What a C-R-A-Z-Y week!

Wow, is it seriously Sunday evening already?  I feel like I have running in circles for a straight two weeks.  I really can’t tell you doing what, but I have been super busy.  Between making the gym a priority, going to physical therapy for my back and hip, and being a mom & wife, I have been crazy busy!  The biggest news of the week is:  Matt received 1st runner up in the 1st Armor Division Career Counselor of the Year Competition.  I am so proud of him.  If you recall, he only entered this career field in December.  He actually didn’t officially start working as a Career Counselor until late January.  Six months later, here is winner 1st runner up out of all of Fort Bliss.  We all know when Matt sets his mind to something he goes straight for it.  All though, he was a little disappointed that he didn’t win, but 1st place after such a short time is nothing to sneeze at either!

CSM Reiners & SGM Rivera giving Matt his award.

A family picture.  Gracie was being super silly!  I told you in our last post that she is really starting to come out of her shyness.  Well, she was flirting with one of Matt’s co-workers in this picture.

Gracie was so proud of her Daddy.  She wanted to take a picture with him and help him hold his plaque.Before we went into the awards presentation, I had a talk with Gracie about how she had to use her special listening ears.  It was going to be just when we are in church and she has to be quiet.  Well, of course, she did a fabulous job and needed the picture to prove it.  This is Gracie showing me her listening ears!

Other then that, the rest of our week was filled with running around trying to get everything done.  It seemed like we had errands every night this week.  Saturday we did manage to get over to see Jamie, Wes, and baby Dean.  It was the first time for Matt and Gracie to meet Dean.  I do have some pictures, but never got around to putting them on the computer so I will be sure to add them later this week. 

Today, we skipped church so we could get ready for our trip next week.  On Saturday we are leaving for Colorado for a week vacation.  We are so ready to get out of the area and heat!  We are leaving Saturday morning and will be gone for a full week.  I can’t wait to not have to worry about how hot it is.  Most mornings El Paso is already warmer then Granby’s high.  Oh how I can’t wait.

Well, I am headed for bed.  Enjoy your Monday, we all know it has to rear it’s ugly head AGAIN!  I am including a couple of pictures from this week.  Gracie got her hair cut  on Friday….I didn’t realize she needed it!  It was also hat day at school.  She was so excited to wear her “Kitty Halloween” aka “Hello Kitty” hat.  She can be quite the diva let me tell ya!

Fun in the Sun

This week has been full of fun fun fun in the sun!  Both Matt and I had some events for work so it was lots of outside time for the Cunningham’s.  I had our annual Organizational Day on Friday.  We had a picnic lunch at the office and then headed over to a place called Adventure Zone (think Chuck-E-Cheese with go karts, putt putt golf, and bumper boats).  Gracie loved spending time with my co-workers and their children.  She has really come out of her shyness a lot lately.  She used to be an “observer” but now she is all about talking to EVERYONE.  It was a lot of fun.  Although Matt wasn’t able to go with us and we would have had more fun with Daddy.  Gracie spent a lot of time on the jumping balloon and we even spent some time putt putt golfing!  Seeing a 3 year old play golf was so cute!

Saturday we spent most of the day on post at “Rock the Fort.”  Basically it was a huge rock concert on post.  Matt’s co-workers put up a tent and had every one come and hang out and listen to the music.  It was a nice change of pace to spend time with his co-workers and get to know them more.  Gracie and I spent most of the time at the playground.  I found out that Gracie has learned a lot at school.  For example, playing on the monkey bars and swinging on a big girl swing all by herself!  At the end, we got to watch fireworks again.  Gracie, once again, got scared again but found her Mommy, snuggled up, and was perfectly fine.  She loves them once she is cuddled up with Mommy or Daddy.  Gotta tell ya, this girl is getting to be such a big girl!

Gracie took this picture and I have to say, she didn’t do half bad.  Although it is a little blurry, I still love it!

Every weekend, we usually spend some time at the pool.  Last weekend we spent some time at the pool on post.  We love spending time in the water!  Gracie has gotten good at swimming by herself with her life jacket on. 

Well, Gracie just informed me that it is time for bed.  She has successfully put on her own pajamas, picked out her clothes for tomorrow (yes, they match) and packed her bag with her glasses (she carries sunglasses with her everywhere, her “accident clothes, and her blanket).  So I guess, I should sign off for tonight.  Goodnight!

*I actually posted in Kelly’s Korner “Show Us Your Life” so make sure you scroll down and see what I posted!

The Moment When Our Life Change

I have just had a chance to catch up on my blogs today.  One blog I follow is called Kelly’s Korner.  On Fridays, she has a “Show Us Your Life” segment.  She features a lot things such as tell us about your wedding decorations, living rooms, baby showers, etc.  Well, this week’s was “how did you tell everyone you were expecting?’.  Well, I have been reminiscing so much about when Gracie was a newborn with Jamie having Dean just last week that this is all fresh in my mind once again. 

You all know that we tried for years to get pregnant.  With Matt being a soldier and my body being stubborn, it was not an easy thing for us.  After Matt got back from deployment, we really wanted to have a family.  We knew that was the missing piece.  Once again we have been let down with a negative pregnancy test.  So when we found out the day before my birthday in 2007 that I was pregnant, you could imagine how shocked we were.  Just 2 weeks prior, the test had said negative…I guess my math was wrong!  We told our closest friends but we really debated on whether we were going to tell the family until after the first trimester.  Well, you know that thought only last about a good hour.  We called our parents and told them right away.   My family is small, so it only took a few phone calls.  Matt’s family on the other hand is bigger so we asked them to wait until we got home (we were moving back from Germany in about a month and I would be past the first trimester).  Well, a month past and we made the long trip back from Germany to St. Louis.  It was evening and we were exhausted.  I vaguely remember the family telling me that there would be fire trucks and the local police waiting for us at the edge of town to take us down to the square in Greenfield to celebrate our homecoming.  Apparently, this is tradition for soldiers coming back from deployment.  So we were both shocked (me more about the fact that I didn’t have time to put on my makeup and make myself more presentable).  So we get there, all of Matt’s family is there to welcome us home.  So Matt decided to announce “Well, I guess this is a good time to tell  you all I am going to be a father!”  Everyone was shocked and excited!  Hugs and kisses came flying at both of us immediately.  So you would think this would be the end of the story right?  Well, we woke up the next morning and IT WAS ON  THE FRONT PAGE OF THE PAPER!  I am not kidding….I have proof:

Needless to say, there was no hiding it now!  I love this story and I can’t wait to tell Gracie about it when she is older.  She was already a celebrity before she was even born.

*I hope your able to read the story, I had to scan it in on my old scanner so the quality is not so good!

The World is One Baby Sweeter

Welcome to the world Dean Porter Elliott!

My friend Jamie had her baby today, 7-9-11 at 7:11 am.  He is the sweetest little thing ever.  She had a great labor and only had to push a few times before we got to welcome Dean to the world!  Mama and Daddy are ecstatic.  I got to be in the delivery room which brought back sweet memories of my little girl when she was just a few hours old.  Now my big girl is excited about her new little friend and my heart could not be happier.  I just wanted to share that the world is now a sweeter place since Dean Porter has joined it!

So Proud To Be an American

One Nation Under God by Roger Robicheau

One Nation Under God we live
Think about all some had to give

We the people share freedom’s life
In a world of ever present strife

Be grateful to those who keep this true
Warriors of our red, white, and blue

They're trained by those of great skill
Honed to perform, so strong their will

They show what love is all about
They’ll fight for us, there is no doubt

Defending bravely what we are
No holding back each heartfelt star

Highly praise these men and women
Giving thanks time and again

Those in uniform will always be
The golden pride of this country

Family Time & Fireworks!

It has been an eventful weekend to say the least!  It all started on Thursday with a free concert on post.  The Eli Young Band came to visit Ft. Bliss.  We didn’t end up staying too long considering the band took FOREVER to get on stage.  I, however, took the time to take a million pictures of Gracie.  Ok, that may be a little dramatic, so we will go with 999,999 pictures! ha ha!    It was a great evening and we had so much fun.  It is always nice to spend time with my family doing things like this!

Friday I had to work, but Matt and Gracie came to pick me up for a little bit of lunch.  It is always nice to have that little surprise during a rough morning.  After work, we just hung out until it was time for our movie.  Gracie loves going to the movies.  She loves the whole experience.  Well, almost the whole thing.  As soon as the movie is over, it never fails that we have a sea of tears because she is so upset.  Having said all of that, we had quite the experience for Mr. Popper’s Penguin.  We had just got our seats and had prepared for the movie when the fire alarm went off.  I was like you have got to be kidding me.  It is close to 100 degrees outside and now I have to take 2 drinks, candy, and popcorn (Gracie likes to go all out with the food) plus Gracie is scared.  I took a breath and went outside.  We waited for about 45 minutes and then they started handing out vouchers for another visit.  So we decided to take the voucher and go back another day.  The funny thing is every time Gracie talks to someone on the phone or if we run into someone we know, she has to tell them all about it! 

Saturday we went to find some Gracie some jeans for our vacation next month.  We are heading out to see my aunt and uncle in Granby, CO.  Gracie has had a serious growth spurt this summer.  I mean I was still buying her 2T shorts because 3T were too long.  So, I tried on her 3T jeans thinking we were going to be good, yeah, not so much!  She is officially in 4T pants.  The ironic thing is they are actually not that long her!  She is going to be tall and slender that is for sure.  I have to adjust the waist to the smallest setting to get them to stay up but at least they aren’t high waters! She is just growing up so fast! I just can’t get a grip on how time is flying!

Sunday was such a nice day.  We found we a turtle in our entry way!  I haven’t ever seen a turtle in El Paso.  Needless to say we were surprised to see him.  We named him Tommy the Turtle and released him in a nearby park so he can find him a new home. 

Then we had a friend over for lasagna.  One of Matt’s co-workers is having a little girl in September.  I had gone through a lot of Gracie’s stuff and decided to give her all of it, so she came over for lunch and to pick it all up.  Being a military family, you try not to hold on to stuff because you have to move it from place to place.  We are hoping we come down on orders after the new year so I felt it was time to go through it.  I know it is going to a place where it will be used.

The we headed on post for fireworks.  This is the first year we have been at Ft. Bliss that they actually had a 4th of July Celebration.  I know, I was shocked too.  It just didn’t make sense to me either.  Regardless, it was wonderful.  They had the El Paso Orchestra playing patriotic music.  It was beautiful to listen too while Gracie played around in a big open field.  We found a nice open area to set up and relax waiting for the fireworks to start.  I was anxious to see how Gracie would handle the fireworks this year.  She has not been a fan of them the last couple of years.  She actually loved them.  She was completely enthralled with them after her first initial reaction to be scared.  This is my favorite picture of the night!  I loved that she just wanted to lay down next to her Daddy and watch. 

I took all of these while she was just playing around…I really just wanted to play with my camera at night!

All in all, it was a great weekend.  We have just been hanging out in our jammies today.  Actually, Matt and I are still in jammies, Gracie is on her 2nd outfit of the day, her star skirt and matching shirt.  It’s cute that she put that on today!  Look for more pictures soon!