It's Hitting Me Now

As the week progresses, the idea of leaving and going to Texas is hitting me harder. I guess I didn't let it hit me in the beginning because it's been such a long time coming - or at least it's felt that way! We've actually only known for a little over a month that the move was even on the horizon for us.

I think the move is also starting to hit my parents. I think it hit my mom in the face like a ton of bricks when I told her. I'm not too sure how it really hit my dad when I told him at first because he was at work. I do know that yesterday when he came home from work I showed him a project I was working on for him and he said, "I sure am going to miss you when you move." He also keeps talking about needing to make sure we have pictures and videos of him and my mom with Eden for her to watch when we're not here every day. My mom keeps telling me that we need to figure out when we can skype with them after we get settled into our new home.

Though it makes me feel good to know that they're going to miss us as much as they will {not like I didn't know that before} it makes it that much harder. I know that on Sunday I'm going to be excited to see Lane and the friends that I left behind in Florida {most without saying goodbye}, I am VERY sad to be leaving. I'm going to have to make the most of the days we have left, so I've got a jam-packed few days ahead of me!

March 28 - Pop has been sharing his glasses with Eden and then she found some in the office while visiting Mimi, so she tried to put them on all by herself.

March 29 - Pop got his lawn mower back today...and it broke. Eden was trying to help him fix the problem. As they started their project, Mimi pulled into the driveway and Eden was waving to her.

March 29 - Pop discovered that there was no hope of fixing the lawn mower on his own {since a piece of it fell off}, so he and Eden went to look at the flowers in the front yard. Spring is here, there are tulips blooming!

March 29 - Love that girl! She's too darn cute.

March 29 - She enjoyed being able to touch the flowers, but Pop did have to keep reminding her to "be soft" so she didn't break the stems.

ORDERS!

You heard right!!!! We have our orders. This means that we will be together again as one big happy family sooner than later!!! We move some time next week, so its time to get going...

Crafty Weekend

This weekend was a sort of uneventful weekend for us. I did some shopping {Joanns was having a pretty big sale and I got some good stuff!}, we hung out with Mimi, and Pop played in a golf tournament {in the rain - boo!} Because I found such great deals this weekend, I did a lot of crafting and making things. I guess the rain and gross cold weather out helped a little bit too.

Video chat is becoming a regular thing for us now-a-days. Eden waves to Daddy and he gets to help with bath time and he gets to watch her play, just like I do! We sure are lucky to have this kind of technology. I know Eden loves to be able to see Daddy - she tries to hug him, kiss him, she waves at him, and she'll even show her where her tummy is when he asks her. I hope in the next couple of days she gets to do all of that to him and not a computer screen...



March 21 - I'm still working hard!




March 22 - Sami, Marylynn's youngest.



March 22 - Eden figured out that she could ride around on the scooter at Marylynn's house.

March 22 - Eden and Kate played with sidewalk chalk while Brie had to take a nap. Sami, Marylynn, and I watched with amusement as Eden tried to eat the chalk...

March 23 - Eden got to do some land surfing at The Little Gym. She did a good job putting her hands out in front of her and tucking her head at the end to do a forward roll.

March 23 - She found the low bar during exploration time.

March 24 - Avery {my cousin's child} had a fun run fundraiser for school and Sara Rice and I walked over with Eden to meet the rest of Avery's fan club to cheer her on. This is also the elementary school that I went to as a child.

 ***Friday's pictures from the Yellow River Game Ranch are going to have to wait. I took them with the video camera {because I thought I had lost the still camera - ugh, long story} and the cords to upload the pictures are in Florida in storage somewhere...***

March 26 - I got this picture frame and made it into a weekly calander for our house {whenever we have one again}. I just used scrapbooking supplies to decorate the mat of the frame before putting the glass back on. To put it to use, all you need is a dry erase marker. Real easy, super cheap, and a stress relief for me!

March 26 - a close up of the stickers {and some of the scrapbooking paper that I used instead of a picture in the frame}

March 26 - More crafting! A sponge ball that I made. I got the idea from One Charming Party. Eden loves water, so I figured I'd save a buck by making at least some of her water toys if I can get away with it! All I had to do was cut sponges into strips of 4 and twist them, and tie them with floss!

March 27 - Eden doesn't quite know how to differentiate the different cabinets at my parents' house, so I made her some red stop signs to help her learn no/stop/not allowed {and tied the cabinets together}, and then printed her name in green {for "go"} to let her know which cabinets she's allowed to get into.

March 27 - My rocking chair from when I was a kid is getting a makeover for Eden. It is in great need of it! I made the back pillow tonight, and tomorrow I will break out my dad's air staple gun to put the fabric on the seat. I will also have to hem the skirt {dots} and then staple gun that to the chair. See, I told you...I'm getting crafty!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Eden and I have had a busy week so far, and we don't plan on slowing down yet. I have pictures from all of our adventures, but I'm just too tired to go back downstairs and get the camera to upload them onto the computer. {I would call myself lazy, but I've done lots of "active stuff today! I walked to the elementary school, did 30 Day Shred and Ab Ripper X with Sara, and I just got done running 2.25 miles on the treadmill.}

So fat this week, Eden and I have:
*Taken it easy on Monday
*Gone to visit Marylynn and her children {Brian was at work} so that we could meet the newest addition, Sami on Tuesday
*Had fun at The Little Gym {and went shopping} on Wednesday
*Went for a walk to Brookwood Elementary School to cheer on Avery at her "Fun Run" fundraiser with Parker and Sara {we met Aunt Nana and Uncle Papa - just Nana and Papa to Avery - and LOTS of other Avery fans over there}. We also went to Grandma and Grandpas today and got to video chat with Aunt Angela, Uncle David, and Mack. THEN we got to video chat with DADDY! Eden was very excited to see her Daddy today.

And tomorrow we're going to the Yellow River Game Ranch with Aunt Nana and then spending the afternoon with Sara. We are also hoping to get news from Lane telling us that we're getting to move to Texas soon. He talked with someone yesterday who told him that they would have something more than what they have now either Friday or Monday. I keep reminding myself that just because they get news, doesn't mean that he's getting his orders - we could just find out that it will be at least "x" amount of time before he gets orders.

Flight School

I get asked all the time what Lane is doing, where we will go next, what he'll do there {and about a thousand other questions about flight school}. I was reading a friend's blog this morning and she put flight school on paper to help her friends and family understand better what it is we're doing. I thought it was great to be able to see the timeline and the when and where of each phase, so I took it from her and decided to post it here for my friends and family to see! I hope this helps to make more sense. For me it made me feel like he's just a LITTLE bit closer to the end!!! There's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Phase 1: IFS ***{Lane completed this October - November 2009}***
Runs: 2-3 weeks
Where: Manassas, VA
What it consists of: 2 weeks of academic tests, followed by 13.5 hours of flight instruction in the actual aircraft.

Phase 2: API ***{Lane completed this May - June 2010}***
Runs: 6 weeks
Where: Pensacola, FL
What it consists of: Academic classes.

Phase 3: Primary ***{Lane completed this July 2010 - February 2011}***
Runs: 6-8 months
Where: Milton, FL (some do it in Corpus Christi, Tx)
What it consists of: A variety of academic classes and in-flight instruction.
***You find out which type of aircraft you will fly after your final flight in this phase. It's a pretty big day! You are asked to rank your preferences. Command ranks you against your peers and gives you a decision. The majority of Marine Corps pilot get helicopters, simply because there are more to go around. Jets, C130, and Osprey slots are harder to come by because there are fewer slots to give.

Phase 4: Advanced ***{This is what Lane is waiting to start. We will move to Corpus whenever we get his orders...nope, we STILL don't have them...}***
Runs: Between 6 - 15 months depending on type of aircraft
Where: Depends of which type of aircraft you select.
*Jets (Meridian, MS or Kingsville, Tx)
*Helicopter (Milton, FL)
*Ospreys (Milton, FL and then Corpus Christi, Tx)
*C130s (Corpus Christi, Tx)
What it consists of: A variety of academic classes and in-flight instruction.

Pictures, and More Pictures!

Ok, now that I'm over my pitty party (I knew it wouldn't last too long!) I wanted to give you something to feast your eyes on...PICTURES! You know that with St. Patty's day last week, and visiting family over the weekend that I have A LOT of pictures for you. So, here you go!

March 15 - I love being able to workout after Eden has gone to bed! I'm doing the Couch 2 5K (C25K) program and I started in week 4 because I've been doing some running in past weeks. I couldn't figure for the life of me, why this run was slower and MUCH harder than the day before...I was at a 5.5 incline...ugh. At least I only added 11 seconds to my run time {which wasn't a great one to begin with}

March 16 - Eden is getting to go to The Little Gym while we're in GA, and she's loving it! This is during our group activity on the Big Red Mat before we got to go and explore the gym.

March 16 - Bubbles are always a hit!

March 17 - What a pretty smile! Lady Luck playing outside. I'm glad I was able to get her picture before she started eating dirt.

March 17 - Little Miss Green Thumb helping tend to {or rip apart} Mimi and Pop's parsley plant.

March 17 - Loving that Pop is home from work.

March 17 - All she wanted to do was get down off the deck and get into the pond, so I put this chair in her way. She quickly reminded me that she's a great climber and that all I did was make a bigger challenge for her.

March 18 - We passed through Eden on our way to Mississippi for the weekend.

March 19 - Walking around in the back yard while the adults {and some of the little ones} sat at the table outside for lunch.

March 19 - Pop, Mimi, Rebecca, Todd, Lauren, and Karen sitting at the table after eating lunch.

March 19 - Eden got to play in the fountains while we ate our cupcakes for Karen's birthday. Eden has always loved water, and she was in her element being outside with water! So much better than bath time.

March 19 - It didn't take long for her to get water in her face and get her hair wet. She was in heaven!



March 19 - Excited that the water was coming back up.



March 19 - Finally found the courage to try out the biggest fountain in the middle of all the smaller ones.

March 19 - I love that she looks like she's just chatting away with the little boy.

March 20 - Driving home from Mississippi, Talledaga flags

Missing

As I am coming to the end of a great weekend I find myself sitting here with tears rolling down my cheeks. I wish they were happy tears, but I think it's finally hit me that I didn't just come to GA for a vacation, I've LEFT Pensacola and I don't live there anymore.

Everything happened so quickly that I'm not sure I had completely wrapped my head around the concept of not going back. This weekend I got to go visit my sister for the for her birthday [which was a great visit, by the way] and Lane was able to come too which was great. Because he was able to come, it means that I had to say goodbye to him again today, and that wasn't any fun. I had to watch him say goodbye to Eden again, and that wasn't any fun either.

On my way home from Mississippi, and later this evening, I found out that two of my friends [who I didn't get to say goodbye to] who are expecting in August, found out the sex of their babies last week. One is having a beautiful baby girl and the other is having another little boy [her boys will be about 20 months apart!] I'm sad to not be able to be there and celebrate these moments with the great friends that I made while we were in Florida.

I know that the military community is a small one, and there's a good chance that I could run into these ladies again, but I miss my friends, I miss the playgroups, I miss the stroller brigade, and I miss the kids that Eden got to see every week at playgroup. Most of all, I miss seeing Lane every day when I know he's in Florida and bored with nothing to do [when we could be spending this time together as a family because it's the perfect opportunity].

I'm trying to be optimistic, but with Lane's class date being pushed back again and again, it's getting hard to do! I will make it through, this is NOT the hardest part of life that we will have to endure as a family, and for now I will enjoy being close to family and friends who won't be so close when we [finally] move to Texas.

The Little Gym

Oh, how I miss that place. It took everything in me not to try to take over the class yesterday when Eden, Parker and I went for a Birds class! When we were in Florida {and there weren't any TLGs withing 50 miles} we tried one of the competitors, because I know how important it is for Eden to be moving and to be around other children...I guess the long and short of it is that it just wasn't the same. I'm excited to have a TLG close by that understands that I'm not sure when I'm going to be moving and is willing to work with me so Eden can enjoy time with other kids.

Yesterday when we walked into TLG, it was like walking into my home. The colors, the music, the themes...it was fabulous! Eden had a great time too! She got to use her Neat Feet throughout class to do different things. She got to do a forward roll down a cheese mat {while trying to keep a scarf between her feet}, she got to swing on the uneven bars {while bringing her stinky toes to the bar}, and she got to climb over some trapezoid mats set up like an obstacle course! She loved it just as much as I did.

Remember how I said that I loved hearing the music during class {not so much when I worked at TLG and it was the only thing I heard all day and night}? Well, Eden thought so too. She did some dancing for us again today. I'm learning that it's one of her favorite things to do these days! If there's any kind of music on {yes, this includes American Idol, no matter how bad the singing might be} she will be dancing to it!

So far, being in Georgia has been good. We've been able to relax a little bit, and we've seen lots of people. We saw Aunt Nana, Grandma, and Grandpa. There are many more people that we're hoping to get a chance to run into after the weekend {because we're going out of town, and we get to see Daddy in Mississippi!}. We still don't have any news on orders, so I'm just going to assume that we're going to be here through next week at least, but I won't be surprised if we're here longer than that. I hope we aren't, but if we are, that just means that we'll have the chance to see more and more people that we don't see a lot of!

I've also had time to keep up with my workouts since we've been here. It is a lot easier to keep up with because my parents have a treadmill, so I've used that mostly. Yesterday, Aunt Nana and I took Eden out for a stroll around the block. It was nice to be out of the house and doing something that I know is good for my body {because we all know the stress that I'm going through now isn't good for my body!} It has been easy to keep up with Weight Watchers and counting points while I've been here too. Both of my parents are working again {after having been retired for MANY years now!} and, so I've taken on the "cook" duties and I make dinner most nights. Makes my life a little easier when it comes to points, so I guess I can muster the energy and the desire to do it while we're here!

Dancing Queen

I've never uploaded a video to the blog, so here's a first! Not great quality, but we'll blame it on the fact that it's the first video I've uploaded here {but really, it's because I took it with my phone.} Eden loves to dance, so enjoy watching her shake her groove thang and dance along!

The Move

And the days leading into The Move That Will Live in Infamy:

March 10 - home from Nashville, ready to go to her friend's house to play!

March 11 - The suitcase that was still packed from TN. It was honestly unpacked to be packed!

March 11 - Lane taking apart the desk and printer table in the office after Eden had gone to bed. This was the start of a LONG weekend.

 

March 12 - I guess this was the only safe place to play in her mind. Everything else she saw was being put into boxes or shrink wrapped.

March 12 - The storage unit after just one drop-off. At this point I was worried that we would never be able to just have 1 unit!



March 13 - The living room from the front door. What a sad thing to see!



March 13 - The storage unit after 2 loads had been piled in. Only 1 more load to go...it included 3 mattresses, a washer and dryer, and other big items! I'm not sure how it all fit {or how it PLUS a motorcycle} is going to fit into a truck to go to Corpus.

March 13 - Pop was sick this whole weekend and had almost no endurance to even walk across the house, so he took on "Baby Duty" a lot of the time. The dryer was in the "holding area" so they made the best use out of it that they could.



March 13 - After the unit was totally packed and ready to be shut until further notice.



March 14 - Eden likes to "love" on Ginger, so when she found her in the kennel, she went in to lay with her and give her kisses.

Georgia On My Mind

Eden and I made it to my parents' house safe and sound! We are here and the car is unpacked.

Eden had a little bit of a hard time getting to sleep tonight, but I can't say I blame her! Her schedule {if you can call it that these days} has been a little thrown off recently. We went to Nashville and she didn't sleep well while we were there. When we got home, it took her a night or 2 to get back to her sleeping habits of falling asleep on her own and staying asleep in her bed without one of us holding her all night.

After those adjustment nights she had her world turned upside down - and that happened FAST! She went to bed one night and when she woke up Grandma and Grandpa had gotten to the house {after Mimi and Pop showed up right before she went to sleep}. The next night she went to bed only to wake up and half of her house was "missing." We used the valuable time that we didn't have to have hands and eyes on her at all times to pack more and more stuff. And then again, when she went to bed last night her room was empty except for her crib {this is not normal for her, she has a dresser with a hutch, a changing table, rocking chair, lamp, and shelves and pictures on the walls that were all missing} and she woke up to a completely empty house. By the time we pulled out of the driveway this afternoon the only stuff that was left were the things that Lane was taking with him. I'm sure all of this has totally confused her. If I were her, I wouldn't want to go to bed either, because you never know what's going to be out of place when you get up.

I'm not sure that anything has totally hit me about being gone. I didn't really have a chance to say goodbye to anyone down in Florida because everything happened so quickly. I'm hoping when Lane gets his orders that I can go down and meet him there, say goodbye to friends, and then head to Texas. It is about 18 hours from here to Texas, so I know I will have to break it up into at least 3 legs for Eden's sake {what am I talking about...I don't want to be in the car that long either!} Pensacola isn't exactly on the way to Texas, but it isn't totally out of the way either. I'll have to talk to Lane and see if we can get something to work out in order for me to get back down there.

And, we're off!

The storage unit is packed, the laborers (mine and Lane's parents) are cleaning, and I'm unplugging the computer. The weekend has been nothing short of eventful and it is finally coming to a close! The house is {almost} empty and the cars are loaded down to go in every which direction. Today is a sad day for us as Eden and I will be leaving Daddy behind and we don't know when we will see him next. It won't be the last time that this is the case, and it surely won't be for months like it will be in the future. She and I are just getting a little training session in deployments.

Until next time...

Another Journey

Yes, this life we live is crazy {to say the least}! We knew this day would come, but we didn't think or hope that it would come so soon. We are moving. We are moving to different places. Ugh, military life - Semper Gumby! As you may recall, there are new tenants moving into our house on the 15th - Tuesday - in 3 days - and so we have to be out. Nope, we still don't have orders...So, nope, we're not going to Texas yet...

Because of all the chaos of moving so quickly and not having anywhere to go we have to go different ways. We have many friends who have been willing to open their homes to us, but we have 2 dogs and a 1 year old and we didn't want to burden anyone as much as the 5 of us could. My parents are happy to host Eden and I {and Lane's parents are thrilled to have us so close}, so Eden and I will spend the time until we get orders with my parents and brother while Lane lives it up in a bachelor-type home! We will await orders and meet each other en-route to Corpus Christi {I think...we haven't decided the details of where we'll meet up when the time comes.}

Until then, my parents got here just after dinner, Lane's parents got here just after midnight and Lane and I have been arranging for storage, moving trucks, and packing all day. This will be a long weekend for sure, but we will all make it through and we will all be stronger because of this glorious weekend we are about to embark upon!

Stay tuned to find out if everyone makes it out of this weekend alive! Ha ha, I'm just kidding...Here goes nothing! See you on the other side.

Sick of me yet?!

Well, I told you that I'd have more time on here now that I'm not wasting time on facebook. Did you EVER imagine that I'd have THIS MUCH time?! Eden has been sleeping and I've been able to put pictures on the computer and get the blog up to date with our current happenings and pictures! You should be so proud...

March 2 - Lane and I {ok, mostly Lane} made meatballs for the first time.

March 2 - Eden liked the meatballs!

March 3 - asleep in the car...again

March 4 - Blowing out the candles on her cake {that sang to her} while eating ice cream with 2 of her buddies!

March 4 - Ice cream AGAIN after dinner! I wish it was my birthday!

March 5 - I just love this smile :)

March 6 - In the car, on the way to Nashville.

March 7 - Walking around at the Opryland Hotel.

March 8 - DE-lish!

March 9 - On our way back home after a successful trip to Nashville.