Terry Christmas

 

We held Christmas with my mom's family on New Year's Day. It got rescheduled because of... you guessed it... inclement weather (good, old Iowa!). We held it at the church building by my grandma and grandpa's in Cedar Falls. My grandma had just gotten out of the hospital a few days earlier and we were so grateful to have her there. It was nice being at the church, the kids even got to enjoy shooting some hoops. As always, the food was delicious and it was great to see everyone. David had to leave early the next morning so we didn't stay too long. He flew out Friday, Jan. 2nd- right before my birthday! Oh, well. Do we "celebrate" turning 30 anyway?

Christmas Celebrations

It was so exciting to have all of my family home for Christmas. One of my favorite highlights is having Christmas Eve dinner at my aunt Deanne's. They make an awesome prime rib dinner, complete with sauteed shrimp and stuffed mushrooms- my favorite! Unfortunately, Malia got sick Christmas Eve morning- 104 degree temperature and puking! The Hayes were nice enough to box up food for us and my little family sat at home dodging the well aiming Malia. She was still sick the next morning. We all gathered at the house for presents and my mom's yummy brunch. We wanted to head over to my dad's that night to see extended family, but didn't want to risk Malia getting sick again or sharing her illness. Needless to say, no pictures from actual Christmas. Although it was so sad to see my little girl so sick, I was so grateful to have David with me. It is so much easier deal with a sick baby when you can share it!

Papa Time!

Malia loved, loved, loved having her papa home! They were best of buds. He was great at hooking her up with the candy her mean mommy denies her. They also enjoyed napping, shopping, and watching movies together. I loved seeing them together and enjoyed some much needed "me time"!

Christmas at My Dad's

 

We almost didn't get to have David come in on the Friday that he was supposed to. There was a huge storm and the airline cancelled his flight. They told me that he wouldn't even be able to fly out until Sunday. I was SO sad! The Army went ahead and sent them on the buses to Oklahoma City and said they would do there best to get them on a flight and they did! He only came in six hours later than he was supposed to, way better than 3 days! My brother and his little family were trying to drive to Iowa from Utah and were also slowed down by the weather. Barring the inclement weather, we were still able to get together at my Dad's the Friday before Christmas. It was so great to have my husband and both my siblings and their families together. We did presents that night. Malia got some great, fun presents from Grandma and Grandpa. David and I got a beautiful portrait of Malia. The next morning Grandpa got up and made pancakes. It was lots of fun. Too bad I didn't notice until later that I had a smudge on my camera lens, thus the blurriness at the bottom of each picture. It was great being together as a family.

Sweet Homecoming!

Yipee!! David got to come home for two weeks at Christmas. This was at the airport in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Malia was super excited to see her papa. She was a bit shy at first and then remembered that her papa was her best advocate for getting her what she wants! I just bawled when I saw him. I would love to blame it entirely on the pregnancy hormones, but I just missed my man! It was so good to have him home. It surprised me how great people were to a man in uniform. Random strangers would just come up to him and thank him for his service. One man even bought our meal! It reaffirmed my faith in the American people and made me extremely proud to have my husband serving. It was so good to have him home.

Thanksgiving 2008

 

This was our Thanksgiving. Better late than never, right? We got together with my mom's side of the family and met at the church building in Dubuque. In attendance: Yount Family (mom and Chris), Hanselmann Family (Britt's Family), my Grandpa and Grandma Terry, Terry Family (my uncle Rex and his family from Omaha), Pieper Family (Aunt Susanne), Frisbie Family (Aunt Lorianne), Hayes Family (Aunt Deanne minus my cousin Alyssa), and the Russell Family (my grandma's cousin, including her Aunt Leola). There were about 50+ people. Glad we were at the church, plenty of room. Food was great and it was good to spend time with everyone. Especially since it was my first Thanksgiving without David. I only got to talk to him for a little bit that day. He was still at Basic Traning at the time and they were keeping them busy. It was a good Thanksgiving. We all had so much to be grateful for!

Malia Moments

Haven't been too good at bringing the camera around as of late, but here are a few pics I got with my camera phone-



Here is Malia at Thanksgiving with her little pumpkin. She loved it and tried very hard to bite into it!



Here she is all dressed and ready to go. For some reason when I told her to smile, she kept folding her arms. Who knows?



On Sunday mornings I try to take a picture of her all dressed up for church to send to David since that is when he USUALLY gets to have his phone.



Here she is "reading" the Friend. I've gotten her to follow lots of my habits of reading all the time- before bed, at the dinner table. If we are eating and I am reading the newspaper, she insists I give her something to read. Not necessarily a good habit, I know.



Another Sunday outfit.

Here are a few of Malia's sayings as of late:

- She loves to take baths. Although, she pronounces it as Fath. So at dinner the other night when she was done eating, she asked if she could take a "fath". I said to her, "It's BATH. It starts with a B." and sounded it out. She then tells me she wants to take a Buh-FATH!

- At church last week a little girl was trying to say hello to Malia and Mali was refusing. I said to the little girl, "Sorry, she's got attitude". Malia looked at me and said, "No, mama got 'tude!"

-She is fascinated by all of the Christmas trees and lights up. Although, her Christmas is spelled with a "P". She points out every single "ChriPus tree" to me.

-In Spanish, to ask for help you say "ayudame" (not sure on the spelling). Malia asks for help all the time, so I tried to get her to say it in Spanish also. The result? "A-Help-A-Me"!

-She loves to go shopping. Yesterday when we got into the car I told her that we were going shopping. I had to stop at the high school to drop off some stuff and she starts yelling, "No mama! No 'cool! Go shopping!!". Obviously she is a little burnt out with joining me for play practice!

There are a million other things the girl says each day that cracks me up. Wouldn't you know the minute you sit down to type them, you forget??

David graduates from basic training on Thursday. Given limited funds, proximity of the play, and the prospect of driving 12 hours being 6 months pregnant and toting along a 2 year old in possible inclement weather, I will not be able to make it to his graduation. It makes me super sad, because I am SOOOOO very proud of him. Fortunately he will be home soon- 17 Days!!!

I actually took "real" pictures at Thanksgiving, so when I have some time (um...okay), I will post them. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I hear what sounds like Malia opening my newly purchased pack of gum. I am quite sure I am soon to find each individual piece opened. Being as she just toddled in here smelling of pomegranate with a fistful of gum, I best be off! Isn't it fun??