Buenvenidos a Miami.....





This past Friday, I kissed my kids good bye while they were asleep. My husband drove me and dropped me off, and I kissed him good bye. Yes thats right, lots of good byes, why you say, cuz it was time for me to PARRRRRTAYYYYYYY! I was off to Miami for Rachels bachelorette party. It was awesome. From the minute I got off the plan to the minute I got back on the plan I was none stop. We got to our hotel, me and 5 other gals, then headed straight for the pool/beach. I dont have pictures of that stuff to show you know. Long story short my camera ran out of space, so I have to wait for everyone to give me their pictures at Rachels wedding in ONLY two weeks. wow!! Any who I had a blast. The food was amazing. The clubs were cool, deft different from VA clubs. They had beds by their pools, the music was different, it was just amazing. I will have pictures of that stuff in a later blog. What i do have pictures of is our first night going out. I had my first drink in over a year! We ate dinner at this place called NEXTT. It was great food, but we swear they stole Cheese Cake Factory menu! As we sat down, Maria (one of the glas who came out for the party) noticed that the guy next to us was from Flip that house! Very cool seeing someone famous our first night. I went on a land and sea tour the next day, a few big highlights for me was seeing Miami INK! I love that show,, tell me you have all seen that. I even went in there but I have to wait for those pictures too boo hoo. We saw Versace's house, Miami Vice house , Shaqs house, Rosie O'Donnell, Earnest Hemingway's brothers house, a 50 MILLION dollar house, I could go on an on. It was amazing. Miami is so beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. It was a great getaways for me! So enjoy the pictures,,, there will be more sooner or later!!......

I wrote this Sept 17th,, sorry for posting so late.

My first beer in over a year,, went down kinda rough.

A cool looking tree...

Ash and Rach dont get out much!

This was at one of the clubs..

Miami Ink

Miami vice house

Shaqs house

Doesn't get any cuter than this!!

Thought I would share how cute my son is in his crib! He is just so sweet!

mom why are you bugging me?

Ok, I know I am cute

I got tagged again!!!!!!



1. Who is your man? Lawrence William Gazes



2. How long have you been together? FOREVER!! 12 YEARS



3. How long did you date? dated 4 years before we were married, we were engage during that time...



4. How old is your man? 31



5. Who eats more? with out a doubt Will!



6. Who said "I love you" first? He did,,,,man we were 19 then...



7. Who is taller? duhhhhh Will!



8. Who sings better? me i guess,,



9. Who is smarter? I would deft. say Will is .



10. Whose temper is worse? MINE...



11. Who does the laundry? me almost always



12. Who takes out the garbage? Will does when he isnt deployed!



13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Will does



14. Who pays the bills? Will does, but when deployed I do



15. Who is better with the computer? Will, but I am getting better..



16. Who mows the lawn? both but it should just be him.



17. Who cooks dinner? Me.



18. Who drives when you are together? Will



19. Who pays when you go out? Will



20. Who is most stubborn? yes me again



21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Will



22. Whose parents do you see the most? mine



23. Who kissed who first? Will kissed me on a bench in Old Town Alexandria, by the water. very weird I must say, I said to him, let me kiss you like I KNOW HOW, and then it was all history, i had him wrapped around my finger.. love at first kiss!!



24. Who asked who out? neither, we were best friends 4 years before we started dating and it just kinda happend. dang we have known eachother 16 years.



25. Who proposed? He did.



26. Who is more sensitive? Me...



27. Who has more friends? i would say me,,,



28. Who has more siblings? me, 2 sisters 1 brother



.29. Who wears the pants in the family?everyone would say me, but lately i say we both do... but man i love it when will wears then,, hehehehehe i like him putting his foot down. go figure the stuff that turns me on!!!!



I tag all the gals that read this and never post anything, Penny, Alicia, Ash, Rach,Kathy Jo, Lindsey,Michele,Erin, and all the other ladies .. you know who you are!

How can I forget?

I over heard someone say that they just wanted to forget about September 11. I just stood there thinking! How could I forget! How can I forget September 11th, my husband is a United States Marine How can i forget the times I sat at home praying for his safety while he was fighting to defend our country? How can I forget THAT day, when I was comforting my sister who was hysterical because her two girls were at the Pentagon day care? How can I forget THAT day, when I was waiting to hear from my family that my aunt was ok? How can I forget the horror my family and I felt until we finally got the phone calls that Dad and Richard ran and searched for the girls, or the moment they finally saw each other and the tears they shed once they looked into their sweet faces. I CANT FORGET. Our world is forever changed. My life is forever changed.

I am filled with so much emotion on this day. I am so proud of my husband and our marine family. They sacrifice so much to give us a safer place to live. I look at my nieces and feel so blessed that they are here on this earth! So tonight I got together with my family and celebrate FAMILY. We should all be grateful for the blessing in our lives. There is no time to take anything for granted. So with that, thank you Will for serving our country. I know its has been so hard to leave your family behind so many times. Know that we appreciate all you have done. That goes for Ryan and Sarah and my 1/6 family! The bond we have is so strong. Thank you all for your support and your sacrifices! Thank you to my family. My heart is so full of love and praise for you all.

Sweet Ones..

I am a bit late in blogging this one. But I am just now catching up on my blogs. A few weeks ago I got the chance to babysit my niece Emma for the first time! Jackie , Willie , and I were looking forward to spending the day with our Emma Jean. We had so much fun playing with all our toys, eating snacks, and of course dessert! Willie just loved having Emma here. He was so amazed to see a small human walking. I think that is what got him on the crawling band wagon! She was so much fun. We get to watch her on Mondays for a few hours the next two months while Sara is in school. It will be nice for us to get that time because the O'Connells will be moving from Manassas (which is only 5 mins from our house) to Burke. We are happy for them but will miss our dinners and get togethers we have been able to have! Any hoo,,, as you can see my little Miss. Emma kept a little O on her face all day. Every picture I took she kept her lips in an O shape. Guess it was the letter of the day!

This ball is as big as Emma.
OHHH , did I do that?

Willie just loves his cousin!

Jackie shared her Popsicles with her buddy!

This is my favorite picture of Emma ever...

If you look close you can see Popsicle between Emma's eyes. It was very funny.

7 Months and going STRONG!

Willie has grown so much the past three months. He got his two bottom teeth at five months. Now he is working on his top too and one tooth by his bottom left tooth. He started to sit up at the end of 6 months. Man he is a cutie when his sits straight up and gives you that smile of his! And yes, at 7 months he is crawling! Well as Will would say , he does the marine low man crawl! I will have to video it for you all and blog that soon! My little boy is a sweetie pie. He has been sleeping in his crib the past two months. He still wakes a few times , but thats ok. Any chance to spend a few quite moments, just the two of us, is worth the lack of sleep. He also naps, unlike Jackie Rose. He takes a morning nap and an afternoon name. The good lord has blessed me! I prayed for a napper! Now that Jackie is in school, I can have 2 hours to clean! AMEN! He is a great eater too. 3 jars of food and breast milk and 1-2 bottles of formula a day! He is such a good little boy! Hope you enjoy the pictures...

Yes thats right, I am playing with my sisters doll. I love to mess up their hair!

First Day of School.....

Today was Jackie Rose's first day of preschool. We went for an open house last week and man she didn't want to leave! We worked on her teachers name all weekend. When she woke up I asked her what her teachers name was and she was right, Ms. Wilsher. It was so cute. I am so proud of her. I pulled up to the school and I had butterflies in my stomach. It was just yesterday I held her in my arms for the first time and now she is off to school. Were has the time gone? My little girl is no longer a baby. She was such a big girl today. We walked into her class and she was ready to start her day. I walked her over to her hook were she hung up her back pack. Then she went to the story mat with the other children and joined in the playing! I gave my little girl her kiss and hug and told her I would see in later. She said , OK mom, love you too. And that was that. Willie and I left the room and my eyes filled with tears. Today was harder on me than it was for my sweet little girl. She walked in that classroom for the first time as my baby girl, and she ran out today as my sweet BIG girl! UHHHHHH I was so happy to pick her up today, but she said , Mommy, what are you doing here. I want to eat lunch with my friends. Thank goodness I planned a special lunch for her today or she would have been kicking and screaming all the way to the car. So enjoy my pictures..... my baby is growing up right before my eyes!

Jackie in front of her school
Jackie right before she walked into her classroom

My little ham! She found her hook right away!

Giving baby brother a kiss good bye

Sooo sweet! Jackie's desk!

Her joining in the morning fun.

Thought I would take a picture of the other half of the room,, and Willie too.

All of Jackie's new friends! She already is talking about Lanna and Rachel.

My last look at my big girl before Willie and I walked out the door!

On the front door, in that first picture , you could see panda bears w/ the kids names on it. The frog were on the wall out side of the room. I just melt every time I see anything with Jackie's name on it. Yes, they will call her Jackie and will change her name tag. She refuses to believe Jaqulyn is her first name!!!