House hunting in VA

Most of you know that Gary is being PCS'd to Ft Myer, VA. This happens to be right outside of Washington D.C. We decided since the housing market is in such a crunch right now, it would be a wonderful time for us to purchase something up there that we would have never been able to afford a few years ago. So, I booked us some plane tickets, flew my mom in from GA to stay with the kids and Gary and I ventured off on a trip all by ourselves! Yes, I cried when I said goodbye to the boys, and in the airport waiting for the plane and on the plane to Houston. OK, I cried on the plane to Houston b/c I seriously-without-a-doubt didn't know if we would make it to Houston. I have flown quite a bit in my life and have NEVER been on a plane ride so bad in my entire life!!! Gary even thought the little twin engine was going to drop out of the sky at any moment. We were both terrified and nauseous when we finally did touch ground. On that plane ride I wondered if my boys would remember me, had I been a good mom? Had I left them written notes, pics, scrapbooks to read and view so they could know my love for them. Did I know where Gary's will was? OK, some horrible thoughts but they made me think and I am determined to spend more time on journaling, taking and scrap booking pictures, and keeping my affairs in order-just in case.

Anyways, househunting:
Tuesday: We arrived to MD in the afternoon in time to eat dinner with Will and Sarah, Aunt Nancy and my nieces and nephew. We then followed Aunt Nancy down to her house in La Plata where we would be staying for a few days.
Wed: we met with our realtor and looked at houses in Springfield, VA and then down in Woodbridge. Needless to say, we were very disappointed and frustrated by what we found and felt in our hearts. That night we went to dinner with Uncle Gary, Joyce, and Aunt Nancy at some really nice expensive restaurant where Uncle Gary was on a first name basis. (Interesting...)
Thursday: Aunt Nancy REALLY wanted us to look at some houses in MD and so we decided to please here and let her show us some and meet with our realtor in VA around lunch. The 1st house we went to-I immediately fell in love with but didn't want to say too much b/c of the drive for Gary, and the fact that we had not looked all over the DC areas yet. Then, our realtor in VA cancelled on us. I was PISSED!!! but maybe it was a blessing? I was like, "I spent 1000 bucks on plane tickets to get out here, you said you'd clear your schedule and now you cancel???" Gary and I decided to go to ALexandria anyways with Uncle Gary who had been hunting and scouring the countryside for the perfect house for us and check out the area. Once again, I had that pit in my stomach like the 1st day of looking. I mean, we were looking at houses that costs 350,000+ and they were tiny shacks with ripped up floors, no A/C and in really gross neighborhoods. I couldn't believe it! Well, that night we went to Fudruckers for dinner and I got to see my lil bro and his adorable wife, Kimmy. Along for the festivities was Gary's cousin Amy too. It was loads of fun. But, I was discouraged by the VA events and still thinking about the wonderful feeling I had at this particular house in MD.

Let me tell you about this house experience:
We walk up to the porch and see a Texas A&M rock in their garden. Hummmmm......ok. Interesting. The owner is there so I ask her if she's from TX. Yep, Corpus Christi actually. (bonus point #1) The house was adorable and set up much like mine is now. (bonus #2) She had 2 boys (bonus #3) She had a Wonderwoman purse hanging over one of her dinning room chairs (bonus #4) I walked outside into the backyard (which was completely fenced in plu room for kids to play), looked at Gary, and tears came to my eyes. I felt at peace, I felt love, I felt like I was home. (BONUS #5-10!!!!)

Ok, so back to Thursday night:
Gary and I got back to Aunt Nancy's and talked a lot about that house. I asked him how he felt when he was there. He had the same feeling of home as I did. We then prayed about it separately and together. We felt very good about buying it. 1st Gary wanted to make the drive from MD to his work.
Friday: We made the drive in 45mins (much less than expected), met all the people in Gary's new office, talked to them all for a long time and got some great info and advice on anything and everything. We then headed back to MD where we met with the realtor to look at the house once more (and a few others jus for kicks) and put a contract down.
Friday night we met Will and Sarah and went to Baltimore's inner harbor Little Italy for dinner, had some great Italian dessert, went back to their place to sleep.
Saturday: We caught a very early plane home to TX. Had another horrible flight from Houston to Killeen. Got home exhausted. Held and kissed our boys a ton and went to bed VERY early!!!

Needless to say, we are now extremely busy with preparations for our move out to Maryland. We have sold our house here in TX (well we close soon anyways) and all is well. God has blessed us more than we had even hoped or dreamed. We knew it would take a lot of faith and work to make miracles happen and so we prayed and prepared for weeks before the trip and sure enough Heavenly Father blessed us more than we could have imagined. The timing has been perfect, the house is perfect, the love we feel from Him and for each other is perfect.

Prayer works, Faith works and brings about mighty miracles. We have been so blessed and I am so grateful.

Here's our new home in MD!

30, flirty, and fancy free!

Today is my birthday.
Yep, I'm 30 and proud of it!
No, I am not sad-I earned this honor!
Age is beauty.
I feel smarter, happier, and lovelier at 30 than ever before in my life.
I will post more later cause I am getting ready to have a Wonderwoman/ farewell party tonight.

YAY 30!!!

Favorite pasttime

Here are some videos of the boys partaking in their favorite pasttime:

Wrestle mania w/ Daddy!

These were took on Monday night (does this count as FHE?) The video is horrible quality but I couldn't not post them. (FYI: My camera stinks!!!) You'll see the boys pinching Gary's nose, that is his on/off switch. It did not take Ammon long to catch on to this fact and he had loads of fun turning his Daddy on and off. Just thought I'd share. Man, these boys are getting sooo big sooo fast. It gives me great pleasure to watch them interact like this. It makes my heart swell. I just love my boys and I love my husband and I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!

How many times???

How many times do I get approached about my 3 boys?
How many times have I been asked if all 3 are mine?
How many times do I get asked if I'm having another boy?
How many times do I have to watch the shock, pity, or amusement on their faces?
How many times will they ask if I'm going to keep trying till I get a girl?
How many times do I have to say how much I love my boys?

I LOVE MY BOYS!!!

Enough said, now quit gawking!

Love notes

My sweetheart is in Mexico this week on a protective service mission and all the sudden I feel very sappy. So, I started writing him love notes. I used to write him love notes when we dated and when he was in Basic training but they were always hard for me to write. I am NOT a "words of affirmation" girl. (Don't know what I'm talking about: read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman) In fact, Gary loves words and uses them for everything. He talks people to death at work with his interrogations, when the kids get into trouble its like a 5-15 min discussion on what they did, he tells me he loves me all the time and is quite content to leave it at that. I have frequently sang him the refrain from My Fair Lady, "Don't Say a Word, SHOW ME!!!" He knows I am a acts of service person. Don't tell me you like me or admire me or love me, show me. You don't have to buy me anything, just do something nice for me. I often tell him to do a chore without me asking, write me an email or call me in the middle of the day for no other reason but that you were thinking about me, etc,etc.

So here I am: 7 months pregnant with my 4th little boy, in constant amazement at my other 3 and how beautiful they are and how blessed I am and I am finding myself the sentimental sap writing love letters via email to my gringo husband in Mexico.

Man, I love that man of mine! This morning in the shower I thought about the first time he kissed me. What a great memory to relive! So I wrote him an email all about it and hopefully, he will smile all day long knowing that I am still completely in love with him!

This is Gary and me in his room at Ricks College (past the chasity line...gasp!) My scanner is going out so we are a bit washed out but you get the picture. So cute, so young, so in love!

House Offer

Yep, we got an offer on our beautiful house in Texas. Too bad the offer was pathetic! OH! I hate negotiations. I hate feeling like I'm being had and I HATE feeling desperate! I am praying for divine inspiration. I know that if this is God's will-all will work out for the best. I have to believe that, know that, and act upon that. Wish me luck!

I love my boys

(oops sideways pic-"Best Friends")

Many people wonder how crazy I have to be to have 3 boys with another on the way. I hear all sorts of stuff when I am out and about with them:
"Three boys? You have your hands full!"
"Are they all yours?"
"Is the next one a girl? (I answer nope, my 4th boy) Oh you poor thing!"
"Are you going to keep going until you have a girl?"
"How do you do it with 3 boys?"
On and on, yada, yada, yada.

Let me tell you why I am not going crazy and lossing my mind. Is it b/c I have a wonderfully supportive husband that does anything I ask of him?...(insert HUGE laugh here) Sure, Gary is a wonderul daddy and the boys adore him but he is AWFUL at multitasking. He has gotten LOADS better though so I cannot complain. If he watches the boys, they are watched, that's it. He is actually great at the bed time routine: He feeds them, gets them in their PJ's, reads them books, says prayers, sings songs, and then says goodnight. Pretty good huh?!?
No, it is not Gary's wonderful abilities as a dad or my amazing house keeping, child rearing skills. They are just good kids who play nicely together.

Seriously, I have to buy a camera just so I can video record them playing together. It's amazing! I can be cleaning the house for hours, paying bills, talking on the phone, etc-and they are in the toy room playing Legos or Star Wars figurines or cars or ....the list goes on and on. Now, this does not mean there are never any disputs or fights-it just means they are few and far between. My kids do not get into things they are not supposed to. No BBQ sauce on the rug, no crayons on walls, no glue stuck in my carpet. (Thank you Father for sending me OCD kids!)

All in all I feel like a very blessed lady with extremely wonderful children whom I adore and cannot even express how much I love them!