GIVE AWAY CONTEST IS HERE! modified

Kayla turned 6 months old yesterday for us! (Today for you)In celebration of my readers sticking by me though so much from our days of trying to create a baby, to loosing our 2 angel babies, through the adoption of Kayla and up until this very day, I'm holding a contest! This contest is for everyone and anyone who reads my blog. Family, friends, stranger, long time readers, new readers. If your reading this you can enter.

Here is what Im giving away. It's totally free to you. I will pay shipping. Just follow my contest rules below.

Guam souvenirs, a purse, dried mangoes, cool water scented soap, and a orange scented Guam candle.





***RULES***

Im giving you each 4, FOUR, chances to enter into this contest.

***First entry*** Send me a comment just simply saying hello if I know you already. If I dont know you already, send me a comment introducing yourself.
Also I need a way to contact you should you win this give away so I can get your mailing address.

***SECOND ENTRY*** Send me an additional comment on a topic you want me to blog about. Or tell me what I need to blog less about or more about.

***THIRD ENTRY***Send me an additional comment to give me an idea of something Kayla and I do can while Nick is on deployment to keep us busy. If I like your idea, I will add it to my Deployment Resolutions list that is on the right hand side of my blog.

***FOURTH ENTRY*** Enter an additional comment and let me know you linked my blog to yours.

It's that simple. You get 4 chances to enter.

The contest will go until Feb 1st. Feb 1st because this is the day 6 months ago Kayla was released from the hospital into our arms forever. It was a day that we will never ever forget.

The evening of Feb 1st (morning of Feb 2 my time) I will enter you all into random.org and randomly pick a winner. I will take a picture of the computer screen with the random winner and post it here for all to see.

Alright......Have Fun!!!!!

video

Thanks everyone for the wonderful compliments on my beach pictures from yesterday. Today wont be as much fun. I have my 2nd dentist appointment at 11 AM to get my tooth re-filled.
Then Im off to the bakery to buy some cupcakes for Kayla's half birthday today. And then off to buy cat food.
Kayla....6 months old today. I cant believe it. When she was freshly born I would wonder what she would look like at 6 months. I would wonder what her smile and laugh would be like. (see video below for proof of that smile and laugh) I would wonder what she would eat, what she would like and dislike, would she be sitting, or crawling or teething, or talking?
I would wonder what it would be like to have a 6 month old baby. She is such a joy and a delight all the time. She is not a hard baby. She makes me want 10 more babies. Only if they are all as relaxed, calm and happy like she is.
I couldn't imagine life without her. We are so in love with this baby girl. She completes us. She makes us whole. She is perfect for us.
Happy 6 month baby girl!

This video is from a week ago. Please ignore my voice. I hate how I sound recorded.


Stay tuned for tomorrow. Yes, it's the 30th here and Kayla's 6 months old, but I am a day ahead of you all. So tomorrow is when my give away contest will begin. Be sure to join the fun and have a change to win free items from me!

While Daddy's at work for the day, the girls will play.

Kayla and I went to the beach today. Not for long. It was too hot. I didnt take sunscreen and she was sweating. Just long enough for fresh air, pictures/videos and coral/shell/sea glass collecting along with a little walk.

I took a ton of pictures. It was hard to limit the amount to put on here for your viewing pleasure. Click the picture to enlarge it.
Videos to come soon. They are taking forever to upload.

Don't forget to check back for my contest give away in celebration of Kayla's 6 month birthday on the 30th!

*A few things to mention...

*I got my book in the mail yesterday! It looks so stinkin cool!




*Kayla and I spent sometime at the mall. I bought some lunch. A plate of local food which includes a BBQ chicken stick. She sat on my lap while I ate at the mall. And she tasted my chicken. And she loved it. However, I just cant bring myself to start giving her baby food meats yet. Why is this? I have 2 jars of chicken and broccoli and 1 jar of chicken and gravy and yet, Im not ready to give them to her yet. Why? What age was your baby when you gave him/her meats?

*The dentist went well. I was there for almost 2 hours after Xrays, cleaning, and discussion with the Doctor. It's been 2 years since Ive seen a dentist!
What it all came down to 1) I go back on Friday for a re-filling. 2) I got a referral to an orthodontist for BRACES. Yikes! 3) I might need my wisdom teeth taken out in order to get the braces. YYYYYYYIIIIIKKKES! This scares me more than the braces because Nick's wisdom teeth removal went anything BUT smoothly. So, I will be making an appointment for my consultation for BRACES. Yikes! I've considered braces for years. Literally YEARS. But never brought it up since no dentist ever brought it up. Until yesterday when the dentist asked me if I have ever considered braces. My exact words to her were, "Heck yeah!"

*While I was at the dentist, my friend Linda watched Kayla. They had a blast. Linda said Kayla was the first baby she ever watched that was so happy. My girl is such a good girl. I didn't doubt that she wouldn't cry...I just worried a little. Like a hair. OK, maybe like 10 hairs, but at least I didn't cry and I didn't want to call every 10 minutes. On the way home I stopped at a BBQ stand at the side of the road to pick up lunch for Linda and I. I wanted lumpia but they didn't have it. So I will be making it again this weekend. But I did end up getting us BBQ chicken sticks, rice and pansit!

*Today I get make Kayla's 6 month well baby appointment.

*Saturday we are getting our family pictures taken!!!

*Yesterday our neighbor across the street from us come over with a basket of fresh picked bananas from his banana tree in the back yard. Not fair. Why didnt we get a house with a banana tree in the back yard? Oh wait....we did. Except that Nick and our next door neighbor cut the dang tree down after we first moved in. Grrr. I ate a banana right after dinner. There is no explaining how a fresh picked banana tastes. Its so soft, so flavorful and so fresh and clean. It went down just like ice cream.

Nick says there are banana trees all over the area of jungle where he works. He shouldn't have told me that. Because now, he's going to have to drive me there so we can go banana hunting. I'm not kidding.

*Yesterday, I colored my hair black. At first I thought, oh my god, what did I do? Then after a while I liked it. Nick come home and said Oh my god its dark but I like it. Its not really black black, just black. I'm hoping it fades a little before we get our pictures done. But I think I'm going to stick to this color. My roots wont show as much.

*Today Im going to search to see if I can find Nick's Valentine's Day gift. I have something in mind. :0)

*Please dont forget to check back here for my Give Away Today contest happening real soon!!!!! I will have FREE items you can win in celebration of Kayla's first half Birthday. ANYONE can enter. Family, Friends, Strangers...I will have rules of this contest and pictures of the items up within the next day or so.

Just pictures

This morning is my dentist appointment. I'm excited to go and get my teeth cleaned, professionally. Its been 2 years. Last time I was there getting my teeth cleaned...I was still bleeding from miscarriage number 1.
But SHE....
was all worth it. :0)
Here SHE is 2 days ago in the back yard after her bath.

Mel's Show and Tell

Go on over to Mel's show and tell here:
http://stirrup-queens.blogspot.com/

This week for my show and tell...
A little weird fact about me...
I like to walk through really old grave yards and read the tombstones. I like to read the names and the years people were born and died. Dont ask my why. I just think it's neat that a part of history is right below my feet. I wonder what this person looked like, what they been through in their life, what life was like back in the late 17 and 1800's to early 1900's.
For our 5th wedding anniversary, Aug 2007, Nick and I visited with his parents for a few days where I learned my mother in law enjoys this same weird thing too.
Here we are.

Golf ball size Egg and a picture

On my, last night I swear my right side Ovary ovulated a freaking golf ball size egg. I was so sore. If only I had some swimmers to catch that dang thing.....I sooooooooo would do it! Yes, I have an almost 6 month old baby, but I would still do it in a heartbeat. Call me crazy. I know.

Here is a picture of us last night.


Also, dont forget my Give Away Today contest I will be holding on the 30th. Im going shopping for the giving away(s) today!

My book and My hubby!

My wonderful friend Tammy ordered one of my books. She got hers in the mail and I'm still waiting on mine. Seeing her blog makes me want my book even more. I guess I should have it any day now! But in the mean time, check out her blog and review of my book here:
http://twondra.blogspot.com/

My great hubby of a man got a new medal! Check out the pictures. Click them to enlarge. He earned this medal quite some time ago, but is just now receiving it.
It's the Air Force Commendation Medal.





Oh and...I have a revised About Me section to the right hand side of my blog. Check it out.

Also check out my recipie blog! I will be posting pictures and recipe for my Shanghai Lumpia I made last night for dinner!!

I been tagged...and videos

by http://ifyoulivedhereidknowyourname.blogspot.com/

So here goes!
The Next Four Years

What do you imagine for your life, personally, in the next four years? Where do you hope to live, what will you be doing? Dogs? Spouses? Jobs? Personal or finacial goals?

1) I will have a 4 year old daughter!
2) No dogs, thank you very much. I'm a cat person. And by then my furbabies will be 11 years old and 8 years old. Thats depressing. I cant imagine life without them in my home.
3)Hopefully we will be living in Germany or Italy if all goes the way we planned and Kayla will be in pre-school.
4) I will be a stronger more experienced military wife- if thats possible. By then, Nick will have been on at least 2 more deployments as long as he keeps going every 2 years.


My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Also.....
So, THIS is the man I married? Oh, man.
Sorry, just had to. Couldnt resist.

2nd post of the day..

So whoever bought one of my books from here:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/371228/b393c30285e7828a448404d1788284f8
Please come out of hiding and let me know. I would love to know who is interested in my life enough to want to buy a book....besides my great pal Tammy from here:
http://twondra.blogspot.com/

Please? Let me know.

Also,
I've decided on Jan 30th...Kayla's 6 month Birthday. I will be doing a free give-away day. Meaning, you post a comment, I put everyone into Random.org to pick a winner, and I will mail you said gift. Because it is Kayla's 6 month birthday, and so many people helped us bring her home. So be sure to come back on Jan 30th!

And, check out my Ebay item for sale...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120367337472&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2Fitems%2F%3F_nkw%3D120367337472%26_in_kw%3D1%26_ex_kw%3D%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_okw%3D120367337472%26_oexkw%3D%26_udlo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_sabdlo%3D%26_sabdhi%3D%26_samilow%3D%26_samihi%3D%26_ftrt%3D901%26_ftrv%3D1%26_sadis%3D200%26_fpos%3D%26_fsct%3D%26LH_SALE_CURRENCY%3D0%26_sop%3D12%26_dmd%3D1%26_ipg%3D50%26_fvi%3D1

Creative-ness

Today is Kayla's WIC appointment. If they take her measurments I will report back. Im hoping they will.

Yesterday I got a little creative and I made this onesie for Kayla, with the help of Tina's (http://tina-sweetpeasplace.blogspot.com/) hair clips. The section of ribbon the clip is attached to, is not glued down so I can remove and add any clip that I want. I think it turned out pretty neat. Here is the picture.

I havent tried it on her yet, afraid of getting slobber all over it but if it fits good, I plan on having her wear this onesie for our photoshoot coming up. On the 31st, 1 day after Kayla's 6 month birthday we are getting our pictures taken on the beach by Jamie. (http://www.photosbyjamieeaves.com/) We will get about 150 pictures on a CD. My plan is for Nick and I to wear white shirt and Kahki shorts and Kayla to be in this onesie. Im excited for this photoshoot. It will be bittersweet. It will be our last family photos together until Nick comes home from deployment in November. It will be the last pictures of us 3 together until Kayla is 1.5-ish years old. Our last pictures together while she is still little.

I've had some people ask about how I plan to make a quilt out of Kayla's onesies. I think I mentioned this in the last post? So far I have about 20 onesies I have kept for this project and as she grows I will have more. I will need quite a few since I plan to make this quilt big enough to cover a single size bed so she can use it when she is older. What I plan to do is make it just like the other quilts I have made. Take all the onesies and cut the squares out of them just like I would a piece of fabric. And then sew them all together. And on the back I plan to sew a warm fleece.

But first, I must finish the 2 quilts I started over a year ago. I got 2 rows of squares sewn together yesterday so it's a start!

Oh, and last night while Kayla wasnt sleeping in bed, I was watching her on the baby monitor. And, I think 3 times, ( Not sure, I was tired!) I saw her with her legs under her rocking back and forth! Can we say...."She will be crawling any day now!"
And hopefully popping in some teeth. Her snotty nose is going full force!

UPDATED to say- Kaylas measurements were not taken at today's WIC appointment. But we did have a nutrition class for babies 6-12 months old. And I have realized it's tiem to open my wings with Kayla's foods. Im going to start giving her fresh veggies and fruits now. Not just from the jars! Tonight dinner is going to be out. Its Wing Night at the club on base. $.25 per wing! So tomorrow night, fresh carrots!

Many things to mention

I woke up this morning late. So I didn't get to see Obama's inauguration. But I did watch him and his wife walk their way to The White House. It was moving. I had a warm fuzzy feeling from watching a moment in history.

I admit, my vote wasn't for Obama. I know most of my readers will want to say shame on me. You don't have to. I already know.

But watching him, and knowing Kayla will grow up with the knowledge that her race can't, won't and shouldn't stop her from anything her little heart desires is a good feeling. It will be great to tell her that when she was 5.5 months old, Mommy, Daddy and her sat on the couch bright and early in the A.M. in Guam and watched all this unfold.

As much as I was against him winning, now...it's not so bad. I just hope he does a good job.

And that is ALL Im going to say about that.

Over the long weekend, Roo did this..



And we tried to go out and take some nice pictures but the rain clouds got in the way and the only picture we got was this....before the rain poured on us.


Also over the long weekend Nick took out broken kitchen table back to exchange it for a non-broken table without success. He was told every table they had in stock was broken and he was the 6th person to return a broken one. So we have NO table and it really stinks.

So I am quilting at the kitchen counter, standing. And it sucks. But I am motivated to get back into making quilts. I have 2 quilts that I started over a year ago. I just have the squares cut out for them. Both made from Nick's old uniforms. One a desert camo and other his BDU's. After I finish these, I plan to make a quilt out of all Kayla's onesies that she has outgrown.
Yesterday I hot glued the patches on the squares and got 1 row of squares sewn together. Today's goal is to get more rows sewn together.


Also today's goal is to skip our daily walk and take a long nap. Kayla was wide awake from 1-3:30 am. She just layed in her crib and was playing with her binky, her crib bumper, her blankey...and when she is awake Im awake and cant sleep knowing shes awake. She then woke up at 6 and the I took her bed with me where we slept until 7 am. Hence the first sentence of my blog. I woke up this morning late.

Tomorrow is Kayla's WIC appointment. Im hoping the take her weight and height!

Mel's Show and Tell

I have joined Mel's class of Show and Tell. You can visit her and everyone who does show and tell here.
http://stirrup-queens.blogspot.com/

Like Mel, Im going to show and tell some oldies but goodies.
Here is me in 10th grade. After Nick left for the Air Force, I moved on and dated someone else 2 months later to try to forget Nick. (I know, bad move) I went with him to his Sr. prom that summer of 2000. I hated my hair. I was so unhappy with my hair this day. I thought it looked like an old lady's updo hair style.



And here is me, 3 years old in 1987.

Deployment Resolutions..and contest

To the right of my blog I have created a section for Deployment Resolutions. Scroll down to right under the pictures of Kayla to see it. Last night while laying in bed waiting to fall asleep I thought of making a list of resolutions that I will do during Nicks deployment since I dont make New Year's resolutions. Check out my list. Im sure it will change often.

Also, Im looking and researching to do a blog contest give away. Any ideas would be great! I want to create something fun. Something to interest you...all my readers, and I want to try to bring in more readers.

What can the contest be? A short essay about a topic related to my blog? A simple question? A simple 'just say hello'? Require you all to ask me 1 question? Require you all to post my blog link somewhere? What shall the contest rules be?

What can I give away? Some related to my blog? Something unrelated? Would Guam souvenirs be a good away? Candles? Chocolate? A book? A military item such as a yellow ribbon? An Air Force souvenir? A baby item? Something related to adoption? Or TTC? A kitchen item? A beauty aid, such as lotion? Soap?

Should it be a craft item? A few scrapbook pages? A small blanket hand made by myself?

My birthday

So, we didnt get to go out to dinner for my birthday either. But, I did go pick up some take out form Charley's Steakery from the BX and got this birthday card from Nick and Kayla,

And I got this coconut wine made from the water inside the young coconuts from Nick that I been wanting to try...

We also got a package from my dear friend Tammy. I bought a blanket from her to help her raise money to bring her peanut into the world. Go here to check them out.
http://ourpeanuttravels.blogspot.com/ The blanket really is great, its soft and warm and today Kayla, Roo and I took a nap with it on the couch!

Oh, and we got this...



And today, we got these pretty hair pretties from our special friend Tina. You can check out her store here. Her hair accessories are just beautiful.
http://tina-sweetpeasplace.blogspot.com/



And today, I also recieved 3 boxes of girl scout cookies. Those things are the devil.

Thank you everyone who sent me birthday wishes and thought of me. It was great spending my 25th birthday as the wife of brave man and as a MOMMY.

Kayla stands by herself!!

Video from tonight, at only 5 1/2 months old she can stand alone while holding onto the coffee table.

Last night we went to Wing Night at the club here on base. Kayla was standing in my lap just holding onto my fingers. The couple sitting behind us was so impressed and guessed her age to be 10 months!!!! Crazy huh?!

My little munchkin princess.... hehe!

Today is my 25th Birthday!

Last night Kayla got a bath like a big girl for the first time!!!! She loved it. She loved splashing all the water around her. We couldnt get her to look at the camera at all. Oh, and check out her newly painted pink toenails!


Slideshow coming soon. Stay tuned.