Baboons!

I didn't know what to expect today when we went to the Lynnwood Park Zoo with Luke's preschool class. I had heard to expect the unexpected, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised! We all absolutely loved it. Who knew good old J'ville had this little "jewel" to visit. The weather was perfect and the bugs were not out (thank goodness)! The zoo had such a wide variety of animals such as llamas, emu, wallabies, wild cats, zebra, porcupines, goats, lizards, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, ducks, prairie dogs, and the kids' favorite, the baboons! After the big tour, we all sat and had a picnic lunch before heading home.

Tonight as I was tucking Hayley into bed, we were talking about the days events. She asked me, "Do you 'member the baboon from today?" "Oh, yes! He was so funny." I replied. "Yeah, but the chickens didn't like me. They said bok bok bok when I standed by the fence." I giggled at Hayley's response and she said she wanted to pray. So here is her prayer:

"Dear God, Thank for da baboons, and da porcupines, and I pray that the chickens like me next time and don't say bok bok at me. Thank you for today. In Jesus name. AAAAAAAAmen."

More with Mimi and Papa

Feeling a little Crabby?

We had a wonderful time with Mimi and Papa last week. We took a trip to Wilmington, ate at the Cracker Barrel, Olive Garden, and Chilis to name a few. We went to Toys R Us (or as Luke calls it Toys 4 Us!) and thanks to Mimi, bought lots of goodies to play with. Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium was a huge hit. Thanks for coming to see us Mimi and Papa. We love you!!!

Two and Four

The first 3 months of Hayley's life are kind of hazy. I remember the screaming from colic and the sweet quiet times of her nursing. I remember trying to balance two children, take care of myself, and be a wife seemed almost like an impossible task. I remember Luke's precious face as a 23 month old when baby sister came home from the hospital. I remember praying every night that God would make me the mother and wife that He wanted me to be. Boy, how things changed for all of us.

My motto during that time was, "When they are two and four, it is going to be so much fun!" Well, here we are at two and a half and four and a half and "fun" is one of the MANY words I would use to describe life at this point. My days are spent at tea parties and wrestling tickle matches. Some days the words, "Are you showing your sister/brother love?" are uttered over a thousand times. Luke 6:31 is spoken daily in this house and I KNOW that they will actually abide by The Golden Rule one day. We laugh, cry, sing, and dance. There are days that I cannot wait for the quiet of the evening, but after all is calm, I always sneak into their rooms for one more kiss while they are sleeping. I am so in love with two and four that I don't want three and five to come. But something tells me that it is only going to get better.

Paci Found!

Update....
Hayley ended up napping for two hours sans PACI! I was so excited. I hunted for that paci like it was the last Easter egg on earth while she napped. I was going to toss that thing to the curb and not look back. No luck.
When Hayley woke up from nap I praised and praised her for being such a big girl and napping without paci. She looked up at me and asked, "Can we go look for paci again now?!" She had not forgotten the deal. I told her that if she would go to sleep for nap without the pacifier that we would continue to look for it when she woke up. Guess who found PACI? Hayley went looking for thing like it was Mission Impossible. She was so focused and determined! I heard her yelling from the playroom, "I found it, Mama! I found it!" And deep in the pocket of her princess purse, there was her beloved paci!
Oh well. She has paci for tonight and she is one happy camper! Maybe next time.....

Pacifier is MIA!

Some of you may read this and think, "Why in the world does an almost 3 year old still have a pacifier (aka paci)?" Well, Hayley does or maybe I should say did. This morning when Hayley got up, she came into my room with paci and blanket in tow. The rule since her 1st birthday has been paci stays in the bed and is only allowed to be used while in the bed. I told her to return to her room and put paci back in her bed. She left my room and returned with only blanket so she was allowed to climb in bed and snuggle with me. The morning went on and we got ready for church, ate breakfast, went to church and out to lunch with our friends. We returned home and we were all ready to head upstairs and put on our comfy clothes for an afternoon of naps and playtime. As Hayley climbed into her bed for nap, she turns to me and says, "Where is paci?" I looked at her and asked, "Did you put them back in your bed?" She shrugged her shoulders with a quick little, "I don't know." We spent the next 10 minutes combing the area for paci. Paci was nowhere to be found! I laid her down at 12:45. She screamed and cried and yelled. I finally calmed her down,sang her a few lullabies and said we would look for paci after nap time.
It is now 1:23 and she is still awake talking some and crying at times. Every now and then she whimpers, "Mommy, I need paci." Oh where, oh where has she put paci. Who knows? But I'm actually hoping that we might be able to wean her. I'll keep you updated.

Something about a real Coke

I do love Spring. I love the warmer weather and everything in bloom. I love the beginning of baseball season and celebrating Easter. But one of my favorite things about Spring is a nice ice cold Coke-a-Cola as I sit outside and watch the kids play. The tingle as it first hits your mouth and tongue is fantastic. Hayley describes a sip of Coke as spicy (and that is all she has had is a sip!) I think of it as a little taste of heaven.
Chris loves Coke so much that I can barely keep enough in the house to support his habit when he is home. I guess I better start buying 2 liters now so that I will have enough for his first week home (which should be at the end of May)!

Happy Easter!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lighting stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, " Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, crucified and on the third day be raised again." Then they remembered his words.
Luke 24: 1-8

Whirlwind

Sometimes life moves so fast that I can barely keep up. Many things have been going on since my last post. We are officially on the move to a new duty station this summer. Chris received orders to Norfolk, VA working at Expeditionary Warfare Training based out of Little Creek. The best thing about the move is that Chris will be home for 3 years!!!! A non-deployable job......Praise the Lord.
At first, I stressed thinking about all that I needed to do for the move while Chris is still thousands of miles away. I basically needed to research the new area, find a place to live, find a pre-school for the children, put our house on the market, and keep life going here in Jacksonville. After the initial freak out, I handed it over to God, and boy, did He deliver.
I found a beautiful home in Chesapeake, VA that we are going to rent for the three years we will be there. The home is in a great school district and in a beautiful area. Item #1 ...check
Next, the task of selling the house. I frantically touched up paint, cleaned and arranged to put the house on the market. Houses in our neighborhood have been on the market and average of 90 to 120 days! I signed with a realtor on a Friday morning. Saturday, we had two different buyers come through the house. Each time, I was racing around picking up toys, cleaning counters and dishes, making beds, getting the kids ready and loaded up in the car. All I could think is, "If I have to do this crazy clean for 90 days, I will go CRAZY!" God is so so so GOOD! Sunday morning, my realtor calls and says we have a contract on the house!!! Are you kidding? WOW. One full day on the market and item #2.....CHECK!
God worked the preschool out too and the kids will be attending a wonderful program at a Presbyterian church in the area. Item #3...check.

Nashvegas

How thankful am I for great girlfriends? I was able to spend last weekend in Nashville, TN with 3 of my very favorite people in the world, my girlfriends from college. It is kinda scary how much we know about each other and how time never seems as if it has passed once we get together. We all got in late Thursday night to begin the weekend on Friday and we were up until almost 3 in the morning chating and catching up. Lindsay, who lives in Nashville, took us to some cool dives and in town for some Honky Tonk fun. Highlights from the weekend:

1) The Pancake Pantry/ a must for those of you who love to endulge in some down home carbs for breakfast. Yummm

2) Shopping for maternity clothes for Lindsay-I think we were in Mimi Maternity for 2 hours+ making her try on everthing in the store.

3) Going to get pedicures

4) Mexican night topped off with a pitcher of Margaritas!

5) Lunch at the Pineapple Room /check out the Cheekwood museum while you are there

6) My favorite - Tootsies, a good ol honky tonk bar in downtown Nashville right behind Ryman auditorium.

Thanks for a great weekend girls. I love you!

Best Buddies

What a fun day! Actually, it all began yesterday evening when my good friend Fran and her children came down to spend the night with us. We had dinner together while the children played. Luke and Adam, Fran's son, have "known" each other since Adam was 4 days old and Luke was 6 weeks. Here is a picture of them at 20/22 months old (just before their sisters were born)! We have been so fortunate to be stationed in VA and NC at the same times so that Luke and Adam have remained buddies. And now, even Hayley and Claire, Adam's sister, are friends too.

After dinner, we put the kids to bed and stayed up chatting and catching up until midnight! Of course, the children were up bright and early this morning ready to partake in some yummy pb&j muffins that Fran made. Once everyone was loaded up and in the minivan, we headed down to Monkey Joe's in Wilmington for hours of bouncy house fun. Thanks for a great day guys.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband. I miss you so very much and I am so proud of the job you are doing. Know that I am thinking of you, praying for you constantly, and counting down the days until your return! We are almost half way there (Hooray)! I love you.

Back in the Swing!

After spending almost 7 weeks with our family over Thanksgiving and Christmas, we are back home in NC and getting settled back in. The kids were very excited to see all of their "things" again, although I know that they miss everyone since they both have asked to pray for the entire crew in Atlanta every night.
The biggest news for me so far in 2008 is that I finally joined a gym. It has been 4 and a half years since I step foot in one and I am really enjoying every minute of it! I forgot how much I love working out since I have been doing the boring home workouts for so long. I found a few classes that I really like and the eliptical machine has become my new best friend. As sore as I am, I can't wait to go again. Hopefully my motivation will stay high and keep me going strong.
Luke started back to school this week and he is the Busy Bee helper! He has been waiting for this honor all year and was so excited to share the news with me when he got into the car on Monday. He gets to put the calendar piece up each morning as well as check the weather.
Chris and I have been emailing alot. Our phone calls are very limited, in fact I have not spoken to him in about 11 days. He emailed me and gave me the news that there is a 60% chance that we may have to move this summer! Many options are out there and my favorite two that he mentioned are Colorado and Norfolk, VA. We will probably know for sure sometime in April or May.

Happy New Year

Here are some of my favorite pics from 2007. May God bless you richly in 2008

God is at work...

It has been a very difficult but amazing week for the Steele family. I was so adamant about not going to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. I didn't want to make the 9 hour drive to and from and then turn around 3 weeks later to make the drive again for Christmas. My sister convinced me to come after begging and promising me some live in babysitting so that I could get some much needed rest. We drove to Atlanta last Saturday and arrived at my sister's home around 6:00 pm that night.
The next morning I went to brunch with my brother, Mom, Dad, and children. We all met back at Holly's that afternoon and put the kids down for nap. That is when I realized something was not quite right with the pregnancy. I asked my Mom and Dad to take me to Northside Hospital just to get things checked out and make sure nothing was wrong. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the ER finding out that Chris and I had lost our precious baby. For some reason only know to our Heavenly Father, He took the baby home to be with Him. I have cried many tears of pain and grief this week, especially because my wonderful husband is not able to be here with me. But in all the pain and hurt, God has blessed me with a heart of thanks. God made it possible to be here in Atlanta surrounded by my family during this difficult time. He has already blessed Chris and I with two beautiful children for which I am so very grateful. God has always been faithful and I know that he will continue to be. He knows what is best for our family, and I trust in Him completely.
Thanks to all of you for your well wishes and prayers. Our God is faithful and true, and He will get us through this tragedy.

One Last Hug for a While

It has been almost two weeks since Chris left. I've had my ups and downs, but we are slowly but surely getting the hang of things. I have spoken to him 3 times and he sounds good. He is extremely busy and sounds very positive about their mission and how things are going. The count down to June is officially on!

The kids and I have kept ourselves busy with Halloween and the regular schedule around here. Luke dressed up as Diego the Animal Rescuer and Hayley was his sidekick, Baby Jaguar! They had so much fun trick or treating. This year is the first one that they really understood what was going on. I could see the wheels turning after the first house we stopped at for a treat. Both of their eyes got so big as the candy was put into their bags, and they turned to look at me like, "Did you see that, Mommy! Free candy!"

This past week it was Parent Observation Day at gymnastics. Luke was so excited to show me all of the things that he has been learning. I was impressed with how well he listened to his teachers and could do most of the tricks pretty well. Hayley also had to show me her tricks, although I see them every week because her class is a Mommy and Me class.

I am looking forward to the Holidays. I cannot wait to go home to Atlanta and be with our family. Christmas always seem to make time go so fast and when January rolls around we will have 2 months under our belt and 5 more to go.

As far as the pregnancy goes, I think I am turning the sickness corner. I still feel pretty yucky in the evenings, but morning and middle of the day are getting back to normal. My instinct tells me that this one is a boy, but I thought that Hayley was a boy too. I was SOOOOO wrong about that! I'll just have to wait and see. I think that my ultrasound will be scheduled for the 2nd week in January. Very exciting.

Chris is on the way HOME!

After 5 weeks of training in the desert of California, Chris should be home around 9:00pm tomorrow night. We are all so excited to see him that time is seeming to creep by right now. I know we only have a week until he leaves for his 7 month deployment, but we will take any time together that we can get.

Luke had a busy week. He has been taking swimming lessons on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. He is really starting to become more confident in the pool. He even tried to swim a little by himself on a noodle. After going all the way underwater, I thought we would never get him back in the pool. His teacher, Miss Tiffany, did a great job at convincing him that going under is all part of learning to swim like a big boy.

Luke also went on his first class field trip to Mike's Farm. I was able to go with him and we had so much fun. First we went to hear "Granny" tell us all about the Pioneer Days. She told us how they cooked, washed clothes, played games, etc. Luke found it all very interesting. Next, we went over to the barn for a sing along with Cowboy Earl! Definitely my favorite part of the trip. Luke even got on stage to help him sing "Happy Trails". After the music, we when on a hayride to pick our pumpkins and finally went to eat lunch. Luke and his buddy, Eric, had fun looking at all of the animals together. All in all , it was a great trip.

I took a picture of Hayley that describes her to a tee!

Part Hello Kitty princess, part truck driver (love the hat!). She is still working on potty training. We had a few great days of keeping her diaper dry but not so much clean, if you know what I mean. I just have to be patient and it will happen. She amazes me at how independent she is already. She tries to get dressed all by herself and she can get her shoes on sometimes. She talks a mile a minute with some of the funniest expressions. Who knows what the next day will bring with her. Everyday is a surprise!

And baby makes 5!

So we are having another baby. What a joy and blessing. Chris and I are so excited that God has blessed us once again with the privilege and gift to raise a child. I am currently 9 weeks along and feeling pretty gross. The nausea is constant and I am extremely tired, but I know it is all for an unbelievable cause. Of course we are both sad that Chris will miss the pregnancy and birth for this child, but that is what a video camera is for, right? He is not expected home from Iraq until 3 weeks after my due date. God has chosen this time for us to have another child, so I know that he will take care of every detail.
Luke and Hayley are excited as well, although I don't know how much they get at this point. It will be fun to see their response as my belly grows and when they get to feel the baby move. I look forward to creating those memories with the two of them.
We are all counting down the days until Chris gets home from CA. He is expected to be back in about a week. He will then have 6 to 9 days before he leaves for Iraq. We will take every minute we can get until he has to go.
Well....I'm off to get anther bottle of ginger ale and lie down on the sofa (seems to be where I am most of the time lately). Until next time.......

We Miss You Daddy!

Chris left last Monday for training out in California. He will be gone for about 5 weeks. When he returns, we will have less than a week before he leaves for Iraq. The kids are adjusting ok. They ask when Daddy is coming home pretty frequently. Luke always counts everyone at the dinner table. Lately he will count and when he gets to Chris's chair he says, "Mommy, somebody is missing! Daddy's not here. I sure do miss him." We love the Daddy Dolls that I ordered from Hug a Hero. Hayley sleeps with her doll every night. I kinda wish I had my own.

I did give Chris this Mizpah charm from James Avery for our anniversary.https://secure.jamesavery.com/jewelry/search/product/C-384/Mizpah-Set/ure.jamesavery.com/jewelry/search/product/C-384/Mizpah-Set/I love it! He wears his half on his dogtags, and I have mine on a necklace with a cross that Chris gave me for Christmas two years ago. I also got a deployment bracelet to wear. Another idea I got from a friend. Everytime I look at the bracelet, I pray for Chris and his Marines.

The comment that I frequently get from others is, "You are so strong! I don't think I could do what you do." I have to say that it's not me that is strong, but my God that is strong! He is the one that has laid the plan for our family and I know that it is His perfect will that is unfolding in our lives. He gets me through everyday with joy not fear or saddness. Not to say that I don't miss Chris terribly to the point where my heartaches or worry sometimes, but God says in His word, "Do not be anxious about ANYTHING, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

I want to say thanks to those in advance for praying for Chris and his Marines while they are away. We do appreciate your support.

So Much to Celebrate!

Well, we have had a busy week so far but, boy, has it been fun. Chris is still home on block leave. We enjoyed a night away this past weekend to celebrate our 8th anniversary. It doesn't seem possible that we have been married eight years and we have be together for eleven and a half! God has truly blessed our marriage. Chris loves and supports me in everything that I do. He is my best friend and hero (in the true since of the word)!

Luke started gymnastics and 4 year preschool this week. He is loving both. As I dropped him off at school this morning, he lovingly gave me a kiss and said, "I'll see you later Mommy! Have a good day!" Off he went to check out the centers and his new cubby spot. Some of his old buddies from his class last year are in his class again as well as some new faces. I love that he loves school so much! He is not too big on sharing everything that happened at school. Usually I get, "School was fun!" or "It was fine". Today I learned about a new friend named Danny and that he played chase on the playground. He also informed me that Mommy begins with the letter M (m was the letter of the day).

Hayley started gymnastics this week too. Her class is a Mommy and Me class. I need to remember to wear my workout clothes next week. I think I get as much if not more of a workout chasing her around the gym and helping her with all of her tricks. She absolutely loved everything about class. We sang and stretched at the beginning and then we moved to different stations around the gym. She loved the bars and balance beam. She not only wanted to walk forward and side ways on the beam, but she also tried walking backwards. Her little face just lit up each time she succeeded at something new. Her favorite thing about gym was the cool stamp she got on her hand at the end of class. You would think she won a gold medal.

My parents are coming in town to visit this weekend. We are all looking forward to their visit.