Finally after 2 years of not having professional pictures done of the family, we got some! YAY! I know right! They came out super cute too! I'm so happy we found a great photographer here in Colorado. As far as moving here, well I don't like it too much. I miss Hawaii BIG TIME! I keep trying to get my husband to reenlist and ask for Hawaii. I want to be back in paradise. I want our old life back, I  miss it so much. It's just not the same here. I don't feel like it will ever be. We got started as a family in Hawaii. We got married there, had our son there, my husbands first and only (besides colorado) duty station was there....ahhhhh  I want to feel the sand beneath my toes, The wind from north shore in my hair, and a nice shaved ice in my hand! I want to be on Schofield again. I know, sounds crazy, but I miss that damn base! Everything is right there, I loved it so much! :( I'm going to click my heels together 3 times....there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home................am I back in Hawaii yet?

Sweet Home Colorado

We have officially been Colorado residents for 3 WHOLE months! I cannot believe we have been here that long. Seems like yesterday that we were just driving here from the South. It has been a big adjustment for all of us. The kids have taken to this state pretty well. I thought Savannah's asthma might act up because of the elevation, but boy was I wrong! Her asthma has actually gotten better! She doesnt need her inhalers as much as she did in the South. Life here has been pretty good. The weather is getting a lot nicer, and the views are breath taking. I am so thankful that my husband got this duty station.

We love it here so much, that we are thinking about buying a house in the near future. The market is perfect right now for buying, and since we would be putting BAH money towards a mortgage, we won't be wasting 15k a year on rent anymore! Thats a lot of money to spend on something that you don't even own in the end!! I cannot wait to become a Colorado resident for good! I'm kinda nervous about the winters here, but I will get used to it. There is so much to do here,  we will NEVER get bored! Lately we haven't been able to do too much, as my stomach issues have been keeping me from doing anything really. The doctors have no clue exactly what it is, so they have to do a ton of test to figure it out :/ In the meantime, I have decided to go Gluten Free. I have been reading up on Celiac Disease, and I have a lot of symtpoms. Also just the afact that I have gastrointestinal problems period, I could possibly benefit from this. It's not easy at all, but it needs to be done. I cannot deal with this stomach pain everyday. I feel like I am not giving my family the love and attention they need from me. I will get through this, and come out stronger!

Savannah got accepted into the Head Start Program here, and started this past Thursday. She loves it. She goes 4 days a week, for 4 hours. A great break for me, not so much for her brother, since he asks for "Vanna" the whole time :) Mark got accepted into Early Head Start as well(we just found this out yesterday). He will be going Wed & Fri for 4 hours a day as well! Too bad I will only be "kid free" for 15min in between dropping Savannah off at school and pick up Mark. Savannah also starts soccer soon! She says she doesn't want to do it anymore becasue the other kids will keep the ball from her. We told her she should jsut go watch and if she doesn't want to, then she doesn't have to go back and we could do gymnastics or something else. I think she will like it:) If not, its only $20 plus the $24 we spent on cleats. Anyway, I must start cleaning my house here soon, so I am going now.

It's been too long....

Yes, Yes. I know! I haven't written in over 3 months, but I just can't ever remember to come and write here. I need to start it up again since we will be moving soon! Im so excited! We FINALLY found out where Mark's next duty station is going to be.....drum roll please...........COLORADO!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL! I am stoked! I am looking forward to REAl seasons, unlike the south! And im def. looking forward to starting this new chapter in our lives. Mark comes home next month which is AWESOME! I'm so ready to have him on American soil. Unfortunetly we don't get to see him til May 11th, but hey atleast he will be safe! He gets a month long leave in May and is coming to Louisiana to spend time with my family and move us to Colorado. My amazing stepmom has offered to help us drive up there with the kids! I need that help too because I can't drive for long my whole body starts hurting and kids start screaming and my nerves are shot after 5 hours. :( We will only have about 2 days to actually look for a house, since my stepmom has to return to work, and we need her help unloading some stuff from uhaul. Im hoping we can find a house by then. If not guess kids will be in a room with baby gate up and tv to keep them occupied while me and mark attempt to move my heavt ass elliptical lol. We will figure it all out in the end! Besides that everything is going good. Kids have been sick and so have I but we are getting better slowly. Savannah has her dance recital end of May, which I am so excited to see her dance. She loves it. I know she will have so much fun! And daddy will be here to see it, so it makes it ten times better!! Well  I can't even keep my eyes open. Going to bed. Hopefully you will hear back from me sooner rather than later this time. Love y'all! xoxo

Pris

Lots a stuff has happened.......

So I haven't written in my blog in like, FOREVER! I figured since the hubby is on staff duty and I am bored, that I might as well. Well to start off, I am no longer pregnant! Yes, that means my little man is here. He was born October 20th at 10:28am weighing in at 7.1 lbs 19.25 in absolutely handsome(just like his daddy)! Though Mark Jr. came 6 weeks early, he only stayed in the NICU for 2 days. He did have a bit of jaundice,  but it went away within a week and he is doing great. Well besides the spit up and gas problems but those will be resolved shortly if they switch his formula to a more sensitive one.My step mom came into town a week after her was born and helped out. It was truly needed since the hubby's paternity leave was up. I really enjoyed her being here! The hubby has the board again this month, hopefully he will get his E-6 promotion status this time. He wants it so bad, and I know he has it in him, there just has been so much going on the last couple months that he hasn't passed the last boards. My fingers are crossed this time for him, if he doesn't pass this time he can't go again until our next duty station in 2 years! Besides that everything is great! Savannah is an awesome BIG sister. She just adores Mark so much! Sometimes I think she loves him too much. The holidays are coming up and we are all excited to spend it together as a family. Sad we wont be home this year but, myself and the kids are heading home in March when the hubby deploys.Thats it for now,I have a 2 year old messing with my hair so I guess I gotta go haha!

I am A Military Wife

I Am An Army Wife

Author Unknown


I am an Army wife - a member of that sisterhood of women who have had the courage to watch their men go into battle, and the strength to survive until their return. Our sorority knows no rank, for we earn our membership with a marriage license, travelling over miles, or over nations to begin a new life with our soldier husbands. Within days, we turn a barren, echoing building into a home, and though our quarters are inevitably white-walled and unpapered, we decorate with the treasures of our travels, for we shop the markets of the globe.


Using hammer and nail, we tack our pictures to the wall, and our roots to the floor as firmly as if we had lived there for a lifetime. We hold a family together by the bootstraps, and raise the best of 'brats', instilling in them the motto: "Home is togetherness", whether motel, or guest house, apartment or duplex. As Army wives we soon realize that the only good in "Good-bye" is the "Hello again". For as salesmen for freedom, our husbands are often on the road, leaving us behind for a week, a month, an assignment.


During separations we guard the home front, existing until the homecoming. Unlike our civilian counterparts, we measure time, not by age, but by tours. We plant trees, and never see them grow tall, work on projects completed long after our departure, and enhance our community for the betterment of those who come after us.


We leave a part of ourselves at every stop. Through experience, we have learned to pack a suitcase, a car or hold baggage, and live indefinitely from the contents within: and though our fingers are sore from the patches we have sewn, and the silver we have shined, our hands are always ready to help those around us. Women of peace, we pray for a world in harmony, for the flag that leads our men into battle, will also blanket them in death.


Yet we are an optimistic group, thinking of the good, and forgetting the bad, cherishing yesterday, while anticipating tomorrow. Never rich by monetary standards, our hearts are overflowing with a wealth of experiences common only to those united by the special tradition of military life. We pass on this legacy to every Army bride, welcoming her with outstretched arms, with love and friendship, from one sister to another, sharing in the bounty of our unique, fulfilling Army way of life.

Missing my Hubby

Challenges make life interesting, however, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.


- Mark Twain

 
 My hubby left for training and this is by far one of the hardest things I have had to do in a long, long time. I am so used to him coming home everyday at 5pm, now he isn't. Atleast it's only for  3 weeks. This sure is a challenge, a challenge only I can overcome. If I do not overcome this now, come deployment I will be an emotional wreck with two kiddos to take care of. I am dreading having to do this alone thing for a whole year. Well most of a year. It sure is going to suck! I'm glad I am making some awesome friends who will keep me company. I was having a rough time the first couple months without anyone here to hang out with or talk to. I am slowly but surely making some awesome people, who I know will eventually turn into life long friends. I am such a lucky person!  My husband has made my transition a lot easier, thank goodness. If it wasn't for him being patient I probably would have gone nuts by now. He is such an amazing perosn who I love with all my heart and I couldn't have asked for a better husband! Baby, I love and miss you! Can't wait til you are home and in my arms again :)

22 weeks down......

126 days to go! Gosh this next month is going to be super busy! Hubby leaves for PTA for 3 weeks :( Super sad, but it will just show how strong I can be here on my own. Though my mom will be coming on the 16th so I guess I really won't be on my own :) Savannah starts dance classw on the 3rd and boy am I excited!!!! She loves to dance. Everytime she hears music of any kind( even commercials) she starts shaking her bootay!! Takes after her mama :) As far as the pregnancy goes, well its going. I feel fatter everyday! I'm finding it harder and harder to get out the tub by myself or get up off the floor haha! SO basically no nice hot baths when the hubby is gone. Little Mark is getting BIG! The ultrasound tech said that he is 11weeks bigger than he should be. Which most likely means he will be a 8-9lb baby or more! Ha! Yeah he better not be! I pushed out a 5lb one and thought that was hard even on the epidural(ok i lie, it didn't hurt, but the aftermath did) Anyway life is great! Meeting some new friends. Loving the new house we moved in too! I couldn't ask for more......well maybe to stop gaining so much weight because it sure takes a toll on my sleeping :(

It's a............................

BOY! Mark Robert Sheafer Jr.

So far this pregnancy has been horrible, if you can imagine having every horrible symptom times a million then thats what I had. Now I'm getting the cramps in the lower abdomen and ligaments pulling really hard. Im almost 18 weeks. We cheated and went to do a non diagnostic to find out the sex. The real diagnostic ultrasound is on July 14th, shortly after we get back from our family vacation to KAUAI!!!!! We are vey excited! Much need vacay for all of us. A week of just laying on the beach, in the pool, and exploring the island. Yes, be jealous! It's ok. I will post pics haha! Well gota go now! :)

It's been a while.....

Sorry for being so late, but tons have been going on lately. We have now been a family for going on 7 months now, and living in Hawaii for almost 3. I can't believe I have been here this long. Hawaii definetly isn;t what I thought it would be. Everyday has been rainy.(well almost everyday) I was starting to meet tons of girls but then I became sick. Not knowing what could be wrong I headed to the doctor and they did a lot of test. One of which I didn't think I would be taking right now. Yes, a pregnancy test. And the result was POSITIVE! I am now ending my 11th week of pregnancy. It has been HORRIBLE! I didn't have all this nausea and dizzines and exhaustion with Savannah. Sometimes I just break down because I don't know what to do. My poor Savannah is stuck indoors all day because I can barely get off the couch. We sometimes try and make it to my new awesome friends Tiffanys house to play. She has a 4yr old daughter and 2 1/2 yr old son. Savannah LOVES LOVE LOVES to play with them. When we pull in the neighborhood she is screaming "shelby,venson, YAY" its soo adorable! They have tons of toys and she goes crazy with them. Which is good in away so mommy can relax and talk to an adult. Tiffany has helped me out a lot. She is the been there done that kinda person. Since she has two kids she knows a lot and informs me on the things to come. She is my saving grace, especially since Mark will be deploying again next May/June. I will have no one here so she is going to be my adopted family! Besides the new baby on the way, Mark has been busy and in reset mode. They just got done with that and are now going into training mode, which means longer days/nights and more of us not seeing each other. He has to leave me for almost a month in August, then again in January. Atleast he will be here for the birth and first couple months of the new babies first steps in life. We are all very excited and can't wait to see our new bundle of joy. I can't wait to get over this nauseas/dizzines/exhaustion/constant bathroom breaks....the lsit goes on! Well its getting to my bedtime. ta ta for now :)

pris

Living in Paradise

So, we finally moved to Hawaii almost a month ago. We have been trying to settle, though its not something thats in the near future. We have so many appointments to go to for the military and other things. Life has been great. We are trying to adjust to living with Mark. He sure can be a pain sometimes but we love him. It's def. not an easy thing conjoining two lives together. Especially when it is two different ones. But we are doing pretty well. Wanted to post some pics of our adventures so far...... Enjoy!

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane.....

So....there's only 23 days left now until we move to Hawaii! We are very very excited! A little bit stressed out with the whole move, considering that our command sponsorship hasn't been accepted yet, which meas that we won't be here when movers come, so therefore my parents will be in charge, which is fine. I just hate putting more stress on them than they already have. The next couple weeks we will be packing up stuff and putting it into one specific spot in the attic, to make it easier for my parents to tell the movers which stuff is ours. Mark is heading out next week to a school thing and won't be back until the day before we get there, so I am sure the next 2 1/2 weeks will go by quick for him. We are soo soo excited, we have missed daddy so much and can't wait to see our new house! We will miss my parents very much, but know we will soon see them again. I'm sure that there will be many tears at the airport from us all......we will miss you nan and grandad! xoxo love yall

Family Portraits

So we went to Target to get pictures done, which I regret. They are very pricey and not good work. The picture turned out ok, but I would have liked better. Other than the pictures, we have been enjoying our time at my husband's parents house in Keller, TX. They are awesome. I have wonderful in laws and I am so greatful for that. Well thats that, I will post more soon. xoxo

HAWAII

So here is more pictures of the wedding and Hawaii at its best! I can't wait to move there. It's so much different as far as the weather and people. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, Savannah and I are going to love going to the beach while daddy is at work ha ha! There's tons of trails I would love to hike. I actually enjoy the outdoors, but unfortunately the weather here is Louisiana doesn't let me enjoy it. Hawaii will be a new experience for Savannah and I. We can't wait to start our new life with Mark!!!!

 

 

By the way.....my husband took these amazing photos of Hawaii....he is good! Maybe he can teach me one day!

 

 

 

 

 

My Favorite!

'

Mr & Mrs Sheafer

So it might be a little late, but I'm finally posting it! Yes, I am now a Mrs. and I am sure proud of it! We got married in Oahu, Hawaii on October 30th 2009! Had a pretty good honeymoon at the Hale Koa Military Resort n Waikiki, Hawaii, which is the touristy area. My new hubby showed me around and it was GREAT! I LOVE HAWAII! Shortly after our honeymoon, we started the long and grueling process of military paperwork. Oh what fun! Yes, we had to get myself and my daughter enrolled into tons of stuff and am now in the process of trying to get accepted for command sponsorship so that Savannah and I can move to the island with Mark. Lets all cross our fingers that everything works out so that we can live normally as a family and start our new life together. It sucks being married and not being able to live with my husband. I got to live with him for a week after our marriage in the tiny room at the army barracks that we call the jail cell. It's so small and with two people in it, it felt tons smaller. All in all I had a pretty good time, and can't wait to see him soon when he comes home on block leave November 23rd.....only one more week! Hopefully we will be moving to Hawaii shortly after his return to the island on the 2nd of January. Thats all for now, going to go talk to my hubby then go to bed, 7am comes early!

 

 

                                                                                Lili & Mya

Cupcakes

So, my daughter LOVES Wonder Pets. That is the cutest show. We love Ming Ming the duck, so I saw that they had Ming Ming cupcakes online and got my stepmom to print the instructions out. I was going to make a whole bunch of them but after doing one, I gave up. It took so darn long! It would be different if it was for a birthday party or for her class but it was just for her. The one I did turned out really good. She helped with the stirring the batter, but I guess she was tired and she passed out before they were done baking. I love my baby she is soo sweet and cute and just the best little girl ever!!

 

Pretty Girl

Wow, Savannah needs to stop growing! Every time I look at a new picture of her, she just looks so much older. My little baby is growing up way to fast.....STOP!

Crazy child

So for all of you who haven't met my child, she is a bit on the looney side. I figure she gets it from me since I am always looney. She started singing ABC song yesterday but only the sounding of it, not the actual words. She does this little rocking thing as she sings it. Then today at Wendy's she starts shaking and doing the chugga chugga choo choo thing i do to get her to eat her food. She is just soo silly. I love her to death. She is growing up too fast, before I know it she will be 2! Things are great here, wedding planning is basically over just have to buy him his ring and also go get my dress altered this weekend. I  can't believe in 44 days I will no longer be a Zaffuto. It's pretty crazy how fast time flies. Well off to bed  now...more blogs to come!!

 

 

The first.......

So, here it is. My first post ever! Wow, I never thought I would be the blogging type of person, but I'm here! I figured that since we will be moving within the next year to Hawaii, that I start a blog for friends and family. Everyone will be able to see what's going on in our lives and most importantly be able to watch Savannah gown up, without actually  being there. I will be sure to post pictures weekly of her so that everyone can see my doodlebug grow! As for right now, everything is great. The wedding is only 49 days away and Mark is leaving Iraq sometime within the next month. He is so ready to get out of there, and I am as well. Everything is planned and paid for now it's just the whole waiting period that's killing me. Feels like time is going by soo slow, when in reality its gone by super fast. Feels like yesterday that I said goodbye to him at the airport and started planning our wedding. Now its almost here! Besides that, Savannah is doing amazing. She is a crazy child, she is definetly mine! Sometimes I wonder where all this craziness comes from, but then I look myself and my father and see where she gets it from. She is now 15 months old and is a handful. She loves her Gran and Grandad! They are her best friends, along with our 3 crazy dogs. Shoes are also her best friends, she is the typical woman! I'm so lucky to have all these amazing people in my life. Without them I don't know where I would be. As for my first blog, this is kind of lame, but hey, I'm trying here! There will be more to come, along with pictures of all of us!