Week 102

Feb 16-22

This week we have been pretty busy doing fun stuff! Daddy has had a lot of school work to do and then he also had a long class this weekend so we have been hanging out with Jack's friend Madilynn and her mommy Andrea. Jack and Madilynn really seem to get along and Andrea and I are both pregnant (about 2 weeks apart) and so we also have a lot in common.

Jack and Madilynn the BFFL's

The 2 minutes Jack paid attention!

Story time! All of the kids were so cute!!!

Thursday we went to the zoo with some other mommies from my work. We had 5 moms and 6 kids! 3 of us are pregnant though so if we all went a year from now it would be 5 moms and 9 kids! Haha! :)

My baby! :) Getting so big!!!

These are our favorite birds.

Jack and Mommy feeding the loud birds!

We had a great time at the zoo. We made it early so we started off with their story time. Jack lasted maybe 2 minutes and then he was off and running to see all of the animals. The giraffes weren't out to be fed (bummer). We did stop and feed the birds though! So much fun! Overall it was a great morning with great friends and tons of kids! After the zoo we stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch...yum! :) Jack loves that place!

Mads feeding the birdies!

Jack's little buddy Brayden!

Our sweet babies...minus one.

Over the weekend Ed had to attend a "First Responder" class so it would be just Jack and I all day from 8-5. I wanted to find something to do so we weren't tempted to hang around the house all day. The weather forecast looked like it would be beautiful so I wanted to find an activity. Our new babysitter suggested the "Valkaria Air Show" in Valkaria, FL. A town that is apparently about 30 minutes south of us (I had never heard of it). I invited Andrea and Madilynn to join us.

He ate every bite on his plate!

Miss Madilynn and Andrea enjoying their pancakes!

We left around 8:30 and arrived around 9:00. They gave us VIP parking (why, I have no idea) and then we went straight to the pancake breakfast. They had run out of eggs, bacon, and sausage....but still had plenty of pancakes and orange juice. That was fine with us! The pancakes were delicious...along with orange juice! Yum! Jack thoroughly enjoyed his and had seconds!

Mmm...Pancakes!!!

Couldn't climb up by himself so guess who had to go with him? People this size should NOT ride these rides!!!

Hanging out!

We looked around at some of the airplanes, took a ride down the slide, and danced to the music. By around 11:30 I think we were on our way home because that was about the end of the fun for everyone. Jack started getting cranky and wasn't really listening. It was a great time though. Enjoy the pictures! :)

The cute little BFFL's

He was speechless...LOL

Jack pouting...

Week 101

Feb 9-15

Valentine's Day!

Happy Love Day! :) I usually hate Valentine's Day because it seemed that as we grew up it was this pressure to buy overpriced crap. A dozen roses for $100. A box of chocolate. A teddy bear. Jewelry. Seriously. Ed and I have talked about this before and it really is a commercial holiday when it comes to the pressure of buying a bunch of stuff. I know he loves me and he knows I love him. I have told him many times that if he spends $100 on some flowers that are going to wilt in a few days then I will be mad because I can think of so many ways to spend that kind of money on something that will last.

For the past few years we were just getting each other a card and then maybe cooking a nice dinner at home. That is my other issue with V-day. If you are brave enough to go out to dinner then good for you. I personally don't think that 2-3 hour waits in a crowded restaurant spells out L-O-V-E. It is just the thing to make me so irritated that I can't enjoy my dinner.

Jack and Madilynn at the Pottery Painting place! :)

So that sums up my cynical attitude towards Valentine's Day...but now that Jack is getting a little older it is starting to become fun to me again. We bought these cute little Valentine decorations to put on the back window. Jack loves them.

We were very loved this year...well Jack was. :) He got tons of Valentines in the mail along with some cute new trucks from Mommy and Daddy. Ed got me just what every pregnant woman wants...something salty and sweet. Chocolate covered chips! Mmmm. I had been eyeing them for months. They are made by a local gourmet chocolate factory. I got him a tile that Jack and I had made when he was away for work. Notice I put the year as 2010. Total pregnancy brain mishap. Oh well. It's still cute!

Week 100

Feb 2-8

Super Bowl

This week was the almighty Super Bowl XLV! Ed was so excited that he made it home in time to watch the big game...especially since the Steelers were playing!!!

Jack and I picked him up from the airport Saturday night and the game was on Sunday. Ed was so nervous all day, I felt bad for him. We decided to go ahead and have a splurge fest for the day since Ed was going to be starting Insanity the next Monday and we would all be starting our "healthy food" diet (which we should have been doing regardless). For lunch that day we had delicious pizza from our favorite place down by the beach...Cibelli's! Mmmm...it was yummy! Then for the game Ed made my special request, his delicious buffalo chicken dip. I don't think he even ate any of it because he was so nervous.

It was a very good game, but as you all very well know the Steelers did not win. :( Oh well. I personally feel like it's a big honor if your team even plays in the Super Bowl and the Steelers have definitely played a fair number of these games. We were disappointed, but the team had a great season and it was an exciting time!

Of course we donned all of our Steelers jerseys to celebrate the day. Jack even got to stay up for the first quarter of the game! Good thing it was almost his bedtime though, because he was a little bit of a distraction! :)

The day before he opened up a present from his Uncle Ryan and Aunt Amanda...a Steelers Football Bear that they had made him at Build A Bear! It is the cutest thing!!!

Week 99

Jan 26-Feb 1

So this post is about deployments or TDY's...whatever you want to call them. For you non-military friendly people TDY means "temporary deployment." AKA not at home. AKA single parenthood for me.

Anyways, now that you know how I feel about this I will launch into my full blown vent session because I am feeling sorry for myself today. Obviously Ed is not here. He had to go to Seattle, WA for an undisclosed amount of time for the military. I am all about military duty and serving your country...yadda, yadda, yadda, but I am so sick of it. Before we moved here Ed got deployed every 90 days for approximately 90 days out to sea. In for 3 months, out for 3 months, repeat.

It was AWFUL!!!!

BUT...we didn't have any kids yet so although it was awful it was doable. I just had to worry about going to work, paying the bills, and keeping up with the dog and the house. No biggie. It still sucked though. This is why we waited to have kids because we knew that coming here Ed would seldom have to be away from home.

As most of you know we are facing the decision soon...we will either stay in the Navy or get out. So many people are telling us we are crazy, Ed will have 10 years in, suck it up, collect a retirement. We WANT TO GET OUT!!! After this recent time with him gone...I am even more confident in our decision. It is awful!

Jack is a really good kid...but it is really because his life is so precisely balanced. We both work and he is very much used to both of us watching him. He is NOT happy that his dad is gone. He does NOT understand. He definitely does NOT like to Skype with his dad because in his mind it's just not the same. I have definitely witnessed some acting out the past couple of weeks that I have never seen before. He is not the same child.

I was even lucky enough to have my mom and grandma come over for a week to watch him while I went to work. He was good for them, but I have seen some little traits that I haven't ever seen before. For instance, he suddenly will grab a toy from you and scream, "MINE!" Which is quite a mystery in itself because he hasn't been around any other kids recently who have done this and obviously we have never told him to do this. Where did that come from??? It's like he suddenly is consumed by insecurity since his routine has been turned upside down. He is very defiant lately and wants to do the opposite of what you want him to do.

I CAN NOT WAIT for Daddy to get home! I am exhausted!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how single mothers can cope. I really don't know how my fellow military wives who deal with this on a regular basis can cope. You are a bigger person that I am. I suddenly can kind of understand why the divorce rate for Ed's job is >90%. Thank goodness Ed doesn't want to do the military thing again either because I don't think I could support that decision. I need my family back together soon! It definitely forces me to appreciate how much my husband does around here! He is a great husband and a great Dad...I am very, very lucky to have snagged him! :) For all you people telling us that money is more important and that we are crazy...I will just say this. No amount of money can compare to having a happy, healthy family that is TOGETHER!

Meanwhile...these are pictures of Jack at the zoo. We have tried to stay as busy as possible while daddy is away. Also I have been trying to do things to "tire" Jack out so he will take a nap. He now naps on average 2 times a week if I am lucky. Sigh.

PS-thank you to Mimi (my mom) and Gigi (my grandma) for coming to help me with everything for a week!!!!!!!! I couldn't have done it without you! Jack had a blast with you guys! :)