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Monday, December 07, 2009

Long Time, No Blog

It has been so long since I have posted any thing new. Sorry. I will try and do better in 2010. Where to begin? The last half of 2009 has brought many waves of emotions. In late June of 2009 we moved from Kentucky to North Carolina. I have kept the baby and I busy with endless activities. 1st to say she is no longer a baby, but now a fully grown toddler (haha).

We started the Summer with Madison's 2nd Birthday. Nothing big, but a special visit from her Grandparents made it a wonderful day! They departed on July 4th and we celebrated the Nations birth viewing fireworks from the base. A week later her other set of Grandparents came to see her too. We spent many hours at Onslow Beach, and it quickly became a family favorite hot spot. After deciding that Madison liked the water, we tried our hand at Swim Lesson's and of course, we hung out by the pool with our friends, The Smith Girls. Tony was promoted to Company Commander of Alpha Company on July 10, 2009. It was a very proud day for Madison and I; proud of our Marine. He also tried his hand at surfing, but I think better luck next year! Madison and I missed him dearly in August while he was away for Mojave Viper in 29 Palms. So we traveled to GA for a wedding (congratulations Jenni and Coe), a surgery (for my big bro) and a visit with family (Lewis's, Davis's and Gravitt's) and friends (Thanks Felicia for meeting me around our schedule!). The surgery was canceled (for my brother) during our trip and rescheduled for 2 weeks later. We ended up not being able to stay that long :( My brother, has recovered and returned to work, PTL! I know he and his wife are as relieved as can be knowing his ordeal is over. I ask you all to keep them in your prayers and hopefully they can begin a new with good health in 2010, as do we all!

After August came weekly activities like gymnastics, Parents Morning Out, and story time at the library. In September we enjoyed Family Day for 2nd Tank BN, which included Madi's favorite activity: BOUNCY HOUSES! If there is a bouncy house at an event she has to get in it! October was great, we visited Mike's Farm for Pumpkins, enjoyed a spooky obstacle course at gymnastics, went to an Oktoberfest (and it rained off and on all day), trick or treated at the BN, dressed up for story time, went to a Fall Fest at the elementary school in our neighborhood (with baby Katie and Miss Ashleigh, and of course Trick-or-Treated in our neighborhood (with our neighbor's grandson Kyan and his siblings! Talk about a full calendar. Madison is quite the social butterfly.

November the month of balls, turkey's and giving thanks, a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party, Madi's school Fall Festival, Jacksonville parade, and the arrival of Santa at the Jacksonville Mall. We ended up staying put in Jacksonville for Thanksgiving and it turned out okay. I still wish we could have made it home for a Gravitt Thanksgiving Gathering. It would have been the first one I have been to since getting married :( Oh well, there's always next year :D So, after we stuffed our faces with a meal that took me two days to cook we had dessert with our friends the Rosedale's. We met some new people and a game of Scene-It was played. Tony and I were on the same team (3 on a team) and our team ended up winning! Thanks to Mr. Gillespie for carrying us LOL! The month started off chaotic with the Ball coming up fast and a dress search that ended with a classy touch. I was searching for a gown up until about a week before; it was too close for comfort for me. We took Madison to her Fall Festival and were so grateful that Tony's parents could come and baby/pet/house sit for us. The ball was fabulous in Myrtle Beach; and that was our first time going to the area. We ended up making it just in time for the ceremony and the Ball pics. We will definitely be going back to Myrtle Beach with the baby; it looked like so much fun. I also got to see New Moon, with Kimberly L. So glad she moved to the area and can't wait to start making some more J-ville memories with her and the family! We met up with some friends and saw Santa arrive at the Mall complete with a show and snow! It snows every 5 minutes that Santa is on duty at the mall here. The next day we watched the parade on Western Blvd. So glad we got to see our dear friend Jeff Smith while he was home for his 2 week R&R. Keep praying for him to stay safe and get home in April to his girls! Keeping with my tradition's; I decked my hall's on Black Friday and opted not to go out shopping. Incidentally, I still have not really begun my holiday shopping yet. . . .Madison wants a doll highchair and doll clothes this year.

December brings this blog up to speed and has proven to already be the busiest month so far. I don't mind though, we are having lots of fun. Currently, Tony is in the field and is slated to switch units at some point this month. We don't know what the new unit will have for leave yet, so it's pretty difficult to plan a family trip at this point. We WILL be coming to GA this month we just don't know what day's yet. I hope we can see everyone on our list at some point. We are missing Tony as he is sleeping in the cold and feeling badly that he is out in some pretty nasty weather. We think of him every time our house shakes here, from the Tanks Firing at the range. We can hear them all night long and it reminds me of little earthquakes. Thanks Honey! To keep Madison distracted there has been many fun things to do. We started off the season with a cookie swap/decorating playdate with her playgroup, got her hair cut for the first time, saw a children's concert (she was bad) and sat on Santa's lap for the first time this season, a family fun fest, and most recently a Christmas hayride at Mike's Farm. I myself enjoyed the FREE Family Fun Fest and Mike's Farm the most. I think Madison would say they were her favorites as well! She was excellent at the FFF, and Mike's Farm was a huge hit for her. Music + Lights + Hayride = Madison smiles!! We have enjoyed so many wonderful activities here in North Carolina. And December's calendar keeps getting filled.

Some of you know this already, but many do not. Tony is going to deploy again some time early Spring of 2010. Please pray for him that God will keep him safe and guide his steps. Keep Madison in your prayers as well. She is young and doesn't understand why he leaves. Pray for angels to comfort her. Pray for my Grace and Strength to be her mom and dad while he is away. For all this I thank you.

I hope that throughout the Season you find peace in your hearts, love in your souls, and happiness brimming over from your spirit. I know this is what I am feeling this year. I have so many wonderful blessings to be thankful for and I wish you the same.

Enjoy the pictures and I hope to do a much better job of keeping this blog up to date ;-D don't be mad if I fail.
Love
Erin Davis

PS the Slide show is over 300 pics. So click on the actual picture and it will take you to the website so you can click through them rather than wait the 30 minutes for them all the scroll through the show :D

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Kentucky Down Under









The first part of the day, we were greeted by a beautiful Peacock. It was very friendly and we asked it to open it's feather's and it did. I got some great pictures of it. Next, was a cage of Dingo's, not exactly wild dogs, like the one's that grow up in the Outback. They looked pretty tame to us. One of the Guides even said they were way more relaxed than the mainland ones. Next was the birds, we saw a Kookabura, finches, parrots. . . .Madi thought it was so funny that a bird told her hello. The White Parrot was the only one that talked to us, and I guess all he could say was, "Hello". Okay, so we didn't know how Madi would react to feeding the Lorikeet's, but 'a picture is worth a thousand words' as they say. She was okay until one of them landed on her head. Once, the park ranger shoooed it off of her, she was okay after that. Poor Tony had them all hanging off of him too. They were after the little cups of nectar; only one of those birds got any of it. I named him Piglet! Madi got to see sheep next, then Camille the Camel. I looked up Camels in Austrailia and sure enough they had them there from some merchant trades long ago. Funny, I just don't ever hear about Camels in the Outback. Crocs and Kangaroo's, but not Camels. We saw baby lambs, Goats, and Big Horn Sheep. Madi got to pet them lambs and some of the bigger sheep. Then we saw a sheep herding dog, Rin, do his thing. He creeped around through the crowd and pushed the flock of sheep where he wanted them to go. The one odd thing about this park was it had one of the famous Kentucky Caves inside it, so we decided to tour it; it was free with admission. It was only 8/10 of a mile, and if it had been longer I don't think Madison would have lasted much longer. The last thing we enjoyed was the "Walk About"; in which we learned about Kangaroo's, Wallabies, and Emu's. We got to pet the Kangaroo's, but the Wallabies were not as tame so we didn't pet them. We also got to pet the Emu; they are large like ostriches and I guess you could eat them if you didn't want steak. I don't think I would be up for that though. So the Kangaroo's were interesting. One of them had a Joey in her pouch, and was nursing another Joey, but what was really interesting is that she had a pregnancy on hold while the Joey in her pouch was still gestating!!!! Poor Kangaroo. She would get a two week break between them and then be expecting again. So in essence a female Kangaroo can be pregnant permanently.....I guess no one ever told them what causes that? We wrapped up the day and headed back home. Great experience and Great Day!





Saturday, April 18, 2009

Dinosaur World in Cave City, Kentucky




















Hey everyone,

Today we took a short drive South on I-65 to a place called, "Dinosaur World". As we drove here from Georgia, it was a place I wanted to check out; seeing a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Interstate. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine went and investigated it with her family. She gave it, "two thumbs up" and since this was going to be the only nice day we will get this weekend we made the trip. I have to say it was a really neat thing to do with the baby and hubby; I was relieved that we all had a great time. I was the only one who had to pay to get in, but even I got a discounted rate ;-)! We walked through the museum, let Madi dig in the sand (she was not a fan AT ALL), saw the big dinosaurs as she howled, "Raaar" as fearsome as she could manage. I think her favorite part was walking around with us; not being strapped down in a stroller. Of course, my tip toeing girl fell down a few times. Hopefully, she will keep growing into her feet. She went on the playground but that didn't workout, because the equipment was too hot to play on. I found one swing in the shade, but she didn't stay on it for long either. Lately, her moods have been like a roller coaster. One minute we are happy and the next huge tears, kicking and screaming. We are on the last day for antibiotics to heal the current staph infection, so I imagine her crankiness was due in part to that. I am also 99% sure we are cutting two year molars as well and all at once we are asserting our independence. It is turning out to be quite a challenge for us all. Funny, I remember thinking to myself, the last time she had a staph infection, "Who is this child; where did my baby go?" I hope she returns to her even tempered nature soon for eveyone's sake. I would say today, over all she did quite well, we only had a few hysterical outburts. She was very tired after we let her walk (actually she ran most of it) around the display part once again. I was thinking (okay hoping) that she would pass out on the way home, but she found the strength to stay awake and fuss the whole way back. She is difinitly testing boundaries; becoming very strong willed. We are having trouble with her keeping her seatbelt straps around her shoulders now. She knows how to un do the harness. So, we look in the back seat and she is waiving her arms around, says, "Hey Mama, Hey Dada!" Little Monkey! I think it's time to introduce a "time out" from now on......dun dun dun. I will let you know how it goes ;-). Here is the problem: how do you have a time out while driving down the road? Let me know if you figure that one out?

By the way, I got a new camera and I am loving it! Tony and I are going to sell the old one on Ebay, but I am so excited to have a true Digital Single Lens Reflex Nikon now. It was time for an upgrade anyway, the old one was starting to be a hassle to use. Nothing wrong with it just noticing some flaws with the old style= Lag times between shots, how long it took to turn on and so on. . .I guess you could say the Easter Bunny knew what I wanted and brought it to me. . . . . only a day early. I think the pictures I have been taking with it are coming out phenominal! Of course, with Madison for a subject it's hard not to get a phenominal picture though....

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter 2009 and some exciting news. . . .













Easter was very good this year. My mom came up to spend the weekend with us for the first time since we moved to Kentucky. The original plan was that we were going to drive down to Georgia, but as it turned out my Dad wasn't able to be home for the holiday :(. He is going to be getting some time off the first weekend in May and we are going to drive down to spend the weekend with them then. Madison and my mom played, danced, sang, colored and read stories. It was great to see them spending time together. Madison decided at 6:30am on Easter Sunday that it was time to get up, but I convinced her to stay quiet until 7 or so. Tony and I got up and let her see her Easter Basket. Of course, Tony went back to bed and I stayed up to supervise. My mom, Madison and I enjoyed breakfast while watching Madi play with her new toys. We invited the Lopez's to join us for Easter Supper and Egg Hunting after church services. We let the kids color Easter Eggs and then Nicole and I hid them in an empty field by our house. After the eggs were found we let the kids chase bubbles. Everyone was so worn out from all the running around, but it was worth it to see the kids smile and laugh. Although, we missed our GA family, it turned out to be a good idea to stay home anyway, because the baby came up with another Staph Infection. We have been spending lots of time dealing with multiple soakings and a poor baby dealing with a painful boil. This time it wasn't on her toe. . .it was inside her diaper. I have never seen anything like it before. I was happy to have my mom around for her wisdom and moral support. I would have been a basket case without her by my side. Madison did have a great time visiting with her "Gammy" despite the pain from the infection. We have all been treated for the infection now, and hopefully once this clears up it will never come back to our house again! It looks much better now and it finally drained on it's own. I get to take her back to the doctor for a follow-up once we are done with the antibiotics.

So the exciting news is that this Davis Family is moving to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. I am a little overwhelmed by it all, thinking of a move coming up to a strange place, but I am ready to see what lies ahead....If you are in the area or close by it's not too early to start planning a visit, or heck drop in while we are here; we'd love to have you!

I'll keep you posted as more details trickle down. . .