Time to Catch Up

Wow...it's been nearly a year since I've posted anything on here. Sorry to be such a bum!!! Well, let's play catch-up really quick. Back in February, the Navy moved us from Everett, WA to Great Lakes, IL. During our transition, the kids flew down to TX for a visit while Josh and I made the drive from WA to TX by way of Vegas. Vegas served many purposes: anniversary trip, Christmas/New Years present to each other and just time for us. It was Josh's first time in Vegas, so we did a show, did just a little bit of gambling, took advantage of the gym and had some good food, courtesy of the Hilton (it's nice being a diamond member!). From there, we spent a few weeks in TX and then made the final transition to what would become our new home/duty station for the next few years. We moved into a beautiful house in an awesome neighborhood with lots of kids and great neighbors! Josh began his schooling to become an RDC (Recruit Drill Commander aka...boot camp instructor) in March and graduated from that in June (for which his mom came for a visit to take part in that graduation). He graduated having acquired the honor of demonstrating the most military baring in his class (only one of these certificates/statuses are given in a class). I was/am so proud of him!!! The graduation was awesome. Landin and Ashlynn both got to participate in pinning on his new decorations to his uniform which help distinguish him as an official RDC. He started "pushing" his first division that same day!!! After nearly 9 long weeks and even LONGER hours for him, Division 940 (consisting of 60+ new sailors) graduated on August 20, 2010. My mom, sister and myself attended the graduation for which the guest speaker was the real Antwonne Fisher. It was a smaller graduating group with only 5 divisions graduating, but Josh did his thing, standing in front of a ceremony hall full of new sailors and proud family attendees. He got a few weeks of a break and then picked up his second division only a few weeks ago. While he has been pulling 18hr days, I have been settling into life in a new city as a stay-at-home mom. Landin and Ashlynn have made new friends with neighborhood kids, and have kept me on my toes every step of the way! I have also started watching Nicholas (little boy from across the street) while Jenny and Erron (mom and dad) are at work. He is a fun and energetic kid with a contagious smile! He and Landin have their issues occasionally, but it's nice to have someone else for Landin to play with during the day while other kids are at school/daycare. Landin has started Pre-K through the park district here in the city and he's loving being back at school. He attends 3 days a week for a few hours at a time. He has made a whole lot of progress so far, even for only being there for a month! He is also playing soccer on the weekends with neighbor friend Alex in a youth league (it's absolutely the cutest thing ever!). This is his first exposure to playing sports, so we plan to try new sports til he finds the one that he really enjoys. Soccer so far is a good fit. He's learning... slowly, but he's learning. Point is that he's having fun. As far as Ashlynn goes, she enjoys riding in the wagon on our walks to and from school, drawing on the driveway with chalk, swinging and playing in the backyard and running away from me (her new favorite thing). She's growing up quick, coming up on her second birthday in just 2 more weeks. She fits easily into a size 4T, if that helps you to realize how big she is! Me... I'm trying to start school, keeping up with the house and kids, and trying my very best to be supportive of Josh and his schedule (the schedule is the part that I have trouble with sometimes). I do have to say, that I am quite content with how things are going in our life. I could not be more grateful for my husband who works hard, for kids that are loving (although sometimes defiant) and to be at home. We are coming up on winter and I'm quite nervous for the snow, but hopefully I will make it through without any hiccups. I'm looking forward to having a nice white Christmas though!!! I think that this will be a first white Christmas ever for me. We are looking forward to getting some quality time as a family after Josh's current division graduates in November. I think that is it, in a nut shell... That's the short version anyway. There are tons of other things, but those are the quick highlights.

On a side note: I love my husband, more with each day that passes. I love my children. They are my world, and I am grateful to be at home with them. I am grateful for everything that my life has become and I look forward to whatever the future holds for me. I will do my best to keep up with the blog from here. Sorry there's such a gap in time, but hopefully no more gaps.

See you soon!!!

Deception Pass and More

We took a trip to Whidbey Island and ventured a little off the beaten path. We drove over Deception Pass and it's gorgeous bridge and took a small hike to a beach to have lunch. Landin did his best to be a boy and threw rocks into the ocean the whole time. Then we took a hike and found a cool tree that stuck out over the trail. It was a great day with beautiful scenery!

Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum in Everett for a fun afternoon and had a blast! Ashlynn got to play on a huge firetruck, Landin got to build with blocks, they both got to play on a bus and be the driver, as well as a pilot for the airplane. Then of course, their favorite was the water. I don't know what it is with kids and water, but our two munchkins can't get enough! They had a blast and it was well worth the trip!

At The Park

Just some fun at the park. Regardless of the weather here in Seattle, we still have to have some fun outside!

Lights of Christmas - Warm Beach

Josh found out about a place near where we live that is an entire community that decorates with thousands of lights. They have a train that takes you around, a talking Christmas tree (Bruce the Spruce), a toy workshop where the kids can make ornaments and toys themselves, kettlecorn and roasted almonds, carrollers and lots of other fun stuff. It was a bit chilly, but it was completely worth it!

Just Playing

Just some fun playing pictures...

Ashlynn's New Bling

We finally did it. We pierced Ashlynn's ears! She did quite well actually. It took her about 10 seconds after the first one to figure out what happened and started crying. Josh and I had to hold her down for the second one, but after it was done they lady gave her a sucker and she was fine. Thank goodness also for Tylenol. We gave it to her before we went to have it done, I'm sure it helped a lot! Her ears are healing well, and she's super cute with her new "bling!"

It's Christmas!!!

Well, we weren't fortunate enough to have snow, but we were fortunate enough to have Mimi (Josh's mom) come into town, surprise the kids and spend the last two holidays of 2009 with us. She flew up from Dallas the afternoon of Christmas Eve and Landin was SO excited to see her. We tricked him by saying that Daddy had forgotten a bag at the airport and we had to go get it. His reply was, "Daddy, you're always forgetting stuff!" Hilarious! So we get to the airport, while I'm on the phone with Mimi asking if "the bag" was ready for pick up. When "the bag" was ready, she snuck up to the truck and opened the door and Landin just started beaming! Ashlynn was a little confused at first, but once she heard Mimi's voice, she knew just who it was and grinned from ear to ear. We got home and Landin was so excited to show Mimi his presents. We tried our best to call it an early night so that we could finish up with Santa stuff. Landin woke up early the next morning, which of course meant that no one else could be asleep, so we all got up and headed for the tree. Wouldn't you know...Santa left Landin a Spiderman fishing pole and Ashlynn got a pink rocking horse that talks. And that's where the mess began. The kids took turns opening presents. Landin of course helped Ashlynn understand what she was supposed to do. It was great. They both got spoiled and the room was filled with all new toys. The rest of the day was spent cooking our big Christmas dinner and playing with new toys and game. It was a perfect Christmas, even if we didn't have the snow!

A Challenging Weekend

So, Landin decided to test the boundaries this weekend. The first boundary, he learned his lesson from. On Friday night, he came out to me while I was making dinner and said that he had swallowed some money and that it hurt. I was a little thrown off by it, because I thought we had gotten past that whole scenario with him. I would have expected it from Ashlynn, but not him. So I called the nurses line on the base and asked them what they suggested, which lead us to the ER. The ER took an X-ray and then determined that he needed to go to Children's Hospital in Seattle, where there were specialists for this situation. So Josh took Landin down there, and I took Ashlynn home. Landin ended up being admitted because the specialist had already gone home for the evening. The next morning, Ashlynn and I woke up extra early to go down to the hospital because the procedure to remove the money had been scheduled for 8am. So we got to the hospital, where Daddy and Landin had only had a few hours sleep, and we waited for the procedure. Landin was sedated, and the money got removed safely. Unfortunately, that whole experience was all for a penny. Too bad it wasn't a quarter!!!

On the next day, it was just after naps so that everyone could catch up, I started to smell something funny. I went into the kids' room, and what do I find? Landin is POURING powder on Ashlynn. I was fuming at first...until Ashlynn turned around and I saw what she looked like. I started cracking up. I couldn't help it. I was trying to scold Landin, but I just couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation. Could you have helped it after seeing this face?

Busy Busy Day

On the same day that we went and cut down our Christmas Tree, we also went and visited Santa. So cute! It's the same cute little Santa from 2 years ago when it was Landin's first Santa picture. Ashlynn did really well until the end, then she started to cry.

After visiting with Santa, we went to Chuck E Cheese for some dinner and fun. Landin had a blast playing with Daddy, and Ashlynn loved just climbinb up the stairs to the little kiddo area.

It didn't take too long after getting home for Ashlynn to fall asleep, but before we knew it, Landin had also fallen asleep, cuddled up with Daddy. So cute...