Throwin' Fitz

Gobble Gobble

2008-11-27T08:51:00.002-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I haven't put anything on the blog in a little while, so I thought I would take a couple minutes to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

I think there is a tendency in today's time for us to focus on all the bad things going on in our Country and the world, especially if you turn on the news for just five minutes. With an on-going war, terrorist attacks in India just yesterday, the economy, and all the crap that comes with any political campaign it's even more important to remember the important things in our lives and those responsible for them. Maybe its because I'm another year older, and I'm finally starting to see the value in those things around me, but I for one have never been more thankful for my wonderful wife (who baked homemade brownies and EGGNOG PIE!! (and if you know Mindy, thats a HUGE deal)), our two great kids, and all the gifts that have been given to us.

Which brings me to my next point. After 18 years of formal education, I have always thought that Thanksgiving was in recognition of a bunch of Pilgrims and Indians eating turkey and having a group hug. That was until I read the original proclomation for thanksgiving by President Lincoln in 1863. I've cut and pasted it below, and would invite you all to read it. If this is the first time you've seen it, it may suprise you, and I'm sure that you'll understand why we never read it in school.

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October, A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
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Abraham Lincoln

Unfortunatly, I am afraid that we have become so arrogant as a Country that we think we have created our fortunes on our own without any help. We are so afraid of offending another person, that in the end, we offend the only One that we should be afraid of offending.

Holy cow! thats a lot of writing, anyway, if you stuck with me and made it this far - I hope that you all are able to spend today with your friends and family. Enjoy your turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Candy! Candy! Candy!

2008-11-01T17:31:00.011-06:00

So, after we failed to find the great pumpkin in Moriarty, we brought our good pumpkins home and got them carved up. Normally we cheat and buy those books out there now with the patterns in them and use those to carve up the pumpkins. We did that for Tommy's pumpkin (or Mindy's pumpkin, since tommy did little more than try to eat the top of the pumpkin), but Hanna wanted to design her Jack-O-Lantern herself. So she designed it, made the pattern, cut out the pumpkin all by herself. I personally thought it was the best Jack-O-Lantern on the block!

You'll also see some pics of the kids dressed up and ready to cause some trouble. Some friends of ours came down to go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with Hanna. They did pretty good, we got rid of one bucket of candy to the neighborhood kids, only to gain three more buckets from Hanna's treat bag. We had a pretty good turnout of kids, a fair number of teenagers with no costumes - of course. (We told them to go to the houses with the Obama signs, you have to earn the candy at our house)

Anyway, here's some pics from the festivities....

Dad and Hanna strategizing her next cut. Tommy's just pulling hair.

Just grabbing a quick snack.

Tommy's (Mindy's) Jack-o-Lantern

The two Masterpieces!

Still hungry.

No, its not a family pic. (Actually the one on the right is Mindy, shhhh.. don't tell her I told you!)

See, We told you he was a demon child!

Hanna and her friends (Tripp on the left, Timmy on the right)

He thought we had a piece of the pumpkin and is ready to pounce!

Ok, just as a bonus, here is some video of Tommy walking. Its sideways, but I can't figure out how to turn it.

The Search for the Great Pumpkin

2008-10-20T20:01:00.003-06:00

With Halloween quickly approaching we began the search for the great pumpkin. We thought a good place to look would be in Moriarty, NM (don't know why, i guess we just thought that might be where he hides from Linus until Halloween night)

Got some pics of the pumpkin patch, but we didn't see him in there, so we went to a corn maze... thought maybe he got lost in there and we could run into him; but we just got lost instead. After finding our way out of the maze, we gave up and let the kids play a little before we headed home in defeat.

Hanna on the search through the pumpkin patch

Thats just Tommy, Not the great pumpkin...

Which way do we go???

Hanna lasso'd he steer after some practice.

Tommy burying and Hanna in the corn.

Getting on my Soapbox....

2008-10-17T17:17:00.005-06:00

First of all, I know that Jim "hijacked" my Blog some time ago, and has been much better at updating it than I was, but I needed to vent....

There is an old saying... "The Measure of a Man is Determined by the Company that He Keeps." I believe that statement to be true; and I believe it to be very relevant now.

There are a number of reasons why I would not vote for Barack Obama, and this is certainly something that (in my opinion) should raise a few eyebrows. How many people with "questionable" morals and ethics, or organizations with "shady" practices (putting it very lightly) does this man have to be associated with before more Americans stand up and say - "Ya know, maybe this guy has no business being the leader of the Free World!" It seems like a legitimate question to ask.

And then there's this whole "Joe the Plumber" thing... did everyone miss the point?! The latest thing I heard is that the Plumbers Union came out and said that he isn't a plumber and he's giving plumbers a bad name, and the Union is going to have a Pro-Obama rally. The whole point is not whether he's a plumber or a roofer, or a waiter, or whatever... he is an Average Joe, he represents the average American citizen, an average person with some common sense. And he questioned Obama's tax plan - well heaven forbid he question "The One" - (we know who Oprah is voting for - but I thought Keanu Reeves was "The One"... ) Just a little Matrix humor for those who didn't get it... :)

The other day Hanna came home from school and said hat the kids on the bus were chanting "OBAMA". So she started yelling "MCCAIN! MCCAIN!" She asked the girl sitting next to her why she was for Obama, and the girl said, "because McCain will bring more war." Ok, first of all, he isn't going to make more, he is going to allow us to finish the ones we're in. And like Jim explained to Hanna, war itself isn't good, but it brings good things. The United States exists because of a war. The fact that an African American can run for President is because of a war. The reason the elementary school kids can ride the bus home yelling "Obama" or "McCain" is the result of war. And of course, the reason I can get on my blog and say whatever I want to say is, you guessed it, the result of war.

I think too many people in this country have taken for granted all the freedoms that we have and the reasons in which we have them.

October in NM = Balloons!!

2008-10-15T18:42:00.005-06:00

So if you didn't know, October in New Mexico brings the Balloon Fiesta. I believe that this is the largest balloon festival in the world. This year there were over 600 hot air balloons that came from all over the world to fly. I thought that a bunch of balloons wouldn't be that exciting, but you can go down on the field and walk right among all of them as they inflate and take off.
This year we made it to the field for the special shapes assention, and the special shapes glow that evening. The special shapes are any balloon that is not your typical shape - we saw a pepsi can, a castle, a stork, monsters,... you name it it was there. Here are a few pics from the field.

The Wells Fargo (formerly known as a bank) Stagecoach

The two bees kissed in the air

"Twist of Fate" Owned and Flown by one of my co-workers. This is them flying during a competition where they had to drop a bean bag on a small target.... Doesn't sound to hard till you realize that you can't steer to the target. Takes alot of skill and knowing the wind currents!!

These are from the nightly glow and fireworks....

The landscape during an October night in Albuquerque

Felix the Cat

You can walk right up to them.

It's October, had to get a jack-o-lantern

The nightly fireworks show!

Elk, drama club, and melons

2008-09-21T16:47:00.003-06:00

Elk season started this last tuesday. I took the week off to go, so off I ran to the New Mexico mountains. It looks alot different up there than it is down here in the desert. There are rolling hills with lots of trees and small grassy meadows. I would have taken a picture but I left the camera at home. Anyway... I'd like to say that I don't have a picture of my elk on here because I didn't have the camera, but the truth is I didn't even see an elk. I did get to watch a bunch of deer for about an hour. That was pretty cool, they were about 60 feet from me munching away on the grass. Next year Mindy and I both are going to put in for tags, so maybe we'll have better luck. Of course if it goes like it normally does, Mindy will tag out and I'll be left with nothing except listening to her brag about it for the rest of our lives.

Hanna is in full swing now with school and her many activities. She is now going to gymnastics 2 times a week, drama club (like she really needs to be taught drama!), and she was picked by her teacher to be on the student council. Its keeping her busy, Mindy too for that matter.

Tommy just had his one year checkup. All is good, he got a bunch of shots that he didn't like, but other than that he weighs 22 lbs (40th percentile), is 30" tall (50th percentile), and his head is 48.5 cm - the 95th percintile... its no wonder he can't walk yet, that monster melon on top of his neck keeps toppling him over. I'm suprised he can even stand for as long as he does!

Hanna goes to her first concert, Tommy Turns One

2008-09-14T08:30:00.007-06:00

Last week, Hanna had a chance to go to her first concert. The NM State fair is here, and some neighbors of ours had some tickets and asked Hanna to go along. The saw Corbin Blue and Vanessa Hutchins. For those of you without young kids, they are two of the stars from High School Musical, and for those of you without any kids, or don't ever talk to a kid, High School Musical is this generations version of Grease. Oh, by the way, she didn't just get free tickets, she got free front row tickets. No concert will ever be the same for her!

Rock on!!

WWWWHHHHOOOOOO!!!!!

Its been a year already, hard to believe but Tommy turns one today. We had a couple people over yesterday to open a present or two and have some cake. Pretty tame party, although Tommy did feel it necessary to attend his party in his underwear... Guess he thought he had to spice it up somehow! Got a few pictures below, I think his favorite toy so far is the balloons Mindy picked up, followed by the boxes the real toys came in!

Tommy makes a mess of his cake!

Once he figured out what to do with the wierd colored boxes he was pretty excited.

More presents!

Late info on San Diego

2008-08-25T00:01:00.008-06:00

So, I think everyone knows now that we went to San Diego on vacation at the end of July, but since I'm just as good as updating this thing as Mindy was, I'm just getting to it now. But hey, at least I'm putting something on here finally.... Anyway, we took the AMTRAK to California and had a good time, except for the smelly French guy that sat down by us, but that situation was resolved in a fairly timely manner. While we were in San Diego we spent most of the time going from park to park, visited the Wild Animal Park, the Zoo, Lego Land (twice), Sea World, and just hung out around the hotel. A few pics below (there were about 400 to choose from)...

Mindy, Hanna, and Tommy at Wild Animal Park

Hanna shows off what she learned in swimming lessons

Mom and Tommy in the pool
On the Train.

This is Legoland NYC
Tommy in a Lego Shark
Hannabee going after a Tommyfly
What a good lookin' family

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-26T11:00:00.007-06:00

This memorial day weekend we spent some time traveling around New Mexico and seeing some of the sites. Last Saturday we headed up to Santa Fe and visited a couple of old churches and walked around the plaza. The plaza has a bunch of shops, but they are either art stores or jewelry stores - all with turquoise jewelry. Once you have been in one, you've been in them all.

We started the trip by going to the small town of Chimayo, NM. This is where a small church is that is said to be built on ground that has healing powers. The church itself is a very small adobe style church that looks like it may only hold 30 people or so. In the back is a small room that has a hole in the floor where people can take some of the dirt home. It was really a neat church.

After Chimayo we went back down to Santa Fe and went to the Plaza. Like I said, it has about 100 stores that are all the same. But there is another small church there, that is no longer active, but it has an amazing staircase in it. As the story goes, the church was built in 1873, but they were told by local carpenters that the a staircase could not be built to reach the choir loft 22' above without interfering with the seating in the chapel and therefore a ladder would have to be used. The nuns prayed to St. Joseph to help them build a staircase for the chapel. 9 days later a man came to the church with a donkey and some tools looking for work. He proceeded to build a staircase for the church over the next 6 months. The resulting staircase is a spiral one that makes two complete 360 degree turns and had no railing and no center support. The wood is not indigenous to New Mexico, and how the stairs are supported is a matter of debate - some say that it should not support the weight of a person, others say it acts like a spring. The staircase was used for many years by the nuns. It has sense had a railing added and some iron supports. They do not know who the man was that built the stairs as he left without payment or thanks. While the Church has not formally said who built the stairs, some believe that St. Joseph himself was the carpenter that answered the nun's prayers.

Well that's all for now because I'm tired of typing. We'll post more later on some of the other stuff we did this weekend.

Cliff's Amusement Park

2008-05-05T10:29:00.004-06:00

Not much news from New Mexico. We did go to an Amusement Park here in Albuquerque yesterday and had a great time, so thought I would post a few pictures...

Tommy taking in the sights from his stroller

Hanna LOVES roller coasters, just like her mom and dad (although we have noticed we don't handle them as well as we used to - it sucks to get old) :)

Yes, Hanna is in there, her arms are already in the air before the roller coaster started

Waiting for the ride to begin - Hanna is telling mom not to be scared

A fun day at the park

Mutiny aboard the USS Throwin' Fitz

2008-04-19T20:21:00.008-06:00

Ok, well Mindy has abandoned her post as "Family Blogger" so I have removed her from command and am taking over the blog. I don't know if I'll do any better by keeping up with he blogging duties, but I will do my Best!

Since her last blog, her Sister has had her surgery, and did great, in fact it has been so long she is completely recovered and is back to work and doing great!

Mindy and the Kids went up to Nebraska over Easter and spring break, and I stayed down here in NM. They had a great time up there and sounds like they got to see everyone. While they were gone, I went fishing and got back into the garage and built Mindy a scrap booking table. (which I actually just finished tonight) It took me a little while to get it completed, but it is done and in the house in record time for me.

Hanna has been doing great, just about done with the second grade. Its hard to believe, but she's starting to look like a young lady know instead of the little girl that I am trying to convince her she needs to stay. We had a bring your kids to work day and Hanna went with me to see what we do in the Corps of Engineers. I think she had fun, she liked getting up on the construction equipment. But at the end of the day she told me it was fun, but she didn't want to do construction and still wanted to be an archaeologist.... probably a better field. :)

Hanna has also gotten glasses in the last month. She took it much better than I did when I found out I needed glasses at her age. But I think we found some that look pretty good on her, and she certainly likes to show them off to everyone!

Tommy is doing fantastic, he has 5 teeth now, is rolling over all over the place and weighs about as much as a small car. We just got a really good report from his physical therapist on his torticolus (crooked neck) and he is straightening out very well.

Ok, well I think that's the highlights from the last month, I'm going to try to get some pictures on here if I can figure it out. Like I said I don't know if I'll do any better keeping everyone updated, but I will do my best, that or Mindy will kick me off here and take over again! we'll see....

2008-03-03T17:33:00.002-07:00

I know it's been forever since I have posted... I will send an update soon. For those of you who haven't given up on me and are still checking my Blog every now and then, please say a little prayer for my sister Cathy who is having sugery tomorrow. I know all will go smoothly and she'll be good as new in no time, but a few prayers never hurt! :)

Thanks! Hope everyone is doing well!

It's that time again... (and other stuff)

2008-02-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

Time for the cute little girls in their brown or green vests to come knocking on your door selling... yep, you guessed it... Girl Scout Cookies! How do I have the inside scoop on this information?? I have one of those cute little girls, which makes it even harder to avoid the temptation to buy a box (or 12). If I sound a little disheartened by this knowledge, I am. Not that it will stop me from eating the cookies, but as of January, we've been trying to eat healthier and excercise, which has proven to be much more difficult for me than for Jim. Especially since he's lost 10 lbs and I've lost, well... nevermind. So I'm sure the cookies will do wonders for my waistline. If anyone knows of a Girl Scout Cookie Diet, sign me up!

Besides Hanna being busy perfecting her sales pitch, she has also moved up from Level 1 to Level 3 in Gymnastics. She is doing really well and is loving every minute of it. We are proud of her. As for Tommy, he is busy trying to roll over and working hard on the exercises we've been learning at Physical Therapy. He has Torticollis, which means "crooked neck." Basically, the muscles on the right side of his neck are tight, and the muscles on his left side are weak, so he tends to tilt his head to the right. His isn't severe, you probably wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it, but his doctor caught it at his 4 month checkup, and referred us to a Physical Therapist. It is quite common, it was probably caused from the way he was positioned in the womb. With exercise and stretching, it will correct itself. He loves his therapist Tanya and is already making progess, so he'll be "good as new" in no time. :)

A Note from Tommy

2008-01-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

In my four short months, I have made several observations...

God DOES have a sense of humor - have you met my parents?
Watching laundry being folded is HILARIOUS!
My two favorite sounds are the vacuum cleaner and the hair dryer - so you would think our house would be spotless (at least the floors) and mom's hair would be done all the time...
As a boy, if I'm mad, I either want: a) food, b) a clean diaper, c) to be naked, or d) a nap. This seems to be very similar to the adult male...
7 year old girls are very weird.
Parents do not listen to their children...I HATE being on my tummy, and I've made this perfectly clear to mom and dad, and yet they insist on putting me face down to play.
I move my legs CONSTANTLYand yet I never seem to go anywhere... maybe I have Restless Leg Syndrome
My favorite songs are the jingles from the FreeCreditReport.com commercials

I wonder what I will learn in the next four months...

What do second-time mothers know

2008-01-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

So there I am giving Tommy a bath this morning, and I'm talking and he's smiling. Then I see something white in his mouth on his bottom gum, and I go to wipe it away with my finger, but it doesn't come off, and it's hard... he cut a tooth! Seriously? He can't be cutting teeth yet! So I had to check it again three more times. It's a tooth. And so it begins. Better break out the Jack Daniels for those sore gums. ha ha

He's been drooling a lot, but his gums haven't been swollen, and he hasn't been overly crabby. Plus, the doc said they can show signs of teething (drooling, etc.) for months before any teeth come through, so I didn't really think much about it. What do I know?! You'd think I had this stuff down considering I have another child and have been through this before. Apparently when you wait seven years to have a second child, you forget everything, or I least I did.

4 Months Old

2008-01-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Thomas turned 4 months old yesterday and had his appointment at the doctor today. Before I go into his stats, I need to vent for a moment...
As I am filling out the Infant History form which asks questions about his eating habits, sleeping habits, temperament, etc., I come to the question that reads, "Are there guns in the home? Then it goes on to ask, "are they well locked?" and "are they stored loaded?" This struck a nerve with me. First of all, I am sure I have read somewhere something about the fact that I have the Right to Bear Arms, or something like that... so what right do they have to ask if we have guns in our home?? Anyone who knows us and has ever been to our house and seen the bear, antelope, moose antlers, etc., hanging on the wall would have a pretty good idea that we own a firearm or two. Now, I understand that these people don't know us from Adam, but why do I feel that if I answer yes to the question, Child Protective Services is going to pay us a visit? And, if I answer no, then I'm lying, and for what? Because I've done something perfectly legal and that's my right as a US citizen? So I decided not to answer the question at all, because like I said, it's none of their business whether we own guns or not.

OK, I'm glad I got that off my chest, although I'm sure at his 6 month appointment when I come to that question again, I'll be irritated once more... Anyway, on to other news...

Tommy weighs 16 lbs and is 24 3/4" long, which puts him in the 74th percentile for weight and 60th percentile for length. This may not seem like a very big deal to some of you, but for us - it's HUGE!! We actually have a child ON the growth chart, and not just on it, but above average! Hanna has NEVER been on the growth chart, even now, she'll be 8 years old in a few months and is the average height for a 6 year old, and the average weight for a 5 1/2 year old.

Last year at her orientation before she started 1st grade, we met her teacher, and she took one look at Hanna and then looked around the room asking "where is your first grader?" Even after I told her it was Hanna, she said, "SHE is old enough for first grade?!" Of course, after she talked to her for a couple of minutes, she realized that although Hanna may not LOOK her age, she certainly speaks and acts her age and then some.

So I guess we'll have a petite girl and a big boy... maybe he'll take after his Papa (Jim's dad) whom he is named after - Tom was 6' 2". OK, I guess I shouldn't get ahead of myself... for now I'll just be happy he's on the chart!

Christmas at our house

2008-01-08T14:22:00.001-07:00

As promised, here are pictures from Christmas at our house. Thanks to Rachel for the slide show tip. Definitely the way to go when there are lots of pictures to share. (click on the side show to activate my comments on the pictures)

The first few pictures are of us in Durango, Colorado, where we rode on the Polar Express to the North Pole. We drank hot chocolate on the way there, and Santa and his elves were waiting when we arrived. Jolly Ol' Saint Nick even took time out of his busy schedule to ride back with us on the train and gave all the kids a Christmas bell. We had a great time, and may have to make that a yearly event (as long as we're stationed in NM anyway)

As you can see, we had lots of fun with my family over the holidays - my mom (aka Grams), sis JoAnn (aka Joni), brother-in-law Dave, nephew Matthew and niece Ellie. We laughed, played games, opened gifts, ate - oh my did we eat!! I should've taken pictures of all the food we had!! We are paying for it now, but it was worth it! We had good weather - especially compared to some other parts of the country... my family had lots of snow to shovel when they got home New Year's Day! But that's all part of the fun of traveling during the holidays right?! (Easy for me to say since we weren't the ones doing the traveling this year.)

Happy 2008

2008-01-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

2008.. Really?! Already?! I am told that the older you get, the faster time flies by. If that is the case, I am in big trouble, I can't keep up now!

I hope every one's holiday was as wonderful as ours was. I plan to post pictures from Christmas, but there are so many, it's hard to choose... they are coming though, so stay tuned... Santa was good to us this year, he brought us a Nintendo Wii. We are completely addicted, it is so much fun. Jim and I even let Hanna play from time to time... :) Tommy has to sit and watch for now, which, trust me, is highly entertaining, but I'm sure he will get into the action as soon as he can.

Other than that, we are just trying to get back into a normal routine. The kids are doing great. Hanna was anxious to go back to school today, and Tommy, who will be 4 months old next week, is growing like a weed and talking (I mean yelling) all the time. I'm sure it makes the people at restaurants, the grocery store, church, etc. a little crazy, but apparently he has something to say, and everyone is going to know it. I remember when Hanna was little, if someone did not speak or at least smile at her, no matter where we were, she would yell "HEY!" until she got their attention, and then smile and say "hi" in her sweetest voice. I guess it was a little much to expect that I would have quiet children, even just one. (poor Jim)

Trimming the tree...

2007-12-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

We decided that we were going to cut down our Christmas tree this year. I have never done it, but Jim has when he was a kid, so we thought it would be a fun thing for the family to do... so we set out last weekend to search for the perfect tree. Our house has 10 ft ceilings, so I was all about finding the "Griswald family" tree, but I don't think they grow that way in New Mexico...

We got our permit, and searched high and low (in the rain) for the better part of the day, but all we could find were different sizes of Charlie Brown trees.Now, it very well could be that we were being too critical of the trees we did find, there were lots of people heading back down the mountain with trees in the back of their trucks.

But regardless, we drove back to town, and purchased a 9 1/2 ft tree... and it is B-E-A-UTIFUL!

The kids in front of the tree.

I may be biased...

2007-12-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

But seriously, how cute is our son?! Jim just rolled his eyes and apologized to Tommy for having to wear the outfit, but I thought he looked very cute is baptismal suit! Granted, he does look a little scared in the picture, but he liked it.

My sister JoAnn and her husband Dave are Tommy's Godparents, and the priest who did the baptism I have known since I was a little girl, and before he was a priest.

Tommy screamed through the entire thing, until they actually poured the holy water on his head and he was officially baptized, then he went to sleep.

blah blah blog

2007-11-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

So I've finally decided to get on the "Blog Bandwagon" and share pictures, random thoughts, and whatever else might come our way, and thanks to my dear friend Rachel for getting me set up. The only question was, where to start? I decided that since we are nearing the end of 2007, what better way then to recap the past year, and what an exciting year it has been!

It's hard to believe that this time last year, Hanna and I were anxiously awaiting the Christmas holiday when Jim would be home for 2 weeks from Afghanistan. We had such a wonderful time, although it went by entirely too fast. And just when I thought that Jim being home with us was the best Christmas present we could've asked for, January brought another surprise. We found out that we were expecting another child. I don't know what's in the water over in the Mid East, but ours is certainly not the only R & R or post-deployment pregnancy!!

In February, another milestone (for me anyway). After almost 18 years, I quit smoking! If wasn't near as difficult as I thought it would be, although the simple act of not doing it took some getting used to, and I had to find other ways to occupy my time while talking on the phone, or driving.

The end of March brought Jim and the rest of the 27th Engineers home from Afghanistan safe and sound. We were so glad to have them back with us, and so proud of all their accomplishments overseas.

April and May went by in a flash, between visiting Jim's family in Florida, and traveling to Colorado for Jim's best friend's wedding, not to mention preparing to move across the country and getting ready to put our house on the market.

The month of June is a blur. Hanna celebrated her 7th birthday at our house with a Little Mermaid themed party in our backyard. She then graduated from 1st grade, we closed on our house, said good-bye to our friends, and left North Carolina for our next adventure.

We took our time getting to New Mexico, and we were able to spend time with several friends in the DC area.

We then stopped in Ohio at the Great Wolf Lodge -(sidebar - if you are ever near a Great Wolf Lodge, they are super-fun whether you have kids or are just a kid at heart!)

We then travelled to Missouri and spent several days with Jim's sister Kathy and her family.

After almost 3 weeks on the road, we found ourselves in our new hometown (for a couple of years anyway), Albuquerque, New Mexico. We found a house to rent in a town just north of the city, Rio Rancho, and moved in in mid-July.

In August, my sister JoAnn and niece Ellie, came for a visit and brought my mom down to stay with us until the baby was born. It was so nice having her here. She helped us get unpacked and settled in the house, and prepare for our new arrival. Hanna also started 2nd grade at her new school, and fell in love with it instantly. She also began gymnastics, joined a Girl Scout troop, and started religious education classes at the church we attend.

The last nine months also included my ever-expanding belly, but finally, it was time for our little boy to arrive, and my c-section was scheduled for September 14th. Thomas Ryan was born at 12:41 pm and was 20 1/2 inches long, and weighed 7 lbs 12 oz. After a short stay in the NICU, he and I came home on the 17th. He is such a joy and Hanna loves her little brother. We are truly blessed to have two beautiful children

In October, my mom went home, and we were left to fend for ourselves. :) But we survived, and have been going strong. We are on the go almost every weekend. Jim and Hanna have been fishing several times, and Tommy and I have even tagged along twice. We can't get our son started too son. We went and got pumpkins at a huge pumpkin patch with a corn maze. We had a great time carving pumpkins although Tommy slept while his was being carved. He also slept through Trick or Treating, but Hanna had a great time and came home with enough candy to rot the teeth of every kid at her school.

Jim's mom came to visit the beginning of November, and Hanna and Tommy loved having their Granny here. Another milestone in Hanna's life, she got her ears pierced, much to her daddy's dismay. He had agreed she could have it done once she was 7, and she hadn't started asking until then, so he couldn't really say no. She looks so grown up, it's amazing how a couple of holes in the ears will transform a little girl into a young lady... Lord help us, she'll be wanting to wear makeup and shave her legs before we know it. She was also chosen to compete in a Spelling Bee at her school, and she made it to the 4th round. It was 1st through 5th graders, and they started out with 55 kids, and were down to 12 at the beginning of round 4. We were amazed at the spelling words... marsupial, bonsai, tarantula... just to name a few. She did really well and we are so proud of her. We travelled to my hometown in Nebraska for Thanksgiving, and had Tommy baptized while we were there. We had a nice time, but as always, it went by quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to head back home.

Now you're caught up on the Fitzgerald's so far in '07. I'll be posting more and adding more pictures, etc. as I get more accustomed to the Blog. I promise my future posts won't be this long! Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment. In fact, I highly encourage it, I don't want to feel like I'm blogging to myself! :) In fact, I would appreciate you commenting just to spite Jim, who said "Geez, your post is too long, no one is that interested in our life!"