Some cute kid stuff

We were in Del Rio, AGAIN, this weekend and the kids and I were at the TLF room doing laundry and hanging out while we waited for Casey. Ali decided to explore the cabinets in the kitchen, and found one she could fit into. Then she discovered the pots and pans were in there too, and she had such a good time banging that stuff around!!!
Then she decided to wear my shirt. She actually put her head in intentionally, and got very upset when I tried to remove it. She put it right back on. She has figured out that the camera means to smile, and even at barely a year old, she's a little ham! This is very fun for us because she normally seems so serious and contemplative.
Ethan was hanging out in his stroller to watch Scooby Doo, instead of using the couches and chairs in the room. Doesn't he look handsome?! Notice the band-aid on yellow bear's head. I think it's going to be permanent. He's also got two others!!
The monkeys enjoying the ride home. We just turned Ali around and she loves facing forward. She and Ethan are good buddies and keep each other pretty well entertained. The rest of the time, it's the rear entertainment system. What did parents do before portable movie watching??? I am thankfully never going to find out! We'll see how they do when we drive all the way to Arizona in August!

Caitlyn isn't in any of these because she's in Idaho with her friend Sam for a bit. She got to see her friend Nash in Salt Lake for a few days too. We miss her and hope she's having a good time. I'm sure she'll post to tell you all about it!

Did we buy a house?

We Finally bought a house - well, technically it's not ours yet, but we did get a contract signed. After Countless hours on the internet, four trips to Del Rio, 50+ home visits (some of those were 2nd looks), multiple offers and negotiations, lots of gas (the expensive kind) 6 nights in TLF, and all this with our 3 munchkins in tow, we did it. Keep in mind we found out we were headed to Del Rio in December, and have been on the internet looking at these houses since then! After all that, it was kinda anti-climatic. I guess it was such a long time coming, and then took several days to "negotiate" and contracts were faxed back and forth, etc. etc. that it just sorta happened without much fanfare. I intend to make Casey take us out for dinner when we close! Needless to say, we're headed back, AGAIN, this weekend for the inspection. Are home buying expenses tax deductible???

This picture is from the realtors site, I'll post more when it's actually ours.

My baby is 1!!

I can't believe my little peanut is a year old already. She's been such a joy in our lives. I can't imagine life where she isn't in it! She's practically running, and loves to play with her big brother. She has gotten a little more attached, and hangs on so tight to my neck when she wants to keep being held. She has a smile that lights up our home, with her four little teeth showing proudly. I am truly blessed! Now I have to figure out how to get her to drink her milk.
We celebrated with a cake at the home of our realtor in Del Rio, where we had gone to play in the pool. She made a serious mess on the patio, and then we just took the hose and sprayed it all off! I'll have to post pictures later because I am an idiot and left the camera in San Antonio and the only shots we got were from Casey's phone. I'll figure out how to put them on here soon.
Happy Birthday Ali!

A Happy Father's Day

I think Casey, aka Daddy, had a good Father's Day. He wanted to take the kids to SeaWorld for the day, so that's what we did. We arrived at about 10 in the morning, and left at 9 pm. Whew!! Our kids are troopers, I tell ya! We were able to take advantage of their program that allows military members and up to 3 dependents free admission, so that was awesome. Between the shows, roller coasters, and water attractions, there was never a dull moment! Casey spent the day filling and refilling water bottles and Darla applied everybody's sunscreen at least 4 times. We rented me a wheelchair, and Caitlyn got to push me around while Casey pushed the stoller. If you have to be stuck in a wheelchair, take advantage of the little things. We got to go straight up to the front of the lines through the wheelchair access to get on the rides. Ethan's favorite thing was the blue pirate boat (Shamu's happy harbor). I have always been partial to the sealion and otter show!

Hope everyone had an awesome Father's Day!

Crutches - Be Gone!!!! Sorta

It figures that I get the go ahead to lose the crutches, and I find that I still need them, at least partially, because I have apparently developed some sort of tendonitis or something in my ankle and foot. The doc. was a little stumped but the fact is, every step I take feels like I'm walking on a bed of sharp pointy rocks (like it feels when you walk barefoot in a riverbed with lots of jagged edges) and I get shooting pain through my ankle. Anyway - it's a wait and see if it subsides or not thing. Here's hoping it goes away SOON! Poor Casey wants me to be better so bad! He's been getting up for the baby during the night, and early morning since this injury occurred and can't wait to hand that duty back to me!

The knee is doing great! I have 135 degrees flexion back. That isn't expected till much later, so that's awesome.

Looking forward to the weekend.

We're Going on a House Hunt...

We just spent the weekend in Del Rio where we explored 29 different houses, 27 in one day. In case you have forgotten, I'm on crutches! That's another story.

Anyway, This was our third trip, and we have probably seen close to 50 houses, and the Ratliffs could be happy in half of them. We made an offer on one, which was a really low offer on a great, but over our budget house, that has been on the market almost a year. We had a pretty good shot at getting it, but they countered with more than we want to spend and we are moving on to the next one. I don't know what's going on there, but who the heck do they keep building houses for??? Del Rio's not a big place.

So - Caitlyn did a great job babysitting for us all day Saturday. (At least, the kids were alive and happy when we got home) She's getting lots of practice for when we get settled in and she can sit for the neighbors.

I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I could see my foot swelling throughout the day - stopped wearing a shoe about halfway through, and then by the time I got to sit down for the night, and took off the brace my knee was the size of a cantaloupe and my calf looked like Popeye's forearms after he gets his spinach! The brace kept the areas under the straps compressed so the swelling went into the open areas. It was actually pretty funny. It is back to normal now, thankfully. I am supposed to lose the crutches Friday. Yippee!!

Casey's a major....

Pain in the behind! Not really - he's finally a Major in the United States Air Force. Way to go Casey!!! Now, what to do with the extra money??? I'm sure I'll think of something.