Well, there goes my idea to keep you updated on this thing! Thanks, Deanna for reminding me that I needed to post!
Currently, Jason is in CA training. He should be back no later than Thursday, but we are hoping for early Wednesday morning. I say this, because they have changed the day he returns so many times that I have just decided to plan for the last possible day and just be grateful if he comes home earlier! I think it is the best way to stay sane in the military! Plan for the worst, be grateful for anything better! We have missed Jason! He's been at training since the first week in September. Phone reception has not been that great, so our phone calls are never completely clear and can be frustrating at times. I'm very thankful that I have been able to talk to Jason daily - for the most part. I am not looking forward to his deployment to Afghanistan and not talking to him every day. It's definitely difficult getting so comfortable and dependent on someone for the last 5 years - yes, almost FIVE years - to have them leave for 7 months and not know what the communication will be like! Craziness! We will be fine though!
Luke got tubes two weeks ago. Hopefully, he will not have any more delays due to ear infections and fluid on his ears. Right now, he is working with a speech teacher to help with his mild speech delay. He's doing great! His vocabulary is full of thank you's, buh-byes, ut-ohhs, hi!, ball, mo-mo (motorcycles), lmo (elmo), DOG!, mama, dada, pappy, arah (sarah), uice (juice), more, etc. He can sign please, more, food, and open. I love his sign for please. He interprets all the signs that I teach him with his own little flair. He never signs them the right way, but I know what he means. It is very cute! He loves playing with his cousin Xyler. Xyler's mom, Kaela, has become one of my closest friends here on the island. It is super nice to get the boys together to play! Kaela's parents' house has an outdoor shower and after our walks or time at the beach, we let the boys get naked and play in the shower or sprinkler! They are super cute running around the yard naked! Xyler has a quarter Japanese in him, so he is much darker than Luke and Luke is about as fair as they come.
In addition to Xyler, Luke hangs out with the Pecina twins - Luke and Brody. Deanna has become like a sister to me. She looks out for me and Luke and we have a great time together! I love Xyler, Luke and Brody like they are my own! I think one of the best things about being a mom is getting to share this love I have for my son with his friends. I couldn't imagine my life without all of these children in it!
I have joined MOPS - Mothers of Pre-Schoolers. I am enjoying it! I have met a lot of moms through it and Hawaii is starting to feel like home. I can't go to the commissary without running into a MOPs mom - which is NICE. There are a lot of MOPs moms that go to our church. I love getting to know people that go to our church! In addition to being a table leader at MOPS, I have starting teaching K-6th grade sunday school. I'm enjoying this added responsibility! It is nice to get to use my gift of teaching! At least I don't feel like I am wasting my degrees!
Well, I think that's enough for now. We will be traveling to NC the 20-23 of October and Dothan, AL from the 23-27th. I'm looking forward to seeing Sarah, Chad, my parents, my pseudo-parents (PK and BK), Harley, Jim and Joy - oh and Jason and I can't wait to see TIA and LEE!! : )
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
This is why you shouldn't move...
All the joys of Hawaii:
We ordered pizza the other night and had it delivered only to realize that the Pizza joint is literally 20 feet from our apartment. (Not smart.)
I went to register the car in Kailua and waited for 20 minutes outside of the place, only to be told my a passerby that the place was closed because it was some random Prince holiday in Hawaii. A sign would have been nice or not having the holiday in the middle of the week.
A roll of paper towels at the grocery store off base is over 3 bucks - and that's the CHEAP stuff. (Not joking.)
Our dryer hose is not hooked up to the outside of the house. The hose just releases the air back into the laundry room. Apparently, Hawaii doesn't build houses with dryer hoses connected to the outside of the house because they have infestation problems - aka rats. Nice to know.
Sarah warned me about the huge roaches, but until you see one without your contacts while washing your face above you in the mirror late at night, you ain't really seen one. The things are HUGE.
We ordered pizza the other night and had it delivered only to realize that the Pizza joint is literally 20 feet from our apartment. (Not smart.)
I went to register the car in Kailua and waited for 20 minutes outside of the place, only to be told my a passerby that the place was closed because it was some random Prince holiday in Hawaii. A sign would have been nice or not having the holiday in the middle of the week.
A roll of paper towels at the grocery store off base is over 3 bucks - and that's the CHEAP stuff. (Not joking.)
Our dryer hose is not hooked up to the outside of the house. The hose just releases the air back into the laundry room. Apparently, Hawaii doesn't build houses with dryer hoses connected to the outside of the house because they have infestation problems - aka rats. Nice to know.
Sarah warned me about the huge roaches, but until you see one without your contacts while washing your face above you in the mirror late at night, you ain't really seen one. The things are HUGE.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Dave and Busters
Hawaii is getting a lot nicer! We finally got our stuff. Most of you know that we sold our house in NC in October and moved in with my parents until we left. So a vast majority of our stuff had been in storage or transit here since September. It had been a long time since we had slept in our own bed or sat on our sofa! It is really nice to have our stuff back! Unfortunately, the movers lost a part of the metal to our bed frame, so our bed is currently on the ground. We will have to sort through all of that tomorrow with the military moving office. At first, I thought it was the end of the world that our bed was on the floor; now, I could care less. It will get fixed eventually. Until then, our bed is just a lot lower than it should be!
Luke is adjusting to his new room - the walk-in closet! We were only able to find a one bedroom apartment that was nice and clean. We found other places with more bedrooms, but they were smaller than this place. So, we will make due with a one bedroom until base housing opens up. We were very fortunate that our landlords who live below us are allowing us to rent month-to-month. As soon as a place opens up on base, we can move. (That should be in the next 2 months. So really we moved just to move again. I know the military is backwards sometimes!)
Last night, Jason and I were able to go out to eat without Luke. This was my first time being away from Luke since we left Hawaii with one exception of a doctor's appointment. Our friend, Deanna, from NC watched him. We ate at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki and then bought a birthday present for Sarah. The food was WAY over priced, but our view from the table was amazing! Tonight, we went to Dave and Busters in Honolulu with Luke. We had a blast. I tried to win Luke a oversized flat football from the claw machine and ended up with this HUGE ugly stuffed bear that is dressed in basketball gear, complete with a headband and high tops. Jason was impressed that I won it, but I was embarrassed to carry it around the place the rest of the time. The thing is UGLY! I'll have to take a picture and post it. It is bigger than Luke!
Luke is adjusting to his new room - the walk-in closet! We were only able to find a one bedroom apartment that was nice and clean. We found other places with more bedrooms, but they were smaller than this place. So, we will make due with a one bedroom until base housing opens up. We were very fortunate that our landlords who live below us are allowing us to rent month-to-month. As soon as a place opens up on base, we can move. (That should be in the next 2 months. So really we moved just to move again. I know the military is backwards sometimes!)
Last night, Jason and I were able to go out to eat without Luke. This was my first time being away from Luke since we left Hawaii with one exception of a doctor's appointment. Our friend, Deanna, from NC watched him. We ate at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki and then bought a birthday present for Sarah. The food was WAY over priced, but our view from the table was amazing! Tonight, we went to Dave and Busters in Honolulu with Luke. We had a blast. I tried to win Luke a oversized flat football from the claw machine and ended up with this HUGE ugly stuffed bear that is dressed in basketball gear, complete with a headband and high tops. Jason was impressed that I won it, but I was embarrassed to carry it around the place the rest of the time. The thing is UGLY! I'll have to take a picture and post it. It is bigger than Luke!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wow.
It's been a while - sorry! We arrived safely to Hawaii and have been trying to get established ever since. Our car arrived about 5 days after we got here. If you ever doubt how important a car is, try going without it for a couple days. Jason and I were logging a lot of hours walking the first couple days here. It was definitely interesting. So far, the weather has been dark, cloudy and rainy - not exactly what you think about when you say Hawaii.
I think Luke has been taking steriods (not really!). He is growing up so fast. I can't believe he is already 10 months old. Pretty soon we will be celebrating his 1 year birthday - UNBELIEVABLE!
I have gotten lost on the island quite a number of times. Jason, of course, has not! He's way too good with directions. It makes me sick! Jay is still adjusting to being back with a grunt unit. There's a lot of PTing, formations, and standing around. Right now, he's scheduled to go to Squad Leaders course at the end of April. He needs to do this for promotion and for his job. His unit is scheduled to deploy in November - I'm not looking forward to this, especially since November is his birthday and his favorite time of year is Christmas. I've never done a deployment married, with a kid or away from home, so this will be a completely different experience. Last time, we were engaged, I was teaching my first year and going to grad school. I was very busy. This time, I won't be. I think it will definitely be interesting and very hard.
Alright, well Jay's heading out to go for a run and I'm back on Luke-duty.
I think Luke has been taking steriods (not really!). He is growing up so fast. I can't believe he is already 10 months old. Pretty soon we will be celebrating his 1 year birthday - UNBELIEVABLE!
I have gotten lost on the island quite a number of times. Jason, of course, has not! He's way too good with directions. It makes me sick! Jay is still adjusting to being back with a grunt unit. There's a lot of PTing, formations, and standing around. Right now, he's scheduled to go to Squad Leaders course at the end of April. He needs to do this for promotion and for his job. His unit is scheduled to deploy in November - I'm not looking forward to this, especially since November is his birthday and his favorite time of year is Christmas. I've never done a deployment married, with a kid or away from home, so this will be a completely different experience. Last time, we were engaged, I was teaching my first year and going to grad school. I was very busy. This time, I won't be. I think it will definitely be interesting and very hard.
Alright, well Jay's heading out to go for a run and I'm back on Luke-duty.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Muffin Day
Jason and I have been attending Napier Baptist Church in Dothan, where Jay's dad, Jim, is the pastor while we have been here. The church is in the middle of old Air Force (I believe) housing. We've been there a couple of times and while there is evidence of little kids living in the neighborhood, I have yet to see anyone outside. The church is within walking distance of almost every single home and yet, church attendance is only about 3 people. Apparently, the church has been like this for quite a while. This past Sunday, a family attended that I had not met and the father mentioned that he hoped Napier would fill up like it used to. It made me wonder how a church that used to be full on Sunday morning could, in a few short years, be empty. How discouraging it must be for a pastor to continue to pastor a church with only a few members and how hard it must be on the few members that do come to church.
With that aside, Jay and I met two members that are just an absolute riot. They are well into their 60s or 70s. They are absolutely hilarious. Paul and his wife are just a joy to be around. I love old people. Paul's wife - I have to learn to spell her name - loves our son. She has held him for two services and Luke behaves better for her than if Jay and I were holding him. It makes me so happy to see her face light up and enjoy our son as much as we do. Paul loves anything with blueberries, so for tonight's services, we made some blueberry muffins - as well as, strawberry cheesecake muffins (Jay's favorite) and cinnamon muffins. My only prayer is that more than 3 members will be able to enjoy them.
With that aside, Jay and I met two members that are just an absolute riot. They are well into their 60s or 70s. They are absolutely hilarious. Paul and his wife are just a joy to be around. I love old people. Paul's wife - I have to learn to spell her name - loves our son. She has held him for two services and Luke behaves better for her than if Jay and I were holding him. It makes me so happy to see her face light up and enjoy our son as much as we do. Paul loves anything with blueberries, so for tonight's services, we made some blueberry muffins - as well as, strawberry cheesecake muffins (Jay's favorite) and cinnamon muffins. My only prayer is that more than 3 members will be able to enjoy them.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sweet Home Alabama!
Currently we are visiting Jay's parents in Dothan, AL. Anything that could go wrong on our way down here did. Examples?
1. A belt broke off of our back-up car on the way to Atlanta
2. Our oil cap wasn't replaced correctly at the dealership and splattered 4 qts of oil all over our new vehicle and we could ship it to Hawaii until it was replace. Did I mention we were 7 hours away from home and were in the process of releasing our car to the transporting agent to take it to Hawaii?
3. My tooth decided to start hurting. After many hours, we found out I need a root canal while we are down here. Yea me....
4. Luke brought the stomach virus to Dothan. I was the first to get it from him. Then, Jay, Jim and Joy. (It took us all a while to get over this one. Yuck!)
I'm sure this about covers it. Jay's hollering at me to get going. We headed to take Luke on a walk around the neighborhood. Oh yeah, one good thing: Luke learned his first sign, "more" last Friday. He now thinks that any time someone asks him a question, the response is "more", but nevertheless, he can sign. I'm encouraged and he thinks he can get more food anytime he wants now.
More later.
Love.
1. A belt broke off of our back-up car on the way to Atlanta
2. Our oil cap wasn't replaced correctly at the dealership and splattered 4 qts of oil all over our new vehicle and we could ship it to Hawaii until it was replace. Did I mention we were 7 hours away from home and were in the process of releasing our car to the transporting agent to take it to Hawaii?
3. My tooth decided to start hurting. After many hours, we found out I need a root canal while we are down here. Yea me....
4. Luke brought the stomach virus to Dothan. I was the first to get it from him. Then, Jay, Jim and Joy. (It took us all a while to get over this one. Yuck!)
I'm sure this about covers it. Jay's hollering at me to get going. We headed to take Luke on a walk around the neighborhood. Oh yeah, one good thing: Luke learned his first sign, "more" last Friday. He now thinks that any time someone asks him a question, the response is "more", but nevertheless, he can sign. I'm encouraged and he thinks he can get more food anytime he wants now.
More later.
Love.
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