Late night drives through city lights
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Day Two
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.
My brother, Zeb, and me
My brother, Zeb, and me
Friday, January 28, 2011
Bound for Houston
Jesse and I were fortunate to get both our state and federal tax returns today. With those, we threw a huge chunk of money towards our debts, including both credit cards and student loans. It's a wonderful feeling to see those numbers dwindle, for sure. We're taking a trip to Houston tomorrow, and staying just one night. We plan on taking Cori to the Houston Zoo and possibly the Houston Aquarium. She has been so into learning and repeating animal sounds lately that I can only imagine how much she'll love seeing them up close and personal at the zoo. We also plan to get quite a bit of shopping for Avery taken care, hopefully including the Sit 'N Stand double stroller we want to buy and his car seat. Other than that, we'll probably buy an ungodly amount of adorable baby boy clothes. :)
Cori boycotted her nap all day yesterday, spending a total of 2.5 hours (broken up into small time segments, of course) playing in her crib. She slept well last night though, and I thought she was planning another boycott today, but she finally fell asleep just as I was about to go rescue her from bed. While she naps, I need to tidy up a few things around the house and straighten my hair, which I've been telling myself I was going to do for several days now. I'm really going to do it today, swear!
Cori boycotted her nap all day yesterday, spending a total of 2.5 hours (broken up into small time segments, of course) playing in her crib. She slept well last night though, and I thought she was planning another boycott today, but she finally fell asleep just as I was about to go rescue her from bed. While she naps, I need to tidy up a few things around the house and straighten my hair, which I've been telling myself I was going to do for several days now. I'm really going to do it today, swear!
Day One
Day 01 - A picture of yourself with 10 facts.
1. I have been with my husband for six years, and we have been married for nearly three years.
2. I've wanted to be a mother ever since I could say 'baby'.
3. I graduated with honors in the top 10 of my graduating class in high school.
4. I still don't know what I want to be when I "grow up".
5. Watching the show, 'King of Queens', is bound to put me in a great mood.
6. My husband is truly my best friend. He makes the bad in me good, and the good in me great.
7. I look up to my mom more than anyone else. I look forward to the day when we live near her because she's my hero, and she's a great grandma to my daughter.
8. As much as I dislike being an Army wife, I'm so grateful for the stability it has provided my family, and the lessons this adventure has taught us.
9. I'm determined to get my Bachelor's (or higher) degree one day.
10. I am so much more than "just" a mama and a wife.
1. I have been with my husband for six years, and we have been married for nearly three years.
2. I've wanted to be a mother ever since I could say 'baby'.
3. I graduated with honors in the top 10 of my graduating class in high school.
4. I still don't know what I want to be when I "grow up".
5. Watching the show, 'King of Queens', is bound to put me in a great mood.
6. My husband is truly my best friend. He makes the bad in me good, and the good in me great.
7. I look up to my mom more than anyone else. I look forward to the day when we live near her because she's my hero, and she's a great grandma to my daughter.
8. As much as I dislike being an Army wife, I'm so grateful for the stability it has provided my family, and the lessons this adventure has taught us.
9. I'm determined to get my Bachelor's (or higher) degree one day.
10. I am so much more than "just" a mama and a wife.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Changes on the Horizon
Sometimes I can't believe how quickly time is passing before my very eyes, but when I stop and think about the little moments, I realize why things change the way they do. My beautiful girl isn't a newborn anymore, but a running, laughing, trouble-making little toddler. And she's got a big role to fill soon too, as big sister to a little baby boy. Our son, Avery James, is due in June, and Cori is already acting out her role as big sister amazingly. She rubs my belly, and doesn't like to go to sleep at night before she can give her baby brother a big hug. It warms my heart, and I can only imagine the love (and jealousy!) she'll feel toward him when he makes his appearance.
We were told just after the New Year that Jesse would be deploying to Afghanistan in August, but he has yet to be moved to the deploying unit and we have no idea when or if he's even going. You'd think we'd be excited about his battalion's lack of timeliness in moving him, but it's hard to make any sort of plan for the future when you have no idea whether your husband will be here, there, or somewhere else for the next year. If he deploys, we originally had planned on moving back to Greenville, SC where we are from. There's not much here at Fort Polk, and since Jesse will be ETSing (getting out of the service) just a month or so after his return, it seemed silly to hold down a house in a place we wouldn't be much longer anyway. Upon further thinking, I decided that if we do move back home, it won't be until a few months after Jesse leaves. Cori will be just shy of her 2nd birthday, which means she will be fully aware that Daddy is gone. I can't imagine the kind of mental turmoil that will put a Daddy-attached toddler into, and I can only guess that moving into a brand new house in a brand new place would be even more stress on her little kid mind. While it might be easier for me to have my family around for help and moral support throughout a deployment, uprooting my two children and taking them somewhere new when they've never lived without Daddy doesn't seem like the best answer.
The best scenario would be that they decide not to deploy Jesse at all, but if it happens, we'll pull ourselves up and make the best of a not-so-great situation.
We were told just after the New Year that Jesse would be deploying to Afghanistan in August, but he has yet to be moved to the deploying unit and we have no idea when or if he's even going. You'd think we'd be excited about his battalion's lack of timeliness in moving him, but it's hard to make any sort of plan for the future when you have no idea whether your husband will be here, there, or somewhere else for the next year. If he deploys, we originally had planned on moving back to Greenville, SC where we are from. There's not much here at Fort Polk, and since Jesse will be ETSing (getting out of the service) just a month or so after his return, it seemed silly to hold down a house in a place we wouldn't be much longer anyway. Upon further thinking, I decided that if we do move back home, it won't be until a few months after Jesse leaves. Cori will be just shy of her 2nd birthday, which means she will be fully aware that Daddy is gone. I can't imagine the kind of mental turmoil that will put a Daddy-attached toddler into, and I can only guess that moving into a brand new house in a brand new place would be even more stress on her little kid mind. While it might be easier for me to have my family around for help and moral support throughout a deployment, uprooting my two children and taking them somewhere new when they've never lived without Daddy doesn't seem like the best answer.
The best scenario would be that they decide not to deploy Jesse at all, but if it happens, we'll pull ourselves up and make the best of a not-so-great situation.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Cori took her very first step yesterday. I think she surprised herself as much, if not more, than she surprised us. It was totally unexpected. I'm guessing it will probably be awhile until she tries it again, but it's neat to know she's thinking about it. She was super grumpy yesterday, and just being very dramatic. One of those suction toys fell off the window it was suctioned to, and she literally threw herself on the floor crying and sobbing. Drama queen, much? I couldn't figure out why because I didn't think she'd be teething again anytime soon. Wrong! When she wouldn't sleep last night and just kept crying out as if she was in pain, I felt around her mouth and found that she's starting to cut her molars. Poor baby. :( Hopefully this one isn't too rough on her. Luckily, we have Tylenol to help her get through this finally. They're still out of it in the store here because of the recall a few months ago, but her pediatrician gave us a prescription for it at her 9 month appointment.
Jesse and I have been talking about her birthday lately. As far as presents go, I think we're going to get her lots of Little People toys, maybe a few musical DVDs, and a ton of books. I don't like her watching much television, but I know she enjoys it once in a blue moon and right now, all we have is a Little People DVD (which she loves!). She LOVES to "read" in the car, so we want to make sure we have tons and tons of books for her. I also really want to get her a sand and water play table, but it will be late September by then and I'm not sure how the fall/winter weather is in LA, so we'll have to make a decision on that later. We haven't really decided on where we want the actual party to be, but I know we're keeping it small. It will just be our immediate family, and that's it. Cori already won't know or remember anyone, and we're not going to overwhelm her with a million strangers. I'm excited for her birthday though. :)
Jesse and I have gotten almost all of our appointments made for our big move back to America. We have something like 64 days until we fly home, and we are so excited. It's really going to be weird to live in America. It won't be as huge of an adjustment for me since I recently spent quite a bit of time in America on vacation, but Jesse's been here with minimal vacation time since April 2008. Two and a half years in a foreign country back to the states is going to be a big transition to make.
I'm still dealing with figuring out something with school and a career. I hate feeling so stuck not knowing what path to take. For now, my plan is to go for my nursing degree, but I'm not 100% gung-ho about that, so I'm still evaluating and trying to figure out what might be a better fit for me. I'm trying to totally nix the military plan because I have a feeling it would be something I couldn't quite adjust to fully, and I definitely don't want that strain on my relationship with Cori. I can't bear to think of leaving her overnight, much less an extended period of time. So I guess it's just a big process of trying to figure everything out and make sure it all makes sense.
Jesse and I have been talking about her birthday lately. As far as presents go, I think we're going to get her lots of Little People toys, maybe a few musical DVDs, and a ton of books. I don't like her watching much television, but I know she enjoys it once in a blue moon and right now, all we have is a Little People DVD (which she loves!). She LOVES to "read" in the car, so we want to make sure we have tons and tons of books for her. I also really want to get her a sand and water play table, but it will be late September by then and I'm not sure how the fall/winter weather is in LA, so we'll have to make a decision on that later. We haven't really decided on where we want the actual party to be, but I know we're keeping it small. It will just be our immediate family, and that's it. Cori already won't know or remember anyone, and we're not going to overwhelm her with a million strangers. I'm excited for her birthday though. :)
Jesse and I have gotten almost all of our appointments made for our big move back to America. We have something like 64 days until we fly home, and we are so excited. It's really going to be weird to live in America. It won't be as huge of an adjustment for me since I recently spent quite a bit of time in America on vacation, but Jesse's been here with minimal vacation time since April 2008. Two and a half years in a foreign country back to the states is going to be a big transition to make.
I'm still dealing with figuring out something with school and a career. I hate feeling so stuck not knowing what path to take. For now, my plan is to go for my nursing degree, but I'm not 100% gung-ho about that, so I'm still evaluating and trying to figure out what might be a better fit for me. I'm trying to totally nix the military plan because I have a feeling it would be something I couldn't quite adjust to fully, and I definitely don't want that strain on my relationship with Cori. I can't bear to think of leaving her overnight, much less an extended period of time. So I guess it's just a big process of trying to figure everything out and make sure it all makes sense.
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