Catching up...

I am sitting here typing this late at night, after everyone else is asleep because it seem like that is the only free time I have left in the world.  We are really busy now and it seems like the days are just flying by.  Chris is in the middle of his Chinese Language Class and boy, that is something else... For those of you that know him, you know he is not one to study for any test...well I am here to tell you, studying is ALL that man does now-a-days.  He eats, drinks, and sleeps Chinese.  And to help him, we have made flash cards, downloaded every app, burned cd's for the car, and we even have several Disney movies in mandarin Chinese. It's funny because he is working so hard at it, he even speaks Chinese in his sleep.
Meanwhile, Adriane and Samantha are in school.  It starts ridiculously early here, and I am NOT a fan, but they are doing really well.  They get up early every morning around 5:45 because the bus comes at 6:35 every morning.  They are troopers.
Darryl stays home with Amillia and I, and we are starting to do pre-school a little here and there.  He already knows most of his colors and some shapes.  pretty good for a 2 yr old. 
Amillia is 4 months now, and laughing and smiling all the time.  She is such a good baby, and so cute that she steals all the attention wherever we go.  Random people in the store stop me to tell me how adorable she is...but i already know! She just started to use her hands and grab things, so we are in the mode of keeping everything away from her so she won't put it in her mouth.  She is also sleeping through the night which is a huge blessing. 
 I am staying super busy with Amillia and Darryl.  It seems like all I do is follow Darryl around with a broom or something, because I am always cleaning up a mess. Also I was recently called as the primary secretary and i have loved it so far, because i finally was able to meet new interesting people that i can be friends with.  they are really fun, and we have started to do fun things with them and their families.  And we have really enjoyed getting to know them.
We are finally starting to get used to living out here now.  It's very different than what we are used to and call home, but there are fun and cool things to do, and we are making the most of it, and having a good time. 

Amillia Faye

We welcomed baby Amillia Faye Bernard to our family on July 28. She came in at 7 lbs 7 oz 21 inches long at 1:30 pm. We had her in the hospital on base, which was a different experience. We were overdue by 8 days and so the Dr decided to start us. We went in at 7:30 in the morning, did some blood tests, and then they started the pitocen at 11:30. I was trying to go as far as I could without any pain meds, I think I made it about an hour...but when I got to the point of asking for it, they were in the middle of an emergency with another mother, so i couldn't get it. It was the most intense labor ever and I hve never been in so much pain. there was no time in between contractions and we were ready to push in less than 2 hours. The Dr and nurses barely had time to catch her.

Visitors!

We had company this summer for a few weeks...Grandma Laurie and Uncle Kamron flew out here and stayed for 3 weeks to help us with the new baby.  It was really fun to have them here.  The girls took turns sleeping upstairs with Grandma.  We took them to Ft. Bragg, and showed them the turtles and the geese.  Adrie caught a tiny little frog, Kamron and Darryl fed the geese, and Kamron made friends with a duck. But poor Darryl sat in a hill of fire ants, and got bitten everywhere.  It was so gret to have my mom there to watch the kids while we went to various dr appointments and while we were at the hospital having the baby.  Thanks mom!

our house

from the front

our neighborhood

living room from the front door

the girls room and their bathroom

darryl's room

the living room

laundry/mud room

master bedroom

kitchen and back door

the fort

giant spider that i see every night, its bigger than a quarter...i think there are hundreds of these delightful creatures.  this one is on my back porch.  i don't think i will ever get used to the bugs here.

life so far here in NC

we have kind of settled in here...although there are boxes still everywhere, and we celebrated Samantha's birthday today (her birthday isn't for a few days but Chris has duty for a while) and we had a way fun day!

we went to a fun little place that is like a mile from our house and it has mini golf, go carts, bumper boats, batting cages, and an arcade.  it was really fun to go and spend the day together!

at the end of our party the kids ended up with over 200 tokens, that you kept on a little credit card, and then you could trade them for toys and candy, so it was pretty awesome.

our A/C broke a couple of days ago, and we decided that it was cooler outside, so we ate popcicles on the porch.

it has rained for a few days here, and the kids thought it was awesome.  they havent seen rain in so long, i wondered if they would even remeber what it was.  darryl came inside after getting soaked and said to me  "i wet mom"  so cute  ;)