Sarah Palin is Even More Wonderful Than I Imagined!

After breakfast this morning, Alegria sat attentively as she watched her new Baby Signing Time DVD, which came in the mail yesterday. This gave me a chance to get the dining room and kitchen cleanded up and her diaper bag ready for us to leave. :)

Cameron needed his new rank sewn on one of his garrison covers, so our first stop was the alterations place where we dropped off his suit to be dry-cleaned. Luckily, the suit was ready to be picked up, even though the lady had told me it would be ready this afternoon. That meant I wouldn't have to come back! Also, she was able to quickly remove the old rank and sew on the new rank onto Cameron's cap. Yay!

Next stop, Fort Hood Fox Troop Motor Pool.

When we got to our destination, Daddy was still busy, so Alegria and I waited in the warm car. I let Alegria out of her car seat and she looked around...

...gazed around...

...and played around.

She ALMOST took her headband off, but I saw her reach for it before she actually took it off and I asked her to please leave it in her hair. That worked. :)

And I got a picture of her and me together:

Then she proceeded to inspect the cup holder on her car seat:

Still waiting for Daddy to come get his cap:

Some of the vehicles at the motor pool:

Alegria tried climbing into the driver's seat:

Luckily, Daddy showed up and it distracted her from jumping to the front:

Daddy hung out with us for a few minutes and we even got to go with him back to Troop to pick something up from Daddy's office. But it was short-lived and he had to go back to work:

So Alegria and I went home...and on our way home it was snowing! Well...there were flurries and nothing was sticking, but it was a new experience for Alegria, who I let run around in the "snow" for a little while. She thoroughly enjoyed herself! And I'm glad I thought to let her have fun in the snow flurries before her nap because after her nap, there was nothing. :(





As soon as Alegria woke up from her nap, I got her ready and we took off to Little Josh's house. Andrea graciously offered to watch Alegria while I went back on Post for a special event...

Sarah Palin's book signing!!!

Cameron had told me about the book signing a week or two ago, but because he was still going to be at work, he asked me to go get a book of hers and get it signed. I was more than happy to!

After seeing Daddy at work this morning, Alegria and I actually had gone back to the Post Exchange (PX) to buy Sarah Palin's book so I'd have it for tonight. While we were there, we went to the toy section to look at their selection of toys. Alegria LOVED the baby dolls and kept carrying around a cute little doll that came with a carrier.

Well...as we were browsing around the toy section, we noticed that there were people lined up along one of the walls. I only really noticed them because they kept commenting on how cute Alegria was, her wanting all of the dolls and such, and they kept asking her age, etc.

So I did a little deductive reasoning (they each happened to have Sarah Palin's book...AND there was a sign at the beginning of the line that read "Sarah Palin Line Starts Here") and I deduced that it was a line of people waiting to see Sarah Palin! ALREADY?! At 10:30 A.M.? Wow!

I then went and read the guidelines that were posted for the book signing and I found out that the first 200 people would receive two free signed copies of her book. I was very tempted to go stand in line to get a bracelet that would mark me as one of the first 200, but then I decided that that wouldn't be completely honest.

Anyway. Back to the evening time!

Alegria was at Andrea's, playing happily with Little Josh, and I was at the PX. Luckily, I asked around and found out that even those after the first 200 were still also getting bracelets. The first 500 would be GUARANTEED to see her and get their book signed (only 2 per customer!) So I stood in that line and then went to the actual line to go see her.

And then I waited. And because I'd been given the gift of time, I began reading Sarah Palin's book.

You know, I know she's just a person, just like anybody else...with feelings, with a family, with trials, with joys, with a job. And I already liked her. She's smart. She's got spunk. She's dedicated and hard-working. Not to mention she's beautiful and well-put together...all things that I strive for. But the more I read about her, the more real she becomes and the more I feel connected to her.

Fast-forward to three hours later...

When I finally arrived inside the food court area, it was a whole new feeling! Music was blaring, the line kept moving, and it looked and felt like we were playing musical chairs!

Here's a shot of the strollers that had to be left at the entrance:

The line was moving faster that I thought it would...which was a good thing. As I got to the last row before going behind the partition to see her, each of us had to put everything we had into a bin...coats, bags, cameras, phones, knives. Yes. You read it right. They even asked us to put any KNIVES we were carrying into the bins. I didn't have one on me, so I just handed them my bag and coat.

Finally I could see her! She was there with her husband, looking so sweet with that big smile of hers and wearing a comfy sweatshirt with pins on it. As I looked at her and how warmly she spoke to those in front of me, I just couldn't help it. I got emotional and was so thankful for the wonderful example she is, for the loving mother she is, for the hard worker she is, for the values and principles she believes in and the way in which she keeps to those things she believes in.

Then it was my turn to meet and greet her. She looked at me and asked me my name...

...and I was trying not to cry, but I got choked up and said my name as clearly as I could. But then when I tried to tell her that "My husband wishes he could be here to meet you," I couldn't even say the word "husband" well...it sounded more like "huh-buhd!" I felt like such an idiot! We chatted a tiny bit about him and she told me to thank him and I thanked her and I just couldn't hold back...I told her "I wish I could give you a hug!" And she said that I could, and so we hugged for a good 2 minutes as tears streamed down my face and she told me how beautiful I was and thanked me and Cameron again. She was so sweet to do that...to give me a hug although I know she had so many people to meet and so many hands to shake. Sarah Palin has a good heart. It was definitely worth waiting 3.5 hours to meet her. :) And I can't wait to finish reading her book!

By the way, there was a photographer there who was taking pictures of everyone individually shaking hands with Sarah Palin and they'll be putting them up on a website for those who want to purchase them. I'm planning on purchasing mine. I hope I don't look too horrible what with me being all teary and everything...but the card they gave us giving the web address said to give it at least 15 days for the pictures to post...so those won't be posted for another couple of weeks. :)

Well, after meeting Sarah Palin, I also got to meet her dad, mom, and aunt. They're all very nice folks and I thanked them all for raising such a wonderful daughter. The aunt told me to please not cry...that I was going to make her cry! I can't help it...I cry so easily sometimes!

When I got outside, I took a couple of pictures of Sarah Palin's tour bus:

Not far from the tour bus, there was a truck and two gentlemen who drive around with the only traveling replica of the Liberty Bell. It stands between two slabs that contain the Ten Commandments...and they were letting people ring it!

I had one more thing to do before leaving. I went back inside to look for the book "Christmas Jars," but couldn't find it. So on my way out, I took a couple of pictures of the poster for Sarah Palin's book signing:

Then I went to pick up Alegria from Andrea's, where she was already in her pajamas and ready to go home and go to bed. Thanks again, Andrea, for watching Alegria on such short notice! You ROCK! :)

By the way, here's Sarah Palin's signature in our book:

I'd never been to a book signing before, but in the movies the person signing autographs a lot of times asks the person's name to personalize the signature. I guess because of the large amount of people, they told us at about mid-line that there would be no personalizing, only a signature. I guess it's faster that way. But it's ok. The experience itself was even better than having a personalized autograph...though if I'd had it personalized, I would have had her address it to Cameron, since he was the one who originally found out about her coming and wanted her autograph.

Well, that's it for our fun-filled day!!!

We all hope you all sleep well tonight!!!

Foxy Baby

Alegria woke up thirsty this morning, so I gave her some juice in her new cup. She does rather well drinking out of it, though sometimes I have to remind her to tip the cup in order to drink out of it, but she just loves it!



Then, before heading off to see Daddy at work, Alegria and I posed in front of our Christmas tree in order to print a picture for Daddy to have at his office. Alegria wasn't smiling...

...until I tickled her!

We got to Daddy's office to pick him up and then we went to run a few errands with him. Here we were at the Clothing and Sales place to get some cash out of the ATM and Alegria kept running away from us to go check everything else out:

Then we ate at Charley's. Mm-MM!!! SOOO good!!! However, Alegria was being very possessive with the lemonade, which we were all supposed to be sharing. She still doesn't get the concept of sharing, unfortunately. We're working on it, though!



Back at Daddy's office, Alegria had a fun time getting re-aquainted with the Fox Troop mascot who she hadn't seen since the regimental fun day a while back:

After that, we went to the game room. Originally, I was holding Alegria and Cameron was winning, so I told him that it wasn't fair...sooooo...we switched and he held Alegria as we played a match of foosball. Well, I lost anyway. I guess it wasn't that I was holding Alegria...I just stink at foosball!

Later on, Alegria had a bath and then had a banana for a bedtime snack. Now she's in bed, Cameron's in bed, and I'm about to follow in their footsteps!

Oh! I almost forgot! There's been a waring issued that it may freeze tonight and snow tomorrow, so we put Isis in the garage to keep her warm. :)

Stay warm tonight! :)

Un-Cooperative

After a couple of weeks of not going to volleyball, today we finally made it. One of my friends from the Army Wife coffees, Jennifer, was able to make it, too, and she brought a friend. Unfortunately, there were only a total of 5 of us there...until Melinda's mom showed up. Jennifer offered to watch the three children so that her friend, Amy, could play.

Because of the small numbers, we played two against three...Amy and me against Andrea, Melinda, and her mom (Sister Hartley). It was really fun! We've made up a few rules that when there are only two people on a team, that team is allowed a bounce on the floor between hits if necessary, and they're also allowed to double hit if necessary, too. Sometimes we forget the new rules, but when we don't, it really helps! Amy and I lost, even with the bounce rule, but we sure had fun!

When it was time for Jennifer to leave to go to school, we ended our second game and chatted a while and got to know each other a little better. It's too bad Jennifer's husband is being transferred to Georgia and they're leaving in a couple of weeks!

By the time Alegria and I left, it was a little after 11. I had some toys I wanted to donate to the "Blue Santa" bin at the library and I knew Abilehi had Story Time until 11:10, so Alegria and I headed over.

As soon as Alegria saw Abilehi, she got a huge smile on her face and toddled over to her with her arms opened wide. It's so cute to see how much she loves her Aunt Abilehi!!! :)

Alegria and I had a fun time chatting with Abilehi and making the craft for the day. Then Alegria decided she wanted to go to the Children's Room, so Abilehi and I followed her over there, where she played with some of the toys and puzzles. We even checked out two movies. :)

Finally, it was time to go home for lunch and a nap.

When Alegria woke up from her nap, I got her ready and we left to go to Wal-Mart. At the doll section, Alegria kept wanting to hold more and more dolls and I kept giving her dolls until she couldn't fit any more in her arms! I wish I had thought to get a picture of that...she was so cute with her arms overflowing with dolls!!! Alegria definitely needs a doll of her own!!!

Well, Alegria and I finally got home, where Daddy was waiting for us. Daddy changed Alegria's diaper and put her in her pajamas and then we had some dinner.

It's been really windy here, which makes it much colder, so today I bought Alegria a new hat, bigger and warmer and with flaps that go over her ears. The hat also came with mittens. After dinner, I put them on her to show Daddy...I was too slow with the video camera, though:



And then when she wouldn't cooperate with me as I tried getting the mittens back on her, she got upset with me and sat herself down on the floor and whined:

Once Alegria was in bed, Cameron had a few things to get packed up:

What cute toy tanks!!! :)

Now we're off to bed!!!

Good night!!! :)

Movie Star

When Alegria woke up this morning, I was in the middle of getting her diaper bag ready. She found her sunglasses in the stuff I was rearranging and decided she wanted to wear them. She's our little movie star! :)

After breakfast, I got Alegria ready to go and we went over to Little Josh's house. The little ones played while Andrea finished getting ready.

Alegria realized she could climb into Little Josh's toy box!

Alegria: "Here's my phone! It's been here the whole time...and I've missed about a thousand calls! How am I ever going to have time to return all of those calls?!?"

We finally left and went to the Killeen Mall. The kids did pretty well, though Alegria got a little fussy towards the end. It wasn't that she didn't want to be at the mall, per se...it's that she didn't want to be in her stroller! I let her walk around at one store, but she kept taking everything off the shelves and bringing every stuffed animal in the store to me! She just loves to touch everything, so I have to be careful about what stores I let her out at and then I have to make sure I put everything back before we leave.

Andrea invited us over for lunch after our shopping spree and I'm glad we accepted her invitation. She made a very delicious salad for herself and me and she prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids. However, neither child really ate much. I think they have a hard time focusing on eating when they're around each other...too many things to do, too much fun to be had!

Needless to say, Alegria was plumb tuckered out by the time we got home! Two hours later, she still wasn't up, but we needed to leave to head to Post, so I opened her door to see if whatever noise I made would wake her up:

I even used the flash on my camera to see if the light from it would wake her:

Finally I turned off her white noise and monitor and that woke her up. And I literally just got her out of bed, put her coat on, and we left.

We got to Daddy's office building right before 5. He hopped in and we were off to the food court to grab a bite to eat.

On the way there, retreat sounded all over Fort Hood and all vehicles stopped and all military personnel got out and stood at attention:



When we got to the food court, it was pretty empty. We didn't have to wait long at all at Charleys to order our subs...thank goodness!

Well, since I knew Alegria would be hungry after waking up because she hadn't eaten much lunch, I had packed some cheese and bologna for her to eat on the way to Post. Sure enough, she ate it with much gusto! That meant, though, that while Daddy and I were having dinner, instead of sharing my sub with me like she usually does, she preferred to play on the benches. And this time, she mastered climbing to the top of one!



Done with dinner in the short amount of time we (thought we) had, we headed over to Fox Troop headquarters. We were there earlier than anticipated, so we got to go see Daddy's office and met his new sergeants. I also got a picture of the Fox Troop mascot and motto:

The meeting went well. We decided on a venue for the adult Christmas party and discussed the family Christmas party and other fundraising events going on.

Finally, we came home and relaxed and played for a while.

If you've never met Alegria, once you do, you'll understand why there are so many pictures of her being kissed...her cheeks are just the most kissable ever!!! I could kiss them forever and ever and ever!!! It's too bad that after a short while (depending on her mood, too, I guess) she gets tired of all the kisses and wants you to stop!

Alegria and Daddy stop playing to listen to what O'Reilly has to say:

Once Alegria was in bed, Cameron and I chilled and watched some episodes of "The Office." While doing so, Cameron fitted the cover back on his helmet:

Wow...what a day! Alegria and I were hardly home today, except for when she took her nap...and being out of the house is exhausting!

So...it's off to bed!!!

Good night!