Bridging

Last Friday Emily bridged to Juniors. Hopefully when we get settled in VA, we can get Emily into a junior troop. Sorry for the bad pictures the lighting in the gym was horrible. Way to go Emily, we are so proud of you!!!

Embark Dinner

Last night Pete and I went to a dinner for all the embarkers on island.It was a chance for everyone to say goodbye to all those leaving this summer. We had a nice time. After eating, the wives were presented with a little token of gratitude. Then the embarkers went around the room to say something about two people in the room. When it was Pete's turn he said a little joke about one of the guys there. Then he did something completely out of character for him.He said"With this being Mother's Day this weekend I want to thank my wife for our three beautiful children." I was surprised. It was so sweet. Thank you Pete! I Love you!

Mason

Here are more pictures to enjoy.

Getting stronger

Here is Mason holding up his head to look at his froggie. He is getting better at it. It won't be long before he is pushing off his arms to lift his chest.

Just an update

I just wanted to let everyone know we will be leaving Okinawa on July 28,2007. We should arrive in the states on the same day. (time zone change) We will be taking leave in TN. at my mothers. We are also taking a trip to VA. to hunt for a house. Then back to TN. Those are our plans for right now.Everything is subject to change without notice. I always wanted to say that.

Our Little Thumb Sucker

Mason might turn out to be a thumb sucker. He chews on his left thumb all the time. Although the past couple of days it has turned into sucking. He doesn't do it all the time,he will still take the binky. But whatever makes him happy or should I say content.

????

I don't know what to think of the Virginia Tech shootings. I'm sad for all those families who have lost a loved one. And sad for those in charge who may feel guilt all the rest of their lives thinking they could have done more. I'm also angry that this young man felt he had no other option than to commit these murders. He was obviously mentally ill. It was documented he was depressed and a danger to himself and others, or so I have read. I suppose I don't really understand this type of mental illness. How could one be so depressed that killing and death look like good way to fix it. I also feel some sort of empathy for him. He must have been so lonely and hurting. But that does not give him any right to do what he did. I'm sorry he wasn't helped. Damn human nature! Am I just weird?

Ice Skating

Emily's Girl Scout troop took an ice skating trip on Sunday. We had a blast. We did well I only fell twice. Emily on the other hand fell about 60 times. I'm surprised she isn't one big bruise. She spent most of the time hugging the wall but she did get the hang of it by the end. She was cutting across the middle and zipping around.

She is reaching the point where Mom is embarrassing her. She didn't want me to skate with her once she figured it out. She wanted me to skate with the other moms.It's bound to happen. But I had a great time spending time with her. She growing up so fast.

Easter

Spring is here and Easter has passed. On the Saturday before Easter we went to a cookout and egg hunt put on by Pete's unit. It was cold and rainy but we tried to have a good time. The big kids got their faces painted and participated in the egg hunt. Easter Sunday was rainy again. We had a cookout in the neighborhood.It was moved inside our house because of the rain. There was also a neighbor hood egg hunt. One of the Moms made about 3 dozen confetti eggs. The kids loved it. They smashed the eggs on each others heads. Mason celebrated his first Easter. The bunny basket was passed down to him,it belonged to each of the kids when they were babies. Uncle Grant and Aunt Lorna came over to visit also.They brought Easter treats for the kids.

Toothless

Jacob came running up to me with a look of surprise. This is what I saw. His top front tooth came out while playing outside. The other front tooth is not far behind. Its pretty loose. That night he forgot to put his tooth under his pillow,so the tooth fairy came the next night. He looks cute to me. He thinks he looks like a different person.

Mason is 2 months

Mason had his two month well baby checkup today. He is in the 75th percentile for height.I can't remember exactly how many inches he is. Maybe 27? He is in the 50th percentile for weight. He weighs 11.8 pounds. His doctor says he is doing great. He also had to get his two month shots :( He got four of them, I cried and he screamed. I made Pete go with me for emotional support.

This past week Mason has discovered his fingers. They are always in his mouth. And the week before that he started smiling at us. Now we are waiting for him to laugh. He laughs but in his sleep.

Special Person Dance

Emily choose to take me to her Girl Scouts,Special Person Dance. There was dinner,dancing and prizes. Emily didn't want to leave. She was having too good of a time with her friends. She was exhausted by the time we left. She danced every song. Little did we know, it started to rain while we were there. We had to run to the car in the rain. We laughed all the way to the car,running of course. We were a couple of drowned rats! But it was fun.

It's offical

Pete has gotten his orders. We are definitely going to Virginia. We should be leaving Okinawa the end of July.Pete will ask for the 28th of July for our flight date. School starts the beginning of September in VA.,so the kids won't be missing any school. I'm glad we'll have one last beach season here. I want to get lots of pictures of the kids at the beach. We are moving from one beach to another but Virginia Beach is not as beautiful as Okinawa. I hope to go on one last dive this summer too.
We are excited to move back to the United States. We have missed a lot about the land of the free, restaurants,shopping, just simple conveniences and most of all family.

Tiny Toes

Beautiful Emily

Emily wearing her glasses. I think she looks beautiful. She picked them out herself. They match her hair so they aren't very noticeable. She doesn't need to wear them all the time. She is only slightly nearsighted. What do ya think?

Too much pressure

This week Emily has Terra Nova testing at school. For those who don't know what that is, it is a standardized test used to measure a child's skill level. Well, I think they put too much pressure on kids over these tests. First of all it's not like they won't get into college if they miss a test or don't do well on them.It is a tool used to help students. To find out if and where they might be having problems. This morning Emily had an eye appointment so she missed one portion of the test. Which by the way she can and will make up next week. When I took her back to school she wasn't allowed to join her class until lunch. Emily was devastated that she missed her test. She just kept saying"I told you I wasn't supposed to miss the test. I just want to go home". She was upset enough that the school counselor came to talk to her about retaking the portion of the test she missed. I told her that her eye sight is more important than a test. But not to her it wasn't I think they(the teachers,administrators) need a better way of delivering the importance of these kinds of tests are to the students. I'm not saying these tests are not important. I think they are a valuable tool to parents and teachers. I don't think however kids need to stress over them. Emily was under the impression that she was in trouble for missing the test. She thought her teacher would be mad at her for missing the test. She was stressed out about the whole thing. She cried for about 30 minutes.I felt bad for her. So I hope that she will learn form this experience and that missing a test is not the end of her world. And a side note, Emily will be getting glasses.That's a whole other ball of wax.

Look at me

I just wanted to put up some more pictures of Mason. Enjoy!

Mason is 1 month old

We have made it through a hole month. YEAH! Mason is growing bigger everyday. I can't wait to see what the next month has in store for us. Mason is such a good and happy baby.

Botanical Gardens

Here is our first family day trip with Mason. We went to the Southeast Botanical Gardens. They have all the plants and flowers indigenous to Okinawa. It was a beautiful day. The big kids got to play on the playground and feed the fish. The littlest kid sleept. It was a fun day. We are on a mission to see all we can of Okinawa before we leave.

Next Duty Station

This summer we will be moving to our new duty station. We are going to Norfolk,VA.We will be leaving Okinawa sometime in June. I'm excited to go there.We have not been stationed there before. It will be a new experience. I'm also looking forward to having snow in the winter. I will miss the Okinawa weather though. The beach season here is great. We'll be close to DC if we want to take a day trip to see all that's there. The capitol building and the Smithsonian. Busch Gardens is also close. I'm sure we'll go there. I don't know if we'll ever come back to Okinawa? We have had two great tours here and two babies here. Jacob the first time and Mason this time. Okinawa will always have a special place in my heart. I will miss it when we are gone.

My Guys

The Nelson Men! Well one man and two boys.

Healthy boy

Mason had his check up on Valentines day. He weighed 8lbs 2ozs. The doctor is very happy with his weight gain. He is very healthy with no problems. Well he has a little diaper rash. But is is almost gone now. The doctor gave us some triple cream for it. He is still eating about every 2 hours. At night I sometimes get away with 3. Last night he went 4 hours.I was happy.

Old Man Jake

This is what Jacob is going to look like when he is 100 years old. His school celebrated their 100th day of school. All the first graders dress up as if they were 100 years old. We drew a mustache, put baby powder in his hair and gave him glasses.They are a pair of old sunglasses without the lens. He sure does look good for his age.

Emily

Our little Emily is growing up too fast. She's only in the third grade but acts more mature. Yeah sure she has her moments when she acts up but in all she is a great kid. Everyone always says"she is such a good kid" And now I believe them. Her teachers have always said how responsible she is and how she helps others. She still wants to do things that I don't think she is old enough to do. When do I know she is old enough? I'll always want her to stay young.I guess that's just being a mother!

I did it!

Pete went back to work today. I didn't think I was ready to do it all by myself. Pete had been a great big help,getting me this or that. But I was on my own today and Mason and I survived! It was very peaceful and easy. I woke up with the alarm to get the older kids off to school. Which was accomplishment number one. Jacob and Emily have their morning routine down pack. I didn't do much else except watch Mason sleep and feed him. I did stay in my jammies almost all day though. Which was nice. I don't know why I was so apprehensive about takeing care of Mason by myself. He is an easy baby.(So far)

Bath Time

Boy was he mad! Mason didn't like getting a bath this day. He was so cute though. The binky sure was handy for helping with his crying. He smells so sweet when he is all clean and his hair is fluffy after being washed. As soon as his cord falls off we can give him a real bath. Sponge baths are not as warm and soothing as a soak in a tub. If he's anything like his brother and sister he'll love baths.

See my dimples

Mason has dimples. You can see one of them in this picture. They are the cutest thing. As if he could get any more cute. He is still a quiet and content baby. He only fusses when he wantes to eat or needs a dry diaper. We are so lucky.
Pete is always holding him and loveing on him,I think he hogs him. He is such a proud father!

Snug as a bug in a rug

The Newest Nelson

CUTIE PIE! This picture is Emily's favorite. She says he is sticking out his tounge. I think it was just some gas. We are all adjusting to having Mason around. Jacob and Emily are great with him.They both want to help all the time. Jacob doesen't like to hear him cry though.He says it hurts him. I'm not sure if he means hurts Mason or him.
Mason is a healthy eater, every two hours. I'm sure he'll plump up in no time. He has a check up on Valentines Day. We'll see how much he has gained. He is just a perfect little guy.He has blonde hair with a little bit of red tint and blue eyes, we think, they are still changing. We love him very much.

Mason Thomas Nelson

He's fianlly here! Mason was born on Saturday January 27, 2007 at 5:23 am. He weighed 7lbs and 8 ozs 20 1/2 inches long. My water broke around 10:40 pm on Friday night. So we went to the hospital. They gave me pitocin because my contractions were not regular. By the time it was time to push I was so exausted, having no sleep. I pushed for 20 minutes but it seemed longer. I didn't want to push because I was so tired. But he made it into the world with no trouble. Happy and healthy! As for me I'm still recovering. Trying to catch up on some of the lost sleep.I know it's gone forever but having Mason here makes it all worth it!

The Home Strech

I'm down to the the final four.YEAH! The last four weeks of my pregnancy,as long as I don't go past my due date.(Feb.7)
Things are going well. I have gained 28-30 lbs so far. I'm at the hospital about three times a week. Once for my weekly appt. and twice a week for nonstress tests, just a precaution because of my gestational diabetes.As for that I'm still on a strick diet and also taking glyburide. It's an oral medication to help regulate my blood sugar levels.My doctor assures me it is a safe medication. It is an alternative to insulin shots. Mason is active, as he should be and my amniotic fluid is good. We are just waiting for him to make his debut. We are all excited but I'm more anxious.I've been getting all of Mason things in order. Trying to be prepared for when he decides to arrive. I just hope it's soon!