Goodbye Mr. President

2009 has brought forth major changes in our country already. We said goodbye to one President and welcomed in another. I'm not a political person, but I guess I did get caught up in all the patriotism this week. We began our inauguration viewing on Monday as Gabriella and I watched the Kids Inauguration event on Disney. For those wondering what Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers have to do with the inauguration, the show was actually pretty good! Except, Mr. Jamie Foxx, the quote is "Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country." Oops, guess those cue cards were reversed! But overall it was entertaining to both me and my 3 year old and not many shows can do that.

On Tuesday, I wasn't fortunate enough to witness the inauguration in person, however, I did watch the swearing in and other events on TV. Maybe you don't agree with Bush, but it was a big day to say bye to our nation's leader. And maybe you didn't vote for Obama, but witnessing our country's first black President get sworn in was definitely a historical day! Now, like I said I am NOT a political person. I do vote, but I don't get involved in politics. My husband will watch CNN all day if he could. And my mom loves MSNBC. My poor dad has had no choice but to watch the campaigning, election news, and such for the last several months! For me, though, anything 'political' is not really my cup of tea. However, on Tuesday, Gabriella and I DID attend President Bush's homecoming in Midland.

When I first heard he was coming, I really wasn't too interested. I picked up a free ticket they were giving away, but I didn't think I would actually go. Maybe it was the excitement of the inauguration or the Disney show I watched the night before, but when I woke up on Tuesday I suddenly wanted to at least try to go. I mean, how often does a President (especially one so recent) visit your area?? And since we live only 20 miles away I really wanted to attempt to go. So, I left Caden with my grandma and decided to take Gabriella with me for company. I knew they were expecting about 20,000 people so I thought if we can't get in, then that's ok, at least we tried. When we got to Midland, though, everything was so well organized. The parking lots were cleared so we didn't have to park too far. In fact, right when we got there another mom and her son were just arriving, so we kind of 'hung out' throughout the event. The line to get in was moving fast, so we got in pretty quickly. There was already a large crowd, but I was determined to find a good spot. So, me, Gabriella in her stroller, the other mom (I never got her name!) and her son in his stroller headed straight into the crowd attempting to get as close as we possibly could. Have you ever pushed a stroller in a crowd?! Yeah. Not easy or fun. People were getting annoyed, but the majority were helpful and let us through. Luckily we found a spot. Not that close, but we did have a way better view than we did before, so we set up camp. We had a good view of one of the big screens they had set up and if you squinted we could see the podium. At this point I was surprised at myself for actually making it out there for this event. But once I was there it was actually fun! They passed out little flags and cardboard red, white and blue "W"s. Gabriella enjoyed playing with the flags and holding up her W when everyone else did. Lee Greenwood, the Gatlin Brothers and Rodney Atkins performed. I thought the music would be Gabriella's favorite part, but since that coincided with nap time, poor girl fell asleep during all the loud music! Of course she woke up when we were waiting for President Bush to get there... As we waited the audience was told that his plane was going to fly over the crowd before he landed. I stood there with my camcorder zoomed into the sky. No one expected how close to the crowd his plane would actually fly! I couldn't zoom out fast enough! Shortly after, the Bush's arrived- right when I had a cranky 3 year old wake up. She did pretty good, however, I was trying to video President Bush (on my tip toes so I could zoom in on him and Laura Bush) while dealing with Gabriella in her stroller. So, the video came out shaky. Eric tried to watch it later that night, but was a little frustrated at my camera skills. Personally, I think he was just a little jealous that he couldn't be there! Overall, though, it was actually fun. I found myself waving at Bush when he waved at the crowd. Like he was really going to see me in a crowd of 30,000!

And maybe you don't agree with Bush's administration, but it was fun to welcome home a fellow Texan. It was neat to be a part of Bush's first moments as a "former" President. And it was so cool too look around the crowd and see the diversity of people that were there. Babies, senior citizens, students, men, women, all ethnicities...putting aside all their differences to take part in this special event. There may never be another President from this area in my lifetime. So to be there, in the same town, same place with a former leader of the U.S. will definitely be a day I'll remember. And even though Gabriella is too young to understand and even fell asleep during the rally, at least she can grow up and say that she 'saw' a President in person. Hopefully she'll appreciate how I wanted her to be a part of something special. So, goodbye President Bush and hello President Obama.

Little Drummer Boy

No, the little drummer boy is NOT my brother-in-law! It's out little guy. In case you haven't seen it, here is a video my brother-in-law posted a while back. Caden LOVES the drums. My favorite part is when he walks away. It's like he's saying "I'm done. Did what I needed to do and I'm outta here!"

Anyway, keep our little drummer boy in prayer today. He has an ear infection. This isn't our first. Unfortunately it's hard to know that he has one. He doesn't act sick, run a fever or pull on his ears. Last night, though, he couldn't go to bed because every time he laid on his left ear he cried and said it hurt. Of course, he blamed it on Gabriella- saying she hit him! But there was no evidence of that. Since he was hurting I gave him Tylenol. Poor baby, kept waking up at night saying his ear hurt and asking for more medicine! Then this morning he was running a fever, which he never has before. So, sure enough- ear infection! He does have antibiotics now, but he obviously doesn't feel well. So keep him in your prayers. TIA!

Looking back at 2008...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. As we all know, with the new year comes New Year's resolutions! I am not a big fan of resolutions, but I did make one this year. And my resolution this year is to blog more. A friend of mine recently started one and has already blogged more than I did all year! So, to start off the year this blog is just looking back on a few of our family experiences in 2008.

In June, Gabriella took her first dance class ever! It was a tap/ballet combo and she loved it. Of course if anyone knows me then they'll know how excited that made ME. Here is a picture of her on her first day of class. She is still taking a ballet/tap combo class and will have her first BIG recital in May.
In July, we took our 1st family vacation! It was a big deal for us because we had TWO little ones and one LONG drive. But it went well! We drove 10 hours to Houston (Katy) to spend some time with my nephew and nieces. They have always lived in another town so I LOVE getting to spend time with them when I get the chance. It seems just like yesterday when my nephew, Caleb, was born and now he's 14! And of course Gabriella got to spend time with Caitlin and Chloe. I never thought my kids and my brother's kids would ever be close since my brother and I are 9 years apart. Luckily, the younger ones are close in age and play very well together. And Caleb and Caitlin are great with my little ones so it's just a blast when we get together. After spending time with them we headed to San Antonio for a few days of fun at Sea World and the San Antonio Zoo. Our first day we tried to go to the zoo, but we were tired from the 3 hour drive to San Antonio and it was hot! The kids were tired and cranky so after an hour we called it quits and checked into our hotel. Gabriella was so excited when we got to the hotel room. She thought it was the coolest place. Both of the kids also enjoyed the whirlpool tub we had in our room. They thought it was their own personal swimming pool! We spent 2 full days at Sea World and the kids had a blast. They enjoyed feeding the sea lions, spending one full day in the water park, and watching the shows. They still talk about Shamu and ask all the time to go back. Here is a picture of my silly kids. Eric was so determined to get the perfect picture in front of the sign.... unfortunately it didn't happen because they were more interested in getting inside the park. This was the best picture we got of them.

August brought forth Gabriella's first day of preschool! We enrolled her in a 3 day a week program and she goes from 9-11:30. She was actually more excited than I thought. I think on the first day I was more nervous than she was. If she was nervous, she sure didn't act like it! I took her to school, walked her in and she went straight into her classroom...no tears! She is still going to school and loves it. It's amazing how much she has grown in these past few months, though. Here she is on the first day of school and she already looks different!

Then in September, our little boy turned 2. Since he loves Elmo and Sesame Street we had a Sesame party for him. Each table had a different character theme and we had a few games for the kids to play and win prizes. Then to top it off, we had 2 guest appearances. Yep, Big Bird and Cookie Monster came by to take pictures with the kids! I was actually pleasantly surprised that most of the kids weren't scared and wanted to take the pictures. In this picture Caden is a little unsure...He hears daddy's voice inside, but it sure doesn't look like daddy! My husband had this great idea that if he could find a Big Bird type costume then he would dress up. Of course that sent me on a mission to find one! True to his word, Eric dressed up like Big Bird, walked around and took pictures with the kids (and adults!) that were there. The costume may not look exactly like the big yellow bird we see on TV, but when he walked out all the kids knew who he was. My brother-in-law also dressed up like Cookie Monster. Now every time Caden watches Sesame Street he says "Daddy Big Bird" or "Marcus Cookie". So, at least for a while I guess he'll remember them dressing up for his birthday. Either that or he believes that daddy IS Big Bird and that Uncle Marcus is Cookie Monster!

And that brings us to 2009. I hope my trip down memory lane didn't bore anyone and to those who are still reading, thanks for joining in. I hope everyone's 2009 is off to a great start! I hope to update more frequently, so be sure to check in once in a while.