NEXT MONTH!!

Jon comes home next month !!! It will be toward the end but he might actually make it home for Molly's b-day.
We have been having fun hanging out with friends and ice skating with the kids from chapel. I have learned a very valuable lesson - I am no longer a teenager and falling hurts. I remember the pool parties The Journey would have and we did best fall into the pool so I thought it would be fun to have a best fall on the ice with my chapel kids. BIG MISTAKE. I also attempted to race kids on ice who are hockey players and ice skaters (who practice hours and hours) needless to say I was beat badly. They can skate faster backwards than I can forward and I only had to skate 1/2 the distance. But it was fun to get some outside time with them all. Luckily for me Jon had given me a gift certificate to get a massage for our anniversary (many months ago) and I finally used it after ice skating. I am glad I saved/put it off this long. My first massage and I think I actually enjoy them.
Now onto the main event - pictures of Molly.
Some people requested a new hair do so without further ado - here is my attempt.

Molly right after I finished giving her braided pigtails.
By the end of the day the pigtails no longer stood on end - we had to keep putting on her hat when we went outside.
The next morning.
Molly got her new car seat. She looks so little in it but she looked so big in her old infant seat.
Some babies carry around blankets, toys, dolls - not Molly she carries around a spoon. I took this one away at some point and she had another one by the end of the afternoon. I guess it is her comfort knowing she can eat whenever and where ever.

Jon's Christmas

Jon's Christmas as told by Ashley.
I have learned one thing this year - - I can delegate. I came up with the brilliant idea of putting together a 4.25 Holiday Fun Run and then realized all the crazy details that go into putting one of these on. I first went to the always accurate internet as my source of knowledge and printed off a 10 page list of things to do to put together a race. After a quick glance I then went to a soldier in my battalion who in her former life helped put on big events and another soldier who in his former life helped put on runs. I then delegated most everything to them. I also delegated Ashley to get me a few essentials that can not be found over here (like 300 safety pins and 20 shirts for prizes). With "Santa's helpers" I was able to come up with a team of people and put on a race for over 100 soldiers December 25th. It was a nice distraction as we all missed our families on this day.
Why 4.25 miles you ask? Because I am part of the 4 Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) 25 Infantry Division otherwise known as the 4/25th.
Here are some pictures of the event - some runners came dressed up even!
The t-shirt design by our awesome friend at nwarddesigns
Runners lining up for the start of the race.

Down the straight away

Finished!!
I think the guy in the grey Army running suit with the Santa hat is Jon but I am not sure. I really got these pictures off of the facebook page from Sparta Lives but by the look of the stance it might be him. I know I should know my husband at a glance but give me a break it has been a long time and Army guys in uniform tend to look - WELL - uniform - what gives?

Back to Ashley:
Jon seemed glad to do the race and there were a few hiccups on race day but in general for his first race to put on he did awesome and he now appreciates a whole lot the details that go into making race day a great experience for all involved. He can't wait to come home and participate in his next race (and probably never be in charge of one again)!

Christmas

Molly enjoyed her first Christmas. She got a ton of presents and tried for 5 days to open some of the presents and after hours of failed attempts she did pretty good playing with the boxes once I got all the paper off.
Christmas this year was a tad anticlimactic for me - while it was Molly's first Jon was not here to be apart of it. So really I just wanted it over with because that means we are one day closer to Jon coming home. Don't get me wrong I am thankful that we celebrate Jesus birth but I spent many hours pondering on the fact we give each other presents on his birthday. Is this what he would want us to do? If he came back today what would he think of the way we celebrate his birth? In the end I didn't want to be a scrouge (or cheapskate) so I did get some presents for others but was just not that into it this year.
I am anxiously awaiting New Year's though because that means we will finally be in 2010 which means JON COMES HOME!!! Some of the soldiers in the battalion get home in less than 2 weeks - Jon is more around 8 weeks - I can't wait to see them start coming home. I am waiting for the plane to arrive and getting to meet him and bring him home no matter what time (but it would be nice if it was between 7am-11pm). Now I just have to make sure the house is clean and shelves stocked - but I am sure anything is better than a plywood house with the same food everyday.
Now onto what everyone really wants to see: Molly

Christmas Eve - playing with the box as I put together the toy. See the video below to see how much she loves it:)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Molly and her friend - she is showing him how to sit on his knees and steal others toys.It's the grab and roll. Once you have the toy you must roll away from your friend so you don't have to share. Leave them with the rings (which as so last week).

Let me start by saying this was our 3rd attempt and on a previous attempt she fell back and brought the whole walker system down on her face. As of today she enjoys it a little more but prefers it in the non-walker state.

Molly is mobile

Molly has been doing the worm (her version of a crawl) and has now added pulling her self up and getting into all sorts of mischief. Below is pictorial evidence.

I knew things were too quiet in the study Sunday morning. I didn't even need to buy "Your baby can read" off the TV Molly is clearly advanced for her age and is reading all types of books.
We saw Santa and his reindeer. Pretty cool in Alaska they actually have the reindeer attached to the sled - I didn't want to wait in line to get her picture in his lap we did that inside out of the cold.

This is reason #15 why we usually wear cloth diapers. They are bulkier and help keep her pants on. She has wormed her way out of her pants b/c I had in her a disposable diaper which clearly don't hold the pants on for her.
First notice she is standing attempting to open her presents and Second the bruise on her head. If I were in 9th grade I could do a science fair project on the correlation of the number of bruises and the amount of time a child has conquered a new feat (such has being able to get up by them self). She has spent at least and hour on that one package and hasn't made any real progress Christmas day could be real fun for us all.
And last but not least - she doesn't get her picture taken often does she?? I said smile and this is what I got:)

17 inches of snow in 48 hours

No doubt about it - we will be having a white Christmas this year in Alaska. In the past 2 days I have shoveled the driveway 4 times with my happy helper. With the crazy amount of snow coming I made a grocery run yesterday just in case things got really bad. Well with the cell phone tower down today(no service at all) and lots of snow Molly and I spent the day at home cooking and playing. Molly got a Christmas present yesterday and I didn't realize until I had opened the box so I just pulled the whole thing out and she has been playing with her fisher-price SUPERSTAR station for hours. She loves singing in the mic and playing the tambourine.
Molly supervising the snow shoveling process
Molly in front of the house so you can see really how much snow there was. Notice the snow is all the way to the porch - it is finally starting to slow down.
With a few functions coming up I decided to get all the cooking out of the way today! I made 2 batches of soup (tomato basil and taco), a loaf of cranberry bread, new hot chocolate and 5 dozen cookies. Molly and I should be good for a few days now!


Molly with her newest toy.

Snowshoeing

Molly has gone on her first snowshoeing adventure. Ashley our friend said the trail we would be going on you don't necessarily need snowshoes so I stuck with my regular boots but Molly got moved around and rode on Ashley's back for awhile so she did actually get to snowshoe.

Molly and Ashley leaving me in their snow dust
We made it to Thunderbird Falls a nice 1 mile hike. Molly has new snow gear after this hike - if you notice her feet actually have gloves on them and by the end her face had Valerie's scarf. She now has an all inclusive down feather snowsuit that closes in on the hands and feet so now more trying to get her into her snow bibs (YEAH) and her hands and feet will be more protected.
Valerie (aka Storm) she is not graying at a young age her hair actually has ice crystals from breathing on the hike. 2 degrees is pretty cold but with the right gear totally doable.
Getting ready to start our hike after we enjoyed the 20 minutes of sunlight at Ashley's.
Valerie also had some gear issues - her snowshoes got stuck in an uphill position so she was walking on her tiptoes most of the hike.


Molly has now learned how to stand up in her bed - I found this out this afternoon when I came in to get her up from her nap and she was standing there smiling at me. I am really glad I lowered the bed when I did. Hopefully she will hold off marathon running until Jon gets home.

Procrasination

I should be working on our Christmas letter but instead have decided to update the blog. I hope to have that letter out by Sunday - we will see about that:)

Onto more fun things: MOLLY - the child is an eating machine. She eats any and everything put in front of her. Some examples: salsa - eats it by the spoon full, green beans by the can, chili by the bowl, all types of meat and she loves blueberries. Below are a some pictures from the last few days.

Molly with her blueberries, green beans and cheese. We were skyping Jon while we ate dinner that night so Molly had free reign.

You can't make me smile - I am going to keep a straight face.
OK - I give up


This is what Molly and I see when we skype Jon. Only a few more short weeks and he will be home and can make silly faces in person and hear our conversations without head phones! Jon will be home in less than 11 weeks!!! We are almost down to counting only on our fingers - YEAH!