8 weeks of JOY

That's right my Josie is 8 weeks today! I cannot believe it. She has already changed so much. And she is growing like a weed, half of her footed pj's don't fit and today I found that a couple of her onesies barely snap! Josie's got her 2 month appointment next week, I am curious to see how much she has grown. Why does the time with newborns go so quickly :(On a more positive note, if Josie is growing up so fast then that means Michael's time away from us will go fast too, right?? Right?? (back me up on this people)

What can I say???

This is in Abu Dhabi:

I'm really trying to think of something clever to say about this picture. There has to be a great caption out there somewhere, I just can't think of it. The photo kinda speaks for itself.

On this day

Three cheers for the

heroes who were courageous enough to

take a stand

and put themselves

at their country's command.

They were willing to

sacrifice everything

so that the liberty bell

could ring.

Nothing dissuaded them.

They followed the convictions

of their heart and paved the way

to make the United States

the great country it is today.

They protected you and me

and kept America free

from sea to shining sea.

So please take a moment

this Memorial Day to say a prayer

for those who served their country.

Always remember

the brave souls

who refused to surrender.

~author unknown~

The fight for our freedom still goes on today. In this continuous effort our men and women of the military are giving their lives freely so that we may enjoy all that our America is. Say a prayer today for those who we have lost, say a prayer for those that continue the fight. God bless our military today and everyday!

Welcome Riley!

Congrats to my cousins Brittyne and Rob Fitzgerald. This morning at 4:08 am Riley Addison was born. She was 8 lbs and 7 oz and 21 inches. She joins an already pink family, she has 2 older sisters ready to help! Check out their blog (Fitz's), link to the right, and join in their joy :)
Thank you God for the miracle of life, for the blessings of a new baby, and for little Riley herself. God bless the Fitzs!

A Dress!!!!

A child of mine is wearing a dress! You cannot imagine how giddy I was getting Josie dressed! This past Sunday we went to a new church, a perfect time to wear a dress. And isn't she gorgeous. Looks like this church is going to be a great fit for us. There kiddo program is amazing! They have gone out of their way to get in contact with us this week through visits and letters. I am praying this will be our new church home.

Everyone needs a Downer

A Heidi Downer that is! She is one of my closet friends ever! God certainly blessed my life by having our paths cross. I thank God for her, her friendship, her leadership, her heart, and listening ear. We have a deep connection and even though she is over in Germany now, she and I are just as close. Heidi always knows just when to call. She calls when I am having rough day or when a problem arises or just when I am missing her. I can always count on Heidi, she is always there for me and she is SO incredibly thoughtful. I just received my Mother's Day package in the mail. Look what fun things Heidi sent me, even presents for the kids:

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you Heidi for all that you have done for me, how you opened your life and your heart to my family! We love you so!

I also wanted to show everyone how cute my Josie looks today. Luke was the only other bambino to wear this outfit. She is such a sweet girl. How blessed I am!

The Toothfairy Cometh

I SO wasn't expecting this! Last night Luke came out of his bedroom around 9 o'clock saying he couldn't shut his mouth anymore because his tooth was gone. And there he was holding it in his hand. It really shocked me so like any worrying mother I called my mom. She was at work even! (feel free to laugh at me) I called my mom to make sure that he was old enough to lose teeth, I figured he was. And I wanted to make sure there was nothing I needed to do to the hole in his gums. Like I said, feel free to laugh. Just covering my bases. Thanks Momma for your help! I didn't even know his tooth was lose, he didn't ever say anything about it. I'm wondering if more will be coming soon.

Here's Luke putting his tooth underneath his pillow for the toothfairy:

Kaden-man wanted his picture taken too and it's just adorable I had to share:

Here is Luke with his toothfairy earnings, he is very proud:------------------------

Michael update: his e-mail is up and working now so feel free to start e-mailing him! I know he will LOVE to hear from you!

a quick update

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got an e-mail from Michael letting me know he was there safe and sound. They landed at midnight local time and it was still 90 degrees! Fun times ahead for them :)
Thanks for the prayers, God is good!!! That is one answered, a few hundred to go!

Our hard day

He is on his way now. Yesterday Michael left for UAE. It was a difficult day for us. He had to be at the base by 2pm. The kiddos skipped nap time and we went to see Daddy off. Turned out 2 o'clock held a few briefs and then the families could come back again. The kids and I headed off to a good friend of mine Michelle's house (her hubby is going with Mike) and we waited until we could see the guys again. An hour and a half later we were back with them. We headed off to Burger King to let the kiddos play while we chatted. That's our family photo at the BK playpark. At 5:30 Michael had to be back so off we went and we were able to stay with him for another 20 minutes or so. Then it was time to say good-bye:





As the guys did one final headcount, the kids and I went outside and waited to see Daddy one more time. For almost an hour the kiddos were running up and down this hill as we wasted time.



The guys eventually came out and we watched Daddy get on his bus. So many emotions right then, I was SO proud of Michael and his dedication to this country. So very proud of him. And of course I was sad, sad for all the things he will miss out this summer, sad he will miss these next few months of Josie's growing up, babies change so fast and by Sept she will be a different baby. Sad that he will miss the rest of t-ball and Luke's 6th birthday. He will miss the start of Pre-K for Kaden and Luke's Kindergarten. And I was sad for all of us, sad that we will not have Daddy around and I will not have my husband. The mission is so important and I realize that we as a country need Michael over in UAE, we need him to do his job to help our troops and keep us safe here at home. Let's pray for all our military and our leaders. Pray, pray, pray---they need it.

(In the first picture Michael is on the left with a black backpack on and a paper sticking out of the leg pocket on his flight suit, in the second he is standing on the right in between the 2 trees right above Luke's head.)

One more thing---out of the mouth of babes as they say: When we pulled up at 2 o'clock I was trying so hard not to cry and stay positive for Michael and for the kiddos. Luke was asking why Daddy had to leave. Michael said it's because his job is over there right now. I told Luke to look for everyone in brown because they were all going away together. Luke started to cry and said "There's too many of them Mom, there's too many families." And I thought how right you are, we have thousands and thousands of troops in the middle east, thousands and thousands of family members left behind, and that's when I cried.

The Chain Gang

Last night we Harmons actually attempted something kinda crafty. It's a big stretch for us, so be kind. We made a paper chain. Background info: for those of you who don't know, Michael is leaving tomorrow for UAE. He is supposed to be gone until around the first week of September, give or take a few weeks says his commander. For reference to all that are geographically challenged here is UAE just north of eastern Saudi:Michael will be at Al Dhafra Air Base which is located just SE of Abu Dhabi. And we all know Abu Dhabi, that's where Garfield threatens to mail Odie!!! It actually makes me laugh out loud everytime I say Abu Dhabi. Garfield has to be the best comic strip ever!

This deployment is supposed to last for 90 days, so we made our chain with 100 links. And every night before we go to bed we can take a piece off and watch our time without Daddy get smaller. (I read about this somewhere so I take no credit for this cool idea!) I thought the boys would get a kick out of ripping off a link everyday. So for the summer my boys and I will be part of the Chain Gang. I have it hanging now on the entryway to our family room, it spans the doorway almost 4 and 1/2 times...

I would like to ask for prayers, prayers for Michael, prayers for us, prayers for all our military members that are in harms way, prayers for all military families that are left behind. For some of you this separation is so foreign to you, for others you know exactly what we will be going through. While Michael is gone he will supporting and helping to protect ground forces in Iraq, such an important job he has got to do. We appreciate your prayers. God bless our military.

Happy 30th Daddy :)

Happy Happy Birthday dear Daddy! Michael turned the BIG 3-0 today! We had a great day, he did not have to go to work and we spent an absolutely gorgeous day at the Zoo. The kiddos did amazing and we had such fun. The highlight of my day was getting to see the Grizzlies play. They at first were fighting on the ground and then ended up fighting in their pool. It was amazing to watch, we couldn't actually tell if they were playing or not. It was cool to watch, got some good video of it too. Michael, Luke, and Kaden peddled in a paddle boat on the lake. They had a blast, Luke really liked that. Then we played at the park, Kaden's and Gabriel's favorite part I think. We all rode the carousel, and yes, even Josie! She loved watching the gears at the top go around. We had a great day.

Came home from the zoo, let the boys rest a bit, and then it was present and cake time. Yep, there were 30 presents there and very exciting things like toothpaste, gum, Kleenex, and Q-tips. Don't ever say this wife doesn't spoil her hubby ;) There were also some t-shirts and iPOD accessories too. Remember that Michael's HUU-MONGO TV was his actual b-day present (see the January post). The cake was quite yummy, chocolate with some chocolate!!

And NO trip to the zoo would be complete without the obligatory hyena picture for my Momma! Love you so much Grandmom! :) :) :) Ha Ha!

Awesome baseball!

I'm still SO excited! We saw Thad and Jackie on TV last night at the Cardinals-Dodgers game! Jackie got tickets in the 3rd row for Thaddeus and what a game for them to see, Cards won 8-3 :) And they actually got to see hits and everything, awesome. Seeing them on our big TV was quite fun and thanks to our DVR we were able to stop, rewind, and pause, so here they are: Look in the lower left hand corner and Thad is in his red Cardinal shirt and Jackie is sitting next to him in a white shirt and blue hat:Now in this one, taken after Duncan hit his towering home run, Thad is standing up cheering amongst the Dodger fans, I'm sure he was in heaven doing that!!So fun!! Now here's some photos of Kaden and Luke's last t-ball game from Friday night. Luke played second and Kaden played short. It was TOO hilarious, he just ran around in circles. I took a video of it and once I figure out how to put that on the blog I will, it's too funny. This was Josie's first official outing. She was dressed all up in purple (that was MORE then exciting for this Momma). Everyone fussed all over her, Kerrie (the coach's wife) held her the entire game. We had to put the hat on to keep the sun off her head. Josie's first ball game, I kept telling her she has to get used to this, there will be LOTS of baseball in her future.