The Martin's

2009-10-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

So we apologize for not keeping up with our blog. I think the kids and our awesome jobs keep us going in so many directions that the blog gets overlooked some times. I will recount some things that are going on or have happened recently.

Reese has been potty training and doing an amazing job. Holly got her hands on a 3 day intensive potty training course through others in the Relief Society. It consists of 3 days where the child has no pants on and you follow them around waiting for them to tell you when they need to go. Reese was starting off on a good foot as she already had been telling us when she was going or had just gone and woke up in the mornings dry. So thanks to Holly's mom, Linda, who took Reese for the weekend and got things going. I won't lie, there were a few accidents, but not that many. She's in panties and loves it.

I have had some crazy things happen at work. I'm currently wearing a brace on my right ankle after I tore up a tendon after jumping out of a parking garage (10-12ft up) to the side walk in order to break up a domestic between a couple on the 16th of September. I'll be scheduling an MRI tomorrow as it's failed to get better in all this time.

Just after that I had a run in with two students after work. I mistakenly veered away from my normal route home early one morning and a student knocked my passenger side mirror off. When I got out and confronted him and his buddy they got a little physical. Even after identifying myself as a police officer and showing them my ID they attempted to flee the scene and fight me in the hall ways of their residence hall that I followed them into. they got away but I had an idea of who my offender was due to eye witnesses. When I came to work at 4pm I was mad and ready to get these guys. The offender happen to run into me in the hallway and now that I was in uniform he was promptly arrested. His buddy and him spent that night in jail and added to their criminal charges, they are being dismissed from the university.

This last Saturday we had a home football game. They are pretty big events with a stadium that holds 63,000. After the event a Sergeant and myself were questioning a guy and girl over some damaged property when the girl tried to walk off. The Sergeant told her to stop and when she didn't he went after her. Her brother (the male) reached out to stop the Sergeant and I quickly grabbed him and pulled him away to tell him laying hands on a police officer was a no no. He shoved me and the tussle was on. He spent the night in jail and if the pattern holds then I assume he'll be dismissed from the university as well.

We've gotten our projector up in the basement. We are no really utilizing this area and it's awesome. Watching Texas football on 100 inches of High Def DLP is like no other. We all watched the cartoon Monsters vs. Aliens last night for Family Home Evening and it was cool. I got to warn you though. Once you go projector....any flat screen seems small and you'll never go back. Just need some decent theater seats now. I'll put some pictures up soon.

She wears high heels, I wear T-Shirts...

2009-09-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Reese has a shoe fetish at such a young age :)
She points to my shoes and cries for me to take them off so she can wear them around the house. She walks pretty good in heels too!

Horses, Lizards, and Pools

2009-09-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I have put any pictures up so I thought I'd get my camera out and give you all an update. Piper is 10 months old already and loves to do anything and everything her older sisters do. She is quite the eater unlike her sisters. She ate as much as I did tonight at the Olive Garden!

Alyssa loves preschool. Her speech teacher said she no longer needs help and talks a lot in the classroom. She also said she is a natural leader in the class. Alyssa is a great big sister too.

Reese...the problem with Reese is that she is so cute it is hard to punish her :)

She is the mischievous one always pushing the limits. She only weighs 3 lbs more than Piper baby (as she calls her) and the two of them like to wrestle.

Grandma Linda and smiling Piper

Our friends Jeff and Becky went swimming with us.

The 3 Rascals. Everyone accompanies Piper as she finishes her bottles on the couch.

Our neighbor Elaina has lizards and the girls love holding and petting them. The only problem is when Reese is finished with anything..cell phone, sippy cup, toy...she throws it. Shortly after the lizard got it too. She was ok though.

The Softer Side of SWAT Training

2009-07-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

Bobby is in Missouri for the week doing SWAT training. I am usually the one traveling and this is his first time away for an extended period of time in awhile. You can tell he misses being a dad by the videos he has sent. Here are a few of my favorites :)

SORRY. THIS VIDEO WAS DELETED AS IT WAS TOO EMBARRASSING.

The girls know all the the lyrics to this song, You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift and apparently so does Bobby!

This is a favorite of Reese and Alyssa!

Piper Crawling

2009-07-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

On my way to the gym the other day Holly sent me this video. Seems Piper was seen crawling for the first time after a Cheeto of all things. Enjoy.

Big Screen

2009-06-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

2 big new additions in the basement were completed this last week. The hidden media center and the fixed frame screen. The oak bookshelf holds dvds and VHS and then opens up to reveal the swivel and pull out media rack. The screen is 100"x 42.6" and is meant for wide screen viewing. If you recall there are speakers behind it, just like a movie theater, and the screen material is acoustically transparent for that reason. I didn't add it, but you can see the carpet and base boards are in aswell. Now the seating, a projector, and some decor are all that's needed to complete the project.

Piper Laughing

2009-05-26T18:18:00.001-07:00

Coming Along

2009-05-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here's an update to the basement. The paint has been going up as the flooring is coming in on Monday. The finishing work is much slower than the framing and drywall, but we are anxious to movein.

Drywall

2009-04-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

So it only took a couple of hours for 3 guys to come in and do this....

More on the basement

2009-04-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

So here are some more pictures of where we are today. Actually, we are waiting for the drywallers to come inside and get to work. Looks like they are amassing in the driveway as we speak.

In these pictures you can see the south wall and indention for the media rack which I think I've mentioned will be covered by a bookshelf for dvds that opens on a piano hinge. Next is the kid's knook. There's the bench/toy chest and the green tape signifies where the drywallers are not to hang drywall as that is the built in bookshelf.

Here is the screen wall with speaker enclosures.

This is the new closet Holly had added in her office for when everyone comes to visit and stays in this spare bedroom.

This picture is from the screen wall out.

And this is the drywall that somehow made it's way in through the egress window.

The Basement Remodel

2009-04-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

So I've meant to keep everyone posted on our remodel of the basement through weekly pictures. unfortunately with Holly traveling a lot lately the camera found it's way with her and so most of the pictures I have are on a cell phone I have no idea how to download. Yet, I do have some pictures. Just so everyone is on the same page, the basement was somewhat finished. If you call slapping some drywall up to 2x4s and painting concrete walls red a finished basement. It was extremely cold in even the hottest months and the kids had no desire to be down there. This left us with 700 unused square feet of house.

Our good friends and neighbors across the street who share the same floor plan got the ball rolling when Ryan finished his basement after 4 yrs and I must say he did an outstanding job. Ryan really knows what he's doing and took time to put a lot of detail in his work. His results really inspired our build. Here are some photos of his basement before the finishing touches.

Since in use our neighbors say the spend a majority of the time downstairs now and the rest of the house is uncluttered and kept a bit cleaner. This sounded very appealing to us so we resolved to do likewise with our basement. I figured I'd watched enough of the DIY network to do the project myself and with my days off I could easily be done in less time than Ryan. Well if the tools I used for the demo was an indication of my skill level then I was terribly wrong. I have no tools. I ended up pulling trim and drywall off with a pink hammer that came as a Mary Kay gift for my wife and 2 chisels my mother-in-law brought over. That and a borrowed reciprocating saw I was able to do 90% of the demo.

At this time I quickly figured out that I wasn't going to have the time nor the ability to do a job that was 1/8th to what my neighbor Ryan had done so we went to a family friend who is a General Contractor. Our needs for this project were a place that kids and parents migrated to. We wanted to turn the old room that house the 30 boa constrictors at one time into an office for Holly. One week later Jack and his partner Ron were finishing up the cleanup and knocking down walls.

First order of business was the HVAC system. We needed two extra vents ran to make one in Holly's office and 3 in the remainder of the basement. When the guys were in doing the duct work they found a large hole in the return that was sucking cold air in, causing the furnace to believe it was colder than it really was. Problem now solved and by widening the main ducting coming off of the furnace by 2 inches they were able to put two vents in the main seating area of the living room and one in the kids knook while still being able to add one in the office.

You can see in the above photo that the wall that followed the stairs out has been halved. As you come down the stairs to the right is the door leading into the office/spare bedroom. Originally, this wall went the length of the basement and was literally a junk room of Mary Kay stuff while the office was used to house my snakes. The wall was taken out and in it's place we planed to have a kids knook with a built in bookshelf and bench/toy chest for the kids. The wall with the two white doors is our main screen wall. It will house 3 in-wall speakers and a 92" diagonal screen that measures about 102" in width. Behind it is some storage along with the furnace and water heater. The right door will be framed off and eventually a bathroom will be added, but probably not with this build.

I must apologizes at this point because most of the build pictures are on my phone which I've yet to down load. So we'll skip two weeks to where we are today. Framing went up, electrician came in and hung 9 recessed cans along with a slew of outlets, and the insulation was added. My part in all this was the theater portion. Iwant this to be a place we can gather as a family and watch some movies together as it's hard getting all 5 of us out and about. Plus, come college football season I want to seem like I'm on the field with the Texas Longhorns. So I opted for some real nice Polk Audio in-wall speakers and built enclosures for them to optimize the sound. You can see how they are mounted flush with the walls and only the painted screens will be visible once it's all said and done. We upgraded the reciever and now have the PS3 for bluray. We will be getting a screen that is acoustically transparent. Basically it's micro perforated to allow the audio to pass through from the front speakers so things will seem like thier jumping out of the screen. A 500 watt HSU subwoofer next to the seats and a Panasonic AE3000U 1080p LCD projector rounds out the media.

This is the entrance to the downstairs. we opted to take the door out and move it to the base of the stairway. This gives a more inviting feeling to me and mimics the upstairs.

Here is the new doorway and Jack our general contractor.

Where Jack is standing, Holly's office is just behind him

I'll post more tomorrow.

High Speed Low Drag

2009-03-01T10:39:00.001-08:00

Every boy dreams of it and every guy thinks it's the coolest thing they've seen. Heck, the even make movies of it. Well that one thing is a S.W.A.T. team and I'm excited to say I've officially been appointed a spot on our department's METRO S.W.A.T. team. This is another exciting chapter in my career, let alone my life and it's been a spot I'd been hoping for the day I was hired. Just so happens on of our K9 officers is a S.W.A.T. operator and is leaving the team after 12 yrs of service. I passed a physical test and an interview with team leaders in order to be recommended to the Chief who ultimately decided ya or nay. I've already begun training with the team which consist of 6 other operators, one of whom is an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (E.O.D.) teach and liaison with the Department's Bomb Squad. METRO S.W.A.T. consist of operators from UIPD (my department), Champaign County Sherriffs Department, Urbana Police Department, and Rantoul Police Department. I am slated to attend formal S.W.A.T. school in May for 10 days here at the U of I's Police Training Institute.

The Kids

2009-03-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Violins, Blessings, and Concerts

2009-02-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

Today Alyssa had her third violin lesson! She asked me six months ago out of the blue if she could play the violin. We got a 1/16 size violin, it looks like a toy.
I have a new consultant in my unit who teaches violin and she now teaches Alyssa.

Superbowl party! My mom doing crafts to entertain the kids!

She is super grandma.

Grandpa Gary and Piper content in his arms :) Go Steelers!

The Sunday we blessed Piper I wanted a picture with all the girls.
They all cried as you can see but my mom still got the photo! It's funny what we'll do for a picture.

Below are photos of me and my concert buddy and friend Channon who lives across the street at the Rascal Flatts concert. Channon got us 2nd row tickets!

2009-01-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

Bobby opening his fav Christmas gift a Play Station 3

Reese has learned there is always candy in mom's purse.
I found her behind the couch finishing off my Junior Mints!

Grandma Linda got Alyssa an Easy Bake oven!

Deanna, Erin, Ken, Bobby and Kayla.
The Martins drove up from Texas to spend a few days with us!

Reese about to either kiss or hit her baby sister depending upon the moment.

Deanna made this blanket for Piper!

Grandma D (Deanna) and Piper.

Reese and Piper with their Great Grandma Martin in Sherman, IL.

Piper is a great playmate. I put her wherever Alyssa wants her to lay and she does not keep getting up like Reese does. Alyssa has quite the imagination.

Mom Brain

2008-11-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest picture from littlebrewster.com of Piper at 3 weeks old.

Well it is official that having three kids 3 and under has made my brain mush. I got back from taking Piper to the doctor the other day and took my shoes off by the computer. I looked down to see that I wore two different shoes out and didn't notice! I also call my three kids by the wrong names...daily! Anyone else experience "mom brain"?

First two weeks at home

2008-11-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

The baby is 2 weeks and 1 day old and weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. today. She went from not wanting to eat often enough to eating every 2 hours and has passed her birth weight already. The older two are starting to get into a routine and are learning patience while I feed the baby. Bobby went back to work today for 5 days in a row plus overtime so this is the first time we will have a semi-normal schedule with all three girls.

My Senior Sales Director in Mary Kay, Hollie, came by to meet Piper yesterday. Here are some photos of us around the house.

2008-11-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

A few of Linda Brewster's spectacular photos have been posted on her blog and I'd encourage everyone to check them out at littlebrewster.com. Then go into the "Little Blog" section.

Piper Lorelai Martin

2008-10-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

What a great day. Holly and I left fore the hospital at 6:30am for her induction. She was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Dr. Smith broke her water at 7:45am and began a drip of Oxytocin an hour later. As Holly skimmed over the cafeteria menu she told him she'd be ordering off of it for lunch. The doctor, not wanting to get her hopes up, told her it would be more like the dinner menu. As a precaution, Holly ordered up the epidural cocktail at 9:50am. Shortly thereafter she said she felt like she needed to push. The doctor rushed in and 3 long pushes later Piper was born at 10:21am. It seems that the epidural only helped with the contractions as Holly said she felt everything else. She was a champ through the whole ordeal and is doing great. Piper weighs in at a Martin record of 7 pounds 6 ounces. She amazed us all with the large amount of hair on her head. I instantly questioned whether she was mine as this is another first. Quickly retracting the notion she could be anyone elses, we all marvelled by how quiet she was. Holly's mother, Linda, was there through the whole thing and has a way of calming Holly as well as helping out that is truly unmatched. She was given the honors of cutting the umbilical cord. We were also blessed to have our friend Linda Brewster who is an amazing photographer. She has documented some wonderful times in our family's lives and came to the hospital to record the event. We'll have more from her when those shots are made available.

Later Linda brought Alyssa and Reese to meet their new sister. Alyssa was so gentle and sweet. This was the exact opposite of how she was when Reese was born. Another surprise was Reese's reaction. She climbed over Holly and kissed Piper over and over again. It was unbelievable and cute. She then got a turn at holding Piper and would lean over and kiss her. Upon taking Piper out of her hands though, Reese would get all upset and cry as she held her arms out for us to return the baby to her.

A big surprise came later on in the day when a knock at the door was followed by my father from Texas who I had talked to several hours before. He had been in Dekalb, Iowa on business and decided to drive over. His ploy was to ask for the address of the hospital should anyone he knew wanted to send flowers. Dad got an opportunity to attend a Trunk or Treat at the church with Alyssa and Reese this evening and Alyssa graciously offered her bed to him so that she could take mom's spot in my bed.

So without further a due, here are some pictures and video of the new one.

Due date approaching soon...

2008-10-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

Just a photo to show you how big I am.

Video of Reese

2008-10-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

Alyssa loves to play games on the computer so Reese of course wants to do the same. Reese loves the mornings now after Alyssa gets on the bus and she gets mom and dad all to herself for an hour before her nap. Last night we went to a party with some friends to celebrate Diwali, a holiday in India, and we brought Alyssa. She played with the couple's 8 year old daughter for most of the night. After an hour the little girl came into the living room and said, "She asks a lot of questions." I laughed out loud because Alyssa is at the "how come..." and "why" stage for EVERYTHING. It was fun to bring just Alyssa. My mom spent the evening with Reese.

1st day of school!

2008-10-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

This morning Alyssa had her first day at Pre-K. She woke up promptly at 7 a.m. on her own and asked if it was time to get ready for school. She got ready very efficiently and then took up a spot at the window so she could see the bus coming.

Only, the bus didn't come. After several minutes Holly called and it turns out they forgot Alyssa. I mentioned to Holly that I prayed this wasn't a usual occurrence....you know, them forgetting kids and all. So I jumped into the car and drove her 2 miles to the elementary school where her teachers awaited. The whole time, Alyssa was excited and was in no way upset about leaving mom and dad.

In the mean time, with her sister gone, Reese took to a gymnasium set up that she had seen her older sister and friends doing. Climbing on the craft chair unto the table, she would then flop over the top of our love seat and land on the cushions. She was successful about 1 in every 5 attempts.

At 11:12 a.m. Alyssa's school bus, and yes it's the short one, arrived out front. I quickly ran out side to meet her. Her first comment was, "Daddy, the bus did have seat belts, " as this was a topic of conversation before the bus was M.I.A. this morning. She said she had a great time and told us about painting and playing with noodles. She said she ate cheese and crackers for a snack and her teacher said in a note that Alyssa was a very good listener! We are proud of our little head start kiddo and welcome the quiet house while she is there.

preschool

2008-10-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

Alyssa starts preschool 5 days a week in the morning on Monday!
We met her teacher Mrs. Vail and visited her classroom yesterday.
The bus will be her at 8 am and she will be gone until 11 am.

Company!

2008-10-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

Great-Grandma Martin (aka NaNa) and Aunt Kristy came to visit on Saturday! It is always like Christmas when we see them because they have sooo many things for the girls. They especially liked the Winnie the Pooh basketball hoop and Halloween decorations.

Reese loves putting on hats. She usually has them so low they cover her eyes and she walks or crawls in to furniture!

our days...

2008-10-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Alyssa is starting pre-school 5 days a week in the morning next week :) She is soo excited and the timing can't be better. Now through the winter when the babies are stuck indoors she will get to go out and play with kids her age! She loves crafts and I am sure they will do lots of stuff like this!
It is sooo hard to keep her quiet all morning while Bobby is trying to sleep since she works 2nd shift.

Our favorite family outing is walking to the Dollar General in town and buying a treat. The girls usually choose fudgesicles and need a bath by the time we get home.

Pink Cadillac

2008-10-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday on my three year anniversary of being in Mary Kay I picked up my first pink Cadillac! It rides like a luxury vehicle and Alyssa is sooo excited it is pink!

Today I did maternity photos with Linda Brewster and I wanted to share a couple she posted on her blog so far. She takes amazing photos! Her website is throughherlensonline.com

I highly recommend her for any and every occasion. I feel like I am going to have this baby any minute but I have thought that for a week now so who knows.

After having two babies early, I will probably go to my due date with this one!

Bad Boys Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna To Do......

2008-10-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't written about work since I got hired. It's been over a year now and I love the job and the department I work for. I've come to find out that everyday has the potential to be the "busiest day." Take for instance the last 3 Sundays I worked. Each have yielded really good arrest. Two weeks ago there was an armed robbery by 3 black males outside of one of our residence halls. The call came out that there was a gun used and the 3 males were on bikes. At the time I was writing a report at the department, but was told over the radio to get a squad and circulate the area. After an initial pass of the surrounding area I began to head west trying to predict their course of travel and the given time since the incident actually occurred. We got lucky as some Student Patrollers (paid students who are extra eyes for the department) spotted the three about as far west as you can go on campus. I was the first on scene and met up with the Student Patrollers in a U of I minivan. They stated they had lost the three, but they knew they were in the area. We parted ways and as I did a U-turn they radioed out that they spotted them just around the corner. As I came whipping around I saw the minivan heading north and then I caught sight of a bicyclist traveling east a block a head of me, at full speed. I gunned my Dodge Charger and gave chase. As I speedily approached the fleeing felon, he dumped the bike and began sprinting south between the apartment complexes. He had a good lead on me and as I took the chase to the ground I only had a direction of travel to go on. One block south I spotted a student on the corner who pointed south and still between the apartments. Another block south I ran through the street and into an alley way. I slowed and drew my gun since I had no idea if this was the one with his own gun. I turned around and was alerted by another student who said he just saw a black guy jump into some bushes at the corner of one of the apartments. We ran to the corner of the street and he pointed in the general direction. I cautiously came up to a series of tall bushes that lined an apartment complex that spanned a block. I was at the southeast corner with a flash light and my gun aimed in at the bushes. I have a light on the gun as well so the area was lit up, but I could not see anyone hiding. I yelled some verbal commands to come out, hoping the felon wouldn't call my bluff. Two squads rolled up and I pointed for the first to talk to our witnesses. As I frantically searched the officer returned and over the radio told me the guy was right where I was looking. Actually, he was 50 feet north, at the next corner, where he was pulled out at gun point. The other two were chased down by both U of I officers and Champaign City Officers. All three were identified by the victim. The stolen articles and gun were recovered along the flight path of one of the felons. The gun was actually a pistol BB gun. The one that used the gun admitted to 3 other armed robberies and implicated the other two individuals. The boys were 18, 17, and 16.

This last Sunday I pulled a hat-trick. For those that aren't familiar with this term, Wikipedia defines it as such: A hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times in three consecutive attempts. Well I achieved this in arrest in one shift. The first came just after I pulled out of the motor pool and drove 2 blocks south of the department. I passed a newer Buick Lesabre with chrome 20 inch rims and both occupants not wearing seat belts. It was too tight of a street to do U-turn and the next block was a one way street, so I looped around back towards our department and was lucky enough to catch up with them where there was no traffic. The vehicle was stopped and the driver was subsequently arrested for driving on a suspended license. There was a small amount of cannabis in the rear passenger ash tray, but not enough to really care about. We'll leave that for the next stop so a dog can run around the car and hit on it. The next arrest came when I had a ride-a-long and was radaring a mile stretch south of campus. It was just after dark and I got an 87 Chevy caprice doing 60 in the posted 45 mph zone. The car was copper with a blue top and sat on 24 inch chrome wheels. When I approached the driver he gave up that he knew he was in trouble. He was a gang member who had been arrested some 40 times. He was 29 and had never had a drivers license. He had 3 warrants and the one we booked him on was failure to appear in court on a aggravated battery to a police officer charge. The final arrest came just before the shift ended. I observed a vagrant/homeless man yelling at a student and then attempt to haggle some money off of some girls. I have a strong dislike for these panhandlers and after one raped an intoxicated MALE student the other week, my goal is to stick to these low lifes like glue until they leave the area. The guy ended up giving us a false name that wouldn't come back when looked up. We put him cuffs and explained he wasn't going anywhere until we found out his true identity. He consented to a search and a new baseball hat with a security tag still attached was found amongst his many layers of clothing. He stated it wasn't his. These guys have no real business on campus other than to beg, steal, and be intoxicated. I took him to the jail on a felony obstructing justice charge since he was lying about who he was. We still didn't know who he was but hoped the deputies at the jail might recognize him. They did, and they were able to provide a mug shut with several alias this guy used. Still no real reason for lying about who he was so as I left the jail I ran his alias through my computer in my car and boom...a warrant was found. I confirmed it and then went back inside where this guy was still being processed and delivered the bad news. No bond, full extradition. I got a kudos memo in my record book for that one.

The countdown begins...

2008-10-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the doctor and found out I am 2 cm dialated and 50% effaced. For the average person that doesn't mean anything but both times I was at this point with Alyssa and Reese I went into labor the next day. Alyssa at 35 weeks and Reese at 37 weeks.
Today I am bigger than I have ever been. You can see how funny I look in the pictures! It is as if I am hiding something under my shirt! I am just waiting and staying close to home...
Reese is taking a few steps now. After her first birthday she grew tall and skinny and no longer has the "baby" look. She is officially a toddler now. I am sooo happy she will be walking soon because at 20 lbs. she is getting too heavy to carry around.

Pony Ride and Face Painting!

2008-09-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday Reese!

2008-09-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

2008-09-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Weekend Visitors!

2008-08-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate enough this weekend to have visits from Papy and GeeGee (Alyssa and Reese's great grandparents and Bobby grandparents) and my sister Natalie and her boyfriend Bryan. It was fun for the girls to visit and we really appreciated them coming here to see us :)

First day of preschool

2008-08-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

Reese today at 11 months of age

picture of Alyssa at 7 months old

Reese after her first day at the babysitters

Alyssa after her first day at Preschool

I think Reese and Alyssa resemble each other but it will be interesting to see who the new baby will look like more. Alyssa is still very much a mini Bobby look alike.
I have always been jealous that Bobby gets to leave the house and work a 40 hour work week and solely focus on his work with no distractions of the kids or housework. Working from home is great and I LOVE the flexibility--I wouldn't have it any other way or ever do anything else. BUT I fit my 40 hour work week around nap, meal times, and play dates. I often tell Bobby it is like me sending the kids with him in his squad car and see how productive he can be. So, I decided since Alyssa is getting more and more active and needed something to do that preschool full day twice a week would be good for everyone :) Those same two days (Mon and Wed) my neighbor and friend from church is watching Reese. She already has two kids at home so she won't be able to watch the new baby but it gives me time to find someone before she arrives. It was so nice today to be able to answer the phone and make calls without screaming in the background. I got more done in less time and Alyssa loved her teacher and her new friends. She brought her new Dora backpack and told me about for day for the entire 4 hours leading up to bedtime.

Alyssa's hair cut

2008-08-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Before the haircut

After photo!

Alyssa's hair was getting unruly so I decided it was time to get a hair cut so it wasn't so scraggly. It looks cute and still curls but she no longer has the mullet look of the 80's. I promised her a Popsicle if she sat still for the 5 minutes it took my friend to cut it! This is McKenzie our next door neighbor who Alyssa begs to play with all day but whenever they get together they fight like sisters!

2008-08-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

The highlight of Alyssa's weekend was the gift she received from my Aunt Joann and cousin Jenny. She is listening to her new Dora headphones that came in a Dora backpack filled with other school supplies. She enjoyed dancing the night away at the reception and as you can see in the last picture was always close to the food. She helped herself to the chocolate fountain all night long and had several wardrobe changes through the evening.

Jessica & Jack's wedding

2008-08-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

My sister Jessica and Jack were sealed in the Nauvoo Illinois Temple on 8/8/08. Everything went smoothly and was beautiful. The kids didn't have much patience during pictures though. This is what they did on the temple grounds. The last picture is me bribing Alyssa to be in a family picture :)

Hanging around the house

2008-08-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

Trampoline installed!

2008-07-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

L-R Bottom: Tracy & Alyssa
Top: Erin, Kayla, Bobby, Reese, Deanna, Ken

Happy 4th of July! All of the family is home and excited to be back together. Texas was awesome for Bobby, Alyssa, and Reese and I was able to finish the Mary Kay year strong on July 1. Our unit became a pink Cadillac unit! I get to chose between the CTS (smaller sporty car), DTS (full size sedan), or SRX (crossover SUV). As of right now the SRX will be best for our family when the new baby comes since it has a third row seat. That will give Alyssa an entire row to herself and the two babies will be safely out of reach :) Yes, it will be pink and I can't wait!

Reese wants to crawl so badly, but can't get her feet out from underneath her when she leans forward and rocks. She loves her sister and is entertained for hours by watching her play. Alyssa has been going to The Little Gym and playing outside with friends in the neighborhood. Bobby works tomorrow all day but the girls and I are going to a BBQ and will watch the fireworks with friends. I had a 22 week check up this week and everything is good. Nothing new to report.
Have a great holiday weekend!

More pictures!

2008-06-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

You can preview the rest of the pictures of the girls on our photographers website: www.throughherlensonline.com
Click "her photography"
Next click "proofing"
and the password is: martingirls
She has 41 up so far!

P.S. Grandparents you can order prints if you'd like just let me know which ones.

Bob The Builder

2008-06-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of our inground traompoline project went fairly smoothly.

At the end of the day we have a 14 ft hole in our backyard!
I started off dumping the dirt (I mean CLAY) into a pick up but then realized there had to be a more timely and less strenuous way going about dumping it. So I went back to the rental place and got the black hydraulic dump trailer you see in the background. The Envoy held up decently. This is another one of those times I wish I had a big pickup. I did blow one of my air bags that I installed in the rear when I used the Envoy to pull my sport bike. Next up is fine tuning the hole and lay some post.

*NOTE* If you're going to attempt this, just hire someone to do this for you. It'll probably save you $.

Day 0 Inground Trampoline Project

2008-06-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

.
Bobby mapped out the lines of where he is going to dig tomorrow! Here is a before picture of our yard. Two very messy girls will follow. Reese LOVES the trampoline as much as Alyssa.

Photos of the girls

2008-06-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Me, CherkyB: An Inground Trampoline Design

2008-05-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

We are going to put in an inground trampoline like the one above for the kids very soon. Bobby got the idea and plans from the blog listed below. Check it out. It is very involved but will be awesome when it is finished. We'll post the progress :)

Me, CherkyB: An Inground Trampoline Design

2008-05-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today I had my first ultrasound to find out the due date of the baby. The doctor guessed I was about 8 weeks along last month. Today I discovered I am 16 weeks pregnant and due Nov. 6. I was happy to hear that because I am starting to show and just felt fat if I was only 8 weeks!
The nurse asked if I wanted to know the sex of the baby. I was caught off guard because I didn't know they could tell so early. She got lots of good shots and said it appeared to her to be a girl! It was fun to find out so early. I will get a second confirmation at my next ultrasound the doctor is doing at 24 weeks (July) but she said she saw three lines very clear on the screen so that means girl. I feel like I just brought little Alyssa home from the hospital and I actually did just bring Reese home 8 short months ago. I was looking at old pictures and found the one below of baby Alyssa. They are such little miracles.

Reese 7 months 4 weeks old

2008-05-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

I thought Reese deserved a post of her own so she can't claim that the middle child doesn't get as many pictures and attention :)
She is sitting up now and very expressive. Alyssa entertains her and she babbles nonstop. She eats a lot! Formula every couple hours and solids four times a day. Her room is blue but we are waiting to paint until we find out what the next baby is. Reese will get to move in with Alyssa and they'll share a room like me and my sister Natalie did! What fun!

What has happened since our last post...or what hasn't happened!

2008-05-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Holly earned her second free Mary Kay car...The Saturn Vue at the end of March!
Alyssa is practicing feeding her baby because she is having another baby brother or sister! Surprise! We are expecting a baby this November and will know the due date later this month after Holly has her first sonogram later this month.
We bought a house and Alyssa and Grandpa Gary helped move in!
Our living room that you see to the right when you enter the front room.
Alyssa's pink bedroom! She walked in and saw all her stuff in the room and said, "it's beautiful."

Alyssa's 3rd Birthday Party at the Little Gym

2008-03-30T14:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter

2008-03-30T14:44:00.001-07:00

We're moving!

2008-02-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well after months of looking and thinking we wanted to build we stumbled on this little gem. We signed the contract today and hope to close April 25th. It's a 3 yr old home in a new subdivision in Tolono, IL. Tolono and the house is just 6 miles south from where we live now in Savoy so no major change. The school district is better than Champaign and we have access to all the major surrounding highways so we can shoot up to the north side of Champaign quicker than driving through it as we do now. The previous owner had 2 little girls as well and so it's basically ready to move in. Here's some pictures and a link to a virtual tour, which I hope continues to stay up for all to see.

VIRTUAL TOUR: http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?t=1326867&sk=13&prt=10003

316 Windstone
Tolono, IL
3 bedrooms/2.5 bath
full finished basement
corner lot with side load garage

Alyssa's Cheesy Smile

2008-02-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

2008-01-18T19:17:00.001-08:00

Today Reese weighed 12 1/2 lbs. at her 4 month appointment. She is in the 38th percentile for weight and 58th percentile for height. The doctor said there are worse things than being tall and thin! Alyssa likes to put makeup on with me. I gave her my old brush set and she likes to try to put makeup on Bobby!

Bobby's Bday and Family pics

2008-01-04T19:42:00.001-08:00

2008-01-04T19:31:00.001-08:00

This is Reese with my new consultant, Sarah's son, who was due on the same day!

We had a great Christmas and all 3 of my sisters were home at once. Bobby had off work on every holiday! This is probably the last time that will ever happen so we really enjoyed it. He loves everyday on the job learning new things. Reese smiles a lot and then will scream forever. She is very entertained by Alyssa who has endless energy, especially since it is too cold to go outside now.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T07:01:00.001-08:00

We spent yesterday celebrating Christmas at Grandma Martin's and Aunt Kristi's. The girls had a great time even though it's like 2 degrees outside. They came away with a mountain of gifts as you can see by the photo with Alyssa standing next to the presents. We are experimenting with all the options on Holly's new camera. She lost her old one (conveniently) just the other week and told me she had to have a smaller better one.

2007-11-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We had an amazing dinner at my parents' house here in Champaign and tomorrow we are going to Springfield to visit Grandma Martin and Aunt Kristy and she is making another big dinner. Reese weighed in at 10 lbs. fully clothed this week at the Dr. office.

Trunk or Treat

2007-10-31T20:27:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from this weekend's trunk or treat at the church. Bobby got Alyssa ready and I met them at the church. I said, "oh good you found my eyeliner to draw whiskers on her." He said, "no I just used a permanent marker!" Surprisingly it came off easily the next day with a little Mary Kay 3 in 1 cleanser. I"ll post more pictures from trick or treat tonight later.
Alyssa said thank you to every person after she got candy!

2007-10-25T18:48:00.001-07:00

Today I took Alyssa out in sandals and Reese didn't have a coat! The temperature today was 45 degrees, so we headed to the store and Alyssa got shoes and Reese got this fabulous, warm snow suit.

2007-10-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

The first two pictures I took today and below them are photos from Ken and Deanna's visit when we blessed Reese. She wore the blessing dress at three weeks old that Alyssa wore at 3 months old! Reese has really changed over the past couple days and is loosing that newborn look. She was 7 lbs. 11 oz. at her one month check up.

Bobby, Reese, Gary, Holly, Alyssa, Linda

Bobby loves his training. He comes home once or twice during the week for dinner which is a great break for me and it helps Alyssa not miss him so much.

Two proud Grandma's. Alyssa can't say "G" so she calls them "Ram"

Deanna, Bobby, Reese, Holly and Ken

More pictures...

2007-10-03T10:16:00.001-07:00

Princess Party

2007-09-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today Alyssa went to her first birthday party. Her friend Camilla had a princess party to celebrate her third birthday. The girls made necklaces, decorated crowns, and of course ate a princess cake and pink ice cream. Here are some photos in their princess attire.

Never a dull moment...

2007-09-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight Alyssa fell off her bike outside and split her lip open. My mom took her to the Emergency Room at 4:45 pm and they didn't get home until after 8 pm. Alyssa had 3 stitches in her bottom lip. Unfortunately, she pulled one of them out already. They are supposed to dissolve in 5-7 days. Bobby went to the ER to try to help comfort her. They said it was so sad because she was hysterical as they pinned her down and tried to sew her up. It must not have been too traumatic because when she got home she was dancing around to "The Ants Go Marching" song and before she went to bed she was jumping up and down singing "one little monkey jumping on the bed..."

2007-09-23T13:43:00.001-07:00

4 days old

2007-09-20T18:45:00.001-07:00

Alyssa is like a broken record all day asking to hold the baby. She doesn't understand the meaning of gentle but she is very sweet with her new little sister. She always asks her, "are you happy baby Reese?" Sometimes we fear for Reese's life when she tries to pick her up out of the swing.

We had a lady from church, who is a photographer, do a photo shoot of Reese today! We are waiting on the pictures, but this is one my mom took with her camera.

Meet Reese Elizabeth

2007-09-18T14:05:00.001-07:00

2007-09-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

Reese Elizabeth Martin was born September 16 at 1;30 pm. She is 5 lb. 15 oz. and 18 in long. Pictures coming soon!

2007-09-11T04:41:00.000-07:00

Today Bobby's extended vacation has come to an end. He reported to his first day of work at 7 am after getting up at 4:30 am to go to the gym for few hours. I am structuring Alyssa's day, so we have a schedule. She is going to be very lonely for her dad who has been with her 24/7 as long as her little mind can remember. She wakes up in the morning and from every nap calling his name and searching the house for him. I bet she'll be confused this morning when I tell her he is at work. At least this week he will come home at night. Next week when PTI starts we'll say goodbye on Sunday and not see him until they finish for the day on Friday.

Unfortunately, I don't have any news to post about the baby. She hasn't budged and I have my next appointment tomorrow. I made it full term and now the waiting game has begun...

How far along?

2007-09-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today Holly went for a check up with her doctor. He said she looks great (I could have told him that), and that the baby is head first and sitting low. In fact, she is 1 cm dilated and the doctor projected our little girl coming either this week or next!

Labor Day

2007-09-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

Labor Day is suppose to usher in the Fall and it's cool weather. Well, today I'm asking where that cool weather from a week ago was as we endured the heat for a little fun at the St. Louis zoo. Alyssa was so excited to see all the animals she cried last night when going to bed because she wanted to go to the zoo right then. "Patience" I told her, which means nothing when your 2. As promised though at 6:30 am I woke her up to get ready to go. Funny thing was she said, "I'm sleeping." Priorities my dear...sleep on the way up, we have to go pick up Granny Linda by 7 am. Two hours and forty five minutes later we passed the St. Louis Arch and walked into the zoo grounds.

This is Holly's glamor shot photo that mistakenly went to St. Louis instead of to our house.

This Asian Elephant was relaxing in his/her pool no more than 10 ft from us. It was awesome! Alyssa was a bit nervous and was pushing off of us to get some distance between her and the gentle giant.

Finally, this is how we ended the day. Luckily, I had Holly get me one of those energy drinks as the rest of my crew ended up like this in their seats.

2007-08-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

This morning Alyssa went to her preschool to meet her teachers and get acquainted with her new classroom. She goes to my friends house for preschool Wed. and Fri. and will now go to Mother's Morning Out at the Presbyterian Church on Tues. and Thurs. from 9-noon. Alyssa is much happier when she has friends to play with instead of trying to occupy herself all day at the house. She love computer games! She plays ABC Zoo, Elmo and Dora interactive games and loves Leap Frog ABC's. I thought I had better take a picture of me so this baby doesn't feel neglected since I have barely taken any pictures this pregnancy. I had Bobby join in on the fun. Tomorrow is his last round of tests before he starts work next month!

2007-08-14T18:07:00.001-07:00

Alyssa loves going to Springfield to visit her Great-Grandma Martin and Aunt Kristy. They watch a 3 year old and have a house set up with more toys than we do. They actually potty trained Alyssa over a weekend she stayed with them! Here are a few pics from her visit.

We are starting to get ready for baby. One thing I want to finalize before Bobby leaves on Sept. 11 to work is a name. The three we are leaning towards are:
1) Reese
2) Sydney
3) Riley
For middle names we are deciding between Leigh and Jean depending upon the first name. No new updates otherwise. I have my next doctor appointment Friday and am going to the Wisconsin Dells for Mary Kay next week which I am really looking forward to.

Backpack

2007-08-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today Alyssa went to her preschool where she was instructed to bring a backpack. She currently did not have one, but we think because of the emphasis that Dora the Explore puts on her backpack (and we know Alyssa loves Dora) this had some effect on Alyssa when she was presented with her backpack. Basically, it hasn't left her sight today and as she sleeps in her bed tonight it lays next to her with one of her babies safely tucked into it's spacious confines. Here are some pictures from earlier this evening when we went for a walk. Enjoy.

Congratulations!

2007-08-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that Bobby received his preliminary offer today from the University of Illinois Police Department! He will start doing the paperwork on September 11 and go into the Police Training Institute on September 16!
We are so proud of him and excited as we start this new phase of life :)

San Diego

2007-07-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

I had the chance thanks to my dad to fly out to San Diego the other week for my Grandpa's 75 birthday. This was the first time in a long time that the Martin's have all been together. Unfortunately due to scheduling I couldn't bring Holly or Alyssa. I know, so sad. What's sad is everyone basically wanted to see them more than me. In the picture, from Left to right: My father Ken and my mother Deanna, then in the back is Tracy the oldest of my sisters with her husband Danny who live in Seattle. Kayla is the middle sister in black and Erin is our baby sis. Both currently attend school at the University of North Texas. Then there is Alyssa's Gee Gee and Pappy separated by yours truly.

I forgot how nice SoCal weather (away from the desert) can be. Dad, Danny, and I snuck off from the girls while they shopped at an outlet center to do some indoor kart racing. It was a blast and way more competitive than something you'd find at Malibu Speed Way. Helmets and course flags I believe I was cheated as my tires were bald and I was everywhere on that course but the front.

That night was a Martin Family dinner at my Uncle's house in Escondido. This was the first time like I said I've seen alot of my cousins who I remembered being young kids.

The next morning the boys all got together for our usual golf game. Over the yrs everyone has become a bit better at the game so I was pumped to beat some of the cousins....and you know who you are, since last tournament I didn't even get a trophy. Well, someone had the bright idea to play a scramble and my hopes were dashed. To add insult to injury I do believe my Uncle Mark who not only lives next to this par 3 course but probably plays it on a weekly basis, stacked the his team in their favor. Next time will be a different story.

I t was good to get back home to see the girls though. I woke Alyssa up just so I could chat with her. She is awesome.

Update on my job prospects. I'll be out tonight and Saturday night with the UofI guys and then have a meeting on Monday afternoon with a Lieutenant for a "sit down" he says. Hopefully it is to schedule my post employment psych eval and medical exam. On Holly's end, she is having a killer month in the way of new team members. I'm really excited for her as she finally has some girls that are really working hard toward the unit goal of becoming a Cadillac Unit. Keep it up Holly!

As far as Alyssa, she is a two yr old and at times shows those terrible twos with knock down screaming tantrums. Normally though she is a very sweet and extremely talkative little girl. One of our goals for her as been to potty train her before her sister comes. 2 kids in diapers is not what we want. Holly and I have tried in despair to get her motivated to go on the potty, but she just didn't want nothing to do with it. Well while I was away she took her own vacation to Grandma Martin's in Sherman, IL and the woman is obviously a miricale worker because I heard she went potty on the toilet 5 times! Since then Holly and I have kept with it and I'm proud to say Alyssa is doing great when it comes to pottying. Now notice how I didn't mention pooping. Well that is a different story and if you have any suggestions on getting a kid to do that on the toilet I would be very appreciated. Nothing like attacking a dirty pull up that doesn't want to cooperate with you. I find I get just as much on me as what's in the panties or pull up!

She is also a very accomplished swimmer. I've gotten to the point where I no longer have to get wet when we go to the pool. With her Elmo floaties on she climbs into the big pool via the stairs, pushes off and swims around to the amazement of not only me, but other pool goers. I just stand on the edge encouraging her on. I no joke have seen her swim from one side to the other without me or anyone else assisting her. I'll see if I can get a picture of it next time we go. Today it's a torrential down pour outside so we'll inadvertently be swimming out to the car just to go out. Lovely!

2007-07-13T07:55:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it is already July and we are having another baby in September! So far we have a list of names that changes every week. This week we like: Kendall, Grace, and Reese. This last picture is Alyssa with her best friend Jordan. She goes to his house for pre-school twice a week. In the Fall I hope to double that so she can get out of the house more. Have a great Friday the 13th!

Visitors from TEXAS..."We come in peace."

2007-07-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Due to some availability in my Dad's schedule, he and my mom took the opportunity to drive out from Dallas to see their granddaughter. It was a short, but great visit. Alyssa loves her Grandpa Ken and Grandma D and was especially sad when they left. It was neat to see the interaction between them now that Alyssa talks in small sentences. We rode the horses on the carousal, ate ice cream during a thunderstorm, went for a swim, played with sparklers, and went to the movies....well us big folks saw the new Die Hard film while she napped. Thanks again to mom and dad for coming out and I'll see you next week in San Diego!

Car 54 where are you?

2007-06-23T14:43:00.001-07:00

So it's been one of those lazy Saturdays because it's been raining since like Thursday. I say lazy and I'm only speaking for myself and Alyssa as Holly is working like a dog finishing the fiscal year with Mary Kay. I took the opportunity knowing that everyone was indoors to let Alyssa go play at her grandparents while I went to the gym and shook off the sloth in me when really it's suppose to be my day off since I go there 5 times a week already.

Some good news came in on Wed. morning. I received a call from the U of I Police Department and was given a preliminary offer of employment. I was really hoping I'd get the job here due to the work and social environment as well as the great benefits. I'm now completing my 2nd of 3 rides I'm slated to do with Field Training Officers before the final word is given. Tonight is one of those rides and if it weren't for the thunderstorm outside I'd say it would be pretty exciting, but I have a feeling it will be the opposite. September would be when I attend the Police Training Institute which is equivalent to Police Academy and it's where all agencies send their new officers. At that point we will begin the process for moving out and into our own place. Exciting to say the least!

2007-06-15T19:27:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all Dad's and Grandpa's!

Check out this hair! It is out of control.

Kite Adventures

2007-06-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

Late last week we had a couple of days where it was very windy. One morning while laying around with Alyssa in her room I remembered that she had a kite in with her toys. So we assembled it and took it out front for a test flight. I was limping around in an air cast as I'm trying to heal a stress fracture in my foot, so Holly did the honors of Chief Flight Operator with Alyssa as Co-Pilot. We had 2 successful flights before disaster struck in the form of a tree, however we learned that having me as a flight consultant while not being hands on is like having an annoying backseat driver. Alyssa had fun and that's all that matters.

American Girl

2007-06-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Alyssa's favorite game to play with Holly is to have her lay her head on a pillow, so she can do whatever she wants to mom!

So it looks like there might be some things to do in Illinois after all. I lasted posted about Touch A Truck day, well today was Touch a Tractor. To add to the excitement we found out there is a permanent petting zoo and water park just up the road from us. Who knew? Alyssa was more interested in the jump house than the animals and tractors though. We ended the afternoon with a hay ride in the back of a tractor.

Little girls & big trucks.

2007-05-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

So in reality, nothing much happens here in Central Illinois. So if the circus does come to town then everyone goes. Like wise, when big trucks roll in it's time to check them out. The city of Champaign host an annual Touch a Truck Day where trucks from all around the area are put on display for all the kids to climb on. So Alyssa and her Grandmother went for a half day of fun. There were dump trucks, bottling trucks, tow trucks, even garbage trucks. We know Alyssa is going to be a car girl as she already has a habit of crawling into the drivers seat and pretending while one of us is getting stuff out of the backseats. Short of pulling a Brittney Spears and driving through town with her on my lap this is as close to the city roads as she's going to get for a while. Here is a choice picture Linda took with her and Central Illinois' own Raminator monster truck. I see these guys house/shop off of 57 on my way to Rantuol with 3 huge tractor trailers in red with Dodge sprawled on the sides. I understand they are up there with Bigfoot and the Grave Digger.

Baby Update

2007-05-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well today we went to the doctors for a sonogram. Unfortunately we brought Alyssa who I had to spoon feed M&Ms to sit still and watch as the baby's image came up on the flat screen. The baby appears to be all there and with nothing to indicate problems. It was curled up in a ball for most of the session but moved around a lot the technician said. I couldn't tell. It was like reading hieroglyphics as a blind man. I just nodded my head and intently waited for her to call out the sex. Finally she was able to get a shot between the legs...which reminds of a great story regarding Alyssa. While I was in Iraq and consequently through Holly's pregnancy with Alyssa, I received an email from Holly's account entitled "Shot of girl between legs". Well, I didn't even open it thinking it was spam of porn somehow sent from her account and therefore erased it. Several weeks later while talking with Holly on the phone she made mentioned to the sonogram pictures of Alyssa and how she'd sent them via email and snail mail. It dawned on me what I had erased. As well, in our first area of operations we ha been receiving mail and supplies via air drop. This was due to our distance from any other forward operating base. When chute's broke or neglected to open and mail scattered over the desert, they started trucking it in. On one occasion one of these trucks crashed and caught on fire. It happened to be the base's mail. I can remember going on patrol past that burnt truck and seeing the thousand or so empty water bottles used to try and extinguish the blaze and save the mail. several months later I received a letter that was burnt up but still sealed. In it was Alyssa's sonogram pictures, perfectly visible with charred edges and some smearing of color due to water. Back to today's visit....we are having another GIRL!

Do you play with snakes?

2007-05-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

So, many of you know about my side hobby/business. Yet I bet there are few of you who have seen some of the creatures living here in the wild kingdom known as our home. Although very inactive, snakes do require some maintenance. Today I was cleaning the big kid's enclosures as it seems all of them conspired to go the bathroom at the same time and yes it can get raunchy. So as I was letting the animal safe disinfectant dry I took a couple outside for a photo shoot. Now these kid's are all 6 feet or more and tame as puppies. Would I let the chihuahua around them...only if I really wanted to get rid of her without anyone knowing. I'm kidding of course (as Maggie runs under the bed...haha).

I have a total of 30 snakes at the time being. Normally though it's 7 but we did have a litter born in March of 25 boas and I've received a new one in trade for one of those babies. In addition I'm expecting about 4 or 5 more new snakes or different ages when it's all said and done to be able to offer a variety of different boas to those looking for a huggable and cuddly reptile. You can see most of my boas on my crudely constructed web site at dbboas.com. Soon we'll have a new site which thankfully I had nothing to do with so it's 10 times better.

It's Monday and no school!

2007-05-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

So finals are over with and I find myself with a lack of things to do today. I finished the semester of 21 credits with 5 A's and my usual B, and for the third consecutive time I'll see my name on the Dean's List. Holly has worked out schedule for both of us to manage both businesses, my gym time, and Alyssa. I've been given the green light not to work this summer if I can take care of the house and the little one. Hopefully, I am the man for the job.

Speaking of jobs. Just got back from the mail box and I got a letter from the University of Illinois Human Resources Department. As many may know I've tested with the U of I police department last month and then had an oral board interview last week. Well drum roll please..................It says I am currently ranked 2nd on their hiring list! What does that mean. Well, using my experience with the Champaign police department it runs like this. For Champaign 400 tested and only the top 100 passing scores from the written test move on to a physical abilities test. This is a pass or fail test and should you pass then you go on to an oral board test. This board in both cases was 3-4 individuals of some importance or another and they ask several predetermined questions. At this point a list is generated with the individuals accumulative scores for the written and oral exams. With Champaign PD I am 7th out of 100. A few differences in the U of I testing; we took the physical abilities test first to weed out the weak. I killed the run which was a mile and a half and my age group had to do it in under 13:46. I told myself I was going to do an 8 minute mile but my legs thought they were back on the track at Kingwood High running for the Mustangs and I ran a 10:12 with very little effort. A little more than 70 should up for that and later that day there was somewhere in the 40's for the written exam. If you passed the written you were assigned a time for the oral board which like I mentioned was this last Tuesday. Unlike Champaign though we were given 5 minutes at the beginning for an oral resume or as I like to think of it a brag session. And bragging is what I did. As you probably assumed I did have to tone it down a bit to fit all of my many accomplishments in to five minutes. I don't know if this score reflects the board interview as the letter only mentions the exam so we'll see if I stay at the same rank or move up to #1.

While we were out I snapped some pics of Alyssa playing at the playground. Can't get mail without an hour lay over on the swings and the slide. Take a look at her hair. It's still trying to find it's identity and if you have any suggestions we are open to some new looks.

Mother's Day

2007-05-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hopefully all the mothers out there had a wonderfull day yesterday. Alyssa and I went out on Saturday afternoon to do our shopping. You may be saying to yourself, "isn't that typical" in regards to our choice in waiting till the last minute. Yet you don't understand the workings in our house. Holly watches that bank account like a hawk and so theoreticly I can't spend a dime without her knowing. So how does someone secretly buy a gift for his wife and have it be a surprise when you're getting grilled as to what I spend fifty bucks on the other day? So now that we are all on the same page Alyssa with lolipop in hand accompanied me to our destination. She would have been a bigger help if she hadn't found it increadibly funny to run up and peeking back to see if dad was after her. That and she wanted to touch everything at her level with her sticky hands. Alas, we succeded and promptly went home to sign the card and wrap the chocalates. I purposefully left it out on the kitchen table partly to say, "see, I remembered" and also to test Holly's will power. Well she was a rock and waited till breakfast on Sunday.

After Church we grilled out and had our weekly family dinner at Holly's parent's just down the road from us. Holly received some more chocolate and I'm starting to catch on that pregnant women love any and all forms of it. As well, Alyssa has discovered the fun of a trampoline and surprised me by how well she can jump twice and land on her butt. Fear got the better of me when Holly joined her and proceeded to see how how she could get little Alyssa by double bouncing her! As I stormed off, not wanting to be a part of a soon to be hospital trip Holly explained how she's had this trampoline since she was a kid and no one has gotten hurt. Write this down, experience with a trampoline doesn't equal common sense. Well to give my wife credit 95% Alyssa was laughing. I think it was only when she was laid out looking down at her mother while being ten feet in the air did she have a neutral facial expression.

If you are wondering if tha is all we did for Mother's Day, Holly and I did go out to eat Saturday night. We took Alyssa as well and all though she didn't eat great we now know she loves ranch dressing as she devoured a small bowl of it. Our figuring was if it keeps her quite and adds some meat to those bones then have at it. Our server brought her a balloon which once she was done and I was paying she walked around and showed everyone. The cutest moment was when she proceeded around the bar, running mind you, and all you could see was this white balloon. The staff got a kick out of it. It's times like that which make me gratefull for outstanding mother's especially my own and my wife.