On the road again...or not...

Alright, so a couple days ago, Ray lets me know that his higher up (heck if I remember if it was a SGT or something else) states that anyone scheduled to leave in April, May or June needs to fill out a form stating their intentions to either stay in Hawaii or go to the next duty station. Well we are scheduled to leave in April, so we have to fill out the form. Originally we had intended to fill out a FSTC which is Foreign Seas Tour Curtailment. In civilian speak, that's the form to go to the next duty station. Well it was suggested to Ray that he call his Branch Manager (the person who decides where soldiers are going and when) to find out what stations are open in the time period that we were told to give (late January/early February) and low and behold the only station open is...KOREA.

Now Korea is still considered a war zone, so if we did go to Korea, I'd be stuck on the base. Sort of defeats the purpose of seeing a foreign country. Also, it'd be hard to leave and get back to if I wanted to visit people, and I sure as heck am not going to say "Ray you can go there on your own and I'll keep Emi with me." Yeah right. So that's pretty much out. We could wait and see if there is another station that might open up next month, but there's a chance that while we wait, they may just randomly decide that Ray's going to Korea no matter what.

So now our hand has been forced and we have to fill out the form to STAY in Hawaii. It will end up with us staying until August 2011. Ray will end up deploying in August 2009. The good bits about this is that I can finish my Associate's Degree at the same college by the end of 2009 and begin working towards a Bachelors. I also have a job that I can start up again, once Emi gets accepted into Day Care (Right now she's on the waitlist), and keep for a couple years. This will be nice because due to moving, having Emi, and the whole deployment bit, I haven't held the same job for longer than 8 months. And I LIKED working at the Kako'o 'Ike Office. Also Ray will be deployed around the time that he can reenlist (which he's already decided he will be doing) and so the reenlistment bonus (which tends to be a large chunk of change) will be non taxable since he's in a combat zone and so we'll get it all. And also, I have a friend here in Hawaii that has a son only a month and a half older than Emi that Emi has known since she was three weeks old (I put pictures up of them in a previous post). So at least she'll get to have a pal to play with till she's a little over three years old. I'm sure she'll like that.

The bad thing about staying in Hawaii...Hard as Heck to see friends and family on the Mainland. We'll be going to Colorado in November, and probably hit the West Coast in December 2009 when Ray gets two weeks break from deployment, but that's not nearly enough time with family and friends. So bleh. And for us, that's a major negative, but we really don't have any other choice. With the choices being Korea or Hawaii...Hawaii wins.

So that's the news. Sorry that we won't be on the Mainland for a while longer.

Here's some pictures of Emilee to cheer everyone up. =)

This is how Emi tends to sleep. She's crazy to be comfortable like this!
[Age = 2 months 6 days old)

lol the full body view of her preferred sleeping position!

Emilee being cute with her Paci.

[Age = 2 months 3 days old]

Emi after she woke up, quite content with herself.
[Age= 2 months 6 days old]

Emi's First Boy Friend!

I had Almarie (one of my friends that I scrapbook with) over today for more scrapbooking, and as always she had her adorable son, Alwin, with her. He's going to be 4 months old soon. And well Alwin and Emilee have known each other (as well as Babies can know one another) since Emilee was only a couple weeks old. And today we got the cutest pictures of them , and I figured I'd share them with everyone. =)

Military Brat For Sure!

I just had to show everyone these pictures that we got of Emilee lately. She is just so darn adorable in them. And it was such a random picture. I was at a friend's house scrapbooking and Ray came over during lunch. I was holding Emi, and he placed his hat backwards on her head. She looked so cute I just had to have a picture, so Ray grabbed the camera and took these wonderful pictures. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

[Emilee is 2 months and 2 days old in these pictures]

Short and Sweet

Here are a couple of the pictures from Emi being 2 months =)

Time Just Keeps on Moving By!

Today Emi is two months old! We took her to the doctor which was fun. She now weighs 11.5 lbs and is 22.4 inches long! So big =D She's growing so quickly. The doctors say she's right on track! The bad thing about today was that Emi also got her shots. I was so close to crying was she held onto my finger crying so hard. I just wanted to pick her up and walk out of the room before another shot could be given. I know that the vaccines are good for her and means that she's that much safer, but I hate to see her cry. I just want to make it all better as soon as possible.

But now she's good. We gave her some tylenol, and I fed her, and she's been sleeping ever since. Seems like she isn't getting much of a fever *knock on wood* and is taking this whole ordeal quite well. She's such a good baby.

Anyways, we will put up pictures of her from today, but right now she's sleeping, and I'm not going to wake her up just to take pictures. Sorry guys. =) Anyways, I'm off to Homework and Ray's off to work.

Scrapping Away!

Well today Emilee and I went to Almarie's house to do some scrapbooking. She has a son named Alwin that is a month older than Emi, and they are so cute with each other. Alwin was totally flirting with Emi, and this time she actually seemed interested! The last time a boy flirted with Emi was at our playdate on Thursday mornings at the park. A boy named Declan who is 11 months old is always trying to play with Emi and get her attention (and he is the most ADORABLE little boy with beautiful blue eyes) but she won't have ANY of it. Won't even look at him! And then comes Alwin, totally different story. So funny. Well maybe Emi has a thing for Phillipino boys. *shrugs*

Anyways, I got some real nice work done today. Here is the layout I finished, all about Emilee!

The text reads "Enjoy Every Moment" and a little journaling that I can't remember off the top of my head. All the pictures of Emi are when she was 7 weeks and 3 days old.

Well this layout is for a contest to win some nifty gifts. I don't know if I will win but, Almarie says that I'm really good at Scrapbooking for only having started in July. I don't know if she's right or wrong, but I like what I've made so far. It's really fun.

Anyways, I joined a few get together things lately. A Book club, which is reading "Remember Me?" By Sofie Kinsella. A Gourmet Club that is getting together to try some new recipes. Also a Keiki Goes Out group (Keiki means kids) that will give Emi, Ray and I some things to do together with other parents. They are going to the pumpkin patch next month. That should be fun. =)

Anyways, that's about it. Here's a picture of Emilee to tid you all over till our next post. =)

Emilee is 7 weeks and 4 days old. She is in her first body suit so we had to take a picture.
SO CUTE!

Random Thoughts

People keep saying that Emi has a long name and that when she gets in trouble Ray and I will be having fun when we say her whole name. The fact that she has two middle names makes it longer of course, but I think it's cute, and it personalizes it. She got a name in honor of a friend of ours that passed away in High School and a name that represents where she was born, Hawaii. So I don't regret it in the least. And I hope that she doesn't get into too much trouble to put our friend's theory to the test. Though I laughed when Parra said that he wasn't even going to TRY saying it all. So funny.

Emi and I went to the YWCA today to check out their fitness and health program and get the paperwork to register and all that jazz. My friend Allison was there with her daughters Brooke and Peyton when I drived up, so I ended up talking with her and watching her during the group class she was taking today with Stephanie (Another friend) called The Edge. Now as I watched it, I started to understand why it was called the Edge. It's three rounds of seven different exercises (though the teacher changes it up every week) and you spend one minute at each station and then rotate, without any breaks. Medicine balls, weights, large tires, ropes and the steps board and risers are all part of this and it seems fun, but tough! I wonder if I'll survive it when I go do it in a week and a half. I have to wait for Emi to be 8 weeks before I can leave her in the care of Child Watch at the Y. I need to work out and just take better care of myself, so why not start now so that Emi never gets a chance to pick up my bad habits. =)

But now I'll leave you with more cute pictures of Emilee =D

Emilee laughing on Mommy's lap.
[7 weeks 1 day old]

Emilee smiling in Daddy's lap.
[6 weeks and 6 days old]

Emilee playing around in Mommy's lap.
[3 weeks and 6 days old]

Our First Post

Well I figured it'd be easier to keep our family and friends updated on the going ons of our family by making a blog and sharing it with everyone. We will try to keep this updated with information and pictures on a somewhat regular basis, but don't worry if we go a week without posting. We probably just got tired from a busy week. We'll fill you in about it all the next week, so no worries.

For now, Ray is back at work after taking thirty days of leave after Emilee was born on July 16th. He normally works in the "shops" fixing radios for aircrafts (they call them "birds") but now he's working in the orderly room, which is where all the military paperwork goes in and out. I don't know if he feels happy about it or not as it just happened on Tuesday, but he'll be there till we PCS (leave for the next duty station) in April.

As for me, I'm staying at home with Emilee and continuing my college education towards my degree in English. I love all my classes this semester, and my professors are really understanding that I'm somewhat sleep deprived, especially my English Professor because he and his wife just had twins this summer. So he understands all too well.

Emilee has been growing SO fast! She'll be two months old on September 16th, though we doubt she'll enjoy the day as she will be getting her two month shots. I know I'm going to be very upset that day with her, because I hate when she's upset. *laughs* I'm so going to be a pushover.

Well we'll end here, and let you know that we're gonna pick some pictures to put up later. For now, you all can enjoy a couple of adorable pictures of Emilee!

Emilee just had a bath and is enjoying being bundled in her blanket. =)
[7 weeks and 2 days old]

Emilee has VERY strong legs, and here she's proving it! Daddy is just helping her keep her balance.
[7 weeks and 1 day old.]