For a quick update---here is what we have been up to lately. Nathan got back in late September and we could not have been happier to be reunited as a family. He got home around 3 am, so the kids stayed home with a sitter. Here is my handsome hubs that I missed so much!---Yes, I know I am lucky.
When Corinne saw him for the first time she was shy and standoffish--not knowing whether to grab onto him or just go about her normal morning routine. When Nathan held his arms out to her to pick her up, she latched on and would not let go for hours. She held onto him with a death grip right through breakfast and would not let him out of her sight. Lincoln was beyond excited to have his playmate back.
Nathan made it back in time to celebrate Lincoln's belated 4th birthday with a Toy Story themed party. The cake was a long ways in the making but I think I pulled off something that was at least similar to Rex.
We packed in a few trips to Disneyland and tried catch Nathan up on our day to day routine. After all he left behind two kids in diapers and came home to a little man and princess full of personality. He said he felt like he didn't have any jobs to do---that I had it all covered. That only lasted a week or so until I totally gave him the bills back, the yard work, washing the vehicles, and openly encouraged him to help with the laundry.
Shortly after his return Corinne had her 2nd and final eye surgery to insert a stint into her tear duct in an attempt to keep it open and clear. I was so happy to have him with me this time around. Seeing your kid hurt really does hurt a parent ten fold. (Happy to report her tear ducts are normal these days and that the stint fell out on its own---Yay for no more eye infections!)
Realizing that the market was great for buyers and that my greatest heart ache while Nathan was deployed was dealing with Bobacadouche (our ridiculous landloard once referred to as Bobdizzle, but he will never again regain that title), we looked into buying a house in Cali as an investment and to have a comfortable place to life---hopefully for a few years. After months of searching and viewing over 100 homes with our ever-so-patient realators we found our dream home in October.
We celebrated Halloween as characters from Disney/Pixar's "Up"---Lincoln as Russel, Nathan as Mr. Fredrickson, Corinne as Doug the Dog, and myself as Ellie the House.
In November my old college roomie, Jen, came out with her son Logan. The kids got along great and it was so nice to see her again. I can't wait for her to come back with the whole family. (Yes, that was a hint Jen!)
As we waited for word on our new place we headed back to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with the wonderful Cluff family in Richfield for the second year in a row. It was a great time had by all and we are so thankful to have shared the holiday with them.
Our dream home was a shortsale and we were facing homelessness in January because Bobacadouche would not let us lease month-to-month. Our rental home flooded 3 days before Christmas last year and our lovely landlord said not to worry about it and to go rent a space heater. After that we could not have been happier on our decision to jump ship as a renter. Luckily my parents came out for a visit over the holidays, celebrated Christmas with us and literally packed up the decorations and the whole house minus the neccessities on Dec. 26th. We had to be prepped to get out of there in a hurry. Our lovely neighbors Linda and Jack even offered to let us live in their camper at the beach until we got word on our short sale. Here are a few shots from Christmas.
Linc got an awesome new Jeep from Papaw. Corinne was a little unsure of his driving skills.
By the grace of God (and our awesome realtors) we were able to rent our current home until it closed for $1 a month from the previous owners if we agreed to settle with the second lender on their loan.
By mid January we were moving in and making the place our own. By the end of the month we were headed off to visit our dear friends Cary, Jason, and Caden in Rome with Warren. It was part of the Oki crew reunited---halfway across the world. We will forever be thankful for the opportunity to see the world (Rome, Naples, Herculaneum, Venice, Florence, Pisa, the Vatican) and stay at their home. A special thanks to Cade who gave up his room to us and our two wild kids who refused to adjust to the time change! It was an opportunity of a lifetime and I will never forget our adventures in Italy with such dear friends. I also will never forget the gelato!
We came home and got right to work on the house. Nathan had to travel for work and I took the opportunity to potty train Corinne while I had one less person to take care of. I wasn't really ready to do it, but she had gotten panties as a gift and I was spending so much time trying to keep her diaper on her while she played dress up with her new panties, that I figured I might as well let her wear them. The Potty Fairy came again and left us a super cool zebra chart to track her progress.
Yes, I made her throw her own diapers away.
We had a great visit from Steve (an old school grunt friend), Ashley, and Bella in March. I loved meeting and getting to know Ashley and Bella. I also loved that Ashley is a bit of a Shamu lover like myself! Here we are at Sea World.
Then my dad came back and really helped us get a move on major projects around the house including the kitchen backsplash, painting the living room, and planning the yard to name a few.
He was also here to help us celebrate the big "02" with Corinne. We had a low-key celebration this year.
Soon afterwards Nathan began his 3 month stint at career course at work. I had previously always encouraged him to try to get into these classes---insisting that the sacrafice would be good for his career and promotion. Boy was I wrong, it might look good for his paperwork, but it sucked to be his family at this time. His hours were awful, the drive was tremendous, and we never saw him. I felt like I had three kids at the time--two toddlers and one teenager that showed up to eat, dropped their dirty clothes off and then locked themselves in the office of an evening to do school work. Oh and then I had to proofread his homework!
While he was at the course the kids had to sneak cuddle time in whenever they could.
We did sneak in a day at the zoo as our family reward for making it through the course towards the end of his classes.
During that time Nathan's best friend, Warren got married to Jenn in Vegas right before Easter.
We also had a 15 minute 29th birthday party for Nathan after work one day. Lincoln made us all pary hats.
The kids and I tried to stay busy and cool with splash dates with friends.
Check out those bathing beauties!
It was hard on us, but worth it in the end. He came out in impeccable shape with a new motto attitude about the old Marine Corps. He also did really well at the course---who knew Nathan could be so studious!
After Staff Academy we were back to work on the house, this time ready to tackle the yard. The grass sort of became Nathan's baby in the whole home buying process, and we could not be more proud of his blood, sweat, and tears that went into it all. We spent Father's Day getting the back yard into shape. I would have thought that my parents ruined me in the yard work department after years of being the garden slave. I still hate worms and love my gloves---but I love the relaxion of working in the yard and having something to show for it. It has been a real trial and error game with us--figuring out the plants, proper fertilization, and the sprinkler system, but so far we seem to be doing something right. If all else fails I will just swap them out at Lowes---gotta love that one year guarantee!
July and August were filled with a trips to the beach, swimming lessons, hanging at Laguna with Em and the gang, playdates, a day at Idyllwild with Ava and Jake, and a few TADs to San Francisco and New Mexico for Nathan. The kids and I stayed busy with playdates with friends and swimming lessons. I am happy to report that Lincoln is pretty water safe these days, but still fearless, which makes me nervous. Corinne thinks she can swim, but still has a hard time making it to the wall for a breather. Both kids are great floaters and Lincoln can swim underwater with ease.
Escaping the heat in the mountains was just what we needed in August.
Look at those dirty rugrats! They had a blast!
And we discovered the Kiddie Cove on base---Thank you Jessica! I love that we now have a "wave free" zone for the kids at the beach.
August was also eventful for Warren and Jenn who became parents to baby Hunter! I think this is one of his first smiles caught on camera--so cute!
September rolled around with Linc's 4th birthday celebration and a pirate themed visit to Disneyland. We had a Surf's Up breakfast with the characters, then we hit the parks!
October included a great visit from Papaw--we went to an awesome children's museum in Palm Springs....
And did a little mining in Julian.
The kids had a great time with Grammy. We were happy to have her here into November so we could attend our first Marine Corps Ball together in California while she stayed with the kids.
As November came to a close, we prepped for the deployment and scheduled Christmas early on Dec. 10th. Nathan helped me with everything this year and it all ran so smoothly. I am so thankful to be approaching December 25th completely stress free for once!
So that is our life in a nutshell for the past 15 months.
We only moved 3 miles from the old place, so we still get to see our old neighbors quite a lot. I have even hired Ryan as my gardner while Nathan is gone. We also have awesome new neighbors---ironically the family across the street has a hubby that works in the same job field as Nathan, but is currently an instructor at the School of Infantry. It is nice to have someone just across the way that truely knows the craziness of our day to day life with the Marine Corps, yet we don't have the drama that comes with living on base. Margie and her 4 kids are a blessing and they help keep my little ones busy. Another one of our new neighbors is so much fun and a kindergarten teacher--so of course Miss Heather is at constant risk of my kids attacking her and leeching onto her legs. Luckily, she is a good sport and is used to the chaos of little ones. We love our new place and hope we get to stay here for a LONG time, but who knows what our future holds with the Marine Corps.
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