“Livin’ On Tulsa Time”

Steve has been in St. Louis for the past two weeks completing his Q400 training.  He successfully passed his check ride on Saturday and is now a Q pilot!!!  I am so very proud of him!!

This week Steve is completing his IOE, so Claire and I have been in Tulsa for almost three weeks.  We’ve had a great time, but we are really missing Steve.

Uncle Doug (GiGi’s brother), Aunt Marilyn and Lynette came to visit.  We met them and Uncle Duie (another of GiGi’s brothers) for lunch and then went by to see GiGi.

Uncle Duie, Uncle Doug, Claire, GiGi and PopPop

Aunt Marilyn and Claire putting together a puzzle.  Playing with Aunt Marilyn is so much fun!!!

MiMi and I took Claire to Reasor’s.  She got to drive the grocery car!  She was so serious and so cute!

Claire and Analise had a pajama party at PopPop and MiMi’s house.  We had McDonald’s Happy Meals and ice cream.  We painted finger nails and toe nails.  We had a tea party.  We brushed each other’s hair and watched movies.  It was a great party!

Claire brushing Analise’s hair during the movie – I LOVE my girls!  They are so sweet!

On another night, we took the girls to Incredible Pizza.  They had so much fun!  We did too!

Claire and Analise loved driving the car.  They rode this ride the most.

They also liked riding “the horsies.”

This ride was great!  The girls watched the screen, and their seat moved according to what was on the screen.

Enjoying a roller coaster (Aunt Shannon was having fun too!)

We also enjoyed some mini bowling.  The girls had a blast!

Steve and Aunt Shannon showing Claire and Analise how to bowl while Allie looks on.

Claire showing off her pro-bowling skills

We’ve had a great time in Tulsa!  Steve is flying in tomorrow night and will overnight here.  We’ll fly out with him on Thursday.  (How exciting that he’ll actually be the pilot of our plane!)  Can’t wait to see him!

Pregnancy update:  I am now in my third trimester.  Cale kicks a lot and is growing.  I’ve done a lot of shopping for him while in Tulsa.  (Since we live in a tropical climate, we can wear “summer” clothes year round.  All of the summer clothes are on clearance right now, so I’ve been able to buy Cale a full wardrobe for his first year of life without spending too much money.)  It’s been a lot of fun preparing for his arrival!

My Baby Daddy

I failed to blog about Father’s Day this year, mostly because I was waiting to show you Steve’s Father’s Day present, which we didn’t buy until this past weekend.

I knew what we wanted to get Steve, but he’s so picky about some of his gadgets (as most men are) that I wanted him to go with me to pick it up.  Turns out that it wasn’t that easy to just go pick up.  We searched for months and finally found the right one this past weekend.

Here’s my wonderful Baby Daddy making use of his Father’s Day present:

When we moved to Memphis last year, we left our grill behind for our renters to use.  (We didn’t really have a place to keep it at our apartment.)  We have really missed grilling.  So this year, I decided to buy Steve a small, portable grill.  Steve wanted one that would last (This one is stainless steel.) and one that could be built into an outdoor kitchen once we eventually move back to our house or get a new house.  We finally found the perfect grill!

Happy Father’s Day, Steven!  You are an amazing husband and father.  Our babies are so blessed to have you as their daddy.  I love how fun and sweet you are with Claire.  I love hearing her laugh when she’s playing with you.  I love that you’re willing to “eat” what she “cooks” in her little kitchen and that you’re willing to love on her babies and play anything she wants to play.  I love that you “nuggle” her and comfort her.  I love that you’re a “hands-on” dad, helping me with every aspect of parenting - from bathing to changing diapers to playing to disciplining to feeding, etc.  You are the best daddy,and I love being the mommy to your babies.  I’m really excited that we’ll soon have a boy to play with too.

I hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day and that you enjoy your grill.  I know that Claire, Cale and I will certainly enjoy the delicacies that you prepare on it!

I love you more than anything, Steven Lee Norton!  I love sharing my life with you.  I’m so glad you married me, and I love having babies with you!  Happy Father’s Day!