Christelly is here for a visit!

Sorry for the long overdue update. With Cameron home and my little sister visiting not only have we been keeping busy but there is also serious competition for the computer...mostly Cameron and his 500 subscribers blog. So let me fill you in on a few weeks worth of events.

First, Cameron was gone two weeks ago for some military training involving things he can't tell me. Somehow I think this secrecy thing will only increase as he gets into his new job. I'm not one for secrets and therefore am not too excited about this :) While he was gone, Malone and I tried to stay busy and nearly melted in the heat like M&M's (haha, get it M-alone & M-arelize, oh my wittiness is amazing!)

He got back on the fourth of July in the evening just as our whole neighborhood was starting the unofficial neighborhood block party/fireworks show. It was pretty incredible considering I have never lived anywhere where fireworks was legal inside city limits. We didn't know about it, but were fortunate to have some very nice neighbors who let Cameron help them shoot their fireworks. Next year we will definitely be ready! Oh and Malone slept through most of it. Amazing!

Then the next day my little sister, Christelle came from Alabama for a visit. It has been so great having her here. She is a joy to have around and has discovered the key to making Malone giggle. We've been hanging out with her, showing her around town. We went to the Point Defiance "Zoo & Aquarium" although both seemed a bit lacking in the animal department. Nevertheless, we had a good time. We also went to Seattle and Ikea, the norm for out of town visitors. Us girls went shopping and out for an afternoon at Borders, some good quality sissy time. Oh yes, and on Saturday we went to the Puyallup (pronounced PEW-WALLUP) farmer's market. It was awesome and definitely a highlight for me. I think we're going to make it a weekly activity.

Picture 1: Here's Christelly, Malone and I at the zoo.
Picture 2: Here's the little fam of 3 at the zoo.
Picture 3: Look at her all decked out in her stroller and hat. The hat is a bit too big and kept on falling over her eyes. Then we'd have strangers say, " Ummm...your baby's hat is over her eyes" and look at us like we're terrible parents :)
Picture 4: Christelle and I at Pikes Place Market

Malone has also had a busy week of loving on her auntie Christelly and her daddy (well, and me of course, but she never gets a break from me).
Picture 5: Malone and her Auntie playing and learning how to crawl.
Picture 6: Malone and her daddy after a bath.
PIcture 7: Ummm...how cute is she??!!!
Picture 8: Malone in her daddy's beloved hat.
Picture 9: She looks a little like a granola baby, like her parents should be living on a commune (the one you always talked about, Jill) smoking something crazy and never washing our hair. But alas, she and we are quite the opposite sub-urbanites.
Picture 10: This one is just for fun...she started eating peas for the first time this week. It was just too cute to resist taking a picture of the big mess.
In other news, I know many of you are interested in my marathon training. OK, so I don't exactly "know" that you are interested but I'm just going to update you in anyways :) After nearly two months of not running (bad runner girl!!!) I am back on the path of righteousness. I found a gym near my house and joined. Now I know that typically runners don't enjoy running on a treadmill but rather loves to feel the cool, crisp air in their faces while running outside. Well, I am not one of those people. I have a safety issue with running alone, down the street where there are cars and random people. Good news though: With my new membership comes some free sessions with a trainer. So far I've had 2 sessions and let me tell you I was definitely feeling it this weekend. My trainer is helping me develop a plan to help with the training of the "13 miles of hell" (aka the half marathon) as the trainer likes to call it. I'm really excited about this opportunity although not quite sure what to think of my last session tomorrow. My trainer said and I quote, "Next session we'll do legs. You should prepare yourself mentally for it, because just to warn you, doing legs with James (my trainer) is hell!". Ummm...ok scary trainer man. How do I prepare myself for that?! So as you are reading this, drinking your warm, smooth, creamy, comforting morning latte, say a little prayer for me as I am surely dying a slow death and doing so many lunges and squats that my legs want to fall off and run away without me.

Love you all and hope you are doing well. We are working on doing a MTV Cribs of our house. Will be up soon, I pinky-swear. But in the meanwhile, enjoy some videos we've been taking of Malone and Christelly. I'll post them in the morning.

Mother's day...long overdue

So I've been working on this post since last Sunday and only now have come to post it. It kind of feels as though life has been busy, but really hasn't been. Cameron has had these last few days off and that has been nice. Last week, we went to grand metropolis of Lawton to go look at paint colors at Home Depot for the interior of our new little house. We found some great colors and I'm excited to announce for you that we will have a nice and colorful, spicy, interesting, cool house! No more white walls with awful seventies floral wallpaper like in Enid!! And the crowds rejoice!!!

In anyways, as I've been thinking and preparing for Mother's Day, I've been trying to think what I have learned about life being a new mom. I'm still working on it, so watch out for the deep, intellectually stimulating, heart strings pulling post coming up sometime in the future. One thing I have realized it how incredible my own mom is, and I make sure I take full advantage of her with many, many phone calls starting with, "Mom, Malone is doing this....what do I do?" Thinking back to all those years when she balanced being a mom with working very full-time jobs, with helping my dad in the ministry, plus going to school, proves that she is amazing. I don't think I realized her value fully as a mother until I became a mother. So here's a toast to my mom!

Meanwhile Cameron and Malone did their best to show their appreciation of my "mothering" by getting me some beautiful roses, new running shoes (I know, most people would be offended by this gesture, but I really wanted them), brunch at the Officer's Club and a beautiful new Starbucks coffee mug. According to Cameron, I needed a mug that suited my personality better as well as one I could microwave, as I often have to drink my coffee cold and my last cup had the un-microwaveable metal on the bottom of it. It was a great day and I truly felt loved!!

Here's some pictures of the day:

Picture 1: Malone and I on Mother's day. Look at her pretty little dress.
Picture 2: Cameron and Malone at brunch on Mother's Day. Malone was a little sleepy.
Picture 3: Getting ready for a summer outing.
Picture 4: Just hanging out getting ready for bed.
Picture 5: Playing with her favorite hippo. She tries to eat his legs and he doesn't fight back...match made in heaven.

Happy Easter

**I wrote this yesterday, but little missy wouldn't let me finish it, so pretend today is yesterday!***

Today is Easter Sunday, one of my favorite days of the year. It is a day that signifies life, light and new beginnings. We woke up pretty early in order to get ready for church on time. There is no room for "fashionably late entrance" on Easter Sunday. Plus, we decided to go to church on Base and wasn't quite sure how many people there will be. Cameron looked quite handsome in his dress clothes and I have to admit I didn't look too shabby either even though an Easter pastel color was nowhere in sight in my outfit (who remembers to pack an Easter outfit 2 months ahead of time?). But the one who stole the show was our little girl. Dressed to the tees with her pink dress (courtesy of Kenzie Kotby) white socks and white dress shoes, she wowed everyone who laid eyes on her. If only we could get her hair to lay flat!

We enjoyed church and then celebrated the resurrection of our Lord with a nice Easter Brunch Buffet at the Officer's Club. Oohh, it was so good! We enjoyed a spread of the best kinds of Brunch foods. We enjoyed the food so much that we needed to rest and recuperate a little afterward. And that is where we are at in our day, full, still coming out of our afternoon slumber and deciding what to do for the rest of our day. This is the best Sunday afternoon ever!

Here's some pictures of our little Easter bunny:

Picture 1: Look at that cute outfit!
Picture 2 & 3: Malone and her handsome daddy










Picture 4: Malone and mommy
Picture 5: There were little bloomers to go with the dress. They were a bit big...

Picture 6: She's posing
Picture 7: We went for a little workout...she even has her workout outfit on.

Dumb Mac thats not working!!

Unfortunately, our prized Macbook Pro is broken! :( Oh yes friends, the unthinkable has happened. I am only managing to write this quick update from the library on base. So for now this is just to say that I will soon put up another post....Favorite Things to look forward to....my new iPod Nano, the Christmas tree adventure (which has NOT technically begun yet) and where we'll be going next in our great Air Force adventure (we'll find out Friday night). So don't give up on me. I promise I will make the next few blogs worth your time, which means LOTS of pictures. :) Until then...

Black Friday

Black Friday. Normally known for the mad shopping people (or is it mad people going shopping?) are doing today. Although I think that for some people it refers to the day of recovery after the stress of family, too much food and travel. But for us, none of the above applies.

This year was the first Thanksgiving that Cameron and I hosted. Our friends James and Sara Martin came from Colorado to spend the holiday with us. Its been a great few days, filled with lots of blogging (the boys are obsessed with the latest blogging technology, such as Google Analytics and Adsense), food and relaxing. I made my first turkey yesterday. I think it was a success. Unfortunately, I don't have any turkey leftovers...those were obliterated last night. Its also the last Thanksgiving without any children. I was trying to imagine yesterday as I was scurrying around making making turkey, stuffing and all the random fixings what it will be like next year with Baby Malone finally being with us. By then, she might be walking, and if Cameron's educational plan is working, she'll be reading Shakespeare as well. Oh, how different our lives are going to be?

Today, I think we're just going to continue relaxing. The boys are about to go play racquetball. Sara and I might go get a movie. Our goal is to definitely stay clear of any kind of mall, shop or crowd, not that there really is any of that here in the grand metropolis of Enid, OK.

Here's some pictures of our Thanksgiving escapades so far:


The turkey before it was cooked. Doesn't it look fabulous?



Our Thanksgiving table


The typical snapshot of what Cameron and James are doing all weekend long...working on their crazy blogs (I'm just a novice compared to them)



All the leftovers that is STILL in my kitchen. When you're hungry, you can just graze...how fun?



Happy Thanksgiving all! I'll continue with my favorite things later this weekend...ps: I think I'm going to put up the Christmas tree Saturday....I love it!!! It is my favorite thing this time of year. YAY!