Kohl's Deals!

I went to Kohls today. It was an 80 mile drive. One way.

Well, I actually went for several things, really I didn't even intend to go to Kohls. But I was in search of new towels, and somehow I ended up in the boys clearance section. Oh. my. gosh. I totally hit the mother load.

I got all of these cute little fall/winter outfits for $17 total. Total saved $145. That is a little skewed though, cause I would never pay $145 for them, but still $17 for 8 things is awesome! I got three hooded sweatshirts, 2 button down shirts, 2 long sleeve shirts and one full outfit. They were all labeled 90% off, and SO cute!!!

Love a good deal! (especially when it involves NEW stuff!!!)

Plans

We have been planning and prepping for almost 2 months. We got new ipads. We got them all set up for face time and skype.

We child proofed the house. Cabinet locks, auto swing hinges on the doors. Electrical outlet covers and baby gates. We lowered the crib.

We took pre-deployment pictures. We went on a date (and it involved sushi!!!). We celebrated Noah's birthday early. We ordered Noah's daddy doll.

We planted a garden and uncovered the pool. We drained the hot tub.

We used up most of the groceries. When Jeremy is gone I eat cereal. And chicken noodle soup.

We took the dogs to the vet. We set up Netflicks.

We packed Jeremy up. We bought things he would need. Body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, sleep mask, medication. He has had half packed stuff everywhere for the last month.

He has fixed the vacuum cleaner, replaced light bulbs, and repaired the lawn mower.

And just like that, our plans have changed. Now we are planning dinners, celebrating Jeremy's selection to promote to major, watching Noah achieve milestones, and thinking about our upcoming move.

Funny how plans can change so fast. I'm so glad that they did!!!

Deployment Update

Okay, so this is wild. Today, with 36 hours till Jeremy's flight out, his deployment was cancelled. At this point, he is pretty much packed, has said many good-byes, and was prepared to leave.

Of course, we are very excited to have hubs/daddy around for the summer...but I'm trying not to get too excited until it actually doesn't happen.

What a change of plans! We will keep you updated!

Early Birthday

Happy (early) Birthday baby boy.

We love you, and we are so proud to be your mommy and daddy!

Glad we could all celebrate your special day together!

Photo session

Today we had an awesome opportunity. We were able to get in touch with a photographer through An organization called Operation Love Reunited. The organization helps provide free photography sessions for deployed ( or going to be deployed) military members. Various photographers all over the US volunteer their time and talent to allow people like us to have such a great opportunity.

So we had our photo session with Shelly Harper, a local photographer. She had a lot of patience with us this evening!!! We met at the base, and she was able to get some great shots of all three of near the airplanes.

I worked very hard to get Noah to smile, but despite all of my jumping and yelling, he was pretty serious. I think we did get some good shots though!

I found this picture, which I though was just adorable, so we attempted to recreate it! We will see in afew days!

No photos tonight, I'm giving my iPad a little love!!! We will share the link to the photo session when we get it!

Adjustment

There has been a bit of an adjustment for these furry friends.

Noah is on the move. And he is after paws, tails, ears, tongues, noses...you name it. :)

And Beagle has this fear of the toy box. I don't really get it, but he runs and hids every time it opens or closes. Weird.

Beagle has a love/hate relationship with Noah. He loves the cereal bits and crumbs left behind, and hates those chubby little grabby hands. It is interesting watching him have a debate on how close to get.

The boys (dogs) have been very patient, and simply get up and leave.

But life sure has changed for the hairy ones.

And crawling is only the beginning!

3/21 yeahs and boos

Yeah:

to getting 2 iPads

Boo:

Not being able to print (coupons) or upload blog pictures from the iPad

Yeah:

Noah learning how to crawl

Boo:

2 top teeth on their way in, and the associated whining

Yeah:

Having a clean house and being caught up on laundry

Boo:

3 nights in a row without a dinner plan or supplies. (seriously behind in grocery shopping)

Yeah:

Our free Daddy doll coming and our free operation love reunited photo session

Boo:

Deployments. Enough said.

Yeah:

discovering "bubble xplosion"

Boo:

Going to bed at midnight every night this week due to obsessive bubble popping

Yeah:

Spring, flowers, green grass, clear pool, and garden

Boo:

Pollen!

Yeah:

Donuts

Boo:

Calories

More yeahs and boos to come.

Carb Lover

Just like his momma. Gotta love those carbs.

Consigning

I really love consign-ing. Since we live in a smaller town, two main consignments come here twice a year. They usually come in the same month (spring and fall), and I've been getting almost all of Noah's clothes there! I love getting clothes for $1-2!

I did get several clothing items this time (they are in the washing machine right now)- mostly shorts, church clothes and a few bigger sized pants. But what I was really after was shoes and toys!

Here is my toy stash...everything works great and after I got them all cleaned up they were good as new. I got that little car for $7- it is both a riding toy and a walk-behind toy ($25 new!). I really debated about the tunnel. It was $7 too, and I wasn't super impressed at the store. But when I got it home and set it all up, it really grew on me. It has a motion sensor when someone is in the tunnel and it plays music and lights up. There are little toys attached that spin and shake. Heres the best part...I looked it up, and it retails for $125!!!

I also got a guitar, a pop-up toy, a pull puppy, stacking blocks...you know, all of those developmental stimulation toys that every boy needs.

PS, you might notice that he is CRAWLING in that picture!!! He started yesterday, and we are having so much fun watching him! It was really great that we both got to be there for his first crawl. We bought him the new fuzzy 8x10 rug in the picture too for even more (safe) fun.

Monkey Grass Chop

Our monkey grass got a hair cut!!!

Last time we did that, it didn't go so well. Our grass looked *rough* for a long time.

But, alas, it was again hair cut time.

Here is a before picture...
And one of the yard after the chop. :)

Hopefully it comes back soon, cause it doesn't look so pretty!!!

One More

My baby is 9 months old.

We love this little squirt!!!!

Noah's Experience in Photos

We had a great time on our cruise.

BUT,

I'm not going to lie: it was challenging.

I don't think we were prepared for how much bringing a baby would impact our cruising experience.

This will probably be Noah's last cruise for a while.

We love that little squirt, but something about a 9 month old that puts a damper on the old lay-around-and-sun-bathe experience.

So, while Jeremy and I might not have been relaxing, a certain someone was. :) Here is Noah's first (and last) cruise experience in photos:

Home

We made it home after our week-long Caribbean cruise.

We are tired, buried in a mound of dirty laundry, and it is too quiet around here without Rio.

We are anxious for the arrival of our long awaited ipads, which should arrive in a few weeks!

We are going to visit my friend Anna, who had baby Ellis on Friday night. Gotta love a brand spankin new baby.

I'm still feeling seasick (which I read was pretty normal).

Noah is happy to be back in his own bed. He was the hit of the cruise. I'm not exaggerating when I say that at least a quarter of the people on the ship knew him by name. More on that later. He is tired (it is hard work to be such a star!).

We had a great time, but we are happy to be home.

Rio

This morning, after a rough two days, our little Rio passed away. It has been hard for us, and our house just doesn't seem complete without his wiry, excitable body standing at his food bowl licking his lips.

Rio was one of a kind...totally wild, totally crazy, totally weird...but we sure did love him and make every effort to make his 7 1/2 years here good ones.

We will miss that old boy!

PS, a quick funny story...we put this green sweater on Rio one cold night a few years ago. When we work up, I looked at Rio and wondered "didn't we put Rio to bed in his sweater?" Turned out we did....he had eaten it off of himself!!!