9 months old

We had Kayla's 9 month old photoshoot yesterday and the pictures are amazing. Stay tuned! I will be sharing them soon!

Can you believe it? 9 months old?!

Slideshow

These are the pictures that will be played in a slide show at Pappy's viewing.
I made this slide show for myself.

Pappy's obituary

Richard L. "Scoop" O'Neal, Sr.
Richard L. "Scoop" O'Neal, Sr., 66, of Harrisburg, passed away in the presence of his loving family on April 24, 2009 in Harrisburg Hospital.
He was the widower of Linda Lilley O'Neal.
He was a member of the Harrisburg and Steelton Police Departments and retired from the Dauphin County Prison System.
He was a member of the Blue Moon Cruisers and the Capitol City Car Club.
He is survived by his son, Richard and his wife Audrea of Tabernacle, NJ; 3 daughters, Tina Boyer, Michelle and her husband David Walborn, and Lisa O'Neal, all of Harrisburg; 6 grandchildren; and 4 great grandchildren.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 11:00am in the Neill Funeral Home, 3501 Derry Street, Harrisburg with a viewing at the funeral home from 9:00am until the time of service. Burial will follow in Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens, Harrisburg.
Please join us in celebrating our loved one's life by visiting our Memorial at www.mem.com.
www.pennlive.com/obits



I was going to have flowers sent, but after I saw the prices decided against it. I wanted something more meaningful then flowers that will blend in with all the other flowers. I wanted something that would stand out, something that would mean a lot and have a lot of thought and love in it.
Then I saw this..


And I ordered it for my Dad, with Pappy's name, birth date and death date on it. I hope he likes it.

I also signed Pappy's online guest book.

My sister told me that Pappy's final outfit will be a Phillies sweatshirt and jeans. Which very much so fits him. I can see him wearing that forever and more.

Is Dada hiding??

Boring

I wish I could spill ALL the beans on my blog about every detail of my life. But my blog is set to public and I don't know who reads it.

I would love to spill every bean's detail and get advice on a certain topic. A topic that consists of Birth Mama Drama. But I cant.

Anyhow, no life= boring blog. I apologize.

Im still working on quilts. I finished sewing all the squares together of my BDU quilt. The next step would be to sew all the rows of squares together, but I'm putting that on hold so I can sew all the squares into rows of Kayla's quilt.

Yesterday Nick called me. I hadn't heard from him in 2 days prior to that. He was only able to say a few things in fear of the satellite phone failing again. But he did say he was safe and he is stuck at one base for a little bit hauling tools and equipment around to those who need it. The base is actually NOTHING. I mean nothing. They have nothing. What I mean by this is, they are going Number 2 in plastic bags and then burning it to dispose of it. He expects to be there a couple more days. From there I don't know. He said it will probably be a few a days before he can call me.

Above it a picture of Kayla from Sunday. (Yes, she has BBQ sauce on her face) She has become such the little girl from such the little baby. The past few days she has picked up on "Give me five!" And she smacks my hand to give me fives. She is such the little miss independent. And still at almost 9 months old, we cant leave a store without getting compliments on her hair, her eyes, her smile, her perfect skin tone and her good behavior. It reassures me I'm doing a good job.

Sometimes I just sit and watch her play, watch her entertain herself, watch her think, and it breaks my heart that Nick cant see her.

Another Pappy update

I'm very happy to say that I will be included in Pappy's farewell. Even though I haven't seen my family in so many years, they are all thinking of me and including me. We are all putting our differences and pasts' behind us to give Pappy the viewing and funeral that he should have.

My cousin messaged me and asked me to send my Aunt some pictures of Kayla and I so they can be displayed in the slide show of pictures of all the grandchildren and great grandchildren at his funeral. Even though he has never met Kayla, (I don't even know if he knows of Kayla) and even though the last communication I had from him was very hurtful, I'm glad to be included. I wish I could be there to say Goodbye, but then again maybe it's better that I am not there. It's better for me to remember him as I see him from years ago when I was kid. When I would kiss him on the cheek, when he would be sitting in 'his chair' in front of the tv eating his sunflower seeds and smoking a cigarette, when he would take us to breakfast and order me my scrapple and syrup every Saturday morning that I spent with him, when he would drive my step-grandmother and my step-aunt to the mall every Sunday I spent with them, when he would listen to the oldie 50's music in the car that I grew to like, sitting in his baby blue shiny cadilac(sp?). I have many memories of him that are probably better than the memory of him resting in his coffin.

My cousin is also willing to save on obituary for me since Kayla and I will be mentioned in it. Which I so much appreciate.

Im going to have to dig around in my pictures and see what I can find of him and post them here, in his remembrance. So stay tuned.

He's gone, Rest Peacefully Pappy

I woke up to an update from my cousin this morning. Our Pappy is gone. The man we knew as little girls was gone a long time ago, but now he is really gone. Forever. I hoped it wouldn't be hard for him. I hoped he would pass comfortably and it sounds like he did.

She said about 12:30 noon he was taken off of all the stuff and he lasted about 40 minutes. My Aunt stayed with him while my Dad left the room and waited outside of the hospital. According to my Aunt, he took his last breath and it was over. The burial will be on Saturday.

I wish I could make it.



On another more positive note, According to WIC- Kayla weighs in at 19.5 lbs- 95th percentile on the charts and she is 28 inches tall coming in at 75th percentile on the charts, just 5 days shy of 9 months old!

Pappy

I got a message from my cousin this morning. Even though I haven't seen my family in more years than I can even remember, I wish I was there to help them get through this. Even though I don't think it would make this any easier for them.

I'm more sad then I thought I would be about this.

She wrote to me that at 12 east coast time (I don't know weather noon or midnight) the plugs will be pulled from my Pappy. My Aunt is going to try to stay in the room with him. My Dad cant. The doctors said that if he were to come out of the coma that he would be in a total vegetative state and we all know he wouldn't want that. The burial will be on saturday if everything goes right.

Thank you

Thank you kindly everyone for the wonderful comments on my quilting. Yes, Im very excited to see these done, especially Kayla's.

Honestly, I have burried myself in these projects for a reason. Nick has left on another convoy mission yesterday. This time he is away for 2 weeks. I dont know when he will back. I cant sit at the computer waiting for him to sign onto messenger when he wakes up and during his lunch break. I cant wake up up to his emails in the morning. I cant sit here and wonder and wait all day. So the quilting is to keep me from doing this.

I did get a call from him at 2 am this morning. It consisted of a few words beofore the phone went dead. He said he was calling to say he loved me and I asked if he was ok and he said yes, he just missed me. Then it went dead. He called back right away and said I know your sleeping but I had to call. I said it was ok, and then it went dead again.

I got no sleep last night and Kayla had to be up before 5 am. Great.

Oh, another thing. I have to also take a break from this computer because today is 4th day in a row that my right arm has been hurting. From my elbow all down to my wrist. It hurts. Its painful. I dont know what else it could be but the onset of carpel tunnel. I hope Im wrong. I felt it for years but only recently has it been this bad.

Above picture is from yesterday. You cant really see it, but Kayla is wearing a onesie that I made. It says, I Love(heart shape) Mickey (Mickey face.)

3 quilts to make! Oh boy!

So now I have 1 BDU quilt, 1 DCU quilt and Kayla's quilt to make. I am determined to finish all 3 of these before Nick returns home.

Here is Kayla's quilt I am working on now. It sure is different trying to do such a time consuming project as a Mommy. Kayla is great though. She will sit and play for very long periods of time. She will help herself to her room when she desires and lets me know when she is ready for her nap. But the quilting process is taking me much longer than usual. I am on day 3 now and I am ironing all the squares before sewing them together. Pre-Kayla, I would do all the ironing, cutting and ironing again in only 1 day. But this is not a complaint. Just a lovely reminder that I am a Mommy and these things will take longer to accomplish versus before being a Mommy.

Here are a few pictures.

Personality test is right on.

Personality Type Quiz

Shy Personality Type You keep pretty much to yourself, and mostly open-up to those who are really, really close to you—your family and best friends, which also means you’re really trustworthy and loyal. You tend to be quiet and sometimes get embarrassed easily.

Fun quizzes, surveys & blog quizzes by

Our Sunday in pictures

Mama started the day off by collecting Kayla's too small onesies.

Then she cut squares out of them to make a quilt out of them. And Kayla played in the remnants of the onesies.

For lunch Kayla had Lasagna and Apple Berry Salsa.

Mama had broccoli and fish sticks.

And then she made Hawaiian iced tea and orange jello with fruit.

And then Kayla played in more onesie remnants.

Then we tried on some shoes and Mama discovered the shoes that Kayla's birth father got her for Christmas finally fit her!
After this is was soon dinner time. And it was Easter in Russia. So we went to Mama's Russian friend's house for Russian Easter dinner and we had some FABULOUS Russian food! One of which was a chilled soup called Okroshka. Mama and Kayla fell in love with this soup. So Mama is going to try to make it this weekend.
Mama is kicking herself for not taking pictures of this meal.

Change of blog plans again

Well, I was once again going to blog our Sunday in pictures but that has changed.
I wanted to throw out here some bad news and hope that you all can send some thoughts to my family maybe to ease the process.

I was informed yesterday that my Grandfather, aka Pappy (my Dad's Father) is going to pass away very soon.

He had a heart attack after turning down triple bypass surgery, while at a car show over the weekend. He is now in the hospital on life support. At 5 pm Eastern Time my Dad is to decide what to do about pulling plugs. This is in about 30 miuntes. His Will states do not recessitate.(sp?)

My cousin went to see him yesterday, and even though doctors say only a small part of his left brain is working so he cannot understand what is being said, she told him that I was thinking of him.

My cousin and I were very close to him growing up. That changed when I turned about 13 years old.

The last time I had any communication with him was through email a couple years ago. He was very harsh in his words towards me. Words that I wont repeat. I already had an open wound from just having a miscarriage and my husband being in Iraq so it hurt. It hurt a lot because he was saying things without even knowing me. He was always a very stubborn man and he hurt me a lot, but I would never wish this on him. Or anyone else.

Even though the relationship I have with my Father is non-exisant, I wish that this not be heavy on him or my Aunt.

He's back!

This morning I was going to blog about our Sunday in pictures. But I will save that for tomorrow.

No...he's not home. But Nick had been gone for 3 days out on a mission. I felt pretty low the whole time with no contact from him, not knowing where he was, or what he was doing caused me to loose a lot of sleep. I woke up this morning exhausted and my throat hurts. Not cool. But I also woke up to an instant message from him that said, "Nick Alessi: I miss you boo. I am back safe and sound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Reading that feels like entire brick wall lifted off my chest.

Here are a few pictures.

Here are his wheels and the load he was convoying.


Some guys on the side of the road that would seriously scare me. It just doesnt look right.

Check out this guy...if the 2 other guys above didnt scare to me death..this guy surely would.

Thats right, they better know better than to mess with my husband. Little do they know that my husband gets perfect scores on his shooting training. Not many can do that.


By the way, Thank you Kate for sending Nick's care package. He did get his package a couple days before he headed out on convoy so he has some snacks to take with him. He really appreciates that thoughts and support from you. A little package means so much to him, and me.

Oh and by the way...please stop over and see Bobby and Gregg. Their precious daughter Sabrina was just born. They are headed to see her and their Birth Mom now. And I cant wait for them to hold her and fall in love with her and melt in her hands at first sight just like Nick did with Kayla. Its a moment that they shall never forget. Congrats Daddies!

Which one of you?

My right ear is ringing a lot right now. Which one of you is talking about me right now?

Last night was rough. My eyes were closed all night, I was unconscious, but I don't think I was asleep. Kayla had me up at 5:30 this morning, I felt like I haven't even slept. I want my husband back so we can both get good sleep once again.

Here is a picture of Kayla in her room yesterday morning. She can open her own drawers now. Don't mind the disorganization on her walls. I gotta do something in there, seriously.


Oh, and Im excited to announce that I am trying to have the determination to start a quilt for Kayla today and it have it finished before our big trip in June. Otherwise, I will lose my determination and never finish it. (Like the 2 quilts I have started made out Nick's old uniforms, which I will someday finish)

I love it

I love it when Nick tells me, "I love you always and forever."

Gosh do I miss him today.

*Sigh, with teary eyes*

A lot can happen in an hour at the beach....

For example...
A Mama can take a video of a little girl playing in the sand. And the video's colors can turn out funky so a Mama can tell a Dada that a Mama needs a new video camera. (hint, hint)

And a lot of picture action can happen too.
For example...
(Pictures not taken with my good Canon camera)








Kayla's hair clippy made by Tina. Click here to see her store. Kayla's dress sent by Grammy. Thank you both.

Nothing at all

Nothing at all going here in my boring world. Just the excitement of Kayla growing up more every single day. Here are a few pictures from the day after Easter.





And some pictures from the MR.

Easter pictures and details

Really there isn't a whole lot of Easter details to tell all about. I had a rough time with it. I missed Nick a lot. We woke up Easter morning and I layed Kayla down on the living room floor on her pillow and changed her diaper and gave her a bottle and I let her discover her Easter basket on her own. It took her a while to dig through it because each item she picked up she spent time playing with. I had a fun just sitting there watching her.

We hung out all morning and I made green bean casserole to take over to a friend's house for Easter lunch/dinner. There we ate, ate some more, watched a movie, ate candy, played outside, ate candy and then we came home.

The past couple of days I have been very tired. So tired beyond words and so emotional. But now 2 days after Easter I do feel better. I think the 12 hours of sleep last night help. Thank you baby girl. Mama really really needed that.

Here are 2 slide shoes of pictures. The first one is from Easter day and the 2nd one is from Easter Monday...Kayla and I got packages from my Mother in Law. They came at the right time. I just got done crying because I was so tired and Kayla did not want to take a nap. I decided to get up and see what the mail man left us, and I found the packages at my front door. They were just what I needed at that moment.

Happy Easter

Easter pictures/details to come soon.

Easter Eve

Well, It's the night before Easter. Kayla has had her dinner...or as much as shes going to eat anyway, she has had her bath and now she is emptying out her toy basket. Soon will be bed time and soon I will get out her very first Basket, arrange all the items I, I mean Easter Bunny, as gotten her and sit in on the living room floor. And in the morning I will bring her out to the living room and go on as normal. Lay her down on the pillow on the floor, giver a bottle, and change her diaper...and we shall see how long it takes her to realize there are goodies she can dig into. And you bet, I will have pictures to share.

In the meantime....PLEASE remind me that I am an AIR FORCE wife. NOT an ARMY wife. When I look at these pictures they tell me different. I see my AIR FORCE husband wearing ARMY patches on his uniform and wearing ARMY weapons and ARMY body amour while doing an ARMY job. Where did I sign up for that position as a wife? Oh yeah...when I said, "For better or worse." He is lucky that I love him enough to put up with him.

Here he is in front of his wheels.

Here he is in his wheels.

Here he is in his wheels again. No, that is not beer or apple juice in that bottle. Lets just say when he is out on a convoy job off base he cannot leave his wheels. Not even to use the bathroom.

Here are the local people watching them go by in convoy.

Here he is with his 'partner in crime.'

His wheels again.


Boy oh Boy, some days I cant get over just how very lucky I am. Today is one of those days. I have a real live GI JOE husband and the most beautiful daughter anyone could ever ask for.

I guess this would be the proper time of year to really be Thankful for all that God and his son have given me.