We’re looking forward to a fun day today. Ms Lyn (my office manager and the kids’ surrogate grandma) is coming up for a visit. She is bringing with her one of her daughters, Kathy… and her other daughter’s 2 kids, Joey and Jacqueline. Joey and Jaq are twins, 7 years old. My kids LOVE Joey and Jaq, and haven’t seen them since we moved to Barstow in September.

We are going to meet them at IHOP for lunch, then take everyone over to Calico Ghost Town for a tour. After that we have rented a couple of movies so we’ll grill out tonight and watch some tv, maybe play the Wii. They will go home tomorrow. My kids have no idea they are coming, so this will be a great surprise for them!

On a side note, Damian received 3 awards at his school’s award assembly yesterday. “Most Improved Reader”, “Perfect Attendance”, and a “Good Homework Award”. We are very proud of his accomplishments so far this year. 1st grade has been challenging for him, but he is making alot of progress.

Kadence came home with an ouchie report this week, apparently she slipped on some soap in the floor and hit the back of her head. She is fine, she’s a tough little cookie.

Bianca and Addison went in for immunizations yesterday (and their 2nd dose of H1n1). Bianca is 3′ 1″ tall and weighs 29 pounds, and Addison was 2′ 9″ weighing 27 1/2 pounds.

Rob takes his motorcycle course next week, to officially get his motorcycle license. He is very excited about that. He’ll be able to drive on freeways and at night, which he cannot do right now with just his permit. He is really loving his motorcycle. He is also wrapping up that investigation that he’s been working on, which will be nice.

That’s it for our life right now – we’re just keeping busy and looking forward to the weather warming up. Leave us a comment and let us know how things are in your world.

Now that the rains seem to have stopped, we are just left with some very cold weather. The kids really want to go ride their bikes, but it’s just too cold for that! We didn’t get any snow here, as was predicted, but I got to see some snow on my drive back up from my corp office earlier this week. They had snow 25 minutes from here, but we just didn’t get it. I had hoped it would snow for the kids.

Damian got his first grade 2nd quarter report card. All A’s and B’s except a C in Phonics and a D in Spelling. He’s a math wiz, and he’s a very good student according to his teacher. He seems to really like school. I want to have him tested for dyslexia since it runs in my family, and his teacher has agreed with me that he’s showing some dyslexic tendencies. Now, trying to find someone trained in this area is a challenge, so will look for someone down in San Diego.

Kadence is doing great in Pre-K. She loves school and her teachers seem to love her. She told me this week she is the “chair pusher”, which means she gets to push in all the chairs under the tables. She was very proud of herself for being chosen to help out more in her classroom. She has made some great new friends here and seems well adjusted to her new school.

Bianca and Addison have been in an in-home daycare since we moved here last September, but for several reasons (none overly negative) we are going to be moving them to the daycare center on base. They  have one more week with their current provider, then Feb 1 will start their new journey. They have gone to the CDC (child dev center) several times and really like it there, so I’m not anticipating any problems. I think it will be good for them to be in separate classes and not stuck under each other all day. Might make my evenings a little better! We are working with Bianca on her potty training, and hoping to have her fully trained by her birthday in May. Then we just have one left in diapers!!!!

Rob is involved in a pretty lengthy and serious investigation here on the base. So his time this past week, and surely the next couple of weeks, has been spent working on this investigation. I’ll be glad when that is over, and he has more time for the family. He also finally got his motorcycle a couple of weeks ago – and is loving taking it out. He takes the training in early Feb to get his motorcycle license. He is very happy.

Hope everyone is doing well, will write again soon.

Oh my – the last time I updated this was October. A lot has happened since then!  Rob was home from Iraq in September, but left for a 7 month deployment in January. He wasn’t supposed to be on that deployment, but he had to fill in for another marine who had a sick wife. As most of you also know, he actually came back home early March, and is home for about 4-6 weeks and then will return. He’ll be back home in August for good.

We have tentatively gotten orders that we’ll be staying here for another 3 years, and this go around will be non-deployable.  Meaning he won’t have to leave and go anywhere, not even for an overnight visit! We are very thrilled about this news.

Can you believe Damian will be 6 years old soon? Kadence will be 4, Bianca will turn 2 and Addison will turn 1, all within the next 60 days. I cannot believe how fast the kids grow up!

Damian is of course in kindergarten, and thriving. He’s reading, writing, doing multiplication, he can add/subtract 4 digit numbers, he’s really loving it!

Kadence is of course in pre-k, and she is doing phenomenal as well. She has decided she is a princess, and only wants to wear skirts every single day!

Bianca is learning to talk back to us, and is getting into everything there is to get in to! She is our most challenging toddler yet. She is very strong, and very smart, and knows just what buttons to push. She’s gonna give us a run for our money!

And Addison is the perfect baby. She has 2 teeth, she crawls everywhere, she can pull up, and once up can walk along the couch/table/etc. She’ll be walking soon, I can feel it.

So that’s us for now. Make sure for those that didn’t know we moved in October that you update your address book with our new address on our contact page. Also – we have disconnected our home phone – and now just use our cell phones! Love to all, until next time.

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far! We sure are!! We spend some time in the kiddie pool outside, hanging out with friends, shopping, etc. We have been to Legoland (on July 4th) with great friends – we really had a blast.

Addison weighed 7 1/2 pounds at her 6 week checkup. She will be 8 months old this Friday, where does the time go? The doctor said she is doing GREAT! She is sleeping through the night most nights now, has been for about a week. She goes to bed around 11pm and doesn’t get up until between 6-7am. That is certainly a relief! I FINALLY have all 4 kids sleeping through the night. You’d think that would mean I was sleeping well myself – but I keep waking up still making sure everyone is okay. Maybe once Rob gets home I’ll be able to sleep peacefully.

Speaking of Rob returning, he’s already been out there over 5 months of his 7 month deployment, so he’s getting close to coming home. We can’t wait to have Rob home with us, rejoining our family will be very awesome for everyone! The kids miss their daddy greatly, and have grown so much since he’s been going that he won’t believe how grown they are when he gets back. And of course meeting Addi for the first time will be amazing! If you remember, Damian was also born while Rob was in Iraq – and he met him for the first time around 5 months old. Doesn’t seem quite fair that Rob got to miss the first few months of 2 of his 4 children… waking up every 2 hours, pooping every hour… he sure missed the fun stuff!

I’ve added a bunch of new photos over the last few months, so be sure to check them out.

Well, most of you have heard by now that I had Addison Jennifer Nielsen! She was born on Thursday, May 29th at 3:11pm. She was 18 1/2 inches long and weighed 6 pounds exactly. Delivery was very easy – one push and she was here! I was 36 weeks into my pregnancy, so she was 4 weeks early, but she came out breathing on her own and doing great!

I got my tubes tied that next evening (Friday) and Addison and I actually came home that same night. Only one night in the hospital! I’m feeling pretty good, although I’m very tired. Raising 4 kids is no easy task, especially when one of them just turned one!

I’ve had great help… Jennifer (Rob’s mom) came out here for 2 1/2 weeks because my doctor put me on bedrest at 34 weeks. She left this past Monday, and then Rachel was able to come out until Thursday morning. It was sooooo good to see her and Casey and Jackson.  My step mom Kim came out this past Wednesday and will be staying for a week.  It’s so nice to have an extra set of hands while Rob is in Iraq.

I’m looking to get an evening nanny to help me out with dinner/baths/etc. Hopefully that will work out and I won’t get so tired trying to do it all. Damian and Kadence are trying to be big helpers though, and that really does help out!

Everyone seems to be adjusting to having the new baby at home. Damian is especially attentive to her, Kadence kind of just stays away from her, and Bianca is a bit jealous – but will hopefully get over that pretty soon.

Other than that life is going well for us. We all really miss Rob and can’t wait for him to come back home. He’ll be back in a few months, and hopefully he won’t have to leave again any time soon. We sure hope he’s going to be home for a while..

Well, that’s it for today. I added a few pictures today, so make sure you check those out. Hope everyone is doing well!