Almost done

I feel like I am constantly behind updating this blog, BUT I am NOT giving up! One day I will do what I say! Things have been a busy here. We have been here there and everywhere!

I last wrote in Puerto Rico with Bubba and I've VERY excited to say that in 2-3 weeks we will be a whole family again. I am ready to have my husband back and I know Little Man will LOVE having daddy back to play with. I haven't been much fun lately. Since I came back from Puerto Rico we found out that Little Man will be a big brother in February. We are extremely excited to have a baby on the way. It's going to be interesting to see what now will happen with Bubba's job. Will we be able to move early, will we have to extend in the UK, or will I have to come back to the US and Bubba miss the birth so we move on time. I know that God will provide for our family and everything will work out like it is supposed to.

Like I said earlier we have been all over the place since I got back from my little vacation. We have been able to go and visit Bubba's family and our friends in Luling. It was fun being able to spend time celebrating birthdays and weddings with everyone.

This week is going to be a fun one. Grammy, Granpa, Little Man and I are going to the zoo and I'm excited to see how Little Man does seeing all the animals. I will definitely have to post pictures when we get back :)

Oops I'm behind again

So I got behind again. The family is keeping me super busy!! I have been all over south Texas and more :)  I have been sewing some super cute dresses. So thankful that my grandmother and aunt have been able to help me... especially when I hit some snags.

I was also able to go to Port Aransas with the girls for a weekend :) We had a blast hanging out, seeing sandcastles and not having to deal with husbands/boyfriends and kids for a couple days. Missed my little man and was very happy to see him on Sunday when I got back.

We went to spend a couple days in Goliad, with my grandma, and Little Man had loads of fun running through the house and getting into everything :) He also loves to drive her electric car (more like a golf cart). Every time we go outside he goes and gets into it and tries to drive. He is so stinking cute!!

Old San Juan

I made it to the Waterfall!!

View of Fajardo from the Mountain... it's a little hazy

I am currently in Puerto Rico with my love! I am so happy to be with him for a couple weeks. So far I have spent LOTS of time on the beach, hiking in the rainforest and sightseeing in Old San Juan. I've missed him bunches but know that us being apart is only temporary.  As for now I am enjoying the time that we get to be together and trying not to miss Little Man too much.

Week 8 and 9... oops I'm behind

I guess since I'm behind, I will start with week 8, it was one for the books! I always laughed at wives who told me that when your husband deploys everything goes wrong... I always thought to myself, it's all in how you look at it... it can't really be that bad. And in all honesty, it hasn't been THAT bad, I'm sure that worse things have happened, and the things I'm going through are minor, but sometimes, you just need your husband there to keep you calm. Week 8-I definitely just wanted to hug Bubba! We tried to take a military space available flight home to see family, and after a couple days of not getting on a flight and having things in my house ready to go (already cleaning out my refrigerator) all I wanted was to get home. THANKFULLY, Bubba is very understanding and was able to book us a flight. So Tuesday night, as I watched coverage of tornadoes in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, I really thought I wasn't going to get home in time for Easter. We made it to Dallas on Wednesday and spent the night there, then made it to Houston on Thursday afternoon! If the rest of my flying days are half of what Little Man and I went through on those days, I will be happy. Little Man was such a trooper, he flew so well and hung out at the airports like a champ.

So,we are finally with family, and Little Man is being spoiled by all of his grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles. I'm loving having family around to chase him every once in awhile :) Easter was spent with my family, going to church with my parents, and lunch and some pool fun at my aunt's house. Little Man thought the water in the pool was still too cold for him but he loved playing with some of his cousins.

This last week, was spent with Bubba's family. They were extremely happy to see Little Man and his Nan even got him a car to drive around her house. He got to ride the 4-wheeler and go see the cows. I think that was probably his favorite thing to do since he didn't want his Pop to take him off the 4-wheeler. We are having lots of fun being with everyone, and in a couple weeks, I get to go visit Bubba!!! I'm super excited to see him!!!!!
Pictures to come :)
 
The West Family

Week 7... I wish you had been nicer

I don’t mean to complain, but I am SO THANKFUL this week is OVER!!! It has been a bad week for the West household. Don’t get me wrong the week started off great. Tuesday we had a meeting with our wonderful CE spouses to plan for the upcoming Spring Fling. Even though I won’t be here for it I am excited to hear about all the things that are going to happen! It’s always a big event for our squadron and has been a great way for me to meet other spouses. After our meeting, we mailed Uncle G a package for his birthday, and we sure do hope that he enjoys his snickerdoodle cookies!!! Then we had to do the not so fun part of the day and get shots. I’ve never had to run out of the dr’s office because my child was crying so bad, but I guess there is a first for everything. 

Making Uncle G's cookies

Thankfully, that night I was able to go out with two awesome ladies. We went to see “We Bought a Zoo” while one of their husbands kept an eye on Little Man for me. It was a nice break and a really cute movie. I try not to cry in a movie theater, but I just couldn’t help myself crying a few parts of the movie. I’m such a sap when it comes to that.

Wednesday Little Man finally got a haircut. I should have made sure that I asked for the guy that always cuts his hair. He does such a great job, but the girl who cut his hair this time didn’t do so hot. Bubba keeps telling me it looks like he has a chili bowl haircut… which I think is CRAZY, but she didn’t do a good job at all. I was quite annoyed when she asked me how it looked but then didn’t charge me full price. I will be getting it recut again this next week… it’s probably not as bad as I think it is, but it’s enough to annoy me.

Thursday is where are week turns to the NOT FUN!!! Little Man and I both woke up with a stomach bug of some kind. Poor thing was so pathetic. I think the only good thing I can take out of him being sick was that I have received lots of snuggles. I felt 100% better on Friday and it looked like he was feeling better to, except for the fact that he then developed a running nose and cough. In my mind, I will take a runny nose over vomit and runny diapers any day! Unfortunately, he started feeling bad again on Saturday, and we left base (after seeing a dr and 3 diapers later) with a very sleepy, not feeling well boy and a mom who had too many body fluids on her clothes for her liking. Hopefully, today will be a better day and Little Man will start feeling better soon, real soon. Lots of prayers would be appreciated because we will be traveling this week and I need a healthy little boy. 

Week 6

This week we were incredibly busy, which is a good thing since time seems to go a little faster. Monday we spent recovering from the weekend and got most of the upstairs organized. If I can get the extra bedroom organized it would be AMAZING. I know I said a couple weeks ago that it was almost done, but it has gone back to being a disorganized mess. That's what happens when I can't find paperwork. That will be my project during nap time today, after I take the 10 minutes to mow the lawn. So happy that we have a small backyard, well the part covered in grass is small.

Tuesday, Little Man was a trooper as we had 2 meetings, had to go run errands and finish signing up for a HOP home. He really surprises me when we have busy days like that. I'm glad that he is a kid that likes his schedule, but can adjust when we need him to.

Wendesday, my washing machine decided that it didn't feel like washing clothes any more and died on me. Since I was having dinner with some amazing women at the deployed spouses dinner, I waited and called base on Thursday morning, and within an hour and a half I had a brand new washing machine partly set up... This is when my week started to get really crazy. Friday we went to the store and got groceries for some parites and meetings we have to attend. As I was getting ready for a party water was seeping up through my kitchen floor!!! AHHH... luckily I have AMAZING landlords, who came and found a leak from the day before, when my washer was partially installed, and fixed everything for me :) Thankfully, by Saturday morning most of the water had dried up and the floor was no longer squishy.

Yesterday was a long day of tutoring about fractions, decimals, percents, and probabilities. After arguing with a 6th grade boy about how to change a decimal to a percent (I won by the way) it only took us 3 hours to do 10 pages of homework. It really makes me want to teach again, I can't wait til I get the chance. Can't wait to see what week 7 brings!!

Week 5.. Where did you go?

I can't believe how fast this past week went. I was just looking at the calendar trying to figure out what is going on this week and realized that it's Monday... again! The week started off crazy and ended just as crazy. I spent Monday and Tuesday helping a friend get her car fixed and running errands while waiting on her car. Wednesday Little Man and I walked around base for 2 hrs waiting on Bubba's car to get inspected, which it failed, and now is officially off the road until he comes home and get fix it. I'm not messing with the exhaust and brakes and everything else! We ended the week with Little Man's 18 month check up, dinner with friends and tutoring. Little Man is doing great and growing and developing right on time :) Most days I don't realize how much he has grown. I was switching out some of our pictures of him and couldn't believe the difference.

I'm getting so excited about getting to go to the States and see all of our family and friends. Time is flying here and I will be there soon :) This week is going to be another busy busy one, can't wait to see what all is going to happen, and with Little Man, there is no telling :)

Week 4.........

Week Four is FINALLY done. It went by fairly quick, except for the not feeling great part :) But I can officially say that I am feeling a little bit better. Little Man has been on the go, wait, he is always on the go, so nothing has changed there :)

I am super excited though that our family pictures came in!!! Now it's time to figure out where to put them all! There were so many good ones, that we ended up getting all of them. Hopefully I will get them all up this week.

Since this week was pretty uneventful, that's about all I have :)

Week 3- Snow and Sickness

This past week has been full of running around. Which is good because it makes time go by a lot faster. I had a  meeting this week, which was nice to get to sit with the ladies that I "work" with and talk about things that are going on around base. Little Man and I also went to girl scouts and took a walk with them as we talked about the changes from day to night and safety. He had more fun just looking at everything and waving to everyone. Saturday and Sunday, ended the week with us going to a BBQ and tutoring my friends two boys. It's nice to be able to use my degree in some way while I'm here and still be able to stay home with Little Man.

The reason I'm late posting this is that Sunday it "snowed" and I ended up staying at my friends house. Since we really didn't know the extent that it was snowing everywhere else I really didn't feel comfortable driving the hour home in possibly really bad snow. This South Texas girl does NOT know the first thing about driving in snow, so it was best for me just to stay off the road. Luckily, it didn't stick, or what did melted before morning, and we got home safely. Now if we both could just get over the allergies from whatever blew in with the snow.

Little Man is doing a FANTASTIC job in his new bed! For the most part I can put him down and he will stay in his bed. If I hear him up, I just tell him to get back in bed, and he does. I was really surprised at this considering how hard headed he is :) I can't believe how much is growing! I'm sad that Bubba, isn't here to see it. I know that this is the life that we chose, and we wouldn't change it, but that doesn't make it any easier when he is gone.

Anyways... This week is another fun one :) especially now I am feeling better.

Week 2.... Almost Through

Well we are nowhere close to being through, but this week is :) It's Thursday!!! I don't really know why I am excited that it's almost the weekend, because it will be just like every other day, but, I guess that means we are one week closer.

This week seemed to drag on and on. We even had things to do. I forgot that Monday was a holiday and went to base to run all my errands and get them out of the way, until I got to the post office and they were closed :( Luckily I was able to get my grocery shopping taken care of, even if it did take almost an hour. Little Man was well behaved even though he did try to eat a banana through the bag, and peel. I guess I really can't complain.

On Tuesday, Little Man's daddy doll arrived. He was so happy, he hugged the doll and wouldn't let me have it. Every morning he now asks for daddy and gives him a big hug. It melts my heart, but I'm happy he has something tangible. He also tries to call daddy on his "cell phone" which usually just consists of him putting his hand to his ear, saying hewo, dada, yeah, yeah, bye-bye, and going on about his business.

Excited and nervous about the next couple days... I will be converting Little Man's crib into a toddler bed. The new night time routine is going to be a tough one on both of us, but I will feel much better knowing he can't climb over the railing of his crib (like he has been trying to do this week). So, keep us in your prayers and I will let you know how it goes :)

Week ONE... DONE!

Well we made it through week one!!! YAY! Little Man and I had lots of fun, playing and dancing and getting the house organized. Okay so maybe the getting organized hasn't been so much fun, but I'm almost done!!! YAY! I can't wait to have things the way I want them, of course this being a year before we have to move, but I'll hopefully remember to take pictures so I can get things in order quickly when we do.

This week I put together a little activity for Little Man. I poured some dry beans, popcorn, and rice into a large bowl, gave him utensils and smaller bowls and let him go to town. For those of you who know him, know that he doesn't stay in one place for long, but let me tell you, he played with it for close to 30 minutes! I was amazed at how much fun he was having. It was also a challenge for him, and when he puts his mind to it, he will figure things out. When he sees the container on the counter now he wants to play with it. The time he spends with it is getting shorter, so I will be coming up with some ways to make it more fun/ make some new activities.

I also got to take pictures of a precious little girl this week. Since I have never taken newborn pictures before it was definitely an adventure. I'm still editing some of them, but I'll show you a few :)

Can't wait to see what this week brings!

January recap

January has come and gone! I can't  believe it! If time would slow down for this week I would be a VERY happy camper.

The month was a fun one, because we got to enjoy Paris for a couple days. It was wonderful!!! We were able to see all of the major tourist attractions and loved walking around the area by our hotel. The small streets with bakeries, restaurants, small little grocery stores. I don't know if Bubba and Colin enjoyed that part as much as I did, but I know I could have stayed in Paris for a week or two just exploring.

I began a new "challenge" in January. I decided that it was time to get off my lazy rear end and start working out. (that was kind of painful to say) I'm so thankful for my friends who check in on me everyday and get on to me when I'm feeling lazy or wanting to eat everything in my pantry. I knew that I was going to start working out since my bestie will be getting married in July, but when I went to a dr's appointment and my blood pressure was through the roof, I knew it was really time to get serious. So, I am now posting when I work out on my FB and I will probably start posting stuff on here. The more accountability I have, the better.

February is definitely going to be a challenging one, and Colin and I are going to probably get tired of each other really quick. But there are also some pretty exciting things that will be happening. I can't wait to share them with you.

Moments like these :)

I just had to share that picture :) I LOVE moments like these. They make my heart smile and I hope that today it made you smile a little too.

Day 8 and 9 of 2012 :)

Happy Birthday to me... Ok, yesterday was the day, but since I sat on the couch all day with a horrible sinus headache, we are celebrating the rest of the week.

Today, we went to Bury St. Edmunds and did some shopping. I didn't buy anything but I saw lots of things I would like :) We also went out and had a nice lunch together. Colin was such a ham. He is definitely a Martin and acts just like his Grandpa George. Still trying to figure out whether I like that or not. We also got to see that Colin cut 2 more teeth, which really explains the attitude lately. He now has 2 of his molars in! I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Walking and talking and getting into EVERYTHING... but I wouldn't change any of it! He keeps me on my toes and I love it :)

I am also now the proud new owner of a Kindle Touch!!! YAY!!! I absolutely LOVE it. I have a couple of books on it already and can't wait to make a new cover for it... (That is going to be my project for this weekend.) I found a super cute, fairly easy cover at Southern Girl Creations.  She has a lot of different things that I would LOVE to try :)

Tomorrow, Bubba is treating me to a date... just the 2 of us. I can't remember that last time it happened, and I'm super excited about it!

Projects DONE!

So today, we are having major wind... again. So instead of going out and running errands we spent another day inside. Which also meant that I was able to finish a canvas for my sister-in-law. It's not great, but she has seen it and loves it, so I'm glad that it's what she wanted.

 

It also means that I was able to finish the wreaths for my mom and other sister-in-law :) I hope they like them!!! I got the idea from facebook, but they are covered in ACU fabric with a yellow ribbon, since my brother will be leaving. I can't wait to get everyone's new things to them. I love making things and when people want them it makes me even happier! Now I just need to workout and go make dinner and my day will be almost complete :) Have a wonderful day!!!

2012 is HERE!

It's 2012!!! I can't believe how fast last year went by!!! It was a year of ups and downs, but I'm so thankful for all of the memories we now have.

Our year has already started off shaky... On NYE we ended up taking Colin to the ER... again... for croup. Poor baby sounds awful! We are still getting over it, not sleeping through the night, crying, crying, more crying, BUT I know this too shall pass and he will be back to himself in no time. After the ER we had a couple families over to join us in the New Year tradition of staying up way too late, and I payed for it on the first. I like sleep way too much to be staying up that late with a 15 month old who is sick.

Yesterday we ended up going to Ely to find Colin another humidifier (and they are NOT easy to find unless you know where they are sold here... and it's not in pharmacies). We walked around for a good while, just looking at different shops and spending time as a family. It was nice since I know we won't get to do it for a while :( We also got all of the Christmas decorations boxed up for next year and now my house is looking a little empty. I think I need to look up some craft projects and decorations :)

Since today the weather has decided that it is going to have a meltdown and rain with crazy wind and small hail, Colin and I have decided that we are going to lounge around the house and be bums... well, that is what I'm doing, he is busy putting things in boxes and then taking them out, repeatedly. It's definitely a curl up on the couch and read a book kind of day, and hopefully I will be able to get some good reading in!

Happy New Year from the Wests and our friends :)