The Jordans- Cherish, Sean, Autumn and Emelia

Our play date at Chuck E Cheese was fantabulous!!! It was great to talk to the other mom's and it sure was a lot of fun watching our kids interact with one another. Here are a few shots from today.   From Left to Right: Dlyan, Ava, Riley and Autumn The back of the bus!! Dylan and Autumn talking to one another. Cindy and Dylan Lisa and Ava Angela and Riley Last but not least, Cherish and Autumn.  

I don't know if I have ever mentioned this before, but when you leave, I sleep on your side of the bed. It helps me to feel closer to you and not so lonely. The first night that you are gone is always the worst-I wonder if it is the same for you? Autumn slept horrible last night. She didn't go to sleep until after 11 pm (I stayed strong and made her sleep in her crib) and then woke up at 5 am this morning. Her mouth hurts her and I can feel those teeth trying to come through. She crawled all around the upstairs looking for you this morning. Today we are going to the gym to work out and play for a little bit, then this afternoon we have a play date at Chuck E Cheese. I love you and miss you with all of my heart. Your wife.

It is 3:30 AM. Sean just left. Autumn and I will not see him again until December. Sean gave me a big hug, then went into Autumn's room to tell her goodbye. She was all snuggled up in one corner of her bed, laying on her stomach with her rear end in the air. She has no idea. In the morning, she will look for Sean as he almost always is the one to get her out of bed in the morning. It is sad. 5 days until we get out of Alaska for a little while and get to be with family. Sean- I love you and miss you already. Your wife.

When it gets cold outside, you have to come up with activities to do with your kids or you'll go out of your mind. Autumn and I were going to the pool regularly over the summer, but it had been awhile since we last went. We had friends with us today, so we finally took some pictures. Before getting wet.  After getting wet. Autumn had a great time, I had a good time (swimming makes Autumn so tired, I get some quiet time when we get home).      

When I was a young girl, my sister Madeline and I shared a room. My bed was near the window, Madeline's bed was clear across the room near a wall. One night, the moon was shining brightly through my window and onto the wall near Madeline's bed. I got the bright idea to make a hand monster on the wall. I said, "Hey Mandy, there is a spider on your wall." Madeline said, "Hey Cherish, I can totally see your hand." Talk about feeling dumb!!! Anyway, Madeline, this is for you.

I don't know why people have to be so nasty about weight. Sometimes I just want to say what is really on my mind to people when they make their "little" comments, but generally I just shrug it off. SO for any of you nosy people or snide ones, here is what the deal is. I was following C25K at this link: Cool Running. BUT I got too good at running to follow that plan any longer. My pre-pregnancy weight was 116. I currently weigh 134. I am trying to get back down to 125-130 ish. 125 would be optimal. My jean size is an 8, but that is a bit roomy and sometimes I wear my size 6 jeans and I am comfortable in those. Most of my pants are a 5/6. Now I can get my big ole butt in those, but I'd rather lose the rest of my weight first. I do my Pilates once or twice a week (I try to do more, but being a mom often gets in the way of that). I go to the gym once a day. I've been running mainly, but once the pool opens again, I will add swimming twice a week. The bigg...

In fewer than ten days, Sean is leaving for NTC. He will be there for about 5 weeks. I am going during this time to visit family and will not get back to Alaska until December. It is hard to think of the right words for this, but my heart is heavy. It makes me terribly sad whenever Sean goes. I know some people probably think it is not a big deal because it is only a short time. Normally, I would agree, but Sean has to leave a lot. All that time adds up. My heart is heavy.

Today is pregnancy and infant loss awareness day. Sean and I have suffered through two miscarriages before Autumn arrived. We would have a nine year old and an 8 year old had we not miscarried. It is a difficult subject to speak about even after all these years, but it is something I carry with me. I will be lighting my candles this evening and thinking about the babies that never came to be.

I wanted to get some pictures of Autumn in her snow suit in the snow. Our photo session ended abruptly when Autumn fell forward and got a face full of snow. Her poor skin turned bright red and it looked like it burned. She is OK. Here are the photos we got before the tragic white wash. Snow Angel. Tongue girl. The Trouble maker look. I can see it in those eyes.

Today Autumn and I were to meet Cindy and Dylan at the pool for some swim time. I packed up all our swimming stuff, brought the camera. Cindy packed up all hers and Dylan's swim stuff, we haul all that baby gear into the gym to find out that lo and behold THE GYM POOL WAS CLOSED!!!!!!!! ARGH!!! Annual Maintenance. So, time to come up with a new plan. We decided to visit our family gym here on base. Here are some pictures of Dylan and Autumn. Dylan    Autumn What a cutie. Trying to take the camera.    Holding hands.   Look at Dylan and Autumn laughing.

Parmesan Encrusted Pork Tenderloin with vegetables. Recipe Courtesy Robin Miller. Ingredients: 1/2 cup diced red potatoes 1/2 cup diced celery 1/2 cup diced onion 1/2 cup diced carrots 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth 1/2 cup sherry (sub Marsala) 1-2 lb pork tenderloin (silver skin cut off) garlic + herb seasoning (no salt in it) salt + pepper dried sage 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Place veggies in the bottom of a roasting pan. Salt and pepper the pork tenderloin. Sprinkle pork with garlic/herb and sage seasoning. Place Pork on top of vegetables. Sprinkle cheese on pork and pat the cheese down on the pork. Place in oven for approx 45 minutes. Check internal temperature of pork (should be 165). Let pork rest for ten minutes. Enjoy. Here is what it looked like.  Parmesan Encrusted Pork Tenderloin. We paired it wit...

Today we decided to venture on down to Alaska's Sea Life Center. It rained and snowed all the way down there. In some places, there was so much rain, that it was flooding onto the road. Once we got to Seward, we ate at this lovely little restaurant called the Apollo. It is a Greek and Italian restaurant. Sean had a Calzone, I had a gyro and Autumn had bread sticks. It was delicious and easily my favorite restaurant down in Seward. Our waitress was very nice, but typical I've been living in Alaska too long strange. After lunch, we headed over to the Sea Life Center and finally got a break from the rain. Got the car unloaded. Got Autumn? -CHECK. Headed in. Had to take the elevator. Here is Autumn checking out a fish. Steamboat Sean, Steamboat Autumn. Captain Commander Autumn. I don't know why, but this fish scared Autumn. She started screaming like a girl. Autumn has no fear when it comes to touching things. It probably felt like the much coveted cat tail. At least...

Gone away is a bluebird. Here to stay is a new bird. He sings a love song as we go along. Walking in a winter wonderland.

Yesterday we went out and bought Autumn some musical instruments to take to kinder music. We decided to get a pack that had several choices-tambourine, jingle bells, etc. Here are a few pictures. Later that day, we decided to go for a walk. As you can see, it didn't start off very well. Then once we got moving. All was well. Autumn's close up. Hanging with mom. Our best attempt at a family photo. Autumn was not paying attention. Now Sean's head was too big for this photo. Going home.