The adventures of us!

Easter Fun!

2009-04-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we decided to take Gavin to the Easter Egg Hunt that the church put on at a local park. We really didnt expect him to get what he was supposed to do, but expected him to get excited and run around outside (which he loves) when he saw the other kids getting excited and running around. Well, he proved us wrong. He took off with his bucket and started putting eggs in it as fast as he could. We were amazed, and he just loved it, so we were really glad that we took him. Here's a few pictures from his big day of fun!

After seeing his love for the Easter Egg hunting on Saturday, after Church (and naptime) on Sunday, we tossed some eggs out in the backyard for him and let him go crazy. He just loved it again. He also thought it might possibly be the coolest thing ever that we grilled and ate in the backyard.. with no highchair! Amazing! Here's a few from the backyard adventures!

Here's the backyard before we let the monster loose!

And Gavin's favorite part of the day, eating in the "big chair" and playing on his slide!

Gavin's snow day

2009-03-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

So we woke up this morning to a suprise. We had 3 inches (or so) of snow. Knowing that we may be moving to Phoenix in the near future, I figured it was the best opportunity possible to let Gavin have some time in the snow. So, we bundled up, despite the fact that we don't have snow clothes for him, 3 pairs of pants under a pair of lined waterproof pants, along with a few layers on top, a pair of mittens, and a goofy looking hat to top it all off, and he was set to go. I of course couldnt find his regular red fleece hat that fit nicely, so we had to squeeze his mellon into a old hat, that didnt look much to comfortable, but he didnt seem to mind.

So, we went ouside, and I'm not sure he really cared about the snow, he was just thrilled to be outside playing at all. Then of course, being Gavin, he spotted the stairs up to the deck, and spent most of his time there going up and down them. He loved to run around the back yard though of course, since thats what he does!

At the very end of our time out there, he finally figured out how to take his mitten off and got to stick his hand down into the snow. At first it was interesting to feel the soft, cold, squishy feeling, but he quickly realized that it went from interesting to uncomfortable, so inside we went, where we stood on a beach towel and peeled out of layers, back down to jammies, which were the bottom layer and then cuddled under the blanket on the couch and watched cartoons. It was a great day, and I think he really did enjoy his brief time in the snow! We got some great pictures!

A little update.

2009-02-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

So, as predicted, the naptime was a total fluke, and I wish I knew what made it so easy! haha! Last night for bedtime he cried for about 15 mintues, and then the same for naptime today. So, we'll see how it goes. I am not caving on this, as sucky as it is. I actaully took the option away to cave by bagging up the bottles and putting them away in the attic. I hate getting up into the attic, it really scares me, so I opened it up and threw the bag up and as far back in there as I could get it. Therefore, I can't use them, becasue A) I hate the attic and B) nick has forbidden me from climbing up the attic stairs while pregnant. So, issue solved, I dont even know where they landed up there, they are just among the piles of other junk up there. haha. Anyway, wish us luck, hopefully tonight we'll get it down to 10 mintues? Yeah right, just for saying that tonight will be my hour of fighting with him.

For now though, he's doing well with it, just gets upset when he realizes that the routine has been broken. I wonder how long this will stick in his head and how long until the new routine is routine?

Another mini-update. Tonight I went to put him down, and as I started to tell him good night he started crying, he wasnt even in his crib yet. So, I layed him down and went through the rest of the routine with him screaming at me, and left. 3 minutes later he was still having the worst temper tantrum ever, and suddenly, he stopped, took a deep breath, layed down and said "ni ni doggie" (saying goodnight to his favorite stuffed dog) I swear, sometimes that kid is the strangest thing! Oh well, at least 3 minutes was our time for the night, hopefully tomorrow goes well, because after that, it's back to work for me, and I really need him to nap well while I'm watching Luke.

Valentines day

2009-02-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

So this morning, I woke, and a sudden new determination hit me. Today is the day.

Let me explain. Gavin is almost 19months old now, and despite the fact that this has needed to happen for MANY months now, it hadnt. Gavin still takes a bottle to go to sleep. Most general advice, is between 12-15 months is the time that the bottle goes bye-bye. Well, I'm lame, and I havent ever taken it away, it's just been easier to let him have it to go to sleep. He only has it when he is falling asleep for a nap or at night, but, none the less, he's still taking a bottle. It's comforting to him, and I've not wanted to disturb that. Plus, it makes it INCREDIBLY easy to put him to bed, just lay him down, hand him the bottle and I dont hear another peep until morning. Well, today, I wake up and think this is ridiculous, this isnt right, I have to cut the bottle. I know it stresses nick out when gavin cries, so I figure while nick is gone and i have the next 3 days off, it's time.

So, this afternoon comes, and Im watching the clock dreading when it hits naptime. Naptime comes, and I take Gavin back to his room, change his diaper like always, and he stands up, turns off his light and asks for his bottle. (it's routine here..) I told him no, sorry, we didnt have anymore bottles, and that he would have to go to sleep without it from now on, and put him into his crib, told him good night along with the rest of the normal naptime routine minus the bottle. I walk out, close the door and brace myself for what I am sure is going to be a horrible fight for an hour + of him screaming his head off in an attempt to get his beloved bottle back. To my suprise.. silence. 5 minutes pass and I hear softly from his room "mama, wan baba" (mama I want a bottle) I ignore it, despite the fact that I know he's using his sweet voice in a last ditch effort to get me to bring him one. It's the softest sweetest voice imaginable, completly adorable and makes you wnat to do whatever he is asking of you. Well, I ignore him, and again, brace myself for the temper tantrum that is sure to follow, but again to my suprise, silence. That was 2.5 hours ago. He has been peacefully asleep without a bottle ever since.

I can not believe that he did not fight. I am completly shocked. This is the child that has drank a bottle EVERY time he has went to sleep for almost a year. I am beside myself right now. I am so excited that it went this well for the first nap. I seriously doubt that bedtime will go even partially as well as naptime did, but I'm so encouraged by the fact that he DID go easily to sleep without a bottle. It's proof that it CAN be done! I'm so excited to be a bottle free house.. at least for a few more months. Thats one of the big reasons it hit me today. I can't very well take away his bottles the day before we bring the baby home and start feeding it with bottles you know? Thats just mean. Plus, with potty training coming up fast, I can't be letting him drink himself to sleep, thats just setting him up for failure. Anyway, I'm so excited I had to share! Take care!

Oh, and Happy Valentines day!

The unexpected reaction

2009-02-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

For the first time since we moved to Virginia, today, Nick went out to sea. Well, sort of. The ship left for what is called sea trials, in which basically, they are going out to see what will break during normal wear & use on the ship. They're gone for less than a week, so its not even like they are getting fully underway. I had no issues with this, I mean really, we've done much much longer seperations than this, so it's not really a big deal.

So now, on to the point of this blog. As I was watching the news today at noon, I see video of the carrier pulling out to sea. As weird as this sounds, I almost had a panic attack. Like I said, it's only a few days, and he's been gone for the last few weeks, so really we are in the home stretch. It's not a big deal. But, when I saw the ship under it's own power moving out to sea, a very unexpected thing happened. All the feelings from the last 4 years on the lincoln, and saying goodbye and watching the ship move out to sea more times than I can count. It was a realy strange feeling. I honestly didn't expect any feelings over this, but the underlying feeling for me, was a weird empty sadness. Even though I know its only for a few days, and I'm really not upset, I mean really, I'm pregnant, and I've got the bed to myself, it's not a bad thing completly. Of course I'd rather him be home, but if he's got to be gone, nows the time for it to happen. It just caught me completly off guard the way the feelings that I had every time the lincoln left hit me when I saw the ship pulling out today. It was really just strange. I've heard people say that you are conditioned for certain things, and some things will always stir the same emotions in you, and heck, I took several psychology classes devoted to just that topic in college, but I never fully understood it until recently.

I started to understand this conditioning phenomenon when we were at the commisioning ceremony back in January. Part of this ceremony, is "bringing the ship to life." During which, people run onboard and man the rails, the move on like no one has been on the ship before (which is kind of entertaining, but whatever) and then all the sirens are tested, lights are lit up, and the end finale is a sounding of the ships whistle. For those who have never heard a ships whistle go off, its a very deep loud sound, the kind that you feel in your chest and makes the ground move. Literally. It is very loud. Well, every time a ship goes out to sea and comes back into port, the first thing it does as it is untied from the dock and as it is officially "in port" is blow it's whistle. I've heard this sound many times, alwas signaling the coming or going of the ship. So, it has always been emotional when I heard it, it meant saying goodbye for months or reconnecting after months. Now, after being in VA for over a year, I was sitting on the pier in January, with my husband standing less than 100ft away from me, and knowing fully that that dumb boat wasnt going anywhere, but when the whistle sounded, tears started running out of my eyes. My mom looked at me like I was insane. Heck, I looked at me like I was insane. I mean really, its a whistle, he's not coming or going, but to me, the sound of a ships whistle was a deep reminder of the past for us, and hopefully, not our future, but possibly.

So, after the commisioning and the tearful blow of the whistle, and today's almost panic attack at the sight of a ship going to sea and knowing that my husband was on it, I will say I am a complete and full believer in that people can be conditioned and trained to certain sights and sounds pulling out emotions that we never know are there. Anyway, not that anyone cares, I just wanted to write it down, because right now, it's either write out stuff, or go do dishes. :) So, anyway, I guess I'm off.

...

2009-01-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, so, even though I have a whole new post in my head, I'm going to refrain because I think I've been WAY to negative lately. Plus, everyone needs to see some new Gavin pictures, and hear some general life updates.

Life is going here. Nick's work is crazy, but whats new. We're hoping that his orders go through sooner rather than later so we can be moved and settled before this baby gets here. Speaking of, the pregnancy is going. I still have yet to be seen by a dr (see the first angerfest post) but it is in progress. I'm still sick, and throwing up a little, which stinks, but I'll survive. The newest "issue" is that I'm completly exhausted 24/7. It makes it a little challenging since Nick is gone quite often, and for a week or two at a time, but, I'll survive. I made it 6 of the 9 months last time with him deployed, and then he came back and we moved across the country. It looks like we're seting up to do the same with this one. Good times.

Now, on to the important stuff! Gavin pictures! We went to Phoenix for Christmas with my family, it was nice. Although Gaving ended up catching croup while we were there that resulted in an overnight trip to the hospital for he and I (nick was arriving the next day naturally) He's pretty much back to 100% now, only coughing occasionaly, but those first nights were pretty rough. He had lots of fun while we were there, complete with a multi level house, complete with his favorite thing EVER, stairs. He has his own room and bed at grandma and grandpas house, and he made himself at home, as you'll see in some of the pictures. The first three are here at home before we left, but the rest are at my parent's house in phoenix.

This is one of my all time favorites.. we went to wake him up from his nap and he was sleeping like this. I guess we never explained to him that if he slept the other way, he would fit completly in the crib. Go figure. Oh, all that stuff laying beside the crib? Yeah, that was all in the now empty box. I guess he wasn't quite ready to nap when we put him down and he kept himself occupied with it.

My child is not a monster

2009-01-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is another vent, totally different subject that the last one, but, again, I just need to get it out.

My child is big. I get it. He's tall, he's solid. He has chunky thighs. That's it though. Other than that, he's is very muscular and fit. He's 18 months old and 3 ft tall. He weighs 35 lbs. He's always been large, occasionally he's went through chunky phase, but I hardly think he qualifies for the book of records. He has no rolls on his stomach, no rolls on his arms. Hes very active, and distrubingly enough, has a set of 6 pack abs that defy his age. I am so so so sick of hearing "oh wow, he's huge!" "what do you feed him" and most recently " are you training him to be a ufc fighter or somthing?" I hear things like "oh, that kid would eat a brick" "are you sure you want another, you're not going to be able to afford to feed the one you have" "oh, it's gavin, of course he'll eat it"

I hear these things on a reagular basis, and its really hurtful. I've even been told that I should be looked into by cps because I must be mistreating my kid since he's so big. No, I do not mistreat my child. Obviously. He eats well, but not excessivly. A normal lunch or dinner for him is 3 chicken nuggets, half an apple and a couple spoonfulls of corn. He'll eat about 3/4 of a toasted chesse sandwich, or a hot dog. Those are his favorites. I mean really, maybe I'm just totally out of the loop on this parenting thing, but to me, that doesnt seem like he's eating excessivly. He eats what he would like, and when he is is full, reguardless of whether there is food left or not, he will tell me but signing "all done"

I can't tell you how many times I've actaully cried myself to sleep over this because yes, he's larger than average for his age, but he was born that way. He was born at 37 weeks, and measured 43 weeks for his weight/height. Every time people make these comments I don't think that they understand that they hurt me a lot deeper that just "oh ok". I know a lot of people think it's funny or a joke to goof around that my kid is big, but I'm just so tired of hearing it. I mean at 3 months people would ask me "What are you feeding him?!" "well, pizza, ice cream, the usual" really, what are they expecting? He's 3 months, he eats formula, ONLY. Even the ladies in the nursery at chruch occasionally comment "wow he's so big, you better watch out he'll eat you out of house and home"

IT's so hurtful, he's just a baby. He's bound to be teased and go through hard times later in life because of his size. Hopefully he'll slow down his growth and match up with other his own size soon, but he's bound to go through what everyone does at some point later down the road. Thankfully at this point he doesnt know what people are saying about him, but I do. At this point, they are criticizing me, not him. He's just a baby people, leave him alone. He's 100% healthy and he's not a giant. I mean if i have a 5 ft tall 3 year old, then ok, but he's just a couple inches taller than normal right now, so get over it.

I don't understand why everyone thinks its ok to say such mean and hurtful things to both nick and I. Recently, gavin and I made a trip down to the boat to visit daddy at work. We got there and of course while we were there we ran into several people that nick works with. Two nights later when nick got home, he said "well word got out about gavin" I asked what he meant and he said everyone at work jokes about gavins size and makes comments similar to the "ufc fighter" comment mentioned earlier. He's been called everythign from chunky, fatty, porker, bull, cow, to piggy. Why do people think its ok to call a baby these things. Luckily nick is able to jsut ignore it and he claims that while it does bother him, he can generally ignore it. If I had to work in that enviroment, I don't know how I'd deal. Even just writing those words about my son brought tears to my eyes. To me, he's perfect. I love my son with all my heart, and do think that we do an alright job with raising him, and according to our pediatrician, we do a good job with his nutritional needs. Unfortunatly, a lot of people don't understand how to make their "shut up" filter in their brain function properly.

So, I guess the point is, if you see a baby and are tempted to say "oh he's so chunky" or on the opposite end "she's so tiny, dont' you feed her enough" Think twice, becuase every word like that that you say cuts that mother or father deeper than you will ever know.

What now?

2009-01-23T10:46:00.001-08:00

This is mostly a vent out of frustration, because I really don't have anyone to talk about this with, and I think quite honestly, it'll help me just to get it out. Also, I do realize that I need to update from Christmas and everythign else that's going on, but right now, I just need to get some stuff out.

Ok, so on to my rant. Currently, I am 11 weeks pregnant, and that is the basis for the whole issue this particular blog is devoted to. Now, being in the military, we have good health coverage. As long as we are on what is called Tricare Prime, everything is covered 100%. It's amazing. No copays no deductibles, no nothing, just go to the dr and go home. When I had Gav, it was 100% on their dime, I didn't pay a cent. Being under this coverage though is what I have an issue with. Like I said, its GREAT, it's amazing that we are offered this kind of benifit. The issue is (and I believe why you hear "I HATE TRICARE" so often) is that you have to be seen at a Military Treatment Facility (MFT) if they have room to provide service for you. This is where my issue is. Right now, they want me to go and deliver Baby #2 at Langley Airforce Base, which has it's own devoted hospital. (therefore not costing the military money to send me to a civilian hospital.)
Well, Langely is where I delivered Gavin at, and I had nothign but problems while I was there. Honestly, with all of thing things that went wrong while I was there, I am truely scared to go back into that hospital again.
A few highlights from my delivery there (although the list is much longer, these are the worst offences in my mind):
*was told that I would hear within 12-24 hours if I had pre-eclampsia. However, 3 days later I got a call saying to get myself in immedaitly because I had advance pre-e and was at high risk of having a stroke. (great, glad i didnt have a stroke in the 3 DAYS before I should have known!)
*was asked if I would allow a student to place my epidural. I said no, I didnt even want the student in the room watching. The student was not only in the room, but attempted to place my epidural *3* times while the "supervising doctor" was turned around talking on the cell phone. When I tried to ask for her to stop or to call for another dr. I was told to "shut up, it'll be over faster if I was still and quiet".
*had 26 hours of unnecessary labor. Had they done an ultrasound when I arrived (as I requested) then they would have known that Gavin was to big, and would not be coming out naturally.
*After the resulting c-section, while I was still in the hospital "recovering" they would regularly take Gavin and do his testing and things like that. They took him one day and returned with a different baby! I didnt notice it because she (yes they brought me a girl!) was faced away from me and I could only see blanket and hat, and my mom asked why they put a pink shirt on him and turned "him" around for me to see, yeah, it was a little asian girl that they had brought and left with us. When Iwas talking to the head nurse, and of course crying because to me, Gavin was missing at that point, she told me to "hush and calm down, its not that big of a deal" Ok, so if bringing the wrong baby and LEAVING it unattended with people other than his/her parents isnt a big deal, I'm certainly not having my child there.

I suppose my biggest issue here is that they say as long as they have "space available" for you, that they (the MTF) will provide your care. This is my problem, what is the definition of having space availalbe? Everytime I was seen there, I had to wait 5-6 weeks for an appointment. Critical bloodwork that is preformed during pregnancy takes 5+ weeks to get the results back for. A life threatening complication to me and my child was missed for DAYS, when I was supposed to be alerted within hours. Up until you are farther along in pregnancy (I believe until 3rd trimester) you are seen in GROUP appointments. Meaning, you go to your appointment with 15 people that are around the same point in pregnancy as you. You have your prenatal appoints with 10-15 total strangers, and no personal care. To me, these things say that there is not adequate space available. This is the major flaw of the Tricare/Military healthcare system. There is a problem in that they will claim to have space available to treat you, when in fact, there is not. All of the things I mentioned to me, say that that is not adequate care, and definatly not personalized and comfortable care when I think a woman deserves it most.
I am working with the patient advocate right now trying to be released from care, but she is isgnoring me. Completly. I am 11 weeks and I have not been to a doctor once. I've tried explaining everything to her, giving a detailed factual list of what happened when I delivered Gavin there, and have been told that she will "let me know" if I'm released from care there. Without being released from care at the MTF they designated me to, my insurance is no good, anywhere and everythign will be out of pocket.
I'm truly at a crossroads. I do not feel safe at this hospital, I can not and will not subject myself of my child to that again.
I do have one option, which I most likly will be taking, becuase I need to go to the dr and have proper prenatal care, is to change from aforementioned Tricare Prime, to Tricare Standard. With standard, I have copays and deductibles, as well as services that are not covered. However, I can go to the doctor/hospital of my choice. Including civilian care. My primary care manager (pcm) through Tricare Prime, is a civilian. (because all of the MTF women's care clinics were full of undoubtably pregnant women because that is ALL they see at the Langley Women's Clinic) So, when I talked to Tricare, and asked if I could have my referal to stay with my current PCM, I was told no, that I had to go to the MTF that had availablity. So now, to continue seeing the doctor that I have seen for the last year, and I really like, I am going to have to pay out of pocket, which really bites, because I really don't feel that it should be this way. After all, the military touts their "free healthcare" so much, its supposed to be the one big perk of being in the military, and now I'm going to have to CHOOSE to take myself out of the supposed "wonderful free healthcare" and enroll in the "pay for it if you want to see a qualified doctor" plan. I've appealed to the hospital and to Tricare, and nothing has come of it. It's getting to the point that I really need to be getting appropriate care, and Langley just can not offer it to me. So yeah, it's on to paying for my "free healthcare". (of course I'll willingly pay to feel like I can safely deliver my child, its more the principle at this point)
Like I said though, I really don't have a beef with Tricare, it the specific MTF that I am dealing with. I hear so much Tricare bashing on a regular basis, but honestly, I've never had a single issue with Tricare. Langley on the other hand, the one specific hospital that happens to be the closest MFT to my house, is a problem. I don't want to be mixed into the "tricare whiners" group, because I'm actaully very grateful to tricare for the coverage they provide, and as they have said, their hands are tied. As soon as Langely releases me from their care, they'll be happy to put me with the occice/hospital of my choice. Langely however, and their patient advocate (great title for someone who completly ignores me on a regular basis and has no concern over my situation) are completly blocking the process. UGH.
Anyway, there's my rant for now, I really just needed to get it out of my system and seeing it writen out does actaully help. Anyways, keep your fingers crossed that somthign good happens from this!

Life updates!

2008-12-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't updated in a while. We've been busy, Nick's been working crazy hours, and I'm busy working and playing with Gavin. Last weekend we had "Christmas" with Nick's family, since we'll be heading to Arizona for Christmas with my family. We had a really nice time, and had the added bonus of Blaine and Ginger being able to come up. It was a very welcome suprise, since we don't get to see them nearly as often as we would like.

We had a great time, Gavin LOVED opening presents. It was really fun to watch him since this was the first time he really understood that he was allowed to rip the paper, and he had a blast doing it. He got tons of new toys, and nick and I made out pretty well ourselves. It was a great weekend. Here's a few pictures of the big time everyone had this weekend. :)
He of course wanted to play with the first one he opened and had no interest in opening anymore.

Playing with the remote control car.

Favorite gift of the day? Mom's new boots.

You might have noticed in those pictures that Gavin is nursing his first black eye back to health. That's been pretty fun, and it's really exciting to take him in public for the last two weeks where his eye has been every color under the rainbow.
Christmas with the Hansen's was a great time, and we are really glad that they were able to come, albeit very last minute due to nicks schedule changes. Well, I'll be heading to Phoenix later this week, and nick will be getting into town on Christmas eve, since he has to work. Hoefully I'll get to catch up with some of you there!

One last little bit of whats going on in our lives, Gavin has an announcement: (with the nice yellow stage of "black" eye going)

8-14-09

Gavin's week!

2008-11-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

Just some Gavin pictures that I've taken recently since I know everyone lives for them. ;) ;) As you can see, he recently recieved and early christmas present from mommy and daddy. He's totally in love with his new kitchen set, although mostly for the fact that he can open and close the doors as many times as he likes and mommy doesnt get upset for slamming them. He loves the little grill, it has lights and a "flame" inside it, it is pretty cute. He's always loved to play and do everything that mommy and daddy do, so now, he has his own kitchen, and loves to imitate whatever Nick and I do. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

As was the laundry help I recieved the other day. I was sorting out clothes, and then went to old and put away and could not find my laundry basket. I looked over the back of the couch, and sure enough, Gavin had stole my basket, and was now using it as a recliner, and cuddlign with my super soft socks. (He's very much in love with anything soft, and luckily they were clean!)

We also let him try his hand at eating with a spoon for the first time a couple of days ago. He was pretty excited, and made pretty much the biggest mess possible out of two spoonfuls of applesauce, but it sure was fun.

Not a whole lot going on around here, just the regular everyday stuff. Currently, Gavin is cutting 4 teeth. This is not making life fun for any of us. He is completly refusing to nap, or sleep at night, which is completly frustrating, but we'll survive. He's also fighting off a bit of a runny nose right now, which I assume is from his flu shot since the same thing happened list year when he got it. He's doing well over all, he's really starting to talk now. His newest things to say are "I good" "all done!" "and "duck quack". (which comes from his favorite book of the week, 5 little ducks.) I really am amazed, it seems like every day he picks up more and more, and he doesnt even seem to realize he's doing it. It's crazy!

Anyway, I just wanted to put out a couple new pictures and stories about what our daily life entails.

I hope everyone's week is going well so far!

Fall Fun!

2008-11-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

Well, not a ton to update with, fall is here! I love it! We took Gavin to a pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago, he loved it. He loved running through the pumpkins (aka away from mommy) and feeling everything he could get his hands on. (he's really into textures right now)

For Halloween, our little guy was a bat. It was the funniest thing. I don't have many pictures of it, because we went to a friends house (the owners of the turtle) and when we got there, I found out that my camera batteries were dead, so, I had to steal what pictures I do have from them. I do plan on dressing him up in it again and getting some good pictures, even if Halloween has officially passed.
Gavin also had his 15 month check up. He's doing great, he's now 30lbs and 33inches. What does that mean? It means he's huge. He's doing great though, he's talking so much. It seems like over the last week or two he has just started talking up a storm. He now says mom, dad, dog, go, hi, bye, yeah and no. My favorite right now is "I love" which is what he says for I love you. He also says "I good". As in me saying "Gavin, be good, sit on the couch, don't stand." and he says "I good!" in response. It really is the funniest thing ever, and it totally took me by suprise the first time he said it.

He is getting such a personalitly now. He makes Nick and I smile every day, and every day we say we couldn't love him any more, but he proves us wrong the next day. I never would have imagined that rasing a child could be so much fun. I always thought it would be a ton of work, but really, I dont mind it at all, it doesnt seem like work. Everytime I start to get frusterated or tired of it, his curly head pops out from behind the couch and I hear "mama, I love" It's the sweetest thing and it melts my heart every time. Every morning I wake up and wonder what he's going to do or say today. He really is the best thing to ever happen to Nick and I.

A long awaited update

2008-10-21T12:08:00.001-07:00

Ok, so, I've been lame and havent updated in a long time. My bad. I have been busy though. We have had a parade of visitors through our house. (and I'm not just talking about the ants that decided to move in.. ug!) It's been a lot of fun, but really tiring!

Last weekend, my grandparents drove out here from IL and visited. It was really nice to see them, and I think that they really enjoyed seeing gavin again. They hadent seen him since he was 6 weeks old, so needless to say the changes were very obvious!

The weekend before that, my parents came out. It was great to see them, since it had been a LONG time. Nick was working of course, the noon to midnight shift, so he wasnt around a lot, but, my parents and I had a good time. I of course put dad to work, and he built an awesome mantle for our fireplace that was desperatly wanting one. (yes, the fireplace wanted it.. it told me.)

In other news, since I last posted, I have started working. Sort of. I'm watching another little boy mon- fri. It works well though since he's 18 months, and I take gavin with me when nick is either sleeping or not home, and he gets some interaction with another kid, which is really good for him.

Gavin's doing great though, he's getting big, FAST! He's walking (scratch that, running) and getting bigger every day. We've been taking advantage of the end of the super nice weather lately, complete with trips to the zoo, the park, and the beach. We've had a lot of fun, and kiddo loves to be outside. We'll see how this winter goes, when we're all couped up here in the house. Hopefully, it'll be mild enought to bundle up and go run energy off in the backyard. If not, we'll just have to pack up and go to Phoenix so we can have some outside time. (I doubt there would be much opposition from my parents.)

Anyway, thats about all there is going on here, just nick working a ton, he's still on shift work, so he isnt home often at all, and we're trying to just be thankful for our one weekend a month that he gets off, but it does get old. Why can't he just have a normal life? Oh wait, he's in the navy, thats why. Anyway, I got excited and decorated the house with autum colors the other day, and its putting me in such a good mood. I love the colors of fall, and my autum leaves on the mantle, as well as my pumpkins and pretty orangy-red flowers are so pretty to look at! Well, nick is getting up now (yes, its 4 in the afternoon..) and gavins starting to squeak his waking up squeaks from his room, so I'm off to get both of them and hopefully have a nice evening before nick takes off for work at 9. Hope all is well for everyone else! I'll leave you all with one of my favorite pictures from the zoo. It's both my boys, how did I get so lucky?!

Gavin update

2008-08-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

Insipred by another post on a friends blog, I have decided to update everyone on Gavin's latest statistics. He had his 12 month dr appt, and it went pretty terribly, but in the end, after switching doctors, filing a complaint against the old dr, getting another appt at a new place today and having the bigger issues checked out, we're as good as new. So, on with the updates!
Weight - 28lbs 8 oz. (yeah, I know)
Height - 33inches (again, I know)
Teeth - 12 and currently cutting the two bottom eye teeth. He has the top and bottom middle four, as well as one molar each side top and bottom.
Favorite toys - "big fluffy dog" and the ride on airplane. He also loves his truck to push and his baby bible. He will play with any book, but his soft baby bible is his favorite.
Favorite food - cheerios. And any and all fruit. He's not picky though, he'll eat anything as shown by his height and weight.
Favorite games - run from mommy. screech at mommy. (we do a lot of those two.) He also loves "hug big fluffy dog" If you say that he will run to big fluffy dog, screech and collapse on top of him giggling and hug and kiss him. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever.
Words - He says mama, dada, (mom and dad if he's mad.) wawa, bottle (we finally broke him of baba, he now says bottle! It was a big achievement for us!) dog, bye, and more. (he will also sign for more which was very exciting, he didnt screech, just used his hands! imagine!)

New tricks.

2008-08-04T11:43:00.001-07:00

In the last couple of days, Gavin has learned a couple of new "tricks". I of course think it means he's the most advanced child in the world, however I do know in the back of my mind, it is normal developement.

So, yesterday, as he and I were sitting in the living room floor having our normal afternoon playtime, I picked up a ball and rolled it to him. He then, picked the ball up looked at it, and rolled it back to me. We rolled the ball back and forth for about a half hour. He thought it was really funny, and I of course though it meant he was a brilliant future world leader.

Also yesterday, as we were sitting at dinner, Nick and I at the table, and Gavin in his chair eating a snack, since he had eaten his dinner earlier in the evening, Gavin was protesting and threw his rice crispies (aka cereal with highest mess potential for babies) on the floor. I told him no, and that I would take them away if he threw more on the floor. (I'm not a fan of throwing food.) For whatever reason, he looked at me and I guess he saw a very serious face, and felt the need to break the tention, but, he decided to pull out a new trick for us. Bear with it, its a little hard to explain, but he started making noise and running his arm/hand over his mouth. This is the equivilent of tapping your hand over your mouth while making sound. (We used to call it "sounding like an Indian" but I'm pretty sure that would be the most un-PC thing ever to call it.. so, we'll call it tapping over your mouth) Anyway, it was pretty funny, and I'm not sure where exactly he learned that from since I have never done that to him or in front of him. The closest I've done is just covering his mouth when he's shrieking, but for whatever reason, this new noise is pretty fun, and we hear it pretty frequently now.

In other news, I'm going to start watching a little boy now, he is 15 months old, so I'm really excited to let he and Gavin get to know eachother a little bit better and really see them interact. They have played together once, and really seemed to enjoy playing together, Gavin had a ball playing with him and was mimicking everything he did. Hopefully he'll start mimicking his walking here soon. Today he took a few steps on his own, without me encouraging it, he just turned around from the couch and started walking. I think it will be soon! One of these days I expect him to just not even try and hold on anymore, I think he'll just get up and walk away! My life is about to get a whole lot busier!

It's official!

2008-08-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

He's one! I can't believe it! Our baby is no longer that, he's now a toddler. (although I'll claim him as a baby as long as he lets me have our post-nap mommy/gavin cuddle time. It's the best time of the day!)

We didn't have a big party for him on the 30th, we'll be having one a bit later once Nick can have a weekend off to really celebrate and family can come join us here. We did have a couple that we are good friends with and have a little boy that is two weeks older than Gavin over for dinner and some play time in honor of Gavin's 1st.

Gavin got to open a couple of gifts from Mommy and Daddy. The Lavassuers were nice enough to get him an awesome lawn mower that blows bubbles when he pushes is. He really is enjoying it, and keeps our rug mowed quite nicly! As you can see, he's walking with assistance now, which is an exciting developement. He got a fun play table from Mommy and Daddy, as well as a "baby laptop" (it made me laugh when I saw it, so he got it!) and he also got a pirate ship bath toy. The rest of his gifts are going to wait until the party to make their big debut, but for now, he's having a blast with what he did get to open.

As you can see from the above, the cake was also quite the hit. (although there really wasn't any doubt that he would like it.)
He clapped for the cake, he giggled, he crammed more food in his face that I could have ever imagined would fit. He made the largest possible mess, it was fantastic. He giggled the whole time, and had a blast. It was really fun to watch him.
After eating the cake, he got a complete washdown in the tub, where I am most assuredly going to be finding cake for the next 6 months. I highly reccomend that you click on the picture to the left just to see the full detail of just how messy he made himself with the cake. It's quite impressive. I'm pretty sure the high chair will smell like icing for a long while, even though it has been hosed down and cleaned to the best of my ability. I never imagined that a high chair could take over an hour to clean. You learn somthing new everyday I guess!
Well, there's the wrap up for the 30th. Hope you enjoyed it! Keep checking back to see what my one year old is up to!

Just a quick note

2008-07-29T19:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say, my baby turns 1 tomorrow. I absolutly can not believe how fast the last year has gone by. I can not believe that we have lived here for over a year. It's just amazing to me. One year ago right now, I was in labor. It seems unreal. Everyone says that it goes fast, but this is just crazy. I have loved every second of the last year, and look forward to the next one coming up, which will undoubtably go just a quickly. I wish I could keep Gavin here at his baby age forever, but, I'm sure each age will be my favorite, and I'll look back at the end of each year and wonder how in the world he got so big, so fast.

Lately, we havent been up to to terribly much, just kind of hanging around the house here. Gavin and I make the occasional outing to the park so that nick can sleep during the day. (oh the joys of him working overnight) We've done lunch with some girlfriends and we've done a lot of playing in the living room. Today was a big day for him. He's been standing unsupported for quite a while, and crusing furniture for what seems like forever. But, today, he walked along beside me while holding onto one hand, and then when I let go of him, he took 4 steps on his own. Yes, a whole 4 steps. You would not believe how excited I got. I clapped (and he clapped, because it's what he does) and congratulated him and he was so excited and proud of himself. It was probably the cutest thing ever.

It's amazing how the little things are suddenly the greatest accomplishments. It amazes me every day how excited I get over simple things. He clapped his hands, I think he deserves an award. He walked 4 steps, he most certainly deserves media attention for that. Most people probably look at me like I'm insane and nick certainly rolls his eyes a lot when I get so excited about Gavin's latest and greatest, but I honestly can not help it. He is so entertaining, and watching him develope his personality is really interesting. Seeing how he picks up new mannerisms every day is really intersting.

One particularly funny example of this, in my opinion, happened the other day. For Valentines Day last year, Grammi got Gavin these small cars. They roll, they're pretty fun. They are the kind that when you roll them backwards they wind up, you let go and they propel themselves forward. Gavin has figured this out. So the other day as Gavin was playing in babyland (aka the living room) I'm watching him play with these cars. Then I hear him call for tanner. "dog dog" Gavin simply refers to Tanner as dog, and tanner comes bounding in at the first sign of being wanted. So, gavin winds up the car and is holding it, and calls tanner into the room. As tanner gets in front of him, he lets go of the car, and its shoots off and hits tanner. The dog isnt sure what has happens, but runs away and jumps on the couch to be sure it doesnt happen again. Gavin laughs. It has begun. My baby is really a little boy, and is beging to act like it. It's only a matter of time before I hear the magic phrase said by nick in this house. "Don't tell your mom, or we're both in trouble." I can't wait.

Please read this everone..

2008-07-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

So, I guess I'll start at the begining here. As most people know, there are a few websites I frequently visit. There's yahoo for my email, there's myspace and facebook for mindless entertainment and catching up with old friends. Also, I go to a website that is a messaging forum for navy wives. I love going to the website, because sometimes, it's nice to talk to people that are in the same boat as you. (no pun intended) It's nice to have someone who isnt going to say "you knew what you were getting into when you married him" or "at least he's not in Iraq" While all of those are true, it doesn't ease the pain when your loved one is gone, or when you havent seen your husband in 3 days and you are laying your son down to bed at night and he's crying for dada. (that was tonight for me) It is hard, and while yes, I knew when I married him that he would be gone a lot, however, that isnt to say that I knew the extent to which it would hurt. (after all, I can tell you I'm going to punch you in the stomach, did your knowing in advance make it hurt any less?)
Well anyway, back to where I was going with that. This navy wives website has been helpful to me many many times, whether it be a question having to do directly with the navy or somthign as random as getting a recipie from someone else. (which I have) But, tonight after I got Gavin down to sleep and I logged on to see what the daily gossip was, and if I could answer anyone else's questions (since they've answered a million of my own) The first post I click on is not good news. A girl was going to school tonight had been hit by a semi. She suffered severe brain injuries, and is now brain dead. She is on life support, and not expected to make it. She was a few years younger than me. She was married in January of this year. Her poor husband. I can't even imagine, she had left for class, and he will never speak to her again.
This makes me wonder. If it were me, what would people remember about me? What was the last thing I said to Nick? Hopefully, it was I love you. What was the last thing I said to my mom, dad, sister, my best friends? Hopefully again, it was I love you.
I think that in my life I have gotten too wrapped up in my own life to remember to tell everyone how much they mean to me. So the point of this is, for all my friends and family, I do love you. I love each and every one of you for different reasons. My friends and family are everything to me, and I can't imagine my life with one less of any of you. Hopefully, everyone knows that, however I doubt that they do becuase I know that I do not say it enough. So, I am going to be making a concious effort to be sure that I do tell everyone how much I love them, and how much I care for each and every person. If somthing were to happen to me, because it could have been anyone driving beside that semi tonight in Fresno, I want everyone to know how I feel about them.
It is terrible that somthing as sad as what has happened to Alyssa tonight, had to happen to make me realize just how much I take for granted. I realize just how lucky I am to be able to pick up my phone and scroll through the contacts list and be able to call any one of the many numbers in there and spill my heart out to them, and know that they honestly care. I hope that everyone who sees my number thinks the same thing, however, I'm sure that they don't because how many times have I said "oh I'll call you right back" or how many times do I just not answer becuase I'm to busy. I am going to start making time for people. Of course I'm not perfect, no one is, but I need people to know how much they mean to me, and hopefully, when they think of me, they'll immediatly think of my love for them.
I am especially guilty of underappreciation here at home with nick. I take him for granted so so much. I mean I always tell him I love him, and a quick peck as he walks out the door, but it has become so routine for us, that I'm afraid it has lost it's meaning. So, this means I need to stretch myself and figure out a way to really show Nick how much he means to me. Then, I need to brach to each and every other person in my life. Everyone in my life deserves a personal and heartfelt expression of my love and appreciation for them in my life. I'm not sure how just yet, but give me time and I'll figure somthign out.

Until then though, everyone please know that you mean more than anything to me. Everyone in my life has been so loving and supportive of me and what I have choosen to do with my life, and has done nothing but help me reach goals. I appreciate that, and can never thank you enough for it.

Oh, and if you have a spare minute, please say a prayer for the family. It's going to be rough on all of them.

Come on... SMILE!

2008-07-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

So, I think its time to put a smile on everyone's faces. I've noticed when I'm out and about, that most people look upset. As we were driving today, I looked into the car next to me at every stop light. (nick was driving, so it was fine for me to wander off in thought) Every time I looked in another car, every person looked upset or unhappy. This bothers me. Granted, I know we all have our days, but EVERY car for the 20 min drive had people looking upset in it. I saw single occupant cars with the driver looking sad, and Heaven help the couples that I saw fighting. I lieterally saw people yelling at eachother in their cars. (and felt like I was imposing by having my eyes open.) In our car, we were laughing. At one red light, Gavin was doing somthing stupid and we were laughing at him, and I happened to glance at the car beside us, and a couple who had previously been in the midst of somthing that appeared very serious, was now smiling, looking into our back window. This made me think, if seeing Gavin do random stuff makes people happy, I should share some of his best moments so everyone can have a good smile, and perhaps a good giggle out of it. So, this is my attempt to make the world smile a little more today. Enjoy.

So, a few weeks ago, Nick, Gavin and I were driving home from the YMCA. We had been swimming, and of course Gavin was completly exhausted, which means he was jabbering on in a very unpleasant, whiny voice. About 10 minutes later, I was at the end of my rope from listening to a whiny child, so I spun around in my seat (nick was driving again, no saftey was compromised ;) ) and looked and Gavin and said (in a rather not nice voice.. sorry Gav) and said: "what is the problem here?!" He looked back at me, was silent for about 10 seconds, and we were in the middle of a stare-off and he simply, as plain as can be says "YOU". (with all the attitude you could expect from a 13 year old, not a 10 month old.) Nick and I about died laughing then and there. And of course, Gavin saw us laughing, so he felt the need to giggle with us.

Another night, Nick decided to take Gavin and I out for dinner, since we hadn't been out for a while, and Gavin was in a good mood. We get to the resturant and are seated, and have got the necessary array of cheerio's spread on the table for entertainment, and our server comes to the table. Gavin's jaw drops. The lady who was serving us was probably about our age, but she was absolutly beautiful. I'm not afraid to say it, she was stunning. Well, apparently I was not the only one to notice. Every time that night when she would come to our table, Gavin would set whatever he was messing with down and stare at her. He would intently watch the door to the kitchen and any time she would move he was glued to her. When she would come to our table, he would flash his biggest and best smiles to her and flirt with all of his ability. Nick and I could not contain ourselves. Gavin was completly in love with our server, and we could not peel him away from her, he hung on every word that she said. She eventually bent down and was talking to him, he just sat there and smiled and ran his hands through her hair. It was the funniest thing we have seen yet. Gavin's first love unfortunatly was about 25 years older than him, but I'm sure, based on his reaction to Ana, he will love brunettes forever.

So, what we have decided is that Gavin might just be a teenager in a very small body. I've got tons more funny Gavin stories, but, he has just woke from his (way to short) afternoon nap, so I need to get to him. I hope that these couple stories have at least put a little smile on your face, and maybe if you were having a bad day, it will have helped cheer you up a little bit. And next time you're in your car, be afraid, I might just be in the car next to you staring at you. :)

Changes..

2008-07-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, with Gavin's birthday coming up, I was thinking earlier today about how fast everything has changed.

It seems like just yesterday that we got married. In reality, it was over 4 years ago, and so so much has happened since we got married, but it still seems so recent. When I really think about it, I see exactly how much change can happen in the span of 4 years. We've lived in 6 houses, 3 states, and completed moves from AZ to SC to WA to VA. We're good with change. We do it often. It's when I look back though and think about all the changes to our family, from moving to adding a dog, and eventually Gavin, that I realize exactly how long we have been married, and how lucky we are to have eachother and a detication to our marriage and keeping our family whole. With all the changes that have happened to us individually (since we have spent a lot of time apart) and us as a family, it is amazing that we have came out no worse for the wear.

I've never really sat down and and wrote out everything I've though about our marriage and our kind of odd circumstances that most people are lucky enough to be able to avoid in their lifetime, but I want to share. You dont have to read it, so if you don't want to, scan for pictures and move on. But, if you feel like listening to a really long winded ramble from me (becuase my child is taking an AWESOME nap this afternoon!) then feel free.

Six months after getting married, we moved from South Carolina to Seattle. (ish) That in itself was a shock for me to deal with. I was just figuring out how to get to target without getting lost and we were off again. It was stressful, but we made the best of it. Two weeks after we got to WA, Nick deployed for 6 months. Again, shock. Now at this point in my life, I had been married for 6 months, and had lived on my own for approximatly 0. Now, here I was in a place that I didnt know anything about (and was living in a pretty crummy area to tell you the truth) and my husband was gone. Adios. I took a two week vacation and visited my parents in AZ, then it was back to reality. Reality meaning alone. So, the 6 months passed (slowly), and nick came home (yay!) and life got back to "normal". A month later, he left again, this time only for a month. Agian, time passed (still slowly), and Nick came back (yay!) We repeated the home for a month, gone for a month cycle for about 5 months, then, guess what, deployment! (yay.. ok, no not really..) So, again, 6 months gone. Then, he came home (do I have to say it?) and they went into the shipyards. What this means is he worked 3 hours away from home, and got 6 hours a week (basically) off work. It was a great time. Nothing like being "home", but not seeing your own bed.

So, that's a taste of what his schedule was. On the left here is a picture of the the lovely seagoing vessel itself. To nick, this was "home sweet home" for 28 of the 36 months that we lived in WA. During the time that he was there, so much happened. Think about your everyday life. How much do you talk to the person you live with? Now imagine your every day little conversations from things like finances to when should we have kids, to even more major life happenings. Now, think about having to have all of those little conversations through email. (only you dont get half of the emails from the other person.) It is a fantastic way for people to build a marraige and life together. Believe me. While deployed, this is life. I got usually one email a week from him, and one phone call every 2-3 weeks. So for me, obviosuly it sucked, but at the same time, it was a GREAT way to build our relationship. How you might as? (actually you probably didnt..but you're going to hear anyway.) I knew that nick trusted me. I dealt with all kinds of random things that most (normal) people would discuss with their spouses, without the help or input from mine. Thats not to say he didnt want to give input in how our life was ran, it was that he couldn't, and the fact that he trusted me, and still does trust me to take care of everything means a lot to me. His faith in my judgement is astounding to me, I honesatly would have such a hard time with that kind of faith and trust in another person that it means a lot to me that Nick has handed over household responsibilities to me and never questions me. (Except for the occasional when did you get those shoes and how much were they?)

We have in four years managed to have one holiday together EVERY year. That is an accomplishment. The holiday you might ask? 4th of July, that's right, every Independance day since we got married, we've been together. The picture of the boat you're looking at was taken at Pearl Harbor Hawaii, on July 2. Nick was in port, and I was GOING to be there. So, we also got Independance Day of 2006 together by default. He was in the middle of a deployment, but the ship ported in HI. So, it is truly meant to be that the 4th is our holiday.

While living in WA, I had one thing that I've never really had such wonderful examples of. My friends. I had the best friends I could have asked for, and my job provided me a great escape from boredom. I loved my job, and loved the people that I worked with and miss them dearly. (although I will still never know why I was hired.. I walked in off the street and said I have no experience, hire me. I like diamonds.. and they did!) My job and friends were truly my lifeline through a very very long time

The point of this whole thing? I don't really know, I just wanted to ramble on I suppose. But I guess in thinking back over the last little bit of typing here this afternoon, I guess I would sum it up with Change. It happens, like it or not, it will happen. When I think back, all the changes we have dealt with, even though they seemed terrible at the time, have really made us so much stronger, and our marriage better because of it. Sometimes (ok fairly frequently) I get on the "why us?" kick (the why does it have to be our turn for ANOTHER deployment or ANOTHER round of shift work.. ) but in the end, when I look back, we are 24, have been married for 4 years, have a completly amazing child, and own our own home. It couldnt have been all that bad, right? Nick and I are very blessed. We love eachother and have all the support we could ask for from family and friends, what more could we need?

Well, enough of my rambling, I'm sure it didnt make too much sense, but hey, its a blog, it doesn't need to right? I hear a little voice coming from a back bedroom calling out "mama didi" which roughly translated means "mom, I'm up from my nap and need a diaper change" So I'm off for the rest of the afternoon to have fun with my baby bean. (and I had to throw in one more cute little picture of him playing the other day.

How can you not smile when you see that?!

Last one for the night!

2008-07-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I know I'm going a bit overboard here tonight, but, nick doesnt get home from work until midnight, and I'm waiting up for him so I've got nothing better to do!

I was just looking through all the pictures here on my computer and was looking back all the past year of Gavin. It's amazing how it seems like I don't see the change on a daily basis but then I look back and realize just how little he really was. It's amazing to see the change and how much he has grown into his own little person.

So in honor of my baby turning one here in a week and half. *tear* Here's a look back at how he's grown. Sorry theres a lot of pictures, but this is the "short" version. Believe it or not, I've pruned it down!

Here's the house updates.

2008-07-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

So everyone, look at me, two posts in the same day! I swear I'm going to be better at this.. maybe I'll be inspired (and by inspired I mean bored) to write a really long rambling sometime soon!

So, this is the "new" house. We've been living here since May, and we still have stuff to do. (lots and lots of stuff) but, I guess thats the way it goes when you own a house. We are loving living here, and we really like being able to add color to the walls and make it truly our home. The only rooms that aren't on the slideshow are Gavin's room, which has been very cutly painted in two tone blue, but I dont have a picture of it with his furniture in it, and well, he's asleep right now, so we'll just have to wait on the picture of it. And, I dont have any of the livingroom with things in it, but, we haven't got it painted yet, so there's really nothing exciting about a white room with stuff. So anyway, here's the rundown of what we've done:
Kitchen: built in a home for the microwave and replaced light over the table. It had a terribly ugly ceiling fan, so we found a light to match the one in the other part of the kitchen and my lovely electrician husband installed it for me.
Guest bathroom: Nick installed new floors instead of the yellowing linolium. It is now a lovely slate colored tile that matches not only the countertop, but my decorations. :)
Guest Bedroom: Walls went from a seafoam green to a much more neutral and relaxing beige. (slightly boring, but I like it.)
Master Bedroom: we painted to a two tone brown/beige. I love it!
Master Bathroom: (not pictured) it had a pink marble laminate countertop. (yes itwas as bad as you are imagining!) My dad made a trip out here and helped us tile that, so now it is a nice tumbled marble countertop. The walls have not been painted yet though, so it still looks a bit rough.
The front yard is a current work in progress. We took out the bushes, which looked like it would be a fairly easy undertaking, however we came to find that the undersides of them were rotted and molded (um, ew) as well as there were not 5 or 6 like we thought, but 18. So, we have a LOT of stumps to remove sometime in the near future. (UG)
So anyway, there's the rundown, and here are the pictures. If you have any suggestions as to what else we can do or that you see needs to be updated feel free to add. (however please note, that the place isnt the cleanest ever, so ignore the random stuff laying around!)

A new resolution.

2008-07-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

Ok-

So, I'm officially lame and have not been 'blogging' as I thought that I would. However, that is now going to change. I have decided that I need more of an 'outlet' for my thoughts, and I think that this is the venue that I need to use. I'm sure that not a lot of people are going to be looking at this, but I dont particularly care. I just want to get out whatever random thoughts are running through my head. (maybe it'll clear some room and I'll start remembering things too!)

First off though, I'll do a little updating on our rather crazy life.

Nick is still working a ton, whats new with that though. We did find out that his updated date that he should get a new assignment (for shore duty!) will be October of 09. This date is an approx. date. it can be +/-3 months though. So in reality, we could very well be moving In July of next year. Talk about fast turn around. It would be almost exactly two years since we arrived here. (we've already been here one full year, crazy huh?!) But, most likly we'll be going back to South Carolina, which is good news. We both enjoyed it there. When we lived there before, we used to go look at model houses for fun. (we really had no money, and that was free entertainment!) We found one that was our dream house. We still have the floorplans for it actaully. Well, today in my boredom (I should have been cleaning or doing somthing productive) I was wandering around the internet, and somehow found myself searching for houses in South Carolina. Imagine my suprise when I found our "dream house" on the market there. and the best news? It was in our price range! I was so so excited. Although I know that in all likly hood home prices will go up in the next year (at least I hope so for our resale purposes!) it is at least a glimmer of hope that our fantastic, amazing, wonderful dream of a floorplan will be at least an option for us. Keep your fingers crossed!

In other news, Gavin is doing wonderfully. He just cut his 12th tooth. Yes, that's right, our monster has chompers.. lots of them! He's getting such a personality now, its so much fun to be around him every day. He's standing on his own now, and we see a step every now and then, but he tries to hide if from us. His new favorite trick is clapping. The kid claps nonstop! It (of course to me) is the cutest thing ever.

He also loves the water. We do a lot of swimming! We joined the YMCA here, and we take him up to the pool frequently there, but in the event that we just dont feel like making the drive, he has his own little pool in the backyard that he adores. Unfortunatly though, he mostly likes to pull grass from the yard into it. But, its fun to watch him splash and play, and wish that our lives were all as simple and carefree.

He also loves to play the run away from mommy game. He's quite good at it! He can be down the hall and into his room in the amount of time it takes mommy to get a glass of water. It's really quite impressive how fast he can move. He is however a really violent crawler. It does prove to be quite handy though too, because you can hear him wherever he goes. All in all though, he is just about the cutest kid ever to grace the planet. We love him dearly and don't know what we have done to deserve such a wonderful child. We are truly scared to know how bad the next one will be to make up for how perfect Gavin is. (just kidding!)

Well, I'm going to call it done for now, but I am going to keep posting. I may even add another one tonight with updated house pictures! We have done a lot of work, and so I'm going to go ahead and add some before and afters of the house and update about all the randomness that we have done here!

Hey look, I blg!

2008-04-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

So, this week I am in Philadelphia training for work. I have been here since sunday evening, and am really getting homesick. I know its silly, I get to talk to Nick every day, and I'll be home in just a couple of days, but just look at the picture. How could you not miss that? Gavin is seriously the happiest little guy, and how could you not just LOVE that face? He's my pride and joy, and I miss him so much! I'm really not looking forward to yet another week of this next week. But at least I get to go home on friday afternoon and spend some time with him before leaving on Sunday night again. Possibly next week Nick will be able to fly up here and visit, so that would be nice.

We had a nice Easter, it was very quiet, and it was jsut us, but it was nice. We had easter baskets for all, which was fun, and Nick got me a nice necklace for my birthday which happened to be that day. It was nice to just have a day to ourselves. Gavin loved his easter basket and took pleanty of time examining it and figuring out just what everything was. Tanner got some nice easter gifts as well. :)

We are excited to announce that we get our new house tomorrow, April 3. We are really excited! So, if anyone feels the need for a vacation to come out here, we have a bedroom for you, however, we currently charge one room of painting, or some other form of housework as your "rent" for the duration of your stay! We are really looking forward to getting moved in and settled down, and I'm really excited to paint! We're still figuring out a place for everything, so it may be creative, but, we'll own it! It needs some serious yard work, but that's easy, we jsut need one good weekend and it'll be much better!

Gavin is doing GREAT! He's started saying da-da, and he still thinks ma-ma is the funniest word in the english language. He's scootching on his stomach so its only a matter of days until I think he'll be crawling, and his newest favorite trick is pulling himself up to standing, so it's about to get really busy at our house! He continues to amaze nick and I daily, and it's just so neat to watch him discover the world on a daily basis. We love him to death and can't wait to see what he does next. He really is the happiest baby ever, and in my opinion, is the cutest one ever too.

I've given in!

2008-03-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

As it seems, everyone I know has started a 'blog' for their families, so I figure I can't be the only kid on the block without one! So I figure I will start keeping updates on our family and what we've been up to here! Here goes nothing!