Little Alex

Our youngest Alex is the independent one of the bunch! She is possibly the most opinionated too! At Two and a half now she has already set us all straight on what she would like to be called, "Alex". We had always intended to call her Alex, her full name is Alexa, but when she was born "Ali" just rolled off the tongue better. So for the first two years she was Ali at home. We would tell others her name was Alex and that is what she was known as at church, but for the most part she heard Ali. One day I called her to come and do something and she walked up to me with a very stern look on her face, arms crossed and plain as day said, "No mommy, I Alex"! The remainder of the week she would correct anyone who would slip up and call her Ali! She is our child that has never needed any one to entertain her, has decided that she has no need to speak up to her potential just yet (has the ability, just really doesn't want to) and is showing signs of being brilliant! I am well aware that as the mother I may be a bit Biased, but from my perspective we've been told twice that from a developmental stand point she is a bit behind where she should be. Nothing alarming but delayed. You can imagine my surprise then when we figured out that she has 100% recognition of colors, shapes, numbers to 20 and all letters and what sounds they make. She can even tell you how to spell Alex! Alex is too young to be in school yet so she is the lucky one that gets to hang out with me all day. She would have been able to start preschool next year but the cutoff date for birthdays changed and she is too young. I am quite glad that the dates got changed because while I had no hesitation sending Kira this year, I am quite positive that Alex will not be ready in the fall. I'm not even the slightest bit sad about getting time with her next year as well! Unlike the older two, Alex is the first one who may have a true addiction. She can't seem to ever get enough time on the IPad! I know that makes me out to be a horrible mother, but she loves the preschool learning games and I'm quite certain that they are behind her brilliance (as much as I want to believe it's all from her me!) She has learned from Jack though that Angry Birds Star Wars is a pretty fun game, and even more fun to watch on You Tube! Like the other two though she prefers to be outside running around more than anything and will willingly put down the IPad for a chance to get some fresh air and for that I am thankful! I am enjoying watching her open up more and more each day, and tell her the same as the other two, "quit getting so big!" As big as she continues to grow, she is my baby and will stay that way....for now!

Sweet Kira

Kira, the middle, is quickly approaching 4 years old, going on 15! She is all girl, all the time and anything pink or sparkly, princess or girly, pretty or...star wars is what she is all about! I think her brother may have influenced the star wars part! Kira is in her first year of preschool and really enjoys being like big brother and able to go to school. She really enjoys socializing with her peers, getting to do crafts and music time, and learning new things twice a week! Other than star wars and school, kira is very happy to follow in Jack's footsteps in another way, gymnastics! She just started a new "big girl" class and is with all 4-5 year olds. She seems to really be enjoying it and can't wait to get on the trampoline team like Jack. I'm not sure how long she'll stay excited about gymnastics once she learns about dance class, but for now it's the highlight of her week. When she's not being a gymnast, or growing in leaps and bounds other ways, she is pretty much a huge girly girl. She is very excited to do her own hair, and wants to wear dresses every day. she especially loves dressing up in her princess dresses. She also loves the cats, one of which is her special kitty that she got for her birthday. These are just a few of my favorites!! Every day sweet Kira is learning how to conquer the world and it will be fun to continue to watch as she discovers who she is!

"Just Jack"

I decided to spend the next 3 days and focus on one kid a day. It made the most sense then to start with Jack! My little man is growing too quickly that I can hardly stand it! He's almost done with his Kindergarten year and has a love hate relationship with school. He is a good student, a kind and respectful kid, listens well and tries his best, everything a parent wants from their child! There is the occasional day however, where he would rather stay home and play video games and those days he tells me how much he dislikes school. I suppose that makes him a pretty typical kid and I couldn't be happier! He is also way busier than I remember being at 6 years old, but I know that falls on us allowing it rather than on him. His current schedule is as follows: football practice Monday night, Gymnastics practice Tuesday night, Awana at church and football practice Wednesday nights, Gymnastics practice again on Thursday night and Football games Sat. Mornings. T-ball will be starting in about a month, but Awana will be done in two weeks. When he started Gymnastics at age 2 1/2 we just wanted to get him in something active. Now he is on the pre team for Trampoline and tumbling at his gym and doing great! I never imagined that he would still be in it after all this time, but he loves it. I actually had the very serious conversation with Jack that maybe it was time to pick one or two things and take a break from the rest and he looked at me with big puppy eyes and said, "Do I have to quit something?" I said I thought he was too busy and maybe we should focus on the ones he loved the most and he told me, "but I love them all". This is that part of parenting that stinks because I know we are not going to be able to keep this up for long and we'll have to scale his schedule back a bit. One of my favorite things about Jack though is what a sweet kid he is. He is always trying to find ways to make people smile and has a kind heart. When I tell him that he can't grow any more he always replies with, "but even if I get big I will still give you hugs and kisses!" That's my sweet guy! He loves both of his sisters but is crazy about Alex. For now he doesn't mind if she is always around and asks her to play with him! I'm not naive enough to think that this won't change, but for now it's nice! I am excited to see the young man that he continues to become and know that with a heart like his he will do great things that will benefit many people! For now though I am just enjoying being around his 6 year old energy and trying to keep up!!

BLESSED!

So I decided it was time to start up the blog again since it's been some time since my last post, like 4 years. It didn't seem like it had been that long, but I just read my last post and yikes... Adam was in Iraq and Kira wasn't even born yet. Well since that post Kira arrived in 2009 we moved out of Military housing and bought a house, our third child Alexa Claire arrived in 2010, and Adam spent 6 months deployed with 3 months of training before hand for a total of 9 months gone. Jack started Kindergarten this year and Kira started Preschool. The kids are very busy with lots of activities including: gymnastics, Awana, flag football, t-ball, playdates and sleepovers! We are busy but so BLESSED!!! Adam and I are also busy with Adam still working at the same Clinic he's been at since 2008, as an Internal Medicine Doc for the Air Force. He got promoted last may! I am home with the kids but we are hardly every "home"! Adam and I are very involved in our church teaching 4th grade sunday school and leading a community wide bible study titled Run for God. It is a 12 week study paired with a couch to 5K training guide! Between our study that meets on Sunday afternoons and a ladies only study on Wednesday we have around 150 participants! Again, we are so BLESSED! Here is a photo of our first session run! Well, that about sums up the update! Stay tuned for more fun to come!

where does the time go?

Here we are at the 4th of July weekend and Adam has already been gone a month, although not officially in Iraq that whole time. He is doing well and complaining about being bored, which I am very relieved about. Luckily through his clinic there we are able to talk almost every day, and through his clinic here I am able to send him packages at no charge! We are taking advantage of all of it! He didn't end up staying at Ft. Bragg very long which I believe is a good thing as it means they didn't need him to do any special training to learn new skills, he is just over there to be a Dr.! He assures me every time I talk to him that he's safe. He would love to hear from everyone and can be contacted at the following email:

vossena@jdi.socom.mil

I hope everyone has a happy 4th of July weekend!

Goodbye kitty

After much debate and hours of agonizing over what to do, we finally decided that Cleo needed a new home. While for the past 5 years she has been a fantastic cat in almost every sense of the word, the key there is almost. She is affectionate, beautiful, playful and loyal. Everything you would want a cat to be. Unfortunately she also tends to be a bit spiteful and that was where the problem came. She was very rarely mad at us, but really got upset when we would go on a trip and leave her at home. With us being so close to Minneapolis now, and the weekend trips becoming more frequent, it was becoming more of a problem. The final blow was when it became clear that we were going to have to throw away our 2nd couch because of her (we justified the first one due to a bladder infection.)

So, we hummed and hawed about what we were going to do, and went to the furniture store to find some new furniture. Once we left the store with receipt in hand I knew Cleo's days were numbered with us, but what to do with her? I spent hours on the computer researching the best place to bring her, placing ads, emailing friends and family and just waiting. We got the call on Wednesday that our furniture would be delivered on Saturday and had to make a decision fast. Lucky for us an angel saw our ad on Craigslist and sent me an email early Thursday morning. She came over Thursday Afternoon to see cleo and decided that she would be a good fit for her family. It was bitter sweet. While I am relieved that she found a home to go to and we didn't have to resort to the Humane society, I am very, very sad to see her go. She has always been my little kitty, who's favorite place to curl up is right under my chin, and who both times I have been pregnant liked to kneed my belly. She will be missed very much but at least there is another family out there that will get to enjoy her for the rest of her life, the way we enjoyed her for 5 years.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Well, the Ultrasound last week confirmed that we are going to have a daughter and Adam and I are thrilled! We were both convinced that this one was going to be another little boy, but there was no doubt in the ultrasound Tech's mind that this one will definitely be a little girl. I'd like to say that I didn't cry when I heard the news, but anyone who knows me at all knows that I am a bit of a crier. We were asking Jack before the ultrasound if he wants a brother or sister, and his answer is usually whichever we asked him second. But the first time we asked him if he wanted a sister, once we knew it was a girl, he responded, "mo" (his version of no). That has been his answer ever since even if asked if he would rather have a brother. Well, I can't blame him. Maybe he is finally realizing that his world is about to be completely turned upside down. Luckily I know that he will appreciate having siblings, if not now or for a couple years, at least when he's older.