Fall off the face of the Earth much?

Yes I did fall off the face of the Earth. I actually really haven't checked my blog or my friends' blogs in quite some time. But we have been busy and our world seemed to stop for a hot quick second and that is totally ok. Hopefully we are back to moving at the same pace as the world is. :) Well Matt left and came home and left again and I am back to single parenting, which I might add is no fun at all. I totally hand it to all the moms out there that are single parents and still have to work. Not quite sure how you ladies all do it. We moved in April to a house on base. Matt came home then and we got a lot unpacked and done. Alan is growing like a weed and I truly can't keep up with his never ending need for new clothes. We are going to start potty training while Matt is gone and I am bound and determined to get him potty trained this summer! I am so over diapers with this boy and fighting him to get them on. Alan can say his ABC's now with help. He can say LOTS of letters on his own but he needs help saying them all in order. :) He also knows B-A-L-L and S-H-O-E if you have the letters out on a table. Silly kiddo. We will probably start doing some "homeschool" stuff this summer too. WA doesn't require kids to be in school until age 8 so even if we stay here for another 6 years, I won't have to declare him as homeschooled and I don't have to send him to school. :) I am A-OK with that. Then we can keep working at home on stuff and just keep him up to speed for his age. We also did a container garden this year and we have onions and strawberries and flowers planted. Alan loves going to check on his strawberries to see if there are any new ones to eat! He LOVES strawberries! Well right now that is pretty much all that is going on in our world. Really kinda boring if you ask me and that is part of the reason I failed to write for a few months.....and I hear my son kicking the wall right now....grrrrrrr....he should be sleeping so off I go to deal with that! Have a great night everyone! :)

I know it has been a month.

But things have been a little crazy here. Matt left for deployment and I am left to clean up the pieces and put things back together again until he comes back home. Alan and I have been doing really well actually. The only real stress is other things outside of the home...or in the home but not dealing with deployment. Stupid stuff that shouldn't be an issue in the first place. Like shotty work done when the apartment was built. Like the builders NOT tightening the drain in the shower so it leaked ALL OVER THE PLACE...hence now we have a possible mold issue. Wonderful...mold AGAIN! If you don't already know I hate mold and I hate the smell of mold and I hate apartment people that won't deal with it promptly. At least they are doing a little more here than they did in SC but still. Grrrr. I really don't have much to say right now cause I have really just been trying to get back into a good routine right now..not very successful but trying none the less. We did join a new church here that I am so very happy about. They have been such a wonderful blessing to us while Matt is gone. Sorry this is all over the place but that is kinda how my brain is working right now. :) Well I have to go write my hubby and then head off to bed considering it is 12:30am PST so 3:30 for you EST people. :) Have a great day tomorrow and I will try to write more soon.

New Pictures and New Videos!

Since we left South Carolina, I really haven't taken too many pictures of Alan or of our surroundings for that matter. Alan has LITERALLY grown 3 inches in a month and I didn't take any pictures of him! I am such a horrible mother. :( But I am sure there are mom's out there that get busy and don't take pictures either. So here are some new pictures of Alan and some videos too! :)

Alan started helping me plant flowers on our deck so we got one of Daddy's old work shirts to use as a smock to keep Alan clean. He also decided to take Matt's shoes to keep his feet clean. :)

No words for this one.

Alan WAS helping us unpack when we got to Washington....key word is WAS...until he decided that packing himself up was a better idea!

This one is from before we left SC. Alan found Mommy's Reece's PB cups and decided that he would try to sneak one away. BUSTED red handed!

Here is Alan working on dinner. He got a silver spoon from my Farmor when he was 3 months old and he is FINALLY able to use it! Took forever I tell you! ;) But I am so glad that he is finally able to use it. Not many people these days can say they eat from a silver spoon! HAHA!



Alan and Matt were playing with his penguin toy from the Happy Meal.....just watch and you will laugh too!

Welcome to God's Country!

That should be the sign when you enter the Northwest because only God could make something this beautiful.  People have been telling me for months that Washington would be BEAUTIFUL, rainy but beautiful none the less.  I kept telling myself...sure sure it will be beautiful but not as beautiful as all the other places I have seen already.  The mountains in NC are wonderful!  The beaches in Florida are breath-taking....and warm!  Vermont and New Hampshire...there are no words for how pretty it is out there!  But once I got into Northern California and Oregon, I knew that my friends were right.  It is amazing out here!  Even the moss is pretty!  I never in my wildest dreams thought that moss was EVER pretty but there is moss all over the place here, because of all the rain, and it is pretty!  The water and the mountains and the trees and even the crazy fog and clouds are wonderful.  The temps here in WA have been really nice!  Mid 40's to mid 50's morning and night but it has been raining A LOT since I got here.  It is really strange though.  One min it will be drizzling and the next it is sunny and then the next it is down pouring. I can completely understand why I was told to always keep a coat and an umbrella with me! :)   I haven't taken any pictures yet of things around town.  I know I am a slacker but Matt was telling me that the last time he was here, he took tons of pictures but none of them really captured the true beauty here.  This really discouraged me and because of that I haven't taken any pictures.  If they won't do justice to my environment then I really don't see the point in taking crappy pictures.  I need to get one of those National Geographic cameras to take some awesome pictures with!! :)

On another note...Matt checks into his boat on Monday.  Back to the daily grind we go.  We are finally settled into our new apartment and I love it!  3 bedroom 2 bath and A LOT more space than our last place.  We have an office now and a REAL walk in closet!  Ohhh how I missed you walk in closet!  No real woman should ever have to live without you.  We are going to meet Matt's boss and his family this weekend for dinner.  I can't wait to finally meet one of the wives from the boat!  I have been told that we have a very family friendly boat and I am so very relieved to hear that! 

Well that is really about all that is going on right now.  Alan is still growing like a weed and learning new things every day.  He almost has all 4 molars in and is working on his canine teeth.  Oh he finally got his 3rd bottom front tooth!  I thought those buggers would never come in!  We are working on our ABC's now and Alan LOVES basketball.  Just watch him yell "go go go" when the NC State Wolfpack is playing!  TOO CUTE!  Well that is all for now.  Hopefully I will have pics to put up soon.  Have a great day!

Happy New Year!

 First of all, Happy New Year to everyone!! I hope that you all had a great Christmas and New Years and that 2010 brings lots of joy and blessings to you all. I know I haven't put up a new post since November but honestly Alan and I have been sicker than dogs since our trip back from CT at Thanksgiving. I am still fighting off bronchitis and Alan JUST got better. Almost 6 weeks is WAY TOO long to be sick with the same thing. :(  Because of all the sickness that Alan has been dealing with, we have decided to have his adenoids removed on January 8th.  His ENT and Pedi both agree that it would help 110%.  Then ENT said we could have it done here, before we move, or in WA, when we get there, but that it would need to get done by the end of the month for sure.  We opted to just do it here since the doctors knew us and we had already had one surgery done there.  I hate that Alan has to deal with another surgery this early on but we knew when his tubes went in that there was a good possibility that we would be back for the adenoids.  I really am so very grateful that we have such a good ENT practice to go to. 

As some of you know, Alan is officially in a big boy bed! After all the times he had crawled out of his crib and landed head first on the floor, we decided it was best just to put him in a big boy bed and call it a night. He has done WONDERFUL in his bed. We still occasionally have issues with nap time and him getting up to play, but all in all he does well. Bed time is a breeze for sure! Alan even gets into bed by himself and I just have to tuck him in and give him kisses...then he is down for the count! :)

Alan has also gotten much much better at coloring/drawing. We upgraded from "Tadoodles" to big boy markers. Alan was very happy about that change!

Little man has been a constant source of endless entertainment and frustration for me since Matt has been away.  One minute Alan will have me pulling my hair out and then 2 seconds later I can't stop laughing at something he did or I am almost to tears because of something sweet he did.  I love when he comes up and gives me hugs and kisses.  His funny faces are hands down the best!  He tells everyone so much with his facial expressions, even though he can't always express what he is feeling in words. It is times like these that I wouldn't give up being a mother for anything.  I still can't believe how quickly he is growing and what a "big boy" he is.  Alan eats with a fork now and can do a spoon 50% of the time.  He puts his dirty clothes away in the hamper and even helps me do the laundry.  Alan loves to put the clothes in the dryer and put them in the laundry basket after they are dry!

Alan is also turning into a "world class chef"!  He loves to stand on his step stool and help me cook.  He even pulls stuff out of the pantry that we will need for dinner and I usually let him pick some part of dinner.  He loves to pick out the noodles for chili (he is partial to the ruffles) and likes to pick out veggies or what kind of meat we will have.  Even for being as young as he is, he really does have a strong opinion and wants to be heard. 

We are going to be heading WEST again at the end of the month!  Washington state will be our new home for the next few years and I am so very excited!  There are several churches out there that are wonderful and it is so nice to know that there are several options of places to call our church home.  Matt will finally be going to a boat...crazy huh!?!  Who would have thought he would ever have to see water??? ;)  So I probably won't be posting too much more this month since we will be getting ready to move but I will try to get at least a post or two in and then post when we get settled in WA.  I am so very excited to start this new adventure in our life! :)