May 2012

As it is now AUGUST and May was MONTHS ago, I will do my very best to highlight the month. May, May, May??? I have a hard time remembering that long ago so I am cheating and looking back at my Facebook page for some help... Well one of the most memorable things from the month is that I, along with a few girlfriends here, ran a 5k on Mother's Day weekend. (The Las Vegas 5K) It was my first in a long time. And while it wasn't at all pretty, for me anyway, I finished it. It was miserable hot, no shade, on the strip, few water stops. Really not a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

*Pre-run photo op

*Post-run - Serious, at hot mess - no pun intended! The squadron's annual "scavenger hunt" was down on the Strip in May as well. Such a great, great time! Each team had a list of tasks that needed to be completed, in a couple hour periou - all were very VEGAS - from finding a bride and groom, to having a picture taken with Elvis, or in front of the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. I really wish I would have kept the (literally) book of "tasks" that needed to be accomplished. It was a fun night - kid free even. Followed up by dinner at Maggianos. I swear I hadn't laughed so much in one night as I did that night. (Sorry, I have no pictures from this night.) Addison's school held a spring concert. It was really cute. And really it was more of an overview of what they had been learning in class rather than a traditional school "concert." Charlie was able to be there for it and we got to go see them in the classroom afterward. I think Addison was really happy to not only have daddy there, but to be able to show us around her class room. (A friend sent me some videos from that day, and if I remember, I will try to upload them at a later time.)

*Addie performing, next to Andrew (another little boy from the 433rd.)

* Charlie with both kids while visiting Addie's classroom.

* Hugs from both my babies in Addie's classroom. (Probably my FAV picture with myself and these two I have taken yet.) Our neighborhood pool opened up in early May. And we were very excited to start using it. It was a little chilly at first and Addie had a little bit of a fear of the water - reaffirming the correct decision to start her in swimming lessons in June.

* While weather was somewhat cooler, we were able to walk over to the pool - it is only a few blocks away. Usually, the wagon was called for the task to take both kids and all their stuff over to the pool.

* I mean really!!! How CAAAAAUUUUTTEEEEE is this little chubby baby??? Adorable in his swim gear is all I can say. Little Missy had her FIRST ever dentist appointment. To say that Chuck and I were apprehensive about how she would do was stating it lightly. However, with the help of a little bribery, she did great. The dentist was great with her and did a great job explaining what he was going. However, I think knowing that Toys R Us and Starbucks were on tap after her appointment helped make it a little easier for her to handle. (I mean who wouldn't be cooperative at the dentist if they were going to be rewarded with a Barbie and a Frappucino?)

* All smiles - which is better than all screams at the dentist. Memorial Day. Most of the people we know got out of town that weekend. However, we chose to have "staycation" - and it was a five day weekend to top it off. Since Addison had school on Thursday, we had a nice morning breakfast out at one of our FAVORITE places here in Vegas, with just our little man. (Hash House A Go Go is fabulous for breakfast if you are ever in Vegas and looking for a place off the strip.) We took the kids to the children's museum on Friday and honestly, I am not sure who had more fun - us or Addison? (Sawyer is still a bit young for it.) Not in the greatest part of town, but with a new one opening soon, The Las Vegas Children's Museum is definetly a place we will be going back to, and frequently.

* "Higher, daddy!"

* "Hey, daddy! He looks just like you!"

* Addison, the pilot. Daddy, the co-pilot.

* Grocery store fun.

* A future in NASCAR? (I hope not.)

* Sawyer loved the basketballs at the Children's Museum. The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we hit up REI to find an infant hiking backpack - SUCCESS! And as luck would have it, the REI was right on the way out to Red Rock Canyon - a great place to hike when the weather is cooler. (And we did luck out that weekend, weather wise.) We have spent a lot of time out at RRC, hiking. We love it and so do the kids. One of the most interesting things, I think, about RRC is that it is truly beautiful and you can forget that the Vegas strip is so close. (Before living here, I would have never thought that scenic beauty and the Vegas strip would belong in the same sentence. But, boy! They sure do!)

* No hike is complete without stylish sunglasses.

* Sawyer was loving the new hiking backpack, for the first half of the hike, anyway.

* Hard to believe this is Vegas, right?

* Red Rock Canyon, Nevada! On Sunday, we asked Addison what she wanted to do. Her response was a picnic in the park. Easy enough! We put together a picnic and headed to the "Dinosaur Park" - as she calls it. However to most, it is called Aliante Natural Discovery Park. It was fun and again, the weather cooperated - warm, but not scorching hot.

* Picnic hugs at the park. The last day of our stay-cation was the most low key we had all weekend. We did a little housework - boring. Did a little swimming at the pool - crowded. And Chuck made is ever so tasty ribs for dinner that night. It was the first time we had had them since moving to NV and they were of course, well worth the wait! Of course the BIGGEST and more important thing that happened during the month of May is that our little Princess turned FOUR! (Seriously, how is that even possible???) May 31st was a big day at our house. Addie got to sleep in our bed with us and woke up to presents that morning - a birthday princess must have a new outfit for her day, afterall. As tradition dictates in our house, we stopped for a birthday donut on the way to school. At school, she had spot light time rather than a party. It is just a few minutes during the day on their birhtday to have the spotlight on them. They get to wear a crown, bring pictures, and have their classmates ask them questions. And mom and dad get to be there for it. It was super cute! And she ate it up. Her daddy picked her up from school that day, which for her, is a treat in itself. The day ended with quite a party here at our house for her. Pizza, presents, friends, cupcake decorating. The works! She had a great, great day! You know it's a great day when she says before bed, "Mommy, that was the best day ever!" That made all the blood, sweat, tears, stress, etc putting that party together for her sooooo worth it.

*Addison turns four!

* Blowing out her "candles" (four fingers on each of her classmates heads) during spotlight time at school.

* Homemade cake made by Addison's mama!

* Each kid at the party got two cupcakes for frost and decorate. It was a successful mess, but they all seemed to love it. (Although, I am sure the mama's were cursing me for all the sugar later.)

* Addison and her daddy at donuts on her 4th birhtday.

*MMMMM donuts - and Sawyer is trying to get in on the act.

* Who doesn't love to wake up to presents first thing on their birthday?

* Opening presents are her party with her friends.

* The Queen beckons her subjects during the Q & A portion of her spotlight time at school.

* The morning after her party, we took her new scooter out for a spin around the neighborhood.

* Spotlight time at school.

* Her loot at her birthday party. The kid made a haul!

* Addie looking all gorgeous on her birthday morning before heading off to school.

* Sawyer helped me get ready for Addie's party by taste testing the cake. Ok, so now you are all caught up on the Schuck's month of May. I think I did pretty good being that May was what, four months ago? (Thank you Facebook.) There are four videos on my Facebook page from the month of May that are worth taking a look at - Addie's Happy Birthday song, Addie saying the Pledge of Alligance, Addie making Sawyer laugh, and Addie pushing Sawyer around in his walker. I wanted to add them to this blog, however, I don't have them on our computer anymore and I am not sure how to download from Facebook onto here. So I will work on figuring that out. In the meantime, here are just a few random pictures from the month of May that are cute, but didn't really have a place to go...

* I think if I could grocery shop like this, I would like it a lot more.

* When we brought this crazy puppy home almost six years ago, we never imagined she would be the one who would be truly amazing with babies. Lily might be the greatest dog EVER!

* "Hey ladies... I got roooooom for you in my wagon."

* I love this little boy more than anything!

* Sawyer made the transition from exersaucer to walker during the month of May. He loves being mobile!

Change in Game Plan...

Yes, once again - I have fallen off keeping our family blog updated. Quite frankly, I SUCK AT BLOGGING. So as of today, I have a new plan of attack... From here on out I am going to blog once a month at the end of the month. The blog will include highlights and exciting things that we have done throughout the month - as well as pictures from the month as well. I have a notebook that I will be keeping a list of events throughout the month that a "blog worthy." I have a friend who does her blog this way and she seems to be able to manage it. I might stand a chance keeping up this way... Here is hoping anyway. May will be up shortly...

Sawyer's Endo Apt.

We went and saw a new endochronolgist today. It was the third visit to one, but the first to this particular one here in Vegas. We had a great visit. This is what we were told...

As of today, Sawyer came come of the thyroid meds. In three weeks, we will take him in to have blood drawn. Dr. Dewan will than take a look at the results. If the results are positive, he will give us an order to have more blood taken in another four weeks. If, again, those results come back favorable, Mr. Sawyer is in the clear and can come off the meds for good. If at anytime, the results are not good, he will be put back on the meds and will continue seeing Dr. Dewan every four months or so - and will more than likely be on the meds for life. However, Dr. Dewan felt confident this would not be the case. In fact, Dr. Dewan seemed a little surprised that Sawyer was ever placed on meds in the first place based on his TSH numbers. Luckily, no harm no foul.

Great news for our little guy. Next week we meet with the urologist - which is the appointment that Chuck and I are the most worried about. Check back on Thursday for an update!

Welcome to Las Vegas

Well, here we are! We have been in Las Vegas for almost three weeks now. And needless to say there hasn't been a dull moment!

Once we got to Albuquerque on New Year's Day, we had all had enough. Charlie and I decided once we got into our hotel room that night that we were going to suck it up and put in a long day on the 2nd. We got to Las Vegas on January 2nd instead of the 3rd. Now, I am not going to lie. That last day was long and we were tired - really tired. But I think all in all, it was the right decision. By getting to Vegas a day early, it gave us an extra day to lay around to rest up before our household goods were delievered to our new house on the 6th.

I would say that the kids did very well with all the traveling. They had their moments - and obviously Sawyer was harder to deal with than Addison. Seriously, put her in the car and turn the DVD player on and she is good for days in the car! However, I would say Sawyer did better than I thought he would do even though there were some really ugly moments along the way!

We were lucky enough to have my parents stop through Vegas on their way back from Indiana. They got to Vegas on Thursday the 5th and were at the house the day that our household goods were delievered. It certainly was great to have the extra helps - especially with the two kids. They didn't stay long, leaving on Saturday but they were anxious to get home after being gone for about three weeks. We understood that.

So here we are... In our house two weeks today. I will say we are loving the house and the neighborhood. The house is big and it has certainly taken me a long time to get moved in, but the majority of the boxes are gone and I would say we are about 95% moved in. I am at the point now where we have some things to hang on the walls, the garage (yuck), and the last few piles that I don't really know what to do with left. At this point, though, I am so over it. I don't want to look at the stuff anymore, but at the same time blech. I want it to all take care of itself. I guess that all the piles of the last minute stuff will all eventually go away so no need to be in a rush.

Thankfully, we got a GPS for Christmas and I have had really good luck using it so far. Knock on wood, but I am doing a pretty good job getting around here - even getting to the point where I don't need the GPS 100% of the time. Of course though, I was able to find a Target and a Starbucks the first day here with no problem. My two staples were a must for me to find immediatly.

I have been overwhelmed by the welcome we have recieved by the squadron here. It has been amazing how great it has been. The commander's wife called me the first day we were here. Another wife brought us dinner the day our household goods were delievered. Another wife stopped by to say welcome the same day as well. And yet another wife came over the first weekend we were here to bring us our welcome gift. Not even a week in, I was sitting at my first coffee here. Amazing! I feel very blessed to be a part of this group.

After being here for three weeks, I think I can safely say we are going to really, really like it here.....

So many things to share about our trip over the holidays with many, many pictures to post as well. However, my camera is new and I am still trying to figure out how to use it. Now that we are pretty much moved into the house, I hope to start getting those posts about the trip out there.
First round of visitors here in March. Are you coming for a visit too? Let me know - we would love to have you!

Quick Update from the Road

Here is a quick update as to our progress... More detailed blogs will follow once we get set up in Vegas.

We left Panama City December 15th - not even an hour outside of PC we took a rock to the windshield and it left a huge star in the window. That night we drove to just North of Montgomery, AL. The next morning we got up VERY early to get to Memphis before noon to meet the window company to have the window fixed - we made it just about the same time as the glass company. Chuck's dad lives in Memphis so we spent the afternoon and night with him and his wife, Tina. The next day, we all got up - including Chuck Sr. and Tina - and got on the road to Pekin, IL. (Grandma Schuck lives there.) After spending two and a half days with her, we got in the car again on December 20th. This time our destination was Lindenhurst, IL, just north of Chicago. Here we spent five days with Chuck's Grandma and Grandpa Dunn, Uncle and Aunt Dunn and their kids, and his mom also flew in from VA for three of the days we were there. We spent Christmas with them. The day after Christmas we packed up again and headed three hours southeast to West Lafayette, IN. Here we spent two and a half days with my brother and his wife, my parents, and our newly acquired "Auntie" Sophie. December 29th found us in the car back to Memphis - where our poor dogs had been kenneled for the whole two weeks we were traveling. (Our other car was there as well.) We spent last night there. Today we started our track WEST to Las Vegas - it's all business now. Since yesterday was a long day, about 8 hours, we only did about five hours in the car today.

The rest of trip looks like this...

Tonight, December 30 - Fort Smith, Arkansas
December 31 - Amarillo, Tex-ass (Yes, we are spending our New Year in Texas!)
January 1 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
January 2 - FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA - one of our FAV places EVER!!!!
January 3 - The end of the road - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA..........

We take possession of our house on Friday, January 6th and our house hold goods are also delivered that day. My parents may be swinging through Vegas on their way from IN back to Kelso, but that has yet to be determined.

The kids are doing pretty well. Addison was never the concern - she is a great traveler. We were concerned about how Sawyer would do, but he has faired decently so far. He hates his carseat so we are dealing with that, but for a three month old baby, I feel he is doing better than I expected.

I am keeping our progress updated regularly on facebook. But check back soon for an updated post. Happy New Year!

More Pics from Grandparent's Visit

Grandparents Visit

The last week of October, Chuck's Grandma, Grandpa, and Mom came down to Florida to meet Mr. Sawyer. They happened to over lap just a bit with Chuck's sister and her husband so we had the whole crew here for a day. (Well, not even a day - a meal, breakfast.)

They were here for a week. Coming in on the Thursday before Halloween and leaving the Wednesday after. The plan was that we weren't going to do much, but it ended up being a really busy week. It was fun, but busy.

Of course we ate - that family is the definition of foodies. But this time we didn't eat out much - a few times here and there, but for the most part we stayed home. Grandma Edie is a fabulous cook and Charlie has certain things he loves for Grandma to make. I also had her teach me how to make peanut butter fudge - one of my favorite things that she makes. (Probably very dangerous knowing how to make it myself.) I may have gained all the baby weight I had lost back the week they were here...

We took them shopping at our favorite place to shop here - Pier Park. The kids made out like bandits. Mainly cold weather clothes. Living in Florida we don't have many of those in our wardrobe and we are going to need them for our trip North on the way to Vegas.

Halloween was while they were here so Grandma Edie and Grandma Kathie went out trick or treating with us for a bit. Sawyer wasn't interested so they ended up taking him back to the house while Chuck and I took Addie around the neighborhood. Grandpa JIm was nice enough to stay behind and hand out candy to the trick or treaters knocking on our door.

The day before they left, we took Edie to the beach. She had never seen the Gulf of Mexico so obviously, we had to change that. The white powder beach and blue/green water is a must on any visitor's list when they come here. It was a beautiful day - a little breezy but ended up being really wonderful on the beach. Addie decided that getting in the water would be fun and was knee deep in it with her jeans on. It was quite a site - jeans and a winter jacket standing and playing in the water. It was Sawyer's first trip to the beach so of course pictures were in order!

It was a great visit that went so fast. But we will be seeing them again very soon at their house for Christmas.