Our home.........

Hello everyone. I know we have been in our new house for sometime now but I thought I would post a few pictures of the inside for you. The First pic is our master bedroom, the second is Addison's room, third is Brynn's room and the last is a picture of our living room. We love it here and are excited that we are finally in our house. I don't think I could ever go back to a townhouse.

And one more time!!

And a few more!!

More Pictures!!!

Pictures of my babies!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

We took the opportunity to take pictures of the kids today because it was a gorgeous day and they were in a relatively good mood. We had our first Thanksgiving at our house with no company this year and honestly it was bitter-sweet. The bitter was that I had to cook the entire meal myself for the first time ever!!! I was a little nervous but everything turned out wonderful! Another bitter fact was that we had NO family here!! We miss our Thanksgiving get-together s with the family and the feast that comes with it!! The sweet was a wonderful day with the most important people in my life! We just have had a blessed day!

We celebrated Addison's birthday on last Saturday and I cannot believe that he is 4 years old! We had a small party for him that day with our dear friends Ashley and Chloe and one of the things Addison had asked for was balloons and party hats so that is what he got! We were all wearing party hats including the dogs!(pictures to come!!)

Jamie is gearing up to go to the range next week so it is going to be a long week for us all!! It usually ties him up for most of the week!

I(Julie) am waiting to celebrate the passing of another year myself. I figure I should just embrace getting older because it is just going to happen!! So bring it on, 26 years

old! Whew!! Hard to be excited about it though! :0)

I leave you with these gorgeous pictures!!

The Marine Corps Ball

The annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball was on Saturday and it was a lot of fun. It is always fun to dress up and go to a formal event once in a while and this has been that time for Jamie and I since we have been in the Marine Corps. This year we were able to take our good friends David and Ashley Troyer. Here are a couple of pictures from our night. Enjoy and I will try to post some others later.

WOW it has been a while!!

Hello everybody! It has been so long since I have posted a blog I think I forgot how to do it!! It has been CRAZY to say the least in our family but you know I think we are becoming accustomed to not many dull moments!

WOW where do I start.............Well we made it back from Arkansas. Jamie made it back from Iraq and we are moved into our new house and LOVING it. You never know how much you enjoy space and a YARD until you don't have it! We are still adjusting to Jamie commuting but all in all it was a total blessing to move down here!

We are preparing for the Marine Corps Ball which is on November 10th and I am getting really excited. This year our friends David and Ashley are going to be going with us. Very exciting!

Jamie update: Doing really well. His leg is going to have a pretty nasty scar and his finger the same. I am happy to report that nothing else has happened to him and we will all continue to pray for his safety!!! (haha)

I am doing well! Nothing exciting!

Addison had a little mishap on Monday. He was playing downstairs and slipped and did a face-plant into the tiled concrete. WOW we thought he broke his nose but thankfully it wasn't broken just very swollen and now a lovely shade of green!

Brynn is just being Brynn and developing her very own little Brynn attitude!! She is going to be my sickling. She has had 3 ear infections this year so far and I feel like there is another one in the works.

Last night was the first time that we have dressed the kids up for Halloween and we took them trick or treating. They has a BLAST!! Addison was a red Power Ranger and Brynn was a little ballerina!! They were so cute! Oh and Harley was a golfer!! Well enough babbling here are some pictures from last night!! Enjoy and have a blessed day!!


This is Chloe. Isn't she the cutest little bunny!!

Visiting in Arkansas.

Greetings from Arkansas. For those of you who don't know, I made the 2 day, 16 hour journey with Addison and Brynn on Tuesday of last week. I have to compliment my children because driving half way accross the U.S. by myself and two small children could have been very tramatic but ended up being ok. They were very good for me and the trip went surprisingly smooth. Now we are just enjoying spending time with family and old friends and the cooler weather. I have to say I am missing our friends in VA and will be looking forward to going home to them and hopefully Jamie will be back in VA soon. He was originally scheduled to come back this Saturday but has been extended and really is not sure when he will return right now. I haven't had much of a chance to blog lately and so I missed blogging about my little girls second birthday. She turned 2 on September 2nd and I have pictures of her little party that I will have to post a little later but she had a blast. I hope everyone is doing well and God Bless.

Here are just a few pictures from our trip so far..........

My Marine.

I just have to share this picture with everyone. Sometimes I don't think I recognize Jamie as a wonderful, dedicated military man. I see him in camies and some type of uniform everyday and it has become so normal that I forget that he plays such an important role in my freedom. So as he sits in Iraq doing his job in 120 degree heat and proud to be there, I just ask anyone that reads this to just say a quick prayer for his safety and for strength to withstand. I love you Jamie Nichols and I am so incredibly proud to be your Marine wife!

Update.....

It has been a little bit since the last post. I was waiting for something to happen so I would have an exciting post but it has been pretty normal around the Nichols house lately. I have a few recent pictures for you and I will have more soon. Have a wonderful week and God Bless.

Sometimes they like each other.


Been doing a little landscape.


It sure looks like they love each other, huh.


And a rare moment on my blog but I know my hubby checks it.

First fight........

Well my children never fail to surprise me. Last night while playing with some other kids, Addison got into a what started out a very small altercation over a toy with another little boy. There was pushing and shoving and yelling but nothing unusual as I have just accepted that boys are just more aggressive with each other. Well out of nowhere the other little boy comes in with a right hook to Addison's eye. I really have some mixed emotions about the whole thing because Addison is pretty aggressive with his sister and now he knows a little more what it feels like to be bullied but on the other hand I was upset that he is only 3 and will probably have a black eye from someone. I wanted to cry but didn't because we are trying to toughen him up a little. There is a funny side now though because he is worried that his eye won't be blue anymore. He keeps asking me if it still looks blue. Here is a picture of his shiner.



Jamie is safely in Iraq and doing Ok. There is one obstacle for him and has asked for prayer to withstand and that is the heat. It is 120 degrees during the day there. He has said that is already taken a lot out of him and he hasn't been there very long. Have a good weekend.

WHEW!! What a weekend.....................

Jamie is off to Iraq. It has been different this time because Addison and Brynn really have taken it a lot harder than I thought they would. Addison thought he was going with Jamie and Brynn just looks at me puzzled and says "daddy". It is really heart-breaking for me because the more I have tried to explain to Addison the more I think he is confused because Jamie thought that he was old enough to explain to him that he was going to Iraq and would be back soon and when he gets back he was going to take Addison camping for a night just the two of them. Well Addison heard everything but thought that they were going camping in the "desertIraq" without "mommy and sissy". So on the way to the airport he was heart-broken when we had to keep telling him that he wasn't going on the plane with daddy and they were going camping when he gets back. So in the end I think he is still a little confused but ok with everything.
I will post some pictures from the airport but for now here are just a few recent pics. Enjoy!

This week............

Wow, another week has come and gone and one week closer to Jamie going back to Iraq. I should be a seasoned vet by now but I think I am always going to dread deployments. I know it is only supposed to be 45 days but you have to take in account the location that he will be for most of those days, a combat zone!!! He really isn't in that much danger but I think there is always a possibility of harm over there. Well anyway, he leaves next Saturday evening so please keep all of us in your prayers.
Well in other news we have been battling pink eye ALL week!! Both Brynn and Addison have had pink eye all week but thankfully now I think we are past it!!! YEAH!!! I have also observed that Brynn has been noticeably irritable the past week or so and thought it was just her being grumpy and possibly a little spoiled. So as I was helping her brush her teeth a couple of nights ago I found the culprit of her crankiness, her back teeth are coming in. Who knew! I should have I supposed since she is number 2 for me and I should have put all the signs together. The slobbering, diarrhea, and the on going crabbiness should have given it away but those of you who know me best know that I am certainly not the brightest crayon in the box!!!
Well some of you know already but an odd and unexpected thing happened last night while at marriage group. My little girl decided to tell the sitter that she had to potty and not knowing that we have not even started introducing the potty, she took her, sat her on the potty and SHE DID IT, SHE PEED IN THE POTTY!!!! Now don't get me wrong I know that it was just a little teaser and that it is not going to be that easy but maybe a sign that she might be ready to start. Who knows. I was still astonished and really as I sit here typing am still a little shocked. Well I think that just about wraps up our week but unfortunately I don't have any new pictures right now. I'm sure there will be some this weekend and I will post them soon. Have a wonderful weekend!!!

BIG GIRL!

Well it is happening right before my eyes. My babies are growing up and soon will not be babies anymore. Brynn is no longer in a crib but in a cute little toddler bed. Let me tell you she is in love with this new bed. She has slept in it for 2 nights now with no problems at all. Here are a few pictures from the first night in her big girl bed.............

On another note Jamie made it through his little surgery yesterday. It was definitely an experience I am sure he will have stories to share when he gets to feeling better:-) But on a serious note thank you to all of you who kept him in your prayers, he appreciates every prayer!! Please continue to pray for a speedy recovery and that the pain is minimal. Also please continue to keep our family in your prayers because we have another deployment to Iraq creeping up on us and although it is only going to be a short time it is still difficult for him to be gone. And poor Addison is sick and just looks pitiful but when I ask him if he feels bad he says no mommy I feel better :( I know he doesn't feel good at all but it just tugs at the heart strings to hear him say that!!