Blake's 2nd Birthday

Our baby boy turned 2 today, hard to believe! We had a great day. We woke up and went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel where Blake ate pancakes like we have never seen him eat pancakes...ha ha! Then we went to a 12pm mass and headed home to let the kids get in the pool for a about an hour or so. Then we did gifts and went to the park and finally cake and ice cream. It was just the five of us and it was really special!
Blake got his hair cut yesterday which I love because it makes him look so little. I wish time would stand still, he is so much fun right now and McKenzie and Michael love him to death. We just had his 2 year pictures taken and they should be back this week sometime and I will get them out.
Here are some pictures and video from our day. Hope this finds everyone doing well.

OUR NEW HOME!!

Just wanted to send out a picture of us standing in front of our new home! Been waiting for military housing for months now and this is what they offered us! I guess we'll take it! ;) The funniest part about this picture is while we were standing there Michael Jr. yelled out "Dad there's Obama on top of the house" Big Michael and I thought we would die and tried to quiet him while explaining to him that it wasn't Obama but a security gaurd! Ha Ha

TRYING TO CATCH UP!!

OK SO IT'S BEEN OVER 3 MONTHS SINCE OUR LAST POST. THE ONLY THING I CAN SAY IS "MILITARY FAMILY IN ROUTE" HA HA! WE LEFT FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS ON JUNE 12TH AND ARRIVED WASHINGTON D.C. JUNE 14TH. WE MADE THE TRIP QUICKLY WITH HOPES THAT GETTING OUR NAME ON THE HOUSING LIST WOULD INCREASE OUR CHANCES OF GETTING HOUSEING SOONER ON POST. DID IT WORK? NOPE!WHEN WE ARRIVED THEY TOLD US 4-6 MONTHS, NOW AFTER BEING HERE FOR 3 MONTHS THEY TELL US 6-9 MONTHS. WE HAVE MOVED INTO A 2 BEDROOM APT COMPLEX FOR THE TIME BEING WITH HOPES THAT IT WILL BE SO MUCH SOONER. THE APT IS O.K...LITERALLY!! OUR NEIGHBORS WAKE UP AROUND 930PM EVERY NIGHT AND THE NOISE DOESN'T STOP UPSTAIRS(WE ARE ON THE BOTTOM LEVEL) THE DOG MESS IS CRAZY! THAT IS ALL I WILL SAY ABOUT THAT ONE! THE REPAIRS ON OUR APT HAVE NOT BEEN WHAT WE THOUGHT WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPARED TO WHAT THEY SHOWED US IN THE MODEL APT THAT WE CAME TO SEE. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF LITTLE MICHAELS BIKE(WHICH HE JUST GOT A WEEK AGO) THE TIRES AND WHEELS WERE STOLEN WHILE LOCKED UP. THAT WAS A VERY SICK FEELING TO THINK THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE THAT IN OUR WORLD TODAY....SAD...SAD...SAD! WORSE YET THE BIKES WERE LOCKED UP RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR DOOR(MAYBE 20 FEET FROM OUR DOOR)!! OH WELL IT'S DONE AND NOW WE MUST JUST PRAY THAT OUR NAME MOVES UP THE HOUSING LIST QUICKLY!
WE HAD A GOOD TRIP FOR THE MOST PART! BLAKE GOT PNEMONIA AFTER ARRIVING WASHINGTON D.C(THANKFULLY MY MOM WAS VISITING AND WAS ABLE TO HELP). ALSO THANKFULLY HE SPENT MANY DAYS IN AND OUT OF THE HOSPITAL AND WAS GIVEN PROPER TREATMENT TO HEAL. THEN WE HEADED TO FLORIDA TO SPEND TIME WITH MICHAEL'S MOM AND DAD, BROTHER FRANK AND WIFE BETSY AND BROTHER JOHN AND WIFE WILMA AND SON LOGAN. ALSO, BROTHER VINCENT(WHO IS FROM NEWBURGH, N.Y.) MET US IN FLORIDA WHICH WAS GREAT! SO IT WAS A GREAT TRIP. WE WERE ABLE TO SPEND 6 DAYS IN DISNEY WORLD WHICH WAS REALLY GREAT. THIS YEAR THEY OFFERED FREE ADMISION FOR BIG MICHAEL AND REDUCED ADMISION FOR ME AND THE KIDS SO WE WERE ABLE TO GO. IT WAS GREAT BUT AGREED IT WILL BE BETTER WHEN BLAKE IS OLDER. THE FIREWORKS AT CINDERELLA'S CASTLE THE NIGHT BEFORE WE LEFT WERE AMAZING!
THE HARDEST PART NOW IS THE KIDS DON'T GO BACK TO SCHOOL HERE UNTIL THE FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER SO WE ARE TRYING TO FIND THINGS TO DO WITHOUT TRAVELING TO FAR. THE WEEKENDS ARE SO MUCH FUN BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH HISTORY HERE TO SEE, SO WE ARE TRYING TO SEE AS MUCH AS WE CAN BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS BACK UP FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
MICHAEL'S JOB IS THE EXECUTIVE(XO) OFFICER OF 1ST BATTALION, THIRD INFANTRY REGIMANT. FOR THOSE THAT ARE NOT CONNECTED TO THE MILITARY THAT MEANS THAT HE IS 2ND IN CHARGE OF THE BATTALION. MEANING HE IS IN CHARGE OF ABOUT 650 GUYS.
HOPE THIS FINDS YOU ALL DOING WELL. I WILL TRY AND UPDATE SOONER...PROMISE!
SURE HOPE THIS FINDS YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES DOING WELL!
THERE ARE LOTS OF PICTURES TO SEE...HOPE YOU ENJOY!

Guess what? Blake's going to Disney World

Pictures of Blake with his Disney World T-shirt on from Grandma an Daddy-O!

Mother's Day

Just a few pictures from Mother's Day today! Hope you all had a wonderful day. Michael made a wonderful breakfast this morning and then we went to church together. I have a few pictures of Blake before mass....so cute and the beautiful flowers that Michael and the kids got me. Missed being around family but so glad Michael makes times like this so special!