Surface Warrior Ball

Hello all! We have updated you on the children several times, but now I shall tell you all about us. We're alive. : )

Work is busy for John even though they are going into the yards, while time at home is more available to him, we still can never seem to get a lot done.

I am surviving. Of course, I get tired, and do what I can to entertain 3 kids with growing energy, while keeping some form of sanity...no comments from the peanut gallery on that one.

As you know there was a family wedding a couple of months ago, and since then we have found out that there are going to be 2 more in the next year. It seems that the family is just getting to that age, and have been for the last couple years.

This picture we are posting is from the Surface Warrior Ball. It was loud, packed, and there was a lot of handshaking, but it was great to get out and see people we haven't seen in years. Reconnecting can only be good for our future.

Which brings me to the last note. We have been up and down, back and forth, but there may be a change in our Navy future. We won't be getting out, just a little shift. Nothing is set in stone, the Navy is usually written in jello, but it is a possibility.

Otherwise, we are doing well, holding strong, and enjoying some of the nice warm days, ignoring the smoke from North Carolina as best as we can. Hope you are all well too.

Cheers!!

Heather

Here we are...a few months behind on any posting, but busy as all get out. Heather has been walking since about January, and now she's begun to try it on the ball of her feet. It's cute, but so much more likely to have her trip. There is no stopping her though...she'll learn.

Like her brothers, Heather just had to have a trip to the ER, of course we were in Savannah, Georgia at the time as well. She had breathing problems, and fortunately they have gone now that the treatments are over. Daddy said she was an angel the whole time, and didn't get upset until the second treatment. All this happening around midnight, and she wouldn't sleep until they were in the van again. We were very blessed despite the trip to the ER. Also finding out unofficially that she is 18 pounds, and also tall enough to climb the stairs.

All of the children were very well behaved before, during, and after the wedding, even in the Florida heat, a bit of rain, and complete destruction of their schedule. I'm crossing my fingers that they will be as good at the future family weddings in the next couple years, as they were that whole week. Not to mention cute...picture to, hopefully, follow soon. : )

John

Now, John has been walking for a couple months, and he's been getting better and better at it. It was really funny when it began because he would hold his arms in the air, like someone was there to catch him, and he feet were so far apart, he looked like a true toddler. Now, he's so good, he can run and hide when he gets in trouble...which he does frequently.

John was the one to kick off the breathing difficulties, and he's holding true. He has begun a series of maintenance treatments, because the regular treatments would only work for so long. We're hoping and preying that it will help, and eventually be able to stop all treatments, but then there is reality as well. : )

Like our sister and brother, we have a mouth almost full of teeth, but I think John has the most at the moment. Since the doctor isn't far off, we have the unofficial weight at about 20 pounds, and tall enough to climb the stairs. Oh fun. : ) But the easy part is Mommy no longer has to carriy everyone to bed. : )

William

As some may know, William is walking, and doing it very well. Although, now that we can see him standing alone, we see he might have flat feet. Surprise, surprise. : ) We also have found that his breathing difficulties are to a point where we need maintenance treatments, but he doesn't complain...he gets to sit on Mommy or Daddy's lap.

We get to the doctors soon, but the unofficial weight is over 22 pounds, and tall enough to climb the stairs himself...yay for Mommy. : )

We are doing well, survived our trip to Florida for a family wedding, and looking forward to Daddy having time off this summer. Love to all.

View from the Top, part 2

Here are some pictures taken by the tech that took me up the mast.

View from the Top

On a whim, I decided to inspect the components on the mast, so I called one of the ETs to take me up there. He asked "how high do you want to go?" He was surprised when I told him "all the way!"

Here are some views of where I went. The disk at the top of the mast is the TACAN antenna. If you look closely underneath that, you'll see an antenna that looks like a cake mold. Level with that is a ring for standing on.

The ET I was with took some photos of me up there, and as soon as I get them I will post them. In the meantime, here are some I took of the view.

William Concentrating

Here is William in his truest form!! This is the third time through the sequence for him - we barely noticed it the first time, watched adoringly the second, and when he clicked the third I just had to get it recorded!!

Kids on the Stairs

Most think this might be scary - and they are absolutely right!! However, it is also one of the few things the kids do that brings us LESS work. Totally worth it.

Extreme Makeover Closet Edition

We finally got sick of the lack of storage space in our old closet that we got up the drive to make some changes. Remember the way it used to look:


First, I ripped out the old - discovering in the process that the old was hung using a system of hangers designed to destroy the wall when removed.





Here's me working the Spackle into a nice lather to repair the damage done. I needed a lot of it!!


Finally, I tried to match the paint to the interior white I had on hand - I should have known I wouldn't be that lucky. I ended up hating it and resorting to buying a new color at Lowes. I chose "Sapphire Glow", which is one step darker than "Ice Rink Blue". I really like the final product - and now we have too much storage space!! Oh, the agony...

A Little Late

Okay, so this update is a little late in coming, but here it is. John is home, and has been home for a few weeks now. We've visited family on both sides, and have fallen back to the rhythm of John cleaning and losing my things. : )

The kids adapted to him very quickly, and absolutely love when Daddy comes home and "throws" them around the living room. There is still a little adjustment, like crying babies still want Mommy a little more, but they are finding that Daddy comforts as well.

In just a couple short months we travel again, this time to Florida for a family wedding. Think of us this May when we have to drive 4 adults and 3 small children to Florida. It may be a long drive, but would you want to take not only 3 kids, but all the stuff needed for safety and comfort for them and yourself?

We are doing well, and will do our best to keep you posted on the children. Quick note...Heather is running through the house, Little John is beginning to walk, and William is perfectly happy staying in one place most of the time. We are growing...slowly, and working on many, many more teeth.

We are surviving!!! : )

Major Updates

Sorry this has taken me so long, but it has been CRAZY for the last few months. There are some major updates since I last posted, and let me tell you, things are not slowing down at all.

Heather is just now finally breaking through her first tooth, the second is following quickly, but she's been working on these teeth for months now. Of course, this was probably a slower process if she hadn't been focused on trying to stand...which she is doing all on her own now. I'll find her just standing in the middle of the room watching cartoons. It's scary, but she's clapping for herself. : )

John on the other hand has stopped at two teeth for the moment. I'm not sure why but that is where that is, maybe it's his own body punishing him for beating up his siblings for their toys. Of course, he's figured out how to pull himself up on everything he can get his hands on, and is quite proud of that.

William, the little chunky monkey, is still bigger and weighs more then his siblings. I don't know exact weight, but I can tell just by picking him up. He now has four teeth and has also figured out how to pull himself up on everything. He's quite happy about it, but still just as content to sit on the floor with one toy for hours, as long as John isn't trying to steal it from him. : )

We have survived our first colds, our long travel to visit family, at least for the moment. We have had our first birthday party, and even survived our first time sitting on Santa's lap. ( They look a little unhappy in the picture, but I think it's mostly they're tired. )

In two days they are officially ONE YEAR OLD, and Christmas is around the corner with more family visits. After the new year, it will be staying at home time for a while. Hope all who see this are doing well. We're holding our own. Cheers.

A Mother's Most Scary, and Happy Sight

This is Heather's attempt at scaring me. Of course this was just the beginning of the day, by the end, she had not only pulled herself up in her crib, she pulled herself on the fence between the kitchen and living room, but she managed to get herself onto the bottom stair.

Every time I found her in a new spot, she looked at me like everything in the world was perfect. She was very proud of herself.

The boys are moving a little slower. : ) Which for now is safe and sane for Mommy. : )

The kids in their RenFaire costumes

Sarah sent me a photo of the kids in their Rennaissance Faire costumes, which I hvce shared all over the ship, so I thought I would share them with you as well.

Where have I been??

I found an internet cafe in Split, Croatia, so I thought I would jump on a give everyone an update on my travels. The keyboard is in different arrangement (specifically, the "y" and "z" keys are swapped and all the symbols are in different places) so please ignore the occasional misspell.

Anyway, we are in Split now (about 1/2 waz up the Adriatic Sea (meaning tax free!!) but before this we have gone through Toulon, France, Piraeus (Athens), Greece, and Istanbul, Turkey. Here are some photos of me there:

LABOON is actually in the bckground of tis view from the Acropolis, just above where the mountain in the front intersects the coastline.
This is the "Blue Mosque" in Istabul.
This is the Higha Sofia, a mosque I studied in my Architecture History class at Drexel. I was happy to get to see for myself.
This is Garret (CSO), Bill (Suppo), and myself at the place we stopped at for lunch.

Specifically for you Dad, is this monument at the base of the Canakalai Straits. The English name for them is the Dardanelles, and this monument is erected for that WW1 battle. The stone slbs hve writing on them (which I couldnt read, but also there are hundreds gravestones to the right side.

Our first time in the pool!!

We introduced the kids to the pool here at The Sands Village. They had a great time and were a hit among the ladies that were at the pool. I have both photos and videos in this post, so scroll to see them all!

First, pictures of the kids getting ready. They have little diaper protectors on - Heather's says "Water Babies", John's was "Cars", and Williams was "Finding Nemo".




Here is John and William hangin' by the pool with Matt.

And here is all of us in the pool.

Hilton Head

We've arrived in Hilton Head, and so has my brother. The hotel was a PITA to find since the address given was a property management office with an after hours drop box to pick up the keys. Of course, I had to call to get the combo and then figure out (for myself, as the idiot on the phone didn't know a damn thing) that my hotel wasn't labeled specifically, but was instead in the catch-all box at the end. I took nearly an hour to find the office and then find the hotel.
But we made it, eventually.


The hotel is pretty nice, and the kids like their new crib.


That is two mattresses covered by their comforter, between two twin beds. Pretty nice padding!!

New Videos

Here are some new videos we took this week. The first is Heather laughing at the Q's tricks and the second is William being tickled. Enjoy!

And the Lukacs Triplets, weighing in at...

Okay, so it's been a while since we've last posted, but let me tell you, a lot has gone on. We've moved from Rhode Island to Virginia, bought our first house, had the kids baptized, and went to my fathers wedding...which was beautiful. All of this has happened in just the last 2 1/2 months. Now we are trying to finish moving in, prepare for a deployment, and raise 3 kids. Can I have a nap? : )

Anyway, the kids are going to be 6 months tomorrow, Friday, and because of that they have seen the doctor and been weighed. Heather, my happy little girl, is a girly 12.2 lbs. John, my screechy little boy, is a solid 13lbs. And William, who used to be my tiniest little thing, is now tipping the scales at 14lbs!!!!! He is our little Chunky Monkey. They are all eating well, and the doctor says they are doing wonderfully. So, we go back at 9 months as long as nothing happens till then.

John and I are great. John loves his job on USS LABOON, and I am edging my way through the perils of weight loss; I'm down 12 lbs and counting. I guess we'll see.

And that is all for now, more kids stuff soon.

More Portrait Simple Photos

Here is a link to the latest round of photos taken at Portrait Simple. This time with Pop-pop and Nonna.

Portrait Simple Online Gallery

The password is 5186.

Scrapbooking

I've created a website to order my Creative Memories items through. As you know, Creative Memories is a photo-preservation and scrapbooking company that sells lots of high-quality items to both store, scrapbook, and display all your memory items - not just photos, but any brochures, programs, tickets, or any other type of memento you've collected over the years!

Please take a moment and look at what I can offer you to help preserve your memories. Send me an email if you have any questions or have a specific interest you don't find on the site. All the items on the site can be shipped directly to you, so you don't have to wait for me to mail it.

Here's a link to the site.

Happy Scraping!