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.