Iraq Update...

Here are a few photos from Eric's blog. The guys are sitting on Saddam's Throne.

For the full story, check out his blog link on the right.

After being able to talk to Eric almost every day, I consider myself lucky. Who knows if that will continue. He is in Baghdad and waiting transport to his final location. I miss him so much. It sounds so ridiculously cheesy but I feel like one of those love stories where the Heroine falls for the Hero and they have the most AMAZING connection. Although I miss the crap out of this guy, I am so thankful he is my husband. I am BLESSED!

(It is a little unsettling to see my husband with that HUGE GUN!)

One Year Old

Now I realize that these pictures are REALLY SMALL and you can't really see detail but I thought I would share them nevertheless. Kiddie Kandids takes some really fun pictures! If any of the family wants to order some, let me know and I can give you the online link.

Eating my words...

So here at the Watson house we practice a bit of the Love and Logic parenting. I present Finn with 2 choices--usually one is time out and the other is my way--but nevertheless, he has his own choice. He does pretty well with this concept and for the most part makes the "correct" choices. This morning while I was fixing lunch, Neelah kept throwing her sippy cup on the floor. Finn picked it up for her once and then she chucked it again. I asked Finn to just put it one the counter so she wouldn't drop it again. Then I hear him say, and I quote:

"Neelah, if you CHOOSE to not throw your sippy, I will give it back to you."

I look forward to watching Finn practice his parenting techniques on his little sisters. Should be good for a laugh. I love days where my kids make me laugh more than they drive me nuts!

Ring-around-the-rosies

Now that Neelah is trying her best to walk...well, assisted anyway...we introduced her to Ring-around-the-rosies. She loved it! After falling down she would laugh, clap and then hold her arms up to Finn to be helped up again. Toward the end, Finn started going a little faster than Neelah's little legs could go and so she was pretty much dragged around the front room-and still she laughed, clapped and held her arms up for more. What a good sport!

I love it when my kids play together!

Tonight after extreme protesting from Finn over the zucchini I made for dinner, he was sent to his room to finish his tantrum. Usually when this happens, he cries for like 10 min and then finds a toy to play with. That was what I thought happened tonight. Neelah and I finish our dinner and I head into his room to see if he is ready to eat as well. The above picture is what I find. He was asleep!

Then after a little while, he realized that if he didn't eat now, he wasn't going to get anything until breakfast, he went to eat. This picture was taken just after Finn exclaimed, "I love zucchini!!" Classic.

Little Miss Piggy

While watching this clip, notice the arm of my chunky little girl! You think she gets fed enough?

Reflections of Christ...

If you have about 3 minutes in your day, check out this amazing video. Click here. It is non-denominational and very inspiring. I love the picture with Christ as a newborn babe and Mary. Wow!

Enlightenment...

So Amy's latest blog post got me really thinking, I don't really blog to be a "blogger". I don't tell my personal story but more or less just post crazy things about my daily life ie my kids. I am okay with that. Although I am a bit jealous of those who can just write and write (they are going to have AMAZING journals in the end) I do what I can and that is good enough for me.

I was really interested in the topic that Amy wrote about. How we as women view ourselves and let negative thoughts deter us from loving our true self. After thinking about this subject and how it takes place in my life, I realize that over the past 2 years, I have really made some great improvements! I am proud of myself! So then I was checking out the links that she posted in her blog and found this quote on one of her friends blogs. IT IS FABULOUS!! I HAVE THOUGHT THIS ABOUT MYSELF FOR SO LONG BUT LOVE TO HEAR IT SAID FROM ANOTHER'S MOUTH!

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."— Dr. Seuss



After a lifetime of being told that I talk to much or to loud etc, this made my day, my week, my LIFE! I am who I am, if you don't like it, don't put up with it! Eric loves me for who I am and doesn't think that I am a big mouth or too loud, he thinks I am JUST RIGHT! For that matter, I THINK I AM JUST RIGHT! I am loyal, compassionate and a great friend. I try to be the best mom/wife I can possibly be and if I fail one day, there is always the next. Isn't that great?!

I hope we can all remember that all that matters is what we think, just like Dr Seuss says...he MUST be a genius!! Thanks Amy and Aimee for inspiring me.

Think Finn needs some male attention?

I know these pictures aren't the best quality, they were taken with my phone...but I had to capture the energy! Thanks so much to Uncle John for spending some serious time with Finn. He has really been in withdrawl without Eric around as a wrestling buddy. I really appreciate all the love and support we get from our freinds and family. It's the little things and the concern that mean so much to us. It is nice to know that others have your best interests in mind and we have some awesome friends and family that make sure I know that even at my hardest moments. Thanks!

Finn didn't stop with Uncle John, he tackled Felicity

Look-a-likes

Finn had this picture taken about a year ago in Nursery. I can't help but think he looks like such a darling little toddler here but now he is a little boy!

For a while now, I have been meaning to post this picture of Eric and his little brother Tyler. No, this isn't Finn even though he insists it is. But isn't the resemblance uncanny? And check out Eric at the ripe old age of 14 (or 15?).

Accident waiting to happen...

Leave it to Eric to be the only one injured in a simulated shooting attack. This was not real ammunition people and still he gets shot in the head. I love my husband even though he is having the time of his life playing GI JOE. Check out his blog for the entire story. Love you Eric!

Oh that we were in Highschool...

For all you kiddies who went to highschool with me, here is a pic you will want to see. Courtney is 7.5 months prego with a little boy and although this picture is kinda crappy, it is the best I could do with my camera phone.

She had a baby shower this last weekend and raked in some awesome stuff! I am so excited to see Courtney as a mom, Was it hard to picture me as a mom? It is a little hard for me to picture Courtney but I am sure she will be fabulous at it. I love you Courtney! Highschool...those were the days!!

First photo shoot!

Grandma Sharlene works at the hospital that I am going to deliver at and she willingly arranged a visit to the ultrasound lab for us while Eric was in town. He missed the first one. So we played with the 4D machine and loved every second of it! The above is a shot of her face, sucking her thumb.

Profile of her face!

Here you can see her profile again and she has her right arm up by her face. You can see her little fingertips up by her nose...do you see it?

This is a shot of her right arm and she is posing as if she is deep in thought. Her chin is resting on her hand.

And Finally a shot of her arm from fingers to elbow.

I hope that my brief descriptions were able to help those of you who aren't too familiar with the way ultrasound pictures look. We were so happy to be able to see her and thankful to Grandma Sharlene for letting Eric get in on the fun.

1...2...3!!

Here is the toy that Grandma Sharlene gave Neelah for her bday. Neelah and Finn have been fighting over it ever since. Neelah is a standing freak show these days. I swear she is going to slip in the tub and split her lip...she already slips in the tub but so far, we have been lucky. Yesterday I counted 7 seconds standing on her own but today she far surpassed that. It's crazy how fast these kids grow! Isn't that an understatement?!?!

Almost....wait for it...

Taaa-Daaa!!!

Evening Entertainment

Sorry everyone, tip your head to the left to enjoy tonights entertainment!

Eric in Arizona

Hi everyone, I just thought I would officially post that Eric's team has their own blog now. I don't know how much they are going to post and I will probley put most of the pics of Eric on my blog as well but anyhow, Check it out if you want. I have it linked to the right. Here are some photos of my handsome hubby. Click on the pic to enlarge and see just what a prince he is in all his "killing" gear!

Farewell Breakfast

At our farewell breakfast Saturday morning Finn wouln't leave Eric's side. It was if he knew what was coming. Poor kid!
Me, Eric, Finn, Alisa, April, Nate, Amanda's friend, Amanda, Rick, Sharlene and Neelah. Ya-Ya took the picture and yes, I am fat and prego!

The newlyweds Aunt April and Uncle Nate
Eric and "The Chef" Aunt Alisa. Alisa made the cake for Neelah's 1st Bday! It was absolutely FABULOUS!!

More Bday Pictures

Felicity, John, Finn, Lyndsay, Neelah, Gabe and Reagan is in there somewhere...
Camden and Finn blowing their SILENT horn things.
Finally, after all the kiddies got 2 rounds at the unicorn, we sent Aunt Amanda in to do the dirty work.
Uncle Nate had to model the decapitated head of the unicorn
This is the present chaos that I wrote about in the earlier blog. All the kids gathered round to help Neelah out.

Piniata Fun!

Here is Aunt April with Neelah. She got the first swing but of course didn't inflict much damage.

After cake, we stripped Neelah down and let her open her presents. When I say "let her open her presents" I mean let everyone else open her presents. There was a swarm of 8 kids under the age of 5 gathered round to do the damage.

Happy Birthday Neelah!!

ONE YEAR OLD!
Some of you may remember the disaster Finn made with his first bday cake, Neelah wasn't nearly that bad. She did love her cupcake though, as you can definately see. We enjoyed our small celebration and were thankful to the family for coming and celebrating with us. I have a great video of her eating this cake, I will try to get it uploaded later today.