Happy Birthday, Ben!

Happy Birthday to Ben!

Ben and Jon caught nine crab this weekend and had quite a feast on Sunday. We all went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday and got three pumpkins to carve on Halloween. Jon brought a fresh salmon fillet to the house and cooked it on a cedar plank for Saturday's dinner. I did have a bite. Lauren tried it and liked it. She said it was yummy and ate quite a bit of it.

Natalie had her big developmental clinic on Friday and they didn't really say anything new. They're going to do some tests on her bladder and kidneys just because we haven't done studies on them before. Eventually they want to do a study (probably by ultrasound) of her heart, too. They just want to make sure they check everything so if she has any problems we catch them soon. We're getting a new referral for her physical therapy so she can go to a pediatric physical therapist where she'll get PT, OT and Speech Therapy. It should be more comprehensive, and she'll have therapists who deal with kids all the time. This Thursday I'm taking her up to Seattle Children's Hospital again so she can have some tests done with the hematologists to see if they have any input or if we can get a better idea about what is going on with the clot in her brain. Then next week she goes to see the ophthalmologist, which will be the first appointment she's had with them since we got here. I'm anticipating surgery on her eyes, and hope they can do it before Ben deploys in the spring.

Lauren is going to be a candy corn for Halloween. I picked up tiger ears and a tail for myself and Natalie is going to wear the chili pepper costume that Lauren wore for her first Halloween. I picked up a double jogging stroller on Craigslist for $40 last week and Jon did a quick fix up on the brakes for me. I can take the girls out more easily now. The weather finally turned and it's been colder and more overcast. We've had a few days in the 50s now.

Lauren starts ballet next Friday and I'm still considering putting her in part day preschool. She said she'd like to go, so I'm going to see what her options are.

Ready, Set, Change!

We officially got our orders for Germany! In May 2009 we'll go to Fort Rucker, Alabama (again) for Ben to do the Instructor Pilot Course. That's about 6 weeks long and then we head to Germany. We have a lot of details to find out and get through, but I am so excited about it! Our good friends (Katrina and her family) also got orders to the same unit, so that makes it really exciting.


Here's a picture of me from earlier this month. I realized I haven't been posting many pregnancy pictures. I still haven't heard from the hospital in San Antonio. I did put a call in to the OB Case Manager here to see if she could tell me anything, but I'm waiting to hear back from her now, too.

I have an appointment with our realtor today. She's coming over at 2 to walk through the house and make some notes, then I'll have another appointment with her later to go over everything. I know the housing market generally is not good, but hopefully this area will do ok with the base. I'll have to finish this post up shortly so I can do a few more things before she gets here.

Ben's birthday is coming up in less than a week. I wish he was going to be home before then, but that's ok. He will be home soon enough.

This weekend Katrina came over and repainted my master bathroom. It's a really really pretty light blue color called "Sapphireberry" and it is so peaceful in there now.

The weather has also finally started to get a little bit cooler. We've been in the 70s just about every day, even if it has been the high 70s. I would love for it to be in the high 60s already, but I think we still have a lot of warm days ahead of us. I guess I should get my fill of them now before we head to Germany. :)

Pumpkins!

Today we went to a Christmas Tree Farm up in Temple. They had a pumpkin patch and we took the kids. We went with our friends Brandi, Katrina and her daughters, Mandy and her son, and Katherine and her son. There was a pumpkin stand, a haystack to play in, a pumpking painting area, a gift shop and a hay ride.


Lauren also found the tetherball games and liked to push the ball around. Last night she had a bit of a fever and felt better with some tylenol, but she was still a little down at the pumpkin patch. I don't think she had fully recovered and there was so much to do and see while she was there. But she had a good time. After the pumpkin patch we went to our friend, Mandy's house for dinner. She made pumpkin lasagna which was pretty good. I had never had that before.

On Saturday we went to Salado's Christmas in October which was put on in a big tent by the civic center. There wasn't much to it, but we did go in a few shops and stop and get ice cream, which I think was the highlight of it all.

I don't have any new news about the baby right now. I'm waiting to hear from the hospital in San Antonio about when my appointment will be. As soon as I know anything I will let everyone know. I'm also still waiting to hear about when Ben will come home. It should be by the end of this month, but I have not heard anything at all from the command yet. There is also a rumor that we will be getting orders by Friday. Of course, we've been hearing that for a while.

About the only other exciting thing around here that I have to report is that our Cracker Barrel is opening a week from tomorrow. I am actually looking forward to going for breakfast. And Ben's birthday is two weeks from today. Hopefully he'll be home for that. If you are looking for an idea for his birthday, he has only asked for Amazon.com gift certificates.

Hurricanes bring lots of rain

...but not to us.  I thought we would get lots of rain and lots of wind, but we didn't get either one.  We got about 10 minutes of rain and the winds weren't very strong.  But that's nothing to complain about.  And for the next 10 days on the forecast, the temperature is in the 80s, so that's a nice break for us.  I'm thinking maybe on Thursday I'll get a chance to take Lauren up to the zoo in Waco again.

This weekend we didn't do anything.  I've been watching my friend's son today and we watched him yesterday.  She's studying for a big exam she'll take on Thursday, so she just needed a couple hours today and yesterday to read in peace.

Ben is doing well.  If you are looking for ideas for his birthday present, get him a gift certificate to Amazon.com.  He has his eye on a new GPS system and so gift certificates are all that he is asking for.

On Friday, Lauren was climbing in the living room and she fell.  She scraped up the underside of her nose, it's starting to scab over.  It looks awful.  She just said that her face "bounced" on the couch, but she can't tell me really anything else.  I think it will heal just fine if I can get her to stop picking at it.  I think it's starting to itch.

I am working on going to Albuquerque for the start of the Balloon Fiesta.  If I get out there, it will be October 1-6.