Today is the day

My mother in law is flying in tonight to spend the next week with us and celebrate my baby boy's first birthday! This will be the first time we've seen any of our family since our visit to California in April. I am so looking forward to making memories and celebrating with her, I only wish all of our family could be here to celebrate with us. 

I'm hoping we can take a visit down to St. Augustine once the weather warms up a bit, (this arctic blast is no joke!) and do some sightseeing. We've also gotta get everything ready for Jeremiah's 1st birthday celebration which I have not planned a single thing for yet. 

I know, I know....MAJOR PROCRASTINATION!

 I know I said I was gonna work on my procrastinating, but in my defense these last two weeks have been crazy busy between the holidays, multiple interviews, searching for a daycare, applying for fee assistance and doing my drug screening for my new job. There has been so much going on that my head is still spinning!

 I can't wait to spend some quality time together while my mil is here. I want to soak up every moment with my family and especially my sweet boy before I go back to work soon. It's going to be here before I know it. 

Happy Wednesday everyone! ♥

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?

Making Memories

One of the highlights from our trip home was actually being able to attend my niece's birthday party. She is three and I've never been able to be there for her birthday so it was something very special to me. 

We got pizza and breadsticks for dinner and all the Nieces played together and ran around the way kids do. I got to see some old family friends there as well and it was nice just chatting and catching up with everyone. 

My favorite part of the night was when Bella opened her presents. I got to hold her on my lap and help her open her gifts. It was so special! Seeing the look on her face when she opened the present we got her was priceless! It's a memory I'll always look back on and cherish. 

I  am very thankful for the opportunities we had to make new memories with our loved ones over the last week. :) 

xoxo

Flying with baby

I'd be lying if I said the thought of flying with a 3 month old didn't frighten me, but to my surprise my son was an excellent little flyer! :) 

Bubby & I on the plane :)

The flight out to LAX was horrible. We were supposed to just stop in Atlanta to pick up some more passengers, (which is exactly why we selected this flight) however when we landed in Atlanta the flight attendants nonchalantly informed us we had to get off the plane and get on another one. There was also a two and a half hour delay until our next flight would be leaving. Needless to say it made traveling with an infant even more exhausting! 

We settled into our new plane only to end up sitting next to an entire basketball team. Oh how lovely that experience was. They were loud and obnoxious to say the least and I had to resist the urge to backhand them on several occasions. My mama bear instincts were kicking in since they kept waking up Jeremiah with their loud music blasting on their iPods. Some people just have no common sense or courtesy towards others! 

We ended up landing in Los Angeles around 10:30 pm (1:30 am to our bodies which were on east coast time) and it took us three hours to get home! There were a bunch of exits closed for construction and we couldn't even get on the freeway we needed to take. At that point I was so exhausted and could barely stay awake. 

My little munchkin got up bright and early at 7 am on Friday so that was fun! Ok, I'm being sarcastic here if you couldn't tell. ;) But even though getting to California was not an easy task my son did so well! He didn't cry at all and just nursed and slept the whole time. The flight attendant and several passengers commented on how well behaved he was. 

One woman told me "It was so nice not to sit behind a crying baby! I just have to compliment you on your son's behavior." I was such a proud mama. He did just as well on the flight back to Virginia and again we received more compliments. I am so thankful everything went smoothly with him. :) Have you ever flown with a baby?

xoxo 

New Look

Well lovely readers, I've finally done it. My new design is complete and I am loving the change. ♥

Now that everything has been updated I am excited to share some new posts with you all and have some exciting things coming up. I am headed back home to California for a visit with my family this week and I couldn't be more excited. Expect to see lots of pictures from our trip!

I will also be posting updates on our little munchkin & am currently working on his birth story. It's a piece that's very near and dear to my heart so I hope you all enjoy reading it once I'm finished. Until then, have a lovely day! ♥

I'm alive, I promise

It has been so long since the last time I blogged, but I promise I am not dead! I took a hiatus from social networking (for the most part) and completely cut off facebook, twitter and blogger because it was all just getting to be too much. There were certain people that were driving me insane and I just needed a break from it all. After a few months I am trying to get back into the swing of things and am gonna start updating my blog more often. Recently I have been having some health issues and was unable to go home to California for our family vacation this year. :( To top it all off after that I caught a nasty cold my husband brought home and have been trying to fight it off for the last four days. Sometimes it feels like I can't catch a break but I am trying to remain positive and believe everything will work out for the best.

My poor husband has been dealing with me being sick and emotional and has been a champ at taking care of the house and cooking dinner, doing laundry etc. which I really appreciate. It is so hard to do those things when you are not feeling well! Anyway, I am on "vacation" from work until Thursday but since I have been so sick I haven't even left the house since last week. At least I don't have to worry about work for a few more days, and I am praying to be better by then so I can go in. I would love to get better a little sooner so hubby and I can have a beach day or just enjoy our time off together but I'm not holding my breath.

On a happier note, exam results came out a few weeks ago and my husband passed! I am so proud of him for becoming a petty officer and knew all his hard work would pay off. We have been through so much together since he joined the navy and it has made us both change and grow. This year has a lot of anniversaries for us, it will be five years that we have been together, three years that we have been married (In August) and three years of navy life! Its amazing how fast time flies when you're spending your life with someone you love, (and how slow it goes when you're apart!). We are still waiting to here back on the status of his PTS results, (for those that don't know PTS stands for "Perform to Serve" which is basically the navy's way of weeding out sailors and deciding who is allowed to reenlist.) It's a pretty scary thing, not knowing if you're husband will still have a job once his contract is up, especially in this horrible economy.

Since we are almost done with sea duty we are praying and hoping that his PTS gets approved so we can get the heck out of Virginia and hopefully get back on the West Coast. If all goes as planned and PTS is not a problem then we will be scheduled to leave Virginia in March of 2013 and head to our new duty station. I am so ready for a change! It has definitely been a good life experience moving across country and starting a life together, but this just isn't where we want to be. I know there are no guarantees with the navy but I am a California girl all the way and I need my sunshine and beaches! It's just not the same here in VA. I am also looking forward to a job change when we move because I am so bored and hating my work situation right now. Over all I think we are both ready to move onto the next chapter in our lives and see what God has in store for us! :) 

Last Day of Freedom

Today is officially the last day of my hubby's leave and we both go back to work tomorrow! I am amazed at how fast the last two weeks have flown by and that he has already been back in Virginia for a month now. Why does it seem like time goes by insanely fast when they are home but drags on endlessly while they are gone??? It's something I'll never understand! 

Although it has been so nice to have a month off of work I'll admit I was starting to get a little bored. I am excited to see all my coworkers and to be making some money again! :) I'm hoping things are less stressful once I go back but after talking to some of my coworkers I suspect things have only gotten worse. I'm just gonna keep praying and trying to stay positive and get through each day so I'm hoping that will help. 

Since today was our last "official" day of freedom we spent it relaxing at home & watching movies. We also took a drive by the ocean and got some yummy pizza and wings for dinner. Now I'm off to snuggle with my hubby before we both have to hit the hay! ♥ Goodnight! 

Hello Again...

It's been awhile since I've blogged, but I have good reasons! I've been so busy with work, trying to get registered for college and last weekend I made a trip out to the Golden State to visit mi familia.

I have been running on no sleep for weeks and have been trying to recuperate the last few days...sorry I've been such a bad blogger! ;) 

It really is a full time job keeping up with this thing, so when you actually have a full time job and a million other things going on its a little difficult to post everyday. 

I know you are all dying to hear about my trip so I won't keep you in suspense any longer. It was fabulous...and stressful...and heartbreaking, but it was worth it. ♥ 

"Families are the compass that guide us.
They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter." -Brad Henry

It was so amazing to see my family again, it was like I had never even left. We were laughing, joking and I couldn't help but wish I had moved back home for this deployment. 


However, since I don't have a time machine, (anyone know where I can get one?) there's nothing I can do about it now. Even though I missed my family tremendously, I realized somethign while I was in California. I missed Virginia!!! 

And I don't mean kinda missed it...I mean I missed the green everywhere, the beautiful flowers and trees and the ocean front. I realized that I am lucky to live in such a beautiful place right near the ocean, even if there are certain things I don't like about it.


Kinda weird right? :/ I thought so too! Maybe it's because Virginia is where my hubby and I had our first home together and where I know he will be when he comes home from deployment. Whatever the reason, I realized I will miss this place when it comes time to move on.

Well that's all for now loves, its already way late here on the east coast and I have an 11 hour work day tomorrow...Yipppeeeee!!! Not to mention its the 15th and a Friday all rolled into one, which means it's gonna be one hell of a day at the bank. Lord give me strength. 

I'll be back soon and with lots of pics, and the full scoop on my mini vacay...I promise!! ♥ Til then here's a little tease. :)

Ciao!!! ♥