Christmas Day

The tree was trimmed, the stockings were hung, we all finally went to sleep... I think Santa came!

I guess we were good this year because Santa found us all the way in Hawaii. These Wizard of Oz puppets were actually from Nana and Papa, not Santa, but don't they look cute hanging out of our stockings! Julianna was very excited to see all of the gifts when she woke up in the morning.

It was a slow morning due to the fact that Julianna wanted to play with each item before moving on to the next. Fortunately we had no place go to so we just went with the flow. It was a nice leisurely day. We actually did a lot of unpacking after we were done with our gifts.

She had a very Wizard of Oz themed Christmas. She got the puppets above, and a Dorothy dress to match. Her friend Savannah also sent her an adorable bracelet with each of the characters on it. She loved it all! She also got some barbie lip gloss which is the reason for the face she is making in this pic.

Mason got some trucks and several other fun toys. I love his smile.

Now it's almost 2010. I can't believe how fast this year went by and all of the changes that have occurred. Last Christmas we were living in Memphis and found out the next day that were going to have a baby! Since then we have moved to Jacksonville, Pensacola and here we are in Hawaii as a family of 4. What a year! :) Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Before we knew it Christmas Eve was here. We had managed to clean out the living room enough for Santa to leave his goodies and put up our stockings and a little tree. We got the kids all dressed up in their cute little smocked outfits and tried to pretend it felt like Christmas!

Mason had no idea what was going on but he sure did look cute. He's such a happy little guy. :)

These are the 2 most precious gifts I have ever received.

We were invited to a friends house for dinner. We brought a birthday cake for Jesus.

Then the kids changed into their Christmas jammies. I love those hineys!!!

Julianna filled Mason in on what was going to happen. They both decided the better go to bed so Santa would come our way!!

Can I get a AMEN?

We are IN the house and almost everything is put away. It is already starting to feel like home. Julianna loves her new room, Mason's little nursery is ADORABLE and the backyard is wonderful. We are SO excited to be here and finally settle down for a bit.

We had a nice Christmas, a little strange being just the 4 of us with no place to go, but nice none the less. We had WAY too many gifts that were sent to us and enjoyed opening each one. Our internet and cable just got connected today but I will be sure to post some pics ASAP.

Julianna is feeling MUCH better. Her fever has been gone since Tuesday and only a cough is lingering. Mason has a little cold too but is doing well.

He had his 4 month check up and shots today and checked out just fine. My favorite comment from the doctor was, "He's a big boy, you know that... right?" haha Yeah I know it... I have to carry him around all day long! He weighed in at 15lbs, 14oz and 25.2 inches long.

See you soon with some Christmas pics. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!!!

New Home

First of all, thank you for your prayers and messages for Julianna. She is feeling a little better. Her fever has gone down and hopefully the antibiotics will work quickly for her. She had a bit more personality today than yesterday so I am hoping that is a good sign.

Secondly, we have our house and our stuff arrived safely on Monday. So far no major damage to any of our goods!! Ike has been working so hard at the house (alone) to get things put away for us. I have been staying with the kids at the condo since Julianna has been so sick. So things are going a little slower than usual but we'll get it all done. Hopefully the kids will be entertained with all of their new (old) stuff tomorrow and we can get some good work accomplished.

We won't get our cable and internet hooked up for a week or more so I will be out of touch for a while. I'll be back with pictures of our Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Need Prayers

Please pray for our sweet little Julianna. She has been sick since Thursday when she woke up in the middle of the night with a low grade fever. Friday the fever stuck around and got a little higher. Each day it has gotten worse and worse until last night (Sunday night) it went to a high of 104.2. It really scared Ike and I so we took her in to the ER at 2am. They did a chest x-ray and at first sent us home saying everything was fine. Then I got a call the next morning saying after they re-analyzed her scan they determined that she did in fact have pneumonia. I was shocked because she had just started a little cough that afternoon, but nothing I thought sounded serious. She is now on antibiotics but the fever has not gone away and she is exhausted and just all around miserable. Please pray for her to feel better soon and for us to all stay healthy. She breaks my heart so pitiful and the thought of Mason getting it too is just too much for me. Not to mention that our belongings were delivered to our new house today (Monday) and I couldn't be there to help Ike do ANYTHING because I was here with the kids. He is at the house tonight working on getting rooms put together so that we can make a smooth transition for the kids. The timing of this has been pretty unfortunate but we're hanging on. Just continue to lift us up in prayer, please.

Ok, ok... I get it

So, everyone keeps asking, "Where are the pics of Hawaii?" Well, in my defense, we haven't seen much of it yet. We arrived on the 8th, Ike went in to work the next morning and we only have one car right now, so we have been a little stuck on the base. We have taken a trip to the Honolulu Zoo and been into the town of Kailua but that's about it. We have been to the beach twice now. But when I say "been" to the beach I mean we went and walked, took a few pics, and 10 minutes later we left. Today we did get some pretty pics so I figured they were good enough to share.

In other news, we move into our house tomorrow which makes us very excited. However, Julianna has been feeling under the weather with a fever for the past 4 days. Poor thing! She is such a trooper though. It ranges anywhere from 99.9 to 102.5 at any given time, even with Tylenol every 4 hrs. That is going to put a little damper on our move in tomorrow because she can't go play with a friend while Ike and I are at the house getting stuff straight. Unfortunately, now I will be at the doctors office with the kids while Ike takes care of the house. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that she will feel better soon... really soon... like, BEFORE CHRISTMAS! Enjoy the pics. It is beautiful here!

Somebody has to do it...

I guess we'll take one for the team.

Our Maryland Week

OK, I've got a LOT of pictures to share from our BUSY week in Maryland. Grab a cup of coffee and clear a few minutes to check them all out. We had so much fun and got to see so many people... still there just never seems to be enough time to fit it all in. I also forgot my camera several times (gasp!) so I don't have any evidence of those events. For example, we had a belated Thanksgiving dinner with the Redmer side of my family with all of my Aunts, Uncles, cousins and their kids.... not one picture to prove it! BUMMER!!! Anyway, enjoy the many pictures below.

We got to take advantage of the cold weather and the fact that it actually IS winter and help NeeNee and PopPop pick out a Christmas tree.


Ike and Mason enjoyed a nap on the sofa before we went to visit...


Annie B! She is my grandmother's best friend and since my grandmother passed away several years ago I have always felt like she is my adopted grandmother. She loves to visit with the kids and keeps up with all that we have going on.


Then we headed to Chestertown, MD where I went to college (Washington College) to visit with some friends that I "worked" with. I put work in quotes because basically they worked and I entertained them with stories and occasionally did something helpful. They all work in the Health Services department and I would do random stuff like file charts, put together "sick bags" with sore throat tabs, sudafed, chicken noodle soup, etc.


Well, 2 of the gals I worked with, Vickie and Dawn, are now proud grandmas to Landon who is just a few weeks older than Mason. Their children ended up dating and getting married. How cool is that?


Vickie invited us all to her house for lunch and her husband showed Julianna his train display in their basement. It's pretty impressive. HUGE.. This is only about 1/4 of it. It takes up most of their basement. The trains even blow smoke! Julianna loved it. Who am I kidding, I did too! It made me feel like a kid.

Then we drove over to Annapolis to walk around the Naval Academy. Ike and I had our own little Alumni day! haha It is such a beautiful place. We can't wait for the opportunity to move back there. I know I have said it 100 times and I will probably say it 100 more. If you have never been to Annapolis you HAVE to go. Lovely.

Me and my chickens by the river.

Daddy and his future midshipman?

Look at those sweet cheeks. I could eat them right off his face! Nummmnmmm.

How sexist of me.... maybe this is his future midshipman!

While we were there we had to swing by our old 'hood. We had dinner with The Naro Family.

Audrey has gotten so big. She was only 3 months old when we moved. Look at her now!!

The next day we met my girlfriend Rachel for lunch at the Annapolis Mall. That mall has gotten BIG! They have added so much since we lived there. There are a bunch more restaurants including McCormick and Schmick's Seafood where we had a DELICIOUS lunch. Love me some Maryland seafood!

Rachel and I went to Washington College together then I followed her to Johns Hopkins University for nursing school as well. She was one of the bridesmaids in our wedding. And I MISS HER! So good to see each other.

And we saw Santa again.

And rode another random mini carousel. 50 cents can make this girl so happy sometimes.

We played dress up with Mason. Lieutenant Commander Stutts reporting for duty. :)

We were invited to dinner by the Meredith Family. I have known Miss Mollye since I was in preschool. Her daughters have been friends of mine forever. Tawney (one of the twins) had a baby one month after Mason was born. Miss Mollye is also a WONDERFUL cook so she didn't have to twist my arm to come over to dinner.

Me and the twins. Stephanie on the left and Tawney on the right. They don't look alike at all to me but some people still get them mixed up!

Julianna helped NeeNee decorate this little tree in the back porch.

NeeNee did this big tree by herself. Mom was disappointed because her tree last year was bigger... this one is HUGE! And the part that really makes me laugh... this is only about 1/3 of the ornaments she used to have. Since Chad and I got married we each got the ornaments that belonged to us. Can you imagine the amount of ornaments that were on our trees growing up! Mom has always made a beautiful tree.

We played dress up with Mason again. This was an outfit that went on a teddy bear from The Naval Academy.

Then it was time to play dress up with Julianna. See the picture on the wall. My mom made that dress that I am wearing, I was 4 in the picture. She wanted to see if it would fit Julianna.

Are you all still reading? Back to Annapolis we headed, this time we were leaving Mason with these two to babysit while we went to enjoy the Naval Academy Men's Glee Club perform The Messiah. I never get tired of hearing that sung. Of course it was way more fun when I knew half of the people singing.

Like the 3 with me in this picture. They all sang with the USNA glee clubs! That's how Ike and I met!!!

We got to see our kitty cat, Caffrey. I miss him, mew mew mew.

We saw cousin Garrett. He is 3 months younger than Julianna. Yes, you read that right. He is a BIG BOY.

Anyone else watch Ace of Cakes on Food Network? Well even though I lived in Baltimore for 2 years I had never been by the bakery. I decided to be a tourist and get my pic taken in front of it.

We went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory with NeeNee and PopPop. Their dishes are SO BIG but SO GOOD. The sad part is that we were so full we didn't have room for cheesecake. What's the point?

Julianna was kind of over the whole Santa experience, especially since by this point she had seen him 3 times. So, Mom and I decided to get our pic done without her. We have lists for him too! We've been good Santa!!!!! :)

As you can see it was a busy week. We spent this night in Baltimore since our flight to Hawaii was early the next morning. More from our travel day to come. Thanks for sticking around for all of these photos.