"I know dear....I'm safe don't worry...I love you"

"Love you too mom"

We hang up.

Another friend calls.....I am chatting with this freind when a co-worker runs into my office...."emergency call on line 1 for you kristi"

I answer....

It's Brad. Crying..HYSTERICAL......"A plane just hit the pentagon" he yells in my ear

"huh?" my stomach hits the floor and I almost pass out.

I sit down. "slow down Brad are you o.k?"

"A plane hit the pentagon baby...a plane just crashed into the the pentagon call your mom!!"

I hang up and call my moms line....

nothing.

no ring

no dial tone

no busy signal.

nothing

I try calling Brad back.

Can't get through.

All lines are tied up.

I am freaking out.

I am thinking.......I am getting married in 3 months...and my mom might not be there! ( I know it's a selfish thought...but it was all I could think of at the time...my mom being my best friend, I couldnt IMAGINE going through with it, without her there)

No one knew at this point, that the pentagon had been hit... not the media....... no one....he was working in a hotel right next to the pentagon and saw the plane almost hit them and go into the pentagon.

I run in to my bosses office and literally collapse on the floor. She is like 'whats wrong?' I am crying so hard at this point.

"A plane hit the pentagon" i manage to get out.

She looks at me like I am crazy.

Then they announce it on the radio behind her and she runs to me....holding me and rocking me.

She tells me to settle down, and the whole office congregates into her office to seek comfort among our "family" away from family.

An hour later my step dad Cody shows up to bring me home. He just KNEW to come and get me. I couldnt drive.

We went back to their house. Cody told me over and over not to worry. She was safe.

All we could do was sit and wait. And try not to turn on the news.

Brad showed up 4 hours later. As soon as I saw him...i broke down again.

Still no news from my mom.

He told me of how he was standing there talking to his friends when they looked out of the window and saw a plane heading straight for them. They threw themselves to the floor, as the plane rushed right over them.shaking the building and causing a deafining roar. Before it slammed into the side of the pentagon. He immedietly called me.

My mom finally showed up sometime that evening. Only she wasnt the same mom. She seemed ......smaller.

quieter.

different.

She lost friends that day. And I think she lost a part of herself along with it. Her life was forever changed. Our lives were forever changed.

Later I found out....Cody fibbed to protect me....cause the plane DID hit her side of the building (and he knew it) and she was lucky to have made it out alive. She was 2 corridors over as I recall.

I remember looking up into the sky and not seeing or hearing a SINGLE plane. And in D.C near Dulles, Reagan, and BWI...thats saying something. They were all grounded.

So many lives were lost that day.

Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Friends, Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents, sons and daughters.............

One thing this tragedy did though....was UNITE us.....the way we should AlWAYS be. It made us go home and hug our kids a little tighter. Talk a little more. Help someone you didnt know. Do something out of the oridinary. Snuggle on that couch with your loved one instead of watching primetime t.v.. It made us VALUE our life.

D.C was changed for about 3 days after that. People let you in, in traffic. People didn't honk their horns and flip you off. You said hello to everyone with eye contact. Crime went down. Lives were cherished.

I won't forget the hero's that died that day. EVER.

My question....Why did it take something so tragic to bring us together.....and why is it SO hard to keep us that way?

5 years later....are we united?

My Super Sam!!! :)



I love my SSSSSSSSSuper Sam! He can do ANYTHING! :)

I love this little guy! *sigh* :) :) :)

Happy Birthday Brad!!

Well, it's my honey's birthday today!

The big 3-4.

Wow!

hehehe Time sure is flying!! He is the greatest husband, dad, uncle and friend all rolled into one! How lucky am I?????

So baby,

Happy Birthday!!

And here's to MANY more!

I love you!

Look what I can do.......




Mom can't even do this!!! Check it out~~




Am I talented or what? LOL