Summer Leave

We enjoyed a nice relaxing two weeks of leave. We didn't do any big trips we just decided to stay around town and just take it easy. The first week I took Maliah to see Sesame Street live. They had a show on post. She really enjoyed it. My baby loves Elmo lol. On another day we drove to Aviano Air Force Base. I had never been there this whole time we have lived here lol. It was a long drive but it was nice because we decided to take back roads so we got to see a little scenery. We just went to the BX there. That was a treat because it is way bigger than our PX.

We took the girls to a local zoo. We actually just found out about it. It was pretty nice. Lots of shade too. They didn't have any big animals like lions or giraffes, they had lots of little monkeys and a baby hippo. Lots of birds and camels and foxes and zebras. The girls enjoyed themselves.

This last Sunday we went to the open air market in Camisano. It's always fun to go there. It's very busy but there are lots of stands and lots to see. After that we decided to go spur of the moment to Venice. Drove there, took back roads once again. It's a lot nicer that way because we don't have to speed our way like you do when you are on the Autostrada. We got to see a lot more of the country and lots of little towns. It's funny because you know you have gone to Venice a lot when you don't even bring a camera. I don't even remember how many times I have gone. But we do know the streets like the back of our hand. Maliah is such a trooper. I did not see another three year old walking the streets of Venice. They were all in strollers. She walked the whole time and did not complain.

Kamora also had a check up. It was her 15 month checkup but we couldn't get her in for an appointment until she was already 16 months. She weighs 22lbs 2ozs (30th percentile) and is 32 inches tall (60th percentile). My growing girl. I dont think she is as tall as Maliah was at her age, but she is still pretty big :)

Over all we enjoyed our leave. This will probably be the last time we take leave until we make our way out of the country. We cannot wait for that!

Walking around the zoo

Here Kitty Kitty, Daddy using Kamora as bait lol

Kamora being the bad kid, the sign said don't touch, she wasn't going to listen

The girls excited about the little monkeys interacting with them

Lake Garda with the Saephanh Family

We had a really nice weekend spending time with some friends we made while we were in Washington. They are from Sacramento too (what are the chances right?) Ou couldn't make it since he is deployed, but we are hoping to catch up with him too soon. Right now the Saephanh's are stationed in Germany so they aren't too far away from us. It has been a few years since we have been able to spend some time together. Cindy was brave and made the trip with her two boys, Tyler and Mason. They are such a cute family. Little Mason looks exactly like his daddy. Well both boys look like their daddy.

We had a great time with them. We went out to dinner to a little Italian place right outside of post on Friday called Il Fauno's. It was nice catching up.

Cindy went to Florence on Saturday on a trip through Outdoor Recreation on post. Florence is definitely my favorite city in Italy.

Then on Sunday we got to spend the day with Cindy and family. We headed to Lake Garda. Jaime and I love going to Lake Garda. Just a nice relaxing time walking around the lake. You can take a dip in the water if you would like but we didn't this time. Maybe next time. I hope that they enjoyed it too.

After the lake we stopped at Aqualand. The kids enjoyed it.

Then after that we stopped for sushi in Verona. All our kids love Asian food so it was an easy choice. Overall it was a nice weekend. And we enjoyed our time catching up with old friends

Ready to start our walk

Maliah playing in the water

Tyler, Cindy and I

Cindy, Tyler, and Mason

Our weekend

We didn't do much this weekend. No Lake Garda because I forgot Jaime's knee is hurt lol, ooops! So we just spent time together at home with the kiddos. We drove around on Monday and found a local zoo so we will be checking that out soon. Our neighbor also told us about a water park in our little town so we will be going there soon too. We are just enjoying our time together.

The girls are continuing to grow. Kamora's new thing is throwing stuff and saying uh oh and biting. I wish she didn't do the latter lol. Right now she is standing next to me and biting the couch lol. Maliah is being Maliah. Starting to get a little bit of an attitude but she is one of those kids that you tell them they are bad and she gets sad. So she isn't too much trouble lol.

Here is a video of Kamora humming Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple. Both girls love this song lol

Our Seven Year Anniversary

Tomorrow, June 25th, marks seven years since Jaime and I have been married. It has definitely been an interesting seven years lol. But this year we actually get to spend it together. Our first anniversary Jaime was deployed to Iraq. The second one we got to spend together in Washington. The third and fourth Jaime was deployed to Afghanistan. The fifth we enjoyed together on a Mediterranean cruise. The sixth Jaime was deployed again to Afghanistan. So three out of seven isn't too bad lol. I don't know what we will be doing tomorrow but it will definitely be low key. No alone time since we don't have anyone to watch the kiddos. Maybe a day at Lake Garda. I read recently that it is one of the top ten (or twelve, i don't remember if it showed ten or twelve in the article lol) most beautiful lakes in the world.

I am still so in love with my hubby and love the life we live together. We don't always get what we want but as long as we are together (preferably literally together lol) we are happy. We are ready for new adventures and so ready to leave this country lol.

Bows!

Ok so I just started to make some bows again. I'm not doing it every day just when I feel like it. Lately I've been making Maliah some headbands. Here is one I made yesterday.

This is a turtle I made last week :-) I thought it was super cute. I will probably be making more of these in different colors.

Now this one I didn't have directions for. I looked at a picture that I liked and went off of that. I think it turned out pretty good too. Do you know who it is? If you watch Disney movies, you probably could figure it out. But if not, it's Tiana from Princess and the Frog. I placed her on a lined headband for Maliah.

Jaime's home :-)

He wasn't gone for too long but it is always long enough. Jaime came home yesterday morning. He spent a lot of the day sleeping because they drove all night and you don't get much sleep on the bus. But it was still nice having him home.

He came home on crutches :-( he hurt his knee again. He has an appointment this week for an MRI to see how serious it is. Hopefully he just needs to rest it. So I will be driving him to work until the doctor says he can put some weight on it. Nothing new is going on. Just wanted to update on Jaime. Will be posting later this week. . . Cuz it's almost our ANNIVERSARY!

What we've been doing

I'm sitting here watching the girls dance to Just Dance 2. So cute :-) Maliah does so good at this game and Kamora loves dancing too. She is starting to sing the songs too, it's pretty cute. We haven't been up to too much. I've just been entertaining the girls and trying to entertain myself lol. I got the girls a pool to play in they absolutely love it. I'm so happy both girls love the water. Kamora actually wants to stay in the water longer than Maliah.

I took the girls to a playgroup yesterday, it went pretty well. I didn't stay the whole time because I had some errands I needed to run but next time I will definitely stay the whole time. Maliah loved it, playing with all their toys and the other little kids. Kamora loved it too, her goal the whole time was to get as many balls as she could lol. I think she had like seven balls at one time lol.

I also bought Maliah a Candy Land game, it's not the original, it's some 3-D one where you can make your own gameboard. She loves it and wants to play it all the time. We can't really play it when Kamora is up and moving because she tears everything apart.

Maliah's new movie that she loves is Pirates of the Caribbean. I didn't realize it when I first put it on that it was PG-13 oops lol. I just cover her eyes on some parts lol. She starts asking about captain Jack Sparrow lol. And now she has to watch all of the movies. I would take her to see the new one but I'm not sure how Kamora would do. She doesn't like tv at all. The only show that she will actually sit and watch is Sid the Science Kid lol.

Both girls love to do hair. Maliah is always with a rubber band and brush and she puts my hair up. My hair is actually up in pigtails right now lol. well some of my hair is up lol. Kamora is learning from her big sissy. She is always carrying around a brush and trying to brush everyone's hair. They may follow in their auntie Alicia's footsteps lol.

I'm just trying to stay sane lol. Thinking about putting the girls in daycare for a few hours so I can get a break. It gets pretty tiring after a while. I love my girls to death though. They are my world, but I need some adult interaction lol. Maliah loves to tell me what the weather is outside lol but some stimulating conversation would be nice lol. I've been catching up on some movies at night. Old ones that i've never seen. Jaime has a lot of bootlegged movies, the perks of being deployed lol. Ok done rambling. :-)

Back to the Grind

Jaime is back to work so I’m back to blogging lol. He was off for 8 weeks for school. All he had to do was go check in for PT in the morning and then the rest of the day he was home. He was doing school work, but it was still nice having him home. He’s never been home for that long of a stretch before. So he finished school and now he’s back to work.

We have been going to this spot lately. We call it our river but it is more like a little creek. The girls enjoy going there and so does Drake. It’s just a nice little peaceful spot to relax. Hopefully we will be able to start fishing soon. Just need to get some licenses. And actually learn how to fish lol.

Maliah is growing up. She knows all her letter sounds now. She only has trouble with W and Y. But we are working on that. Just trying to get her to put the letter sounds together to make words. She is writing really good now. She is definitely a smarty pants. Don’t really have any disciplinary problems with her, she is just a good little girl.

Not much is up with me. Just cleaning and laundry lol. And taking care of the girls. That is definitely a full time job lol. It is getting a little bit easier with Kamora since she is willing to play with Maliah now.

Lots has happened the past two months. Most I don’t remember lol. Kamora finally started walking on the 21st of April. And now she is talking a lot more. Her favorite word is “no”, of course lol. It’s kind of cute but I don’t want to encourage it lol. Right now she is in the copying phase. Everything Maliah does Kamora wants to do. And she likes to repeat exclamations such as “man” and “whoa” lol.

Not much is up with me. Just cleaning and laundry lol. And taking care of the girls. That is definitely a full time job lol. It is getting a little bit easier with Kamora since she is willing to play with Maliah now.

We wanted to go to the beach this last week, but of course it was raining :( We will get there for sure soon. Well not too soon since Jaime is headed up to Germany for training pretty soon. At least it’s not for too long this time. I’ll keep busy with the girls for sure and really try to give my house a once over in cleaning.

Let's try this again. . .

So it has been years since I first tried to start blogging. Lots has changed since then. We are still in Italy. Hopefully for not too much longer. It's hard being away from family and friends. I am still staying at home with my baby girls. Maliah is now three and Kamora will be one on friday. Amazing how fast time flies. My daily life consists of playing and teaching my girls. And experimenting in the kitchen :-) Last night I made a homemade pizza. Love the new recipe for pizza dough I have. I will be using it again I'm sure. I guess if I am going to be talking about my food I need to start taking pictures of it :-) The girls are as precious as ever. Maliah is the smartest little girl. We are working on reading and she is finally getting that the letters make sounds. She can also writeall her letters and write her name. She makes it look easy lol. Kamora is continuing to grow. She finally has four teeth and is crawling and cruising everywhere. It really is how funny how different two kids are. Maliah had tons of teeth by her first birthday and she was walking really well. I guess it really is true that no babies are the same.

Kamora got into some nail polish yesterday. . . now she has some in her hair. I didn't leave the nail polish out, Maliah was painting her own nails yesterday and didn't close the bottle all the way. So i guess we both learned our lesson

Maliah washing Kamora's hair. Maliah is always playing with someone's hair

Kamora is always with Drake.

Ok that's it for now. . . we'll see what kind of interesting things happen today. Never a dull moment with the girls and dog.