The Phillips' Story

Lena's first trip to the aquarium

2009-05-27T22:14:00.002-04:00

Lena and I went to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa for the first time. Lena loves looking at fish so I figured she would love it, and she did! We went with Laura and Ethan and the kiddies had a great time!

Ethan and Lena and her new mermaid she had to get from the aquarium!

Lena and some fun fishies!

Yay for fish!

Most important bit of news...

2009-05-25T13:33:00.002-04:00

Ricky is home!

Ricky got back a few days ago from his almost 14 month deployment. He is well and in one piece. What more could we ask for?! Ricky is in Germany right now and will be coming to Tampa at the beginning of June for 27 days of leave, then going back to Germany for a few months to finish some stuff and then move to Ft. Benning, Georgia. There will be more pictures of him to come when he gets to Tampa next week.

Catching up

2009-05-25T13:28:00.003-04:00

Ok folks...clearly I am not the best blogger. It seems that I forget that I even have a blog sometimes! Yikes! Anyway, i'm going to try REALLY hard to play catch up over the next few days, so keep checking back!

Here are some pictures from when me and my friend, Laura, took our kiddies to the Strawberry Festival. Lena got her first strawberry shortcake and didn't seem to like it. We had a great time, and Lena and her "boyfriend" Ethan had a fun time holding hands. Seriously, how cute is that?! Ethan is Laura's son who is almost 2 now. Ethan is also my Godson and has a crush on Lena :)

Beach Day!

2009-04-19T20:29:00.002-04:00

Last week we had a babies & beach day! Laura, Alison and I took our kiddos to the beach and had a great time! Lena enjoyed the actual beach, not so much the water though :) Here are some pictures of the fun!

Last ones!

2009-03-28T19:54:00.000-04:00

And more!

2009-03-28T19:53:00.000-04:00

More pics!

2009-03-28T19:52:00.002-04:00

Georgia!

2009-03-28T19:46:00.003-04:00

Last week Lena and I went to Georgia to visit our friends Jessica, Grant, and Kiera Flynn. I've mentioned them before on the blog but in case you are a new blog stalker, we used to be neighbors in Germany. Jess and I are great friends and I needed some QT time with her, so we drove to Georgia! It was so much fun and exactly what I needed. While we were there, Jess took some phenomenal photos of Lena and I. I was going to try and only post my favorites, but I love them all, so there will be a lot of pictures, so prepare yourself!

Jess, thank you for using your gift to capture Lena and I, I absolutely love these photos and can't wait to wall paper my house with them. Thank you for your friendship, your love, your listening capabilities, and being able to speak to my heart. (And for getting my sense of humor!). You are a blessing to me!

My first half marathon

2009-03-27T19:56:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I have some catching up to do...

On Feb. 1st I ran my first half marathon! For all you non-runners, a half marathon is 13.1 miles. It was awesome and extremely challenging! The weather was terrible and rained on me for miles 9-13 and the wind was terrible! And it was cold. But, I did it anyway! Here were my stats:

My finish time was 2 hours 18 minutes

I finished 915 out of 1842 females

I finished 2123 out of 3449 total finishers

Here are some pictures to prove it!

Important discovery

2009-03-05T09:18:00.004-05:00

I totally forgot to post this! A few weeks ago Lena made an important discovery...

She discovered where her toy box is! Now she has no problem crawling over to it, and choosing which toys she wants to play with. This also leads to more toys sprawled about the house, but that's okay! :)

Lena's first trip to the park!

2009-03-05T09:08:00.005-05:00

My next door neighbor has a little boy who is 3 months older than Lena, so her and I get together a lot to have our kids play together. Last week we took them to the part together and it was a ton of fun. Lena wasn't too sure about the swings at first, she just held on for dear life. But, she started warming up to the idea.

Oh! And Lena-poo turned 8 months on Tuesday! How time flies! Now I get to start my planning for her first birthday party! YAY!

Play time with Corky

2009-02-23T19:52:00.003-05:00

Here are some fun pictures of Lena playing with Corky. Corky is slowing adjusting to a mobile Lena. Sometimes he will just run circles around her while she is crawling and bark at her and she thinks it's SO funny. It's great to see them play together!

Crawling!

2009-02-19T09:46:00.002-05:00

Here is a little video of Lena crawling. She started crawling a few weeks ago and now she is speedy and curious! She took her own little personal tour of the house yesterday, it was funny to watch. She is having a lot of fun with her new found mobility. Oh, and tilt your head...the video is sideways.

I have teeth!

2009-02-19T09:44:00.003-05:00

Lena has her 2 bottom teeth in and she is working on her top ones. It's fun that she has teeth now because she can get a few tastes of real food instead of baby mush! ha! However, the un-fun part of teeth is that it hurts when she bites! Yikes! :)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

2009-02-19T09:42:00.002-05:00

I'm going to do some blog catching up, so prepare yourself :)

Here is a little picture of Lena in her Valentine's Day dress! She's the cutest!

Seriously, I need to blog more...

2009-02-06T17:41:00.003-05:00

So last weekend I took a little mini vacation and went to Texas to visit my friend Shauna and attend her "creative camp out." Shauna is an ARTIST and I mean that in every way. She paints, she is a pro photographer, she sings, she writes music, she knits, there is nothing this girl can't do. Shauna and I met in Germany and became instant friends. Shauna and I are cut from the same cloth and she is such an inspiration to me and has the ability to challenge me and love on me and speak truth into my heart. I LOVE this girl.

This is Shauna

Shauna guided me through my first attempt at painting and helped me cultivate my inner artist. Thank you, Shauna for my creative therapy, I really needed it :)

Shauna got a candid of me in deep thought in my painting process

My finished product. I painted one of Shauna's photographs she took in Venice.

Me, Shauna, and her sister Jacklyn lookin' fly

Jump!

2009-01-25T09:13:00.003-05:00

Lena loves her little jumper, but every time I started recording she would stop the little show she was putting on. Anyway, here is a little bit that I got of her having fun. And again, tilt your head :)

Lena can low crawl

2009-01-25T08:47:00.002-05:00

Lena has been working on her crawl and getting quite good. This little video is her crawling after the laptop as I pull it away from her. No, i'm not trying to be mean, I'm trying to help her! (And also get it on video!). I would say in the next week or so I will have a crawler, she is progressing very quickly!!! She scoots very quickly!! :)

Oh, and sorry the video is the wrong way, I don't know if flipping it is possible. Just tilt your head!

Oh, and my school started...

2009-01-19T22:05:00.004-05:00

My real excuse for not blogging as been school! My second semester of grad school started a week and a half ago and man, am I going to be busy. Here is the BIGGIE for this semester: I have to select my theoretical orientation and write a 20 page paper on it-that's right...20 as in 2-0 as in twenty! (I'm getting my master's in counseling, hence the theoretical orientation selection). It's all I can do to read 20 pages without falling asleep, let alone writing it! YIKES! So, due to this onslaught of chaos, again my desk is reflective of what state my mind is in...

BLOG UPDATE: My desk is now in an organized state...that chaos couldn't last for too long! :)

Oh, and Jess, if you look closely, that card you sent me is on my desk, the "don't misread the signs" it cracks me up daily! Thanks :)

Boy am I behind!

2009-01-19T21:51:00.002-05:00

Ok, I haven't blogged in forever! I'm sorry blog stalkers! Let me start updating...

For about 3 weeks one of my favorite people on the planet was in Tampa visiting some friends AND me :) Here is a picture of me and this fabulous person...

And here is another of me, Nic, and Dak...

Nic is one of the most Godly and strongest women I know. If you notice in this picture, Dak is wearing a shirt that says "Doug Rocks." For those of you who know Nic and Dak, that will touch your heart just like it did mine, and maybe even bring a tear to your eye.

Anyway, while Nic was in town we had TOO much fun. Especially one night in particular...

Nic had me cut and dye her hair. Nic has a very unique and very Nic hair style-she dyes the end 4-5 inches of her hair black, like black black, it's AWESOME. Anyway, I realized that I am quite the "art-eest" when it comes to cutting and dyeing hair and we came up with a BRILLIANT idea...

LET'S PUT BLACK TIPS ON CORKY!!!!

The results were AWESOME and we cackled the whole time. I was crying laughing so hard. Corky was just happy that he was getting attention, so he didn't care at all. It was too fun and Corky still has the faded black tipped ears and tail as a souvenir of Nic being in town. Too fun!

Lena's first bikini

2009-01-01T19:41:00.003-05:00

One of the things I love most about Florida is that I can go and hang out by the pool in late December. How fantastic! So here is Lena getting in her first bikini and sticking her toes in the water. She wasn't a fan of the cold pool water nor a fan of the grass. She is the cutest little thing. :)

This is not child abuse...

2008-12-29T08:02:00.002-05:00

This is a little video of Lena crying. No, I'm not trying to be cruel, I just wanted Ricky to get an accurate idea of everything Lena does, including crying fits when it's time for a nap :) When it's nap time it's serious stuff!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:15:00.003-05:00

My sweet friend Paige sent Lena some ADORABLE Christmas presents, and here is Lena modeling one of the items. It's a magenta cable knit sweater dress and I paired it with her pink satin ballet flats that have magenta flowers embroidered on them. SO STINKIN' CUTE!!! You can also see from this picture what a good sitter-upper Lena is now. :) Yay for Lena!

2008-12-25T10:02:00.002-05:00

Here is a fun little video of Lena in what I like to call her "Screaming Banshee" stage. She loves to squeal and hear her own voice. She especially likes to squeal in public, my favorite!! "Screaming Banshee" comes from a Hallmark cartoon character that is featured in some of their cards and e-cards. If you've never heard of it, go to hallmark.com and look up Screaming Banshee. It's a hoot!

Merry Christmas from the Screaming Banshee!

I'm going blog crazy!

2008-12-18T22:29:00.002-05:00

Here are some recent pictures of Lena and some fun things that she is doing.

Lena likes to help me wrap presents...and eat wrapping paper...

She has discovered her toes, and mine too!

She graduated to a little tub that she can sit up straight in, instead of her little bath safety chair. She likes this because her toys stay within arms reach!

Cookie Baking Party!

2008-12-18T22:16:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago I attended the annual Schiebel/Archbell cookie baking party, and it was heaps of fun. Basically, a bunch of ladies get together and bake AWESOME Christmas cookies and then take samples of each recipe that was made there home with them. It's so much fun and I look forward to it every year. Here are some pictures of the fun! Ricky and his troops benefited from this cookie baking party too, I sent A TON of cookies that were made at this party to his company and they thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

The cookie baking crew

Alison and Laura looking hot as usual (Laura, I warned you the picture was for the blog! haha)

Laura making some "white trash" (no that's really what it's called)

Me baking up a storm

I found it!

2008-12-18T22:05:00.003-05:00

I found my camera so here is a fun little video of Lena. This week she discovered her voice and it's super fun. This is a little snipet of her squealing and talking during bath time fun.

Anyone seen my camera?

2008-12-15T21:59:00.003-05:00

I can't find my camera, hence the lack of blogging. I rarely lose things because I'm so organized, so when it does happen it drives me insane!!! Although, I will admit I have lost more things since Lena has been born than I have in my whole life! Not that it's her fault, it is just a sign that I'm a little more scatter-brained than before she was born because I'm constantly busy busy busy!

Anyway, until I find my camera, I'll just update with some photos from Christmas last year. Enjoy!

Corky and his stocking!

The Phillips/Lee/Bradd family

I know...

2008-12-13T22:11:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged lately. After my semester was finished on Tuesday (Wahoo! I feel smarter already!) Lena poo got her first cold :( Poor little thing. Although, she does have good timing-at least it wasn't during my hectic last week of school. Lena is feeling better, but she does have a pesky runny nose, but she won't let that deter her from playing.

I don't have much to update, unfortunately. We're just hanging out over here. There are some fun and exciting things coming up in the near future, so I'll be sure to take pictures of the events. yay!

In the meantime, here are some fun pictures...

This was Lena helping me out in the kitchen while we were making some blondie deserts for Thanksgiving. She was a HUGE help.

This is me, Lena, and Auntie Amy (my sister) in the "snow" (i.e., fake snow) in the Christmas display in the mall when Lena was getting her Santa picture taken. They have a whole little scene set up, it's really cute.

Too funny not to share

2008-12-04T08:47:00.004-05:00

I'll continue my procrastination of anything productive and post one other picture of Lena because it's just too cute. I would be doing a disservice to my blogging audience if I didn't share...

Lena doesn't look too excited about it, but she will love sushi one day. My sweet friend Paige got Lena these fun bibs! There are more funny bib messages to come! :)

Blog slacking

2008-12-04T08:39:00.003-05:00

I know, I've been slacking on the blog. But, I have a good reason for my negligence! I'm swimming in a sea of finals, papers and presentations. Here is a picture that accurately displays what my brain (and house) looks like right now:

Those of you who know me well know that I don't do well in mess and chaos, so my desk being covered with articles, books and random notes and scribble sheets is a little trying for me. However, after Tuesday I'll be completely done and my desk will be back to it's organized original state. Until then, let the chaos continue!

Half way there...

2008-11-26T22:15:00.003-05:00

Today marks the half way point for the deployment. 7 1/2 months down, 7 1/2 more months to go. I feel like it's already been a year, but according to the calendar, no it hasn't! Anyway, at least there is light at the end of the tunnel, we're on the back end of it now, yay!

On a completely unrelated note...here's a picture of Lena in a funny onesie!

Lena earned the cranky onesie the day this was taken, but rightfully so. She had just gotten her 4 month shots and her poor little legs were all swollen and sore and she was not a happy camper. Poor little thing!

Lena visits Santa!

2008-11-26T22:11:00.003-05:00

Lena-poo saw Santa this week and she was so CUTE! She didn't cry, but she didn't smile either. But, on Lena's behalf, I assured Santa she had been good this year and deserved to be on the "nice" list! No coal for Lena!

Lena is a little ballerina

2008-11-18T08:52:00.002-05:00

My mom bought this little tutu onesie for Lena before she was born and I have been counting down the days until it would fit her. Although it's still a little big, Lena will be sporting it as often as the weather allows. And in case you can't read it, the onesie says "Tutu Cute" in little pink rhinestones. ha! SO CUTE!!

You can also see in this picture that Lena is able to sit up with help! :) yay for Lena!

That's Major Phillips to you!

2008-11-11T20:19:00.005-05:00

I am so proud to announce that Ricky got promoted!! YAY!!!! Ricky got promoted to Major on November 1, but I was waiting until he sent me pictures to update the blog. I wanted some pictures to back me up! Here are some pictures of the promotion ceremony. Ricky said that "sadly there was no after party!" I am so proud of him and I just wish I could have been there.

Nothing to report

2008-11-07T15:10:00.003-05:00

So, there hasn't been anything too exciting around here to post, so I thought I would just post some pictures Ricky sent me for my blog audience's enjoyment!

This is Ricky and his pal Tim "Ferg" Ferguson. This was taken when they were squished on a plane flying from Kuwait to Iraq.

This is a 100 man tent that Ricky got to sleep in for a while, lucky him! I can only imagine how bad that tent smelled.

These are Iraqi ducks! I didn't know there were ducks there...

Ricky titled this picture "Me and the bad guys," assume what you want.

This is Ricky and his pals and his boss in Iraq.

The wonders of technology!

2008-11-05T12:19:00.002-05:00

So, after my friend Paige started doing some video stuff, I thought to myself, "Perhaps I should jump on this bandwagon." So, I finally got my technologically handicapped self in order and figured out how to do mini videos on my camera. I am sending little video snippets of Lena to Ricky quite often now, and he loves it.

I thought I would share my favorite one so far, it's of Lena rolling over. She started rolling over at the beginning of October, but then she did a protest on rolling over. Recently, she has begun doing it again and now does it ALL THE TIME! It's super fun and she is super cute. Enjoy!

Lena is 4 months old!

2008-11-04T20:15:00.004-05:00

As of yesterday, Lena is officially 4 months old! And to celebrate she got some rice cereal! You can see from the pictures below how much she liked it. HA! Now every morning with breakfast she gets 1 tablespoon of rice cereal. Sometimes she likes it, sometimes she hates it. We are getting the hang of it :)

Warning, cuteness overload...

2008-10-31T23:49:00.007-04:00

The cutest Tinkerbell EVER!

For Halloween Lena was Tinkerbell! She's the cutest Tinkerbell I've ever seen! Ricky had come up with the idea of having her dress up as Tinkerbell and I think it was a GREAT idea because she couldn't look cuter!! Lena's first Halloween is coming to a close in a matter of minutes and it was a hoot!

She really liked chewing on that wand.

When Lena wasn't in her costume, she sported this pumpkin onesie, courtesy of my sweet friend Audrey.

Here is Lena and I in front of our house looking festive!

Corky dressed up too, he was a dinosaur.

I am babysitting my sister's dog, Graycee, this weekend and she was dressed up like a bee!

Lena is feeling pumpkiny

2008-10-29T22:20:00.002-04:00

In preparation for Halloween, Lena dressed up in her pumpkin suit today that her Uncle Rodney (Ricky's brother) got her! She looks super cute in it. But, she only got to wear it for a little while because she spit up all over it. Ha! Lena is excited to wear her costume for Halloween on Friday. Make sure you check the blog to find out what she is going to be! :)

Meow...

2008-10-20T14:02:00.004-04:00

Lena's Grandmommy Beverly (Ricky's mom) gave Lena this little kitty onesie, and although it's still too big, I put it on her anyway. Lena is getting ready for her first Halloween!

Lena's 3 month pictures

2008-10-17T19:51:00.010-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been drowning in papers and midterms.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures that Jessica took of Lena (and me) for her 3 month photo shoot while she was in town. The pictures turned out wonderful and I am so happy! Thanks Jess, you're the best!

Everyone says Lena looks just like Ricky, but I just don't see it yet... weird.

Except for in this picture, Lena's facial expression looks just like one Ricky does.

This is what her hair will look like when her little sprigs of hair grow a little longer.

Lena is the cutest!!

Visitors are great

2008-10-07T23:08:00.002-04:00

My dear friend Jessica and her fantastic daughter Kiera came into town last week and stayed with me for 6 nights. Then while Jess and Kiera were here our friend Sara (another friend from Germany) and her daughter, Ellie came into town for the night. We had a great "girls only" slumber party. It was so wonderful to be reunited with Germany military friends. It was great to talk with them and to just be in the presence of great women who know what a deployment feels like. They know what to say and when to say it and what not to say and when to say nothing.

The last day Jess was here we realized we had no pictures of the 4 of us and made a mental note to take some. Yeah, then we forgot. I wish I had fun pictures to show everyone of the great time we had in Tampa, but no such luck, folks. You will have to use your imagination. Just picture two hot mom's pushing around 2 adorable little girls around Tampa while laughing, eating crepes, exploring Ybor, Anthropologie, downtown Tampa and eating brownies...lots and lots of brownies.

Thanks, girls for visiting me, it was a GREAT time and I really appreciated the pick me up. You guys are fantastic.

What fun!

2008-10-05T15:34:00.003-04:00

While Ricky was in town, under the watchful eye of Corky, he put together a little exercise saucer for Lena to use when she got big enough (it's amazing what a pain in the butt children's toys can be to assemble).Well, now Lena is big enough to use her saucer! Here you can see her enjoying the fun toy that her daddy built for her :)

Lena is 3 months old!

2008-10-04T15:56:00.009-04:00

Lena turned 3 months old yesterday! She is 11.8 pounds and 22 1/2 inches long, and her head is 16 inches in diameter. Today she did a monumental act...she rolled over for the first time! So far she has rolled over 3 times today. Yay for Lena!

Here are some fun pictures of her from this month...

She was able to finally grab a hold of her "daddy" and chew on his head! Too funny!

She smiles a lot more now! It's so cute!

Lena and Corky have bonded even more this month. Corky has become very protective of her, as was evident when my friend Sara came to visit Jess and I and wanted to hold Lena, Corky went NUTS! (Corky also needs a haircut, I see that now...note to self).

We have had a lot of fun together and the next few months will be fun too as she starts to reach more of those monumental moments.

Lena met a new friend today!

2008-09-30T22:51:00.004-04:00

Lena met someone very special to me and Ricky today, Chaplain Woodbery! CH Woodbery was my pastor and boss in Germany (I was his secretary for over a year) and he and his wife Carol are so dear to Ricky and me. CH Woodbery was in Tampa on TDY (Temporary Duty) at MacDill and it coincided perfectly with Jessica's visit too, so the 5 of us (me, Lena, Jessica, Kiera, CH Woodbery) got to go out to dinner.

We had a wonderful time catching up and CH Woodbery had a great time holding babies! Thanks CH Woodbery, it was so good to see you. We'll be visiting you guys soon!

I miss my Ricky

2008-09-28T20:05:00.004-04:00

I haven't talked to Ricky in over a week because the phone lines are down there due to a sand storm that Ricky says "kicked our butts." He sent me an email this week, but that's about it. Hopefully the phones will be up and running soon and I'll hear from my hubbie.

I have been keeping busy, though. Between papers, reading, school projects AND guests in town. My dear friend, Jessica and her daughter Kiera got here this past Thursday and our dear friend Sara is coming for an overnight visit with her daughter tomorrow! It is going to be a house packed full of ladies! ha! We are having tons of fun and I'll be sure to post photos of the estrogen extravaganza!

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-09-17T21:16:00.004-04:00

Today is my 27th birthday! Here is a picture of me at 27. Lena would have been in the picture, but she was already asleep, so Corky and I took a self pic!

Here are the birthday presents! I got 3 pairs of shoes "from" Ricky (I picked them out), and the brown shoes to the left are from my mom! I refuse to buy clothes since I'm still not at my pre-prego weight yet, so until then, I will continue to beef up my shoe collection.

And here are the beautiful flowers Ricky sent me for my birthday. He's the sweetest. I normally love birthdays, but without Ricky who is my husband and my best friend, it's just not as much fun. I look forward to when we can celebrate together again. I did have a good day, though, but I especially miss Ricky on special days like today.

Look who we have here...

2008-09-15T13:59:00.005-04:00

I got an email from Ricky today that had a picture in it, so I thought I would share :) Ricky said "I attached a picture of SGM Shoker and myself, he is one of the most professional Iraqis that I have met and worked with."

Ricky said he is doing good and that it is about 120 degrees there every day. Yikes! He lives and works in little tents, but those tents do have air conditioning, thank goodness!

We are over 5 months into the deployment now. If it were a regular 12 month deployment, we would be almost half way there, but since Ricky was one of the lucky ones and got a 15 month deployment (note the sarcasm), we still have 10 to go. Ricky will be changing jobs again in a few months, so that helps to give him a change of scenery and break things up a bit. But, all in all, Ricky is doing well and is enjoying showing off pictures of Lena to anyone who will pay attention. He's so cute! I am so proud of him!

Lena in her Sunday best

2008-09-13T22:07:00.003-04:00

I love my church, South Tampa Fellowship. Every Sunday Pastor Craig does a great job of preaching God's word; I always leave with new nugget of truth to stew on for the week. Since Lena has been going to church with me, it has been super fun dressing her up in her church clothes. Here's a peek at what she wore last week :) She's the cutest!

Fun with Lena

2008-09-04T11:00:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite things about having a baby is being able to dress them in whatever I want and they get no say in it! Here is an example of me abusing my freedom to dress my daughter in whatever I want. This outfit is courtesy of Lena's Auntie Amy (my sister).

In case you can't read it, it says "I Drink Til I Pass Out" then it has a picture of a baby bottle. HA! Does it get any funnier than this?!!! I don't think so.

Lena is 2 months old today!

2008-09-03T19:36:00.004-04:00

Lena is 2 months old! How exciting! Lena is becoming so much fun and does a whole lot more than just sit there. Lena enjoys dancing, playing with her activity mat, batting at dangling toys, looking out the window on car rides, sucking on her fist, staring at the fan, staring at Corky, and watching her mobile spin around. She is really into staring right now, as you can see. Lena is now 22 inches long and she weighs about 9ish pounds (I'll find out exactly how much next week at her Dr. appointment). She is becoming a good sleeper at night and typically only wakes up once during the night, wahoo! One of the notable funny things of this month is that she noticed the TV for the first time. Side note: Lena is a very sensitive baby, she's sensitive to lights, sounds, etc... So, when she noticed the TV for the first time, her eyes got HUGE and she violently shook her head back and forth with a stimulation overload. I thought her head would explode. Now I know...don't ever let her look at the TV unless there is a baby video on. Yikes!

Lena is a lot of fun and I feel like we are getting the hang of this :)

Lena has a new toy!

2008-08-27T21:31:00.004-04:00

Lena is going to be 8 weeks old tomorrow! She is beginning to notice more things and want to play with some toys, so I brought out her little play mat with floating toys. She loves it (and so does Corky)! Here are a few pictures of her having play time :)

I love school supplies

2008-08-24T21:34:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, August 25th, is my first day of graduate school! Originally Ricky and I planned that I would do an ERD (Early Return of Dependant) in order to go to grad school at USF to get my master's degree in school counseling. Then, we found out we were pregnant and I thought my plans for school were going to be put on hold. But, Ricky and I decided that I would go back any way! Why not?! We figure it is a good use of the time he is deployed and it will keep me busy...really really busy. I'm taking two classes and I will attend class two times a week in the evening and my mom is going to watch Lena. I'm excited about going back to school but after attending the orientation last week I am a bit intimidated after their "you're going to work harder than you ever have in your life speech," YIKES! I have my back pack ready and pencils sharpened! Wish me luck! :)

We meet again, old friend...

2008-08-21T17:44:00.002-04:00

As of last Thursday, I have been given the green light to start exercising again! YIPPEE! I have been running...well jogging...for a week now and it has been glorious! For those of you who know me know how I love to run! I was able to run until I was 7 1/2 months pregnant, but then had to stop because it got a wee bit uncomfortable. So, it's been a long 4 months or so. If I had to describe my first couple runs with one word it would be "jiggly." Yeah, I have a little bit of Lena chub to work off! :) I'm so happy to be reunited with my old friend...the running shoes.

Sock Monkey

2008-08-10T20:01:00.003-04:00

A few days ago a package showed up at my door that had this little critter in it among other cool gifts for Lena. This package came from my dear friend Jessie who I met in Germany and whose husband is also deployed right now. I was nearly in tears (what's new?!) when I saw this little guy because I immediately recognized that he was made out of Army socks. It might sound dumb, but for those of you with a deployed husband, you know how comforting seeing some Army gear in your home can be...even if it is in the shape of a sock monkey. Jessie hand made this little monkey herself and I absolutely adore it, and I'm going to pressure Lena to make this her favorite toy :) haha. Thank you so much Jessie for your thoughtfulness, it really made my day. And I totally think you should start mass producing these bad boys and make some serious cash!

Ricky update!

2008-08-06T14:27:00.003-04:00

On August 1st Ricky changed out of his command. He had been commanding A co. 2-6 Infantry since February 2008 and his time was up. Command was Ricky's dream job that he had wanted since he joined the Army and he loved every stressful minute of it. Ricky did such an amazing job as a commander and I couldn't be more proud of him. The picture to the right is Ricky (down in front) with all of his A co. men that he proudly led.

Now Ricky has gotten a new job and has moved from COP (Combat Out Post) Carver to another COP which was in worse shape than his last one! He went from sleeping in a little cargo container to sleeping in a tent. Boo! His new job is less stressful which is great! I'm not entirely sure exactly what his new job entails, but I know it involves him doing a lot of work with the local Iraq folk working as a liaison type person. I'll clarify this when I find out exactly what it is that he's doing. I don't know if Ricky even knows for sure yet.

With this change of job and location, Ricky's address has changed a little. If you already have his address, just change the first line from A co. TF 2-6IN to HHC TF 2-6IN. The rest of the address is still the same. If you do not have his address but want it to send him goodies, email me at Janorina@aol.com I don't want to post it on the blog... I don't know what kind of people may get a hold of it... you never know.

Lena is 1 month old!

2008-08-04T20:17:00.005-04:00

On August 3rd Lena turned 1 month old! In celebration of her 1 month birthday I went out to dinner and a movie with my friend and grandma babysat! ha! It was GREAT to have a break and have an evening out, I really needed it. Lena has her 1 month Dr. appointment this Thursday, so I'll be sure to report how she's doing. Last week she weighed in at 7lbs 7 ounces, so she is growing well. Things are getting a teeny bit easier and I feel like I'm getting the hang of this whole parent thing. Lena and I definitely have more good days than bad now which is refreshing. But, this parenting thing is definitely more challenging than I thought it would be. Throughout pregnancy people kept telling me how hard it is to have a newborn and how sleep deprived I was going to be, but I always thought to myself, "No, that's just your baby, my baby isn't going to be like that." YEAH RIGHT! People were trying to prepare me, but I was in complete denial. I'm not in denial anymore!

Here is what Lena has accomplished in her first month:

1. she had her first trip to the mall

2. she grabbed at her first dangling toy, a caterpillar

3. she gave me her first real smile while we were playing "attack of the kisses"

4. she stuck out her bottom lip in the pouty face (which made me laugh really hard)

5. she is slowly growing to enjoy bath time (the crying is slowly decreasing!)

Here's what I have accomplished in Lena's first month:

1. insane one handed capabilities

2. how to survive on a minimum amount of sleep (in the beginning it was 3-4 hours, now it's about 6...always interrupted of course)

3. the skill of super sonic hearing (also known as "mom ears")

4. how to feed a baby in my sleep

5. how to take a shower in less than 5 minutes

Lena's Baby Dedication

2008-07-30T15:01:00.006-04:00

I'm a little behind on the blogging, her dedication was 3 weeks ago, but here's some info on it anyway so you can all be up to date!

One of the most important things Ricky and I wanted to do while he was here for his baby leave was to have Lena dedicated. Our church, South Tampa Fellowship, was so gracious in accommodating our special circumstances and did a special baby dedication ceremony for us on the Wednesday before Ricky left. It was a beautiful ceremony where Ricky and I were able to publicly make the commitment to raise Lena for the glory of God. The pastors prayed over us and the congregation prayed for us for strength in the coming year. It was a beautiful event and I am so grateful we were able to do that as a family. We love our church!

This is Lena sleeping through the service, but she's so cute in her little dedication dress that was way too big on her. But she's still adorable!

This is Ricky, me and Pastor Craig. Also right before Lena's dedication my lip swelled with a cold sore, so just ignore that part, look at Lena instead! And isn't it cute that Ricky and Pastor Craig match!

Ode to Mini

2008-07-26T14:21:00.004-04:00

After Lena was born, Ricky and I took her on her first outing in our car, which is a 2005 Mini Cooper. Ricky and I were convinced that Lena would be fine in the car and everything would work out swell. Well, we played a little game of tetris and got both Lena in the car seat and the stroller in the seat next to her. As we were driving I just cried and Ricky agreed, this is not a safe situation. So, as hard as it was to do it, we traded in Mini. However, putting Lena in a car that wasn't safe was even harder. We did the grown up thing. We said good bye to our fun youthful car and said hello to a mom-mobile. We got a 2008 Honda CRV. Definitely a mom-mobile, but I feel 100 times better toting my sweet Lena around in this vehicle and that makes it totally worth it.

As a tribute to Mini, let's reminiscence for a minute and go over all the places Mini has been...

Germany (where we bought it), the United States (where we had to pay heaps of cash in taxes to import it into Florida), France (a few times), Czech Republic, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy (for our infamous Tuscany road trip!), Netherlands, and although it's part of Germany, definitely worth mentioning, Mini has been to Oktoberfest...twice! Mini has been to more countries than most people go in their lifetime.

Here's to you Mini, thanks for the memories!

Ricky and I made a beautiful baby!

2008-07-20T18:45:00.008-04:00

Jess has been working on more pictures of Lena and I couldn't help but share them, they are so beautiful. Ricky and I have the cutest little red headed girl ever.

I love this picture of Ricky's boots and Lena's pink satin ballet flats. It is so precious. Jess, you did an amazing job capturing Ricky, Lena and I and I will treasure these photos forever. Thank you.

Lena is 2 weeks old today

2008-07-17T14:29:00.006-04:00

Today is Lena's 2 week old birthday. It's been difficult since Ricky has left, but so far we are hanging in there, just taking it one day at a time. It's amazing how much you rely on that second pair of hands. But, I have family and friends who are helping me until I get myself put back together, and that has been a life saver. I still have 4 more weeks of recovery from the c-section, but I think my recovery so far has been going really well; I can even drive now!

Lena went in for her 2 week weigh in and she weighed 6lbs. 11oz., so she is still 1.5 oz below her birth weight, so I will take her in again next week to make sure she surpasses her birth weight.

On her 2 week birthday, she got her first real bath. Here are some pictures of her crying through it.

We have great friends

2008-07-17T13:59:00.004-04:00

After Lena was born, our close friends Grant, Jessica and their baby Kieira, came to visit us from Georgia to help Ricky and I with the chaos that is being new parents. They cooked, cleaned, and entertained us! It was such a RELIEF to have them here with us for a few days, we really needed the help and support. Jessica is my soul friend (I stole that phrase from Shauna) and I adore her. We bonded over the last deployment where both of our husbands were deployed and then we got to enjoy being pregnant together too. What fun that was!

In addition to being GREAT friends, Jess is also a great photographer and she did a photo shoot of our little family so we could have some family photos before Ricky left for Iraq again. The photos have turned out beautiful and I can't thank her enough. For more information on Jess' photog business, go to http://www.flynnscapturephotography.blogspot.com/. There you can also see some additional photos of our family and you can also hire her to do your own family photo shoot!

Here is an action shot Ricky took of Grant and Jess being busy in our kitchen:

Time to say good bye...

2008-07-15T10:06:00.003-04:00

On Sunday Ricky left to go back to Iraq for the remaining 12 months of his tour. He and I knew it would be our hardest good bye yet since now there are 3 of us. Even still, I think we both under estimated exactly how hard it was going to be. But, now we can start the countdown until we are reunited for good. Please pray for our family as we struggle during the next 12 months. Being a long distance family is not easy, but Ricky and I have an amazing love for each other and we have an amazing God that will get us through.

Here is a picture of Lena and Ricky at the airport before he boarded his plane.

Lena is here!

2008-07-10T19:05:00.008-04:00

On July 3rd at 7:33pm Lena Guynn Phillips was born! She was 6lbs. 13 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. She has RED hair and is the cutest thing we have ever seen. Lena was delivered by a c-section because after 2 days of the doctors trying to induce me and failing, we decided to do a c-section and get Lena out. We were in the hospital for 5 days and we are so happy to be home! Sorry it took us so long to make the big announcement, having a newborn takes up some serious time! Ricky and I are enjoying every part of being parents, even the middle of the night feedings haven't gotten old yet. We couldn't be happier!

Here are some pictures of our beautiful baby girl and stay tuned, there are tons more to come!

Guess who's here!

2008-06-24T21:36:00.002-04:00

What an answer to prayers! Ricky is home and Lena hasn't made her arrival yet!

After traveling for almost 6 whole days, Ricky is home and very jet lagged. We had a sweet reunion in the Tampa International Airport that involved tears and quite the public display since Ricky was still in his uniform. In addition to the proud and supportive Americans we saw in the Tampa airport, Ricky had one man in particular who gave up his first class seat on the flight from Atlanta to Tampa so Ricky could ride in comfort and be sure that he got on the flight since he was on the standby list. Those proud and supportive Americans touch my heart. Thank you kind stranger, you got my husband to me hours earlier than expected, and when you only have 18 days together out of 15 months, you treasure the hours, the minutes, and the seconds.

Ricky took pictures of what his life in Iraq looks like so we'll be sure to share them soon. Keep checking back! Lena has received her eviction notice and should be here any day now and we couldn't be more excited. Praise God! We are so grateful to be together to share in the birth of our Lena.

Lessons to be learned

2008-06-20T07:24:00.007-04:00

One thing has remained constant throughout my pregnancy, I'm very hungry. Some say it's because I'm having a girl and you gain more weight with a girl, but regardless, I am like a black hole. With this being said...

Yesterday my sister and I met for lunch at one of my favorite eating establishments, the California Pizza Kitchen. We waited for our table, were seated, and were greeted by our waiter. We ordered an appetizer and then when it was my turn to order, and I had a question about the menu. I wanted to order the BBQ chicken salad which has always proved to be a delightful meal. However, I haven't been to the California Pizza Kitchen in some time, so I couldn't remember the size difference between a half and a whole salad, so I questioned our knowledgeable waiter. "The whole is HUGE! You should get a half" he said. I looked at my 38 1/2 week pregnant belly and looked at him and I said "I'll talk a whole salad and a box and I'll take any leftovers for an afternoon snack." Done deal. So, we ate our spinach and artichoke dip appetizer which was just wonderful (much better than the one at Chili's) and soon after the dip was depleted, our waiter arrived with our food. He put the salad in front of me and I was quite puzzled. There was a rather small plate in front of me with some sprigs of lettuce on it and maybe 3/4 of a piece of BBQ chicken. Not quite what I expected by the size description our trusty waiter had given. "This is the WHOLE salad, not the HALF?" I questioned. The waiter replied "Yes it is, that's a lot of food, for me anyway." (this guy was about 6'2" of average build, but had a little meat on his bones. I would wager a large sum of money that his hunger could not be quenched by a salad of this size) Then the genius went on to say "I didn't know what the rules were for pregnant women... I didn't know if you were one of those CRAZY pregnant women who ate everything." I told him to go get pregnant and then talk to me about how much food I eat. At the end of the meal the waiter came back to collect our plates...mine was clean.

Lessons to learn:
1. Do not EVER use the word "crazy" to describe a pregnant woman, to her face.
2. Do not mock or gawk at the amount of food a pregnant woman can consume, it's just bad manners.
3. If you are unfamiliar with the socially accepted "rules" of dealing with pregnant women, don't say anything at all.

Get excited...I'm now a blogger!

2008-06-14T13:51:00.006-04:00

So, I've decided to start a blog. My original intent behind starting a blog was so that Ricky would be able to check in on Lena and I and get a good idea of what we are up to. But then I thought, why not just share the blog with our other close friends and family so they can see what we are up to as well?! Since we are in the military, our friends have become a group that is spread out all over the planet, so this will also give them a little peek into our lives too. I have no idea what I'm doing in this whole blogging system, so have some patience as I figure it all out. ha.

All we need now is a baby!

2008-06-14T13:50:00.008-04:00

Here are some pictures of Lena's bedroom. It took a lot of work to get it all together and I think the end result looks super cute! Now all we need is dad to get here and a little baby girl! :)