He is home!!

Ryan is finally home with us!

Currently, Gavin and Daddy are playing while watching Christmas movies in our living room. Life is good.

Ryan and the rest of the Marines got into Camp Pendleton on December 20th around 10:00pm. Jay, Kathy, Chris, Amber, Gavin and I were all there to welcome him home! We had our signs held high and seeing him was one of the best feelings in the world. Ryan said seeing Gavin was quite a shock as he has changed so much and pictures and video just doesn't do it justice. Gavin wanted up to him right away and I can already tell that Gavin is not going to want to let Daddy out of his sight anytime soon.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Quick Update

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7uBN4TT3rM&sns=em

That is a link to Gavin playing trucks! He is so cute. I can't believe he already has the sound effects down! He catches on to things so fast. I did my best to make sure he learned boy things since Ryan wasn't able to show him, haha.

In other news, I am about 90%all moved in! I just have a few things to sort through and then I think I might leave most of Ryan's stuff for him to decide why and where he wants to do with it.

I am going to attempt to upload some pictures, but I am doing this all from my cell phone so I might give up when it takes too long!

I took Gavin to see Santa today. We waited in line for about 2.5 hours...ugh! By the time it was our turn, Gavin was ready for a nap. I placed Gavin on Santas lap and it every split second Gavin got more and more afraid. He was so confused as to why I would put him in the lap of a stranger and think it was adorable. His confusion turned to panic and then all out fear. After the photos were taken, he was so scared that he wasn't even crying, it was just a scream that wouldn't come out. I felt so bad. But mostly I felt bad because I also thought it was freaking hilarious...it was silly and we got a good picture!

Ryan should be coming home VERY soon, and I will update you all as soon as I can! I am more than excited, I can't wait!!

Moving...#1937392937

Ok, just kidding, this is only move number four in the last TWO years...

My dad, Gavin and I are on our way, in fact we are 3/4 done with the drive! We are south of Stockton, with about 290 miles to LA and then another 70ish from there to Oceanside.

Gavin is doing amazing!! He has been such a champ!

Holiday Letter

Sickness Falls

Greetings from the sick house...

Gavin and I both caught the cold bug that must be floating around Odessa. It was caused for quite the interesting night last night. I noticed that Gavin was getting a little stuffy nose so I attempted to set up the humidifer, I of course did this in the dark so I couldn't see anything and just hoped that I set it to a high enough setting. I went to bed and woke up in the wee hours of the morning with a really sore throat. And then...

Twas the night before tonight, when all through the house
Not a creature was breathing well, except maybe a mouse.
The dishes were in the sink, unwashed like I care,
In hopes that the dish fairy would soon be there.

The baby was nestled all snug in his bead,
While the mist from the humidifier surrounded his head.
And mama in her sweats, coming down with this cold crap,
Was just putting away Pinterest for a long winter's nap.

When over the baby monitor arose such a clatter,
I sprung from the bed to see what was the matter.
Tripping over cords, I flew like a flash,
Falling into the nursery with quiet a crash.

The moon shown through the shutters, bright to see the smoke alarm,
Was chirping so loud, to get the battery out I threw out my arm.
When, when I finally the alarm was off, the baby would appear,
To not even stir, even though now I could hardly even hear.

I surveyed the room to see what caused the whistle,
And decided it was the mist from the humidifier to cause all the alarm to sound like a missile.
But I decided to be safe, to move the baby to my bed so he'd be in my sight,
So the baby could sleep the night all, and me not at all though I tried with all my might.

___________

Well, in other news...Gavin and I will be moving down to California on December 11th! We have our house reserved and I sign the lease on December 13th! My dad is going to drive down with me, help me move in and then fly home. I am *hoping* that we can find someone to help us get out bigger furniture out of storage!

Alrighty, that's is all I have for today, folks!

Thanksgiving 2012

Happy Late Thanksgiving, everyone!

This year Gavin and I spent the holiday in Montana (my homeland) with my mother in law's side of the family. It was great to finally meet all the family! Ryan and I have been together for ten years this month and this is the first time that I have met many of the aunts, and Grandma Shirley.

Two of the cousins also had little babies, so Gavin got lots of play time! He did really well with the other little ones. He was trying to love on the other little boy, which was a little nerve racking because Gavin's "loving" is quite violent. Haha!

I also found out that Kathy's sister lives on a road that I used to drive by all the time when I lived in Montana. Her brother-in-law's house was a landmark that we used to reference when driving to Great Falls! Also- her other sister knows my aunt and uncle who live in Billings and their daughters used to be friends when they were younger. How crazy is that!? Such a small world...I think it's just all signs that Ryan and I were meant to be :)

We were blessed with amazing roads to travel on. Usually traveling to and from Montana can be super tricky this time of year and it is almost guranteed that you will encounter at least one nasty mountain pass, but we totally lucked out! We had maybe 15 miles of a little bit of snow, but the worst part was the wind blowing it around.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend, I wish I would have taken more!

 They kept stealing toys from each other, but they didn't seem to mind!

 Gavin caught up on some snoozing in the 11 hour car ride on the way there!

 Give boys something with wheels and they'll be under it tinkering to fix it!

More snoozing...Man, what a lucky guy!

Hopeful News!

I have been trying to hold off on posting this, because things will probably change...but....we think Ryan might be coming home a tidge earlier than anticipated! I can't really put any dates on a public forum for security reasons but I will say that if this does happen, it will be amazing and much much earlier than I had hoped for!

We have also mostly locked down a place on Camp Pendleton. We will be living in the Stuart Mesa Housing Division which is on the southwest part of the base. We are minutes from the beach, commissary, new hospital and Oceanside. We are really close to the freeway as well. I am SO excited! Due to availability, I might need to move down a bit earlier than what I had hoped for, but it will all work out! I plan on moving around December 10th. Once December gets here, I am going to call and see if there is anything available a little bit later, so I can spend as much time up here with family as possible. We shall see...

Gavin turned 10 months here a few days ago, and I just can't believe it. This last month, FLEW by. I don't even know what happened to it! He is full blown crawling up on on all fours and has retired the "army" crawl. He just started waving bye-bye, which is the cutest thing that there ever was. He can rock a bed head like no baby I have ever seen. And has decided that naps are for posers. He's a big boy now, and is looking the part. Every day I see his baby-ness fading and the toddler coming in. I love it and dread it all at the same time. I love how he is learning to do new things, that is so mobile and independent. Yet, I want him to be my little baby who needs me for everything, always.

Well, before I get too emotional, here are some pictures!

Gavin's first kiss from his cousin, Brielle!

How could I not post this. There is too much cuteness for one picture. We have sleeping baby, thumb sucking, baby feet, chubby baby legs and legs crossed in a silly way. It's almost too much to handle.

This is Gavin's newest facial expression. It's so funny, he does it ALL THE TIME.

A little sneak peak of our Christmas Card photo shoot. Gavin was much more interested in eating the dirt.