Hard days

This blog has sat neglected since my husband has came home. Medical issues, birthdays, holidays, and so much more has happened. To the point where this blog is no longer valid.

Two weeks after my husband got off the boat he was diagnosed with Colitis and is now not cleared to deploy. We are looking at the very real possibility of a medical separation sometime in the next year. So the title of this blog no longer implies or would be used in context. I have yet to decide if I want to start a new blog or not. The kids and I do so many things I want to share. I need to think about it. I will keep you posted.

Much love.

Busy days

Never fails, the closer the end of deployment gets the busier we are. Our days are filled with school, play groups, errands and friends. Friday on a trip to the NEX Stinker got quite a surprise. We rounded the corner and there with fluffy ears and a round nose, dressed head to toe in pink, hoop skirt and all, was hello kitty! With an exclamation of 'pretty!' she was entranced. Sadly I had forgotten my phone so I didn't get any pictures.

Yesterday was rounded out by dinner and a movie at a friends. Meatloaf and the lion king. What could be better? So nice to sit and relax and get to talk to a friend while the kids play. Today our only plans are Corban's 1st birthday party! Tomorrow is Laurana's 1st birthday party, while next week is Nathan's 2nd birthday party with Stinkers the week after. Tis the season for birthdays!

Stinker has a new not so charming habbit. She's became a sneak. Hiding anything she knows she shouldn't have. Just now as she was trying to open a box of my chocolates her responce to the question 'what are you doing?' Was to throw the box to the side, slide down onto her back, roll over onto the box picking it up as she rolls over, sit up and clutch it to her chest. Anything she thinks she shouldn't have gets jammed into her lap or behind her back when she gets called out. Stinker. Lately has been battle after battle with her. To get dressed, to change her diaper, to sit in the cart. All of it comes with screaming now.

I love her though!

Mean while Little Man still doesn't like me to leave the room. He's getting so big though! He scoots some on his butt, though not enough for him to notice. I still can't believe my Little Man is almost 7 months old! And weighs 22 pounds to boot! You won't find a sweeter boy though!

I love my kiddos <3

Est!

So glad to hear your voice last night, we love and miss you so much! So glad you will be home soon, can't wait!

A Picture Kind of Day

Quick photo dump! Hope everyone had a stellar weekend!

A walk in the park

In Anacortes is this fabulous park that was built in the 1920's it's a memorial to war veterans and is one of the coolest places I've seen. It's really a place you need to go check out. So of course I had to take pictures of the kids there!

And a couple of just Causland Park

Busy Busy

Today was Stinker's first day of pre-school. She did really well, she's not used to the structure but I think she will have it down before we know it. It is so great watching her interact. She used to hang back and watch and now she's in the middle of things. My little girl is growing up! I can't believe she will be 2 at the end of the month! I love watching her grow up.

So much has gone on the last week, been staying super busy. Between play dates and play groups, errands, shopping, and just trying to keep busy I haven't had much free time. Been working on the party favors for Stinker's birthday, they are turning out so stinkin cute! Also made a 'Daddy book' for her, it's just a cheap photo album filled with pictures of her with her daddy. Something wonderful that I wasn't expecting came out of it. Stinker has never really addressed me, I'm just there. By looking at her book though and pointing out people in the pictures she has started to call me 'mama' You will never know how much this thrills me!

Oh gosh, what else has gone on, the farm tour was this last week. so much fun! I love living here! We only went to three farms and with two youngins in tow three was more then enough. Stinker got to ride a pony, Little Man got to gawk at flowers, and both tried eating pumpkins. My kids are so cute!

Sadly my eyes don't want to stay open so I'm going to leave you with some pictures and the promise that I will be back soon!

Place Holder

Every day I have been meaning to update here and everyday I get busy. Between errands, play dates, and cranky kids I keep busy. Tonight though I will sit down and update. I promise!

And time goes on

It's amazing how easy it is to slip into life without you, though I miss you so much. I know what you are doing is important so I don't complain, I keep going on. We love you, we miss you.

Go fly a kite!

Went to the kite festival today. Was fun, watched kite ballet, Stinker made a kite and got to catch a teddy in the teddy bear drop. Now it is late and I'm tired so I am leaving you with some pictures and will be back soon.

21 years

I waffled a bit about writing about this. It explains how I've been feeling lately though. This month marks 21 years since my dad died. That is misleading though, it sums it up so nice and neat when it's anything but. My mom left my dad when I was two. He was keeping things from her and she was worried about keeping me in that environment.

I wish I could say my father was wonderful and doted on me, that I was the most important thing in his life, but it wouldn't be true. He loved me, yes. In his way. See, my dad's first love was drugs. He started using at a very young age. I could get into the supposed whys but his sad story is not mine. Typical drug users life. He lied to get his way, to keep using. When men showed up at the door wanting money my mom gave them what she could, packed her stuff and got me out of there. His life style made it so I didn't see him often. My mom didn't like me being alone with him so I'd mainly see him with family. The last time I saw him was the summer of 1989, I was 7 years old. We soon moved to Colorado and I never saw him again.

See, the fall of 1990 my dad died. Again, that sounds so nice and neat. Truth was he had been arrested for possession of drugs and illegal firearms. He spent very little time in jail before being released. This raised some eyebrows and a contract was put out on him. Yes, my dad was murdered. His body was found in the woods where 2 men had dragged him and killed him. The men responsible are sitting in jail, paying for what they did. Doesn't change things though.

His death stole a lot of opportunities from me. While I know the chances of him ever sobering up were little, he tried many times and failed many times. I still wish there was that slight chance. The chance of him meeting his grand kids. Of ever knowing if he was proud of me.

Life goes on though and all I can do is strive to bring better into my kids life. To be there for them and provide them with everything they need. One day they will learn about their grandpa, not in a sad way, but in a happy way. His love of Minnesota and fly fishing, his kind nature and intelligence. He would have loved them.

Lost chances. There is a lot of them in my past. This is just one of the stories that make up my life. Now I look forward, to grand adventures! To many more falls in the future where my dad will be thought of and missed, but no regrets. You don't get far with regrets.

At least the coffee was free

Mornings can go one of two ways around here, it can be nice and peaceful and the kids play nicely and I can get a bit done or it can be full of screaming, meltdowns, thrown food and mommy banging her head against the wall. Today was a mix.

I guess it started last night. The kids both have runny noses so that meant Little Man was up every hour. I did a quicky throw a blanket under one end of the mattress to elevate it which didn't help any so after the forth wake up at 1 am I put him in his swing to sleep. I know, bad mom. I was desperate! This all led to him waking at 7 this morning and having a quick nurse then back to sleep. Of course Stinker wanted up at that point.

It's not bad having them in shifts. Except now the down stairs is open so Stinker got into everything! There is now clean clothes scattered around the house, 8 baby spoons (maybe more) stuck in various spots, toys everywhere, stuff pulled off shelves and the table, and well I'm sure you get the picture. Besides all that she was being pretty good. So good that I figured we could risk an outing.

Little Man got up and we headed to the community center to turn in our survey. Stinker walked to the building just fine. Smiled for everyone and tricked everyone into thinking she's as sweet as can be. Heading out became a problem. She no longer wanted to hold my hand and figured the middle of the drive was the perfect spot to plop down and scream. Have you every tried to carry a combined 50 pounds of screaming wriggling kids up steps and down a path? It's not easy. Somehow got to the car and decided to try to finish our outing. Ugh. Should have went home.

I'll skip over the fun that was had by all at walmart, lets just say I needed coffee ASAP. Now here is a bit of good! As I was digging for my stamp card I found that by combining the three cards I had that I could get me a free drink! Wooo! Nothing beats a free coffee. Except finding $16 in the bottom of my bag that I forgot about.

So now hours later, many screaming fits by both, a thrown sandwich, the smoke detector going off, and a short lived tantrum they are both upstairs and quiet and I get to sit and relax for the first time today.

All in all it's not been too horrible of a day. Yeah, you have to be a mom to understand I think. That or have my kids, please tell me it's not just my kids!

Full House

Once a week a bunch of friends and I that all have babies under 18 months old all get together. We chat, eat great food, and play with babies. Last night it was at my house. Talk about a full house! Was so much fun. I find that Mondays are often the most look forward around here. Stinker is off at grandma's for the night and it's just me and Little Man.

And a room full of women. I am so blessed. I never could have imagined when I moved here 7 months ago that I would meet so many wonderful people, it's nice knowing there is some one I can go to if something happens. In the military that's priceless. I am so glad I jumped right in this time. In Nevada I didn't get this type of support till maybe the last 6 to 9 months that I was there, wasn't about to let that happen here.

Today is a day to cuddle my big boy, run some errands, maybe go to the beach and just relax. Stinker comes home this afternoon and the craziness begins again!

Old McDonald had a Farm

Full day today! Today was the last day of the Whidbey Island Farm tour. We had hoped to go yesterday but I forgot. Oops. With two kids in tow we only hit 3 farms local to the area. There was a lot to see! We started out at a Lavender Farm, lots of pretty flowers to see. Stinker wasn't a huge fan of this one though Little Man was mesmerized by all the colors. Next up was just a small farm, but had lots of animals to see. Turkeys, chickens and ducks in one pen held the kids attention though Stinker was a bit weary. As we approached the pigs she pointed and exclaimed! A bit more exciting then turkeys but not by much. The cows weren't much better. Then with an exclaim of 'Pretty!' we were at the peacocks. The farm favorite though was a little kitten, she warranted a second look. (No we can't have one Jeremy!)

The last was the favorite. An Alpaca farm. Sweet faced, soft, sweet alpacas. Ah! Heaven! Stinker was in love, as long as they didn't get too close. Though she wasn't a fan of one staring at her, that caused a quick scootch backwards across the deck. Rather comical to see. Sadly no pictures of today's fun! Was too busy wrangling one kid while my mom had the other.

Later after lunch I found a photo book I made when Stinker was about a year old. We were flipping though it when Stinker points to a picture. 'Daddy? Daddy!' Ah, she found daddy! She was rather thrilled with this and wouldn't let us change the page. Silly girl! She now has a couple pictures in her room of Daddy though I need to print some current ones for her. Wonder if she would like a little photo album. Hm.

Well long evening ahead of me. You wouldn't recognize this place sweetie, I finally unpacked those 2 boxes! About time.

And a picture for today!

Happy half year baby boy!

6 months ago I met my little boy for the first time and instantly fell in love. I'm still falling in love every day. I love you Little Man and am so proud of everything you do!

Again.

Every time you leave it surprises me how much I miss you. I keep thinking I have this deployment thing down, it's far from our first. Been 8 years of saying good bye and waiting, yet every new time you leave it gets me all over again. Days go on as usual but something is missing. Please know we love you and miss you every day. Even though the house continues to run and the kids get bigger you are very much a part of our daily lives. Come home soon.

Firsts

Stinker had a couple of firsts the other day. First hair cut and first ice cream cone!

Was a good day.

Thank you

I find it hard to believe that it's been 10 years. The country has been through so much, lives have changed in so many ways. 10 years later and we still fight. No matter my view on it all I thank every one who has fought for our country; military, fire fighters, police.

Thank you.

It's adding up

The house is a mess. Piles of new stuff cover the dining room table, towels, bath supplies, notebook and envelopes, shoe polish, and so much more. New uniforms are piled behind the couch, boots litter the dining room, empty bags lay in piles. All signs a change is coming. Coming way too fast.

The last week has flown by. Got the kids some fish. Or as Stinker calls them, fiff-fees! They were a hit, sat Stinker down at the table and she spied them and started waving her hand madly in her attempt to sign 'fish' was quite cute. As with anything new she doesn't really notice them as much now a few days later. That's okay. I think they were more for me anyway. Yesterday we started back up at a local play group. Mom watched Little Man so I could just take Stinker, she had a blast! Not often that we can do things just us. Thankfully we are trying to remedy that. In a few weeks we will be able to go back to story time. So nice to have the summer over and get back to our routine. It will help with the husband away.

With all the good there has been some worrying things as well. Well, mainly one thing. Stinker has always played with her hair and tugged on it, recently though it's gotten worse with it becoming noticeably thinner on one side. Little Stink is pulling out her hair! So today we are adding a haircut to our very long to do list. I have mixed feelings about it all. Her hair is far from long and we are about to cut it all off, think this might be harder for me then for her. For now we are just going to have them even it up a bit. If it keeps happening we will have them cut it really short, I might cry. Just saying.

So much to do today, and then tomorrow! It all adds up to one thing and is becoming very real. We can do this though, and will. First things first, change Little Man's diaper and go get Stinker from bed. Wish us luck today!

A Word

Before the adventure begins I wanted to take some time to talk about something. This is something every military member lives with and family members tend to either not understand it, not know about it, or ignore it. And that's Operational Security (OPSEC.) OPSEC is the theory that small details add up to a whole picture. Take a few minutes and look at what you post on facebook, what details of your every day life do you reveal? If someone never met you and only had your Facebook page in front of them what can they find out? Typically it's a lot more then we realize. In the Navy revealing these little details can put the military in danger.

Have you ever had a friend with a family member in the military? Have you ever noticed that when they speak of the service member they often leave off key pieces of information, where they are, what they are doing, when they leave, when they will be back? Sound familiar? That's all thanks to OPSEC. Now please keep in mind, we don't keep these things from you because we like to leave you guessing or we don't think you are 'special enough' to know. It's for the safety of our service members. So the next time someone posts something vague please respect that that is all we can tell you and don't pry. We want to tell you, we really do.

That goes for this blog too. I will only reveal what I can when I can. So don't be surprised if my husband goes or comes with very little warning, it's part of the life style and while you are reading this it's part of yours as well. Now the important stuff is out of the way we can get on to the fun stuff. Give me some time to get into the swing of the blog stuff I'm a little rusty and a lot busy. Wouldn't have it any other way!

It begins

I haven't blogged since before my daughter was born, almost 2 years ago. A lot has happened since then, my life has changed in so many ways. This blog is not about that. This blog is about the kids. Specifically this blog is to record their everyday life for their dad. He's in the Navy and about to go out to sea. He will be missing holidays, birthdays, and more milestones then we can count. This blog is to give him a peek into what is going on at home while he can't be here.

The Players


Stinker: She is almost 2 and has the attitude to prove it yet at the same time is as sweet as can be. Way too smart for her own good and is finding more and more ways to use her smarts.

Little Man: He is almost 6 months old and is the most laid back little sweet heart you could ask for. He's growing faster then we ever could ever have imagined, everyday he's changing.

Then there is me. Stay at home mom and Navy wife. I'm more then that though. I'm a crafter, reader, and friend. I am so lucky to have enough hobbies to keep me busy for many life times and many wonderful friends that create the support I will need to get through this next chapter.

I hope you all stick around, some days will be bumpy while others will be full of new and wonderful things.