The Purcells: October 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

Here comes the bride...

My best friend Jen is getting married tomorrow...I am so happy for her and so glad to be able to share this special day with her...she is going to be a beautiful bride!

Here's the happy couple...Dallas and Jen

Wednesday night I packed up the Tahoe with two dogs, two dog crates, stroller, pack 'n play, suitcase, Riley, and me and we headed to Jason's parents house to spend the night...they are watching the pups while we are gone and Frank was nice enough to take us to the airport at the crack of dawn Thursday! I am definitely WORN OUT from all the traveling we have done although it is all worth it in the end...just a lot to do by myself! With all the packing I managed to forget my make up...don't worry I will not be posting pics of myself without make up on...I have found a resolution to my problem! I knew something would be left behind...it was just bound to happen! On top of all the frantic running around Riley has been battling HORRIBLE allergies all week...I just might have to get this little girl tested to find out exactly what she is allergic to. Her eyes have been all gunky and completely purple underneath and on her eyelids...called allergic shiners apparently. When she is inside her eyes start to clear up but as soon as that little cutie hits the outdoors something in the air doesn't agree with her body. I feel helpless...I am giving her allergy meds and trying to keep her cleaned up but I can't make the allergies go away and they are bothering her even down here in San Antonio...I believe ragweed and mold are her culprits and Little Rock is the 5th worst city to live in if you have allergies...hopefully California will give her some relief. Despite all of her allergy symptoms she has not made a big fuss about anything...she's still her sweet little self...what a trooper!

Now onto the fun wedding events...Thursday was the bridesmaid luncheon at Los Patios...it was a perfect day for lunch on the patio and I forgot just how pretty was there...the food was great and we had a wonderful time!
Today the girls (me, my mom, and Riley) spent the day shopping at La Cantera and it was a lot of fun! Once again...great weather! Riley napped while my mom and I totally fell for gimmicks at Macy's...if you spent $50 you would get $10 off your next purchase and we just kept shopping...we were total victims of their marketing ploy!

Tonight was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner...I think everyone is ready to go for the big day! The dinner was at El Chaparral...a great Mexican food restaurant in Helotes and we ate on the back patio...it was very picturesque!
Shannon, Jen, and Me

While I was "rehearsing" and gourging myself, Riley spent the evening with Grammie and JoePa at the Rissman house...she helped hand out candy to the trick or treaters...she had a great time!

Boo at the Zoo

This week has been busy, but lots of fun! We started the week with Boo at the Zoo with the Burns family! It was pretty chilly but Kaleb and Riley were all dressed up in their costumes and they had a great time...Riley talked the WHOLE time and I don't think she ever stopped kicking her legs either. I'm sure she was talking about how much fun she was having!

Here's Riley and Kaleb getting to meet some new friends...

We took them on this little carousel sort of ride and Riley chilled while Kaleb fussed...it was pretty cute!

Riley was all snuggled up in her blanket when she wasn't kicking it off!

Riley and I...she was so intrigued with EVERYTHING!

After all the fun at the zoo we headed to Fantastic China for some dinner...this is one of Jason and I's favorite restaurants and we have shared many a meal here. Riley was able to taste the egg drop soup and LOVED it...I couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough! She also had some lo mein noodles, chicken, and rice...a girl afer her Daddy's heart! It was a great night...thanks Burns fam!

Happy Halloween

Riley and I are in San Antonio and we wish everyone a Happy Halloween!

Jason sent us some pics this morning...they received some pumpkins from a C-17 crew from Turkey and it looks like they had a lot of fun carving them...he wishes eveyone a Happy Halloween too!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Naked Baby Pics

Who doesn't love naked baby pics?

We had a great weekend with not too much to do and that was a nice break for me since we have been on the move and traveling A LOT! We leave for our next trip to Texas this Thursday so I took advantage of the downtime to unpack from our last trip, do laundry, and get ready for the next trip. I also crafted as you can see from my previous post and spent some great time with Riley. Saturday evening Megan and Dave came over to hang out and we cooked a great meal (pesto shrimp pasta with bread and salad and pumpkin crunch for dessert)...it was lots of fun and yummy! After I gave Riley a bath she was being super fussy because now that she can move she doesn't particularly like to lay down and after a bath she has to lay down for a while while I lather her up with lotion, clean her ears, cut her nails, and all that good stuff. She rolled away before I got her jammies on and as she turned the corned to find Megan and Dave she was grinning from ear to ear!

She is definitely grasping her new found talent of being mobile. She is getting into a lot more things and a lot of them are not appropriate "toys" for her so she is also grasping the idea that she doesn't like it when things are taken away from her. We have had several meltdowns this weekend and that's definitely new for her...and for me! I am assuming this is just a transition into her learning lots of hard lessons...like there are certain things she can't and shouldn't be playing with...or that she can't always have the freedom to crawl around...or that she has to get strapped in her carseat when she's in the car! Jason got to see her meltdown Sunday morning when we were skyping because she kept wanting to type on the laptop and I kept saying "no" and moving her away from it...she was not happy! She tends to get over things quickly but her initial reaction has lots of emotion with it! Here's a shot of her momma consoling her...I can't even remember what devastating event happened before this picture but is must have been bad!

She is just so cute to watch...she has now mastered the art of pulling up on her own and today I just stared at her as she would pull up and be holding onto our ottoman with both hands. She was helping me do laundry and had one of her washcloths that she was "folding" and she would intentionally drop it on the floor and then balance with just one hand on the ottoman and bend down and pick up the washcloth...she would do this over and over. I watched her the first time she did this and it was if she was testing herself because she wobbled and wobbled as she struggled to bend down without falling over but she accomplished it just fine and I guess she has learned the lesson that practice makes perfect! She is also cutting her top two teeth...she hasn't been too fussy at all...can't wait to see how that smile changes with her front teeth showing!

Here she is deep in play...

And yes...that is drool in the pic...love it!

Thanks Megan for more great memories!

Back to crafting!

I LOVE to craft and since Riley's birth I have not crafted nearly as much as I had before but lately I have been able to take the time so create a few things...mostly cards for family with pictures of Riley! I love to scrapbook but have decided that blogging is my new scrapbooking since I keep up with the blog much better than I do with my scrapbooks...my wedding scrapbook isn't quite done and my pregnancy scrapbook isn't quite done. For someone who loves to complete tasks in full I feel overwhelmed with the daunting task of ever being "done" or "up to date" with my scrapbooking so I have scrapped that goal and turned to the blog...and I love it! I have also found a way to turn my blog into a book to keep as a memento for Riley and for our family...check out http://www.blurb.com/ and take a look at their blog books...way too cool!

Despite my decision to not devote so much time to keeping up scrapbooks I still love to craft and this past weekend I was able to work on some fall cards with Riley's pumpkin pictures....many thanks to Riley for taking a 3 hour nap Saturday afternoon!

Here's the fall cards...

And I also wrapped and made a cute tag for a birthday present that Riley got for her little friend Haylie...I had so much fun picking out a present and getting it all wrapped up!

And here is my little crafter before she conked out...I think she really likes ribbon...tasty and fun!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

The Purcell family is on the move...

Let's see if you can guess...

What is 45 miles away from San Francisco?

What is 45 miles away from Sacramento?

What is 20 miles away from Napa Valley?

Travis Air Force Base

We found out a few weeks ago that Jason received orders to Travis AFB so we are moving!

Jason called me at 4:30 am and told me to get a drink of water so I could wake up because he had received his orders and he was about to tell me our soon to be home for the next 4 years. Needless to say that was a very early morning for me because I was not able to go to sleep after that news! I spent the wee hours of the morning researching the area...looking at houses, places to visit, things to do, etc.

Jason will be working with C-17's and is excited about the job.

This is definitely a bittersweet time for us because moving to California will put us further away from our family and we will have to leave behind some of the best friends in Arkansas along with a wonderful life giving church. I also have to leave one the best boss anyone could ask for. On the flip side we are really excited about what God has planned for us out in California and we know He is preparing a place for us there as well. We will be close to so many great vacation opportunities and plan to take full advantage of that. Also...Southwest flies to both Sacramento and San Francisco...we LUV Southwest!

As of right now it looks like we will be making our cross-country trek in February / March so that means we have a lot to do between now and then...like sell a house in this crazy market...woohoo! Who would have thought our little Riley would be a Cali girl...I think she will love it out there too!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Our Little Sugar Plum Fairy

Friday night was our first Halloween shindig with the squadron Halloween party...Riley was super exhausted as she missed her afternoon nap in order to partake in all the fun, but she did great and was super cute in her little costume! Notice her extreme excitement in the above picture...this was taken before she realized how much fun she would have!

The different offices competed in a contest to decorate their offices and it turned out to be a very successful event. Tara came to be a helping hand for the event and we helped kiddos make cute little ghosts out of kleenex and dum dums...thanks Tara! It was so much fun seeing all the kiddos in their costumes and there was a section where the cute kiddies sent out Halloween wishes to our deployed troops...Riley and I gave a shout out to Jason and Riley made a second debut when she and a fellow sugar plum fairy showed off their matching costumes...it was pretty cute! I can't wait for Jason to be able to see the video!

Despite her overwhelming exhaustion Riley was a movin' and a shakin' all night...the girl is on the move! As soon as you sit her down she is off and on her way to find something to play with and most likely put it in her mouth!

Gotta love that little booty...and those rolls...this is the view I see all the time now!

The plane that didn't fly...

So this past Friday was Spouses' Appreciation Day at Little Rock Air Force Base and it involved a flight on the C-130...a one hour flight over Greer's Ferry Lake where they would open the back ramp door for us to take pictures and where we would make a pass over Little Rock before landing...sounds like fun! Those of you that know me well also know that I am somewhat of a fearful flyer after a bad experience and although I fly A LOT I am always sitting at the edge of my chair wondering if that noise I just heard was the engines failing. Despite my recent fears involving large planes flying in the sky I REALLY wanted to experience the C-130...this is the plane Jason works with every day and has flown on countless times...I wanted to know what it was like.

Sarah and I arrived for breakfast and a briefing on the plane, the route, and safety precautions and were then put on a bus heading to the flightline to board the plane.

Once we arrived we took pictures outside the plane and inside as well. We were able to go up to the flight deck all that fun stuff.

I can totally fly this thing...you think?

We were supposed to take off at 11 and by 11:30 we were told that there were uncontrollable issues keeping us on the ground so they decided to bus us back to the building to wait for more news. We were told that due to several different circumstances our plane wouldn't fly until 2 at the earliest and they took us to test out the NVGs (night vision goggles) to help pass the time. Unfortunately, I had an appointment at work which kept me from being able to wait for the plane to fly. All in all there were 4 planes that took spouses up and ours was the only one that had these problems...stink! So after all excitement I didn't end up getting to fly. I was very disappointed, but I did have fun and the weather was gorgeous. Sarah and I decided to eat our woes away at Chili's afterwards and that was fun too! Maybe I'll get another chance...just maybe!

Here is a video of one of the C-130's starting its engines...obviously not the one I was on!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

My Sweet Riley

We are slightly over half way through Jason's deployment and are hoping these last few weeks go quickly. I am so in love with my little girl and am so thankful for the company she has been to me during this time. One might assume that having your spouse deployed and a 10 month old to care for all by yourself would be a daunting task, but I wouldn't trade anything. In the moments where missing Jason gets overwhelming I have this little light of joy to hug on and just watch as she learns new things each and every day. We are best buds these days...cuddling in the morning...rubbing noses before I leave for work...sharing such joy when we are reunited at the end of the day...eating dinner together...playing in the evenings...cuddling before bed. I can only hope and pray that we share this closeness throughout the future years.

I can't wait for Jason to get to have these moments with her again. When she was really little he would spend lots of time with her in the wee hours of the morning while I got a little sleep...he would dart out of bed the moment she made a peep because he looked forward to that time...just a Daddy and his little girl...there's nothing more precious! Skype has been a true blessing to our family and Jason grins from ear to ear each time we get to see him...Riley seems to understand what we are doing as of late because she gets excited and has a little performance she puts on for him to show him all of her new tricks.

Riley...you are a pure joy and your Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know...thank you for your sweet spirit and life giving grins!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Aggieland Days...

Riley and I had a great weekend in Texas...we flew into San Antonio, drove to College Station, and flew back out of Austin!

Riley attended her first Aggie game and after the first half I thought she was our little good luck charm as the Aggies were ahead...unfortunately we didn't keep the lead...we got outscored! It was a beautiful day and Riley did great...she was a little scared from all of the yelling and screaming at first, but she quickly became acclimated. She napped during the middle of the game and was ready to get back to the Aggies when she woke up! Here are a few pics from the game...

Ready for some football with Grammie and JoePa

Some video from Kyle Field just for Jason! We sure missed him this weekend!

Former President Bush was at the game

Here's all of us at the game

Riley gazing up at her JoePa

After the game we headed to the Watts' home for lots of food and a birthday celebration. Ashley, Maegan, and I have grown up together and spent many days playing as youngsters because we lived down the street from each other. Fast forward 20 years and now we all have babies...Ashley's little girl Berkley was born in March and Maegan announced this weekend that her little one will arrive in June!