Jane Wayne Day

Mom was lucky enough to be here for my first Jane Wayne Day {JWD} and also lucky enough that it was on her birthday! This is a day that we get to enjoy "being a Marine" and do some of the fun things that they get to do on a daily basis. Some of the things our husbands had never done {like test a jet engine!} and probably won't get to do. We shot M16s at the range, we flew jet and C-130 simulators, got schooled by drill instructors, played with equipment, and got to see where they work all day long. The Family Readiness Officer {FRO} for Lane's squadron was nice enough to let Mom come along and enjoy spending her birthday as a Marine!

Heading out for a day of being Marines.

When the Drill Instructors came out. We knew at that point that our lives were about to get rough!

Being told what to do and what not to do...slightly intimidating to say the least!

Learning how to march in formation.

And we weren't supposed to run. Easier said than done!

We also weren't supposed to smile or laugh. Please take note of Katherine {the blonde in the shades} and then Angie behind her, followed by my mom and then me. None of us were able to contain ourselves!

Charity {the XOs wife} being yelled at for something. Who knows what, when I was yelled at it was for not walking a "natural walk" even though it wasn't far off of what I normally do anyways!

The Raider Family

"Testing" the jet engine. It was attached to this apparatus and they would fire it up and we were holding onto said apparatus.

The flame from the engine once it was fired up. The loudest, most odd feeling in the world. It was like your brain was being sucked through your nose. I've never felt pressure like that in my entire life and don't wish to do it ever, ever again. That being said, I'm glad we did it

Another view of the flame.

The engine.

Angie shooting the M16. It was her first time shooting - anything - ever. 

Me shooting the M16.

My mom shooting the M16.

My mom and me, shooting next to each other. What a great bonding experience for her birthday.

The dog tags that we got in addition to our completion certificate.

Motherhood Is...{29}

Appreciation

I'm a firm believer that you have no idea how to truely appreciate your mother until you are one! I loved my mom, I knew that she did everything in her power to do what was best for me, my brother, and the rest of our family, and I appreciated her for everything that she did for us. But boy was I clueless! The countless hours of worry over a punishment from the day, the tireless nights that are endured without complaint {to the child} and for everything else. There are so many sacrifices that mothers make. We start the sacrifices for our children before they're even of this world! Moms are super!!!! My mom is awesome and I'm not sure I tell her often enough. She does everything for me {still} and is always just a phone call away. Most recently Mom made sure to clean my house for me after helping me re-do my kitchen. All this was in addition to helping me care for my kids and making sure Lane and I had date nights - yes, date nightS! She loves to love me and my family and she never seems to run out of her love! I love her and am so glad to have her as a role model in how to raise my children and love my children.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I've been more busy in the last few weeks than I ever expected to be. Mimi and Pop were here for 17 days and it was a great visit. We didn't do much tourist-y things {though we did do some}, but we did re-do the kitchen cabinets and that kept us busy far longer than we wanted it to! We enjoyed the time together, and I actually cried when I dropped them off at the airport. We even got along more than 95% of the time this visit - despite the fact that we did a home renovation project together! I enjoyed having them around and we're missing them already. That being said, I've got lots of pictures to add on here {and the "missing" days could be on the real camera, these are just the ones from my phone. Our card reader on the computer that I mainly use for updating is out of commission right now, so I can't upload those right now...sad day for you AND for me!}

July 6 - This is the morning of Lane's promotion and in my last picture post, the promotion pictures won out...how dare I?! Isn't he so big? STOP GROWING SO FAST, HUNTER!

July 10 - Eden, Hunter, and Pop sitting out on the patio, enjoying the beautiful San Diego weather.

July 11 - I made time for myself and ran on the treadmill. Unfortunately, I'm WAY behind on my goal of 300 miles before the end of the year. I think I might still be on track to be able to finish my goal, but I'm going to have to find the motivation that I started with. I've lost it somewhere along the way!

July 12 - Daddy leaving North Island when we went to see him land.

July 12 - Taking a much needed break from cabinets and doing some "tourist" things while Mimi and Pop were in town. These are the tide pools at the Cabrillo National Monument.

July 14 - Shooting the M16 at the range for Jane Wayne Day when Mimi and I got to pretend to be Marines for the day. What a great way to spend your 32nd Birthday, right Mimi {I'll never tell her real age!!!}

July 15 - Eden and Hunter eating breakfast together. I'm excited to have the high chair in the kitchen again, but stressed at the fact that it means Hunter is getting older and growing WAY too fast!

July 16 - Hunter found his toes today!

July 16 - Hunter was refusing to fall asleep, so I put him on our bed. He stuffed his thumb into his mouth and fought it just a little bit longer. Obviously he lost the battle! It was fun to watch him fight it because it was a peaceful fight where his eyes just gradually started drooping.

July 17 - Another run while Mimi and Pop were here. I'm glad to know {by posting pictures} that I missed tracking my run on the 11th! How exciting for me!!! I officially get to add 2 miles to my monthly and year to date numbers. What a relief that I'm 2 miles closer than I thought I was to my goal. Maybe that was just the motivation I needed!

July 17 - He's obsessed with his toes. And I'm obsessed with the fact that he's always putting them in his mouth!

July 18 - Eden grabbed ahold of Pop's arm at lunch and said, "take my picture! Cheeeeese!" It made my heart smile for her to be so excited about Mimi and Pop being here.

July 19 - Just hanging out in the toy room.

July 22 - I told you I was obsessed with him loving his toes!

July 23 - Eden needed to put on some sunglasses to go to story time. I guess is was a little bright out!

July 25 - We had friends over, so I made sure to have food for them. While Pop was here he'd go for a morning walk every day and most days would stop by Yum Yum Donuts and bring home goodies! I took this picture to send to him to let him know that we were missing him. We got doughnut holes and apple fritters for our friends to share with us.

July 26 - Hunter fell asleep while he was playing. He curled up with his paci and his tiger, cuddled up with them and fell asleep. I love that I have a child that will sleep anywhere! Eden would only sleep in her crib when nothing was going on.

July 26 - I put Hunter in his seat so I could take Eden her lunch because she was eating in the living room today. When I came back {15 seconds later} Hunter had rolled to his belly and pushed himself half way out of the seat. Nowhere is safe anymore! He's officially on the move and ready to crawl and climb. {It looks like he's getting into the seat in this picture, but he's trying to get out. Either way, I'm in trouble!}

Kitchen Re-do

The first thing we did when we moved into our house was paint. There were 19,385,699,403 other "small" projects that we wanted to get done {baseboards, crown molding, window frames, bedrooms, handrails on the stairs, bathrooms...} but the kitchen was never on the list. We never saw the need to do anything to the kitchen because it was relatively new. We had stainless appliances, we had granite counter tops, the floors were tiled, the pantry was huge, and the layout was just fine. Over time we realized how worn and dated the cabinets were. Originally we were just going to add hardware {there was none} and call it a day. Even that seemed like a quick fix that wasn't quite the fix I was looking for. The cabinets were completely worn out and hardware just wasn't going to cut it.

This week while Mimi and Pop have been here we've gotten to work on the cabinets. One night I took most of the upper cabinet doors off.

I was given the advice by Pop to make sure to number each door so they go back where they came from! Genius!!

Number 11 on the cabinet frame.

The next day Mimi got to work on de-glossing them so we could use a Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation kit on them. Essentially, we were going to paint, glaze, and protect them through the steps as we were told. Everything came in a box so it had to be easy and fast, right? Wrong. Well, I guess if there weren't these 2 cute kids running around and a Safari Park to visit, and a Mommy and Daddy who left for the weekend, and a promotion ceremony to get to, it could have gone a lot faster. All the cabinet doors are finally de-glossed and I've started painting them. Our garage is home to the cabinets and if I want to be able to park in the garage again any time soon we need to get this project finished!

Motherhood Is...{28}

Being Proud

Hunter is growing by leaps and bounds {check out how strong he is holding on and standing up in that picture!}. Eden is smarter than we know what to do with. Lane is an awesome daddy and husband. How could I not be proud?! My family is my main source of pride. I love when people comment on how smart Eden is, or how cute Hunter is. Best compliment I've gotten was from a stranger telling Lane and I that our children were well behaved while out to eat. For someone to take note of your children because of something good is the best feeling in the world. Don't get me wrong, our lives aren't perfect and I'm sure there have been times when people have wished we would be thrown out of the restaurant, but for the most part, our family is something to be proud of. Even when we are the loud, obnoxious family with the toddler who doesn't sit still and the baby who cries during dinner. I love us. I love our dynamic and I am proud to say that my family is mine and my family is perfect for who we are!

Wine Tours

Saturday was the big day. Lane and I threw the kids at Mimi and Pop and ran out the door and didn't come back until Sunday mid-day. Ok, I exaggerate! I actually had a harder time leaving than I thought I would. Eden cried when we left - and she never cries - so I just wanted to sit and hold her. I knew that she was going to have a great time, but I still didn't want her to cry. 

Mimi and Pop were given written instructions on how to get the DVD player operating and how to get Eden's favorite shows on TV just in case nothing else worked and she realized we weren't coming right back. I don't think they ended up needing any of it. 

Now, Hunter, he's a whole other story! You would think he'd be the easy one. Just feed him and change his diapers, let him sleep when he's tired, right? Nope. He tried refusing his bottles and he tried refusing his naps. Stubborn kids, I tell ya! They can give you a run for your money if they want to. 

{Please note that Lane and I had no idea any of the "bad" things were happening as they were happening. The kids were in great hands who also knew that we didn't want to know about any of it unless we HAD to know about it because we were enjoying our time together! Thanks Mimi and Pop!}

Waiting at the hotel for our tour bus to pick us up for our winery tours

The grapes at La Ponte winery

The view at our second winery

Bella Vista, the 3rd winery of the day.

The views from the 4th winery - Callaway - tasting room.

Pictures!

Here are the promised pictures from last week! We've been having fun and my kitchen is still a wreck right now, so we're getting things changed around here. I can't wait until the kitchen is done, it's going to be amazing!

July 1 - Eden holding Brown Bear at story time with Mrs. Cox at the library. Eden loves to get asked to be a helper!

July 2 - Eden sleeping on Nugget. Well, that's what it looks like, but they were just snuggling together. I love that he puts up with her the way he does.

July 3 - Mimi and Pop are here!

July 4 - The awesome {from a box} cake that I made to take to a friends house for the 4th of July!

July 5 - Lane had the day off so we went to the Safari Park with Mimi and Pop.

July 5 - Eden and Daddy waiting on the safari tram.

July 6 - That's Captain Daigle to you! 

July 7 - Lane getting in the way of my picture of the view.

July 9 - Some cabinet doors are painted, some are not.