April Showers..

The AC broke last weekend. It was ridiculously hot in the house, so we decided to take the kids out in the yard & turn them loose in the sprinkler to cool them off.

Turtle's 10th Birthday

Spring Break & Other Happenings..

Spring break in Atlanta.

...

Where to begin?

My last post was in November, about half way through the last patrol, so I'll start there.

Dave made it home before Christmas, which was a hoped for but unexpected blessing. I was seriously lacking the Christmas spirit & didn't even have a tree. It didn't seem like a big deal until Christmas Eve, & then I decided to draw a Christmas tree on the wall with chalk, but Dave put a stop to that very quickly. Lesson learned. Christmas just isn't Christmas without a tree. We even lucked out & Dave didn't have duty on Christmas Eve or Christmas, which was a first.

Right after Christmas Dave got to go with me to a prenatal appointment, which was the first one he'd gone to. My doctor is the best & gave us a freebie ultrasound just so Dave could see the little one since he'd missed my first couple ultrasounds. I'd just hit the second trimester the week he came home, so we finally felt comfortable enough to start telling people that we're expecting. He was a bit nervous about the whole MTHFR situation (I'll explain that later), but that's to be expected. I think he was secretly relieved to have missed the morning sickness phase (or so he thought). I had my first appointment at the perinatologist in Jacksonville at the end of January. Dave went with me, & we found out that we're expecting another little boy! The boys will be 22-23 months apart. Lord help us. We haven't decided on a name just yet, so we've nicknamed him Baby 'Zilla, because I'm sure he'll be just as rambunctious as Chop (a.k.a. Chopzilla). That was also the visit when they decided I needed to be on blood thinners (related to the MTHFR that I'll explain later). I'm on Lovenox injections once a day until 36 weeks, when they'll change it to Heparin injections twice a day. This pregnancy has been one thing after another, but we're no less thankful.

Baby Zilla at 17 weeks

Frontal shot of his face

Zilla sucking his thumb

I see my OB every four weeks & the perinatologist every three to four weeks. They are keeping a very close eye on me & Zilla. I'm lucky to see the most awesome doctors ever, so that helps put my mind at ease. Plus we get to see Zilla way more often than someone with a "normal" pregnancy would.

Zilla at 21ish weeks

Yes, that is just his foot!

Showing us he's still a boy

Thumb sucker

Another picture of his face - Skeletor looking thing, isn't he?

He's a big boy! He weighed in at a hefty pound at 17 weeks.

Me & Zilla at 24 weeks

I don't know why I looked so grumpy in this one

Shelbye is doing great, as usual. She's made A/B Honor Roll on every report card. She's still struggling a little in math, but we're working on it. She had the Friday before & Monday of President's Day off & Dave was still on stand down, so we made a trip to Atlanta, which she was stoked about. She saw snow for the very first time & of course took the golden opportunity to throw a snowball at Dave. Her birthday is coming up pretty soon & she's really excited to be turning "double digits". We gave her her big present early - the Band Hero bundle for the Wii that included the game, the drums, the microphone, & the guitar. Even though it's Shelbye's birthday present, the whole family has had a blast playing it. I'm really glad we finally found a game that we can all play together & it entertains all of us. Even Chop gets in on the action & loves playing the drums. She was hoping we would get to spend Spring Break & her birthday in Atlanta with the family, but it seems that Dave's parents have other plans for that week that include coming here.

(Turtle's been a little camera shy lately, so I don't have any new photos of her. Hopefully she gets out of this stage soon.)

Chop started walking shortly before Dave came home. He was a bit wobbly at first, but he caught on quickly. It's awesome how they go from barely being able to walk to running at the speed of light within days! I can hardly keep up with him. His favorite thing to do is play outside while Dave is doing yard stuff. We're going to get him a slide/swing/climb on thing for the yard pretty soon. His vocabulary is growing by the hour it seems, although people that aren't around him constantly sometimes have no clue what he's saying. He's almost thirty pounds & a little over two feet tall.

Oh the trouble that usually follows that mischievous smile!

 

Dave reenlisted while he was underway. This leaves him in the Navy until '14 & on the boat until March

 of '12. A few weeks ago we thought we might have the opportunity to PCS to Guam, but it doesn't seem to be panning out. We were stoked about possibly going & are more than a little bummed that it doesn't seem like it's going to happen.

He's enjoying this offcrew & has done loads of stuff around the house. We finally painted the bedroom! He also fixed the toilet that's been out of commission since a week after he left. Turns out Chop threw his alligator bath toy in it. Fixing it entailed taking the toilet outside & removing the toy with a screwdriver. It was a lot more difficult than it sounds, trust me.

I'm finally getting to work on my photography. I've been slacking for a while now, but no more. I ordered a nifty little Canon beauty the other night & have been ever so impatiently waiting its arrival ever since. I haven't done anything else with my sewing, but that's to be expected with Chop running around. I'm just taking everything day by day & focusing on growing our Baby Zilla.

Long time, no see

I haven't updated either of our blogs in forever; since about halfway through last patrol, I think. Sooo much has happened since my last post, which means I have lots & lots to blog about! I'm going to try to get to it tonight, but if not, definitely by the end of the weekend.

Big Boy

Chase took his first steps last week! Shelbye & I went nuts clapping for him, & I guess he wanted to clap too, so he did & he fell down. He's started taking a few steps here & there, but crawling is still his preferred method of getting from A to B. It won't be long before he's running, & then I'll never be able to keep up with him! I emailed Dave about it & I know he can't wait to come home so he can see it for himself.

Halloween

Dave's been gone a little over three weeks now. We're keeping plenty busy & Shelbye is looking forward to the upcoming holidays. She was so excited for Halloween I thought she might jump out of her skin. Chase was much less excited about his costume, but was equally adorable. We went to a friend's house in Kingsland since her husband is on Dave's boat and also underway, & four hands are better than two, especially when it comes to all five of our combined kids! Shelbye was thrilled, mostly because their neighborhood is much bigger & busier than ours. It was much warmer than the last few Halloweens, so we waited until we got there to get Chase into his costume. It was still above 80* when the sun went down. Shelbye was a batterina & Chase was a spider. It was the day of the Georgia vs. Florida game, so Shelbye trick or treated all decked out in her Georgia G's. We lost the game unfortunately, but we still had a great night.

Shelbye, Colby, & Wilson

Spidey Cuteness

And so it goes..

Well, the Rhode Island said time's up and that they need Dave more than we do. We lucked out & got an extra day with him rather than him leaving Saturday, but the boat got underway yesterday. So here we go again - round five. Such is life as a Navy family. We miss him already, but we've made it through four, we'll make it through this one too. Everyone knows that I can't specify when we think he'll be home, or anything along those lines, but I'll make sure to let everyone know when the information becomes unclassified.

To continue with the Navy news, Dave has decided to re-up. He's going to make a go of it & do the full twenty - or at least that's the plan as of right now. He will be reenlisting while underway. This leaves us on the RI for at least another two years, & then he'll be on shore duty. We're hoping for shore duty here, or in Jacksonville if not Kings Bay, so that we don't have to sell the house or change Shelbye's school. Of course, trying to plan anything with the Navy is about as productive as nailing Jello the wall, so we'll see what happens.

Shelbye is, as always, doing great in school. She's looking forward to Halloween, especially since she'll be using her little brother's cuteness to score extra candy. She has a plan, & she's already made it known. As you can tell from the pictures, she's still the same little bookworm. We should be getting her report card here soon. She's growing like a weed & has almost caught up to me in height, as if that's a big surpise! :)

Chase is getting bigger by the day. He now has a whopping eight teeth & is working on another. He's a little over 20 pounds now & is in 18 month clothes at 13 months. He's doing lots of "big boy" things, & even went so far as to give up his bottle just after his first birthday. He's been on the big boy sippy cups ever since. He's figured out how to use his spoons & forks, but sometimes still prefers his hands. As of right now he still isn't walking, but he did stand up on his own for any significant amount of time yesterday - almost a minute! It figures, the day Dave got underway, bless his heart. Chop will be walking before we know it & then it'll be game on. I'll never be able to catch him.

Everything else is still the same ol'. School is.. well.. time consuming to say the least. One of my four classes will end next week. I have my final Thursday night. I've only gotten one B so far, so I'm pretty darn tickled. Then I'll be down to three classes. Oh what will I do with all that free time? LOL I've started *trying* to quilt again. Thanks to Grandpa Jack telling me Grandma Ruth's secret of sewing it inside out, I might actually make some headway this time! Shelbye & I will be working on lots of fun winter crafts this patrol to keep us busy. The baking has already begun with the cute pumpkin & ghost Halloween cookies we sent underway with Dave.

That's pretty much all the newness with the Gladdens. Hope everyone is having a good Coumbus day!

Shelbye's Close Up

.. with the awesome Katelyn Von feldt.

Chase's Party Pictures

Everything & nothing - cont.

Here are a few random shots from the summer. I need to upload the photos from Chase's birthday & Shelbye's photo session this week, but first I have to go finish up some stuff at school. Hopefully I'll be able to upload them tonight, if not, it'll be in the next few days..


Okra & french fries? Goldfish, aye!

Go big or go home - the new (to us, anyway) 12 valve

Sand. It's what's for dinner.

Everything & nothing all at once..

I haven't updated this thing in forever, so here we go..

The main stay of every single post: we're busy. Always, always busy. This summer has been especially hectic. We'll start from the beginning.

Dave came home from patrol, as if you didn't already know that. He made it home safe & sound in the beginning of May. He was just as happy to be home as we were to have him home, as always.

We took our first family vacation to Chincoteague, VA in June. We went up to meet Dave's parents where we stayed at an awesome house right on the canal. Beautiful. It was great to see everyone, including all the grandparents. Pop Jim & Grandma Charlene met Chase for the very first time.

It was a lovely, relaxing vacay, for the most part. We hit a little snag on the way up which involved a fairly large piece of retread & my new Honda. Boo to that. It ended up doing a good bit of damage, which led to us having to stay over in Dillon, SC, & having to replace the windshield as soon as we made it to VA.

A few months later, & several thousand dollars worth of insurance claims, all is well & the Honda looks brand spankin' new. Phew!

After almost a week in Virginia, we headed to Hotlanta to see my family. Shelbye stayed up there with my mom & sister to visit for the summer. She had a blast & stayed busy. She even got to go take private horse back riding lessons. She's now decided to start saving up for next summer, so she can go to the two week riding camp. She did all the normal Atlanta area outings, the Coke factory, the zoo, & the aquarium. Most of these she's already seen several times, but they never get old. Shelbye got to spend lots of time with Aunt Kristy & Uncle Adam. By the end of the summer, she was sad to leave her Nanny & Aunt Kris, but glad to be headed home. She actually admitted to missing her brother! I haven't gotten any of the photos from Atlanta from my mom yet, but they'll come soon.

Dave & I enjoyed a busy summer filled with house improvements, beachy days, & missing our Turtle. We came home to soon find out that Roxy was pregnant. We were able to find a home for the feral mother cat & 3 of her kittens, but still.. More kittens is not what we were expecting. By the time came to leave for Atlanta to go get Shelbye, I was definitely worried about leaving Roxy home alone. Luckily Roxy held out until after Shelbye came home. She had a litter of four kittens on Chase's first birthday, of all days. Only one made it, but both Mom & baby are doing well.

August has been a huge month for us. Shelbye started fourth grade, Chase had his first birthday, & Roxy had her kittens. There's also about a million other things going on. Dave's getting ready to start refit, & I'm getting ready to start college this coming Monday. It will be a very crazy next few months for everyone. Everyone knows how refit goes: 14 hour work days, plus a three day duty rotation. My schedule won't be quite as hectic as Dave's, but while juggling everything with our family and a full 13 hour course load, crazy is a good description. We will have an adjustment period for sure, but we'll get it figured out. We always do.