Good Friends

I have a friend Karen who I have known now for 6 years.  We went through the first deployment at Fort Campbell and have been friends ever since.  When we moved here to Enterprise Karen, as always, was right there to help.  Watching Ava when I needed help, bringing food to us as the movers moved in our stuff, and listening when times were rough.  Karen has three children now.  Abby who is 3, Aidan who is a month younger than Ava, and Avery who is 6 weeks old.  They are such good playmates for Ava.  On Tuesday I watched all of the kids while Karen went to a doctors appointment.  The kids had a ball while baby Avery slept.  It's amazing how much babies sleep even during three giggling toddlers playing around.  Karen and I also share a Nanny 2 times a week.  They have such a good time together and so do Karen and I.  As you can see from the pictures Ava could pass for their sister.  Lately Ava calls everyone Abby, even herself!  When you ask her who is in a picture she says Abby (but it's really her).  You can ask her what her name is and it is Abby now not Ava.  She recognizes when we pass by their neighborhood and gets upset when we don't stop and play.  It is really going to be hard this summer when they have to move away. Saying goodbye is part of the Military life unfortunately .  It will be even harder now to have to watch Ava deal with this but hopefully she will adjust.  You never know we could end up located in the same place again with our dear friends.  This will be the third move we have been together so it could happen!  There is hope!


Sorry about the poor quality of the photos.  I took these with my phone

Playing dress up with Abby

Check out the earrings

Helping Mommy

Ava loves to help Mommy!  When she saw me in the kitchen today making a cake she wanted to help so I sat her on the counter to help me stir.  Mark's Birthday was Saturday but because I was sick and we went on a trip to Destin I didn't get his cake made.  Today I cooked a nice meal of Pot roast, potatoes and carrots and baked a cake as sort of a bleated Birthday dinner.  Better late than never I guess.

Weekend Getaway

Thanks to our friends Daniel and Erin we had a free two night stay in Sandestin Florida.  We headed down Saturday morning to spend Saturday and Sunday night.  This was also Marks Birthday weekend so we planned on celebrating.  Friday I got sick so my preparation for Mark's birthday and the trip did not happen so Saturday morning was pretty stressful.  I quickly wrapped Mark's gift (most had already been given to him early but I did have one for him to unwrap).  Ava and I sang Happy Birthday and Ava opened Daddy's gift for him.  We got him a bunch of Mountain Bike equipment he wanted and a two year subscription to Mountain Bike Action.  Mark plans on racing in the spring so he is getting his bikes ready to roll.

After the birthday festivities were over we finished packing up the SUV and headed to Destin.  When we arrived in Destin Ava was in need of a nap so thankfully the resort let us check in early.  Everyone there was so friendly and there were many activities there to have fun.  However the weather did not cooperate with us.  It was very cool and overcast on Saturday so we headed out for lunch and to a nearby playground that we knew of.  It started raining while we were at the playground so we headed to do some shopping.  Since it is the off season it was so nice shopping without all of the mobs of people who are usually there in the warmer months.  The evening we spent at the resort and took advantage of the free DVD service they had there.  I finally got to watch "7 Pounds"!  It was a very good movie but be prepared to cry!!!

The next morning we woke up to rain rain and more rain so we decided to go ahead and check out.  Most of the activities are for the outdoors and with the bad weather that wasn't happening.  It was nice to be able to get away for at least a night and do something different.  Thanks again to Erin and Daniel for letting us use your timeshare!!!!

I love this one!

She was saying "So big" here

She always has to say "Cheese"

She was having so much fun!

The Lonely Fans

Mark and I both graduated from Western Kentucky University almost 10 years ago.  When we saw that they were playing against Troy State University we decided we would go.  It's funny because for almost 6 years we lived only an hour from WKU and not once did we ever go to a basketball game.  Partly because Mark was gone all of the time!  I guess being even further from home anything that brings a piece of home back to you seems even more special.

Needless to say there were not too many WKU fans and to make matters worse we picked the student section to sit in!  However there were two other couples by us rooting for Western so we were our own little cheering section.  Also a professor at Troy sat right in front of us who had graduated from WKU in 1979.  Turns out he was in the same fraternity as Mark.  It is such a small world!

Western was ahead most of the game and has a better record than Troy but in the end they got beat.  I guess Troy had the home court advantage.  We still had a great time despite the outcome of the game!!!

At Half time WKU ahead

They lost Boooo!  The last quarter was hard to watch.  It was like they gave up!

Gone Too Soon

I heard some terrible news today that a friend of mine from High school lost his battle with Cancer today.  Jake always had a bigger than life personality and lived life to the fullest.  I have good memories of him making us all laugh and in a good mood when he was around.  It's hard to believe that someone so young would get a decease like Cancer but Cancer doesn't see age, race, religion, status, sex or anything.  It really put life in perspective for me today.  We are not promised tomorrow so I am going to work on living life to the fullest and to appreciate this wonderful life I have been given.  I have been blessed with a husband who loves me, a beautiful and healthy daughter, a loving a supportive family and friends who are always there for me.  My heart goes out to the Owen family.  May they have the strength to heal their hearts and know that Jake is in God's hands where he hurts no more.

Hands, Teeth and less sleep!

It's so funny how my little Ava is turning into a girl who cares about her hi-gene!  Every time she sees the sink she say's "hands" and wants to wash her hands.  She insist on turning on the water herself too!  Also she LOVES to brush her teeth.  She has her own little step stool and will get up to the sink to turn on the water to put on her brush.  Hopefully she will always love to brush her teeth and won't be one of those kids you have to wrestle to the ground to get them to brush her teeth.

Another new thing which for me is not a pleasant one is that Ava wakes up in the night now.  We can't quite figure out why but usually around 3a.m sometimes earlier she will wake up and just want to be held for about 30 minutes or so and then go right back to sleep until her normal waking time of 7a.m.  Sometimes when she wakes she is crying out "NO NO NO" like she is having a bad dream or something.  I have been really spoiled for the last almost two years with a baby that sleeps through the night so it is hard to get used to.  Hopefully it is a short phase she is going through!

Here are a few pictures of Ava in action!

 all dressed up for her play date with Addison

Ava and her path of destruction.  She loves her legos

making her own little reading chair

Just out of the bath and wanting to wash her hands and brush her teeth. He he he!

Missing Campbell

Many of Marks former colleges are here at Fort Rucker for a training exercise for this week.  Mark went over to visit and when he came home he was all excited telling me who he saw and got to talk to.  He misses everyone and feels guilty I know for not going on this next deployment with them.  This is the one time in his career when I have been selfish and convinced him to come to Fort Rucker for family time and I felt really guilty about that today as he told me who he had ran into and saw the excited look on his face.  I know it was for the best but it makes me sad that he had to leave there.  I also miss it too but am glad that Ava will get to know her daddy while we are here!

It's Freezing!

Of the three times that I have lived here in LA (AKA Lower Alabama) I don't recall it ever being this cold! Last night it was in the teens and during the day it only gets in the low 30's.  I shouldn't complain because I know there are people up north who are seeing single digits but this is just out of the ordinary here.  Take a look at the fountain that is at the entrance of my neighborhood.  I thought it was neat how it froze so I snapped a quick picture with my camera phone.  Stay warm everyone!

A New Year...A New Decade

Wow it's 2010!  If you were born in the 70's like myself you have lived in 5 decades which makes me feel pretty old.  This last decade I have to say has been one of my favorites packed full of new beginnings and change.  I started off the decade getting engaged in March of 2000, watching Mark graduate college and get commissioned in the Army, got married in August and moved to Ft. Rucker Alabama.  Then September 11, 2001 which started a war in Iraq.  Mark has went through 3 deployments and a trip to Korea in the decade.  We spent alot of time apart but thanks to the amazing friends that I have been fortunate to meet and my family and friends back home I made it through.  In 2008 we were blessed with our first born Ava Tate Legaspi.  It was a tough year with Mark gone but now that he is home together we have watched her grow and Mark has been here to see her walk, talk and turn into the little girl she is today.  It's kind of funny how I started the decade with a move to Ft. Rucker as a new wife and I ended the decade with a move to Ft. Rucker as a new mom.  I look forward to the many more years and milestones we will pass and can't wait to see what the future holds.  Happy New Year!!!

This year Mark and I enjoyed a quite evening at home!  We drank some wine, watched a movie and then watched the ball drop in Eastern Time.  We couldn't quite make it to midnight our time and was asleep by 11:30.