Playing Catch Up

Hi, everybody! I CANNOT believe I have not posted since January! This move was a crazy one and living out of a suit case for months was no bueno. Maybe if I would have kept up with my blogs and got out my feelings out, my sanity would have been spared  ;) So, we packed up our house and moved in March. Such a bitter sweet moment. I was so excited to start this new chapter, but so sad to end the best chapter (so far) of our lives. We left the house we became a family in :( To see the beautiful room we set up for Leia become empty again, and all that was left was the paint on the walls, and the non-removable wall decal right above where her crib used to sit. It just made my heart feel so heavy!

We made our trip across the U.S all the way to San Diego, while stopping to spend time with family along the way. It was great to have everyone see Leia before we jouneyed so far away. She will practically be a little lady by the time we see everyone again.

Brent was going through some additional training in San Diego. So Leia and I would travel between SD and Arizona quite a bit to spend time with him. It was a very stressful time, since some military stuff got a little twisted up, we ended up staying way longer than we expected and didn't know exactly when we would be able to finally leave. We left Jacksonville, when Leia was 8 months old, and didn't leave for Guam until she was 13 months. Gaahhh! 5 MONTHS bouncing around, out of suitcases would drive anyone batty.

Plus sides to the situation.... We were able to spend Leia's 1st birthday with family. Speaking of  Leia's first birthday. We were supposed to have a party for her. But with the stresses of the move, decided againtst it. On her actual birthday, we were in Arizona (without daddy). So I  just took her to McDonalds with my cousin and her family and had a little fun there. We were leaving for San Diego the next day, so we waited to be with daddy for her birthday cake :) Since everything was so crazy at the time, Brent and I decided to hire a photographer to take 1st birthday pictures of Leia. We let her know what we were looking for and she created the most beautiful birthday picnic for Leia. We bought a cake for Leia to smash, took pictures with family and sang happy birhday at Balboa Park, all while the photographer snapped away. It was wonderful and was even featured in this great baby blog, here!  We were also able to be in San Diego for the birth of my brother and sister-in-law's first born son. I got to be in the room for the delivery and it was A-mazing. He is adorable and  Leia LOVES her little cousin to pieces <3

We arrived in Guam on July 31st after a long 17 hour trip.  Leia was the perfect little jet setter. She was in great spirits the whole time. She sat in her own little seat, watched t.v, ate when the flight attendants brought food, and napped here and there.  When we arrived, it was a HUGE culture shock...let me tell ya! Guam is gorgeous but the ameneties are nothing like the states. No highways, no department stores like in the states, limited restaurants and NO TARGET. They do have a K-mart, that is supposedly the biggest one in the world. But it does leave something to be desired. It is a zoo! We are definitely looking forward to the trips we will be able to take. Australia, Palau (best scuba diving in the world) and China's Great Wall are on the top of our list. Not to mention the great hiking we can do here. Brent and I are now scuba certified. We have a couple of dives under our belt and can't wait to do a lot more.

All in all, everything is great with us. We are all settled....well mostly settled. We have yet to get Shane over here. He is staying with my cousin in AZ until the weather gets cooler and the airline will allow us to ship him. We miss him tremendously and leave his bowls out, anticipating his arrival. We were able to find a nice 4 bedroom, 3 bath home, with a nice size yard for the dog,  not to far from the base. It has plenty of growing room for us over these next 4 years. We have met some amazing friends and have great neighbors on our street. Brent is deploying soon, so Leia and I will be without daddy for a while. I am sure we will manage and do wonderfully. Whew....so that is the update on us folks! I will definitely keep up now and update more often. More fun and exciting things to come and I can't wait to blog all about it! xoxoxo

P.S I had every intention of adding some pics to this blog, buuuttttt in the midst of our move, our hard drive crashed on us! So, we have yet to get all of our pics, since our move off. I will update this, after I get them :)

Leia LOVES this little ball! It is the cutest thing to watch her play with it. She sticks her fingers in through each side and hits at the little ball. Such a smartie pants!

January 1st, 2011

Happy New Year!!!! After reflecting back on the amazing year of 2010, I embrace 2011 with open arms. Today we just lounged around the house and watched Michigan State play Alabama in the Capital One Bowl.    Unfortunately bad play after bad play, had Brent sooo disappointed and Michigan State lost the game. So here is Leia trying to cheer her daddy up! Love this little giggle box!!!

Two Become One

I never really took in what that meant until just the other day, when I was looking into my daughters eyes. Ever since she was born, and I would look into her eyes, I would see myself. It was the most surreal feeling to look at this little person and see a glimpse of yourself. Then I wondered if I was being biased because she was "my" baby! LOL So, I asked Brent if when he looked at her, did he see me in her eyes or himself!?!?!? He said, "I see myself!" Punch to the gut, let me tell you :(  Even though he said that, I still see myself in her a lot. But...... when she smiles I see so much of her daddy too! I guess it just depends on the face she is making at the moment. Now I can honestly say I DO see us both! What better way to join two people, than in the creation of a child. She is the best of both of us, in one little body! She makes me realize what marriage really is. Not that I didn't realize what my marriage meant, but sometimes the craziness of the day to day can make you not appreciate what have. I love my daughter and I love my husband. To look at her, have so much unconditional love for her, see her for her, realize how blessed we are, see my husband, and appreciate what God has joined together is amazing!  I love my little family!!!

Cute Little Ballerina........

It's the inside that matters, not the outside right!?!?! A friend of mine said, "I bet it was so fun taking her out in that outfit!" Smssssh... it was a great attempt! LOL I dressed her up so cute so that we could go have lunch with daddy yesterday. I had stopped, got lunch, and then we headed to the base. I get to his job, grab her baby carrier and go to get her out of her carseat. As I go to pick her up, I put one hand behind her back, and one hand under her bottom. To my surprise, some slimy, warmness hits my hand. I look down and I see, MUSTARD YELLOW, SEEDY POOP all over my hand, and it did not stop there! It was all in her carseat and ALL over her cute, little, pink ballerina outfit :( I was so determined to bring her in with it on, that I sat in the car and scrubbed the heck out of it with every baby wipe I had, then cleaned up her carseat. Luckily the carseat has a pad under her bottom, so all I had to do was remove that :)

So in the carrier "she" goes, and up to daddys' office we go for lunch. After we have been sitting up there for awhile, she decides to puke all over her outfit!!!  So then I think to myself, "maybe you just don't want to wear this outfit!" Changed her clothes, because of course.... I have no more wipes!!! We say bye to daddy and then go down to the car. As I am putting her in her carseat, I can't find her paci ANYWHERE. I guess that got lost in the poop episode of the afternoon. Soooo, what happens when I get her in her careat????? She screams her head off! So here I am, driving with my arm towards the backseat with my finger in her mouth. We make it to Babies R Us and she starts screaming more because I took her "finger" paci away. She cries the whole time in the store. So I pay and take her paci's out of the package and suck the heck out of them so I can give it to her.

Sure, it was a TON of fun to put her in that outfit! LOL So as you all look at this picture and see this cute little ballerina posing, I know what really lies beneath! I was thinking on the ride home that I have finally been initiated! The getting pooped, peed, and puked on was rookie stuff! I am moving on to the big leagues now!!!!

My Greatest Blessing

.....has to be the day I became a mommy! My whole world turned from black and white, in to color! These past 3 months have not been spent just learning about my little one. I have actually learned ALOT about myself. I have seen a side of myself that I never knew existed. I have always been one to get things done as quick as possible and sometimes forget to see the lighter side of it all. Now in the midst of scrambling to get ready to leave the house, I actually take a few seconds to marvel in my daughters new discoveries. Leia has a mirror right about her changing pad in her room. After I get her cleaned up and dressed, I pick her up and she always seems to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She gets the biggest smile on her face and looks at herself with raised eyebrows and excitement. She has taught me to just laugh off the small stuff. The spit up all over my new "clean" shirt, the diaper explosions right when we are about to walk out the door, the late night wake ups, where I swear I could die for just a few more hours of sleep, and then I turn the light on and see her with her chin tucked down with a soft grin, so happy to see her mom.  June 21st, 2010 started a beautiful chapter in my life. I am honored to be her mom and ever so grateful to God for entrusting me with this little life. She is learning something new everyday and I just try to soak up every second with her. The time goes by so quick :(  She is absolutely beautiful and I will be updating as much as I can so you can catch a glimpse of some of these special moments in our lives. There will be TONS more to come ;)