Our house is a very fine house

For those of you who haven't seen our house in a while or who have just never seen our house this clean. Here are some pictures of what has been our home for the last four years. Of course, it has never looked better now that we are ready to leave in a few months.

Home Sweet Home!

1st Floor

(Entry, Living room, Dining room, Kitchen and Breakfast Nook)

2nd Floor

(Master bedroom, Liz's new room, Playroom/Ava's room, Office)

Basement

(minus the 1970's feel with brown shag carpet and brown walls) Backyard If the price is right, we will throw in the dog.

Goodbye to a Good Marine on Good Friday

Seven years in the Marine Corps, and my active duty career has come to a close. It was a happy, yet sad time. I am looking forward to what the future holds, but it is a bit scary to leave a career that I was pretty good at and enjoyed (most of the time).

On my last day, my friends and co-workers gathered for my farewell luncheon. There were 20-30 folks there, including my two favorite girls who always make every event more interesting.

The girls enjoyed a nutritious lunch of fried fish, Cheetos and juice boxes.

And then proceeded to run around while my boss was doing the award presentation. Ava actually planted her bottom in the green bush.

In case you are wondering, I received the Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

By the way, you have to love the Marine Corps' maternity cammies...can't you just imagine me running through the woods with my M16, hiding behind trees, diving to the ground, and low crawling through a ditch.

"Get your butt down!!! My butt is down, it is my belly!!!"

Over the Hill

It is official as of March 19th, I am now 30 years old! Since Ryan is 13 months younger than me, he is always looking forward to an opportunity to rub his "youth" in my face. Despite the fact that we were very busy with getting the house ready for sale, traveling, and work, we took a short break to go out to dinner and celebrate this milestone.

Now that I am....

(The candle also played music.) The girls and Ryan made me a beautiful cake.

But I thought we might have to call the fire department.

Personally, I wanted to postpone my birthday for 6 months to a year. Not because I was afraid of turning 30, but rather because I wanted to be able to really CELEBRATE!!! I would have loved to take a long weekend and fly to some tropical resort and lie on the beach with a drink with a little umbrella in it, instead of painting my kitchen, 9 months pregnant. But I am glad, my family gave me small but great birthday celebration.

Texas Time

Of course Ryan and I forgot our cameras while we were in Texas visiting Gram, Bub, Nana, and Andrea, but thanks to my sister-in-laws I was able to pilfer some pictures from our family reunion.

Milo, Reina, Elizabeth, and Ava... that rounds out the Knight grandkids until April when a 5th is added to the chaos.

Liz is already a big fan of babies (and no clothes).

All the girls!

Easter Fun

I had my family back together for about 12 hours, then Ryan headed off to a NASCAR race for the weekend. Since the girls and I are not big fans, we decided to make our own fun. On Saturday we went over to Henderson Hall Marine Base for their "Brunch with the Bunny" event with some friends. The girls had a blast!

Elizabeth really enjoyed dancing, cupcakes, and the bunny. Ava was more into scouring for eggs.

Gone but not Forgotten

I have been somewhat delinquent in posting lately, but I swear that it is not my fault. Following the birthday party, I went out of town on a week long business trip. Upon my return, I immediately succumbed to the flu, which knocked me down and out for a week. That brings us to the end of February. At the beginning of March, Ryan and Elizabeth flew down to San Antonio, TX to hang out with Gram and Bub for a couple of weeks, so that left me short one kid to rave about. But I will tell you that Ava is a totally different person without her sister around to wind her up into a state of agitation. Ava and I flew down to San Antonio over the weekend to meet up with the entire Knight Clan for a mini-reunion. There should be plenty of pictures forthcoming from that event (of course none are on my camera), which I will get my hands on to post or check out the girls' cousins (Reina and Milo) blogs. Ryan decided to keep both girls with him in Texas until the end of the week, so I am enjoying a few days of piece and quiet to myself. However, I still have this huge parasite inside of me punching at my bladder all the time. More photos and updates will be forthcoming as soon as our hectic schedule settles down.