Sun Devil Baby!

"I'm a Sun Devil, man! I went to Arizona State!" - Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire

Sophie at 4 months.  :)

Call Me Nonni

Well, look what happens when you don't post for 7 months...you forget how to sign in, and the whole design/posting format is totally different. Well, here goes...

Sophia Nicole was born on August 24, weighing in at 6 lbs, 6 oz, and 19 inches long.

 First few moments with Mommy

 Getting a bottle from Aunt Kylie. Kylie doesn't like to be called "Aunt" though...she's just Kylie.

Sophie at one month

 Two months old

 Our little pumpkin on Halloween

 And on Nov. 24, three months old already!

So big!!

Everyone is doing great here. Sophie is beautiful and happy and healthy and has brought such joy to our house. She has also definitely changed Shannon's life...for the better. Whereas before she did not care about school or grades or ... much of anything, today she is back in high school, motivated to graduate, and making plans for the future. This little baby has been a blessing in so many ways. Thank you to all who have asked about her, and I'm sorry it took me so long to get pictures up. Bad Nonni.  

Don't Call Me Grandma!

In May, I will be 45 years old. And in September, I will become a (gulp) grandmother. I seem entirely too young for this, no?

And it's not even my almost 20 year-old army medic that is making me a grandmother.

Oh no...it's my 17 year-old high school junior.

Yep.

I am a big believer in information. She and her boyfriend had been together quite a long time, in teenage time. At some point, you know they're having sex, and all you can do is make sure that they have as much information as possible. You know, like beating your daughter over the head with a box of condoms.

Even so, teenagers don't always think, and don't always make the best decisions.

We talked extensively about her options.

For her, abortion was out of the question. I respect that choice.

I talked to her at length about adoption.
She said she didn't think she could do it.

So, it appears that in early September, we will be having a baby.
She is 14 weeks along today.

My baby is having a baby.

Stunned, is what I am.

So, here's my main, pressing problem. I don't want to be called grandma.
It sounds old.
I have a nine year-old, for Pete's sake.
Mimi is taken...that's what my kids call my mom.
Mimi was a variation of Grammy, so that's out too.
Not liking Nana.
My daughter suggested "Gram Cracker". She's such a comedian.

So what do you have your daughter's child call you when you are adamently opposed to Grandma?

Veteran's Day

On my first Veteran's Day as a military mom, I was very lucky. My daughter was home.

She flew home late Thursday from Georgia to Colorado to spend the long weekend with us.

On Friday morning, we had a date with Kylie's third grade class. Danni had agreed to visit and talk to the kids.

When we arrived, there was a group of Cub Scouts out front, learning how to do a flag-raising ceremony.

We were just standing there, and one of Cub Scout leaders came up to Danni and shook her hand, and said, "Are you here to help with the flag-raising ceremony?"

Danni said, "Well, umm...I'm just..."

And the man literally pulled her by the hand and said, "Great! Come on!" And he dragged her away.

Cue me, laughing hysterically. I followed them, because I had my camera.

When I caught up with them, they were over by the side of the school. The guy in the brown jacket who had so thoughtfully dragged her over there, was talking to the boys. One of the boys had noticed that the flag on Danni's uniform was backwards, whereas the flags on the Cub Scout uniforms were not. The leader was explaining that the flag was backwards because it represented the soldier running into battle, with the flag flying behind her.


The looks on the faces of these little boys were priceless. A real live soldier was talking to them!

After she answered a few of their questions, they marched over to the flagpole and had their ceremony.

They had Danni raise the flag. That was pretty darn cool, with everyone looking on and the little boys doing their Cub Scout salute.

When school started, we went into Kylie's class.

We spent about 20 minutes with them. The teacher explained a bit about what Veteran's Day was and then let Kylie introduce her sister. Danni talked a bit about her job as a medic and what she is learning, and then she answered the kids' questions.

She did really well. I would have thought she had been a public speaker all her life. When I mentioned that later, she said that it's a lot easier to talk to kids. I would agree with that.

Can you spot the proud, beaming sister next to the soldier?

Happy Veteran's day to all who have served, and are currently serving. We are grateful for you.

Twenty Years Ago Today

Today is our 20th wedding anniversary. My husband and me. 20 years. 20 years, three kids, ups, downs, good times, bad times.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Everyone congratulates you. It's making me feel old.

On the bright side, Steve ordered up a beautiful snowstorm for me today. At least, that's what he said, that he ordered it for me for our anniversary. I love it. Best. Present. Ever.

Basic Graduation

Last month, on May 4th precisely, so I'm only a month late writing this...we traveled from Denver to Lawton, OK (by car, not recommended) to see my baby graduate from basic training.

Well, we left on May 4th, very early in the morning. We got there in the evening. This was a Wednesday, right?

The hotel we stayed at had an indoor pool. Being a native of Arizona (which meant swimming from April to October) and now being a Colorado kid and having not seen a pool since August...this had to be the first thing Kylie did. Someone diagram that sentence, please. I think it's a little off.

Thursday was Family Day. We went to the base at about 9am, and they had a demonstration of marching, hand to hand combat, introduced the honor grads, and had a citizenship ceremony for three members of the platoon who were becoming American citizens. That was neat. In case you can't tell which one of those identically dressed people is my daughter (it took me a while to find her), I drew a heart on her.

After the ceremony, the soldiers were released to get into their dress uniforms and spend the rest of the day with their families. Up until this point, we still hadn't been able to talk to her or be within 100 yards of her.

She was awfully excited to see her sisters. And they were pretty excited to see her.

This one just about killed me.

This is Danni with one of her "battles." They have designated battle buddies, because they don't go anywhere (even the bathroom) alone. They just call each other battles. I think these two will be friends for life.

So we spent the afternoon with Danni in Lawton. There's not much to do in Lawton. We went out to lunch, and then to the one mall they have. Surprisingly, it seemed as if most of her platoon was at the mall too. Like I said, there's not much in Lawton.

Danni's friend above was with us, because her mom hadn't arrived yet. I think they spent about $100 each in Victoria's Secret. One of the girls who worked in the store said they always love family day, because they get an influx of girls who haven't seen makeup or frilly underwear (or a mall) in 10 weeks, and they all have 10 weeks of pay that they've had no use for up until now.

Also, Danni decided to treat herself to her first really nice phone. All we've ever given the poor kid is whatever you could get for free or maybe $20 with your upgrade. And never a smart phone. Because have you seen the prices of those data/internet/whatever plans?

She bought herself a Droid Incredible 2, which is a nicer phone than I will ever have. She got a plan with unlimited data/internet/whatever, to which I said, "That's nice, honey!", because I DON'T HAVE TO PAY THE BILL. How nice is THAT?

After the mall, we went back to our hotel room and just hung out for a while. She enjoyed lying on the bed just relaxing and watching TV. I guess she hasn't been able to do that for a while.

An hour or so before we had to take her back to the base, we headed to a park to take some pictures. I told her I wanted a nice picture of her in her uniform, because guess what? You know those basic traning pictures that everyone has next to the flag? She doesn't have one. I still don't know why, but she doesn't. Which is fine, because she looks amazing now. She lost about 20 lbs in basic training and she is so...in shape. Maybe I should go to basic training.

So, this is my own official basic training portrait of her. I like it.

I have to say, this is my favorite picture of these two, EVER. In one picture, I've summed up both of their personalities perfectly. Oh, and did I mention that Danni and her battle also got their nails done at the mall? I guess a lot of the girls do that too.

As much as these two have fought over the years, this is sort of... rewarding? Heartwarming? Amazing?

My three babies. Where one is in the army, a second one is driving and now officially a high school junior, and the other one...well, she's still a baby. Make her stop growing right now, please.

We dropped her off at the base around 8pm and headed back to the hotel. The next day, Friday, was graduation. I don't really have any good pictures of the actual graduation, mainly because it was very dark in the auditorium and most pictures came out blurry.

Outside the auditorium afterwards, my officially graduated soldier and her youngest sister.

Here's Danni with her very proud grandparents, who arrived Thursday afternoon from AZ. My dad was like, beyond proud of her. Like more proud than he's ever been of me. These are the grandparents that Danni lived with her senior year of high school when we moved to Colorado. I know there were a lot of times that Danni felt like an intruder as the year went on, and you could tell my dad in his 70s was tiring of living with a teenager. I don't blame him.

However, he is over the moon about this army thing with her. I told him that if he's as proud of her as he seems, he should take her aside and tell her. Which is not the sort of thing that my dad does. But he did. Which was awesome.

You know what I just noticed right now, this very second? My parents. Are both. Wearing. Fanny packs. Fanny packs! How did I not notice that when we were all there? I think I might have to have a talk with them.

The whole family, all very proud of our soldier.

She got to spend the rest of Friday with us as well. We went out to lunch again, where she calls everyone "ma'am" and "sir". Not us, because that would be weird, but like the waitress: "What would you like to drink?" "I'd like an iced tea please, ma'am". And the people all over Lawton who would randomly congratulate her, because they're used to this. Fort Still graduates a platoon every weekend. Random man: "Congratulations!" "Thank you, Sir". It still sounds very strange coming out of my daughter's mouth. But it made me proud. Yes, I know it's required when they're in uniform. But still. Was this MY daughter?

But out of public, in the hotel room, oh yes, it most definitely is my daughter. With more of a potty-mouth than she had 10 weeks ago. I think it's an army thing. I'm glad she hasn't changed too much. Only for the better. I talked to her on the phone last night, and she's still the same kid. She told me that the girls in her bay were having races up and down the hall in chairs on wheels. Sounds like a college dorm. Must be the weekend!

Anyway, we had to leave her at the base again Friday night, because she was shipping out early Saturday morning. I cried. Danni said, "Mom, don't cry." How can I not? We have to leave you. Again. And you're in the freaking ARMY.

We left Saturday morning for that hell of a drive back to Denver. It's not quite a long as Denver to Phoenix, but almost. Which is why I already have PLANE tickets for the girls and me for our trip to AZ this summer (Yay! Planes!) 14 hours in a car, vs. 1 hr 45 min. on a plane. I (and my Xanax) will take the plane, thanks. Even if it is a bit of a hit to the wallet.

Danni is now spending 16 weeks at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, beginning her training as a medic. She will be able to get her LPN while in the army, and then eventually college and an RN. That's the plan, anyway. We don't know yet where she's going to be stationed when she graduates from AIT. Can it please be somewhere safe?

Happy Basic Training Birthday

I have three daughters. The oldest one, we've always called Danni. She turned 19 on Friday.

She turned 19 in basic training. This was hard for me. Not only could I not hug her or tell her happy birthday, I couldn't even call her. Hopefully, the large envelope of cards, letters and pictures I sent her will suffice.

Her platoon having a Facebook page is interesting. Because I get to see what they are doing. And when they post pictures, I'm scouring each one, looking for her. I'm saving them all. My mom said she is saving them all too, and will make a scrapbook for Danni. I like that idea, because I would just save the pictures. My mom is the best grandma ever.

So, pictures from the Facebook page. This one is from one of the first few days she was there. They just finished week 5 of 9, in case you're wondering. Graduation is May 6th.

During week two, they got to do the gas chamber. I know this is the only thing she was really dreading, so I'm glad they got it out of the way in week two. I know this is her, because her name is was her uniform in all the pictures. I've strategically blurred it out, so I don't cause a national security incident.

She wrote me a letter and said that the gas chamber really sucked. I can kind of tell by this picture of her after she came out. Judging by the look of the guy behind her, he didn't care for it much either.

Then, there are the guns. Excuse me, rifles. I've already been corrected on that one. By my father. She's the first one in line there, getting her rifle...cleaned?

She wrote me that she likes shooting. It's fun. And she's even pretty good at it. I'm sure that during her medical/nursing duties, shooting a rifle will come in handy. Yes, I know they all have to learn it. It doesn't mean I have to like it.

Kapow! Blam! Boom! Wait. I might be thinking of comic books.

Hello, Private Danni. Nice shooting, there.

Wait, what is this? Smiling? In basic training? Is this allowed?

Awww, look...she's making friends. It's just like college, except with, you know, rifles and hand grenades. And protective eyewear.

Happy birthday kiddo. Four more weeks until graduation. Oklahoma here we come!