Pictures from April

hope you enjoy the slide show!

2 months down

Yep, it's been 2 months since Tony left. I can't believe it's been that long! Deployments with a kid are a different beast~it's like you are lonely but you are never alone! A good Friend and I have laughed over that statement many times. We are getting by, day by day.
Madison is potty training now and that sure is a roller coaster. She like all kids is having good and bad days with it and lots of bad ones..LOL. Life is very interesting lately. She also has been sick for the last 2 weeks (really since December) with allergy issues. She has had a cough ever since our trip home in December and it finally caught up with her and got out of control. I think we are finally on the right track with the proper cocktail of meds for her. She takes 3 allergy medications daily to keep her coughing and runny nose under control. I think we're both stir crazy from being in the house so much lately!
I hear from Tony sporadically. A few days in a row I will get email and then out of the blue nothing. And occasionally I will get a phone call but they are few and far between lately. He transferred to a new Unit (no he didn't get fired from his other job) and now he is doing a Major's billet. He is truly busy every waking minute. The other job was boring but he is not bored anymore. I mailed him a care package and it got to him in 11 days. He has a new mailing address now that he is with 1st BN, 2nd Marines.
Madison and I are trying to stay busy. I have her in mommy and me gymnastics, she goes to a parents morning out each week. And she is in the daycare at the gym while I get to work out. On Thursday's I take her to story hour or we have a playdate with some of our friends. This Friday I have a brunch with the kids planned. Should be fun. I am also planning Madison's birthday party's (yes 2 this year). She will be 3 and since our family is out of state I am having a party for her with them and one here with her friends from NC. It's nice to have things to look forward to.

What a day!

I know many of you are not on FACEBOOK yet. So, some of you don't know that I heard from Tony this week!!! He called us yesterday and I am happy to report he is doing well. Our phone conversations have been very short and sweet. I have been getting a few emails from him. He has told me they are keeping him extremely busy! Thank You for all the prayers and love you are sending his way.

Yesterday, I took Madison to get her pictures made for Easter. And then a stop off at the Mall to get a Easter Bunny picture. I was quite shocked she sat in her lap (yep the Easter Bunny was a girl); because recently she has been very frightened of characters. But, we got through it and I managed to work with her to get a decent smile. At the first photo shoot, there was a little girl around 3 pitching the biggest fit I have ever seen in all my life. I mean it was the whole nine yards....Supernanny please help! The problem is Madison was staring in wide eyed amazement and I could see her taking notes...I mean it was like...okay, kick mom~check, scream in mom's face~check, hit mom~check, everything but biting occurred. I pulled Madi away and tried to divert her attention. . .. but my future flashed before my eyes and I knew it was not going to be good! After we left I talked to Madi about the little girls temper tantrum and we both agreed that she was very naughty to her mom. And then I woke up!

Today we went to gymnastics and I never even saw it coming! I wasn't prepared for Madi to flex her assertiveness today and try the new techniques she took note of. . . .It was terrible, she was terrible and I was terrible! All day long this baby has done nothing but scream, cry and test test test......CALGON Take me away, SERENITY NOW, and GOD GRANT ME THE STRENGTH!!!
Here is hoping that tomorrow really will bring a NEW DAY.

Enjoy the pictures,
Erin D and Madi

I don't believe it??? We got snow in NC!

So, we kept hearing yesterday that we would get snow late last night. The problem was we had been told this same forecast so many times. At 6pm it was only 44 degrees; so even if it did snow, as predicted, it wouldn't stick.....what a bummer this would be!




We put Madi to bed at 9pm and she was super tired, because she didn't take her nap. Then about 9:30pm or so, we got some flurries. We didn't wake her up to see it and I prayed there would be some in the morning for her.






Tony and I decided to go out and get some pictures of it last night just in case. He stayed up playing video games and there were many times I heard the door open and shut last night. Just like a little kid he couldn't stay indoors when the white stuff is falling from the sky!

When Madison woke up it was white everywhere. She wanted to go out in it at 6:45am...NO WAY!!! I had to convince her to wait for "Dad" (that's what she calls him now) to wake up and go with us. She wasn't listening at first, and showed up with her rain boots on. Next, she took Tony a pair of her rain boots to try and motivate him to get up earlier, so funny! Silly girl, nothing gets him up early!!!!



Dad finally got up and we all went out and played for about 20 minutes. I tried to talk Tony into going to Toys'R'Us to buy her a sled but the answer was a big emphatic, "NO".





So, we let her play on his snowboard. Not ideal, but it did do the job!








Treehugger sled...aka redneck sled















She really liked eating the snow.





Bailey enjoys the snow too! Everytime we got dressed up to play in it; she would get up and prepare for her leash ~Haha. Now, I just need to talk Rosie into going out with us next time :D





Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and since he and I celebrated last weekend; we are going to make it all about her. Tony is going to give her a Princess Castle and we will take her some where fun. She is going to flip out when she see's the castle, it's all she's been talking about! Keep us all in your prayers this week. Tony is leaving for his year in Afghanistan. We will miss him dearly. I am doing as well as can be expected in the situation and Madison is fine. We keep telling her Daddy has to go on a big bye bye and we will talk to him on the phone. Tony is torn up about missing a year of her life, but it's what he does to provide for us (in so many ways)!




Keep in touch and as soon as I hear from him I will let you know! If you want to "follow" this blog scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the link.
Take Care everyone!

Happy New Year

I hope everyone got my New Year card's! December came and went so fast; I wasn't able to send out Christmas Cards this year to anyone. We had a very quiet evening for New Year's Eve as we were still getting over our cold's, cough's and congestion's. I am still struggling to get rid of my symptom's. I hope you all are doing well this year!
So far, we have visited the Children's Discovery Museum, and Monkey Joe's (an indoor inflatables playground). Madison was pleased with both of those outings. She didn't want to leave the Museum, as expected, because it was so tactile & kid friendly. We did some experiments with colored water tubes, pretended to be Pirates, and finished up with some water coloring, or as she thinks, "Painting" ☺. We ended the day with a trip to the Mall in Wilmington. It has a two-story carousel and she was able to ride it 4 times! It was fun to see her pick out the animal she wanted to ride, and since it was so close to Christmas she picked out the reindeer. Monkey Joe's was a wonderful time for her to get worn out! In the beginning I had to help her climb up onto the larger inflatables. But by the time we left she was getting the idea on her own. She was so proud of her accomplishments and so was I. It gave me a chance to catch my breath! Lugging a 25 lb kid up an inflatable is hard work on a mama!!!
We are all getting prepared for Tony's departure; well as much as we can be. He is leaving us in about a week for a few weeks of training in Q-Va. After he is done with that he can officially deploy anytime. We still do not know have a hard date for when it will be only that we know it will be before March. I wouldn't be able to put dates on here anyway. When he is gone and gets me an address I will send it out to anyone that would want it. For now, we are playing the waiting game.
Madison is still enjoying her Parents Morning Out program, gymnastics and I started her in a Mommy and Me group last week. It was fun, and she had a great time. It's on base and each week is a different theme. The first week we went was all about Birthday's, they played party games, made party hats, ate a cupcake they decorated and had a story. Next week, is all about Pets. I am trying to get her exposed to something new with more of a crafty/art concept. She has become quite the little artists lately.
Well that's about all I can say for now. I just wanted everyone to know that you were not forgotten at Christmas. I just ran out of time for the cards ☺.
Stay Warm and I will report again soon! I will upload some photo's sometime this week so check back with me ;D

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

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!

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....