The Double A Battery

Thomas at an Elmo show on stage

2011-11-06T03:55:00.000-08:00

Thomas got a toy at the show and loved to play with it! He enjoyed the show and even started clapping at random times!

Before the show Thomas started Dancing around the stantions, I just had to take a picture

Thomas wouldn't stay still long enough for me to take a picture so this is the best I could do with him next to the poster.

Tia and her son Clayton got the tickets so we could go to the show with them. The interesting thing was that Thomas's shirt, which also has Elmo on it I found in a bag next to the trash a few days before this event! It was just cute to see both boys wearing Elmo on their shirts!

The show was cute about a little girl who had to go through a move because her daddy was in the military it showed the children how to deal with this fear!

My favorite Characters were Elmo and Cookie Monster! Elmo was a beautiful shade of red that I found appealing.....

....And Cookie Monsters costume just made me laugh!

Fun with Costumes and Halloween

2011-10-31T04:43:00.000-07:00

Thomas was an Aviator for Halloween I couldn't decide if he looked cuter with or without the headset. We had fun trick or treating and although he never said, "trick or treat" or "Thank you" he did say "Yeah!" everytime he saw someone with candy, and "Bye" as we were leaving. Many people thought his costume was just plain cute!

Kay was Thomas's trusty Dog that flew everywhere in his plane!

I took this picture before halloween. Thomas and I had made a haunted house out of a box and Thomas loved to sit in it, so here he is sitting in the box! It's funny how much of him fits in there!

Thomas wasn't dressing up like this for halloween but When Aaron was watching him he wanted to wear Aaron's sweater so here in this first picture he fell asleep folded up in the laundry basket! (Yes he really is in there)

Aaron and I both thoght he looked like something out of Star Wars in this picture.

I think he's the cuter version of Yoda!

Already a Ladies Man!

2011-09-14T00:09:00.001-07:00

Kay was being smothered with Kisses from a little girl about 9 months old and was loving it! He was smiling at her as she crawled into his bouncer chair and kissed him all over his face, hands, feet and tummy! It was really funny and really cute!

Kay's Birthmark

2011-09-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can see it but this is Kay's birthmark. There's definatly hair there it's just lighter in color!

Just some cute pictures

2011-08-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

I took some recent pictures of Kay and thought you'd like to see them. I also took a picture of Thomas's first time in a ball pit!

2011-08-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of Aaron and Thomas at the beach. They had some fun fountains Thomas loved to play in and a cool pirate ship playground! Hope you enjoy the photos

Lately Thomas has been wanting to wear his sunglasses everywhere! It's lots of fun to see him in sunglasses!

Thomas and Daddy growling

You may not be able to see it very well but Thomas is bending his knees and flexing his arms while growling!

Lots of pics

2011-06-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

I keep intending on putting these pictures on the blog but I keep forgetting. So here I'm gonna just put them all together for you.

You remember when Aaron and I first went to the snake Museum Thomas was none too happy to have a snake around our shoulders but then here is a recent picture of when we went with his Aunt Liesel and he just was so thrilled he jumped right on stage and ran to me so he could be in the picture.

I've been told that Passport pictures aren't that cute but I thought Kays was just darn cute.

Grandma Decker sent us cute outfits for both Thomas and Kay and I thought it'd be fun to put pictures of them wearing them on the blog. This first one was the cutest of Kay in this outfit.

Here's Kay in that same outfit but he's yawning.

Here's another outfit.

and then a cute picture of Thomas next to Kay playing peek-a-boo with the camera.

I liked Kay's Tigger outfit!

It looked cute on him!

In this picture Thomas was playing peek-a-boo with the camera again and I just happen to get this funny shot out of it.

This is also a picture of Thomas's new outfit from Grandma. In case you can't see the white badge on his shirt says, "Property of Mom".

Ok, so, funny story here. I was busy with something when Aaron was home and Kay started to cry. I couldn't pick him up so I rushed to finish what I was doing. Then Kay stopped crying. I went to get Kay when I was done and this is what I found.

Yes ladies and gentlemen...

Aaron was letting Kay....

Suck on his ear...

Like a passifier!

You all have a weird Son/Brother/Nephew!

2011-05-26T00:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took so long to post this but I had trouble getting both the Ipad and the computer in order to get the pictures from the ipad to the computer. But here he is. Say hello to your new Grandson, Nephew, Cousin, etc.

Kay Tobias Decker was 7lbs 9oz. I only pushed for 7 min. Aaron says it was 4 pushes but I wasn't counting. He was born 12:01am on the 21st of May and it's simply a joy to have him around. Thomas seems to like him when he notices him. He doesn't pay much attention to Kay but when he sees or hears him he starts saying, "Baby? Baby?" We named Kay after his Great grandfather Lambert, I wish I could bring him over to Grandpa and show him little Kay but maybe someone will be kind enough to show him the pictures we took of him. Well I'm off to clean off a table! If you have any questions let me know!

Happy Birthday Thomas?

2011-04-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Poor Thomas didn't have a very happy birthday, he was throwing up most of the day, but he felt a little better the next day which is when I took these pictures. He also got a haircut on that same day by the ladies at the barber shop. Unfortunatly they cut it too short for my liking but it'll grow again.

We're so Glad when Daddy comes Home........!

2011-04-05T05:13:00.000-07:00

So, Monday Aaron calls me on my Japan Cell which totally confused me because he always called me on the Vonage phone while in Korea. Of course I wasn't expecting him to tell me that he was back! I had food in the oven cooking, Thomas and I were both hungry the house wasn't ready, I wasn't supposed to pick up his welcome home balloon till tomorrow, and in general I wasn't ready! But I hopped skipped and Jumped out the door bubbling happily to Thomas about how we were going to get Daddy! We're so glad Daddy's home!

Tent and bath

2011-03-25T05:22:00.001-07:00

Today we built a tent out of blankets. Using the brooms' stick we propped up the middle of the blanket to keep the middle from sagging. We also turned the couch backwards and set up some chairs to help hold up the blanket!

Thomas loved the blanket tent.....

...but he liked to grab the walls of the tent and suck his thumb more. I guess that's what I should expect when I make a tent out of his favorite type of blanket.

He just wouldn't leave the tent walls alone!

He soon decided to have a little fun and slid in and out of the tent.

I thought we were missing a campfire so I set up the nightlight in the tent as a make believe fire.

Here's how it looks without the flash making everything seem white! Yes the lamp glow's red! Perfect for a fireplace!

After camping I decided to give Thomas a bath. Here he is tasting the soap.

Now he's using the soap to wash his body!

Don't ask me why but Thomas likes to drink his own bath water!

He also likes to chew on his bath toys!

I almost got a smile without the fish in his mouth!

After his bath I drape a towl over his shoulders and he clings to it while walking into the bedroom to get dressed for bed.

After getting dressed and having his hair combed Thomas will brush his teeth for me!

Then it's back to the tent where he repeatedly walks in and out. The tent is sagging just enough to brush his hair everytime he walks through the doorway. As a result his hair is dry within seconds.

He tried to hide in the darkest corner but the camera found him anyway!

I guess Thomas was done with the tent because he toppled it while I was still inside. Luckily I saw the two chairs falling towards me and was able to defend myself. But even toppling the tent onto me wasn't enough. He then had to climb on top of the blankets and me while I tried to figure out how to worm my way out from under the blankets, chairs, and him with my pregnant belly.

After a while of playing on top of the tent Thomas must have realized what he'd done cause he tried to lift the chairs back up. They were too heavy for him and I was done playing tent and didn't offer to lend a hand. He grunted for a while then gave up and continued playing on the pile of blankets!

How Thomas Eats PB&J

2011-03-22T07:59:00.001-07:00

First, and this is very important. Thomas will take off the hard outside crust so cut the sandwiches with a cool dinosaur shaped sandwich cutter. This will take off most of the crust. Spead on the peanut butter and the jelly stick them together and serve to Thomas.
Thomas will then peel the two sides away from each other. Taking the peanut butter side he holds it with one or both hands and push the center of the sandwich into his mouth. Sometimes just eating enough to eat off the peanut butter and little bit of jelly stuck to the bread. If he finds a crust piece he will peel it off and leave it on the plate. After eating that half of the sandwich from the center out he will then proceed to the jelly side. Eat it just the same as the peanut butter side. After both sides are thouroughly demolished he has a peanut butter and jelly face, hands, and sometimes shirt. Thomas will then proceed to do my favorite part of eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He will climb down from the table and walk into the kitchen. There he will wait by the sink for me to follow him into the kitchen, wet a rag and wipe down his hands and face. Then off he goes to play!
There you have it! The proper proceedings of eating a PB&J sandwich by Thomas!

2011-03-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

Thomas was being crazy! He first piled all his cars under the rocking horse and then sat on it and rocked out. It was funny to watch him. He rocked really hard forward and then back! I couldn't help laughing so I took some pictures. They aren't as good as seeing them in person but they're cute!

Keeping ourselves entertained

2011-03-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

It's kinda boring without Aaron around in the evenings but Thomas and I find things to do together. In these pictures Thomas and I are coloring windows for St. Patrick's day. It's Thomas's second time coloring on the windows and he's already got better! However, it is the first time for me using Window Markers. For over a year I've only had Window Crayons then I found the markers and saw they had a wider variety of colors. Where the crayons only had red, yellow, green, blue, and black the markers had all those colors except black but they also had brown, orange, white and grey. This is my first time using them and I decided to mix the use of both to see how they looked together.
I think I've decided that orange is a better skin color than white when it comes to the markers.

I've also discovered Thomas's love for Toy story. He asks me every day if he can watch Toy story. It's pretty funny. I especially love watching his facial reactions to the movie. His favorite parts are usually with the dog in it, although he likes Toy Story 1 and 3 as well.
To answer Andi's question about my guests, no they're not staying with Thomas and I at the moment. Aaron and I discussed it and decided it wouldn't be appropriate for them to be staying with me when Aaron was away. Aaron invited them back when he get's back but I'm not sure that'll happen because Aaron will get back in about a month from when he left and then in April my sister's coming to visit. I don't think we'll have room for a family of three, a family of four and my sister. So, they'll have to stay in the place they're at.
Then there's the GREAT discovery! Aaron did an allergy test to see if we could discover what Thomas is allergic to out here. Funny enough we found out that Aaron is allergic to two common types of grass, corn, and either peanuts or peanut butter. I have to double check with the Dr. on that one. So, ha ha, Aaron's allergies have made life interesting. When he get's back we're gonna slowly eliminate corn products from his diet. Just so you can get an idea of what I'm gonna have to do go to your cupboards and look at the ingredients for the most common foods you eat. Look for anything that says Corn, or Citric Acid, Dextrose, Iodized Salt, Monosodium glutamate, or Dextrin/Matodextrin. Those are the ingredients I'm eliminating first because they are the ones that are the most common cause of the symptoms for those with corn allergies. I even have a list of symptoms that could be contributed to Aaron's corn intake. Funny enough as most of you might know Aaron has had a jumpy leg for a long time. His leg just won't stop moving, well, his corn allergy could be what's causing it. Along with all sorts of breathing problems and sinus problems he's had all through his life. Lol that's only the first step too! After I find out whether he's allergic to just Peanut butter or Peanuts I'm gonna have to try and eliminate those things as well.
Thankfully I haven't noticed any of these allergy symptoms in Thomas. When we found out Thomas was having allergy problems out here we also found out that it was something in the air that was causing it. The Dr. Told us that he could tell it was something he was breathing in by his symptoms. So, I believe Thomas is allergic to grass like his daddy and like my dad.

Well that's all for now!

Gone again

2011-02-20T02:19:00.000-08:00

So, Aaron is deployed again to Korea. Sad day. Thomas is just realizing that Daddy's missing and has been grumpy all day.

Ultra Ultrasound!

2011-01-31T17:08:00.000-08:00

So I finally got an ultrasound with a better ultrasound and it's been confirmed that I'm having a boy.

Doctor's visit

2011-01-01T03:51:00.000-08:00

So, I went to the Doctors yesterday for a regular OB check up and they checked me in like normal, then the nurse got the device to check the baby's heartbeat.
After searching for a good 5 minutes he still couldn't find it. He left me in the room saying that they might have to use an ultrasound.
At this point I wasn't too worried I resoned that the baby couldn't have gone anywhere after all there was only one way for the baby to come out.
The Doctor came in and picking up the same device proceeded to look for the baby's heartbeat. After a while of searching frustrating thoughts with the possibility that the baby died kept beating at the side of my mind. I kept pushing them away.
The doctor then left and returned with the Ultrasound machine. We would just have to find the baby that way and look at his/her heart. As soon as the machine turned on up popped the picture of the baby moving crazily about. I think he/she was celebrating having successfully avoided the heart detector. But he/she couldn't hide from the ultrasound. The doctor saw the baby's heart beating perfectly fine and took a picture for me. I then asked if he could determine the gender yet. He checked and said it definatly looks like a girl. But, after switching the camera said, "But that could be a penus right there."
I sighed, a little frustrated, but he explained to me that the ultrasound at the clinic isn't top of the line. But the one at the hospital is and they will be able to tell me the gender. Apparently I needed to make an apointment with them so they can measure all sorts of things on the baby anyway. So, as soon as I can I'll let you know the gender. I would post the ultrasound picture but the printer isn't working with the computer right now so I'll post it later! But as a side note. It looks like where Thomas has a rounded face this baby's face is more angular like his/her dad.

A lot of changes

2010-12-14T17:01:00.001-08:00

So I had a terrible 3 and a half weeks. For 2 1/2 of them I had a headache every day. I went to see the doctor and she gave me a headache chart then that very same day my headaches decided to stop and a nasty cold began. I got a sore throat that burned everytime I swallowed and had tons of drainage that was sometimes so thick it made me gag, accompanied by a cough. Then because I had drainage I developed a ear ache so bad I wanted to stab a cue tip down my ear canal and dig out the pain. Course being the intelligent being I am I knew that would only make things worse. To top it all I felt like I had drunk an entire bottle of niquel. (I don't think that's spelled right).
Then Thomas too decided to get sick. He would break out in hives, had a cough, and gunk in his eyes. The Doctors decided that it was allergies and put him on Zertec. Soon after taking this Thomas's hives disapeared. However the gunk and cough stayed. He also was tugging at his ear a lot. so after visiting the doctor again they found out he had an ear infection and I was given permission to give him a higher dose of Zertec. And given advice on how to treat his eyes and cough. Which was saline spray and a humidifier. Unfortunatly Aaron's coughing gets worse with the humidifier so we can't use it when he's there. But boy did it get easier for Thomas and I to breathe when Aaron left for work and turned on the humidifier.
The doctor told me that if Thomas keeps getting ear infections we'll have to think about putting a tube in his ear. I want to avoid that as much as possible. Thomas would have to have it in his ear until he is four years old and he wouldn't be able to go swimming during that time. I just can't imagine Thomas having to be banned from his water. He loves water.
Well the same week I started this nasty cold Aaron's co-worker Monty and his family moved in. They're staying in Thomas's bedroom until they can get a house of their own. So, I've been busy trying to reorganize my house to accomidate our guests. Monty is a marine and his wife, Satomi is japanese. She has a little boy named Reyoku, I think. And they have a newborn baby girl, Alice. It's a tight squeeze for us all, but it helps that we get along great with each other.
Totally on a different note. Thomas is just so smart. Aaron was thouroughly impressed last night when Thomas put together the wooden train track by himself.
Also Aaron wanted Thomas potty trained so we got him a minature potty. At first he didn't want to sit on it at all but as time went by he would walk in while his daddy or mommy were sitting on the toilet and go sit on his own toilet. I thought this deserved some sort of praise or prize. So since he loved playing in the water whenever Aaron or I wash our hands, or what not, we decided to let him wash his hands and play in the water for a bit every time he sat on the toilet.
So, it's been a long month. Sorry I haven't written in a while but there's your update!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T00:26:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! Aaron, Thomas and I went to a district Thanksgiving party so thankfully I didn't have to cook a turkey! It wasn't a very fun party as Aaron had a headache the whole time. Thomas seemed to have fun, though. We wandered around the school halls, where the party was being held, and eventually ended up outside where we were able to visit with a couple of dogs. Thomas was overly excited about the dogs and the big ones excited jumping made Thomas giggle, squirm, and run a ways away before coming immediatly back to view the dog some more.
Eventually we had to leave the dogs and Thomas was not a happy camper. But he brightened up when he saw all the kids at the district party playing with frizbees and balls. We let him play for a bit before we headed home. All in all with chasing Thomas all over the place and eating turkey I wasn't able to get pictures in. Sorry! I'll do better for Christmas.
~Ambar

2010-11-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

Well I had my first Dr's apt today and here are some pictures we got of our little alien! For some reason both Thomas and this baby looked like aliens. I've seen ultrasound babies who don't look like aliens but I guess Aaron just makes them all alien looking. BTW the Dr. and the Nurse both think this baby's a boy, they're not positive but they were pretty sure they saw a "hot dog", as they put it, in many of the positions they looked at the baby in. Right anyway. Wish you're all doing well!

Murder Mystery Dinner

2010-11-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

I went to a murder mystery dinner as a Librarian/Detective. I was most proud of my glasses. I had gone to a glasses store to see how much frames and a chain would cost. I picked them out and she told me the price. My jaw dropped it was over $100 for just the frames and the chain. I thought I'd ask just in case, how much the frames cost, over $80. There was no chance I was going to get those for just a costume. So I inspected the chain and knew what I needed to do.

Going into the P.X. I searched for secretarial looking sunglasses, then I bought a plain gold chain to match, last I went to the hair section and bought mini rubber bands. When I got home I fashioned my glasses. Still proud of how they turned out.

Then I couldn't help myself. After the party I placed the glasses on Thomas and it was just so funny I couldn't help but laugh at it. So, I included pictures of Thomas wearing my glasses!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T03:31:00.000-07:00

Today was Halloween for us! We enjoyed carving a pumpkin, Thomas didn't want to touch the goop inside the pumpkin at all. When he got some on his chest he grumped wanting the stuff off of him. It was funny!

We then dressed up for halloween. I had made Thomas's monkey costume and he had fun holding the tail almost the whole night. Aaron was a monk and I was a Key! It was Karen's idea that I be a Key. We all thought it was a funny idea!

Thomas went trick or treating with Aaron. They weren't gone long and when they returned Aaron and Thomas sat down next to me in the downstairs lobby to pass out candy. We soon discovered that Thomas took great pleasure in taking candy out of the bowl and putting it in other children's bags. We had a blast letting him hand out candy and we got many comments about how cute he was!
We stayed downstairs until almost all our candy was gone then we headed back upstairs where Thomas almost immediatly fell asleep and Aaron soon afterwards. Now I'm just letting you all know how Thomas's first trick or treating went and then I'll be off to bed!

Love ya'll hope you tell me how your trick or treating goes!

2010-10-10T00:23:00.001-07:00

Just so that people know I found out this week that I'm pregnant.

2010-10-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

Fun with bandana's

So, I was getting dressed in my room when Thomas came up to me and wanted to play with the things on my dresser. One of them was a bandana. So I strapped the bandana on his head and told him to go show daddy. Off he went, like a rocket, to show daddy. Aaron thought it was the best thing ever and got the camera out and took picutres. So here's our little hippie boy.

For family home evening that same day we colored on pieces of paper Aaron thought the crayons were a good tool to use on Thomas's diaper. Thus the diaper shot.

2010-09-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

Today Thomas helped me put away dishes.
He often gets in my dishwasher and plays with the silverware and it got me thinking. The next time I did dishes I set up a stepping stool next to the silverware drawer. After showing him what to do he got eagerly to work. Taking one piece of silverware from the dishwasher at a time he would step up on the stool and place it in the drawer.
I had to fix the drawer afterwards but I didn't mind. I was able to finish putting away dishes from the top part of the dishwasher by the time he finished. And when I started putting away the plates he insisted on helping. So, one by one he would pull out plates and I would put them away. Next the pans and any other things on the bottom of the dishwasher. Needless to say, we both had fun!

2010-08-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

We built a blanket Tent! It was lots of fun! Thomas was the only one who could stand up straight in it. As you can see he loved it!

2010-08-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach this week. Had a great time. Aaron and his co-worker/friend David went snorkling I wasn't able to take pictures until they got back! Thomas had fun eating the sand, which was more minature sea shells than anything. He also began to enjoy the water for the first time. He discovered if he swung his legs out behind him we would go forward and if he swung his legs in front of himself we would take him backwards. Thomas didn't get a sunburn cause I remembered sunblock for him. But Aaron and I got it bad. I accidently scratched my sunburn against something sharp and although it wasn't deep enough for blood to come out I did get a lot of clear goop slowing coming out. Aaron says that means my sunburn's bad. Lol I could've told him my sunburn was bad just by how it feels! Thomas enjoyed playing with a volley ball we brought. We played monkey in the middle. It was great when Thomas was in the middle cause he would get to lunge here and there and he loved it.

2010-08-10T21:20:00.001-07:00

We went to a snake museum and saw the largest snake ever.

This is a picture of the Habu snake that's native to our island.

The striking distance of the Habu is so much greater than that of the Cobra that I think I understand now why they're so feared.

After viewing the museum for a short bit we went to watch the snake show. All of it was in Japanese so we couldn't understand anything but from her actions I've understood this much.

First she brought out a snake, not sure what type, in a glass cage. Then she produced a stick with two fork like points at one end. On each of the points there was a balloon, one pink the other white. It looked like they were filled with some water. After watching what she did with them I assumed the water was to keep them from flying all over the place.

Opening the top of the glass cage she stuck the stick in, balloons first. She held the stick so that the white balloon was in front of the snake and the pink balloon was hiding from the snakes view behind the white balloon. The snake was coiled and ready to strike but didn't move. Pulling the balloons out she flipped them around and stuck them back in the cage with the pink balloon in front and the white behind it. Immediatly the snake struck again and again until she withdrew the balloons. She flipped them around and again the snake was wary but docile in the face of the white balloon. Flipping again the snake struck at the pink balloon succeeding in popping it. Unfortunatly for me the language barrier is great so all I got out of that lesson was don't wear pink around snakes. Which is fine by me because I don't like to wear pink much.

The lady brought out a different snake and she put it on the stage floor. This snake looked like a cobra. Raising her foot she mimiced stepping towards the snake, and the snake backed up as if it were about to strike. She did this again and again saying things I couldn't understand to the audience. Then she swung her right hand behind her back over her head all the way around until it connected with the back of the snakes head. I was shocked the snake didn't strike her hand. But she did that again and again. What I got from this lesson was that this particular snake didn't have much of a field of vision.

Well, after the show. She spoke to the audience as she pointed to some arrows pointing towards the stage and then going to the other side of the stage pointed to another set of arrows leading away from the stage. I guessed she wanted us to line up. As I watched other people line up I glanced towards the stage and saw her produce an extremely large snake. People then came up one by one and getting the snake placed on their sholders they got their pictures taken with the snake. Aaron and I thought, why not? Lol I didn't anticipate Thomas's reaction. I thought he would just ignore the snake. I was wrong. We didn't have the snake on our shoulders for more than a few seconds before he started screaming and crying. I tried to calm Thomas down while telling the ladies that they can forget the pictures because the snake was scaring my son and I'd rather him be happy then have a picture of him screaming in it. But of course there's that language barrier and she took two pictures before they took the snake off our shoulders. So, here are the pictures.

2010-08-06T22:47:00.001-07:00

I'm very put out right now.

2010-07-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

Aaron recently taught Thomas the importance of screen doors. Thomas sat for quite a while making faces at Aaron.

Needless to say his face was very dirty afterwards.

2009-12-29T03:55:00.000-08:00

Daddy, I told you we could both brush at the same time...

Look Mom. This present is for ME!!

Flying seems so much harder with someone holding your foot down.

Would you like my new teeth?

2009-12-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas Thomas had fun wearing Daddy's boots! After that we enjoyed a Christmas parade! Then We had fun opening Christmas presents! Yay for Christmas!!

2009-12-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Eve!! I'm so excited for Christmas! Aaron was too excited and had us opening presents early during the week. I didn't mind cause this will be the only year we can do that for Thomas will understand what's going on next year!

Aaron was silly and got us a Wii and I was silly and got him a couple of obnoxious ferrets! But at least they're learning not to bite!

Due to the opening of the Wii Aaron has been having fun with the little puzzle games and what not that he got with it. I don't mind so terribly cause I'm busy cleaning. Just so long as he watches Thomas for me so I can finish!

For those who don't know Thomas is crawling everywhere....Well....I guess scooting is the best term. He uses his toes and his elbows to move everywhere.

Thomas loves to say da da and when he's upset he says mum! it's funny! He loves people and everyone says he's got the cutest smile and the funniest expressions. I'd step in an elevator and Thomas would instantly smile at the other people standing in there. Cooing or laughing to them. It breaks a lot of ice and they'll start telling me how adorable my son is. It's a lot of fun! I don't know what I'd do without him. I hope he never stops smiling at people!

2009-12-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

After much consideration I have decided to allow people to post Thomas's pictures! I figured I was being silly any how so anyone who has pics has free reign. Thank you for putting up with my silly wishes!

~Ambar

2009-08-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

So, yo hellow! Some people have been telling me that I should update my blog so here goes! Some interesting things have happend lately. First we all got sick! :) The doctor told Aaron that he could possibly have H1N1 aka Swine flu! They didn't do any tests however and I was pretty sure that he had what Thomas and I had a few weeks before, and we got over it ok! However, the doctors told us to go and get checked out. Long story short I still don't think it was H1N1 and we're all better and ok!

Thomas has discovered his right hand and is constantly holding it straight in the air in front of him to view it, this gives Aaron and I cause for laughter because he looks like Superman when he does that!

I have been told that this island is a hot spot for Asthmatics and that some people who don't know they are asthmatics are suddenly aware of their Asthma problem when they get on the island. So, when I had trouble breathing I went in to see if there was something they could do. They decided to test me for Asthma and funny enough, I am not an asthmatic! LOL it's either one of two things either A. I thought I had asthma all my life because a doctor said I did and used it as a crutch without thinking! or B. I had asthma when I was younger and have gotten over it. I've had some relatives that as they grew older their Asthma went away. Either way it's pretty funny I think! I'm so excited! I'm gonna go for no Asthma medication and pray I don't catch bronchitis, something I caught every winter my entire life until I started taking asthma meds.

Good news! Aaron Thomas and I were going to get our passports soon. We have our passport photos already taken and forms filled out we just need to get down there and pay for them.

And now I really should get to bed it is 10:13 and Thomas likes to wake at 4 in the morning and stay awake for the rest of the day (save for 30 min naps) so love ya'll but that's all that's really interesting that's happened lately! That's a lot of "that's" :) chow!

2009-03-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

Ok here's another update. Although some of you may think I have all the time in the world let me tell you what I've been up to. I am now in Japan. Upon arriving here I had two glorious days to spend with Aaron alone and then it was straight to work. So far in using the bus system, which takes about 30min to an hour out of my day for each bus I wait for, I have accomplished very little and gone everywhere.

Thanks to Aaron's work I have to work hard in accomplishing all that needs to be finished now that I'm here alone. Aaron's work is kind enough not to let him off to help me accomplish these tasks. As a result I have gone to the WIC office to get WIC. Gone shopping for the food in our house and any appliances we need to make a decent meal, gone to IPAC only to find out that I'd have to come again another day with two more items in order to change Aaron's current pay. Attempted to go to a TMO brief in order to get our stuff shipped here only to find out that military language is so foreign to me that I would not be able to accomplish this one alone. Attended a New Joins brief which is required to anybody new on the island (this took all day). Got a cell phone. Went back to IPAC and got Aaron's pay changed. Got the internet working in our apartment. Went to visit the Doctor about my pregnancy. Went back to TMO with Aaron and got that finished. Called various people to retrieve our stuff from them. Brought Aaron lunch whenever I could to save on money on food. attempted to keep the house in working order and get dinner ready before Aaron got home. Attempted to get myself a drivers license only to find out that I wasted my morning going to a class that wasn't a class but a drivers test for those who knew where to go to study for it. the list goes on but I can't think of what else atm.

Now I'll be happy to list the things that I still need to do. I need to go to Legal and try to get Aaron's and my money back from the airlines this is proving to be difficult because apparently we both need to be there to get anything accomplished and his work won't let him off easily. I need to re-enroll in tricare to get it changed from west to overseas. visit a lab to get two types of tests done for pregnancy. Pick up pregnancy perscriptions. Make three appointments with three different doctors for three different things all dealing with pregnancy and then plan a time I can attend them according to when the bus goes to the base that they are on. Pay back a few people I have borrowed money from. Send Karen a special power of attorney so that Aaron and I can get our stuff out here. attend a baby shower that apparently is being held for me on the 13th. go to another Dr. Apointment on the 18th. Get a drivers license and then see about getting a vehicle. clean the house. Go about seeing if Aaron and I can get a DSN line and a Vonage phone. Take pictures for those who have been begging for photos. attend a pregnancy class so I know what to expect when I go into labor. Get Aaron and my taxes done. (sigh there's more but I can't think of them right now. Aaron has a whole list that we have to do written in his notebook.)

As it is I wake with Aaron around 4:30-5:30 in the morning almost every morning catch the 6:20 bus with him to work. The bus drops him off at his work base then continues on to the base where I need to go to get things done. Drops me off at the base around 6:50 am depending on traffic. I use the 44 bus to get around that camp as much as I can but the bus only runs certain times and only to certain places so I end up walking to most places on a base that is made entirely by hills. Accomplish or get close to accomplishing my tasks and then catch the bus home. Usually the bus I catch is the same bus Aaron catches in order to return home. On average I return home at 6-7 pm with Aaron and have barely enough energy to fix something quick and fall asleep. Aaron is so helpful whenever he's home. Lately he's been fixing dinner much to my delight and dismay and he's always trying to help me with the shopping when I'm still out shopping or what not when he gets home. So all in all I'd just like to let you all know that although I still need to clean the house, walk to the clinic to get things done, go to the commissary to call Kaylyn like I promised and such I am dropping a line to politely ask that you wait patiently for me to respond to you. I know it's hard not knowing what your family members are up to but trust me when i say I don't have the time right now. All of those dr. Things I need to do I was told to finish by the end of this week and I haven't been able to start on them yet. So please give me some time to get settled and I'll get back to you.

~Ambar

2009-02-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

Ok so that everyone of you know what's going on with Aaron and my life here's what's going on in a nut shell.

Ok so I arrive at the airport in plenty of time for my flight. I had bought the ticket in Decker for i assumed that if Sieba and I were to get money back for the tickets it would need to be in my married name. So the reservations were in Decker and my passport was in Goertzen (my maiden name). I thought this would be no issue for I had both my military ID and my marriage certificate with me. I was wrong. Alaska airlines would not let me board. they would let me board if we were able to changed the reservations to my maiden name but in order to do that they said we needed to call EVA airlines, which would be my next connecting flight across the ocean. We used the number they provided for us but EVA airlines was closed until the next day. Thus there was nothing left for me to do but to return home. After hours of struggling to call someone in Japan to tell Sieba that I missed my flight I finally got hold of a member in my church and they played the phone tag game with me until we reached Sieba. After talking to Sieba I realized that maybe we could contact EVA airlines at the Seattle airport, which is where the Alaska Airlines flight would have taken me. We made the call but they couldn't do anything for us they were only allowed to do so much with their computers so we would need to still call the number that Alaska Airlines gave us tomorrow.

The next morning we called EVA airlines. EVA told us they couldn't change the name on the ticket or refund the money. We would need to contact Travelocity, with whom we had made the original reservations with. So we called Travelocity. After a long phone conversation with someone who barely spoke a lick of English we found out three things. One they couldn't change the name on the ticket. Two they wouldn't change the date of the ticket. and three they refused to refund our money.

So, our money was stolen from us. Whether or not we can get it back or not through other means still remains to be seen. Lol you'd think this would be the end of the story but no.

So here i am with no ticket, less money then I started out with, and a passport that still read Goertzen. Sieba called and said not to try and buy another ticket. He would get the military to pay for it this time. I said, "But Sieba my passport still says Goertzen won't the military still put the reservation under Decker and we be left with the same predicament?". Sieba believes that through his orders i'll be able to fly. I don't know if this is true but when my parents were in the military my mom had to have a passport in order to fly to Scotland to live with Dad. I told this to Sieba but he still thinks I can fly. He then told me not to get a new passport. Would the Military consider making the tickets in my maiden name?

You can understand my anxiety as I keep thinking that I'm not going to change my passport only to have history repeat its self. So I decided to go see how long it would take for me to change my passport. Going to the courthouse here in the tri-cities I found out that it would take two to three weeks for me to change my passport, however, they told me that I could get my passport "same day" changed if I drove to seattle. They provided me with a number in order to make an appointment.

I got home and called the number provided. It was here that I ran into more problems. The option menu mentioned a Military Dependent passport. Did I need to get that one or a regular one? and if I got that one instead of the regular one would I be able to go anywhere but where the military let me? Would they take the MD passport away from me when Sieba leaves the military? If I get a regular passport would I still end up buying a MD passport? Finally i was able to talk to a customer service personnel. I asked them if they did same day passport changes. Apparently not. However they would change the passport as quickly as I needed it if I had tickets for an out of states airline with me at the time. This was a problem. Sieba told me that the military was working to get tickets for me for the 18th. But as of yet i didn't have the tickets. For all I knew I could get the tickets the same day I was supposed to fly. What if I were to start the process of getting a new passport only to be passport-less when the tickets arrive? Would they take my passport from me while they made the transition? They said they'd do their best to get the passport to me at the time that I need to leave. But would they be able to finish it in time? Finally I explained to them that I didn't have the tickets and why. That my husband was in the military and they were getting the tickets yada yada etc. And I ended up telling them that the airlines wouldn't let me on my flight without it changed even with my marriage license. Unsurprisingly enough the Customer Service Representative was shocked that they wouldn't let me on my flight. So here I am left with around a week to get my passport changed and I'm not sure if I should even get it changed. I just don't know what to do. If I changed it would I get it in time? would they have time to change it if I had the tickets with me? what if they couldn't change it in time?

(sigh) so i don't know what to do. I wish desperately that I had changed my passport when I first got married. but that is no longer an option. Now my choice now will determine whether or not I'll be able to fly to Aaron in Japan sooner rather than later.

:) thanks for taking the time to listen to my strange little tale. I'm sure I'll have tons of these stories by the time my life is over.

2009-01-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Good news and bad news! Good news is that Aaron has his orders changed! The bad news is that now we're waiting on my area clearance. As soon as we have that I can fly over to him.

Scotland Pictures

2009-01-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

This is a picture my brother took of a sign on a church in Scotland. Like I said I have no idea what pictures to put on the blog so I'm just going with the ones I have right now. I have no pictures of me save for the ones in the snow that were posted on Facebook So i hope you're entertained by the pictures I find in the deep recesses of my laptop!! Love ya'll!!

2009-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a pretty sunset Sieba and I saw while walking back to the room one evening. The building to the left is the second half of the hotel we stayed at and the building under the pretty colors is the officers barracks.

2009-01-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of these gravesites in Japan. The first thing I learned about these gravesites were that I was not allowed to approach them. No one but the family member of the deceased can approach the gravesite.

2008-12-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

Well, Good news and bad news! Sieba's orders are now at the last person who needs to sign as of two days ago and I got to the doctors and got them to sign my area clearance so I can join him. But apparently I may need to see a dentist as well so it may take a little more longer!!! Keep your fingers crossed. (like the pic? My brother Pickle(nickname, not a real name) took it!!!)

2008-12-19T23:00:00.000-08:00

Be sure to check out my myspace if you have an account under Sir Bert and Lady Mary
or visit my Web Page at:
http://cassycastlegate.googlepages.com/thedoubleabattery

2008-12-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Here is my sexy husband holding my nephew while my older sister takes a break!

Testing Testing One, Two, Three!!

2008-12-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

Ok so this is the first time I've ever made a blog but I was bored and thought, why not! So thanks to the Decker Dorks I've started my blog. It'll take me a while to figure out what I can do on it!! so bare with me!