Finally after 2 years of not having professional pictures done of the family, we got some! YAY! I know right! They came out super cute too! I'm so happy we found a great photographer here in Colorado. As far as moving here, well I don't like it too much. I miss Hawaii BIG TIME! I keep trying to get my husband to reenlist and ask for Hawaii. I want to be back in paradise. I want our old life back, I  miss it so much. It's just not the same here. I don't feel like it will ever be. We got started as a family in Hawaii. We got married there, had our son there, my husbands first and only (besides colorado) duty station was there....ahhhhh  I want to feel the sand beneath my toes, The wind from north shore in my hair, and a nice shaved ice in my hand! I want to be on Schofield again. I know, sounds crazy, but I miss that damn base! Everything is right there, I loved it so much! :( I'm going to click my heels together 3 times....there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home................am I back in Hawaii yet?

Sweet Home Colorado

We have officially been Colorado residents for 3 WHOLE months! I cannot believe we have been here that long. Seems like yesterday that we were just driving here from the South. It has been a big adjustment for all of us. The kids have taken to this state pretty well. I thought Savannah's asthma might act up because of the elevation, but boy was I wrong! Her asthma has actually gotten better! She doesnt need her inhalers as much as she did in the South. Life here has been pretty good. The weather is getting a lot nicer, and the views are breath taking. I am so thankful that my husband got this duty station.

We love it here so much, that we are thinking about buying a house in the near future. The market is perfect right now for buying, and since we would be putting BAH money towards a mortgage, we won't be wasting 15k a year on rent anymore! Thats a lot of money to spend on something that you don't even own in the end!! I cannot wait to become a Colorado resident for good! I'm kinda nervous about the winters here, but I will get used to it. There is so much to do here,  we will NEVER get bored! Lately we haven't been able to do too much, as my stomach issues have been keeping me from doing anything really. The doctors have no clue exactly what it is, so they have to do a ton of test to figure it out :/ In the meantime, I have decided to go Gluten Free. I have been reading up on Celiac Disease, and I have a lot of symtpoms. Also just the afact that I have gastrointestinal problems period, I could possibly benefit from this. It's not easy at all, but it needs to be done. I cannot deal with this stomach pain everyday. I feel like I am not giving my family the love and attention they need from me. I will get through this, and come out stronger!

Savannah got accepted into the Head Start Program here, and started this past Thursday. She loves it. She goes 4 days a week, for 4 hours. A great break for me, not so much for her brother, since he asks for "Vanna" the whole time :) Mark got accepted into Early Head Start as well(we just found this out yesterday). He will be going Wed & Fri for 4 hours a day as well! Too bad I will only be "kid free" for 15min in between dropping Savannah off at school and pick up Mark. Savannah also starts soccer soon! She says she doesn't want to do it anymore becasue the other kids will keep the ball from her. We told her she should jsut go watch and if she doesn't want to, then she doesn't have to go back and we could do gymnastics or something else. I think she will like it:) If not, its only $20 plus the $24 we spent on cleats. Anyway, I must start cleaning my house here soon, so I am going now.

It's been too long....

Yes, Yes. I know! I haven't written in over 3 months, but I just can't ever remember to come and write here. I need to start it up again since we will be moving soon! Im so excited! We FINALLY found out where Mark's next duty station is going to be.....drum roll please...........COLORADO!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL! I am stoked! I am looking forward to REAl seasons, unlike the south! And im def. looking forward to starting this new chapter in our lives. Mark comes home next month which is AWESOME! I'm so ready to have him on American soil. Unfortunetly we don't get to see him til May 11th, but hey atleast he will be safe! He gets a month long leave in May and is coming to Louisiana to spend time with my family and move us to Colorado. My amazing stepmom has offered to help us drive up there with the kids! I need that help too because I can't drive for long my whole body starts hurting and kids start screaming and my nerves are shot after 5 hours. :( We will only have about 2 days to actually look for a house, since my stepmom has to return to work, and we need her help unloading some stuff from uhaul. Im hoping we can find a house by then. If not guess kids will be in a room with baby gate up and tv to keep them occupied while me and mark attempt to move my heavt ass elliptical lol. We will figure it all out in the end! Besides that everything is going good. Kids have been sick and so have I but we are getting better slowly. Savannah has her dance recital end of May, which I am so excited to see her dance. She loves it. I know she will have so much fun! And daddy will be here to see it, so it makes it ten times better!! Well  I can't even keep my eyes open. Going to bed. Hopefully you will hear back from me sooner rather than later this time. Love y'all! xoxo

Pris

Lots a stuff has happened.......

So I haven't written in my blog in like, FOREVER! I figured since the hubby is on staff duty and I am bored, that I might as well. Well to start off, I am no longer pregnant! Yes, that means my little man is here. He was born October 20th at 10:28am weighing in at 7.1 lbs 19.25 in absolutely handsome(just like his daddy)! Though Mark Jr. came 6 weeks early, he only stayed in the NICU for 2 days. He did have a bit of jaundice,  but it went away within a week and he is doing great. Well besides the spit up and gas problems but those will be resolved shortly if they switch his formula to a more sensitive one.My step mom came into town a week after her was born and helped out. It was truly needed since the hubby's paternity leave was up. I really enjoyed her being here! The hubby has the board again this month, hopefully he will get his E-6 promotion status this time. He wants it so bad, and I know he has it in him, there just has been so much going on the last couple months that he hasn't passed the last boards. My fingers are crossed this time for him, if he doesn't pass this time he can't go again until our next duty station in 2 years! Besides that everything is great! Savannah is an awesome BIG sister. She just adores Mark so much! Sometimes I think she loves him too much. The holidays are coming up and we are all excited to spend it together as a family. Sad we wont be home this year but, myself and the kids are heading home in March when the hubby deploys.Thats it for now,I have a 2 year old messing with my hair so I guess I gotta go haha!

I am A Military Wife

I Am An Army Wife

Author Unknown


I am an Army wife - a member of that sisterhood of women who have had the courage to watch their men go into battle, and the strength to survive until their return. Our sorority knows no rank, for we earn our membership with a marriage license, travelling over miles, or over nations to begin a new life with our soldier husbands. Within days, we turn a barren, echoing building into a home, and though our quarters are inevitably white-walled and unpapered, we decorate with the treasures of our travels, for we shop the markets of the globe.


Using hammer and nail, we tack our pictures to the wall, and our roots to the floor as firmly as if we had lived there for a lifetime. We hold a family together by the bootstraps, and raise the best of 'brats', instilling in them the motto: "Home is togetherness", whether motel, or guest house, apartment or duplex. As Army wives we soon realize that the only good in "Good-bye" is the "Hello again". For as salesmen for freedom, our husbands are often on the road, leaving us behind for a week, a month, an assignment.


During separations we guard the home front, existing until the homecoming. Unlike our civilian counterparts, we measure time, not by age, but by tours. We plant trees, and never see them grow tall, work on projects completed long after our departure, and enhance our community for the betterment of those who come after us.


We leave a part of ourselves at every stop. Through experience, we have learned to pack a suitcase, a car or hold baggage, and live indefinitely from the contents within: and though our fingers are sore from the patches we have sewn, and the silver we have shined, our hands are always ready to help those around us. Women of peace, we pray for a world in harmony, for the flag that leads our men into battle, will also blanket them in death.


Yet we are an optimistic group, thinking of the good, and forgetting the bad, cherishing yesterday, while anticipating tomorrow. Never rich by monetary standards, our hearts are overflowing with a wealth of experiences common only to those united by the special tradition of military life. We pass on this legacy to every Army bride, welcoming her with outstretched arms, with love and friendship, from one sister to another, sharing in the bounty of our unique, fulfilling Army way of life.

Missing my Hubby

Challenges make life interesting, however, overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.


- Mark Twain

 
 My hubby left for training and this is by far one of the hardest things I have had to do in a long, long time. I am so used to him coming home everyday at 5pm, now he isn't. Atleast it's only for  3 weeks. This sure is a challenge, a challenge only I can overcome. If I do not overcome this now, come deployment I will be an emotional wreck with two kiddos to take care of. I am dreading having to do this alone thing for a whole year. Well most of a year. It sure is going to suck! I'm glad I am making some awesome friends who will keep me company. I was having a rough time the first couple months without anyone here to hang out with or talk to. I am slowly but surely making some awesome people, who I know will eventually turn into life long friends. I am such a lucky person!  My husband has made my transition a lot easier, thank goodness. If it wasn't for him being patient I probably would have gone nuts by now. He is such an amazing perosn who I love with all my heart and I couldn't have asked for a better husband! Baby, I love and miss you! Can't wait til you are home and in my arms again :)

22 weeks down......

126 days to go! Gosh this next month is going to be super busy! Hubby leaves for PTA for 3 weeks :( Super sad, but it will just show how strong I can be here on my own. Though my mom will be coming on the 16th so I guess I really won't be on my own :) Savannah starts dance classw on the 3rd and boy am I excited!!!! She loves to dance. Everytime she hears music of any kind( even commercials) she starts shaking her bootay!! Takes after her mama :) As far as the pregnancy goes, well its going. I feel fatter everyday! I'm finding it harder and harder to get out the tub by myself or get up off the floor haha! SO basically no nice hot baths when the hubby is gone. Little Mark is getting BIG! The ultrasound tech said that he is 11weeks bigger than he should be. Which most likely means he will be a 8-9lb baby or more! Ha! Yeah he better not be! I pushed out a 5lb one and thought that was hard even on the epidural(ok i lie, it didn't hurt, but the aftermath did) Anyway life is great! Meeting some new friends. Loving the new house we moved in too! I couldn't ask for more......well maybe to stop gaining so much weight because it sure takes a toll on my sleeping :(