Happy 3rd Birthday Joey

We cannot believe how fast time flies. It feels like just yesterday we were in Arrowhead Hospital in Glendale, AZ about to have our son with Kevin's parents and my mother there anxiously awaiting his arrival. It happened so quickly and we were so blessed to have Kevin's parents and my mother be there despite Joey's early arrival. Every year I say that I will watch his birth video that my father-in-law, Neil so lovingly video taped, but every year I chicken out. I still get goose bumps just thinking of the pain. But I would do it again in a heart beat for Joey and any other child I bear because it was definitely worth it.

We had a birthday party for Joey on Saturday the 1st of August. My brother was on vacation in Orlando so we planned it early in case he was able to come up, but he couldn't but it was OK. We were really lucky to have made such good friends already in Florida so I invited anyone that had children Joey's age. 13 primary children came and they had a ton of fun. We had 3 kiddie pools, a slip and slide, a pinata, and tons of food. It was amazing too because at 9 am it was pouring rain. I mean pouring rain. The party was at 11 and the backyard was all Thomas decked out. I didn't want Joey's party to be ruined or our opportunity to make friends so we lifted our hearts to the heavens in prayer and prayed that the rain would stop. 10:30 rolled around and it was crystal clear skies. I was so excited Kevin had to humble me down. But I just couldn't mistake how much Heavenly Father is aware of our desires. It was a great time. Joey at the end said "Thanks Maddy (short for Mami and Daddy- its his new thing) for birthday party, thank you." Ahhhh...

This is a great friend, Fallon, who moved as well from the Bethesda area. Her husband too is a flight surgeon and she made Joey his train cake. HE LOVED IT!

One of Joey's presents from us, well I made it, Kevin paid for it ;), was this Batman towel. Kevin has been unwinding by playing Batman legos on Xbox and Joey stares and tells Kevin where to go. So I decided to figure out a little cape thing for him. Lets just say he went to bed with it.

3 Things We Love About Joey

1- How friendly he is. He will go up to any child and say, "Hi, I'm Joey, Come on" We love it. We hope he stays that way for his mission.

2- His sense of humor. It is so difficult to keep a straight face with him when we are trying to correct him. He makes silly faces in return or says the silliest things.

3- Any time he goes on time out, he always says he has an ouwy (?). We think he is trying to tell us we hurt his feelings.

Thanks to all those who called and sent well wishes. Love you

Our First Family Vacation

Disney is offering amazing discounts for the military this year. We were able to go to Disney World and get Kevin's admission free, mine dirt cheap, and 40% off of our resort stay. We had promised Joey that we would take him to Disney since my bed rest caused him to have such a boring summer last year and we had to keep our promise.

It was our first official family vacation where it was only the 4 of us hanging out, enjoying each other's company. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort and enjoyed their great food, fun heated pool, and Joey loved the toy store there. We went to Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Sea World (for free as well). Hollywood Studios was great because Joey met all his Pixar heroes- Buzz, Woody, McQueen, Sully, Mater, Mike Wizeow...something. They had a great new Toy Story ride that we were able to shoot lasers at different Toy Story theme stuff (I don't know how to explain it) and Joey really liked that.

We went to Magic Kingdom twice. Once on Thursday night for the parade and than again on Monday to do the tea pots, we met Buzz there again, and did a Monsters INC comedy show. Joey was so cute when he met Buzz all those times. He was such a good boy during the whole vacation. One morning, he woke up and immediately jumped in the stroller (pjs bad breath and all) and said "Lets go guys!" It was so cute. Just seeing how happy he was made it all worth it. And Emma was a doll too. Poor thing was so sweaty because I carried her in the baby carrier 90% of the time, but it guaranteed us that she would be happy so she didn't mind and neither did we. But as you can see in the pictures with Goofy and Minnie, she was star struck. She never cried when the characters came around, just stared in awe. It was darling.

Animal Kingdom was great because we saw some great animals really close up. We probably saw a dozen hippos and crocs just hanging out in this safari ride we took. It was really fun. Sea World was amazing! I love sea animals and Joey was so thrilled to get wet by Shamu- Emma not so much! It was pretty cold. But she survived.

All in all it was a great vacation. We felt so blessed to have our children behave and the weather as well. It was always a beautiful day and than when we had enough and were on our way back to the resorts, the heavens opened and it poured big time. So we felt lucky. If you go to Disney definitely get the meal plan. We were able to have character breakfasts with Lilo and Stitch and Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and the Little Einsteins which we would never have paid for individually. We will be back in Disney in January for my first ever Marathon! Wish me luck. If you want to see WAY more pictures go to the blog (if you get this by email) and there is a slide show there.

Milton, FL

If you got our posts as emails, be prepared to get a few emails in the next few days as I catch you up on our new adventure.

This is our new home in Milton, FL. Its about 45 minutes outside of Pensacola. We decided to live here because Kevin will be working in two bases and this was somewhat in the middle. Its a cute little neighborhood that is behind a golf course. All of our streets are named after famous golfers- go figure. But I have to say that we really love it. The house is 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. Our master bath is as as big as a room on its own and we each have our own closets. Kevin was thrilled to have a place to finally spread his clothes out. I guess I wasn't giving him enough space. I don't ever see how that is possible :) What I really love is our dinning room. If you know me for a long time, you know how much I love our dining room table and how much I love to entertain, so now I get to keep it open and have beautiful pictures on the wall- its just great.

The kids are adjusting really well. It was sensitive there for a while because Joey really missed his friends back in MD but we are keeping him busy and have set up all his toys and he is happy. He is potty training. Not fun at all! He does better with Kevin than with me, but I have to be patient. I just say- "No PooPoo on Thomas" (thanks Amy) and it works out sometimes. I just have to watch for the PeePee dance and the hiding when he poops.

Enough about Poop. Emma is great. She is 7 months and such a cutie if I say so myself. She sits up and I started to make her her own baby food. My friend Luz introduced me to the concept and I actually enjoy it. Yesterday I made her 14 jars for about $5.00. The cheapest I ever saw baby food was when Dad got some for Amy in CA for .25 and I never saw that again so hopefully this way I can save money. She really likes them so far and I get to be creative. Hopefully this will help her not be as picky as Joey.

Kevin is THRILLED to say the least about this training. He is excited to learn to fly and meet new people and get more of the Navy experience. He really loves the area too. He was great at getting the house unpacked and has been so patient with Joey and his potty training.

Me, well, we only have one car so I get to stay home lots, but my Mom is here which has been really nice. And I am going to start Joy School with Joey at home in the middle of August so between that, the kids, and some projects, it will be fine to stay home and not spend any money ;)

Well gotta go put Joey to bed so I will be back to update you on Disney World!!!! PS- that picture of us in a box was while we were putting together our patio set, this big thunderstorm hit and Joey was so scared of the thunder he hid in the box. It was pretty loud.

LT. Kevin J. Winegar, D.O.

Sometimes, I just cannot believe that Kevin is a Doctor. Don't get me wrong, he is brilliantly smart and has dedicated himself to his career and education so he deserves the title, but when I see him playing Mario Kart on Wii or being silly with Joey, it amazes me that he can play both roles so brilliantly.

He has completed his Intern year at National Naval Medical Center and today they had a ceremony to give out certificates to the interns and graduating residents. It was a nice ceremony. Emma wore the cutest little sailor dress that a good friend gave to us and it was a hit. She blended right in. It was great to see Kevin take Emma around and show her off. Plus, the majority of the doctors there helped with her prenatal care so they were thrilled to see her thriving.

These are some of Kevin's fellow interns. The girl next to Kevin is Rickquel who will be living with us in Florida.

Certificate of Completion

She did not steal her Daddy's thunder. Not one bit :) Joey was at a friend's house playing because the ceremony would have been to much to ask of a busy two year old.

We than spent the afternoon at the pool in our community. The water was cool but it was nice and Joey had a blast. Emma not so much.

Old McDonald Had a Farm...

On June 1, a local farm was nice enough to open its doors to the community and allow the children to experience life on a farm. It was such a neat experience for a city girl to see such a magnificent farm. Joey really enjoyed himself and Emma did great sleeping. It was hot and humid, but worth the tour.

We had a fun hay ride around the farm and saw the future apple orchards, wheat fields, the corn maze for the fall, a local garden, and the rolling hills. Joey loved the big wheels on the tractor and didn't mind the hard hay that kept poking his booty.

I have to say that his favorite part was grinding the dried corn to be able to feed the chickens. The young man helping had to actually put some away so that Joey would stop getting the corn.

He kept feeding those chickens but he got pecked at a few times. He quickly forgave them and kept giving them their feed.

He did not like to feed the goats though. His little friend, Sara was more fearless than he was.

But he loved to see "Olivia" roll around the mud.

Growing so fast

I can't believe how fast our little girl has grown.

Yesterday, Emma turned 6 months. It feels like just yesterday I was hoping to stay pregnant as long as possible so she could be healthy and than when I finally get my cerclage taken out, I walk around dilated 5cm for about a week. Those days were sure not fun. But it definitely helped me appreciate my little girl all the much more. Last time we went to the doctor, Emma was a whopping 16lbs 9oz. She wears 9 month clothing and probably wears them each once because loved ones have been so generous in supplying her wardrobe. Here are 6 things we absolutely love about Emma...

1- Her beautiful, room enlightening, smile

2- Her thunder thighs, aka TT

3- She can hold her own bottle which is great for when brother steals her thunder

4- She can grab both her feet and tries to suck on her toes at the same time. As if she is not fed enough.

5- She sleeps through the night. Well mostly, but more often than none.

6- Her eyes! Wow she has beautiful eyes. Sometimes she looks like a deer caught in headlights but when she smiles they sparkle.

We love our little girl and are grateful that she has been entrusted to us.

The end...

New Address

The time is now approaching for our second military move. Lets see how many it adds up to. We found a cute little house that is a good size for us and a good location in between both bases that Kevin will be working at. We are excited about it because there is a fellow intern named Rickqeul that will be living with us. She is single and loves my cooking so we figured we would be roomies for 6 months so we can both save money and it saves her having to sign additional leases, cook, and she said she would babysit so who would say no to that? Not me! Anyhow... oficially July 1 our new address will be

5839 Chi Chi Circle

Milton, FL 32570