Tuesday, September 10, 2013

8 months

I don't know how it happened, but somehow this day came out of nowhere. Today you are 8 months. 

As I sit here typing this out & looking back on our time together I am amazed at how quickly you have grown up. It seems like only days ago I held you for the first time, and was amazed at how much love I felt for you. I feel like I'm going to blink and we'll be sitting here celebrating your first birthday.

These last eight months have been beautiful, trying, lovely, stressful, joyous, challenging and in a word a gift.


Motherhood has changed me in ways I never could have imagined. 


{This face! ^^ How could I not love you?}

Even though there are days when I am exhausted & I feel like a complete failure at this motherhood thing, I am trying my hardest to cherish each day. To snuggle with you while I still can, to kiss you a million and one times, to breathe in the sweet smell of your baby shampooed hair and to hold your hand and catch you when you fall.

I know there will come a day when you no longer need me as much, & although I love seeing you grow up there's just something about it that's so very bittersweet. I am so lucky to be your mama....I love you sweet boy. ♥
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Monday, September 9, 2013

It's getting real

Today the estimator (I guess that's what they're called?) from the moving company came by the house to take a look at all our belongings. Maybe since we've been waiting for this move to happen for so long now, it hasn't really felt real. That is until today, when a stranger was poking around my house, scribbling down notes (or rather typing them out on his ipad...) and asking me about the stuff we have packed away in storage.

Then I looked at the calendar and realized that next Thursday the packers are coming to pack our entire lives. This is GETTING REAL.

I'm still in disbelief that it's almost here & am experiencing a flurry of emotions. I couldn't be happier that we are starting a new adventure and chapter in our lives, but I am also a bit afraid of the unkown.

 I'm remembering how I felt before/during my first pcs and some of those same feelings are resurfacing. I'm sad about leaving some great friends behind, nervous about making new ones & learning my way around a new base & city. Above all I'm hoping we will like our new home & will have lots of good times there. ♥

This month is flying by & moving day will be here before I know it! :)

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Adventures on the road

We returned home Saturday night after a full week on the road during our house hunting and although I wouldn't say going on a road trip with an infant is "fun" I definitely enjoyed some aspects of it. This was my first time driving through South Carolina and Georgia so I was pretty excited about that. I wish we could have stopped in Savannah for the night and spent some time there the next day. It's definitely on my list of things to do while we live in Florida.

We made it to Jacksonville after 12 hours (counting stops to eat, get gas and feed and change Jeremiah) so we were exhausted the next day but still went out and looked for houses. We spent the next five days in Jax and finally got a house on Wednesday! We actually ended up staying an extra day because it took so long to get a house. Thursday morning we checked out of our hotel and got back on the road again. We planned on staying the night in South Carolina and stopped off at Myrtle Beach for the night. We got a bit of a late start Thursday since Husband had to go visit his new command, so by the time we got there it was almost dark.

It was so beautiful there! I can't tell you how happy it made me to see palm trees everywhere. ♥ The beach was gorgeous and there was just something so peaceful about it. We had only booked our hotel for that one night and were so sad that we got there too late to do anything. Husband convinced me we should stay an extra day and I am so glad we did! :)

Friday we took Jeremiah for a walk along the boardwalk and enjoyed the sights. I loved this ferris wheel and how blue the sky was that day.
We stopped along the boardwalk to grab some lunch and everyone who met Jeremiah told us how adorable he was, which of course made me smile. :) What Mom doesn't love hearing that her baby is cute? Ok, I'm done bragging, I promise!
After our walk we did some shopping and I was so excited to find something with all of our names on it! We all have pretty unusual names, (well mine's not unusual but the spelling is...) so I was very happy. I also got a picture frame to put in our new house. I can't wait to decorate once we get there. ♥
After we were done shopping we headed back to the hotel and changed into our bathing suits. We decided to visit the pool which Jeremiah absolutely loved. He is such a little water baby! :) It was one of those salt water pools that gradually gets deeper so we took him in and let him crawl around and play.
It was just such a nice, relaxing family day after a long stressful week. The perfect mini vacation was just what we needed to de-stress and unwind.
Saturday came and I did not want to leave, but unfortunately we had to. We have already decided that we will definitely be going back to visit soon! ♥ I absolutely loved South Carolina. Where have you vacationed this summer?

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Sunday, September 8, 2013

House Hunting

We finally returned home from a week spent on the road and I couldn't be happier to sleep in my own bed again. I love a good road trip every now and then, but traveling with an infant is not the easiest thing to do. Husband's house hunting leave was approved and we had a very short window of time before his next underway, so we decided to head down to Florida and search for a house. I thought we were prepared but boy was I wrong!

I had compiled a list of "favorite" houses in the Jacksonville area and the day after we arrived we began our search. Immediately I realized we were going to have to keep looking. Almost all the houses/neighborhoods we looked at were scary, and just not for us. Obviously having a baby we need to be in a safe place. So it was back to square one. We spent the next few days searching the internet, scouring neighborhoods looking for "for rent," signs and calling realtors. Just when I was getting really discouraged we finally had one lady call us back and show us the inside of some houses.

There were two that we really liked but one was a little over budget and much bigger than we really needed, so we went with the smaller of the two. I was so glad I stuck to my instinct and stayed on track with the budget. Husband wanted to get the more expensive house but I wasn't too sure. I really want us to be able to get some debt paid off this next year, and the last thing we need is to be "house poor." I am really happy with the house we rented anyways. :) I am absolutely ecstatic about having more space.

We have been cramped in this tiny 600 sq feet apartment for the last two and a half years and it has started to drive me a little crazy! Things were cramped when it was just me, then husband came home from deployment and it got even more tight...then we added a baby to the mix and now there is barely room for anything in this place! We will now have 1800 sq feet, (three times what we have now) and I don't think I'm even going to know what to do with all of it. I am so excited at the thought of Jeremiah having room to crawl and play without being so cramped, not to mention our own back yard to have bbq's and hang out together as a family. :) I am also thrilled that I will finally get to decorate his nursery!

I feel like after waiting, and waiting and waiting some more things are finally starting to look up for our family. We have been stuck in Virginia six months longer than we were supposed to, and I've been struggling with Husband being gone a lot this year when he should have already been on shore duty and home with Jeremiah and I. It makes me happy to know after a tough four years of sea duty that he will finally be home more. For the first time in a long time, I am really looking forward to our future. I hope there are many happy days to come in our new home. ♥

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