Happy Halloween!

Joey enjoyed himself a little too much last night trick or treating. It was the first year that he actually knew what was going on and could enjoy it. The four of us walked over to a friend's house to see them and their 2 year old. Then Luke and I walked home and Joey and Joe headed out for candy. After making their way around the neighborhood, Joey enjoyed handing out candy to the kids that came to our house. And Luke just wondered around the yard and everyone thought he was adorable in his Yoda costume:)

Happy Halloween!

Apple Picking

We went apple picking a few weeks ago. We found a place right down the street that had tons of apples! Here are some pictures of us and the boys, especially Joey, enjoying the fall!


Joe carrying Luke in the Ergo.


Joey with his mini apple.


We had an apple picker to reach the high apples.


My big boy walking back to the car while eating his apple.

Both of my boys:)

Throwing leaves.

We have a picture of Joey in leaves and we tried to get one of Luke too. But he just wanted to watch Joey jump around and wouldn't look at the camera!

The Air Force Ball

Last weekend, Joe and I went to the Air Force Ball. It is so fun to dress up and get my hair done! Here are a few pictures:

Lukie was eating raviolis with sauce when we were taking these pictures and because I didn't want sauce all over my dress the picture didn't turn out.

We were so lucky to have my parents here to watch the boys. We rode in a mini-bus with 6 other couples. We had a good time with a lot of laughs.

The rest of the weekend was spent with my parents. A few trips to Cabela's so that Joey could show his Grammie and PapPap the animals and a photo session of the boys happened in there too. We had a great time showing my dad around Leavenworth(my mom has visited a few times already).

Luke is 1!

I can't believe that a year has passed already! Luke is the happiest, jolliest little boy ever! I couldn't have asked for anything more. We went into the doctor today and his weight is in the 95%ile and his height is in the 98%ile. So even though he isn't a big eater, he is a chunker:)

We celebrated his 1st birthday by going on a mini train ride and then dinner and cake at our house.
Here is my Lukie before digging into his cake.

He started eating it with a fork and then switched to his hands.

And almost immediately, he shoved it into his mouth.

And then he realized we were laughing at him.

Shortly after this picture, he started feeding CeCe. So we took that as a sign that he was done.

We are looking forward to the next year with this little boy!

Joey's First Day of Preschool

Joey started preschool on Thursday. He wasn't excited and didn't even talk about going. I think that he would be 100% happy spending all day with me! But he needs to go to make friends and learn what it's like to be in school. My mom came into town for his first day of school so we weren't sure if he was going to cry a lot when he had to leave her to go. They are "BFF's".

It turns out that he was ok and when he got into the car, I asked him what they did and he said with a smile on his face "we sang a song about Jesus!" I had to laugh, though, because even though I told his teacher that he goes by the name Joey, she kept calling him Joseph. So when they say to me "Joseph doesn't like to listen and when when we call his name, he ignores us" I am going to say, "he goes by Joey!" Up until now, no one has ever called him Joseph(but he does know that is his full name.) When I went to pick him up, the class walked out in a line and guess who was first in line? Joey. He's that kid.

Here is his first day of school picture.

Me and my boy:)

Joey giving his brother a strangle goodbye.

What we've been up to...

I have been BUSY here in Leavenworth. Ask my mom...everytime she calls, I am out. My social life has definately picked up since moving here. Everyweek is something...bunco, girls night, date night, playgroup, another girls night. Then add in all of the therapy that goes on in this house. I go to physical therapy for my neverending back pain, Joey is going to Speech therapy and Luke just started Occupational therapy! But we are doing great and we are happy here. We have met lots of people. Joe started his real school today and we will have a party to meet everyone on Wednesday night.

One of my favorite things lately is watching the boys interact with eachother. Joey will just randomly walk up to Luke and kiss him. I love it! Here he is laying with Luke while Luke drinks his bottle.

And here handsome little baby boy!

I can't believe that he is going to be 1 soon!

We Made It!

We made it to Leavenworth in three days! The boys did so good but I hated every minute of it! Joey was fine watching his dvd player. Luke is still riding backwards and oddly, he didn't cry once! I was so proud of them for driving 25 hours in the car!

Our stuff was moved "door to door" which means that it left our house in California and didn't come off the truck until it got to Kansas. That is the best way to do it because the stuff doesn't have to be put in storage and has a lesser chance of breaking. The unpacking is coming along slowly but it is definately harder to do with kids around!

Joe starts class on Monday I have a spouse orientation on Thursday. We are already getting busy!

Moving!

The time has finally come for us to move from Edwards! It really is bittersweet...as much as I dislike the area, we have met some great people and we had our 2 babies here!(well, Luke was born in Florida but this was his first house!) So tomorrow, we leave the only home that Joey and Luke know. Joey is very sad and he has already cried to me and let me know that he will miss his friends. Last night was our first night in the TLF(base hotel) and he cried and said that he didn't want to go to Kansas and that he wanted to sleep in his own bed:( He is at an age where he doesn't understand what we are doing. I keep reassuring him that he is going to meet even more friends in Kansas but he is so sad to leave here. I am sad, too, because when you live somewhere for years, it does become familiar and home.

Our stuff was all packed and loaded onto the truck. It will be arriving in Leavenworth on Monday morning. We are leaving Edwards tomorrow, Friday, and will drive for 3 days to get there to meet our stuff. Luckily it won't go in storage which means less chance for breaking our things!

There are lots of things that I will miss in California but I am so excited to get closer to family and out of the desert!

Most people that have gone to TPS leave and come back here and I know that there is a chance of that for us. I have mixed feelings about that but know that it can't be any worse that is has been the past 3 years with small children!

Goodbye California!

The past month...

We have been pretty busy in the past month getting ready to move to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Our movers come in a week and I am pretty sure that we have almost doubled our stuff since we moved to California.

Our last few weeks have been busy playing with friends, chasing Lukie around, hitting a few spots in LA that we have enjoyed visiting(or eating at!), chasing Lukie around and trying to get things organized for the move. Did I mention that I have been chasing Lukie around A LOT! He has started crawling and puts everything in is mouth. Shoes, paper, Joey's toys...you name it, he mouths it!

Joey started soccer camp today. It is a week long camp. We thought that he was going to love it but he really wasn't into it. Infact, he stood next to me the whole time and watched the other kids play. It was freezing...windy and cold in June at Edwards? Crazy, I know. Hopefully it gets better by the end of the week.

The other day, I took the boys to a sports store in Lancaster to get Joey's soccer shin pads. While there, he went to look at the baseball stuff and came over to me with a hat on, glove on, and was holding a spiderman bat and ball. He told me "I have all the stuff I need!" He looked so darn cute and usually won't wear a hat...so I bought it all for him. With 2 boys you can never have enough sports equipment!

Lukie has been having lots of fun playing hide and seek lately. Joey took the blanket and they were playing hide and seek. I think that they look like nuns!

And here is my little turkey that I love to kiss:)

9 months old, 24lbs. What a chunker!

LET'S MAKE A DEAL!

This past Monday was the day when the Let's Make a Deal show that I was on aired. Wow, what fun that was! It was even more fun to watch it! I had to decline party of my prize(the spa part) but I am anxiously awaiting my $800:)
Here is a shortened part of the episode(showing only me!)
Maria's Let's Make a Deal!

Easter and Disneyland!

Last week on Easter, we went to church.

After church, we got in the car and drove. We just told Joey that we were going to a hotel. We got to the hotel, thought about going swimming, but it was too chilly. So we headed over to Downtown Disney. We ate dinner and walked around but Joey didn't really get it.

The next morning, we woke up, got in the car and told Joey that we were taking him for a suprise. We drove the mile to Disney and asked Joey if he knew where we were. He looked around, saw a sign and said "Disneyland?" He was really excited!

If you have ever been to Disneyworld and then Disneyland, it's a bit of a dissapointment. I mean, it is Disney...but the Land is about 5 times smaller than the world. But to a 3 year old, it was awesome and the best place ever!

Joey's newest obsession is Star Wars. It started around Christmastime when my friend's husband let him play with some of his old Star Wars vehicles. Then Joe brought some of his Star Wars figures home from his parents and it was all downhill from there.

Here is Joey and Mickey.

Lukie went on a few rides with us but seemed to enjoy his stroller.


At first, Joey was afraid of this lifesized Lego Darth Vadar. We eventually got him to get closer to him but notice him grabbing onto Joe's pants in fear!

They have a Jedi Training Camp for kids 4 & up so Joey wasn't able to sit up front to get picked. Here is Joey watching it. He sat like this the whole time. I don't think he knew what to do...he was excited, but scared at the same time!

Riding around Disney.

What a good trip!

8 Months!

Luke is 8 months old today! He is a happy, smiley little boy! His favorite thing to do is to watch Joey, laugh at Joey, babble to Joey, drink his bottle, and sleep! Lukie isn't a huge fan of baby food or finger food. He gags on puffs, pieces of fruit, avocado, crackers, etc. He does like food in his food strainer, something that I never used with Joey. So in his strainer, he loves bananas, avocado, apples, bananas, grapes, pears, sweet potatoes, puffs, and really anything else that we put in there!

Lukie isn't crawling yet, but he is almost there...he gets up on all four's and can't get it together yet! I am fine with that because once he starts moving, I know that he is going to be ALL OVER THE PLACE!

We are alive!

I haven't posted in a loooong time! We are doing good but this two kid thing keeps me busy! We are enjoying spring and getting a lot of outdoor time. We have to soak up the sun in the next two months because the weather is Kansas is a lot different from the weather in California!

Speaking of Kansas...we are moving there in less than 2 months! The move is overwhelming. We have never moved with kids before so this could be fun! We definately have a lot more belongings!

Joey is doing good. His new favorite thing is to play outside with the sprinkler. He can now turn the water on himself outside so that is a good thing and a bad thing!

Lukie(almost 8 months!) is still smiling and happy. He wants to crawl so badly but just can't get it together!

I can't believe how different both boys are! And they love eachother! I am suprised everyday at how Joey loves Luke and tries to play with him. And of course, Lukie loooooves laughing at every noise or silly face that Joey makes. He is Joey's best audience and we are in trouble!

Luke is 6 months!

I can't believe how fast the past 6 months have gone! My little Lukie is the chunkiest, happiest baby and I can't kiss his cheeks enough! He currently weighs 20lbs 8oz and is 28 inches long(the same exact size that Joey was at 6 months!) His very favorite thing to do is to look at Joey. When he hears Joey's voice, he is instantly looking for him and smiling! He loves his big brother! Luke's favorite toy is pictured above. He loves to hit that orange nose and make it spin! We have also started to give Luke cereal, fruits and veggies in the past month. He has been ok with them all and oddly, I think that he likes green beans the best. I say oddly, because green beans were Joey's least favorite!
We had an appointment last week with an orthopedic for Luke. At his 4 month appointment, his pediatrician wanted us to get his legs looked at. He said that his tibias were bowed and although this is normal, he wanted to make sure that they were bowed too much. So we went to LA last week to get him looked at. Fortunately, the PA that we saw thought that even though they are bowed, they looked ok and just suggested that we go back to get an xray when he is 1 and standing/walking.
We have loved having Lukie as an addition to our family and can't wait for all of the changes that are in store for us in the next 6 months!

We Have a Sitter!

Lukie started sitting by himself in the past few days! He may not roll over(neither did Joey until he was crawling) but he can sit by himself!


Here he is talking to Joey.

Happy Birthday Joe!

Today was Joe's birthday. Check out my 3 boys today!

Joey's Birthday continued...

I didn't make Joey go to the doctor on his actual birthday but the next day was his 3 year check up. He was actually excited to go. He currently weighs 39lbs and is 40inches tall. That explains the 4T clothes!

We also had a birthday party for Joey on the Saturday after his birthday. We had it at the bowling alley. The kids all bowled and ran around and I am sure that they were glad to see us leave!

Here are a few pictures of the party!

Joey and some of his friends eating their lunch.

Joey and Eliana, his favorite person ever(she was also his first friend!)

Joey with Caroline and Nina

Joey with Landon and Cooper

Joey's Curious George birthday cake...

And cupcakes!


We gave cookies with each kids name on it for their favor. The cookies were a new recipe that I tried and they were DELICIOUS! Here is the recipe if you are interested...Lemon and Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies. I really can't wait to make these cookies again. The problem is that I will eat every single one!

Happy 3rd Birthday Joey!

Today my baby boy turned 3. I can't believe how big he is getting and how independent he has become! Three years ago, I was snugging with the baby in the picture above and now he talks, runs, reads, and is a kid!

Our day started last night when my mom came to visit. This morning, we had the traditional decorated door for his birthday. I think that he forgot it was his birthday until he opened his door and had to walk through the streamers!

My mom wanted to take him to Toys R Us to pick his toy out so we went there and then Joey picked The Olive Garden for lunch. He loves his "rad-i-oli's" or ravioli's as they are more commonly called.

We had a great day and a few firsts for Joey.

1. He went potty at Toys R Us, his first time in a public place!

2. He actually rode a ride. Usually we go to Toys R Us and he likes to look at the riding machines out front but won't actually go on. Today, he asked to ride, got in the Bob the Builder truck and rode it like he has been doing it for years!

3. He turned 3 and started asking "Why?" Seriously, he must have asked "Why" over 50 times today.

The day was great and we ended it with a bike ride outside, dinner and cake!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my big boy Joey!