McPherson Marathon

Block Leave 2011/2012

2012-01-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

For those not in the military - block leave is the designated time you are allowed to take your vacation time when your unit is deploy-able. We took the full 10 days offered and headed out of town for some fun times in DC!! We spent the first few days at Lewis Family B&B hanging out with some friends from AK - this was dubbed Operation DC and was a success. We rang in the new year playing games and laughing, Molly and Riley partied until the dropped. We then went to the McPherson's and had a fun visit with everyone and then headed onto the Head's for a few days. The camera knew we were looking for a replacement so it decided not to allow us any pictures so I have grabbed a few from others and here is the picture story of block leave. We did come with some time to spare so Jon could get some rest before hitting the ground running at work.
Molly on Brad's shoulders even though she is capable of walking and there was a double stroller - this is how rough leave was for her:)
Riley having to try some more fudge - also a rough time for her:)
This is what New Year's looked like for us - Molly crawled up in front of Jon and fell asleep after playing games, eating candy and running around.
The ladies- Me, Val, Tina and Ashley after an afternoon of sightseeing (I promise there was sun at one point that is the only reason I have the sunglasses)
Riley roughing it yet again
Tina showing how sad she is to have to host the group of us and go downtown to tour guide again:)

Riley continued to rough it at both grandparents house - can you see the anguish in her face.
Chuck E Cheese - the girls loved it and so did the big kids. Not naming names but one amazing lady won the skeet ball competition and lets not worry about the football or ticket contest they don't matter as much.
Granny and Jon were doing an art project with Molly so Riley and I adventured around Port Discovery. Can you tell she doesn't like being put down but mean old mommy didn't hold her every second.
Riley's first ride - it started to vibrate halfway through and she didn't seem to mind.
Molly on stage singing with Chuck E and the band
Molly at Port Discovery - as a joke we asked her to get in the mummy thing (spell check not helping me) thinking she wouldn't but she loved it in there. She kept playing peek a boo with us as she closed the case on herself. We did end up dragging her away after awhile.
Duck pin bowling - Molly could carry the balls and throw them down the aisle all by herself. She loved it - the balls went with amazing speed I think one managed to go 0 mph! Not naming names again but one person (who types up the blog) had a great game and might have beat the other 4 people playing in our lane.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T08:20:00.001-08:00

For Christmas this year we got to stay home (mainly b/c the Army said we couldn't leave our home) and it was not to bad. Our chapel did a Christmas Eve service and I volunteered Jon to be in a play. I don't recommend doing that unless you are ready to participate yourself as they turned the tables on me and said they thought Joseph and Mary should be a married couple so they could practice their lines at home. So Molly and Riley got to hang out with the Long family during most of the service as we prepared and participated in the play Joseph doubted. Jon did get Molly towards the middle of the service. And as he was supposed to be helping light the candles for the candle lite portion she let him know she needed to use the restroom so he ran her out to the bathroom, came in and lite the first few rows and then ran back out to get her. I was in charge of the lights and thought maybe he had dropped Molly off with Riley and Ch. Long who were out in the hallway eating all the Christmas cookies until he told me the story afterwards:) We had a dessert party after chapel at a friends house and I told Molly if she ate her dinner of pizza she could eat as many cookies as she wanted. I guess when you give a kid that kind of freedom they don't know what to do because she just kept begging for an apple and didn't eat any cookies - if only I could take after her:)
Christmas day we slept in, ate monkey bread, finished our Jesse Advent Tree, read the Christmas story and opened presents and ate some more! Molly loved everything and was in toy overload trying to figure out how to play with it all. The funniest reaction was to buzz lightyear that she got from her cousin. She really likes Toy story and Buzz is her favorite character and kept saying she wanted one so when her young boy cousin drew her name I recommended that and it was pretty funny!! Riley loved all her toys and enjoys playing with them when Molly doesn't walk off with them. She got a few stuffed animals. One was LeapFrog's Scout dog who you can personalize and she loves that he talks to her - she gives him lots of hugs and kisses until of course Molly grabs him and moves him! Jon got the ever exciting boots and head light from me but at least he still got me an awesome present - a Kitchen Aide mixer!!! In the afternoon we took a walk to the park and played for awhile then came home for some french dip sandwiches and both girls were so tired from no naps and an exciting day that they went to bed at 6:45!!
The day after Christmas we took Molly to Barnes and Noble to play with the train table and then went to our friends the Morken's for a post Christmas party - which had the most amazing finger food!!!! Queso! Hummus! Buffalo chicken dip! Bacon, ranch, chicken pizza!! Cayenne candied bacon!!!! Needless to say I enjoyed the food and so did everyone else:) Afterwards we went to see the Fireantz hockey game with the 3 BDE UMT. We tried to explain it to Molly but in the end she thought we were going to see princess hockey. The game was a little rough - no fights and the other team was leading 6 -1 when we left at 10pm.
Now for the fun part - PICTURES! Please note Molly is in many outfits b/c she feels the need to change ALL THE TIME.
Molly getting to open her Christmas eve present - A set of bears you get to dress up!!! Their first outfit of choice is pj's and then whatever else she can find.
So I threw together Riley's Christmas pj's on Christmas eve and then threw them over the ones she already had on.
Molly drinking her "coffee" or hot chocolate but she thinks all hot drinks are coffee.
Riley with her dino popper a much more enjoyable toy when Molly isn't around to turn it off and on over and over.
Molly surrounded by Christmas present explosion - Jon was trying to clean up.
Jon and Riley enjoying a moment with Scout.
Riley and her stocking - she got some stacking cups that will be great for our road trip!
Walking to the park - Rapunzel had to make the trip and her long hair is going to be fun to say the least!
Riley cheering on the FireAntz!
Molly wondering where the princess are.
Group shot.

Xmas lights

2011-12-23T18:44:00.001-08:00

First I need to publicly apologize to my secretary - the camera was found in the carrier tonight. I guess I have not taken a hike since Nov and it has stayed buried away for the past month with me not believing that its whereabouts were not hidden by my faithful helper.

Tonight we dressed up in our Christmas PJ's (Riley is wearing Molly's from last year b/c I got lazy and never finished hers) and went to what I thought would be a drive through Festival of Lights. After driving 1 hour we pulled up and noticed lots of people out of their cars and then no way for a car to drive through the lights. That is when I realized it was not a drive through!! The reason it is free is because you park your car then have to get out and go pay to ride their train through the light show. I stood in line to buy the tickets and after a few minutes Jon came back and pointed to the line that had at least 200 people in it and said at 8pm do we want to wait for all those people with Molly and Riley?? So we skipped the train, carousel and santa and went straight to the candy! Molly got a pack of m&m's and was happy - with a promise of course to go see the trains at Barnes and Nobles tomorrow and ride the carousel at the mall instead of waiting in the crazy lines.

Yes this is what we left the house in
All the girls had pigtails - only slightly embarrassing when getting out of the car. Of course Molly had to pee really bad and we didn't know where the port-o-jon's were so we busted out our training toilet next to the van to complete the redneck look!
Jon lucked out since I didn't ask him to wear his pj's - I think it would have been a lot more embarrassing if he had them on (for all of us)!!

Blog by pictures

2011-12-23T05:44:00.000-08:00

You might have noticed a shortage of posts recently. Well the camera has disappeared - my secretary likes to move things when I leave them on the computer table. She has yet to be able to communicate where she placed it, or I might have lost it on my own but I really think my secretary moved it since it isn't anywhere I normally put it. That being said I realized yesterday there were no December posts even though we have done some fun things and I realized that I blog by pictures - kind of like paint by numbers. Without pictures I have no motivation to write things b/c really I love looking at pictures and the stories that go with them.
However each year we print out our blog into a hardback book so for future reference I am going to do a timeline just so I can look back in 10 years and laugh:) If you are like me at this point you might get bored and decide to look for another blog on the sidebar that is more interesting - I give you full permission!!
*I got to go the Dr. and hear the heartbeat and baby #3
*Riley went to the Dr. and hadn't gained any weight - after a consult with Dr. DeLeon my college roommate to verify what the other Dr. tried to say we started doing everything we could to plump her up b/c if you don't gain weight, you don't grow tall and then your brain gets effected so say the experts. 2 weeks later at a follow-up Riley had gained 2 lbs and grown 1/2 inch we are now back to a normal diet and not a super fat diet. But I am thankful to get to consult a friend who I trust (I know all doctors care but there is something about actually knowing this person and seeing their kids that make them a bit more trustworthy)
*Molly has had tons of playdates with her friends - right now there is a group of us who get along and all like to try and make things. So we get together and hang out and get ideas from each other like making shirt dresses which I am still working myself up to. Each of us has a 2 yr old and then we all have at least 1 more who is older/younger so they all get along!! The last one was at Monkey Joes and for 2 hours straight they jumped and laughed and let the moms mostly alone:)
*We went to Charlotte for a Single Soldier Strong Bond Retreat. Jon got to teach them on being men of character. On the last day they took a field trip to a cemetery and Jon said it was a really great time. The girls and I came with him, we would stay for the first few minutes when they would play minute to win it games and watch a Tim Hawkins clip and then we would go to the pool where Molly made a friend who met us there 2 other times. We loved getting the best of all worlds - getting to see Jon but also giving him some time to hang out with his soldiers while Molly and was playing in the pool. I also hear he did an exercise where he tore into one of the soldiers (which was staged) and they both responded badly and he ended up kicking the guy out. Right as he had 2 other soldiers kick him out of the room he let everyone know it was staged and they discussed how both parties had acted poorly but in the end you are only responsible for your response. They talked about responding when the people in leadership over you are unfair and how to respond when you are the leader with a subordinate acting poorly.
*Tomorrow we have Christmas eve service and I learned my lesson. I volunteered Jon to be part of a play for the service and they said right after that wouldn't it be great if Joseph and Mary where a married couple so they could practice their lines at home - so we are now both in the play.

For Christmas we might be shopping for a new camera if I can't find it by tonight!!! Luckily we have some Christmas money for such a thing:)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T16:39:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving this year Nene, Papa, Aunt Jenn and Lucky came to visit. We had the big meal with some Army family - the Sieg's and Morken's and everyone enjoyed hanging out, talking and watching come football. Molly and Riley got thoroughly spoiled and loved every minute of it. Jon and I had talked about seeing if they would try indoor skydiving as a joke and threw out the idea and they said YES!! So Black Friday instead of shopping we went to the park, bowling and then watched them fly. We found out the age limit is 3 so I have decided for Molly's 3rd b-day that is what she is going to get to do since she said she wanted to fly. Jon is a little more leery but I think he will see the light:) We also fired up the fire pit and had some smores and heard some funny stories from when Jon and Jenn were growing up - some that his parents heard for the first time. I really hope that Molly and Riley don't do some of the things he and Jenn were joking about around the fire but I guess siblings have to do something to bond them.
Molly eating her marshmallow with Nene and Papa

Riley eying Aunt Jenn's
Riley loves graham crackers!!

Molly acting like a big kid in her chair all by herself - one of the rare moments she was not in someone' lap
Riley demonstrating how to fly in the wind tunnel
The instructors having some fun
Getting ready to fly!! I couldn't figure out the flash so I don't have any good pictures of them flying but they did awesome.

Riley giving Nene some pointers for bowling
Molly loved bowling with her helping hand

The park! It was beautiful weather so we had to spend some time outside
Diet coke bottle and a lap - could life get any better?
Molly pointing out something to her captive audience
Breakfast was fun b/c we all got to talk about the fun we had the day before
Molly sharing Papa and Nene's coffee in her teacup

FIREPIT

2011-11-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

My parents unloaded our Christmas present today and needed to know where to put the wood. This was my give away that we got the fire pit - so I said just set it up in the backyard and we can have smores tonight!! Some in the house (Jon) have strong feelings about waiting but some others (ME) don't wait very well. My grandaddy Key had a tradition of opening one present on Christmas eve so this year I will be making a fire that night since I got to open this one tonight. Smores were enjoyed by all and now I can have smore parties!! If you live near Fayetteville feel free to stop by because more than likely I will keep the supplies on hand and it won't take much for me to start up the fire!!!
I busted out our special day plate b/c it is in honor of Christmas so we are celebrating Jesus birthday just one month and 14 days early. He is worth celebrating every day so why not!!!!
Fire starter that had a purchase date of 1997 (Jon and I were both in high school then) - some doubted it but it but it actually saved the fire)

McP family around the fire in our new camp chairs and extending marshmallow roasters
Granny and Riley enjoying the view
Riley watching the roasting and now understanding why it is not in her mouth!!
Don't worry I think Molly ate at least 5 marshmallow's b/c she would just go back to the bag and pull one out - she only wanted one in the fire
BertBurt and Granny with the girls
We all pulled out our fun hats for the night and enjoyed some time around the fire!!

Jane Wayne Day

2011-11-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

5-73 had a Jane Wayne Day for the spouses of soldiers. During the day we got to see some of the things the soldiers do in a "typical" day, see how uncomfortable it is to be in jump gear for hours and hang out with 48 ladies from the unit. They divided us into our troops and then made us get in formation and of course sing cadence while marching. Our poor guide thought we would march in formation with no talking but by the end gave up and he and the soldiers sang cadence while the ladies laughed and talked about what we had just done. Jon and the girls came out to watch a few events but in general hung out in his office since it was a rainy cold day.
My favorite was getting into a humvee that had real guns (powered by air and a computer) and a 360 video screen and my team of 4. A lot of ladies got motion sick since the driving was rough and my team drove off a ditch once and killed us all but since it was a game we got to reset and start over. We in the car thought that was a neat experience but never want to be in a real experience like.
Me in jump gear - way lighter than what soldiers had to have but it was probably a good 30 lbs verses their 100 lbs. I made Jon take off the MOLLE (camo bag between my legs) and just kept on the parachute and reserve for later pictures.
The HHT ladies - our motto was Hellcats since we had to make one up. HHT's real one is Headhunters and 5-73 is Panther Recon. The Army is always so nice and loving don't you think:)
On the static line - let's just say we were highly motivated to get it right so we could go back inside out of the cold rain. Still I have no desire to join the Army or become Airborne especially after this day.
My FRG (family readiness group) leaders - these 2 amazing ladies come up with ways for the ladies in HHT to get together and make connections so that if the soldiers leave we have people in town we know. They spend hours updating rosters and helping ladies through hard times and I am glad I get to be apart of their team.

Getting our helmets we had to wear for an hour.
The gun station were the showed us the guns and let us hold them if we wanted.
This is outside a classroom that has an entire wall video screen and 10 M(somethings) lined up. We had to go through 5 different scenarios shooting the screen. Jon brought Molly and Riley in for a few minutes and Molly has now reminded me a few times that mommy shoot the gun.
Riley greeting me after a long cold march back to the office - so glad I packed my raincoat!!
Meeting Jon after check in - everyone ready for a fun 5 hour adventure:) Jon and the girls snacking away and hanging out in his unkid friendly office and me marching around in the rain!

Newest Addition

2011-11-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

With the arrival of a new McP June 2012 we found out we couldn't put 3 car seats in the back of the CRV, so after talking to some older and wiser people and prayer we went van shopping. Since 2012 is fast approaching car lots are trying to get rid of 2011's so after a major discount, a great trade in for the CRV and many hours in a car dealership we are now proud owners of a Swagger Wagon aka Sienna mini-van.
Molly loves the new van because she can push the button to close Riley's door and then go and open her door so I can buckle her in. I hope she, Riley and baby X love it because it will probably be what they end up learning to drive in since we won't be getting another car for a long time.
AND - Jon bought us a smore maker. He needed to spend $7 on an Amazon order to get free shipping and this was our surprise:) It works and is fun but I am still holding out for a fire pit so we can actually toast marshmallows not melt them.
Molly enjoying her treat
Not to be left out Riley got some graham cracker and chocolate.

Just in case you are wondering YES I did just casually announce we are going to be having a new baby in the family - arriving June 2012. With the loss of 2 babies we know God is in control and can't wait to see all that He has in store for us as a family of 5.

Lots happened in 22 days!

2011-10-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

Life has been pretty busy these past few weeks. We have participated in a Volksmarch at Bragg, Jon ran the Army 10-miler in DC (no pictures somehow), we went to a corn maze, Jon hung out in the field for 2 weeks and the girls and I survived!!
I love that there are so many opportunities to do fun things on post and meet many interesting people. On the Volksmarch (which is a hike at your own speed with "lots" of people) we saw some friends and got to have some over mostly good schnitzel. While in DC for the 10-miler we got to see family and hang out with some great friends - and run into other friends at the race. Jon did awesome but I am sure glad Dave Dice decided to ride the metro at 6am with us b/c I don't know how I would have handled both girls and the many thousand people at the pentagon. Molly was kept in a diaper so we didn't have to deal with port-a-jon's!! Speaking of port-a-jon's Jon waited over 30 minutes to use one and was almost late starting the race but he ran the extra mile to the start and finished in 63 minutes just enough time for the girls to want to see dad! This weekend we went on the annual McP corn maze daze! We went back to Hubb's and it was awesome - they have added some things and it is the perfect size for our family. We enjoyed the barrel cars, bouncing pillow, slides, hayride, 2 corn mazes, and of course tot town. I think Molly most enjoyed the lemonade and corn candy while Riley most definitely loved the slide!!
Now for what grandma's really want - PICTURES!!

Riley's teeth - 2 fangs and 2 lower teeth. Molly has already learned to keep her hands out of Riley's mouth after a few bites.
Molly took a family photo for us - pretty good for 2 1/2
Riley loved the swing at the corn maze
Before we lost the bow in the maze - we didn't go back to find it.
Molly getting ready to drive. The grandpa who was driving it knew how to make some parents very nervous. I think he took the riding lawn mower to its full speed and Molly loved it and I loved watching the others mom's faces contort in terror.
Riley and I going down the slide
Molly going down the slide all by herself - she even went down the big one once.
The bouncing pillow
Molly in the cow chair - man does she look small
Riley and I enjoying our time while Molly and Jon did some sliding and bouncing.
My best family shot of the day

Here starts the Volksmarch - with a survival guide in how to:
How to make a double stroller for cheap
How to keep the entire family happy after a 5k walk in the woods
How to "march" in style
How to get bounced all around on bad roads
How to love on your sister

These last few are survival while Jon was in the field - amazed I even got a picture!
This is how Riley spent most pre and post meals while I tired to clean up and get a few things accomplished around the house. The great thing about the high chair is Molly can't get her and she can look out the window!
Granny and BertBurt let us borrow their tent since most grandkids are a few hours away now. Molly enjoys cooking and reading in it. She really enjoys having the 3 little pigs read while she is in it and the big bad wolf blowing on the tent.
Riley does not enjoy the big bad wolf sightings!!!!!

Fall Photos

2011-10-01T10:20:00.001-07:00

This morning since it was a cool crisp 72 we decided to throw on our fall clothes and go to the park for a family photo session. The timer on the camera agreed and the batteries lasted - pictures are as good as you can expect when you take them yourself! We also grabbed a quick cache along the way.
The McP's
Riley and me
Molly and her dad - checking out the army man in the cache
A little more light
The sisters!
A little more concerned about going to the playground but willing to take a few more:)
Jon and the girls

Riley entertaining herself while Jon and Molly grabbed the cache.

Granny and BertBurt visit

2011-09-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

My dad got to do a recruiting trip to NC and so they came down the weekend before and my mom stayed with us during his travels. While she was here I chopped off 8 inches of hair and sent it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths to make wigs for cancer patients, got a pedicure and had some fun adventures with Granny and the girls!!

Molly earned a lollipop for good attitude and finishing her lunch and using the bathroom in public.
Riley found Molly's lip gloss and decided to apply it. Molly is starting to learn the valuable lesson that if she leaves things lying around they go in time out - especially when I find Riley with them.

With my biggest loser winnings and other money I got a new blender the Vitamix. So far we have made icee's, pineapple cantaloupe smoothies (not a good idea) and chocolate peanut butter. Guess which was the favorite so far:)
Since it is just fruit and ice Riley get to get some every now and then too.

Riley got some teeth to come through while Granny was here - the top one came right after she left. We now have 4 teeth showing and lots of snot to go along with them!
Sisterly love - all range of emotions going on in these 3 faces.
BertBurt's helpers - after loading the car Molly thought she got to ride along. We had a lot of tears and screaming when they pulled off without her.
Me and Riley - just because.
you can kinda see the teeth!
We had a picnic out side one night while my parents were here and about 1,000 flies came to visit so we pulled out the fly swatters. Riley hit BertBurt more than the flies.
Molly really loves Riley - sometimes a little much.
peek-a-boo
Granny and Riley
Molly helping with the flies!

Crafty Times

2011-09-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since my last post - PWOC (protestant women of Chapel) has been all consuming for the past few weeks but now we are back to our slow routine. Molly and Riley got to help me get prepared for our fall bible study kickoff where we had over 250 ladies with 77 of them being brand new - and since this year I get to be in charge of Newcomers (making them feel welcomed and loved) it has been some long days. I love PWOC because we have ladies of all ages and backgrounds and they have lived everywhere and we are all in the same situation where we move when and where the Army tells us and have to make new friends pretty fast.

I had a 50% off at JoAnn's so after a bike ride for labor day I allowed Jon and the girls the joy of walking through the store as I looked for the fabric for our Christmas PJ's. With some help from Jon and Molly we have red Mickey Mouse Christmas fabric and I will start working on the pj's. As a warm up I have borrowed an idea from a much more crafty friend and made some fall onesies for the girls. After the pj's I am going to work on a dress for the girls another crafty friend gave me a pattern for turning a men's dress shirt into a girls dress.
Fall shirts for the girls
A close up of Riley's - you can tell it has been awhile but it will have to work for now:)A close up of Molly's - I attempted a decorative stitch on the outside but after 3 failed attempts we went with a straight line. Molly was sitting next to me letting me know what I was doing wrong and wanting to push me out of the way so she could sew instead.
A snapshot of our life - Molly's cup next to the toilet, books to read on the counter, clothes thrown everywhere and jumping in on Riley's bath.
Riley goes straight to the bath many nights after dinner because even with a bib she manages to get food EVERYWHERE!! Her sister still enjoys coming behind Jon and I and getting the spots we miss with a few cups of water of the face - we keep telling Molly that one day Riley is going to start fighting back and it has begun with hair pulling - yippie:(

BLOCK LEAVE!!

2011-08-23T18:01:00.001-07:00

So it has been awhile since my last post and I uploaded the pictures backwards so the stories will go reverse chronologically. A lot has happened since early Aug - Jon had block leave which is when your Army unit tells you what days you are allowed to take vacation and if you have enough stored up and there is at least one person willing to stay back and cover the office you can take your leave. Luckily for us Jon's assistant is getting out of the Army in a month so he was willing to man the office so we could take the whole 14 days and we made the most of it. We traveled to OK, TX, and VA saw great grandparents, old roomies, aunt, uncles, cousins and friends galor! We ended block leave with potty training and feeding Riley big people food. Be warned this is picture overload but since I print my blog as my scrapbook you will just have to deal:)

Molly helped me feed Riley peas for dinner - Riley gets a spoon to keep her hands preoccupied and to help her from shoving her hand in her mouth (a trait she got from her cousin Taryn). Molly loves getting to help and we have only had one or two moments where I think she was trying to shove food down Riley's mouth.

We spent some time with my parents in Williamsburg and spent a day seeing the sites. A street musician even sang Molly her own song - but lets hope she doesn't grow up to be a fish monger (whatever that is). We loved seeing the people dressed up and seeing the old buildings.
Bowling at Great Wolf - there was a competition that my dad and Jon were supposed to compete in but I was able to join in. It was winner of most events - air hockey, bowling and putt putt had bragging rights and I was sure I could take them but alas I lost bowling by 1 point and the air hockey table was not my friend on competition day but I did win putt putt. Jon won this time but NEVER again I will say!! I was sorely disappointed my dad did not win the bowling as that would have made it a 3 way tie and I bet I could have won whatever they threw my way. My mom was kind enough to let Molly be on her team for bowling and stayed in the room for a rest time while we did air hockey so she was unable to participate in all 3 events. We all enjoyed the slides at Great Wolf but were never able to convince my mom to ride the Howlin Tornado:(

Since Busch Gardens lets military have free tickets we spent 1 day there - it was great there were no lines and it was super family friendly. Molly loved Oscar's Whirly Worms and rode it probably 6 times.
Molly in the bumper cars which she also enjoyed mainly because she got to drive it by herself - she did not quite understand why others were ramming her but at least she was happy!
The swings!
Flying the airplane - she also loved this ride and rode it 3 times.
Riley was just happy it was a cool day and she got out of the stroller every now and then.
Molly and her first live character - she loved Elmo and ran up to him pushing people out of her way. I would have hated to see what she would have done if it was Dora. She really didn't want to get any closer than this but she also did not want to leave she would just look at us and say ELMO and cover her mouth and laugh.
Molly and Granny on a ride - Granny doesn't do many rides but she could handle this one!
Elmo's ride
We DID NOT ride that one again - you win some and lose some
Riley checking out the rides but making sure to stay close to Granny
While in Texas we hung out at my brother Brian's for a few days and made it to an Astro's game. Riley had her first food ever COTTON CANDY! She loved it
The Astro's are not doing well this season so not many people were at the game. We left at the top of the 9th -if we had stayed 20 more minutes we could have watched a Grand Slam and seen the Astro's go from a 2-5 deficit to a 6-5 WIN.
Paige and Brian have some friends who work at a polo field and they were feeding the dogs while their friends are on vacation so we tagged along. Riley was not a fan of the saddle.
Molly wasn't as confident as her cousins about climbing but she did love the horses.
SUGAR HIGH!! Molly ate her weight during the baseball game and got a true experience with cotton candy, ice cream, hot dogs, (her first ever) orange soda, animal crackers, peanuts and popcorn.

PAUSE -
We visited Waco and saw many great friends but I forgot to take my camera out and get a picture:( We had a bar-b-que with our old lifegroup, stopped by and visited friends and got to go to church at Antioch - it was a very refreshing time and was a highlight of block leave.
We started the trip going to Jon's grandma - who we attempted to get Molly to call 2 Messy (family story behind that one). Grandma cooked tons of food for us and we hung out and had fun. Aunt Jenn was coming to visit during that time and Molly was doubly sad when we pulled out of the driveway and neither were in our car.
Molly had to wait a whole day to help eat my birthday cake - but she was able to!
I made a quick stop over to Norman and saw Stephanie and her girls and parents for the afternoon. All my old college roomies have kids and our visits are quite like the old college days were you goofed off now the kids goof off and we just laugh.
SIDE NOTE - I also got to see Stina and her 2 adorable kids as they drove over the Grapevine Mills for a quick lunch and stroll around the mall. We saw Jon's roomie Al who is a cop in Dallas and missed seeing Trey by 1 hour:(
At the wildlife reserve in Lawton. It was great but Molly did not want to give up the camera - note the tears.
On our way out of town Jon and Molly went to stop by Jon's grandfather's grave site.
On McPherson Ministry Monday we made the girls poster with verses we are praying for them. Riley's main theme is she is an oak of righteousness.
Molly's is that she will be fearless
Riley would like some ice cream - we attempted to ride our bikes to the new Dairy Queen but you get within 1/2 and there are no side walks anywhere and it is not worth riding our bikes on the main road with the bike trailer so we went back home and drove the truck to get ice cream.
Molly was thankful for her treat!
For my birthday Jon has us do a scavenger hunt a few days early in Florence SC - this is my rubbing of my birthday off of the tombstones in the national cemetery.
Dizzy Izzy at the Ball field - since I accomplished all 8 I got my present!

Hope you enjoyed this long over due and very long post!!

Cooking with Molly

2011-08-04T18:04:00.001-07:00

The camera has been found!!
A few weeks back Molly requested that we get an Auntie Anne's pretzel kit - ok maybe she threw it in the cart and when I tried to remove it she let her opinion be known. Tonight she found the kit in the back of the pantry and ever so nicely asked if we could make the pretzels. Since Jon was not home and there was no end in site I thought - why not that should take an hour or two and at least she will learn something. She helped me mix the yeast and learned another lesson in patience as we had to let it dissolve and then another lesson when the dough had to sit for 30 minutes. After the dough was ready we rolled it out and tried to look like the people in the mall twisting the pretzels and failed but at least we laughed! We baked the pretzels while Molly continued to "cook" with a bowl of water and a spoon. When they were done we tried to share some with our neighbors but no one would answer their door at 8:30 so we ate the cinnamon sugar and saved the salted ones for later.

Cutting the dough to roll out the pretzel
I think Auntie Anne would hire us on the spot!
Daddy and Molly sharing - the kit was really good and it did taste like Auntie Anne's. I think it will be a redo since it was so fun!
Riley looking on wishing she was allowed to eat - maybe in a few months.
While we got Molly ready for bed Riley managed to roll over to the plate left on the floor. Instead of taking her off I made sure to get a picture first. Good thing there was no pretzel left or that might have been her first food - I am pretty sure she did get a little sugar because she was sucking her hand a little harder than normal.

Fun Times!

2011-07-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well the camera is no where to be found but I have a few minutes so the blog will be picture less. Since the last blog Molly has gone and stayed with the McPherson's for a week and was thoroughly spoiled by Grandmommy, Papa, Aunt Jenny and Lucky. From skype and phone chats it was clear to see she loved every minute of it. We are so thankful to have parents who love our kids and that we live close enough that even if we can't visit for long periods of time they can still hangout with the girls. Maybe next year Riley can join in - but Jon and I did enjoy getting one on one time with her so maybe alternating so everyone gets some extra special attention.
Jon put on another Strong Bonds event this time at the Great Wolf Lodge - which is an amazing location - and taught Mark Gungor's Laugh your way to a better Marriage. We did some minute to win it games, watched some Tim Hawkins and got a lot of good conversations with other families in the unit. Also we used the babysitters for date night and got to go on all the rides at the water park and have a nice dinner. Jon does a great job on the retreats I think but others must be starting to think the same b/c his last 2 retreats have filled up within 5 hours of getting word out. I love that Jon's job lets him do so many different things and that this one has nothing to do with death and destruction but building stronger families to make it through military life. I know he can't wait to have an actual weekend where he is not working but at least we can tag along for the break times!
This week and next week we are getting to host 2 youth groups coming to share all over Fort Bragg. They work with an organization called CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) and their mission is to share Jesus with kids! There have been a few kids who accepted Jesus as their Savior from the 5-day club (backyard bible clubs). This week we have 8 and next week 12 youth living with us. We felt bad for the club this week since our A/C broke for 2 days so the house was anywhere from 78-93 but they decided to stick it out here. We pulled out the baby pools - borrowed some from neighbors and all just played outside in the water until bed time. The youth have been fun to get to know and Jon and I are grateful that we get to host people doing a mission trip since we have been on the receiving end so many times. The girls love playing with Molly and Riley and the boys love talking X-box with Jon when he is around.
PWOC - this year I get to serve as the Newcomer Chair at my bible study. So far in our 2 summer sessions we have had over 30 ladies who are either new to the study or Fort Bragg. It is awesome to get to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people and try and connect them with others. I love seeing new people get plugged in and meet others who love the Lord.
Hopefully to next post will have a picture or two!

Riley is 4 months

2011-07-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today we went for Riley's 4 month check up and shots.
She is growing much faster than her sister did but she in no longer is the 90% for head, weight and length - she is slowing down a little and is 30% head, 50% weight and 60% length. She sits in her bumbo and jumper and basically goes anywhere we drag her. Molly is able to make her smile a lot and cry only occasionally and they have even had a few baths together. The girls both enjoyed the 4th of July on post and the two parties we went to on the Sunday before with lots of boom boom as Molly called it.
Riley enjoying a bath with her sister. Since we have stopped Molly from water boarding her they have both enjoyed time together more.
Happy 4th of July - Riley loves to grin especially at her daddy!
The girls ready to go hear some boom boom and eat funnel cake.
Riley even gets to join us at the kitchen table now - no longer is she relegated to the rocker on the floor. She isn't eating food but really likes the view from the top.
Molly loves have her eye level also.
But meal times can drag on when you are waiting for a 2 year old to finish up so Riley decided to rest her eyes for a few minutes. She looks just like her BertBurt on a Sunday morning when he is absorbing all the preacher has to say - except the whole no clothes thing.

Riley Giggles

2011-06-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here is the video that wouldn't upload for my last post. This one is for you Granny - Riley is a large part of the family:)

Summer Fun!

2011-06-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

So far this summer has been pretty fun for us (ok me and the girls - poor Jon is working and getting little sleep). We have had family and friends who are basically family stay with us and played our new KINECT. That is right we traded in our Wii for a X-box 360 with kinect and are loving it. I have indoor skydiver, we have had bar-b-ques and played games. It is looking like a good start for us this summer and we have done Jon's favorite PLAYED IN THE POOL!! I don't know what it is about him but the pool is just not as exciting to him as it is to others in the family but he endures for us!
We also started McPherson Ministry Monday nights where we write notes to missionaries, do prayer walks or whatever else the Lord inspires us to do. We set aside the time and do some worship songs, pray and go out as a family and so far it really has been a great way to start a week off.

Me at Paraclete - INDOOR SKYDIVING!!
Tina skydiving.
So Thursday my Groupon for the area was 1/2 at Paraclete so I bought 2 hoping we could talk at least one Lewis family member into going with us and TINA was willing. It was so fun we each had 2, 1 minute sessions in the air tunnel - on our second turn the instructor took us to the top and would fly us to the bottom - it was awesome and a tad nerve racking!!
Before - so ready to go!!
Me thinking I hope this is as cool as it looked and Tina doesn't kill me! We had a kid who was no more than 5 in our group so when I came out I let Jon know Molly will be doing this before we leave - it is going to take a little more convincing I think:)

Playing Quelf - Tina was stuck under the table for one who round
Who doesn't love a game? All 7 kids are right there playing or supervising.
Molly, Riley, Spencer, Mason, Will, Wyatt and Olivia. The big kids beat Jon's new game Portal 2 in both single and double player mode - some even bigger kids (Jon and Brad) stayed up playing it until 1am once the kids were put to bed - Tina and I cheered them on or sat on the couch talking and wondering what was going on with that crazy game!
Pool time - the little kids only like to play/watch video games so long but the pool they could play in for hours until a mortal injury with a rock and the slide.
While the guys talked and kids played during the bar-b-que the ladies snuck out for a few hours and got some pedicures coming home just in time for food, fireworks and some laughs!
Another round of Quelf - don't ask?
Thomas and Kaitlin driving with the Kinect - one last great hurrah before they leave to go overseas for a few years.
Jon trying to beat Thomas - it might have happened??

VBS - I was with the yellow team and I loved my kids and co-leader it was a great week. 17 kids made decisions to follow Jesus! The story time was by far my favorite, the story lady was amazing!! We got in the belly of a whale (sardines, tents, wet towels on the ground and see weed - let your imagination finish the rest) and it made me see the story in a whole new like - I bet Jonah got to do a lot of thinking in that dark stinky place b/c 30 minutes was long enough for me!!
Before all our guest I guess Jon was missing our camping across America so we pulled out the tent and set up camp in the living room for a Friday night movie marathon.
Molly was such a good helper!
South of the Border to stock up on fireworks!! Jon thought it was going to be an awesome place and I didn't want to tell him what to expect - needless to say he was a little let down after all the hype!
Family photo on the hot dog at South of the Border - I got my picture taken here for beach week my senior year with Shannon and Courtney!.

Mr Holder Retired

2011-06-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

My high school years were highly impacted by Mr. Holder - the greatest band teacher that ever was. I made some great friends and had some amazing times in those 4 years. We traveled all over for marching band and concert band and were pushed to do our best. This week he conducted his last concert at Lake Braddock and a lot of my friends got to go and be apart of it. In honor of those times here are so pictures that no one said I could share - enjoy!
Every Friday my mom let me have friends over for pizza for the 1 -2 hour break we had between school letting out and us having to get back for marching band on football game nights. But you never knew what was going to happen on trips like the time in Chicago when Courtney let us die her hair from blonde to red!!
Good times! Concerts - graduating - ready to conquer the world!
Our graduation party - we finally didn't have to play p&c for an hour!!
Marching Band - the trombone girls:)
High class ladies!!

Mission Trip??

2011-06-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

We had another Strong Bonds trip this weekend but this time for the married soldiers in Jon's unit. We got to go to a hotel that had a water park on site, 3 pools and the ocean!! Jon has taught from many different books like His Needs Her Needs, 7 habits of Highly effective Families and this time 5 Love Languages. Since I try to blend in until people know who I am I get to hear some fun things the first night of teaching - mainly how excited the wives are to hear about this book and the husbands well they get there:) Throughout the weekend I did get some fun questions like - does the chaplain ever get mad? is he like this at home? This time Jon had me teach on quality time since it is my love language and I must say it is much easier to have an opinion on how things are going when sitting in the back of the room rather than up front talking to 60 people! We had couples that had been married 6 months and others celebrating their 13th anniversary and Jon did an awesome job teaching them all. We offered a sand castle building contest but everyone backed out when they realized one family brought a garden shovel - they are serious beach people! The nice thing about married retreats is childcare (for me) and a date night for everyone! We got to go see the Cir De Sole show and Jon even got called up on stage to dance - which he did and went all out. I had good conversations with some wives and we got to see the soldiers and their families outside of the military were everything is at a crazy pace. It seems like every 3-5 weeks we have gone on a trip and it looks like it will stay that way for awhile. If we just keep looking at it as a mission trip maybe it won't seem like Jon never gets a weekend with just us as a family right?
Our little mermaid. Every time we walked out the door Molly said pool. It didn't help our balcony overlooked the ocean and our front door over looked the pool. I think by the end of the weekend we at least got her to understand the ocean is not a pool - only time will tell though.
Molly giving Jon a pep talk Friday night!
Playing at the ocean
Riley loved it!
The best way to start a retreat off - minute to win it games!! Couples were laughing and having a good time. This is the oreo game were you put it on your head and have to get it in your mouth without using your hands. Some people were very serious.
But never fear a girl won this game!

Junk in your trunk - lots of laughing during this one. You have to bounce ping pong balls out of a tissue box.

The games were how Jon started each session - to break the ice and wake people up and then he dove right into the serious stuff.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day is a special day in our household as many of our family have served in the military. My dad's uncle Burton served and died fighting in WWII and both our father's served in the military for over 25 years and now Jon. Actually both my brothers and one of Jon's sister married someone whose father served in the military and Jon's sister Jenn is dating someone preparing to be deployed next month. And let's not forget my brother Brad and our many friends we grew up with or have met now as Jon serves.
This year we ending up staying home since Jon had funeral duty on Friday and we got to run children's church on Sunday. So to make the day special I got some fireworks and after an afternoon swim and cookout we had a firework show on a toddler schedule!

Thanks to all who have served and currently serve - we are thankful for all you do!!
Riley's swimming pool debut - Molly was so excited to have a friend in the pool with her.
The idea was a picture going down the slide together - big failure!
Riley letting us know she is not thankful to be in the pool or have her sister constantly invade her space. Molly is just happy to have someone to play with!
Much better - I like to watch Molly from a distance not in my face.
But in the end they ended up both enjoying pool time together.
We kept Riley at a safe distance for the firework show.
Going to see the loot*.
Here dad let me help you with that!
Boom Boom Boom - that is all Molly kept saying over and over even though not one firework exploded they just shot stuff into the air. She did love the show though!
And what holiday would be compete without dessert - ice cream with hot fudge sauce.

*Note - the order of the firework pictures might have been arranged to cause the grannies to panic but Molly never actually lite a firework and the posed picture with the lighter was post show:)

Happy 8th Anniversary!

2011-05-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

I will be the first to say that for some reason remembering our anniversary comes hard for me. If it wasn't for the fact that it was written on our wedding album many times I probably couldn't tell you the exact day. I know I got married in May but that is about it. This year however facebook kindly reminded me starting last week that my anniversary with Jonathan McPherson was coming up (I guess some people have anniversaries with lots of people??) and even told me what day. I was thinking about getting a babysitter and going to dinner with just Jon as a surprise but he doesn't get home at a dependable time and well I didn't. Yesterday he called me and asked me if I knew what today was and I could proudly say YES to which he responded I didn't realize it until this morning I am so sorry. I found out last night that celebrating our anniversary for Jon is important - almost as important for me to have fun parties for birthdays - so we are going to the pool and have a family picnic and pool party!
We have had some memorable and not so memorable anniversaries. Here are some pictures of us in all our wedded bliss!!
Going to Jon's Prom - getting lost for hours and eating McDonald's instead of a nice restaurant. We stayed at the dance long enough for me to use the bathroom and get pictures then went and watched Mrs. Doubtfire.
Dating - the cows came to Waco and we went around and took pictures with a bunch of them. The moo moo oh the places it has gone!
Year 1 in Africa - redo in America going to a minor league baseball game
This is the trip our lives got changed and we started a 3 year journey for you to become a chaplain in the Army.

Year 2 - needed something to bring a smile to our faces after surviving that year!
Year 3- 5 - multiple jobs, school, lost two babies and great friends but no pictures:( This was pre-blogging and post-scrap-booking I know pictures exist just can't find them this morning
Year 6 - you were deployed
Year 7 - getting ready to start the most amazing trip across the US and Canada - I could no longer call you my dream crusher!!
Year 8 - living life in NC with two kids and going to the pool to celebrate 8 years as a family!

Diapers

2011-05-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

This is the last blog until Friday when I report live from All American Week (and explain what that is:) )
So today we finished using the last of the diapers that we received for Riley. This weekend we had both girls in the same diaper size and now they both have the cloth diaper. I bought a few new diapers for Riley just so that not everything she had was hand me down. Well I decided they wear matching outfits why not diapers so we posed for a few pictures. You can see how close in size they are - if you take away the legs and arms I am pretty sure they would be within 1 lb of each other.

Hey there world!
Aren't we stylish.
The first wear of Riley's 6 diapers - she is already sharing with her sister, how nice.

Just Call me Chef!

2011-05-16T16:08:00.001-07:00

Riley and I have been having some quality time watching Take Home Chef with Curtis Stone on nextflix most nights since she likes to have some one on one time from 10-11 each night. I got inspired to make a gourmet (sorta) meal and when my mom brought her Southern Living magazine I saw Hot Kentucky Brown and decided that would be the dish. I had it the first time in Alaska at The City Diner (which I miss - along with my Diner friends) and recreated it tonight for the family. Afterwards we had homemade strawberry ice cream with homemade cool whip. Not every night will be this nice but I might try at least once a week for awhile:)
Fuzzy picture - mine is on the left and the magazine on the right. We even had fresh steamed green beans (soon to be from our own garden).
Strawberry ice cream with cool whip
Curtis says it is all in the presentation - what do you think??

Myrtle Beach

2011-05-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

Jon had a single soldier retreat this weekend at Myrtle Beach so Molly, Riley and I hitched a ride and went along! We were able to stay in part of most sessions but not the entire time because Molly really wanted to be at the POOL and didn't mind shouting it every now and then. Friday night we got to listen to the MFLC talk about controlling your anger and then had a nice visit on the beach as a family. Molly screamed GO over and over - this made me a tad nervous since the main attraction was the beach and she seemed to hate it. Saturday we got up and listened to part of Jon's talk then went on a walk along the beach. That is when Molly decided she LOVES THE BEACH - fully clothed and me carrying Riley in the sling. She sat in the water, splashed, picked up seashells and then needed to be carried all wet and sandy back to the hotel. One good thing Carrie joined us for our walk. Her husband was also doing a single soldier retreat 4 hotels down from us - which we figured out at the grocery store when we ran into each other Thursday. On our beach walk she helped carry Molly until we had to go to our hotel and she to hers since both our husbands were done teaching and wanted some family time. This is also when I realized my swim suit didn't make it in the luggage. After some lunch and getting 1/2 the family dressed for the beach we headed out to Target to get me suit and then lighting filled the sky right before the bottom dropped out. We passed a place called Wonder Works (which my cousins said was awesome) and decided to go there since the beach was clearly out of the picture. 3 hours later the weather had cleared and we had done some fun things at WW we made it to Target and I got my suit and we went swimming at the ocean and pool. Molly crashed for the night but I think her first word when waking up was POOL. We packed our bags, had breakfast with Jon and headed to the pool. We played for the 2 hours Jon finished up his sessions, got things cleaned and talked with his soldiers. Jon met us and took Riley off my hands so that I could focus fully on Molly for a little while and then we got dressed and headed home. Once home Molly and I went grocery shopping while Jon crashed!
Family photo at the beach (Riley is the blue blob)

Riley and me - this is where Riley spent most of the weekend b/c strollers and sand DO NOT MIX!
Jon and Molly playing chase at the beach
The sea monsters outside of Wonder Works - seriously these fish were a little freaky. I think I could put my fist in their mouth and one tried to eat a duck to get the food.
Molly and I doing a game where you are in the game. I was 3rd highest scorer of the day, Molly was 5th and well Jon didn't even make the top ten. He did some other great things - also he was the first one to do it so we learned from his mistakes.

Alien stomp - this is right after we realized that swimmy diapers and no pool don't mix. They really don't retain much water (or pee). Molly was put in a real diaper and her swim suit taken off. Remember we planned on stopping by Target for me to get a suit and go straight to the ocean which is also why we are in swim cover wear.
When you moved it would make a cool picture on the screen.
Bubbles - we put it over ourselves and Molly would pop it.
Jon and Molly in the Wonder Wall - do you see where they are in the red?
Riley really enjoyed every thing this weekend - so much that she slept through it!
This is what Jon and Riley looked like on my way out the door - I took Molly to make sure they have a few minutes of peace.

Riley's Baby Dedication

2011-05-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

This Sunday was baby dedication at our chapel. Riley and 6 other baby's were dedicated this week - 5 boys and 1 other girl named Riley. My parents were able to come down for the weekend and were here to be apart of the dedication service. It turned out it was a good thing to have Granny and BertBurt since Jon had to preach and I was in charge of children's church. After the dedication I ran out of the room to take care of my 30 elementary kids and Jon got up and preached.
Molly, Riley and I took my parents on a strawberry picking trip down the road - we had lots of strawberries this weekend! Granny made angel food cake with a strawberry topping and I made strawberry ice cream. Soon I will be making some jam. Jon did the finishing touches on his sermon and getting things ready for the dedication while we were picking.
Riley all ready to go to church
Each baby had a chaplain pray for them. Riley getting prayed over by Chaplain Long. The Long family watch her when Jon and I have children's church since you can't put babies in the nursery until they are 6 months here. We are so thankful to have a family willing to watch her - we hear sometimes they fight over who gets to hold her:)

The Fabulous Four!
Riley and BertBurt sporting the stripes.
Riley and Granny in deep conversation.
Strawberry ice cream made by yours truly - it reminded me of great times in Alaska with peanut butter ice cream. I think we will be having lots of ice cream this summer!
Molly teaching BertBurt the fine art of picking strawberries - at least 1/2 made it into the basket and the rest went down her shirt.
Molly watching the pro and learning a few tips
Helping fill the basket - Molly took one side of the row and Granny took the other.
We forgot to get photos before the service - could have been since Jon left to get rid of the duty phone since he was the on call chaplain this weekend and we both had responsibilities for church but either way at least we got a photo with Molly in her Sunday best.
Everyone's favorite spot - OUTSIDE!!
Riley's first time in her bumbo!
Taking a rest!
We had her 2 month visit and Riley is in the 90% in height, weight and head. She weighs 11 lb 8oz - I think Molly might be at 22 now:)
I will go with Jon's assessment that Molly will always be older but not necessarily bigger.

I bought some fresh beans to start learning how to prepare them from my garden - Molly and I really enjoyed them!

Aunt Kaitlin, picnic tables and other fun

2011-05-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Jon had Friday off so we decided to make a trip up to Raleigh and check out Marbles Children's museum - it was AWESOME!! Since Aunt Kaitlin lives right around the corner we invited her and Phoenix (Uncle Thomas had to go to school and work) and had a great time playing around and eating at The Remedy Diner (Steve-O was there also - not a big draw for us but random fact that a celebrity was there). The Diner serves vegan and vegetarian meals along with meat. I tried soy chicken - not too bad but I don't think it will be an everyday thing. Molly had a bite of Aunt Kaitlin's and lets just say I don't think she will be a vegetarian either - she did not spit it out but was not making a great face and didn't ask for more.
Saturday Jon made us a picnic table so we can dine in our backyard in style!!!
Sunday was the Dogwood festival and we got some fair food and played around.

On the ship - tried to do the Titanic pose but it wasn't happening with 3 girls and only 1 boy!

This is what Riley looks like now. In most pictures she is in the blue sling on my shoulder but I wanted photo evidence she does exist!!
Phoenix and Molly rolling in the water world at Marbles!

Special Delivery - a Molly topped Pizza.
Special Delivery - a Phoenix topped pizza
nachos - YUMMY!

The great parents we are - Molly ran down the driveway and landed on her head while we were debating the angles to cut the wood. We did stop and comfort her - things take a long time to build when you have a helper and they keep getting booboo's.
Here dad let me show you how to work that
Ice cream at the Dogwood Festival
The free bounces. We love Molly but why pay when they have these free? One day she will know the difference but until then...

Riley - is growing and is a very easy baby- just throw her in the sling and go!! We go to the doctor's Thursday to see what they think.

All Growed Up!

2011-04-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

We here at the McPherson household are growing up!! Molly celebrated her 3rd Easter while Riley enjoyed her 1st one. Jon and I did some landscaping in our backyard and we have a pool!!!
Many people inspired me to garden - my neighbor boy growing corn, friends who mentioned it on blogs and my sister-in-laws helpful advice made it so we were ready to plant 24 hours after the bug infected me!!

Molly showing what she got in her Easter basket - Dora stickers, Dora tattoos, bubbles and CANDY!
Sisters! Molly's dress was given to us and when my mom and I were out shopping we saw a similar one for Riley and had to get it.
Seriously the kid had 2 speeds - run or stop. Her knees are a testament to the fact that the stopping part is not always successful as she flings her self on the ground.
Riley just chilling - happy to be left alone for a few minutes.
Riley supervising the planting of our garden.
We have a 4x4 square foot garden with tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, carrots, okra, melons, strawberries and corn. Should be fun seeing the things grow and eating from our garden!
Don't be jealous:)
And last but not least our POOL! Not an in-ground awesome pool but I guess much cheaper since there are not chemicals. It kept Molly entertained while I grilled and next time we might not go as redneck and actually put in her a swimsuit not her clothes - but this was faster tonight.

Easter Outreach

2011-04-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

The other week I felt like God told me to do a neighborhood block party for Easter and once I realized we wouldn't be leaving town b/c of the ball and children's church I started planning. I found a bunch of games on the Internet and got 250 eggs and filled them with prizes and candy. The only problem is I am a wimp and didn't want to go door to door asking people to come so I taped a flyer on their doors and today Jon and I waited. After an hour the Morkens called so we told them to come on down and they did!! Neighbors started to trickle by and in total we had 4 adults come by and we got to know them a little and 3 kids came and played the games with us. Before the hunt we asked what they knew about Jesus and gave out some stickers. I would not say it was a total failure but looking back we have a few things we could have done different.
While we waited Jon and I played many of the games we planned to play with our new friends - it was not a good day for me as I lost in all but one - the egg drop. Molly loves Starburst and Riley napped through the entire time. Maybe our next one will have more people come out but at least we talked to a few more neighbors than we have in the past.
Riley doesn't fit in the basket like Molly did but she still got shoved in for the picture.
Can you see the joy on her face? I guess she thought it was still Maunday Thursday she didn't realize that tomorrow we celebrate Christ's Resurrection.
First time ever to make confetti eggs
The beautiful butterfly Molly
Still waiting - Molly thought it was torture to see the eggs and not get to eat the goodiesObviously not as good of a place to keep out of reach - this is how I found her after going in to check on Riley. Jon was thrilled that I had to get a photo before taking care of her - not!
The winning egg!
Jon's preparing his egg
The drop zone
My egg
The drop zone
We each had the same supplies - twigs, cotton balls and tape and my pink egg won, his blue egg fell apart which is why it is still in the nest
The hunt! Finally kids are here - 72 hot dogs, 40 brownies and 100 chocolate chip cookies a little overkill for 3 adults and 6 kids
Molly found 2 eggs then sat down and ate the candy and then the hunt was over.
Spencer collected them in his hat
Will only got ones with candy and left the others on the ground.

Formals and Fun Things!

2011-04-21T19:28:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went to our first ever Brigade Ball (6 Battalions make up a Brigade) and it was not to bad. There was definitely some amazing people watching (really dress watching)! We had a family with a teenager girl watch both girls with the help of her mom and two younger sisters to entertain also. It was so nice to be able to go and know that Molly and Riley were being loved on and enjoying themselves. Jon and I loved the ball - between his love of small talk and my love of dressing up we were in our element:) I did have some good conversations with other ladies in our Brigade and sat next to a lady who is from Italy and met her husband when he was stationed there 11 years ago.
Finding a dress for the formal was not all that fun - I found one with my mom but the more I thought about it the less I liked the one I had bought so I took it back and found another one I liked a little more. So for my 3rd ball with Jon he finally got his wish - a dress without sparkles to get all over his uniform!
Note on balls - I guess society today doesn't understand a ball is a formal and you should try and look nice (maybe gasp classy??) and not show your entire body off to the world. I may not like dressing up but I would not go in overalls or a piece of lingerie which it seems some find acceptable. The good thing about being at a table with a lady from Italy, North Dakota and 4 of Jon's soldiers it makes you much less likely to talk about people but man I really wanted to make some comments. Another good thing - it wasn't anyone in Jon's Battalion that I had to make sure not to make a face when they walked by me:)

Fun things - a day at Fascinate U with the Morken family followed by a new lunch place and CUPCAKES!!
All the kids got sprinkles
Who taught that girl how to eat? It is like she is in a pie eating contest and not allowed to touch it with her hands.

Strong Bonds

2011-04-17T15:02:00.001-07:00

The Military has a program called Strong Bonds where they give chaplains money to put on retreats to build up families and encourage single soldiers. Jon has had the privilege of running a few of these and I would tag along with Molly. While going with him was fun it was never a relaxing time of building up for us just making sure others refreshed and ministered to. This retreat was one just for the Unit Ministry Teams!!! It was awesome being there with other chaplains from the 82nd Airborne and their families and doing some AMAZING things!!
First the retreat was a Great Wolf Lodge which has a water park inside the hotel.
Second we played minute to win-it games as couples against others and Jon and I beat our competition!!
Third we had a session at an indoor race track and besides the crash I was involved in I was the second fastest lady (and I might have been faster than Jon even) on a one lap timed course.
Fourth Jon got some great material and was certified to use another set of material that should help him in counseling the many couples he meets with and will be a great resource for us.
Fifth we got some great family time.
Sixth we got to be around other families that are doing the same thing as us and we had some great times of learning from struggles and successes from them.
Seventh we got to be apart of a worship time we didn't have to do anything with (not even childcare)!

The McP's at Great Wolf Lodge
Dad I think we should go in there (this was before she knew there was a waterpark/candy/tons of kids to play with)!
Jon and Molly before the fun began!!
Jon with an oreo on his head that he shimmied down to his mouth to eat. We also knocked down cards, did a puzzle and launched marshmallows into each others mouth.
As the winners in minute to win-it we got a bottle of sparkling cider with two plastic wine glasses and a bag of chocolates. Here is Molly enjoying the sparking cider!
Notice Molly's mouth is wide open - this was right after she was changed into her bathing suit and saw the water park for the first time!!!
Jon, Molly and Riley - this was for a short picture. I took Riley from him right after this - we would all play in the water for a little bit and then Jon or I would take a break and sit with Riley. We also did tag team so we could go down the water slides - the Howling Tornado was AWESOME!!
Riley sporting her swimsuit
Doesn't she look like she loved being apart of the racing?
Jon and I dressed and ready to race!! Riley is just waiting for me to put her back in her stroller and leave her alone:)

Balance beams and fun times

2011-04-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Jon got an unexpected 4 day weekend so we spent a lot of time hanging out as a family. Sunday we came up with a fun project for Jon and Molly - to make a balance beam. $1.97 and an hour later we have a red and white beam of fun for all. Molly has enjoyed playing on it and I am pretty sure the other kids will also love it once they come outside to play:) Molly got to help sand and measure but Jon did all the cutting and hammering himself.
Riley in her diva prison suit
Riley supervising the woodwork - she was moved from the bed of the truck to the shade beside the house to keep her cool.
Molly showing Jon how to measure and do the math behind the balance beam
She thought he had learned enough to give it a try himself
Testing the finished product - good job to the master craftsman and her apprentice
Riley and Molly's baby. I was trying to get a photo of just Riley but Molly felt this baby needed a picture to.
Eating her apple from New Deli - AMAZING!! If you visit us M-F 10-6 we will take you otherwise you are out of luck (as we tried to go twice until we figured out the hours)
Happy sisters
Seriously mom stop taking my picture and FEED ME!!!

Jon is 30

2011-04-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today Jon celebrated his 30th birthday!! Last night we had a movie night with popcorn and extended bed times for everyone. We watched Tangled which was really funny, Riley had a massive spit up during the middle of the movie so we had to pause it to give a bath and wash clothes and Molly fell asleep before the end but all in all it was a successful night.
Today we went and served with Operation Inasmuch (which is like clean up day at Welcome Week) picking up trash in a neighborhood and cleaning up as church groups and contractors re roofed houses. Serving with 2 kids has a different look than when we were in college but it was great to be able to do this as a family. Riley hung out in her stroller most of the time and Molly helped pick up the little (non glass or too gross) trash around. After serving we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for some lunch followed by shopping for church then craft time and a nap for Jon and Riley. Molly and I played outside and then went to Sonic for happy hour and came back in time to make pizza for Jon to eat dinner on the SPECIAL DAY Plate!!! No cake but chocolate chocolate chip cookies, a happy birthday banner and his present - The Pacific collector's edition (with all his free time he will be able to watch that and his Band of Brothers all the time:) )

Too much to celebrate only one day - the night before party!
What cleaning up looks like with little kids.

Riley and Titus supervising
Molly helping her dad
Birthday crafts - Dora, Jon's favorite, peel and stick sand art
Dinner on the plate!

Happy Birthday Jon!!

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

This was our first ever big Easter egg hunt as a family! The FRG (family readiness group) from Jon's unit put this on for the families (but it was mandatory for soldiers to attend) so yesterday we bundled up in the windy weather and hunted eggs. Yes it was April 1 and Easter is not until the 24th this year but between trainings and long weekends this was the only week it worked so we celebrated early. There were 2 bounces, an Easter bunny, tons of food, bubbles, a puppet show and lots of kids running around. We had a blast and it was nice to get to meet some more families in the unit and the soldiers Jon works with.

Riley loving the hunt. This was a rare moment where she wasn't covered up b/c it was windy!! As you can see she loved it so much she slept through all but the last 10 minutes when we rushed her to the car so I could get home and feed her instead of freezing us both.
Molly - styling and profiling (as her BertBurt would say). This is where Molly sat during Jon's prayer also b/c I was off talking with ladies and showing Riley off and forgot Jon had official duties at the event. Good thing she knows to bow her head and be quiet during prayer or else that could have been a fun scene.
And the hunt it on. They had separate areas for different age groups.
She loves getting those eggs!
The Easter bunny who Jon said Molly tormented. She kept walking up to him and acting like she wanted to see him and then would run screaming! We both felt bad for the poor soldier who got assigned that duty for the day.
Molly loves the bounce houses now!
A puppet show which was more like a puppet infomerical for the Army. Where else does the puppet talk about getting ID cards, what ACS can do for you and the youth center on post?
Jon and Molly going down the big bounce slide. They went down over and over until Jon got tired and Molly still wasn't ready to stop but she had to.
Enjoying one piece of candy this morning as I emptied the eggs so she could play with them.

Puppet show Army style.

Potty Training and SNOT

2011-03-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Molly has shown some interest in potty training so today* is d-day for us. Since Thursday is my stay home and clean day Jon and I decided today would be a good day to start. We will see how committed I am if there is an accident on my newly cleaned floors. Molly and I had a pep talk and then she got her Dora underwear and put it on all by herself. I think she is more excited about Dora than the whole bathroom thing but lets hope she motivates her.

Riley has had some snot the past few days and decided at midnight she didn't want to sleep in her bed anymore and at 2am she and I went to the couch for the rest of the night. Laying on my stomach helped her be able to breath better and I am sure she was glad b/c that meant I fell asleep and the sucker no longer entered her nose ripping out her snot. When she cries from the sucker she literally says whaaa which cracks me up but I don't think Jon was too happy about it from 12- 2am. Let's hope we are almost done with this snot attack!!
Molly with her new Dora underwear
Riley on the sick bed with nurse Molly about to aggravate her right before mommy comes to suck the snot and make her really mad!

*That was short lived - while nursing - Molly used the kitchen as her personal bathroom. Back to diapers I am not ready to be as persistent about her using the bathroom and I can't handle cleaning up pee all the time. My goal is to have her potty trained by 3 so we have 11 more months to get this down.

Monday Monday

2011-03-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Today was a dreary Monday - it was rainy and cold and both girls decided 6:30am was a great time to start the day. By about 9:30 I was at my wits end being in the house trying to keep Molly entertained and out of Riley's face while doing some random housework like laundry and cleaning. So at 10:30 we loaded up the car and headed out to story time at the library where Molly was the most excited I have ever seen her. She laughed and danced and ran around the room the entire 30 minutes. Seeing her happy and leaving Riley alone I knew we couldn't go back home just yet so we ventured to Monkey Joe's (a bounce house). The last 2 times we have gone to a bounce house for parties when Molly was one she cried and screamed but I figured at the most I am only out $5 so what the heck. Well today she LOVED IT!!! We were there for over 2 hours and Jon got to join us after he finished up some work on his day off. When it was just me and the girls I moved Riley about in her car seat - it was much easier with Jon there let me tell you!!! Well Monkey Joe's did its trick because Molly slept for 3 hours after we left.
After dinner we had to get some energy out of Molly and the weather had cleared up so Jon and Molly played some croquet. I think we finally have someone in our family who can beat Lisa Sealey and Molly is coming to get you!!!

Molly in the mini monkey area - this got her warmed up to the whole jumping around!
Molly coming out of Davey Jones' locker:)
What a kid looks like after 2 hours of running around non-stop and jumping, laughing and falling
The next master croquet player!

Sisters - same genes, different results!

2011-03-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

So this week we took Molly for her 2 year check up and Riley for her 2 week. I bet you will never guess who is in the 90% and who is in the 2% for weight at their age. The girls both checked out well and it looks like we will have one petite and one healthy girl in this family. We have had some fun adjustments this week as Jon is back at work and Granny is gone but so far we have made it out of the house for one outing each day. We have gone to some story times and PWOC (bible study for military wives). My bible study threw Riley an impromptu baby shower which she loved so much she slept through it - but I loved the food and gifts! Riley got her first bath in a tub today and Molly really enjoyed helping wash her.
Both girls all clean
This is Molly in her first bath.
Riley getting ready for her first bath. Both girl seem to care less about the bath but getting out is a rude awakening!
Molly listening at story time.
On post they have a craft that relates to the book. It was about butterflies and insects so Molly is decorating her sticky ladybug with glitter.

Her first time using scissors - I would say a success but I won't be giving her a pair any time soon to run around the house with.
The finished lady bug. Afterward we went to the park that is right outside the library doors and then to Chick-fil-a for a little bit more play so she would take a nap!!
So much for the nap though I found her out of her bed having a tea party with her cups and the only liquid available at her level - toilet water. I guess I will be shutting the bathroom doors from now on!!

Riley continues to be an easy baby who loves to eat, poop and sleep. She has a few awake hours each day and goes on a feeding frenzy from 7-11 but then sleeps for 6-7 hours.

A book Jon and I got this week we recommend even if we have only read one chapter so far - The Strong Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson. We never new the power of Molly's will until she did not have our undivided attention and lets be honest complete spoiling!!

The past few days

2011-03-16T12:52:00.001-07:00

We have been just hanging out having fun these past few days. Aunt Kaitlin came down for a photo session of Riley and hung out for the night. Molly and Granny have been doing lots of yard work and playing. Jon has been enjoying time off from work and time on with 4 women in the house. I have been enjoying napping, playing with both girls, talking with my mom and seeing Jon for more than an hour a day.

Riley and her rolls:)
Daddy holding a clean Riley!! After a week the new baby smell was starting to wear off so she got a good sponge bath since her belly button is still a booboo as Molly calls it.
Riley and I hanging out at the park.
Molly and Granny at the park - Molly will now go down most any slide!!
Running up to try and catch daddy on the way to the swings. It was a beautiful day and the temperature went up 8 degrees the one hour we were at the park.
Molly helping Granny rake - don't worry though she was still able to make a call on her cell phone while helping. Molly had to take many breaks to sit on the top step and talk on the phone. Her favorite people to pretend she is talking to are BertBurt and PaPa (her new name for her Grandad McPherson). She rotates between the two of them but if you ask she will let you know which one is on the phone:)
Granny and Molly looking at all their hard work. Too bad that night there was a rain /wind storm and more pine cones fell giving them more work for the next day.

The grandparents and Riley's first outing!

2011-03-13T19:42:00.001-07:00

This weekend the McPherson's were able to drive down to meet Riley and bring Molly her birthday present (a train/lego table). Molly and Riley have loved having all 4 grandparents in their lives these past few days and I know will go into mourning but luckily we still have another week with Granny to help us out!!! On Sunday we went on our first outing as a family of 4 - to the Morkens!! Molly saw her favorite people in the world - Will and Spencer - and Riley got to meet the Sieg's some of our friends from AK. We had brunch and just played around with 4 kids and 3 grandparents around there was plenty of love to go around.
Molly loving on her sister - she likes to "hold" Riley for about 2.3 seconds
Molly and Grandmommy playing at her new table. Her other grandparents got her a sand/water table so we are now ready indoors and out for some hands on learning.
This is what Riley did most of the visit with the Morkens - snuggle from one person to the next.
Playing in the playroom!
Playing outside - definitely had to have a bath to get the sand out of the hair today!
Molly eating at the kid table with Will. Her first time to sit at a kid table by herself with no help.

Having 2 is a lot of fun so far and doesn't seem that bad but I do have Jon and my mom around along with having had BertBurt, Grandaddy and Grandmommy visit these past few days. I guess when I actually have to do laundry, cook, entertain Molly, do the mundane everyday tasks of life AND take care of Riley it might seem harder. But right now all I do is occasionally feed Riley the other things are magically taken care of (or maybe Granny takes care of a bunch who knows?).

Tomorrow we go for out "48" hour follow up to see how the little lady is doing - oh boy for setting an alarm and trying to get somewhere on time.

Introducing Riley Jean

2011-03-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

Riley Jean McPherson was born March 8 at 15:38. She is a happy go lucky "little" lady who loves to sleep, eat and go to the bathroom. Riley's sugars crashed like Molly's did but here they rushed Riley to the NICU and kept her there until 2am monitoring her. Jon spent a lot of time in there with her while I recovered from the drugs they ended up giving me which knocked me out. My parents brought Molly by and we all celebrated with me getting my peanut butter milkshake!!! We got to stay 48 hours for sugar monitoring and some potential jaundice issues - I was in tears by hour 46 wanting to go home since it was really going on 60 being stuck in the hospital. So after entering the hospital Monday night we finally got to bring Riley home Thursday night to a home cooked meal, a happy big sister and my own bed and shower!!!!
Riley right before going to the NICU

Jon introducing the sisters
We are going home!!! Riley got to come home in an outfit great-grandma Rumbaugh picked out for her just like Molly did. We couldn't bring them home in the same outfit which was the original plan because of the the temperature difference (it is not quite as cold here as it was in AK).
Molly loving on her sister - Riley is pretty chill and can ignore most of the loving her sister lavishes on her.
Relaxing in the house
Molly with her baby doll - she is a busy being a new mommy also. Her recovery is much faster than mine since she is already shopping, talking on the phone and carrying her baby around.

One Last Project

2011-03-06T16:23:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week my neighbors asked if I would like their daughters old rocking chair. I figured why not I am sure I can do something with it. After watching 30 minutes on YouTube about how to reupholster I headed to JoAnn's knowing I would not be doing exactly what they suggested but figured I could figure something out. My friend Tina suggested we use a dark denim so Molly and I bought up the last of a roll of denim (not quite the 2 yards YouTube suggested) knowing I could make it work somehow:) Once I got it home I realized I should have listened and gotten the 2 yards but it was to late then so I thought my mom would be able to help me. She helped me figure out how to get it to fit the chair but the getting it on was another issue. Today Jon got home and I let him help me finish out the project that was all in my head. With the help of 4 people Molly now has her own rocking chair - which is a good thing since her tv chair is going to be Riley's rocking chair soon.
The free chair from our neighbor - so much potential!!! But really I couldn't let Molly have this chair in our living room - it was pink, had writing on it and a few stains which just isn't cute.
Riley and I working on the backside
Jon putting the rockers back on the bottom
Molly and her dad relaxing in their own rocking chairs. Soon Riley and I will be lounging on the couch while they hang out in their chairs!!!!

Check back soon to see when we become a family of 4 living breathing non-sleeping people!!

Last hospital visit before I-Day!!

2011-03-03T16:51:00.001-08:00

Today Molly and I went for our final hospital visit before my induction Monday (barring me going into natural labor before then). We have been going twice a week for over a month for non-stress tests where I get strapped down to a bed and they monitor Riley for at least 20 minutes (sometimes 45/50) and Molly patiently waits playing with books, phones and eating snacks and sometimes not so patiently. After a month you get to know the nurses you are with and today when the nurse looked a Molly and said you want to go with me? Molly walked over to her and started to follow her around. I had stopped strapping her in the stroller b/c she had been staying near me but I was a little shocked at her response. What do you do when you are strapped down and the hopefully trustworthy nurse now has control of your kid? You engage her in conversation so when she picks your kid up you know she won't leave the room!!!
Molly's treat for putting up with countless hours in the hospital the past month was to go to Fascinate-U a childrens museum in town. She played and played and played and then crashed only to get a call from a friend asking if we wanted to meet them at a park so after her nap we met them at the park and she played, came home and played some more outside. She has now taken a bath and put on her Dora pj's (favorite clothing of all time for her) and is on her third pair of shoes tonight.
Tomorrow my parents come into town and Molly and I are super excited to have more people in the house!! If everything goes as planned Jon should get home sometime late Sunday night/ early Monday morning from training just in time to get up at 6am Monday to go to the hospital for the birth of Riley! We will keep you updated:)

Debt Free

2011-02-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

Oct 2010 during R&R Jon and I decided we would get Financial Peace University for our Christmas present and work on becoming debt free. While Jon was deployed I watched the videos and implemented the principles while either emailing Jon about what was going on or telling him during some of our conversations. We tried to make the big decisions together but most of the day to day stuff like budget were left up to me since Jon wasn't able to spend money. When he got back we were going to do the video series again and this time both make the decisions but with a move only 3 months after he got back we just went with what was working. Once we got to NC and realized we were pregnant we made a plan to try and be debt free before Riley was born. The good thing about moving is you start over again - so we did not get cable when we moved here to save, we cut down our food bills, his parents gave us a truck so we could have a second car and watched our spending. We are cutting it close since Riley is scheduled to be induced next Monday but thanks to a nice tax return we have now paid off the last of what we owed!!!!!! Now onto the next steps of getting a 6 month emergency fund, saving for the girls college and giving more to missions.
Dave says - Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else!
Antioch Community Church says - Live simply so others can simply live!

I know Jon and I are thankful to have been blessed to have grown up with parents that provided us with financial security and wisdom, gone to a church in college that challenged us not to live the "American dream" and had the ability to learn from people like Dave Ramsey on how to use all that God blessed us with to be able live as God has called us to here and now.

Molly is 2

2011-02-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

Today Molly turned 2!! We had donuts from breakfast, went to the hospital for and ultrasound of Riley and had a Dora adventure party at the playground with Molly's friends from Alaska.
Thanks Aunt Kaitlin for taking my 2 year old photos!!

The goody bags - every adventurer needs their side satchel.
Getting ready to eat
Molly, Alex, Spencer and Will. Each kid went from plate to plate getting their favorite things to eat and Alex brought the juice box for everyone to share. At least they all got along:)
Picnic's are so neat?? Molly has rubbed dirt and ashes in her face I guess to make her fit in with the environment so she is more prepared for the adventure.
The fun thing about family picnics are that the dads spent most of the time playing at the playground with the kids. We ended up not doing the "adventure" part of the party but I think 1 1/2 hours playing at the playground and eating was enough for everyone. It was an adventure party b/c Dora is great for Molly but with 3 boys as her party guest they are more Diego type and so it was a combo party for both!!
Yes Molly is shoveling in a chip while trying to blow out her candle. It was a good thing it was a windy night or we could have been there for awhile.
Molly's present from Jon and I - Dora pajama's. She has started to love Dora and as we drive she says Dora over and over and when she sees anything Dora at the store we hear about her from then on and when she wakes up she wants to watch a Dora - you get the point. Whoever created this character sure did know how to make Molly love her and has done their marketing job well!
We are so blessed to have Molly in our lives and she is an amazingly happy go lucky kid who goes with the flow.

T minus 2 weeks

2011-02-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

Well as you can probably tell the camera does not come with us as often so the blog pictures are severely lacking. It used to be a staple in the diaper bag but Molly enjoys taking the camera out and moving it all over the house and I don't think to go and look for it before each trip so now Facebook is how I instantly upload pictures. I will work on remembering but pregnancy brain has been hitting full force along with doctor visits so not much exciting is going on here. Between Molly and myself in the month of Feb we have had over 15 doctor visits (it is the 22nd just so you know) so there has been a lot of waiting and not much adventure. Molly has had a follow up for an ear infection and a second round of ear infections while Riley Jean has brought havoc on my body. After failing my gestational diabetes I had had the privilege of going every Monday and Thursday so they can check her heart rate, my fluids and just have a lovely time waiting around at the hospital with a 2 year old who loves being locked in her stroller. The doctor didn't like my meter readings and put my on a drug to help level out my sugar readings. Two weeks on that with a few headaches, 1 bad crash where I almost passed out driving and still bad readings they doubled my dosage with insulin still being thrown out as a possibility. A week with double dosage hasn't been as bad just the nighttime stink! I woke up a few nights sick to my stomach and wanting to pass out - Jon's response why wouldn't you want to pass out and sleep through the night? Clearly he didn't comprehend my passing out comment at 3am but is much more sympathetic during the normal business hours:) I think my body is starting to figure this medicine out and hopefully the doctor doesn't change things again when we see him this week. Because of GD they have said they will induce so sometime around March 7 Riley should be joining us!! I can't wait for her but mainly a chocolate peanut butter milkshake which I got 3 of the day Molly was born b/c people knew how much I was craving them with her but couldn't have then because of the GD then too. It is worth changing my eating habits for a healthy baby but what I wouldn't give for a chocolate peanut butter milkshake!!!!

President's Day!
One benefit of the military is that if your solider is around for government holiday's and there is no training and no body screws up in their unit your get a 4 day weekend!! With two extra days we were able to cram in some fun family activities and still have a restful weekend. We went to the NC Zoo which is one of the nation's largest natural habitat zoos (IE - Be prepared to walk for hours and hours and hours) the weather was perfect (72 with a light breeze) and Jon was able to carry Molly when she didn't want to ride in the stroller. My body was only slightly sore and swollen at the end but Jon treated us to Olive Garden on the way home so all was forgotten.
Saturday we drove up to Raleigh for the day and hung out with the McP's and Roten's - Molly loves being around her cousin Phoenix and her grandparents. While their Aunt Kaitlin took Molly's 2 year photos - pictures to come at a later date - and we got to go to a mission event held by their church. It was so fun to be around people who were going to the nations and the creative ways they raised money. Jon and I talked about how it reminded us of our ATS days and the great things God did the year we spent seeking his will for our lives and going all over to serve. We had to leave a little early from the event to get back so Jon could prepare for Sunday since he got to preach at Chapel. After chapel we realized there are some things we have been putting off which probably need to be taken care of so as of Sunday Riley now has her come home from the hospital outfit. In case you are wondering when Molly came home Feb 25 in Alaska it was around -20 , for Riley who should be coming home around March 7 it could be in the 70's - that is a 90 degree difference!!
Well little Miss just woke up from her nap and wants attention but I will probably be blogging a lot this week since Molly's b-day is coming up and it is the last few weeks as a family of 3!

Fun with spray paint

2011-02-06T15:26:00.001-08:00

Since Riley Jean will be joining our family soon we have been working on Molly's new room. We wanted to go with something classic that she could grow up with and really I just wanted anything but pink, purple or really girly so we (ok I) chose RED, WHITE and BLACK!! It is like Olivia the pig or Mickey and Minny Mouse or just a classic look that will hopefully last her and Riley awhile once they start to share a room. We took an old book shelf and during Christmas Jon and his dad refinished it in his dad's shed. Then my parents friends Ken and Kathy had some furniture they needed to get off their hands since they were moving and we gladly took it - really my parents did and drove it to us. A few cans of spray paint, some new knobs and a little love later we have Molly's room finished!!!!!

Molly came out to supervise and had an incident - it is not spray paint on her knee just a beautiful bloody mess.
Molly - letters spray painted black and hung with red ribbon - we are still doing some finishing touches on the "bows"
Bookshelf - was brown and I have had since college refinished red by Jon and his dad
Dresser - given to us by the Jordan's, driven to us by my parents and finished by Jon. It is hard being pregnant and not able to really do much with spray paint just watching and hoping Jon would be home a few days of nice weather before the sun went down. It took 1 month but it is finished!!!
The bed is my bed as a kid- I remember sleeping in it and one day Molly will sleep in it on a regular basis (at least that is what we tell ourselves). In a big kid bed Molly has learned she can get up and roam the house in the night which usually brings her to our room around 4am. One day though she went to where Spencer and Will sleep and laid down outside their room waiting for them to come out - Molly is going to be very sad when our house guests leave us.
AHHHHHHH - The finished dresser!!!!!!!!! I dropped a knob on the way out the store and it busted so once I go to Lowe's again there won't be a missing knob. I can't wait to put Molly's clothes in her so that we can start to get things ready for Riley.

Riley Jean update: I have gestational diabetes again and with that they will be inducing me around March 7th. So in about a month the McPherson's will go from 3 to 4!!

Molly update: We have some friends living with us who have two boys (Will 4 and Spencer 1 1/2) that she has been having a blast with. Each morning the kids run to get other and give hugs and kisses and love each other for at least 2 minutes before Molly might go in for the bite. Molly has been playing with airplanes, blocks, cars, jumping off chairs and then you will catch her loving on her baby doll telling us all to be quiet while she rocks them and puts them to sleep. I love that she is able to adapt and play with the boys but somehow the girly girl in her is still coming out strong.

Ashley update: Gloria and I have realized that having a roommate is pretty great. We rotate who cooks so it is like going out every few nights because you get food that isn't in your normal rotation but it tastes awesome and there is no waiting in lines. Also when one person cooks the other plays with the kids and there is usually at least one dad around for dinner who shares attention with all 3 kids. Also I get a lot of adult conversation which is AWESOME!!!

Jon update: Jon has enjoyed having 3 guys in the house. Today on the way home from church he did state that it is easier with girls than boys but he has gone on some pretty fun adventures with all 3 kids following him around to the moon, grand canyon and other crazy places. He also gets some adult conversation with Troy.

Craigslist and other fun things

2011-01-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

So after failing my gestational diabetes test for Riley Jean McPherson we knew things were going to have to change. A gym membership is just not right for us right now and walking outside does not always happen so after some discussion Jon and I reopened the debate on getting a treadmill. Instead of getting a new one we thought we would give craigslist a try. Let me say families need to communicate before listing things on the site or when we show up at your door we all feel really bad/awkward/rough. The husband took us to the exercise room while the wife yelled her treadmill was not for sale then they shut us in the exercise room and were on the other side saying not nice things to each other. After making it clear we only wanted the treadmill if this was a whole family decision to get rid of it we gave them the cash put the treadmill in the truck and drove off. So the McP's are now proud owners of a ProForm 860 and I (Ashley) will start walking on it so that in 7 weeks Riley comes out with as little damage because my body hates us both.
In the garage folded up - waiting for our friends to come home so that we can rope Troy into helping Jon move it into the house because I can't really pick it up to help - just walk on it.

Then onto OTHER FUN THINGS!!! Our neighbors got their little girl a new power wheels jeep for Christmas and were going to give their old one to goodwill and decided Molly was a good case instead. So Molly is now the proud owner of a one seater jeep - which came at a perfect time because Will needed some wheels and he doesn't even care if it is pink!!
Yesterday Will, Spencer and Molly all took turns driving. The 4 year old was much better at it than the 2 year olds. Today Molly got some driving tips from her dad and is at least moving when sitting in the car instead of just honking the horn, moving the steering wheel and not moving an inch. This is good training for what is to come in 13 years!!
Jon holding the pedal down coaching Molly on how to drive - we are going to have to work on which side of the road to drive on since we are not in England which Molly seems to think we are since she drives "on the wrong side."

Hanging out

2011-01-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

We have some friends who moved to Fort Bragg come and are staying with us while they search for a place to stay. Molly loves having Spencer and Will to play with and is learning to share and not bite. I love getting to have adult conversation since Jon has been gone for the past few days and share meals with. Today it snowed again so Molly and I hit the slopes!

Morning time playing with the boys
Helping me shovel the driveway
Sledding!

This is Molly getting to sled - wish Jon was here to drag her up each time but in a few days he can!

Playtime with dad

2010-12-29T12:45:00.000-08:00

Today Jon only had to work a half day and since he came home after nap time he got hired to help take down Christmas decorations. To be fair the boxes were all in the attic and I can't really maneuver very well on a plank ducking through beams and carrying boxes so we waited for him. After getting all the decorations packed up he and Molly headed upstairs to put the totes up. As I was cleaning up I hear them having a lot of fun upstairs so went up to see what was going on and this is what they had created.

The Palace of Power.

This was Jon's first name for their fort, I guess I laughed a little too much because then it became - Molly's Mansion of Mayhem. Also some laughter on my part followed by Jon letting me know if Molly were a comic book character her name would be Destructo and this would be

DESTRUCTO'S DEN!!!!!

Destructo and her get away car
Don't let the cute smile fool you she is capable of destroying a perfectly clean room in a matter of minutes. She can also knock down the walls to this palace in a second.
Since they had a den we decided to have a fight with some of the toys laying around. My protection was the cozy coup while Molly and Jon attacked from the fort. We did good for a long time then I managed to hit her hand with a hard block which brought about crying. But this did bring about my favorite statement of all times to date - Momma bad (with tears) while I was trying to apologize for hurting her. Granted my apology came with a few giggles because she was so funny about the whole thing.
Just a fun shot from our morning time. Molly and played in the snow and when we came in she took off her socks and pants and would have probably taken off her shirt except it was a onesie. Don't worry though she kept on her hat to keep her warm (for 2 hours)!

Snow/Sledding NC style

2010-12-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

While driving home from Christmas we heard reports of 6 inches of snow at our house and were super excited. Last night we got home and yes there was snow and I guess it might have even been 6 inches but it really seemed like nothing after the last two years. Not knowing if it would even make it until morning Molly and I dashed out of the car and grabbed the sled. We did a few rounds down the front of the house and even got Jon to join us after he finished unloading the car. Then I did what any person who loves a good sled day does - I researched best sledding hills in Fayetteville. Google is not as smart as I once thought though because after I had a few places listed and was super excited for the morning when could hit the slopes I realized it was giving me sledding hills in Fayetteville ARKANSAS. Seriously the search engine should know I wanted ones where I live not in another state so after a refined search I found the only hill in the whole area. After being spoiled by the hills in Alaska only finding one in the entire area was a little sad but we still bundled up today and hit the road to go to Rowan park and went sledding with about 30 others. Molly loved it, especially since she didn't have to walk up the hill and only cried when we made her leave after 1 1/2 hours of sledding. I am thankful for at least the one hill because it was a lot of fun for our family - we were some of the only ones with real sleds and snow gear. We did lend out a sled to one family who brought the top of their turtle sandbox for the boys to sled down - we were offered "top dollar" if we would sell but I couldn't part with it so they settled for borrowing it for awhile.

Molly happy to be home with her moose after a nice sled ride!
Sledding in our front yard!! When I saw we dashed out of the car I really meant it the only thing we had on besides our regular clothes was hats!
Rowan Park the best sledding place in Fayetteville, NC.
Bundled up and ready to go!!!!
Molly and I after I drug her up the hill. One good thing about a small hill - I could climb it a lot more. I don't know if I could have hiked to the top of Dyea more than once. Riley is making it very difficult to breath these days so she and I sat at the top of the hill a few times while Molly and Jon went down.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and if you got some snow you played in it!!!

Christmas at the mountain

2010-12-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year we hit the road and drove to the McPherson Mountain Retreat to hang out with the whole clan. Everyone was there even Aunt Jenn who didn't have to rush back to work in retail this year along with her newest cousin Phoenix who turned one month while we were together. 7 adults, 2 kids and 1 dog made for some fun times during the week. We ate a lot, played a ton of Wii and board games (where I was undefeated in our newest game!) and cards. Our fun adventures including a candlelight service at a church we found online, playing in the snow with Lucky the dog, and making sure Molly didn't terrorize Phoenix too much. Molly made out in presents this year big time - so much Jon decided we should hold the present we got her until later. She got an easel, laptop, Noah's ark and shopping cart and of course tons of cute clothes! Hard to believe this time last year a skype conversation is all we had with Jon - this year we have been around him nonstop for 6 days and he doesn't go back to work for 2 more days. Molly loves having her dad around to spoil her and give her lots of extra cookies and play time outside.
Peek-a-boo - Molly woke up very happy to say hi everyone!

I love my cousin - I will love on him so much (more if people would stop supervising me)

Wii time while the girls took a break on the couch with all the grandkids (and grand dog)

Chasing Lucky the dog with dad and aunt Jenn.

Molly loves the snow - not quite like Alaska but enough to play in and have fun.

Molly and Phoenix getting some Grandmommy time on Christmas

Playing with her new toy

Molly supervising dad and Grandaddy - notice the easel in the background. Molly has had some fun coloring on it already. Dad was supposed to make sure she didn't get the markers but we came in to find them playing wii and Molly walking around with 2 markers in her hand. We had some fun times but Molly is a little sleep deprived.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

Fort Bragg Champs and Nutcracker

2010-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend the camera was hidden but praise the Lord for phones with cameras!
Thursday Jon found out about a Fort Bragg family scavenger hunt and we decided it would be something fun to do Saturday so he signed us up. I got home Friday night at midnight from a ladies night with the wives in Jon's unit to find he and Molly crashed on the recliner - having only gotten home 2 hours earlier from a rehearsal for a wedding he had. This was not a great start knowing we had to get up early to drive to the lake but when our alarms went off we hurried up and ate our breakfast to the sound of rain hitting the roof. Since it was almost freezing we threw on our long john's, smart wool's and other layers to go on our hunt. I did however forget gloves for Molly since there was no snow it didn't dawn on me we would need them. We got to Smith Lake signed in and were off. The uber competitive person in me was going through things as fast as a I could and basically telling Jon to run here and get this or do this while Molly and I stood under shelter not to get wet. That went on for about 20 minutes before he told me I was taking all the fun out of the event - so I set aside winning for the sake of family fun (harder done than said). For the next 2.5 hours we walked around finding clues to where Rudolph was hiding, went and visited the gingerbread man, went and saw ponies and miniature horses (there is a difference and Molly didn't want to ride just touch them) and basically completed the scavenger hunt knowing we were not in the running for a prize but we at least had some fun and learned a few things about events going on post. Jon turned in our sheet while Molly and I stood around the bonfire roasting marshmallows and came back saying at least 20 others teams had beat us b/c they had already turned in their forms. We enjoyed the bonfire a little longer and then headed home to warm up before Jon left for a wedding he was doing. 30 minutes before the wedding I got a call from Jon saying WE WON!! That's right it was about points not time and we got the most points so the McP's are the Fort Bragg champs right now and will be getting our picture for MWR later today. Molly might not have enjoyed the entire 3 hours out in the cold with exposed hands but once we collect the prize I think she will realize it was worth it (I hope)!!

We found Rudolph 2 hours and 45 minutes after starting (they said it should take 90 minutes)
We also enjoyed our first family ballet and possibly the first time for any of us to go to one. Jon's question when things started - will they talk? His later observation - they are all mute! Molly enjoyed the music and a balcony row to ourselves where she could dance around and also make some observations during the performance. One great thing is that Molly really did understand the emotion the music was trying to evoke because at a climax part she was yelling/screaming/laughing so loud and clapping. Unfortunately during a quiet moment she also felt those emotions and was "that kid" but since all kids were free there were a lot at the performance so we didn't feel as bad.
Waiting for the performance to begin.

Molly loved it!
We did hear a little girl near us state during the first act that those were real kids down there performing because it was not on TV. But she also decided in the middle of the second act she was done watching the performance b/c the TV version was much shorter and she was tired of watching it and would rather watch it on TV. So she and her parents left which was kind of sad but maybe one day she will appreciate things like this.

Molly's BIG weekend

2010-12-07T13:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend Granny and BertBurt came and delivered Molly's big girl bed. This is the bed I got when we lived in Nebraska - so it has been around since before I was in 3rd grade. I always loved my trundle bed and the fact that I had to jump to get up on it - should be interesting with a 2 year old though. While they were here we played games, went to restaurants with TV's so Jon and my dad could watch a little football, de-liced Molly and the house and got the battery in my parents car replaced.
Molly on the bed - I think she will start out on the bottom but Jon and I are still discussing that. My mom hopes that nesting hits soon b/c the room needs a little work to be ready for Molly once her sister takes over the crib.
Molly on the move
You can't catch me and my Head/Balthrop Belly. She may weigh next to nothing but she still manages to have the big gut that sticks out.
Granny let me help you vacuum those stairs - I think you missed a spot.
See mom this is how it works - do Granny and I have to show you everything?
While BertBurt was tasked to clean the fans Molly thought she would hold the ladder down for him. She also had some advice for him on how to clean.
On our way to Chapel. Another great thing about parents coming is that we were able to use them as babysitters for an Army event we had to go to Saturday night so Molly could be at home with people she knew and loved.
Taking a Saturday afternoon nap after the mall and a bad morning of lice removal.
Two monkeys picking at Molly while Jon tried to stay out of the way and not get any on him.
The start of a long 2 hour process to remove lice - get to repeat the process this Saturday and then hopefully never ever again!!!!!!

Phoenix and PJ's

2010-11-29T07:19:00.001-08:00

On our drive home from Thanksgiving we got to stop off at the UNC hospital and meet our newest nephew Phoenix Wake Roten weighing 7lb 13 oz and measuring 21.5 inches. I always thought Molly was small until I saw him and now she seems like a giant or at least bigger. The whole McPherson clan was there and it was a nice prelude the Christmas when we will all be together at the cabin. While Molly has always known she had to share her Granny and BertBurt with 8 others she has not had to share Grandmommy and Grandaddy McP and I think it will take some time. Phoenix got the evil eye a few times from Molly when Grandmommy was holding him and Molly got as close as she could to stake her claim.
Jon with Phoenix while Molly looked on with Aunt Jenn.
Molly's thoughts - who is this kid that thinks he can take my place in Grandmommy's arms??
One day I will be able to get pigtails even but until then Molly will just have to keep up her cute smile to compensate.
Molly showing off her new PJ's! This is the one pair that fit the best and she refused to take them off once we tried them on her at 3pm. Jon's were a little snug and since I used the same pattern for myself let's just say with a pregnant belly it is a good thing shirts run long!! But it only took 4 hours of cutting/measuring/going to the internet over and over/sewing to get all three pairs done with a short break to drive and pick up the broken down truck!! I think we might keep up the tradition since we are only out $20 between fabric and elastic and next time I will know to give us all a little extra room in the waist. Once again my 3 years of Monday afternoon sewing with Mrs. Frew our neighbor in VA have paid off.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T07:07:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year Jon, Molly and I got in the car Wednesday and drove up to MD to visit my parents. We realized a few hours into the drive his parents were driving down I-95 at the same time we were driving up, thanks to the droid we found a middle exit with food and stopped at exit 92 for a Wendy's dinner with his parents and sister Jenn on their way to have Thanksgiving with his other sister Kaitlin. Molly loved seeing her grandparents and aunt and she was so glad to be out of her carseat that she was nonstop entertainment having us all laughing as she danced and wiggled. We hit the road after dinner and finished the drive to my parents and Molly once again was in full spoil me form with my dad. Granny didn't get to see her because she is in Tennessee with my grandfather who has been having some bad days but we are thankful for all that she left us with. She had gone shopping so we had all the food we could ever imagine even if we had to split responibilites between Jon, Molly, my dad and myself. We were all assigned dishes to make our Thanksgiving feast and they turned out - the only person with a problem was me and the deviled eggs. We did not prepare everything my mom had bought for us but we did manage to get 7 dished on the table for 3 adults and 1 kid. Later that night we had our friends the Williams stop by for a dessert break on their drive home and we got some homemade cheescake and reesecup brownies. We have been playing games, watching football and having a good time. On our way home today we will get to meet our newest nephew Phoenix Wake Roten born yesterday to Katilin and Thomas!!

Attempt one at hard boiled - they were more soft boiled and could not be salvaged. Attempt two was much better!
Molly helping BertBurt with the chocolate dessert. She unwrapped the chocolate for him.

Molly showing BertBurt how to work the microwave.

Not too bad but not as good as if Granny was with us!

Our Thanksgiving Feast! Molly crashed watching the Auburn/Alabama game while her mom was beating BertBurt and her dad in a few games of Settler's of Catan.

Devo times with a 21 month old

2010-11-24T06:37:00.000-08:00

Molly and I attempt to have Bible/devo time with some days better than others. I found some sticker coloring books and we have read those and done the activities. Today she brought me her Bible so we read the story she found flipping through the pages. As we were reading about Moses taking the people to the promised land Molly jumped off my lap ran and got her nerf gun and came back pointing it at pharaoh while we talked about crossing the red sea. I guess she wanted to be a guard??

All this to say I am super excited about what we are going to do for advent this year. A lady in my bible study told us about Jesse Advent Tree and we did an ornament exchange Monday. Each ornament tells of the story of salvation throughout the bible. When you put the ornament up you read the devo, scripture and sing a song. So in 25 days Molly will have had 25 stories in the Bible that tell of Jesus coming and what that means for us. I am excited to have structure, activities to do each day and something daily to remind me what a blessing it is that Jesus stepped off his throne in heaven and came to earth as a baby walked earth without ever sinning and then died and rose so one day we can join him in heaven!!
Now the hard part waiting until Jon is home each day to do the devo - I am no patient but I really want this to be a family thing so I guess I will have to be!!

Awesome weekend in Charlotte

2010-11-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

This weekend Jon had a single soldier retreat so Molly and I hide in his suitcase and went along - ok we really just hoped in the car and added our clothes to his suitcase. Every few months chaplains get to throw some amazing retreats thanks to Strong Bonds (some government funding) for the soldiers in their unit. Jon rotates between family retreats and single solider to cover all the needs but Molly and I go along either way. Jon and his assistant get to choose where they go and the past two retreats have been in Charlotte. He gave the soldiers a free afternoon Saturday so we went to Discovery Place and we had a BLAST!! Afterward we went to Dish a restaurant featured in Diner, Drive-in's and Dives and had some amazing food. Once we did all that we went back to the hotel for Molly to crash. The one reoccurring theme in his soldiers wanted was more training time which surprised us both but I guess they really do want to be people of character and wanted all they could get on it.
Molly singing with the wiggles the night before we left.
Pretty happy to be going somewhere with daddy since he was a training all morning.
The toddler section which Molly LOVED!! Water, blocks and toys who could ask for more?
The ramp that Molly claimed as her own. We had to work on sharing when other kids wanted to use it. I think she wanted to charge them for being on her ramp and getting her in trouble. She got a little better at sharing - but not much, at least not this one toy.
Look at the water dad - this was before she threw a bucket down the front of herself. They did have water aprons to wear but daddy didn't think it was necessary. (Molly was the only kid without one)
Upstairs in the big kid area - we were listening to a demo on neon lights. The lady asked how many kids watched CSI and not many kids raised their hands - Jon thought it was ridiculous to ask that question of kids. Then she asked about ChuckECheese where they use black lights and most every kid raised their hand - Molly saw this and raised both her hands. They best part was the ROYGBIV song and Molly busting out in dance moves that rival Dancing with the Stars. As you can see in the picture she did not want to sit with us she chose a bench in the front by herself.
The Air Chair - Jon pushed the buttons and air lifted them up a few feet. Molly was somewhat impressed.
Me laying on a bed of nails - not something I would want to sleep on but ok for a once in a lifetime experience.
Taking a break for a snack before going back for more.
Molly on the go again - we all had so much fun laughing and doing hands on things.
There are no pictures of dinner because we were right at the breaking point so we ate and got back to the hotel as fast as possible (with a few geocaches along the way) so Molly could take a nap at 6pm. The great thing about a single soldier retreat is that Molly and I get to sleep in as late as we want not having to worry about eating breakfast early so I can get her to childcare and be apart of the teaching with married couples.
I can't wait until the next retreat!! Only one more until things get a little crazy for us before Baby Girl McP joins us.

Finally getting there

2010-11-19T05:15:00.000-08:00

*Note - I did not take pictures this week so it is just all words.

So we have lived here since July and I think we are starting to finally get to where NC feels a little like home. Molly and I finally had a lunch date with another lady and hung out and talked for 2 hours. We went to a cabin with some people who are now our friends in Boone, NC and this past week Jon and I took over the children's ministry at the chapel we are attending.
Now to expand
Lunch with my friend - so Jon and I have tried to go to some random places and two of the times the restaurants no longer existed. So when I picked up Migdalia I asked what she liked and she said Italian. After a facebook survey taken earlier I said I think Luigi's sounds Italian - want to try? So I blindly drove her to a restaurant I hoped was open and that 3 friends had not lied about and that it was Italian just because of its name. We were both pleasantly surprised - it was Italian, the lunch menu was reasonable and the food was AMAZING! Now to try the other suggestions given on facebook.
Cabin Trip - We had another chaplain couple over for games one weekend and they asked us if we wanted to go to Boone during the next long weekend. We agreed having really only spent 2 hours with these people. We got there to the 6,000 sq foot cabin to meet our friends and then some more of their friends. It was like 60 hours of non-stop fun, laughing and just hanging out. Molly was the only kid but no one seemed to mind since she would just smile and run from the boys. We hiked which made me think of all our great times in Alaska with friends, we geocached which made me think of our great times in Waco with friends (and the not so great chigger time) and we played hours of games every night which made me happy since I won a few!! Molly now has a favorite person in NC - at the chaplain hail and farewell last night Molly refused to be with Jon or I she only wanted to be in Lauren's arms or standing right next to her.
Children's Ministry - this should be a fun group of kids to work with. There are already around 40 who attend regularly and there are even 15 volunteers who rotate so we are getting to work along side people who love children and are already committed! It is nice to have a place to serve as a family again.

Can't wait to update the blog with pictures of our weekend!!

Sleeping Beauty

2010-11-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

So this morning Jon didn't have to go into work so after breakfast we were all playing around. He started to take a nap and I told Molly that he was like Sleeping Beauty and needed a kiss to wake up. And she proved once and for all she really is my kid!!!!

Thinking how best to wake up sleeping beauty - option 1: the kiss, option 2:SURPRISE ATTACK
option 2 of course was the choice of champs!! She slapped him in the face while I started to laugh and ran and got the camera and asked her again to wake Jon with a kiss again. Obviously she likes option 2 better.She did give him a big juicy kiss after a little nudging.

Rainy Day Fun

2010-11-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

What do you do on a rainy day in Fayetteville?

Make a moving box tunnel.
And climb through it for many many minutes

Hide things in it and play chase with mommy who refuses to get in and then convince her to take you to Chik-fil-a for 2 hours. It didn't take much to twist my arm though since I had a new good book I was reading and while I love playing with Molly I really wanted to read the book (which I finished!!).

Why do we have so many boxes 4 months after moving in? Our shelves did not make it in the move so we bought some really good sturdy shelves that Jon finished and once he got home he loaded them with his books.
Molly gets 2 shelves for her books and toys also. We have some organizing to do with the shelves but we wanted to clear the storage room (aka Molly's room when baby girl McP comes) so we could start thinking about how to set it up.

We are having . . .

2010-11-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

another girl.

We had our ultrasound today and it seems like everything is going well, she weighs 1 lb 2 oz right now and sleeps with her arms up (a McPherson trait). We go back next week to have the doctor tell us what all they learned from the ultrasound.
Jon's first response was - wow I am really going to be outnumbered.
Ashley's first response was - man I really wanted a boy but at least she is healthy
Molly's response - why is someone else getting to touch my mommy's belly?

We celebrated with a pink cake - I know girls mean pink but I think I will go for a darker shade and stick with red in the future!
Jon and Molly enjoying the moment while we throw out some names to think about. Probably no more family names since the ones left by our grandmothers are: Velda, Hattie and Donie Mae.
Molly enjoyed the celebrating - now just a few more months and we will see if baby girl McP will survive her loving big sister.

Flying, Friends and FUN!!

2010-10-28T07:12:00.001-07:00

Molly and I decided the month of Oct would be the FUN month embracing the motto when life gives you lemons made lemonade - aka when the Army takes away Jon we will be travelers visiting friends and family! This past week we visited some of my favorite people and Molly made some new friends. We flew to Oklahoma to see Stephanie, Abby, Olivia and Dave and a drive over to great-grandma Rumbaugh then onto Kansas to see the Lewis family. I know this morning Molly is going through friend withdraw but it was worth it to see everyone!!
On the first of 5 planes for the trip. I guess it is a compliment when getting off the plane people say -wow she wasn't too bad to sit next to. Flight attendants must assume small kids are going to be rough because at least 2 people got free drinks for being our seat buddies.

Molly and Abby - instant friends!!
An explorer with 3 carseats in the backseat - a little tight but we made it work.
Molly loved following Abby around in the fairy wings. They also liked chasing each other around the living room - each thought the other was chasing her as they ran in circles for hours.
Stephanie wisely let me pick the cookie the girls got for a treat and I picked the pumpkin cookie with a ton of orange icing - needless to say we did laundry that night!
Bath fun - Molly's first bath with a friend. Things are always better with a playmate.
Great-Grandma Rumbaugh was just an hour drive from Steph's and she kindly let me borrow her car so we could go for a lunch visit. We had some lunch, played at the park and saw a prairie dog town in Lawton.
Molly with her great-uncle Jim and great-grandma
We then flew to Kansas to see the Lewis family - it took a day before Molly would let anyone but Tina touch her but she finally decided she could let the others be her friend again. We went to Red Barn Farm and hung out with some animals, did a corn maze, ate some kettle corn and picked pumpkins. Molly has really enjoyed fall this year with all her tractor rides and corn mazes!
The 3 feet she walked in the corn maze the rest of the time she needed Tina's touch .
She did have shoes but the kept falling off and since she wouldn't walk it didn't matter if she had them.
Enough of that I need to get back to picking pumpkins with the kids
Molly carving her pumpkin next to Sam.
She can't quite hang with the big kids yet - she and Scout needed a rest.
We had lunch at Fritz's - you place your order on the black phone and then the food comes from a train system above your head. I don't know who thought it was more amazing - Molly or me.
Molly watching the train drive by and deliver someone's food to the lowering tray at their table.

Molly and I had a great October of seeing almost all our family, many great friends and getting to travel a lot. Only a few more days until Jon comes home and we start having adventures with him again.

Familypaloza

2010-10-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

The month of October has been one big family reunion for Molly and I. We have traveled to TN, MD and VA to see all her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and a few other family members. We started out with a trip to Gatlinburg where we got to stay in an amazing cabin with my whole family and we got together with my uncle's family for dinners. We had 16 in our cabin and it was so much fun!! Then we drove up and visited my friend Dory for AK who now lives in VA and hung out with her family and dog Zeus the world's biggest gentle giant of a dog. Molly and I made a pit stop in MD and then headed to the McPherson's where we celebrated the upcoming birth of Molly's cousin Baby Roten (aka they don't know what they are having yet).
Molly and Taylor sharing the best way to make a mess while eating spagetti.
The girl kid table - we didn't have one of those when I was little since I was the only girl (I am a little jealous)
Granny, BertBurt and the 8 grandkids at Parrot Mountain
Grandmommy, Grandaddy and Aunt Jenn at Cox Farm - If you live in VA you should go there 20 acres of slides, corn mazes, animals and FREE apples and cold apple cider while there. You can pay $2 for warm cider but why??
Molly feeding the goat with Aunt Jenn
Apple break - Molly ate almost the entire thing even the seeds.
One of the many slides we went down that day - it was awesome!!

Potty Time

2010-10-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

We are not in serious potty training mode but Molly has shown a little interest so I bought her a seat goes on the big toilet. The biggest treat for her is getting to touch toilet paper and "wipe" herself. She also loves taking the seat off the toilet and using it as her personal chair in the bathroom when I am not watching. There has been no real action while sitting on it but there is no real loss, I figure once she has doubled her life she will for sure know how to use the bathroom. Also the benefit of a diaper while traveling - I don't have to stop when she needs to go so it is totally worth delaying serious training!!

Molly is a GIRL!

2010-10-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

I know we found this out 2 years ago in an ultrasound but Molly is making it clear to us everyday how much of a girl she is. She has started to show an opinion in what she wears, throws and occasional tantrum, has her daddy wrapped around her finger and of course loves to apply chapstick.
The outfit she chose today with her white shoes but at least they are a matching pair.
Sunday once we got home I took off her Sunday shoes which she had no choice in what she wore and she had these on in a matter of minutes. At least later in life if she can't dance we have proof she has two left feet??
Daddy couldn't handle her tears after her nap Sunday so he took her on a bike ride.
Do you think she liked it?
A new nightly routine - once daddy gets home she plays in the truck for about an hour. Driving, climbing in the seats and her favorite the playpen (aka bed of the truck)
Watch out world crazy driver.
Peek-a-boo
OK I'm done.

Our Last Week

2010-09-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

This past week Jon got to go to Gettysburg for some military training and my mom came down to visit. My mom and I drove to Augusta, GA to visit her sister and family (all the pictures are on her camera and I forgot to download them before she left so no pictures in this blog - sorry). We met my aunt, uncle and cousin Stephanie at Cracker Barrel. After lunch we went back and Molly got to play with my cousins Little People while I took a nap. That night most of the family got together just to hang out and eat , Molly enjoyed eating and playing with Lanie her second cousin. The next day we got to see Stephanie's house and Molly decided to raid her pantry and has a new favorite - Townhouse Fliptz which is 1/2 cracker 1/2 pretzel.
This weekend Jon and I have seen the power of 4 days influence with Granny. While at a picnic Molly picked up napkin and started wiping down the benches and ground and at home she found a onesie and started to clean the bathtub. Not that I don't clean but she was a little more exposed to continuous cleaning with Granny around and I guess she likes it. Let's hope it sticks because I would gladly give her chores if I thought it would make her happy:)
Since Jon got home it has been picnic central here. We had his brigade picnic, chaplain picnic and Rock the Fort. We have spent more time outdoors in the past 2 days than most of the summer and boy was it HOT. We have brought home a very dirty, tired and cranky girl each night too.

Oh Crap

2010-09-22T04:47:00.000-07:00

We have been working with Molly to increase her vocabulary. We point to things and ask her to repeat which she doesn't. My mom came into town and while I was at bible study she tried for hours to get Molly to say Granny with little luck. This morning however my mom was trying to get a stain out of one of my shirts and was pouring boiling water over it and burned her self and said Oh Crap. Guess who repeated her?? Molly sitting in her highchair eating her breakfast casually repeated Granny's Oh Crap.
At least I know she can hear and is capable of repeating us when she wants to right??

Corn Maze

2010-09-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday we went to Hubb's Corn Maze in Clinton, NC for a family fun day. Jon, Molly and I crammed a Taco Bell lunch in after chapel and drove 40 miles to experience the maze of all mazes!! It had 2 different courses (the 1.5 and 2.5 mile), toddler town, pony rides, silo slides and corn nuggets. We enjoyed the day out there and completed both courses. In my last post I said I wouldn't trust Jon with land navigation and our family and after Sunday, well let's just say I am a little better at finding checkpoints in a timely manner. On Jon's behalf I will have to say that it is hard to navigate and hold a kid but every time I tried to hold her it was like having a siren in the maze - FIND US, SAVE ME, I WANT MY DADDY!!! I think that is what she was shouting but all I heard was WHAAAAAAAAAA dada, WHAAAAAAAA dada. So needless to say Jon carried Molly 90% of the time in the mazes.
Here are the pictures of the fun!!

This is the aerial shot of the maze. Crazy I know, the tank maze is 2.5 miles and the helicopter is 1.5 miles. I bet you will never guess who the sponsor was this year?? If you guessed the US Army MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) you win!!
The Toyota one at the top is the haunted maze that is open at night in October.
Molly and Jon enjoying a barrel ride.
The silo slide - actually a lot of fun. Molly was brave enough to go down one time on her own and smiled even.
The hay ride - Molly is pretty much dying of heat at this point and Jon and I were not far behind.
Molly loved touching the ponies.
Checkpoint 11 in the maze. At this point we had completed the helicopter maze, taken a break and were almost done with the tank maze.
Molly's favorite part I think - toddler town with play equipment her size and of course a swing!
What a great way to finish the day - corn nuggets - which is basically Cheetos but instead of cheese a molasses coating. Can you say sugar high??

Adventure Race

2010-09-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

Jon and his assistant (Sgt Gregory) participated in an Adventure Race Saturday. The race consisted of a 5k run, orienteering (more details later), 10k mountain bike ride, mystery even and canoe. The race started at 7:30 and I intended to sleep in and then come out later with Molly - that plan was not accepted by Molly who at 6:15 started crying bloody murder and looking all over the house for Jon. I guess she knew it was Saturday and he should be home, so I showered with her screaming and then loaded her into the car screaming and drove to the race, with her screaming and saw Jon start the race. Guess who turned all smiles when she saw her daddy??

EVENT 1 - The Run
Look fast because this is probably the last time they had the lead. Jon's goal when he came home from the briefing was to beat at least one team and preferably a girl. There were Special Forces, Green Beret and some other stud teams out there who probably do this kind of stuff in their sleep but the chaplain/assistant team were determined to show them all!!

EVENT 2 - Orienteering
This is like geocaching but with a map, protractor and compass (not GPS or modern technology). They were given 3 points on a map they had to find. One team had to start from the beginning of this twice b/c they couldn't get the points to add up. Let's just say I hope I am never lost in the woods with Jon and Sgt Gregory without a GPS b/c if we are dependent on their orienteering it could take a few hours. Without this section of the race they stood a chance but it took them 3 hours and miles and miles of walking - the fastest team finished the entire race in 2 hours 26 minutes. Don't worry though a few others teams were slower and one team even got so mad at each other after a few choice words with each other they quit the race. I am proud that the 2 of them didn't give up even though I am sure they were both a little frustrated at the length of time and miles it took to find their points. The picture above is them finally finishing!
EVENT 3 - Mountain Biking
From what I understand it was more hills and sand which was not quite the mountains they were thinking but they made some pretty good pace on this part of the race and made sure to keep the few teams behind them - well still behind them.
EVENT 4 - Mystery Event
One team member was blindfolded and lead by the other teammate to a ball pit where they had to find~
the 2 balls that were different from the rest. This event was a nice rest for each team. Most of them enjoyed catching their breath after the previous events.
EVENT 5 - The Canoe
They ran down to the beach got in a canoe and paddled out to the marker turned around came in and sprinted to the finish! A few teams flipped their boat but not Jon and Sgt Gregory they made it and after a few minutes they made it in a straight line even!
Almost there!!
Finishing the race!!! It only took 5 hours 25 minutes but they finished and I am proud of them for sticking through it even after event #2!!!
What a happy team!! I know Molly was happy! They did beat a few teams and even a girl or two.