All I Want For Christmas

These photos are all I've wanted for Christmas for 5 years. Yes 5 years I've had to wait. You see, I only have 2 pictures of Grace with Santa. The first she was 8 months old and screaming and reaching for me. The other one she was 2 and was standing looking at Santa pointing to emphasize her point I believe.

Every year I've pleaded, begged and bribed to get her on the Jolly man's lap and this year she'd do it for Creighton. So on top of getting Grace on his lap, I managed to get Creighton there too. He's sleeping you'll notice. To make it even more perfect, there are no screaming children in the picture, they are in matching outfits and the to make the trifecta -- all are happy :).

Neilson really should have takena picture of me at this point because I was prancing I was so happy and my Christmas is complete. Yes you heard me, Christmas is this weekend in the Wahab household. Appropriately it is on the feast of St. Nicholas http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38 since Santa is coming tonight. We emailed him several months ago and asked if he'd mind coming early this year for obvious reasons. He was happy to oblige.

We have quite a bit of celebrating this weekend to make it special. Last night we went to BLORA for nature in lights, 2.5 miles of lights to drive through. VERY COOL

This morning we were up at 6:15 to be ready and out the door by 7:45 for Breakfast with Santa at Applebee's put on by the Enlisted Spouse's Club. That is where I got my beloved photo.

This afternoon we will be feasting on shrimp, crab, new potatoes, garlic bread and salad, the traditional Christmas Eve food for 4 generations. Then we will spirit off to Mass and home for gift opening round one. Santa Clause is coming to town tonight so tomorrow morning we will continue the gift opening and have a quiet day to enjoy each other.

Bathtime

Creighton loves his bath - just like his mommy. He loves to just soak in a warm tub and it relaxes him - again just like mommy. Grace took the first two pictures. Her photography is getting quite good isn't it?

Turnabout is Fair Play

Neilson caught this one Sunday afternoon I think.

Just A Shameless Picture

Tree Trimming

Wednesday we put up the Christmas tree. I know it seems like jumping the gun on Thanksgiving but I was desperate. I had Christmas presents stuck here there and everywhere and it was getting to the point where too many places were off limits! The other deciding factor was the annual ornament shopping trip. Much better to do that before Thanksgiving than on Black Friday :)

It took quite awhile to put up our tree and all it's ornaments. This is the first year we have all of Neilson's childhood ornaments to add to the box that I've collected. I'm pleased to say that no generic balls made it on the tree. We had enough sentimental/personal decorations this year! woot woot!

This year Creighton chose a glittery bi-plane and as you can see looks so excited about it. Grace chose a pink diamond flower. Neilson and I chose a "warhorse" in honor of 3-8.

Wreath Making

Tonight was our church Thanksgiving feast and wreath making night. We had a delicious feast (yes our second today) and then made a family wreath. Grace worked together to create our fantastic family Advent wreath. Grace wrapped the garland around the frame and then the two worked together to add berries, pine cones and a bow. Creighton even got in on the action by adding his pinecone. The finishing touch were the candles. As we worked we talked about how we use the wreath and when to light the candles. Grace was pretty proud of her work in is looking forward to lighting the first candle this weekend.

Feast

Grace's class had a Thanksgiving feast today and we were invited to join her. Her teachers had made pilgrim collars and hats for everyone and covered the tables to look quite festive. There was quite a spread to be had, as well: chicken nuggets, pizza, cheetos, juice boxes, fruit, corn, veggie tray and mac and cheese. All the foods the pilgrims had right?

Here are some pictures of our great time.

First, the Wandering Wahabs at ye old Thanksgiving feast.

Second, the cutest pilgrim on the block.

Third, Heather, Creighton and Grace.

Fourth Creighton voicing his displeasure at not being able to feast with the big kids.

And finally, Creighton and his girlfriend Olivia, who was born a week or so before him. She is the younger sister of Grace's friend Clara.

Sneaky

caught this when no one was looking

Holy Cow!

How did Grace get so big? What is she doing on a two-wheeler? AAACCCCKKKKK!!!!

Well the story is this: Our new friend Adrian and her daughter Kyliesha passed down her outgrown bike to Grace who is thrilled beyond belief.

Neilson lowered the seat, and reattached and straightened out the training wheels and she has loved every minute of it. I will say she in on a pretty steep learning curve navigating the taller two wheeler but I know she will get it in about a week and will be zooming up and down the street. Have I mentioned she loves her new bike.

Today I put Creighton in the stroller and the three of us went back and forth up the street learning how to brake and turn. The results are promising but I have informed Neilson that he will be teaching her how to drive. HA

There were two minor spills both a result of excessive speed one of which resulted in her driving up the curb and kind of tumbling off. Rest assured she's fine, it's Mommy that needed the ambulance after the heart attack she had watching the fledgling biker.

Touchdown Jesus

Like all babies, Creighton likes to sleep in the touchdown position. Of course he was celebrating K-State's win over Iowa State. He is a Wildcat after all. ha ha

We also put a couple of rulers next to Stretch to give some perspective. Yes, the four week old baby is two feet

long confirming that everything is bigger in Texas.

This One is for Kellie

My good friend Kellie has a cutie patootie pie named Lucas. As she was preparing to move last summer she gave us all her little guy's clothes. This is Creighton in the first outfit from Lucas. It's a 3-6 month - just thought she'd like to see our little guy in it.

While I'm discussing little guys I need to make it known that Creighton is not little. He had a checkup with the dr. last Thursday and he was 9lb 9oz

and almost 23 inches long. On the growth charts he's in the 75th for weight 90th for length and 25th for head circumference. Mommy was verrrrry happy for that small head. haha

Portrait Innovations

One goal I had before Neil had to leave again was to get a family picture taken. I also wanted a good picture of Creighton as our Christmas cards this year are doubling as birth announcements. Here is a small sampling of the pictures taken and if I do say so myself we are a good looking bunch.

aunt mandi

Aunt Mandi sent these cute shirts to Creighton and Grace. If you can't read them, they say, "I'm the BIG sister" and "I'm the little brother".

They look super cute in them and love wearing them. Grace has worn hers three times this week I think. :) Thanks Mandi!!

Boo to You

What a great Halloween. As you can see, Grace was dressed up as a kitty. But not just any kitty, She was Mona kitty. We had fun making her costume and she wore it all day.

Creighton had a cute little outfit that my mom sent for him. It had a little mummy on it and said, I love my mummy. So cute!

Neilson took Grace trick or treating and together they did the whole neighborhood. I think they were gone over an hour. They had a blast and when they came back they had so much loot! Anybody need some candy?

Creighton and I stayed home and handed out candy. I had enough for 250 trick or treaters and it was gone in under an hour. Our neighborhood is popular what can I say.

Trick or treating wasn't the only fun that day. In the morning we all went to the library for story time. We read Halloween stories, hunted for candy, did the monster mash, had a snack and even won a prize. It really was a great day.

What an Awesome Site

One night last week I got the chance to take a bath and when I came out this is what I saw. Of course i went running for the camera and in the process woke Neilson up, but not before I got this sweet picture.

Sibling Love

If there is any doubt about how Grace feels about being a big sister, I think these pictures clear it up. She loves Creighton to pieces and is always wanting to hold him and cuddle him. It really is very sweet. It has also proved to be quite helpful. She is the first to run to get the diapers and wipes when we need them. She also jumps to comfort him any time he squawks. And the feeling is mutual. Creighton watches her like a hawk and looks for her when he hears her voice.

OK I Know What Excuses are Like

so I'll save the excuses as to why I haven't blogged in like 9 months or so. *insert guilty grimmace*

I thought that a major life change would make a good topic for a renewal of blogging. :)

In case you didn't notice the cutie patootie in the pictures, we have a new member to the wandering wahabs. Creighton Thomas was born 1:05 am on Saturday, October 25 at CRDAMC here at Ft. Hood.

I'll save you the gory details but it's suffice to say 6 and a half hours start to finish from water breaking to baby boy in my arms. It's a good thing we live close to the hospital. Creighton is a big boy too. HA HA I have to tell you that 2 weeks before he was born I had a midwife tell me that I should expect a 7 pounder. Our little man was 9 lbs 2 oz and 22 inches long. That puts him a half pound heavier and an inch longer than his big sister. He literally was kicking and pushing off as I was pushing him out.

We are all doing great and are home and chilling out. Grace is in love with her brother and is quick to get diapers, play with or cuddle him.

Oh, I know we've had a few questions about how we found his name. Naming this special guy was a long process. We found the name Creighton on a website with Irish and Scottish names. We both liked it and added it to the short list. Then we both went through the short list marked our favs. Creighton was one of 3 that we both marked and the one we liked the best.

Interesting facts about his name:

1. It hasn't been on the top 100 list of popular names from the Social Security list for the last 100 years.

2. There is a great university in Omaha, NE http://www.creighton.edu/

3. Creighton Abrams is a USMA grad, 1st CAV soldier and namesake of the tanks Neilson works with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creighton_Abrams
4. We love it to pieces and it fits him to a T

Photos

Hee hee,
Our pictures from the wedding are up on the photographers website. I am quite impressed at how good looking they made us :)
The wedding was wonderful and exactly what we wanted. The weather held and I think everyone had a great time. Anyway, here is the link to the photographer. Enjoy!

http://www.jcimaging.com/weddingpics.html

25 Years Ago

i was in kindergarten.
ron reagan was president - actually he was just starting his 3rd year in office.
mash ends its run on television.
sally ride becomes the first woman in space.
and

kansas state defets kansas in manhattan for the last time ..... until yesterday!

my mom actually gave me her ticket for the ksu/ku game last night and boy am i glad she did. the game was insane! we had never beaten kansas in bramledge collisium which had its first season in 1989. last night that all changed.

if you want game highlights you can check out espn or the ksu athletic page but let me tell you it was insane! the last time kansas led the game was at the 5 minute mark in the first half. after that we only let them get as close as a tie but in reality we had very comfortable leads for a large portion of the game.

it was soooooo loud that dad and didn't talk most of the game. no one left to get drinks at half time. we stood most of the game except for time outs and after the game students swarmed the court. it was great. it was awesome and it was about d*** time for that streak to end!

thanks coach martin and the wildcats for the perfect wedding gift!

BE PROUD! BE PURPLE! GO CATS!!!

SUPER MONDAY!

i have declared feb 4 to be super monday.

why? you may ask. let me explain.

last weekend while taking care of final wedding details it was brought to my wonderful hubby and i's attentions that the rehearsal dinner is on superbowl sunday. the day after our wedding is super tuesday and the presidential hopefulls will be out in full force. so it stands to reson that since our wedding will be *the* event of the year (snort!) that it shall be known evermore as super monday. hahahaha

counting down

we are counting down the days to our "part 2" wedding.
really this is the REAL wedding. it's important to both neilson and i that we have our marriage blessed by God. while we feel married we both need the blessing and quite honestly, i wanted a big fluffy dress and a chance to see neilson in his dress blues *hubba hubba*
that said we have had what you might call some "wardrobe malfunctions" that have caused a bit of stress. first we discovered that neilson's uniform was a bit more than snug and thankfully we found an alteration lady to fix it. then grace's dress still fit around *thank goodness* but was a bit too long again fixed by the nice Korean lady. finally, you guessed it, my dress was waaaaaaaaay snug in the waist and when my friend monica and i finally got it zipped i was lightheaded from lack of oxygen. let's just say that as you enter the 3rd decade of life your shape changes even if your weight doesn't. sooooo as we speak the Korean alteration goddess is working her magic. i suppose it could have been worse, all those articles of clothing could have been lost or damaged in the move.
so i'll *hopefully* see you in a few weeks!

Begging for Potatos

poor heather had to wander the neighborhood searching for tubers this afternoon. in all my grand organization i started to make hash and realized i only had 2 potatos left in the cabinet.

while 2 lowly roots is more than enough for grace and i, i am now in the position of cooking for a man. a man i might add, who eats like a trash compactor (his words not mine). honestly, the only time i have left overs is when it wasn't something he really cared for to begin with.

so i did find some potatos across the street and i was able to finish up dinner. my family is all fed and full and ready to veg out in front of the boob tube.

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

hubby and i were curled up on the couch friday night watching, of all things, food network. there is a show where different local "dives" are featured. this particular episode was about bbq.

now there are 3 main "styles" of bbq: texas, kc and carolina. i'm not going to lie, kc is by far my favorite bbq - arthur bryant's to be exact. the host of the show featured a place in memphis (really? memphis?), charlotte, nc and central texas.

after a quick internet search we discovered that we live only an hour away from louie mueller's bbq in taylor, tx. http://www.louiemuellerbarbeque.com/bbq.html

so saturday the three of us hopped in homer and went searching for the best bbq in texas. oh my gosh were they correct. the food was wonderful. as you can tell from the photos on their website is a "rustic" building and you are served on butcher paper on trays. it's just meat, meat, meat and oh i guess a few sides (coleslaw, beans, potato salad and white bread). the pop is old school in glass bottles and did i mention the the food was fantastic?

we had brisket, turkey and one of their homemade sausages. they only use salt and pepper as the rub and they smoke the meat daily. the sauce was ok, not as good as arthur bryant's, but you really didn't need it since the meat was so delicious.

the three of us waddled out fat and happy and very glad to have made the trek.

now i hope this has your mouth watering and inspiring you to plan a vacation to central texas so you too can enjoy this awesome bbq!

oh an an update on that prayer request:
my friend rosie's husband made it home to her and her 3 boys early early early christmas morning from a 15 month deployment!!!! she didn't tell the boys in case it wasn't going to happen but isn't that just the best christmas present ever??

Ahhhhhh Texas

um yeah, it's january and we're wearing shorts and t-shirts. something is drastically wrong. it should not be in the upper 70s. however the news promises 60s the rest of the week :)

today was my first official day of not working. grace went to school without mommy and did a great job. neilson and i tootled around town all day looking at surround sound systems for his birthday (which is today by the way) and generally having a nice time.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

It's off to work I do not go.

My director called on my birthday to let me know that my position has been filled and that I will not have to return to school next week. It is a blessing really. Neilson and I will get 3 days to ourselves with Grace at school which honestly, is time we need.

Our little family has been uber-busy for months now and I was thinking things would calm down once Neilson was back --- WRONG!

I don't know if anyone has noticed but my dear hubby is a bit ummmmmmm... shall we say particular when it comes to organization. Since returning from North Carolina on the 3rd we have organized the office (read, gone through the boxes of crap in the closet) and just today we went through our garage/storage area and organized everything in there. YIKES!

Suprisingly, it wasn't the amount of our stuff but rather the lack of organization that made the garage look like a disaster. Now that it's sorted it is fairly empty and easier to access what we need. :)

AND it didn't take all day - double woo hoo. We unloaded everything into the carport, sorted and then loaded in. Now here's the cute part. While we were doing all this Grace was riding her tricycle around wearing one of her daddy's old army patrol caps. She kept telling us she was going to Iraq (the front yard) and not to worry she'd be back but not for a long time. Sigh - never did I imagine that my little girl would pretend play going on deployment. I think it means that she has taken control over it and is feeling better about everything. I do know she tells Neilson at least once a day that she is glad he is back.

Happy Thanksgiving

oh yeah, that is not a typo. we are celebrating thanksgiving today at the wahab house. i decided this about a month ago when i was shopping for the thanksgiving in november.
i felt bad my favorite soldier was going to miss thanksgiving for two years in a row :( pitiful isn't it?
so i bought a turkey which had to live at the neighbor's until our freezer was delivered and i decided that today would be thanksgiving. and yes, we are having all the trimmings.

other than that we are doing well. christmas cards went out yesterday, tow package is on the van, christmas presents are bought and mostly wrapped. we survived the christmas program at school.

and speaking of school, i guess i better let you all know that i resigned my teaching position effective mid-january. after prayerful consideration and many conversations with neilson i decided that i have too many demands on my time and i am putting our family as top priority.

wade, mandi, gabe, mom and dad are experiencing power outages --- darn ice. keep them in your prayers.

and while you're praying, please pray for a friend that she and her boys get the best present ever on christmas eve.

*grin*

i don't really need to say anything else do i? but i will tell you that homecoming ceremonies give you the greatest highs. i can say this with utmost authority as i've been to three in the last week.

yeah, you read that right. i went to three. the first to see the rest of neilson's company come home, of course neilson's and then to film for our friend and neilson's xo. each of them had me keyed up and weepy and each had me beaming with pride. but i know you really don't want the details of any of the ceremonies except for greywolf 7 so here they are.

i'll elaborate on my past post and tell you after the phone call from cpt clay i started bawling. the suckitude of the past 14 months had an end in sight-- near sight. of course i was busy cleaning, decorating, cooking, and having anxiety attacks -- lather, rinse, repeat.

and of course i couldn't sleep saturday night and i was up at the crack of dawn, showered, got ready, got grace ready and we headed to the field a full 2 hours early. nothing like a call from your hubby at 4:30am from american soil to get your day started.

our plan was to meet at the helicopter parked on the west side of the field. neilson would be able to find us because grace and i would be wearing purple k-state gear and holding a big sign with a purple powercat. i parked at the west side of the field which was near the tent for baggage pickup. neil told me he would have his ruck sack, duffle and backpack so i knew we wouldn't want to walk far.

the 2 hour wait is fun, exciting, nerve wracking, thrilling, weepy, and most of all surreal. really, in a few short hours our daily normalcy would change. deployment is weird that way. to survive, it has to become normal for your soldier to not be there. it sucks but it is the norm. and then bam, there you are, on the brink of change.

enough philosophical moments and i'll get back to the details.

so everyone is standing around grinning from ear to ear, talking, looking at watches, checking hair, outfits and cameras and then the dj announces, " hey greywolf 7, your loved ones have landed!"

organizers start prepping the crowd as to what's going to happen and then what seems like eons pass and really it's only an hour or so and you hear, "hey greywolf 7, just wanted to let you know your loved ones are on busses and have left the airfield."

the excitement really begings to build and people start lining the field.

then you see the honor guard march/ride into position, you see soldiers run to block off battalion avenue and you know it's only 2 minutes till you see them.

and then you see it-

the police car with flashing lights off to the right and the dj plays a sound bite from apollo 13 when mission control checks sytems and all reply, "go flight" and the white busses appear at the corner and turn onto battalion just a half block in front of you.

you see the shadows of soldiers unloading and hear the chanting, "move that bus!" the dj is playing "let's get ready to rumble and rock and roll part 2" and they pull away and there are the troopers, in formation the music cuts to ac/dc and led by the honor guard, the troopers march onto the field.

a quick benediction, a welcom home from division rear d and the sweet words, "go get your soldier!"



neilson said he saw our sign as he came around the corner in the busses. he beelined for us and i ran/jumped/hugged him. grace hung back a bit and then came over reaching for her daddy to pick her up. we hugged/laughed/cried and hung on for dear life.

change is good. yes it is.

hmmmm nothing for november

yeah i've been a bad blogger. life has been busy. i went to manhattan in november and mom and dad came down for thanksgiving. i had a horrible cold and spent two days in bed...
oh yeah, and did i mention?

I GOT THE CALL I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR FOR 14 MONTHS!!!

"hey heather, this is cpt clay, i just wanted to let you know that neil is on the manifest for flight greywolf 7. check the website for flight information."

translation:
neilson is coming home tomorrow at noon!
this is my last sleep before i get my hero back.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween all. Yes, I'm a bad blogger. And I'll make no promises that I'll get better anytime soon. With so many things happening right now I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. However, I do want to share a Halloween picture of my little Dorothy. Grandma made the dress and if I do say so myself she was a cutie patootie!

Boo to you!!

Something New

Grace and I did something new tonight. We went to a drive in theater. Yes, little old Killeen has a drive in.

Our neighbor Kelly invited us to join her to watch the Seeker. I can't tell you what the movie is about since I was too busy chatting and watchin little people.

We had a good time. We pulled the cars so the back end faced the screen and we pulled out the lawn chairs. The little ones and medium sized ones curled up in the back of the van and durango. Our Maxima just sat lonely :( since it wasn't conducive to sitting in the trunk.

It was a fun evening and I found out that it is open year round so we can do this again soon!