Sweet Home Alabama

Well we are settling into our home in Alabama. Shawn will be here Thursday with the rest of our stuff and I'm anxious to get unloaded, set up and purged of all our stuff we have too much of :). Amazing how moving so often you realize you have a lot of stuff you could do without. But also keep in mind that with each move comes different windows that require different curtains, bathrooms, etc.


Our home in Florence is nice just not what we have been used to in the past. We went from Ft. Bragg (very Hooah Military Town) to Ft. Gordon (semi Hooah Military town) to Florence, AL...no military base for at least 1 1/2 hrs and it's not a big one. I miss our life in NC and my friends I made there. i guess it will always be special to me b/c I "found" myself there working as a social worker and becoming a first time mom. It is where we started our "grown-up" life together as husband and wife. i know we'll be back soon enough b/c Shawn loves the 82nd Airborne Division....minus deployments :). But we know that they are part of it and we will have many more in the next 13 years of military life. My biggest fear is how the boys will react w/o daddy there. James asks about him when he is just gone over night.

James is settling in pretty good. Regardless how he acts during the day he always brings a smile to my face with just a kiss, hug or "I love you". He is truly a smart kid and we are blessed to have a smart, healthy big boy. We live close to an awesome park that has ponds for him to see turtles and fish so he loves it. He asks everyday to go fishing with daddy so I am sure that will be first on agenda when Shawn returns back here. He is a smart kid...sometimes too smart :). He test me daily and I just pray that God give me the ability to parent out of love and nurture and not anger. I hate spanking and he knows it but I do it b/c I don't want him out of control. I hate the phrase that people use "he's just being a boy". I do believe boys are much more active but doesn't mean they have to be disrespectful or have excuses to not listen. Parenting is amazing and filled with so many joys but it is the hardest job i'll ever love :).

We'll be here for about 2 years so we hope to make as many memories together as a family while Shawn is here with us. We definitely have lost a lot of money waiting for our house to do someting in NC so we'll have to be frugal but I think we can do it!! I see the 15 months he missed with James and want to ensure we do as much as possible now. Kids grow and change so fast. James will have his 3rd bday in November and it is crazy how fast it has gone by.

I hope to get involved in church and other social activities outside of just being a mommy. I feel I need a life outside of it or it will consume me. I am going to look into part-time work possibly once Ethan is older. But for now I'm gonna enjoy my boys.

So Long Georgia!

Tonight is James and my last night in our home in Georgia. These past 8 months have FLOWN by and I can't believe it is time to move again. Shawn has decided to move us because he hopes the DITY pay will pay off the Tahoe. I hope so b/c that money each month will be great for other bills or savings :). It is just so aggrevating b/c our house is complete chaos and I don't handle it well. Needless to say Shawn is getting brunt of it....:(.

Shawn took James tonight to say goodbye to "his" friends, Bart and Misty. James played with Major (their lab) and was worn out when he got home. James has grown really close to them and it made me so sad when I talked to him in the car. James ALWAYS asks about Bart. I guess Bart took him to his car seat and Shawn said when Bart shut the door and went back towards the house that James just began sobbing crying for Bart. Oh I cried for James too. I look at this life we live as Army and this is the first move where James was old enough to know people and understand that we probably won't see them again for a very long time. He was so sad. I think that I can handle these moves easier than my son will be able to. Any parent knows that you would so take any hurt or pain from your child and take it on yourself just to not see them hurt. He is so tender hearted and loves people. I just hope it doesn't affect him long run having ot say bye to so many people over the years. I also think of the next deployment we'll face and it tears me up. James loves his daddy and anytime he's not here he ask where his daddy is. I can't imagine how he will feel when daddy is gone for 12-15 months. I just pray I have the strength to be mommy/daddy when that time comes to two little boys. But for now we are going to enjoy our family time together and do asmuch as we can while daddy is home to make those memories that will be etched in our memories forever.

Next Stop...Bama Bound!!

Easter

James was so excited this year about Easter. Of course his main focus was hunting the eggs. We tried to explain to him the meaning behind Easter but I am not sure he fully understood it. Maybe as he gets older and we repeat it each year he'll understand.

At his MMO program in GA he got to do an egg hunt and he was so thrilled. The one with the Mommy's group got rained out and the reschedule date was a day James decided to sleep in so we missed it. So Easter Sunday we got up, made breakfast and let James look in his Easter Basket'. I'll say he racked up this year on stuff!! :). Then after church we hid the eggs the Easter Bunny left filled with candy. James was SO excited as he searched the back yard for each egg. It was so cute. Each time he found one he wanted to open it to see what was inside. Finally he collected them all and saw the loot of candy.

He also got a soccer goal from the EB and was so excited to score on daddy. Priceless.

It was a very nice day. AS James gets older the Holidays are so much more fun to share. He is such a sweet boy and the innocence of excitement and childhood is contagious. We are so blessed.

Going to Grandpas House

This past weekend we decided to make a visit to my grandfather in Myrtle Beach, SC. His health has been not so good and since we will soon be 10 hrs instead of 4 hrs away we decided we should take advantage. Also while we were there we'd take advantage of the Beach. James was old enough this year to know what the beach was and to have fun. The first day we arrived it was so warm so after nap we got James in his swimmies and took him to the beach. The water was SO cold but he didnt' care. He jumped in it and rolled around....he was so fun to watch the joy on his face. The next day we went swimming in the "heated" pool and he was so proud of himself b/c he could get around the pool with just his arm floaties. He was jumping in and without notice so we had to keep an eye on him. Then we braved the chilly wind and went to the beach again..Brr....James played again in the water and sand but said he was chilly so we went to the room and had lunch and nap. On Sunday we went to Ripley's Aquarium. James loves sharks and fish so he was so excited. He wasn't so sure about the sharks swimming overhead in the tanks but he warmed up to them. He even tried to touch the sharks and stingrays in the exhibit. It amazed us how quickly he has grown in just a year and how smart he is. He amazes us daily.

The funniest thing I think he did while there was use Pooh Bear as his scapegoat. I asked him not to push buttons on the safe so he took Pooh's paw and said Pooh wanted to press the buttons. Then if he wanted to get up he said "Pooh needs a drink". So SMART!!!! He is so funny and I giggle all the time at his little antics. We went to the Disney Store to get the new baby a Pooh Bear but the electricty went out and we weren't able to get it...we were bummed. James picked it out himself and was so proud. Guess we'll try again soon. It was so sweet b/c he told me one day last week the baby could have his Pooh Bear and I thought I was gonna cry......yes hormones are awful when pregnant.

Of course in between all this stuff we visited with grandpa and had dinners with him. He seemed so happy to see us and James always can bring a smile to anyones face. My grandpa was diagnosed with COPD, pretty much a terminal lung disease but he has quit smoking and he looks a lot better than he did. He was sad that we were moving further away yet again. When we were in NC it was only 2 1/2 hrs, then we moved to GA where it is 4 1/2 hrs and now to AL where it is 10 hrs. WE were always the closest to him and now we too will be far away and we all know that 2 kids makes traveling harder but I am still going to try to make it up there as often as we can. We are all he has and it makes me so sad to think about him being all alone.

We hope to make it to the beach again depending when we get moved to AL once it gets warmer so James isn't shaking while in the water. We'll see how it goes though b/c I already feel huge :)

I had a lot more pics but the blogger is giving me a hard time. They are on my facebook page and Shawn's though