Happy Birthday Addison!

 
It's hard to believe, but our little Addison is TWO today!

I guess if you were to judge on her attitude, it would be pretty obvious that she's two now. 

 But going simply on how fast time has flown by it doesn't seem possible.

I remember this day like it was just yesterday, and yet when I think about it, it also seems like FOREVER ago.  Funny how time does that, isn't it?

We celebrated her birthday with family on Sunday.  And I only took two pictures because, well, I suck. 

Okay, I lied...I took one picture.  My AWESOME sister-in-law, Sara, made these cupcakes for Addison, as well as used my camera to take the picture.

But I took this picture of Addison enjoying the cupcakes!

Marty joined us via Skype to watch Addison opening presents.  I am SO grateful for technology, she was hilarious and I'm so glad he got to at least see all of that.

There is so much I could write about Addison, she is spunky, hilarious, sweet, spazzy, sassy, crazy, adventurous (she jumped off the stage at a church last week...hello??) and we just completely adore her.

 

We are SO glad that Addison is in our family, she definitely keeps the party hopping.  

Happy Birthday Addison!

We Love You!

Diving into some details of Marty still being in Washington

I feel like people are getting SO sick of me talking about the whole "Marty still in Washington" drama, but at the same time I get so many questions that I thought maybe blogging about what the heck is up would help answer as many of those questions as I can.  Plus, there may be a day down the road where I won't actually remember all these crazy details...even though they seem to be seared into my mind at this point.

So, if you are one of those that are sick of hearing about this, feel free to skip over this post.  

If not...here we go.

And just as a warning, this is going to be long.

I moved here with the girls back at the end of July when we were told Marty "would have his orders within 10 days".  We thought it would be great, we'd finish some summer activities with cousins, Marty would come, we'd start school, he'd start a new job and we'd get settled in a new home/neighborhood within a couple months.

That's what we get for thinking right?

Basically fast-forward 4 months of being told Marty "needed some more paperwork" which would take a month to gather, things being left on someones desk who didn't remember they were supposed to do anything, and higher up's blocking and pulling his paperwork back for no reason at all, we think we may FINALLY have some answers.  

Unfortunately, they aren't the exact answers we wanted.

When Marty came home around Halloween for a visit, we had been told his paperwork REALLY was done, and ready to go and there was a chance his orders would have him home for good in time for Thanksgiving. 

SURPRISE...that scenario didn't happen.

Marty found out that somewhere along the lines someone messed up on part of his paperwork (really are we surprised?) but after a process of bugging people for answers, getting blown off and just sitting in someones office until they had no choice but to tell him what was going on, he was finally given a promise, with witnesses present, that on December 1st (the earliest they can now officially push this all through thanks to that mess up from someone else) the last signature will be placed and on it will go.

Unfortunately, because of the military's desire to work as little as possible in December, there will be a ton of half days, long weekends etc. and they estimate that even with that signature on December 1st, he will not get final orders until the first week of January.

Basically this means that he will now have to take leave to come home for our baby/Christmas, and will only be able to stay about 2 weeks.  That is when he will bring all our baby supplies and clothes (leaving us, at the MOST, 5 days to get it ready for the baby, unless she comes earlier than the scheduled c-section....then it's all up to Marty), and then shortly after the baby is born he will head back to Washington to finalize everything.

Can I just tell you that the waiting for him to get here and the idea of still having to single parent is not what has me the most panicked?  I've done that for 4 months now, what's a few more weeks?  

No, what has me panicked is that instead of being settled, we're bringing home a newborn to my parent's basement.  It's the fact that the travel pay we were counting on to help us with Christmas is no longer happening.  It's the fact that I have NO IDEA what baby supplies/clothes I still have that are functional and in good condition...which means I haven't washed/sorted/organized a single thing.  It's the fact that within about 9 days of having a baby (via c-section) Marty will have to leave us again.  

Seriously...I've already had 2 emotional meltdowns over all of this, and I feel that more will be coming.

BUT there is a silver lining to all of this craziness, stress and drama.  

Health Insurance.

Because things keep getting pushed back, we have remained under the military's health insurance, and will not have to worry about that changing before the baby is born.

So, even though sometimes that silver lining seems to be missing, if you look really close, it is still there.

Even if it is the tiniest sliver of a silver lining.

We'll just keep praying, hoping and waiting for things to unfold.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT!!

(But I sure could use one)

Side Effects

I think it would be safe to assume that everybody, at some time in their life, will suffer from side effects of some sort or another.

Every ailment, condition, disease, illness, older brother comes with side effects...usually quite unwanted.

So it got me thinking about the side effects of pregnancy.  You know, things like:

Nausea

Fatigue

Aversion to your previously favorite food

Cravings for things at midnight that you do NOT have in the house

Mood swings

Swollen feet

Weight gain

Aches and pains

Acne

And the list could probably go on and on.  But there's one side effect of pregnancy that is probably most important.

At the end you get a brand new baby, hot off Heaven's presses, to cuddle, love, snuggle and enjoy.

Which sure beats the side effects of food poisoning.

This Camel is Broken

It finally happened.

Today, the final straw was thrown upon my back and I am officially a broken camel.

Without reliving all the ridiculous details and angering facts, there was a situation where HORRIBLE communication coupled with a bit of taking advantage of my willingness to help turned into a very difficult/stressful morning for me, my kids and my parents, unbeknownst to the straw holder...although I really wanted to punch them and yell at them.  But I refrained.

I would say throughout all this nearly 4 months away from Marty, single parenting my 3 kids, bunking in my parent's basement, being 8 months pregnant, having 2 church callings, and my part time job at home that I have been able to (for the most part) maintain a pretty solid attitude.  I have not necessarily been nice and happy the whole time, but I have pushed forward every day doing what I have to without too much complaining (except to Marty).

And you know what?

I'm done.

So, if I'm mean, snappy, rude, cry or refuse to do anything anybody asks me, just understand that the load was pushed beyond capacity today and I have no desire to lighten it.  I'm going to go ahead and stay mad and broken for now.

And I'm going to eat a lot of chocolate while I'm at it.

First Snow of the Season!

Marty left bright and early yesterday morning to go back to Washington...let's just say that some people (Addison) have been horribly grumpy since then.

Thank goodness we woke up to SNOW today to give the kids a bit of a distraction though.  As soon as the kids saw outside, they were all beyond excited.  I guess living somewhere that gets little to no snow for the last couple winters makes it even more magical for them now.  Addison was barely 1 last year, so this was her first year really experiencing it.  She stood by the window saying "Wow!  Cool!" for a good 5 minutes before insisting she go out in it.  

And mostly for Marty's sake, here is a TON of pictures of the fun they had:

First up:  Make Grandpa drag us around on the sled

Then it was time to just play

Then sledding (Claire's face is the BEST in these)

 In the picture above you can barely see Addison's face behind Claire's terrified one...but it's pretty great as well.

Addison attempted to drag the kids around

 But soon realized it was better to get in and make Grandpa do it some more

Addison refused to get out of the sled, but found a new victim willing to drag her all over.  She also thought laying down and relaxing was the only way to properly be dragged in the sled.

And then they were all frozen and went inside for some hot chocolate.

(Plus, the adults were worn out.)

The kids probably think this is their only chance to play in the snow, since it's been that way for the last couple years, one snow storm or one visit to Utah and that's all the snow they get.  But luckily (or unfortunately) there will be PLENTY of days like this ahead.  Next time we just hope Marty is here, then he can be the muscle to drag Addison around.