Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The long awaited update...

Okay, I am finally feeling better. And I actually even have a little bit of time to update my blog!

Hooray!


Soooo, back in December Matt's boss came to him and told him that they needed him to get some real experience flying the airplane before he could instruct people here. And the place to get the experience is in Southern Maryland. So we had two choices, either Matt could be gone for 3 months and home for 1 (and repeat this pattern for at least a year) , or we could all move to Maryland. Easy choice for us!

At that point we had been here a little over a month and felt like it would be best to move the kids sooner rather than later. They both liked it here okay, but they both felt okay about moving again. Matt had a few flights to finish his initial training and then it was a pretty sure thing that we would move.

Then a million little things happened (weather, scheduling, military stuff) and Matt wasn't able to get his flights in. Months went by and we kind of hung in limbo. I kept telling myself "I can't do this or that because we're moving soon." It was really not a fun place to be. It's just hard not to know when (or really even if) you are moving! We didn't want to tell anyone at the risk of appearing even more flaky than we already appear for moving twice in 6 months. The only thing worse than that would be to have told people we would be moving again, and then not move. :) So we waited...

Finally Matt was able to get his flights done and then in a matter of days he was off on buisness travel to Maryland! Just like that! It confused me that they sent him so quickly but then I got it. By sending him to Maryland they were able to use him right away, while leaving me to organize the move. At lease it's all still so fresh in my mind that I know exactly what I'm doing. And what I'm in for. :)

Coming to California and not having a place to live was Crazy! So I knew I needed to fly out and look at houses. I had been looking online at houses and schools since December, so I had a pretty good idea of what was out there and where we wanted to be. My wonderful sister Amy was able to fly down , spend some time with lonely old me, and then watch Alexis and Christian (who opted out of the house-hunting trip) so I could jet set off to Maryland with Addie. A million phone calls later and I was off to Maryland too!

Flying 2800 miles with Addie wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. She slept for the first 2 hours of both flights out there. My first flight was a shortie, just to Vegas. I had the whole row to myself and it was dreamy! On the longer flight to Maryland I sat in the aisle (not the most conducive for breastfeeding) next to a very nice lady who obviously had experience with babies and helped me the whole flight. Picking up toys, handing me things, playing with Addie, she was very sweet!

The house hunting trip was very productive. I had been looking online at homes since December. I pretty much knew what was out there and because I was able to call some people at the church there, I knew the neighborhoods to look at. I was thrilled that we were able to agree on a home and put the offer in before I left on Saturday. I had been super worried that we wouldn't be able to find something in the allotted time, but we did!

And it looks like we got the house, so hooray for us!


Oh yeah, I almost forgot! In the midst of all of the house hunting trip planning chaos I got a phone call from our renters in New Mexico. It looks like he is being deployed and they are activating their military clause to get out of the lease. UGH! So then there was a whole new mound of uncertainty! Again, should we buy or rent?! We both still feel good about buying in Maryland, but it's still scary to have to worry that the house in New Mexico might go empty for awhile! We've had quite a few people inquire about it and my dear friend Stacey has even shown it for us. So pray for us! We need it!

So that's our lives in a nutshell. When I get stressed and feel like I'm getting ready to wig out (which happens frequently!) I just remind myself that this is a good thing! Even though it's tough right now, we both feel like Maryland is where we need to be. At least for the next six months. ;)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Ouch!

My boob hurts.

Bad
.

My body is achy. My head is pounding.

First thought.

Breast
infection.

But could it be the 5600 miles I've traveled since last Tuesday?

The 9 month old traveling companion that, bless her sweet little heart, has had some major sleep issues?

The fact that I haven't gotten nearly enough sleep lately because my sister left today and I wanted to hang out with her?
(in addition to the aforementioned trip and hanging out with my handsome hubby!)

The stress of the move?

The other stresses...

Lex and Chris really stepped up to the plate tonight. They watched Addie.

I napped. I soaked in the bath. A super hot bath, the kind that makes your skin all red and, by the time your done with it leaves you sweaty faced, that kind of bath.

I've been a bad blogger. This blog is in need of some serious updating! Because real soon our home is going through some real big changes!

And I promise the updates won't be all complaints. :)

Promise.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

California

I know I've been kinda MIA lately. There's a good reason, I promise. 

We went looking for houses all day today, and tonight I'm blogging from... 

CALIFORNIA!!! 

Oh wait, that doesn't sound exciting enough. Let me try that again. Tonight I'm blogging from... 

CALIFORNIA, MARYLAND!!! 
(there really is such a place! and we really are staying there!)

For those of you who might be scratching your heads, yeah, it looks like we're moving to Maryland! SO much going on. I'll give more details later, just wanted to do a quick update. 

Wish us luck! Lots more houses to look at tomorrow. 

PS - Maryland is beautiful!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Sweet Life

I started crying as I was cuddling with Addie around 5:00am this morning. It wasn't from sleep deprivation, even though she'd woken up at 2:30 and hadn't gone back to sleep. It was from the overwhelming joy I was feeling with this crazy motherhood thing.

See, we've been having some serious sleep issues around here lately so Matt and I are trying this 33% Ferber, 33% Sears, and 33% Ray method of sleep training... yeah and, it's not working. So she woke up, I fed her, she fell asleep, I laid her down, she woke up again. I gave her a few minutes to see if she would self soothe herself back to sleep. She didn't sleep, but she did quietly play in her bed and I just kept hoping she'd just fall asleep! If I know she's awake in her crib, I can't sleep, so I checked on her every five minutes and read the NieNie Dialogues till all hours. Probably why my tears were flowing so easily.

Anyways, after 2 hours of her quietly playing in her bed she started getting whiny. So I gladly snuggled my sweet, chubby little baby. I rocked her and sang A Childs Prayer for what was quite possible the billionth time in her little life. And as I did I was taken back almost 13 years ago (can I seriously have a child that old?!) when I sang that very same song to my Lexi-lu. And then fast forwarded two years to when I sang that very same song to my little baby Christian.

How did I get so blessed?!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

9 Whole Months - By Addison

I don't have a lot of time to write my nine month post today, I've got way too much to explore and do! But I guess I can take a quick break from my crawling adventures to update everyone about my month. I've been crawling for about 3 weeks now. I love it! I never stay in one spot anymore! My family even says it's hard to hold me because I'm always moving!

Here is what 5 minutes of my very busy life looks like. This is something I love to do, climbing up the coffee table! These pretty books just taste so good! And the pages... I love to fold them and turn them!

I always try to pull them down... here I've almost got it!

Success... but ouch, my finger! Mom!!!

Thanks mom, that hurt! Should I try to get the other one?

Nah. Hey mama, what are you doing?

I did work pretty hard to get that book down... should I stay and play with that?

Nah, climbing on mom is way more fun!

I love you mom!

See what I mean when I say that I'm busy?!

All that crawling around is a really good workout, so my brother gave me a sweatband. By the look of my face it looks like I was sweating while I was eating some food!

Another of my favorite places to explore is my dads closet. It has a cool mirror on it and I always see the cutest little baby, and she always does what I do!

Playing follow the leader...

I wish I could touch her!

I rode on my first airplane this month. It was pretty cool. I only cried a little bit and that was because I was so tired. Here's how most of the flight looked... everybody loves giving me kisses!

Los Angeles was pretty fun. I almost got eaten by a shark. I wasn't worried though.

I met Curious George... whoever that is!

I saw some Sea Lions, and they were pretty cool. I guess.

When we got home I found a new favorite way to sit in my high chair.
Can you tell that I love eating avocado?!

Carrots are pretty good too!
I love trying to feed myself!

I found a new toy this month too.
It's so convenient!

And delicious!

Here I am later on that very same day. Inventing new toys is hard work!

I am always helping my mom around the house.
I help her with the dishes...


the vacuuming...

...and the laundry.
She seriously wouldn't get anything done around here without me!

Okay, as you can probably see, this place falls apart when I take breaks.
Gotta go, I think the TV needs some fixing...

See ya next month!

Love,

Addison